Fat Loss / Weight Loss Questions and Answers
Q. From SReeves: Hello Bob, I have been working out since September. I started at a local womens exercise establishment. It was not really working for me so I decided to kick it up a bit an start working with a personal trainer at a local gym. He is great and has me doing aerobics 30 min and weight training. I started working with him in November It is now January and I have only lost about 6 lbs. I know you should not judge the loss by the scale and yes, I have lost inches however I really would like to lose some weight. I am eating right about 5 small meals a day reduced fat increased vegies I usually consume between 1400 and 1600 cals a day. I read about your HITT workout and I will try it I just wonder how long it should really take to lose 10 to 15 lbs. I am 5'9" and weight 168 now. I would love to weight 150 but just don't seem to be really moving on the weight loss. Any suggestions or should I just keep doing what I am doing and it will come off?
A. Hello, HIIT training really is the best method of fat loss. What is your current body fat level? If you have a very low body fat percentage and want to lose weight you may have to lose some muscle, which I never recommend. If you have a high body fat percentage then I would say you can lose it with HIIT Training. I would suggest 2 days a week of HIIT and 2 days a weeks of regular cardio in addition to your weight training. You should only be able to perform about 5 minutes of HIIT training when you first start. I am going to write an article on HIIT training right now so that you and others can know exactly how to perform it. Good luck and please report back to me and let me know how it goes.
Q. From Amber: I am 21 yrs old and only a few pounds overweight. I have begun an exercise and diet program and it is working well for me. However, I (and my husband) are very fond of my butt just the way it is now. If I do not target the muscles in that area, can i retain the current size and shape of my butt?
A. Hello Amber, I don't think you should worry about losing your butt. Is your but solid with a lot of muscle or mainly soft with fat? Nothing is wrong with either, but if it is muscle then working the area with weight lifting would retain or ever increase its size. If it is fat, it depends on genetics. Fat is taken from all over the body and it depends on your genetics where the fat will come from. You can increase the muscle in the area to increase the size of the area. Either way you should target the area to help retain its size, but if you only need to lose a few pounds you shouldn't have any problems.
Q. From michele: I have 4 kids and i have a big belly i am size 16 i want to less get in size 12 buy summer and i am in jaunary now friday 3 2003 i started to do my crunshs i will do 25 of them and i will do my legs for 30 times on each legs i will do my leg left it hurt my bottom belly but it is worth it i have no equiment and i really want to do it buy my self i will do all these 3 or 4 times an day now how long will i see an result on my belly and will i start seeing an hardness my body is sore thats i guess is an good sign
A. Hello Michele, Don't expect many results with your current routine. I don't really know what you mean when you say you do your legs. What are you doing for your legs? What exercise? In addition, exercising should not hurt, and if you are performing an exercise that hurts you, than you need to choose another exercise. There are virtually hundreds of exercises you can do to work the same area without hurting yourself.
There is nothing wrong with training by yourself, but it is hard to give you any advice with so little information on your health, abilities, and current level of fitness. The best exercise you could do is some HIIT training at the local track or any field. It is an excellent way to lose fat by itself, but you should add some weight lifting as well. I would say perform HIIT training 2 times a week if you are new to exercising or 4 times a week if have been exercising over a year. Start slow and work up to a full on HIIT routine. See messages below for a description of HIIT training.
Q. From Kaitlin: I want to kno how to lose my love handles (fal on hips and back) because i've tried everything and i am an athlet, but they just get bigger and bigger. Please e-mail me back!I want to kno how to lose my love handles (fal on hips and back) because i've tried everything and i am an athlet, but they just get bigger and bigger. Please e-mail me back!
A. Hi Kaitlin, what type of athlete are you? Do you have good eating habits? Do you currently lift weights? What is you current exercising level? With so little information it is hard to give you a good answer, so I will wait until you send me the above answers and I will give you a better answer.
Q. From
Sonny: I had worked out for the past nine months and at he end I gained
weight and increase 2 inches on the waist. My program was.
4 - 5 times a week
1/2 of cardio
1/2 of weight training.
my goal is to loose my belly and I am fing=ding it hard. I do put a lot of
effort.
Can you suggest something different?
A. Sonny, you say at the end you gained weight and increased your waist size, do you mean you were not working at as much when this occurred because you were at the end? In addition, were you eating good or were you eating a bunch of junk food. You need both exercises and good eating habits to lose fat. One of the problems I see with your training is too much emphasis on cardio training and not enough on weight training. You should have been weight training for about 60 minutes and performing cardio for 30 minutes after nine months of training. Did you employ a periodization schedule of just the same workout for 9 months? If you want to lose fat then you need to do some HIIT training and some periodization training.
Q. From Amber: Hi, I have been doing cardio and weight training now for a little over a month. About 2 years ago I lost over 100 lbs without excercise, due to a personal situation. Now all I have is flab and body fat. I know I can lose it, and I am very determined to do it, but the problem is, since I have started excercising, I seem to notice MORE cellulite on my thighs that I didn't notice before. Is this due to excercising? And will it go away if I continue to excercise? It really bothers me because I do not want my excercising to make my body look worse!!
A. Hi Amber, this is the first time I have ever heard this and I have never seen this to occur as a result of exercising. One possibility is that you are building the muscle under the fat and the muscle is pushing the fat against the skin making it more visible. Do you think you are gaining more fat? Cardio is OK but if you want to lose fat you should concentrate more on the weight lifting and some HIIT training. You can still do your cardio as well. Lose more fat and your cellulite will disappear as well.
Q. From Julie: Would u be able to recommend a good lifting program that encourages fat loss?????
A. Julie, try some HIIT training and some general weight lifting. You can build a program by checking the article archives and reading the article Beginners Guide to Building a Workout. Perform you HIIT training 3 times a week. Good luck.
Q. From Michael: hello i am 16 and weigh 265lbs. is it possible to lose 70lbs
A. Yes, it is very possible.
Q. From Bryan: I am 6ft 1" tall and weigh about 216lbs. I want to lose the love handles and the fat around the stomach. Except for some build up of fat around my mid-section I have a fairly athletic body. Primarily I run..maybe 2 miles a day or everyday. I do a lot of crunches which does build a litle form but it remains below this layer of fat. My question is how effective is running at losing specifically love handles. I have thought of increasing the Running to 5 miles a day. IS there excercises that are clearly more efficient then running for this purpose. Typically what is the most efficient excercise for this purpose.
A. Bryan, the fat in the mid section seems to be the hardest area to get rid of for men. If you enjoy running then by increasing your running will increase the amount of calories you are using which will help get rid of the layer of fat. Since muscle is the major source of utilizing fat and calories, more muscle means more fat utilizing tissue. If you added some weight training to your running routine you should see even more fat loss in addition to some muscle gains. The most efficient exercises are the ones that utilize the most calories which are squats and deadlifts.
Q. From Julie:
I actually just asked u a question previously, but i want to add on to it. I
would like to describe my situation....I am 24, 5'8, about 215lbs. I
am a bigger girl, with very broad shoulders. I was a catcher in
softball all through out college. I am now finding that i am putting
on weight since my exercise has decreased. I do understand that
strength training is a great way to burn fat. I am really thick
through the middle, my back, and i have love handles. I would like to
know what lifting exercises you might recommend, and also what type of a balance
should there be in my carb, protein, and fat intake?? do u also
recommend a calorie target???
Just to let you know i have a goal of 175 pounds...if you need any other info
please let me know. thanks so much for your help and expertise.
A. Hi Julie, For strength training I would recommend any type of resistance training with weights. You can use the guidelines in my article on beginners guide to building a workout to create yourself a workout. As for you protein, carb, and fat intake, you want to try and cut back on simple carbs and hydrogenated fats and oils. As for protein, you need about 1 gram per pound of body weight. If you want numbers, your diet should consist of about 25% - 30% fat, 25% - 30% protein, 40% - 45% carbs. Try to get the majority of your carbohydrates from vegetable and fruit sources. This is close to the zones 40-30-30 diet, but 40% may still be a little high for carbs.
I do not recommend a calorie target, not because they don't work, but because they are impossible to follow. I am currently writing an article that addresses these issues, but I suggest working in phases. First cut out the simple carbohydrates and hydrogenated fats. Try to cut out the sodas, fries, etc, and the butters, and hydrogenated oils and fats. Try that for about 2 months and see if you are heading in the right direction and if so you don't need to cut back any further. Measure your success by using body fat not overall bodyweight.
Q. From Irene: How can i lose around two stone effectively i am 39 yrs old and am around two stone overweight for my 5ft 2inch stature
A. Two stones must be a foreign measurement of weight, at least foreign to me. I am going to take a shot that 1 stone is 10 pounds, so you probably want to lose 20 pounds. How did you come to the conclusion that you are 2 stones overweight for your stature? If you weighed the same and only had 12 percent body fat, would you still think you were overweight for your stature? This is another one of my gripes, using overall body weight to see if you are too fat or unhealthy.
To lose weight overall I would suggest HIIT training about 3 times a week and cardio training about 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Add in some light weight training and watch what you eat and you should have no problem losing the weight.
Q. From Jaymee: I am 13 years old. I weigh near one 126. I want to lose weight. What can I do?
A. Hi Jaymee, do you know what your body fat percentage is? At 13 years old it is not a good idea to try any fad diets or any diets at all. I wouls suggest that you stay away from fast foods, cut out the sodas, and try to slow down when you eat. In addition, you can start exercising with weights. This will help you for the rest of your life and you should not have any weight problems if you watch what you eat and exercise. Don't get compulsive and be aware of eating disorders.
Q. From Takisha: I'm 23, 5'7" and weigh about 115lbs. I just had my second baby about 8 months ago and I started going to the gym about 3-5 days a week. Right now I'm trying to "bulk up". I'm lifting heavy weight and trying to gain muscle, but isn't there any way I can lose the flab around my mid-section from having a baby while I gain? Should I be doing cardio? Also, with my weight and height I feel that I shouldn't do cardio to lose fat because I'm tall and thin, it's only the baby fat I want to get rid of. What do you make of this?
A. Hello Takisha, Finally, a woman who wants to bulk up. Study after study shows that men like women who have some meat on their bones! If you are breast feeding you will be doing yourself a great service and it will use up tons of calories. Since your body is extremely smart, it stores extra fat when you are pregnant for breast feeding. Not only will you benefit from breast feeding, but your baby will also.
Yes, you can lose the flab around your mid section while bulking up. What does being tall and thin have to do with losing fat from your mid section? I wouldn't recommend cardio because you want to preserve your muscle mass, and maybe that is what you were saying:) I would suggest some sprinting and HIIT training in addition to the weight training you are already doing. I think you are after a body like a sprinter, check out some sprinters pictures from the Olympics and tell me if that is the body type you are after. Let me know how it goes and feel free to ask any question you like.
Q. From Terry: I AM TRYING TO LOOSE WEIGHT. I AM WORKING ON AN ELIPTICAL TRIANER FOR 30 MINUTES AND WORKIN ON SOME WEIGHT MACHINES. I TEND TO BULK UP EASILY, BUT DO NOT WANT TO. SHOULD I BE LIFTING LIGHTER WEIGHTS ? AND IF SO HOW MANY REPITITIONS SHOULD I DO ? I WANT TO MAINTAIN TONE AND ENDURANCE
A. Hello Terry it is hard to read typing all in caps, so it may be wise to try and type in lower case rather than upper case. If you can, would you be able to send me some pictures of how you look when you are too bulky? I would be interested in seeing what you and others think is bulky. For strength endurance I would suggest doing 25 reps and up. This should do the trick.
Q. From Joe: Hey Bob, I have a few
questions concerning weight loss/nutrition/muscle developement. I'm a 21yr old
male 285lbs I'm 6'3". I am consideribly overweight, however I am very
athletic and physically active on a daily basis. I want to lose weight, I
realize just how dangerous this extra weight is for my well being. Having said
this I want to express my interest/will to become a healthy person. I want to
lose at least 60 pounds, however I want to build more muscle mass and eat
healthy.
1)What sort of calorie/carb intake should I be following to achieve my goals.
2)Also what kinds of foods and nutritions should I follow also while trying to
build more muscle?
In short I'd just like to become lean, healthy and a muscular power house.
A. Joe, sounds like you know what you want! Just because you are slightly over weight doesn't mean you are unhealthy, just as being skinny doesn't mean one is healthy. It sounds like you are very active and healthy. If you have a lot if extra fat you will see an extreme change if you lose only 10 pounds of fat and gain 10 pounds of muscle. I will quit blabbing and answer your questions:
1.) The first thing to do is to see your current eating habits and see if you are currently losing weight, gaining weight, or maintaining your weight. If your are currently maintaining your weight with your current eating habits then you should look to cut back on your fat and carbohydrate intake slightly. Start with small cut backs and increase as needed. There is no way to really tell you how many calories you should eat a day since everyone has different a metabolism (plus I don't believe in counting calories anyways).
2.) If you are building muscle you need to make sure you are getting enough calories and protein. This is where it gets difficult, you can do four days of high calories followed by 3 days of low calories or whatever scheme you can come up with. If you concentrate on building muscle you can increase your metabolism and lose fat at the same time. Make sure you are getting enough protein and cut back on your fats and carbs and you should be successful. P.S. By performing HIIT training, you will be able to lose fat and keep your muscle. In addition, HIIT is a very good fat loss method.
Q. From Cindy: hi bob. on your last response to my question you told me that 300 crunches a day is really bad. the problem is i dont understand why. i want to get ready for the summer, especially around the abs. so i assumed that doing crunches would help me get that cut. please help me. thank you.
A. Hi Cindy, yes I can recall that question and what I said was that crunches are a poor exercise for fat loss. Since you do not burn many calories performing crunches it is a poor exercise if your goal is to lose fat. If you want to burn a lot of calories try performing squats and deadlifts. Instead of performing 300 crunches you should try some weighted crunches and ab work. If you have a layer of fat over your abdominal muscles, you will only build the muscle under the fat and you will not be able to see your six pack. In case you don't know, it is impossible to spot reduce fat, so maybe that is what you were thinking. I hope I made it a little clearer for you. If not, please let me know.