Ferdi's Forum Posts

As others said, it is possible, but it is not easy to achive as I have learnt the hard way:
- You’ll need a good, hard weight lifting program
- you should do cardio as well
- To have the correct calorie intake is extremely important. If it’s too low you will lose weight and muscle. If it’s too high you will gain muscles without losing weight.

I once did the “Body for Life” program and followed their very low calorie recommendations and after two weeks I awoke hungry at night and felt weak during the day…

Now I am starting again, but this time I follow the “Burn the fat, feed the muscle” diet by Tom Venuto. This diet also suggests a calorie deficit, but its recommendations are much more detailed (and a little bit complicated at the beginning). It includes a lot of whole grain, veggies and lean protein – but no supplements nor processed food.

I am really looking forward to a much more healthier lifestyle after a year of junk food, chocolate and beer in front of a PC. :-)

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Is it possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time?

I eat the same series of meals over and over and after actually taking the time to look at the nutrition facts it doesn’t make sense.
On average I’d estimate I eat between 700-1200 calories.

You’ll have to increase you calorie intace by probably 800-1.000 calories or more. I am surprised that you are being able to work at all, since your brain needs proper food as well.
I guess your body is already in starvation mode – and if not your are burning muscles and fat.

The question is, if you have some spare time left for to prepare/buy better food and for some cardio/weight training? If you do both and do a proper diet (whole grain, veggies, lean protein) after a few weeks you will feel better and more energized than never before.

PS: Once I did the Atkins diet without doing sports, I reached my goal after a few months, but everybody asked me if I was ill – I had lost too many muscles and looked starved…

Topic: Diet and Nutrition / Correcting a sedentary lifestyle

Many diets include at least one cheat meal during the week. Maybe you should include this as well.

IMHO knowing to have cheat meal makes a diet much easier to follow. It also makes it easier to go out for dinner with friends, or if you travel, e.g.

Once in a while I need a beer, some chocolate, some pizza or something equally terrible :-).

Topic: Diet and Nutrition / Good food calories vs. bad food calories

I lost 7 lbs last week which is great and I’m about to start my exercises.

Congrats!!!

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Weights advice for obese newbie

here are some example lifts you can google and start doing :-
- bench
– dips
– deadlift
– military press
- rows
– squats
- pullups/chinups
- pushups

The exercises you quoted are being said to be the most efficient and most rewarding for strengthening the whole body.

Unfortunately the gyms I visited (in Japan and Germany) in the past didn’t teach those exercises, I even got the impression that the try to avoid those exercise.

My guess is that the gyms avoid those exercises because the exercises need to be taught properly and for this you’ll need good trainers and time. For example excises like squats and deadlifts need a real good technique – you can even hurt yourself by doing bench press (this has happened to me).

My usual experience that the trainers give a 60 min. introduction how to use machines. I have never experienced that a trainer recommended free weights – except those expensive personal trainers you can book by the hour.

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Cardio versus Weights

People is Japan seem pretty slim…

The Japanese were already slim before the machines were invented. :-)

The typical Japanese diet is/was very healthy – until McD and similar fast food chains became popular in Japan.

PS: especially Japanese women are crazy about weight loss. But we do not talk about overweight women, but slender women with an already low BMI who aim to lose the last ounce of fat. And for this aim they try even the most exotic tools/diets.

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Expensive Vibrating Machine.

You can read in almost all training manuals that
1.) it is important to combine carbs with proteins in every meal
2.) that you should have a snack immediatly after weight training to avoid that the muscles are being reduced.

Topic: Diet and Nutrition / Nutrient Timing?

Sometimes I have real problems to eat healthy during longer trips. Like yesterday evening when I was on the highway for several hours and the highway restaurant I stopped by didn’t offer any healthy foods at all.

For emergency you could take hiph protein meal replacements with you like Met-RX, which only require add water (but I find those meal replacement very expensive), of if milk is available you could prepare portions of oatmeal and protein powder…

PS: I came from a huge two day family gathering, where the food was great (Italian buffet, ca. 10 kinds of cake, whine, e.g.) – except for guys like me trying to lose weight. ;-)

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Exercise and diet on a business trip

Whatever you do, do not eat the meal on the plane if you are upgraded!

Why not?

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Exercise and diet on a business trip

I won’t say that this Labrada stuff is fake, but for the price of the pills you could easily buy a bottle of organic olive oil extra vergine and of organic flax seed oil and combined with other healthy food you would have the same results….

It’s is just a very expensive mixture of fats and vitamins.

Topic: Supplements / Fat Loss Supplements?

I just purchased the Suunto T3c with foot pod. It is a nice watch which received good reviews.

The advatange compared to the Garmin watches is that the Suunto T3c looks like a real watch and I wear it all the time.

The disadvantage compared to Garmin Forerunners is that you’ll have to buy the PC connection separately which makes it more expensive.

I think currently Garmin offers the most value for the buck.

BTW, Polar watches are not cheap neither, but I find the Polar designs much not very attractive and I wouldn’t wear Polar product outside the gym.

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Exercise Tracking Watches

Ok, disregarded.

Topic: General Discussion / Please disregard this post

I think the RDI recommendations for protein are way too low if you want to lose fat and build muscles at the same time.
For example I follow the “Burn the fat, build the muscle diet” by Tom Venuto and his recommendation for a 2.400 calorie diet is ca. 170 grams/6 oz of protein.
You will find similar recommendations in “Body for Life” and other programs weight training/diet programs.

PS: I would add carbs in the morning and after the workout either it is cardio or weight training.

Topic: Diet and Nutrition / Help critique my diet

You could also try using the Galloway method to relieve the aching/damaged parts.
The New York Times had an article about it last weekend.

Three weeks ago I began running again using the Galloway method, and this time I did not have any pain in my hip, like the last time when I followed the traditional method.

Topic: Fitness and Exercise / Leg Injuries from Running

You’ll find a diet which cycles the amount of calories during the week in the ebook “Burn the fat, feed the muscle” by Tom Venuto.

He recommends 3 days with a deficit of 400 calories and one day eating on the maintenace level. But the fourth day is not seen as a cheat day with a lot a bad foods…

I follow this diet since two weeks and I have first positive results with it.

Topic: Diet and Nutrition / day off of diet helps metabolism?