WCL TALK

Kelly Leo · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Atlanta

Does anyone have any suggestions with Nutrition and/or training tips to lose the body fat? I am always in search of new ideas.

John Jorgensen · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:43 am Post subject:

How much do you already know about nutrition and changing your BMI? That'll be essential for us to know if we're to offer suggestions. I'll start off with some basic does and don'ts.

DO:

Add more muscle to your physique. Of course muscle is good for what we do, it also has another handy tool. When you are just sitting there, your muscles require calories to sustain themselves. In other words, your muscles burn calories during rest which equates to losing body fat.

Eat more protein. Proteins are an essential part of making muscle. Every tissue in your body is made up of protein. Your body stores protein as tissue, not as fat. So the more the merrier there.

Eat less carbs and fat. Though you need carbs for energy, you can reduce them from your normal diet to help shed those unwanted pounds. Your body does need fat to do some basic functions, so just don't eat a lot and you'll be alright. Also remember that your body stores excess fat and carbs as fat.

Limit your cardio and aerobic workouts. In other words don't do 4 hour sessions. After a certain amount of time your body stops burning fat and starts burning your muscles. As said earlier, you want more muscle on your frame, not less. Since cardio and aerobic workouts are essential, limit the time to no more than half an our per session. If you have to do several in a day, that's okay.

DON'T

Cheat on your diet, instead add that "cheating" into your planning and you won't drive yourself bonkers. Most dieters(non athletes) fail their diets because they don't plan for those times where their will power is lacking and the pull of the chocolate chip cookie is strong. So shift something like that into your diet and make up for it somewhere else.

Expect instant results. Changing your body mass index(BMI) is a slow process. You don't want to shock your body but let it adapt. It is possible to lose 20 lbs in a week. Many fighters did just that for weigh ins. They lost water weight mostly. That's not losing fat, and should not be viewed as the same thing. If you do things properly, you won't see a big difference on the scale, only in the mirror and how you feel. Since you are gaining weight from added muscle while losing weight from excess body fat.

Alright a couple more things on nutrition and then we'll see what you're actually looking for.

Do you know how many calories you bring in during a week? Per day? If not, you need to figure it out so you can change it to alter your BMI. This is actually where nutrition as far as losing or gaining weight is simple. If you bring in more calories then you burn, you're going to gain weight. If you bring in less calories, you're going to lose weight. That simple...of course it's easier said then done, but still that simple.

Couple of things to keep in mind.

Proteins are our friends. Our body does not store excess protein as fat, it either uses it or loses it. Which is great all around for losing body fat and gaining muscle. For every gram of protein, you get four calories.

Carbohydrates are more of an associate then a friend while losing body fat. You need these, but fear not, they come in most foods, so you'll get plenty. Your body easily stores excess carbs as fat. For every gram here, you also get four calories.

Alcohol is not your friend. You may think so, but sadly no. Alcohol itself is also a calorie source(didn't know there was four of them?). Your body can use it as energy but it's not a top priority of it. It would rather store it as fat. For every gram you get seven whopping calories(ever wonder why guys get "beer bellies"?)

Fat...well you're trying to get rid of this. So this is your opponent and you don't like each other...it's going to be a grudge match. Keeping it nice and simple, your body needs some parts of fats to maintain certain functions. The rest it doesn't need, so if you don't burn it, it becomes fat. For every gram of fat(saturated and unsaturated alike) you get nine stinking calories.

Okay, there is a super basic overview. I guess we can volley a conversation here to get you want you need to know.

John
_________________
Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

Kelly Leo · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Atlanta

Thanks John,
Good stuff.
I am not sure how many calories I burn in a day or week. I weigh 220 right now and looking to get 210-215 lb. of solis muscle. I feel better at that weight. I am doing better aboput taking in more Protien and trying to watch the bread (simple) carbs, for the most part.
I lift wieghts at lunch time for about 30 minutes fast and in the evening I do my other training i.e. cardio, bag, pads etc... Not sure if that helps, but we can start here.. Thanks for all your comments. Looking forward to seeing you sooon.

Kelly

John Jorgensen · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:59 pm Post subject:

No problem with the calorie counting. It gets pretty laborious. Instead, look at it this way. You know basically what you are going to eat each week...right? Many of us stick to a pretty usual diet, meaning we eat the same thing, week after week. Hopefully I'm in the ballpark on this one.

With this "diet" are you gaining weight or losing weight? Is it muscle or fat? To lose the fat, you have to burn 3.500 calories per pound of fat you want to lose. Yeah, a pound of fat is 3.500 calories strong. You can see why you should stay clear of fatty foods and alcohol now.

Now when you say you weigh 220 and want to drop between 5-10 lbs. I assume that you want drop the body fat but are not against gaining muscle? So the end result can still be 220 lbs?

John
_________________
Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels.

Guy Mezger · Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 40

Kelly (& anyone else)
Hands down one the best strength, conditioning, and nutrition coaches out there is a guy named Kurt Pitman. He is a former world champion fighter himself and pound for pound one of the strongest guys I know. His contact info is kurtpitman@hotmail.com 469 585 0621, let him know what you want. His nutrition counseling is not cheap (about $400), but it is worth it.
- Guy

Kelly Leo · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Posts: 16 Location: Atlanta

Thanks Guy,
I am waiting to sign the 2007 contract before I contact Mr.Pitman. I am very interested in talking to him. I just need the extra money to make it happen ;-)
Thanks again,
Kelly