New to shape fit, Hello All!

Discuss tips and advice for losing body fat.

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maritacatrina
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Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:41 am

New to shape fit, Hello All!

Post by maritacatrina »

Hello, I'm new to this site and new to the whole realm of fitness in general. I have lost 62 lbs since mid February. I'm 5'8" and was 200 lbs on super bowl Sunday and am now down to 138, goal being 125. I have a very physically demanding job so I haven't really done much working out ( 65 hour a week job is a workout!) but I've changed diet completely. I don't have time to eat at work much so I have things I can snack on the go with throughout the day such as trail mix, rice cakes, raw almonds, dried fruits, apples, bananas, avocado, string cheese, things of that nature. At dinner I usually eat fish or chicken with a veggie, and sometimes brown rice. With the heat of the summer here we have been doing a lot of salads for dinner. I also started using a pedometer at work and I walk an average of 7 miles a day at work alone. husband has been very supportive and tries to watch what he cooks me for dinner in terms of calories and healthy preparation. I try to stay under 1500 calories a day and take multi vitamins and vitamin C everyday.

biggest hurdles yet to cross: Quitting smoking, quitting drinking coke zero, and curbing the urge to bedtime snack!

I am going to join a gym soon too and get into a very vigorous routine. I'd like to get body fat down to 12%, and maybe even attain that elusive female 6-pack for the first time in life. I'd like to be in the best shape of life at 35-40 (I'm 33 now).

I'm curious as to whether any protein shakes or fat burning supplements would be helpful to me at this stage? Also I have heard that eating certain things at certain times of the day can help the weight come off, but I see conflicting reports as to what and when? For instance would the strawberries and blueberries best be eaten earlier in the day because of the carbs and sugar? Would a steak be better toward the end of the day because of the protein? How many hours should there be between your last food intake and bedtime?

Thanks to any and all who respond, I'm just throwing line out into the water here for the first time. I look forward to getting familiar with the site and it's members- but not too familiar- I'd rather be out burning fat! :)
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Boss Man
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Re: New to shape fit, Hello All!

Post by Boss Man »

1. protein shakes would be adeqaute, but for you, you don't need them right now; I'd focus on the training and diet.

2. Fat burning supplements are rubbish and unless people sit around stuffing their face with junk, then start stuffing their face with junk and consume pills, I.E.isolating the effects, it's virtually impossible to know if they actually do anything tangible, because as soon as you add exercise and / or diet changes into the mix, you've got weight loss factors, that other non-pill users could potentially use to lose weight, making the pills effects virtually impossible to ascertain.

Most supplements like that, including appetite suppressants and thermogenic serums, come with possible side effects including serious ones in some cases, I.E. Hydroxycut Hardcore killing people, so I'd avoid those, like most cats avoid water; if you catch drift.

3. If you're going to exercise, you might end up with a starvation mdoe, where the body assumes it's being starved and holds onto fat, so more calories would be wise.

1lb of added muscle burns an extra 45-50 calories per day, so losing it can cause more potential fat storage, so exercise and current caloric intake may possibly encourage weight stagnation or even a little gain, if muscle preserving nutrition, is not adequate enough to stave off potential exercise induced catabolism / atrophy.

4. Right now, I'd suggest around another 500-600 calories a day, so you're above the sedentary 1,800 female average and then you'll get more micronutrient intake as well, because whatever additional natural resources exercising will utilise, extra micronutrient intake should hopefully replace, so you're not potentially putting internal systems, particularly skeletal structures, into a regressive physical state, as Bones have many constituents and mediating nutrients affecting their structures, like Calcium, Vit K2, Vit D, Copper, Vit C, Phosphorous, Magnesium etc. More than probably any other internal structures.

I would reccomend if your carbs are bare minimum 20g per meal and more likely 30g per meal on average, increase from Fats and Protein, so if you eat 6 meals a day, you could do this with a 50/50 split, so from say 100 additional calories per meal, that's around 5.5g added Fats and 12-13g protein as approximate numbers.

The fats could easily be sourced from edible oils, but if you consume foods with multiple macros, like Peanuts, Soy and Soy products I.E. Edemame, Tofu, Nattokinase, Miso etc, Low Fat Cheese, Flax, Omega 3 Eggs, (Chickens fed some Flax in their diets), be aware that all those contain Carbs; the Omega Eggs have 1g, so don't worry about that and therefore you could slightly reduce any portions of predominantly Carb foods, like Veggies and Fruits, to account for this, unless you think your carbs may be currently too low in which case I'd keep Carbs as is, is you consume any of the types of aforementioned foods, or slighty increase current portions of predominantly carb based foods to top up carbs ot the sort of levels I suggested.

As you will be consuming more calories than usual, about 40% more based on current intake, you may find for a week or so, maybe a bit longer, you get some possible minor weight gain, as the body will be used to 1,500 calories a day and may possibly see an additonal 500-600 a day, as mostly excess calories, that can be converted to Fat, but if this happens, it should hopefully be minimal and with the body getting used to regular exercise and small amounts of muscle building, any such effect should be reversed, until you eventually, with any luck, surpass where you're at now and get leaner still.

Hopefully all this makes sense.

Good luck :).
maritacatrina
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Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:41 am

Re: New to shape fit, Hello All!

Post by maritacatrina »

Wow, thank you so much for the detailed reply! As I said before this is pretty new to me, so I'm glad I have your post to keep going back to- I'm sure I'll need to! At this point I think I need to sit down and write out a detailed plan of everything I am going to eat and do for training everyday, especially since husband does 95% of the household shopping and cooking.
Athene
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Re: New to shape fit, Hello All!

Post by Athene »

Hello, and welcome!

Planning is really important, I think getting your menu and workouts planned for the week is a great idea. The focus on lean meat and veg looks great, don't forget to add some healthy fat to each meal.

Big congrats on your weight loss so far! I'm 5'8" as well and can't imagine weighing 138 - that is a big change from 200.
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