# fat loss 1st time



## mark1436114490 (Apr 20, 2003)

Hi all - I'd like a bit of advice on how to loose some fat I've accumulated whilst loosing as little hard earned muscle as possible.

I have been training now for almost 3 years and have been bulking for all that time! so as you can imagine my abs are hiding somewhere beneath a layer of fat. I weigh 200lb and I recon my bf is around 25%. I am 26 years old. I train 4 times/week- shoulders and tris/ back/ legs/ chest and bis, usually doing 3 exercises with 3 sets per body part. I eat 3-4 solid meals of either chicken, steak or tuna with mainly basmati rice and veg. I also have 2-3 protein shakes in between, maybe with some creatine.

I need help on diet and cardio regieme as this is all new to me. Should I continue with my balls to the wall weight training then hit a 40 min treadmill session after each gym visit or should I ease off a bit on the weights? Should I add extra cardio ( more than 4 times/week)? I have little idea on weights of protein and carbs I eat so should I just halve the carbs?

Any help would be great

Mark


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Hi mate,

You'd be amazed actually at how many people do find themselves in your position. I know I did. The thing is that you're so focused on getting bigger and stronger that you end up oblivious to the fat thats layering itself on you.

It's not a problem to lose that fat though, with a bit of trial and error it can become very easy to learn how your body works and manipulate your weight up and down.

You seem to be doing a lot right already. The diet looks good, and you train hard. Here's a few quick suggestions on how to cut up a bit:

Diet

1. You are right in that you should cut carbs. They are great for bulking but not so good for getting lean. Try reducing to 75% of your normal amount to begin with. Stick at this for a few weeks then drop to 65%. Another few weeks later drop to 55%. I'd say probably dont go any lower than this. Stick at this for a while then go back up to 100% for a week (to 'reset' your metabolism) then repeat again if necessary. This progressive method is better than going straight down to 55%. If you go down to 55% you'll lose weight for a few weeks, and then stop because your body has adjusted. If you then go below 55% you'll struggle not to lose a substantial amount of muscle.

2. Up your protein whilst dieting to spare your muscle tissue. Lots of people are suprised to hear that protein is even more important whilst dieting than when bulking.

Training

1. Drop your training intensity SLIGHTLY. You cant training at 100% when on a restricted calorie/carb diet and not overtrain. You have to accept that you will almost certainly be a little weaker while dieting also. That's not to say that you should train lightly. The best bet is to cut the number of sets and exercises that you do.

2. For cardio, as with carb cutting, dont do it all at once. If you start out running an hour everyday, once you stop getting results, what else are you going to do? You cant realistically go running twice a day. Its inconvenient and it will lead to muscle loss. Instead start off with just a couple of short cardio sessions a week and build your way up. This way the body has to keep adapting. Perhaps do 2 sessions a week of 20 mins to begin with, then 3, then 4. Then increase the time slightly. Each time your progress seems to slow increase the amount. I wouldn't recommend doing any more than the 4 sessions of 40mins a week. Alternatively, rather than increasing the amount, increase the intensity. When I diet I do 3 weekly sessions of 20 mins on the treadmill. Rather than increase the time I do, I run slightly faster each session and cover more distance. I also follow the Body-For-Life cardio program which is a 20 min interval routine. I'll paste the link in a sec.

Supplements

1. Keep on with the protein shakes.

2. Consider a fat burner such as Xenadrine or Lean System 7. Not only do these burn fat, they also give you energy for your workouts and contain ingredients that help towards preserving your muscle.

Hope that's of some help mate. Best of luck.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Oh, and if you can, try and do your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. If you take a fat burner before the cardio too, that really helps.

This is link to the body for life cardio program I mentioned - http://www.bodyforlife.com/cardio.shtm

Ah, just noticed you're from the west midlands, my favourite part of the country! - I'm moving back up there (plus relocating my business there) in the very near future!


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## robin_3_16 (Aug 27, 2003)

i am from west midlands, i don't find it such a great place though!

i am goinhg to find this advice useful

start my cycle of dbol tomrorow, but after i fifnish i am going to work for a few weeks at keeping the gains, then i need to cut a bit, because i am starting to gain a big belly, and it is catching upto my chest,. a very bad thing, so i need to lose fat, but don't want to lose any muscle thanks for the advice!


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Silentbob, great posts as usual. 

Cardio in the morning is the best. Fat burners in the morning before the cardio is even better for sparing lean muscle mass and burning body fat.

Cutting the carbs while upping the protein is great advice too.

Mark, I would not lose more than 1-2 pounds a week while dieting. You can lose fat faster than gaining lean muscle mass pound for pound.

Fast loss is not better. You will lose lean muscle mass so this is not an option.

Pick a weight and lose this. Weigh once a week (I cant do this) and take your time.

If you lost a pound a week then after 10 weeks you will lose 10 pounds of fat and keep your muscle and chances are that you will not gain it back, unless you go crazy on the food.

Also up the water as this will help with the retention and flush you out and metabolise the extra protein.

Also, eat 5-7 meals a day and this will up your metabolism and you will lose weight faster.

By backing off on the carbs, you will lose some water weight the first week. You cant go by this but you will lose maybe a few pounds the first week.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by hackskii
> 
> *Silentbob, great posts as usual.*
> 
> ...


Thanks Hackskii, you added a few things I missed too.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by robin_3_16
> 
> *i am from west midlands, i don't find it such a great place though! *


The west midlands is a great place! Its one of the cheapest parts of the country (something you cant fully appreciate until you've lived down south!), its got some of the best shopping centres, houses are soo cheap compared to the south, there's plenty of nice areas around, Birmingham isn't far (I much prefer Birmingham to London) and most of the area is pretty modern. You get the best of the north and south together.

I'm originally from the east midlands but I lived in Wolverhampton (right next to the football stadium) for two years whilst at uni, then moved to Telford before going south to take over my gym. We're going to be moving back to Telford in March - great town, great countryside, great houses for good prices. We've been looking at house prices in Telford and we can get a 4 bed house for £120,000 there. Down here that wouldn't get you much more than a beach hut in Clacton!

Anyway, glad you found the advice helpful mate.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Another variation that a buddy of mine did. He cut carbs for 3 days straight, then on the fourth day he ate regular. Then day five he restricted carbs for another 3 days and so on. This way keeps the body guessing.

Also say you are restricting your calories to 3000 a day. Monday you took in 3000 calories, tuesday you take in 2800, wednesday you take in 3200 calories. Over all during the week you took in an average of 3000 calories. Just an idea. My point is to keep the body guessing. Best diet I have ever been on is the zone diet. If you grab the good carbs that dont spike insulin, you will loose the weight and have a nice even blood sugar through out the day.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by winger
> 
> *Another variation that a buddy of mine did. He cut carbs for 3 days straight, then on the fourth day he ate regular. Then day five he restricted carbs for another 3 days and so on. This way keeps the body guessing. *
> 
> ...


Yeah, that's a good and commonly used method. Chris Aceto who writes for Flex and is nutritional advisor to a lot of IFBB pros advocates this method. I personally find it easier to rotate by the week or fortnight rather than the day, but either way is effective.


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

> Originally posted by silentbob
> 
> *Yeah, that's a good and commonly used method. Chris Aceto who writes for Flex and is nutritional advisor to a lot of IFBB pros advocates this method. I personally find it easier to rotate by the week or fortnight rather than the day, but either way is effective. *


Man, I really love this board.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

No kidding, I come to the board to give a little advice and end up learning a ton. I dont think I can add much to what has been posted before. Damn you guys are good. I am going to post a link and I think in my opinion this type of diet is the best. It is the zone diet. It is a 14 block meal for one day. If you are 200 lbs at 25% bodyfat then I suspect you will need to add about 4 more blocks to the 14.

http://www.zoneperfect.com/Site/content/mealplans_7d14b.asp

When I did the zone I got so ripped and kept all my strength. In fact hackskii and I both did it and both of us got lean (not now) and kept strenght.

P.S. Silentbob you are the man. In another post you were talking about Clearance Bass. That guy was around so many years ago. He was really cut and really old. That is why I was so impressed with him. If he could do it at his age then he must be on to somthing. I also do 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week and just bump up the intensity. I think if you just keep your heart rate at a certain number you will be going further and further and not even noticing it.


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## Desdicado (May 7, 2003)

As some o' you guys know I do a lot of research into supplements and what have you.

A few studies I've looked at suggest you should take some protein before a fat burning workout, the studies have shown that test subjects burn more fat if they've taken onboard some protein before running or similar cardio work.

So maybe have a protein shake or even an egg before your run?.


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## mark1436114490 (Apr 20, 2003)

Fantastic guys! Just the sort of advice I was after - Cheers for the comprehensive answers - I shall be ripped in no time!

You are damn right - West Mids is a great place to live - I have been up here for 8 years now, originally from down south (middlesex). I would never go back. People who think it is crap should tell Dorian Yates or Ernie T!


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

to right mate up the west midlands


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by Desdicado
> 
> *As some o' you guys know I do a lot of research into supplements and what have you.*
> 
> ...


Certainly wouldn't do any harm mate. Amino acids capsules might be an even better idea. Probably the main benefit would be that it should prevent any muscle loss, but it could help with the fat burning too.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

> Originally posted by winger
> 
> *
> P.S. Silentbob you are the man. In another post you were talking about Clearance Bass. That guy was around so many years ago. He was really cut and really old. That is why I was so impressed with him. If he could do it at his age then he must be on to somthing. I also do 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week and just bump up the intensity. I think if you just keep your heart rate at a certain number you will be going further and further and not even noticing it. *


Cheers winger.

Clarence Bass is amazing. He's still weight training even now and he must be getting on for 70 - still ripped too. I have his 'ripped' books. He got himself down to 'virtual zero' bodyfat at 40ish (2.4% - any lower than this and you'd be in a very unhealthy state - which is why it makes me laugh when certain pro's claim to be 1%bf). His diet was superstrict - no meat, loads of eggs and salad, few carbs. Not many people could stick to a diet like that for long. He used steroids in the latter part of his competitive days, but got to the 2.4% bf whilst still natural.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Well diet is key. Thanks for the post Silentbob. You ought to just write a book and make some money. Hey Silentbob do you have any pics of yourself? How tall are ya and how much do you weigh? I know you are natural.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Just noticed that question winger.

As I mentioned in a post earlier today, I am currently around 13st (182lbs) and 10%bf which is pretty average for me. I'm about 5ft10. I've been as high as 14st5 (201lbs) at 18%bf (heavier but with no extra lean mass) and I sometimes cut down as low as 160lbs at 7%bf. I enjoy cycling my diet & training, and getting really lean at some times of year and heavy at other times. I was 8 1/2 st (119lbs) and probably about 14% bf when I started training.

I'm not particularly big, but that's not really what I'm aiming for. Stallone's physique in Rocky 4 is my ideal that I work towards, although I have a little way to go yet. Sly was only about 180lbs in that film but looked awesome, proving that you dont have to be all that big to have an impressive physique. I have the same kind of proportions as Sly (and he's a similar height), so I figure he's a good target to aim for.

I dont really like having my photo taken so they're pretty hard to come by. I may have one of me training on venice beach, but thats a very old one. I'll have to have a search.

I would love to write a book. I do plan to at some point, but its finding the time thats the problem. Maybe once we sell the gym I might find time to get it done. If I gathered up articles from my own sites and various others I've contributed to and put it with my research projects and assignments, I'd have almost enough material already. It's just very difficult to justify allotting so much time to something that may never sell or make any kind of return.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

> Originally posted by silentbob
> 
> *As I mentioned in a post earlier today, I am currently around 13st (182lbs) and 10%bf which is pretty average for me. I'm about 5ft10. *


That is not bad weight. I have been dieting and doing cardio and drink to much beer. But I weigh 189 at 5'8". Dont really know the body fat but somewhere between 15-17. I can gain weight like crazy.


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## hackskii (Jul 27, 2003)

Hey silentbob, I would buy your book. Let me know when it goes on sale.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

We will source post it here...........ha ha ha ha.


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## BSF James (Sep 29, 2003)

Cheers guys. If I ever get round to doing it, I'll send you all a copy! I'm seriously hoping to get some kind of book done once I have more free time.


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## winger (Jul 26, 2003)

Silentbob for President!


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## robdog (Dec 2, 2003)

priminister lol silent "w" bob


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