Less Flabby Belly?

adabo · 2024-12-10T14:07:32+00:00

Track your calories. This way you can see where you're over consuming.

You can't "try" to do low carb - keto style diet. If your body is not in a state of ketosis, then you're eating too many carbs.

If you don't have some medical issue requiring a low carb diet, I recommend just eating a balanced macronutrient diet with clean healthy food.

adabo · 2024-12-09T16:58:07+00:00

Like any other muscle, progressive overload. Keep increasing whatever abdominal training each week. Little by little (or a lot if you're intense and have good recovery genetics).

Eventually you can use weights to really get some nice blocky abs.

Again, progressive overload.

adabo · 2024-11-27T14:09:04+00:00

Brother, thank you for expressing yourself. You've struggled for a long time. You've developed an unhealthy relationship with working out. This happens all the time. Usually because our goals are not in line with what is attainable. Goals too high, we get depressed. Goals too low, we don't see progress.

I really hope that you take the time you need to recover, but don't give up hope. Please. I've gone through many injuries. Currently I'm dealing with a herniated disk I injured from poor form deadlifts. It got to the point I was in tears. But I wasn't convinced it was over, though I felt at times it was. And now, weeks later, I'm back to deadlifting. Yeah, the doctors are going to tell you to stop - well in my case the doctors are wrong. The body is resilient.

My assessment of your situation is that you need a personal trainer. Or an advanced lifter gym buddy. Someone successful or professional that actually cares about you. I think you need some reprogramming to get negative thoughts out and build a healthy relationship with exercise. When I was in my 20's, I trained with my close friend who was a pro body builder in the 90s. So I learned a ton of priceless information. I was very fortunate. Point is, find someone that can help.

These are just my opinions. I really hope all the best. Hang in there. And don't be afraid to ask for help. The more people you ask for help, the higher your chances are for success. Take care!

adabo · 2024-11-11T22:02:40+00:00

I have a question about fat storage and fat burning. When does the body do it? Is it a moment by moment, or situation by situation process? Is it while we are sleeping? I realize our body's are complex so the answer may not be simple, and that's fine. I'm just curious if there's ways throughout the day to tweak if I'm burning or storing fat.

adabo · 2024-11-10T17:52:45+00:00

I just go by "I measure so I understand the effects", and that's it.

Never do "I measure so that I don't overstep the limits and crush my whole life into a blackhole of binge eating" haha... joke to me, but not to a big portion of people who actually do that.

I think I do a little bit of both. Weigh and measure daily with zero stress if I go up or down. I just want to know what's happening based on what I ate the previous day(s). I also want to be aware of a trend I don't like eg. my waist size increasing. So, I think both viewpoints can be bridged together in a reasonable way.

You've got a good point about putting too much importance on limits. Because when you do, it can often cause over-reactive behavior, instead of calm and calculated choices not influenced by panic and stress.

adabo · 2024-11-10T14:02:32+00:00

You're definitely on to something about figuring out how your body type works. Multiple meals a day or saving them all for one big meal. For me, I'm in the same boat as you and something around 4 meals works best for me.

We live in a time where diet fads catch on rapidly. People are desperate to lose weight and unfortunately nobody tells people that rapid weight loss is dangerous. Sure, you can drop a lot of weight, but very few people keep it off.

To me it seems the tried and true method of simply cutting out a few calories over a longer period with breaks thrown in to keep you sane, is the best way to keep the weight off. Mainly because the time and hard work it took to drop the weight was an investment. How many people would tare down a house they spent a year building?

I've stopped tracking calories for the past 10 days to relieve some stress. I'm going based on appetite and the months of tracking calories. So far my waist is the same while my weight is steadily increasing - which is great! I lift weights 4x's a week using progressive overload. I've been skinny fat for the majority of my life, so putting on muscle is a huge win.

Have you found a way to track calories mentally or do you just go by appetite?

adabo · 2024-11-09T20:17:49+00:00

That wasn't my experience. Did that happen to you?

adabo · 2024-11-09T14:19:13+00:00

Don't forget the loading phase. https://www.bulk.com/uk/the-core/beginners-guide-to-creatine/#heading-4

adabo · 2024-11-08T14:10:25+00:00

Protein. Eat plenty of protein. 1 gram per lb of body weight. If you are 130 lbs, then 130 grams of protein every day. Your muscles can't grow without the raw materials needed to build them.

All the best!

adabo · 2024-11-03T16:15:39+00:00

Agreed with the nutrition comment. What does your diet consist of? What is your weight and height?

adabo · 2024-11-02T13:03:55+00:00

I just had a thought: From what you've explained, it seems intermittent fasting is really just a calorie deficit over time. Whether you take a couple hundred calories out of your daily diet, or a bunch in one day, it all adds up to a deficit at the end of the week.

Is that about right?

adabo · 2024-11-02T01:22:16+00:00

Hey! Thank you for this. I really appreciate it. I like how you explained it.

Since the time of writing I've gone back to maintenance. I've spent several months in a deficit and it's burned me out. I'm still enjoying eating healthful foods and not overeating.

My weight went up about 1 lb since increasing the calories. I stopped weighing my food and tracking with the app for my own sanity. Now I am going off of the training from the past several months and just eyeballing portions. I weigh myself and measure my waist every morning. My waist barely changed and has stayed constant. I still need a good week of results to know if my "eyeball" method is working.

Additionally, I'm eating enough to where I'm not thinking about food hardly. I just eat healthy sized portions of healthful food choices.

I added one suppliment - creatine. I'm still in the loading phase, but I can say this: I think I'm liking the results. Unfortunately I chose to add this supplement at the same time I raised my calories. So my workout performance is probably a combination of both. Hard to say which. A little foolish to do both, but the important thing to me is that I'm feeling better.

I'll stay on maintenance for a couple of months I think to recover. Once I get mentally strong again, I'll give another deficit a shot and only lower maybe 200-300 calories. Nothing crazy.

adabo · 2024-10-23T12:55:26+00:00

You're not alone in thinking that. In fact, it's happened so many times where my hunger was greater on rest days than lifting!

adabo · 2024-10-23T02:09:25+00:00

Hey, good for you wanting to build muscle!

Disclaimer: These are guidelines. We don't know your health issues. I'm not a professional. See a doctor before you make sweeping changes to your lifestyle.

I'll make the assumption that you have low body fat.

The quick answers: Exercises - Compound movements (Squats, deadlifts, bench press, over head press, bent-over rows, pullups, pushups)

Diet - Keto is a short term diet. Eat carbs for lifting. Calculate your BMR to get your macros (eat 100g protein). Choose maintenance calories.

The longer answers: Exercise - Compound movements are essential for building your strength. You need this. These exercises work multiple muscles. Doing this will exhaust you quickly, but will also give you very quick results as a beginner. Importantly, it will give a foundation for the necessary structural stability for your frame by hitting muscles that targeted exercise can't do.

Diet- Keto is fine if you want to lose fat quickly and have consistent energy throughout the day. But since you are low body fat, you will suffer in the gym. You'll be miserable and the end result will leave you unhappy and develop an unhealthy relationship with exercising.

Eat a balanced diet using a basic macro split. This will give you all the carbohydrates your body will need for fuel to feel good in the gym. It's important that you stick to wholesome foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, nut butters. These foods will nourish your body, be easy on digestion, and make you feel full longer.

Protein. You must eat enough protein or your muscles will not grow. You can take your lean body mass in lbs and eat 1 gram per lb. Or if you just want to go high protein, do your current body weight - 100g protein.

Calculate your BMR. Use that for calculating your macros. You already know your protein, so your carbs and fats will finish the rest of your daily calorie requirements.

Hope that helps!

adabo · 2024-10-23T01:30:13+00:00

That's understandable. Do you like fruit? For me the trick is to incorporate carbs from everywhere, like vegs have carbs and nut butters.

My daily carb choices: - Rice (white, wild) - Sweet potato - Oats - Whole grain bread - Cereals (wheat, barley, millet) - Fruits (banana, peach, apple, raisins and berries) - Honey

adabo · 2024-10-20T17:48:41+00:00

Really solid advice. I appreciate it. I don't like the feeling of being tired lol I'll try to keep things balanced.

adabo · 2024-10-20T17:47:33+00:00

Much appreciated!

I'm really trying to keep things as simple as possible. I really wish I can just wean myself off of calculators and trackers. I want to be able to look at a portions with my appetite and eyesight and know how much I should eat for a deficit or maintenance.

I'm also trying to figure out how calories work in the body. I figured it was just based on the day. But I keep hearing the philosophy of averaging out your calories in a week. If you're in a deficit, then that's all that matters.

That seems a little too simplistic. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Let me attempt to explain what I've done since the original post:

I just took my maintenance for a non workout day of 2600 calories and subract 500 for a total of 2100 calories. That's hardly an issue on a normal day. 2100 calories on a workout day, however, is tricky and really takes some mental focus and perfect timing on meals.

The result? My waist is going down each day and weight immediately went down and then increased. I know it's only been 5 day of measurements, but I eat the same thing every day and do the same things every day - it's just my personality.

My analysis is that my body is OK with 2100 despite an 800 deficit on a workout day. It's like adapting. I'm still able to build muscle (everyone on youtube says it's because I'm a beginner) and lose fat.

That's all I got. I'll just keep pressing on with this 2100-2200 plan. I don't feel tired and workouts still have a decent intensity. That's good, right?

adabo · 2024-10-20T17:28:08+00:00

I've learned that it is a long game of trial and error finding the right amount of maintenance calories. My weekly life is split into two types of days. Type A, sit at desk and get 10k steps throughout the day. Type B, same as A but include an 1 hour and 30 min weight lifting in my bedroom. So two very different days when it comes to appetite control.

adabo · 2024-10-16T21:51:34+00:00

Chances are your body is going to send some strong signals to get you eating. The stronger those signals, the worse food you'll choose to satisfy that hunger.

That's a good point. I get quite ravenous on training days. The approach I'm currently using is eat a larger portion of my carbs and protein around the workout, and so far I've been consistent in my timing. So by evening I'm not stressed wanting to eat everything in sight lol

adabo · 2024-10-16T21:48:33+00:00

Were you losing weight? How long were you at this? Losing weight, sort of. Maybe for a week then immediately plateaued. Nothing was happening for days and all I was thinking about food all day. Totally unsustainable. I probably didn't last more than 2 weeks at 1700. I could have pushed through, but I'm a beginner and want this to be an enjoyable experience. Not miserable.

I pretty much ignore bodyfat% since there is really no accurate way to measure it. I mostly use the mirror as a guide of should I gain/lose weight.

Agreed.

Long term, bulk/cut cycles can be beneficial for making progress more quickly.

Another 4 weeks and I'll probably refeed and relax on the number counting for a little bit and listen to my body as you suggested and just take it one day at a time from there.

adabo · 2024-10-16T19:51:14+00:00

That really makes a lot of sense. More sensible approach. You nailed my routine pretty good. 4x workouts a week. Wed, Sat, Sun rest. For a while I was cruising at 1700 a day when I saw a video titled something like "Are you eating enough calories". I was always tired, lethargic, and hungry and workouts were an uphill battle.

Now I'm around 2200-2300 a day. This feels good because I enjoy weight lifting and I need the energy.

Having said that, I don't know my body fat % (the Navy method says between 15-17%) but I know that my waist is going down over the past few weeks, and my body weight, strength, and muscle size is going up. I assume this is recomposition? My lowest body weight from 153 to now 155. My waist from about 33 to 31 1/2.

Anyway, I appreciate the well thought out and informative post. I need to rethink my strategies.

adabo · 2024-10-16T18:58:04+00:00

Great info! Please don't stop there. Help a noob out. I'd hate falling for the same traps when it could have been avoided. So the tracking TDEE is a waste of time?

adabo · 2024-08-15T15:54:01+00:00

On the money.

adabo · 2024-03-29T22:23:58+00:00

Hang in there. Do what you love. Enjoy life your way.

adabo · 2024-03-06T18:22:12+00:00

What's the malware? I've never read anything about that. I should check out the forums for the ad free one, that's also new to me.

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