Calorie Counting

[Garts]

My sisters boyfriend a is personal trainer/fitness instructor and he said walking is good but you really need to do over 1 hr at a good pace to get your heart rate up to get any benefit. I was walking for a hour each day (probably just under) and it did not do a great deal for me. When I started running for 30 minutes 5 days a week I noticed the difference.

 

[roopy]

I wondered that but I weigh myself at the exact same time everyday and in the previous 2 hours I had probably had 3 glasses of water. Sometimes I will go 3 days and not lose anything but then all of sudden I lose over a kg. Seems to be how it works with me.

A lot of 'water weight' has to do with how much sodium is in your system - so if you had something salty on one day you would hold a lot more water than on a different day - and the amount of sweat in any day has an effect too (you lose sodium through sweat). There are heaps of other factors, but sodium is a biggie.
The reason they say you should weigh yourself naked when you get up in the morning after having a pee is not only because that is the lightest you'll be all day, but also because that is when you will have the least amount of external factors that could alter the result.

 

[roopy]

A good rule with walking is to get your heart rate 50% above your resting rate and keep it there for 20 minutes or more.
If your pulse is 80 when resting, you need to walk fast enough to get it up to 120 beats a minute.

 

[Kiki]

yah you have to get your heart rate up to really burn fat

 

[roopy]

yah you have to get your heart rate up to really burn fat

50% above resting rate is a good milestone to work on because it is harder to do the fitter you get.
If you weigh 160kg you can get your heart rate up by 50% by getting up to change the tele - but a marathon runner would need to run 6 minute mile pace to do it - so doesn't matter who you are - raising your pulse 50% is about right to be getting you fitter.

 

[JessEel]

When i used to use the machines at the gym, it would flash LOWER HEART RATE at me like i was about to have a freakin heart attack. It was so embarassing when it beeped at me and i felt fine!!

 

[Thomas]

Jess, I suggest ramping up your cardio. Walking for one hour is nice...but aim at 30 minutes of exercise at a higher level of intensity. Interval training is good for this (as in run faster...walk...run faster...walk).

 

[JessEel]

LOL this sounds like me when i try to go for a run anyway!!

run faster...walk...run faster...walk

Thanks Thomas

 

[Thomas]

There's is an official name for it: Fartlek training. Look it up. I find it sometimes more fun to run like this rather than plodding along.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Fartlek is great. When I go for a run I pretend at random points that someone is trying to over take me and speed up for a bit or sprint any inclines.

 

[Kiki]

yeh interval training burns fat super fast, you can pick interval programs on all of the equipment at the gym

 

[macavity]

You can actually do interval training on weights too.

It is what I generally do, using opposed muscle groups - for example, do one set chest fly, then one set seated row, for four sets of each.

.... remember that muscle burns more calories at rest than fat, so you get a big metabolism boost - and I actually get my heart rate up as high as when doing cardio, too.

 

[OhWhenTheSaints]

All good advice here guys.

Interval training works for me because I'd go spare doing just the same thing all the time..... well OK I'd hurt myself somehow truth be told, so I need to break it up.

Weights, eliptical, swimming and walking.
I've always found keeping it up when I've got aches and pains or its too cold to swim over winter is what stuffs me up.

As for calorie counting, agree with studying it hard for a couple of months then estimating is the go. I knew when I got angry at Subway once for only having plain white rolls that I'd probably taken it a tad too far. Hehe.

 

[The Colonel]

I've had some friends have bad experiences on Tony Ferguson shakes, basically lost alot of weight (30-40kg) by cutting calories and almost starving themselves. After they got to their goal weight they stopped the shakes, ate normal and put all the weight back on again and then some.

It depends on what you class as normal I guess. My biggest issue is the fact I work 8am to 7pm on average and of that most of my time is spend behind a desk. I've found now that I am able to exercise with less problems ( a troublesome knee I dislocated 8 years ago and my weight made it difficult).

My wife and I ate 'normally' but it was more the quantity of breads, meat, fruits and vegetables that we ate that was the issue rather than what we were eating. With two young kids we certainly couldn't afford to eat out regularly so it wasn't like we were consuming crap.

Once I have managed to reach my goal I don't see much changing in my diet other than dropping one of the meal replacements and continuing with the shake or bar for breakfast.

 

[Valderon]

It depends on what you class as normal I guess. My biggest issue is the fact I work 8am to 7pm on average and of that most of my time is spend behind a desk. I've found now that I am able to exercise with less problems ( a troublesome knee I dislocated 8 years ago and my weight made it difficult).

Quite simply, if you're sitting behind a desk 12 hours a day due to the nature of your work; you merely need to eat less. Whether you use a "shake" or not isn't the real deciding factor. Of course, you should absolutely have an active break (whereby you stretch, walk, and if possible, lightly exercise); though, if you're barely active then you eat less.

 

[Thomas]

I've started 'counting calories' and upping my exercise and dropped 1.5 kilos last week.

I just started cutting out the small things. Like the Ice Break Iced Coffee I like to have every now and then (393 calories!!!).

 

[Valderon]

I've started 'counting calories' and upping my exercise and dropped 1.5 kilos last week.

I just started cutting out the small things. Like the Ice Break Iced Coffee I like to have every now and then (393 calories!!!).

Spot on Thomas.

That's exactly why counting calories , even for a few weeks , is immensley beneficial .... it allows anyone who does it, the ability to understand the actual energy value of what they're consuming; and how it all "adds up".

For a person losing weight, in the drink situation you mentioned; would replace that Iced Coffee with Water (as water has no caloric value); whereas for someone gaining weight, they'd maintain having that drink (instead of just having water) to increase caloric intake for the same volume of liquid intake.

Good example of your real situation; because it highlights the efficacy of calorie counting; even if to gain a brief / better understanding of what a person's eating during their weight goals / exercise regimens.

 

[Thomas]

I also had a giggle when I typed in my exercise for the morning: riding to work 17kms at approx. 22kmh and it came up with negative!

 

[JessEel]

where are you typing in your exercise Thomas?