Man up.
He's so man, there's man to lose.
ORRIGHTY. I'm in a similar aquatic vessel and also looked into this subject for quite a while. Being in a Uni sporting club with a few Phys and Dietary types have helped with many insights that have benefitted me.
So we're all in agreeance that what you put in you need to burn off, and then a little bit more.
Drastic changes to diet tend to be uncontrollable as urges and impulses are very difficult to control. What you cut entirely from your diet you are more than likely to binge on again later.
It can be done if you've great self discipline (most don't), or if you're in an enforced dietary regimine (Peer pressure CAN be a wonderful thing). Still, not reccommended.
Quantity of foods, Quality of foods, Types of foods are critical.
Quantity: This tends to be drummed into us as the be all and end all of losing weight, cut down on quantity = lose weight. Farsical. Will easily do more harm than good to the body. YOU MUST ALWAYS KEEP UP THE NUTRITIONAL INPUT. Your body is always replenishing your innards, stop eating and it will take those nutrients from your body and you waste, painfully, away constantly sick, achey and in distress like you see people in the Hawiian Ironman (this is in the extreme though, so chillax)
It's just really, really wise not to deny the must haves the body needs per day.
Steer clear of fresh blended juice companies or always share it with 3 friends. Boost Juice and their ilk are found to be worse than candy in their sugar contents. Not surprising really when you consider just how much product goes into 1 blendered drink.
Serving portions? Make a fist and put your thumb on the side where the point of the thumbnail is over the point of the 2nd knuckle (side on). Put your fist on the table (palm down). From wrist joint to thumb tip adn half the height to the knuckles is roughly the size of the meat portion to have. Vege: should fit in a single layer on the palm of your hand
Quality: Fresh is best, or with the least ammount of modifying, this includes cooking... do cook meats though.
Cheaparse vege has a higher tendancy to have something not quite right with it which you'd then stick down your mouth. Something wrong with it becomes something wrong with you.
Meats are no different. Butcher/Deli is best as pre-pack supermarket stuff tends to have ingredients to prolong shelf life. STEER CLEAR OF SPECIALS!
Packaged foods. Invest the time to look at the nutritional index on the packet. Low in fat? Whoopee, but not the full pucture, also keep a close eye on Sugars (if you don't burn it the body turns it to fat).
Types: More to do with the chemical interraction and the make up of foods.
Sugarless/Artificial Sweeteners. The concept is brilliant, the execution is pitiful. Longterm exposure to Coke Zero/PepsiMax is not good for you. A) fornicates your Liver and Kidneys B) Still switches on your insulin production [relates to A)], insulin promotes storage of sugars in your muscles, and the body turns the sugars you don't use into fuel you can use at a later date which is fat. So if you sit down with your average meal + a shiny bottle of sugarfree soda pop the Sweetener will basically tell your body to store as much of the sugars from your meal.
Now the body actually does this normally when we eat a food with sugars in it, but the body registers and decides how much it will put into storage, with the sweetener because there is none in the drink the body will grab it from anywhere and will keep on grabbing it until that ammount of insulin produced is sated.
Alcohol. Small amounts, binge is bad, moderation is key. Does have a similar effect to Artificially Sweetened drinks in that when you drink and eat "it goes to your thighs".
Cooking. all undercooked meats and compound foods have their problems, reheated foods more so, especially after prolonged storage.
Storage if you cook it on the Monday and fridge it, try to eat it by the Friday. It goes for all cooked foods really, keep for a week in the fridge, then toss out if not eaten.
Those of you who have ever let pots out for 3 days after cooking will already know that fungus and fermentation will have already taken place. Refrigeration just slows that process down substantially.
Oils. Monounsaturated. Olive, Peanut and Sesame oils are your friends. Even so, when heated during the cooking process they'll still "crack" and become naughty to the body but they'll still be nowhere near as bad as the other options.
Asian foods: I'm including the sub-continent here. Interestingly, the hotter the better.
The key ingredient is Capsaicin. Capsicum (Bell Pepper if you're an Iron Chef type), Chilli, Pepper, Mustard and most other hot spices have it. It promotes the burning of fat. Whether it's through slight increase of metabolism or not I can't remember (I think it is). A fish pad ped is my fave, however you do have to pay attention to the meals contents, mostly oils and creams. MSG is not so bad as long as it's proportional (a teaspoon a dish is fine).
So you be a fan of a vindaloo, but have a gander at the contents and consider what it's take to work off.
Pay attention to when you eat.
Breakfast is a must if you exercise of a morning. Don't exercise, then you only need a light, Low GI, kickstart. (cereal, tea, slice of toast)
Lunch should relate to your physical involvement in a day. Low intensity, light foods. High intensity replenish your carbs.
Dinner replenishes the day and adds a little more to the body to help fix itself during sleep.
IF YOU SNACK DURING THE DAY: it should effect the size of your main meals. People who constantly snack can be the healthiest as long as they're constantly nibbling the right things. If you're a 3 meals a day person AND snack, you need to change your sizes accordingly.
THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO IS EAT BEFORE BED! (this is where most drinkers get fat, especially when you add in the lamb sandwich on the way back from le pub)
Make sure your last meal/snack is about 3 or more hours beforehand
Exercise: Hard n fast burns muscle and blood glycogens (sugars), but not fat. Long periods of medium exercise burns more fat. It comes down to the body having time to convert fat to energy. Stored muscle/blood sugar are immediate souces of energy, fat requires time and oxygen to be converted, so anaerobic training doesn't help all that much, you'll actually only start burning fat well into your cool down period.
An hour of 140-160bpm, or exercising comfortably without heaving for air is what you're aiming for.
So cycling, swimming, jogging, social tennis...
---------- Post added at 02:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:25 PM ----------
If you just want to lose bulk, then it's all about lighter impact with more repetition. So if doing weights, whilst benching 40kgs 25 times will build up your guns, 50 reps of 20kg will give you the toning result. I find resistand bands better as you can also add an aerobic effect with a more explosive movements.
Stretching also helps with slimming.
If you have room for a foam log, grab one. They're excellent at reducing back pain (just lie along it for 10 mins) and getting your shoulders back, but add in some simple actions it works your muscles, massages them and you end up breathing quite a bit at the end.
I don't mind gym balls either, but they take up a lot of room.
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