Bikini on Labor Day weekend??

[swanso5]

cottage cheese will do but i wouldn't some form of raw veg in there even if it's a couple of carrot stucks or celery stuicks or something

how to manipulate it? well you'll neve rknow really what you're burning while exercising but 1 thing is for sure and that is if your metabolism is up and about then you'll be buring more cals (most of then will be fat) at rest which is where 90% of your cals are burnt

nutrient timing is also needed...

if you have carls then you'll also use them for exercise first as they are easily broken down...if looking for fat loss then this isn't optimal...i'm an all or nothing guy really so when i dropped 7.5kgs in 28 before x mas, i had 50g on wt training days (3/week), 20g on cardio days (3/week)and zero on off days (1/week)...it may seem excessive but i find it better to totally restrict short term then partially restrict long term, especially carbs as i train hard and heavy

hence why i suggested banana OR oatmeal, not both

all that being said son't get this confused with fasted exercises that burns fat, you need some carbs to fuel your workouts or they'll simply suck and you'll get no where

[Boss Man]

Use Low Fat Cheese, not Low Fat Cottage Cheese. there's a bit more bad Fat, but a lot moe good Fat, as LF has pretty much no good fat at all, in a gram for gram comparison and LF Cheese has generally more Protein in it as well, so you most likely will get more bang for your buck as some say.

[sandigirl06]

Hello, all! Sorry it takes me sooo long to repsond but life is a blur of work, kids and workouts. I do manage somehow to get it all in but by the end of the day I am really wiped out!!! Thanks for the tip, Boss. This diet thing really has me perplexed. Swans, I know it is hard to manipulate the type of cals burned during cardio but do you have any suggestions on what to eat before cardio or workouts that is optimum for fat burning?? Soooo, since goal is to lower % are you suggesting I cut carb intake?? I have done this the last couple of days and yesterday I had the worst carb cravings!!! I did steal a biscuit from the kids at dinner. Other than that I have been doing ok. Lean protein and veggies. Oatmeal in the a.m.. About cardio....another mystery to me. As I mentioned earlier I have been doing treadmill HIIT 2x per week and steady rate on elip for 75 mins bout 3-4x per week. You said that is excessive. However, I read Cassie's and Lareinamae's comp journals and they are also doing quite the same thing to "lean out" and reduce . Soooo, I don't get it. As far as trainer is concerned I have all of the faith in the world in him. Since I started training with him 4 months ago I have had tremendous gains. Slow and steady but def progress. He uses much of the methods I read about here so I am confident he knowes his stuff. I have pretty much lost all of the fat everywhere but that last pooch pocket on lower abs. I realize this is brutally hard to lose and the stubborn nature of this fat will take time and enormous effort in exercise and diet to melt. Anyway, thanks for your replies and advice. You guys have really helped me a lot!! Ok, I am rambling...lol. This weekend hubby is coming home from school for a visit. I will try not to cheat! Looking forward to a fun weekend. I hope you all have a great one too!!!

[swanso5]

it's ot so much what yopu eart before cardio but in general...you need to cut carbs down so you get to a point where you are primarily going to use fat reserves for enegry during training and during the day but also have enough ebnergy to train at your highest - or near highest - level...this cannot be done in 1 meal...those recommendations i gave you a few posts back will do that because your giving yourself the lowest amount of carbs you can and the fluctuations go along with the intensity of your training on the various days (wts, cardio, nothing)

you'll crave at first but you have to push through it, maybe get some sugar substitutes

cassie and lareinamea are training for comp, their diets are dialled into the exact amount...do you nthink you need to train like a professional would? i don't think so plus you have a life to live...that's like a 15yr training like i do

if he's good then stick with him...

[sandigirl06]

No, I am not going to be competing in any comps but a comp body would be nice!! I do admire those girls and really wish I had the time and finances to do that but that is not the case. Yes, the carb cravings SUCK! I will find a way to keep them at bay because if not an alter ego comes in and eats the kid's cookies!!! I think I am getting the jist of all of this because it makes perfect sense. Looking forward to seeing how it works for me!

[AnnaCruzDC]

Yes, ditto on carb cravings. I'm craving a bagel right now...augh!!!