I'm going on vacation with my friends in about a month and that means bikini time.. I just want one vacation on the beach that I don't spent wraped into something to hide my spare tires and celulite. My freakishly white complexion doesn't really help either..
I am losing slowly and steadily but it's not some drastic weight loss. I don't have a lot to lose but the fat that I have is really stubborn and really doesn't look nice. I've found that since I lost a little weight all my fat got more loose and jiggly if you know what I mean. In clothes thats ok but when in a bikini.. It just doesn't look great
I exercise almost every day. I either go runing for 3K-5K, do the stairmaster for 50minutes or cycle outside for at least an hour.. I don't do any strenght training, a few body weight exercises here and there, going to the gym is not an option. What can I do to maximize my fat loss? Do more cardio, do more body weight exercises?
I'm on a vegetarian, almost vegan diet, with lots of fruit and vegetables, some tofu and lots of complex carbs.. Not really a fan of low carb..
Any advice would be appreciated!
I wouldn't up your exercise- I would just mix it up. Your body may be getting quite used to your routine. Incorporating yoga, swimming, aerobics, kickboxing, HIIT, etc could be a great way of 'surprising' your muscles and causing them to work more efficiently (meaning more calories burned!).
And other posters please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you also may achieve results you're looking for by reducing your exercise and focusing more instead on the composition of your diet (specific recommendations listed down below--). I've found sometimes exercising a bit more modestly, so I can reduce calories, helps reinvigorate a loss.
I would definitely include strength training. It's important for so many reasons, and it's a great way to tone. I can't speak to whether it will burn fat directly, but it can really tone up areas you describe as jiggly.. though the caveat is that it won't happen very quickly. You don't necessarily need a gym to strength train. Specific yoga routines can leave you just as sore as a day of lifting (and they are free on YouTube). Resistance bands are super cheap and can provide great exercises. Other bodyweight moves- pushups, pullups (on a cheap easy-to-install bar), lunges, and squats, can also help tone and build muscle.
Admittedly, I think a lot of fat loss can be achieved from diet, rather than exercise. Two ideas come to mind:
1. Intermittent Fasting. This just means eating during a smaller window of time each day. There is an IF support group thread under the Support Groups forum. There is a growing body of research that suggests not eating minimeals/grazing throughout the day burns fat, as after you eat metabolizing hormones suppress fat-burning hormones. IF is not a weight loss method, it is a body recomposition method that encourages the the body to burn fat, as opposed to lean muscle mass. Check out the thread for more info and resources.
2. Reducing carbs. I know you said you aren't a fan of low-carb, but how about carb-conscious? I try to stay around 150g of carbs a day, which has made a big difference in my weight loss, and I think a difference in my fat loss. 150 still allows for one complex carb-focused meal or snack (small pasta dish, tortilla, beans, dessert, etc) as long as the rest of my food is moderate or lower carb. I don't eat meat either and find it's very doable to eat carb-conscious without sacrificing too much. With more and more evidence suggesting too many carbs (whether complex or simple) suppress the burning of fat, I think it makes sense to up the fat and protein and be really cautious of carbs intaken.
Congrats on the slow-and-steady weight loss. It's hard to be patient but the slow-and-steady approach seems to do wonders for helping "big losers" reach and maintain goal!
Do you do calorie counts? That may be where you need to scrutinize and see if you're overeating on the complex carbs.
Can you buy some dumbbells or tubing? Everyone should be doing strength training. Check youtube or your library for videos or books for routines. Also Exercise TV has videos online.
Good luck and crongrats on your success so far. Have fun at the beach !
When I say alot of complex carbs, I mean variety and not quantity. Let me post a sample day.
B: one or two fruits or a fruit smoothie
S: some more fruit or nothing, depends on the day
L: veggie soup, mixed salad with olive oil&balsamico, chickpeas, zucchini and red pepper stir fry or ww pasta with veggie sauce or minestrone
S: usually a smoothie after workout
D: veggie soup, sometimes some carbs, depends how hard the workout was..
I guess with all that fruit thats alot of carbs.. But if I work out, I don't know, I just believe in the fact that my body needs carbs to function..
I really don't count calories, because I get very OCD with the whole thing and then all I think about is food and exercise ALL THE TIME. It's really not good for me, I've tried it. Every now and then I put what I eat into fitday and I am always pretty low cal. But with mostly eating vegetables, thats what you get I guess..
I usually eat one bigger meal a day, otherwise it's just fruit, soup or salads, depends how hard I work out and when. No sugar, no white flour, no fried stuff, everything is homemade and I try to go organic most of the time.. I like how I eat, I don't need to think that much about it really. I have some issues with food and I think going very high protein or cutting carbs would do more harm than good.. I have found a nice balance of MODERATION.
I guess I should try strenght training in my bedroom and see what happens. I'm thinking pilates or calentics.. What do you think?
I will check this IF thing, I don't have time now, but it looks interesting and duable since I don't eat that often anyways.. Do you have any experience with this? Does it work?
I did found this girl on youtube that has an amazing body. Maybe she's a bit to muscular for me, but her workouts are kicking some a**.. I don't know if I can post links. Let me know if you're interested.
I certainly can relate to being OCD with calorie counting, but I think it's helpful to know portion sizes and have an idea of how many calories you are consuming. Smoothies can pack alot of calories into something that's easy to drink. Also carbs like pasta and rice can be higher in calories. I eat carbs also-and not always 'good' carbs, so I'm not suggesting you cut your carbs. You're already exercising for an hour. To me, that's plenty. Sometimes we have a tendency to eat more when we exercise more. So that could be counterproductive.
It's tricky. I don't know wheather to just add strenght training or replace a few days of cardio with it? I don't know, I feel so bad when I don't do some sort of cardio every day.. I actually eat more when I don't exercise. I guess I have that 'oh well this could be my cheat day then' moment..
I have to think this through with cutting carbs and everything.. Not really sure what to do. The way I eat is so simple and it works for me, but it's SO SLOW.. I know that's healthy and all but damnit I would like to look pretty in my bikini! Just to speed things up, not crash diet or get to my goal in a month. Just maximize my FAT loss!
How about cutting the cardio to 30 minutes and then 30 minutes of strength training? Or if you don't think you'll eat more, go ahead and do the hour of cardio plus the strength.
I did IF last year and lost 18 lbs. My eating window was from noon to 6pm. I think the good thing about it is that your stomach shrinks after a few days, so you eat less during your window. The first few days can be hard, because of hunger pangs, but they soon diminish.
So, maybe that's an option for you-??
Good luck!
1. Where's your protein?? I see a bit in the smoothie, assuming it's made with yogurt, and the chickpeas. Where's the dairy, the soy products, the nuts? If you are ok with eating dairy, make your smoothie with Greek yogurt and sub some of that fruit for cheese, cottage cheese, natural peanut butter, something. If you want to be vegan, put silken tofu in the smoothie and sneak in some tempeh, seitan, beans, etc.
You are eating a LOT of fruit, so I'd really look on cutting that down. Where's your fat?? Adding in some healthy fats and proteins instead of a lot of sugar and carbs (even though its' coming from fruit and not candy or bread) will really improve your performance. I would bet having most of your calories from carbs is one reason your body is holding on to the fat.
I'll share with you my typical daily plan. Not that I am perfect by ANY means, but I understand completely why you don't want to count cals/macronutrients and it may be helpful to see a diet of someone who does. I do count everything on My Fitness Pal and reach targets of 120g carbs/90g protein/40g fat:
Bfast: 1 c mangoes, 20 almonds (246 cals/33 carbs/6g protein)
Lunch: Omelet- 2 egg whites + 2 whole eggs + veggies (170 cals/2 carbs/10g fat/20 g protein)
Dinner: Taco salad- 1 c black beans, lettuce, yogurt, tomatoes, cheese, Tapatio or Tabasco sauce (311 cals/43 carbs/9 g fat/21 g protein)
Dessert/post-workout snack: 1/2 c oatmeal with 2 cups protein powder and 1.5 tbs peanut butter stirred in (479 cals/49 carbs/13 g fat/51 g protein)
Total: 1206 cals/127 carbs/44 g fat/98 g protein.
Anyway, all that to say I'd cut back on the fruits and add in more protein and fat.
2. I did do IF for about 3 months and worked well for me. I stopped because I work out in the morning and was losing muscle from not intaking protein soon after lifting. I practice it on occasion now. It worked really well for me- it actually makes me LESS hungry during my 'window' and made it easy for me to stay in my 1200 cals. I also did feel I experienced some body recomposition effects as well. Check out Lean Gains (just google it) for the science behind it. A lot of people have found huge success with IF.
Hi indiblue and thanks. I do eat protein, I have beans, tofu, some nuts, or cottage or feta cheese, but I don't eat them as regular as I should I guess.. I will try this IF and up my protein thing today and tomorrow. Heres my plan:
1.meal around 1pm: veggie soup, salad with beans and fresh vegetables
2.meal around 7pm: one fruit and some nuts (snack before workout)
5km run
3.meal aroun 9pm: 1 egg and 3 egg whites omlette with veggies or tofu stirfry with vegetables
Is this better? Btw eggs give me major problems with digesion so I don't know maybe tofu is better..?
I will do strenght training but I can't fit everything in one day so I'm thinking tomorrow morning..
I'm interested to see what happens.
Just wondering, when did IF happen? I've never heard of it before, most fitness people were swearing on the 6 small meals a day a few years ago.. Funny
If you have trouble with eggs, a tofu stir fry would be good-- or to get that "egg scramble" type of thing, scramble some medium-firm tofu with veggies and a bit of cheese. (
Looking at your sample plan from a couple of posts ago, I wonder if you are actually eating too little. It's mostly veggies and fruits, with a little bit of carbs, chickpeas and yogurt/milk from the smoothies. Even the sample plan you listed in this most recent post might still come in around 1000, depending on your portion size. I'm not saying how many calories you should be eating every day- not qualified to do that- but I know that with really low cals it gets harder to get in all the macronutrient and micronutrients necessary. (though not impossible, you just have to be really conscientious).
Adding in nuts, feta, and tofu/eggs is a great way of getting in more fat and protein, but I have found being vegetarian it is REALLY easy to not get enough protein. Until I started actively monitoring my protein, I was only getting 30-40 g a day, usually from a couple eggs, glass of milk or smoothie, and one serving from beans. This was less than HALF of what I should be getting! Especially since you are exercising so much, protein is so, so important to help your body protect your muscle and "eat" the fat on your body instead.
I know you don't want to get bogged down in the numbers, but it *might* be useful to just track your protein for a week or so. Especially for us vegetarians (and you even more so being almost vegan), it's so easy to not get enough. Maybe not even write anything down, just keep a running tally in your head generally. If you aren't eating 85-100 g of protein, maybe work on actively trying to get more in. For me, it takes a LOT of planning to get that much in, as well as the help of protein powders. (Though when I was living in the US and had access to more health foods like Greek yogurt, tempeh, etc, I easily got to 100 g without powders). For you it might be easier- using Greek yogurt for smoothies, subbing lentil soup instead of vegetable soup, making sure you get one soy product a day, and adding in those cheese and nuts could do the trick. I don't know, which is why it may be useful just to check the 'pulse' of your protein intake for a few days to see how you're doing.
And don't be afraid of fats either- adding a couple ounces of cheese or really getting in some pb or nuts into your everyday diet will be great for reaching your goal. As we all know now, but is still easy to forget, good fats in good proportions are not what makes us fat
Regarding IF, I think it's taken off in the last 5 years or so, with a great boost from the Lean Gains website. The New York Times have covered recently several government/army studies on its benefits. The 6 mini-meals thing was some sort of fad that regrettably caught on without any sort of scientific evidence of its support. That said, some people really prefer 6 mini-meals, which is great for them. It's just not a prerequisite for weight loss
indiblue - my calories are almost always very low. Like I said I did the counting and measuring and I ate more and went to the gym and lift weights and did cardio and all that fitness thing and got NO RESULTS AT ALL. Its true that I had a medical condition that didn't really help with weight loss, actually made it impossible. But now after I had surgery to resolve the issue I'm on medication that causes weight gain and water retention. I have to take it for the rest of my life.. You can see why I don't really want to up my calories.. I am willing to make an effort and eat more protein on a daily basis but going up with calories is just not an option (I mean like 1700kcal that is usually recomended for my age, height, exercise level etc)..
My endocrinologist actually said to me (I was 170lbs at the time, just after surgery) that I will gain weight on this medication. I was crying for like a week because all I wanted was to lose it for almost five years with no results.. But I said NO! I went to my other endo, who's also into traditional chinese medicine and we made a plan just for me. I'm not saying it's perfect, it clearly isn't, but its sustainable for me. When I lose the fat I will def eat like this for the rest of my life.
So now I will take your great advice and up my protein the best that I can and do some strenght training a few times a week. And intermittent fasting. That sounds so interesting, I still can't believe that it would really work..
Thank you
Do I up my exercise?
