Food, workout routine advise

You have a lot more determination than I do! I'm pretty healthy and fit but I still carry some extra fat on my stomach that just doesn't go away. I'm also female, but still. Here's what I do:

Get up at 5:30, go for a run at 5:45 (used to be 2 1/2 miles, less lately because I run with my mom and she's 9 months pregnant and we go very slow. I'll be on my own any time once the baby comes so I'll be back at the 2 1/2 miles).

I eat either oatmeal with fruit, a smoothie with frozen bananas and strawberries and yogurt and juice, or I'll cut up an apple with sunflower seeds and almond milk and eat it like cereal. I eat this between 7-8 depending on the day.

At work I lifeguard and teach swim lessons so I get a little exercise from teaching. I teach 2 hours a day. For lunch I bring a leftover or a big salad with dressing. For snacks during the day I have granola bars or fruit usually.

I swim on swim team for an hour and a half 5 days a week before dinner. It's GREAT exercise and very rewarding.

Dinner is whatever my family is having. I'm a vegetarian so it always has some kind of veggie or multiple vegetables with rice or potatoes or pasta. Really depends on the day.

And then I'll have some kind of dessert if my family has it - cookies or something.

I get more exercise than most I know, eat relatively healthy and feel pretty good most of the time.

 

Are you trying to put on muscle or are you looking for fitness?

If that's all that's in it, that's not a protein shake . There's next to no protein in that.

 

Do you want to gain muscle? or you looking at maintainning what you already got?

coz then it will be different work outs and diets....

i have a cheat day once a week (with food though, i drink everynight but i gym 5 days a week. and the peepz at the gym love my bod)

i aint cocky just saying the last point coz people would think drinking is bad for your weight but its vodka so does nothing for me... which is great

 

Ethanol is ethanol; vodka has 2.5 times as much energy as an equal measure of white wine.

Alcohol (ethanol) is empty energy equivalent to just eating refined sugar, so it's certainly bad for people trying to lose body fat.

 

is that all you eat? That doesn't seem like much. If you're not hungry then you'll be ok. Just don't starve yourself, which can actually make you gain weight believe it or not.

 

Excess calories from any source will be stored as fat - protein included.
Excess protein (i.e. that not used for cell composition/repair) can't be stored as protein, but it will be converted to glucose and then either used as an immediate energy source or stored as fat.

 

The process used to convert protein to energy-purposed molecules is called deamination.

The recommended amount seems to be about 60-80g per day, however this will increase for people who are trying to put on muscle.
The number that I see tossed around most often for the absolute maximum your body can use is 1 gram for every pound you weigh (or about half your weight in kilograms) - however this much would only be utilised by people doing serious bodybuilding. The amount you need will be between these two limits.

 

Holy hell. That is insane.

I don't have any science-y advice for you, but my brother is working on a six-pack and has completely cut out fruit because of the sugar. He just mixes his protein powder in water, as do I.

If I'm not mistaken, six packs require <15% body fat. My brother is also on the keto diet, which is a low-carb, high-fat, and high-protein diet. After a few weeks your body enters a state of "ketosis" and burns fat instead of glucose for your energy.

Hope this helps!

 

This is waayyyy off topic from what the OP has asked but...

The human body (specifically the mitochondria and the liver) have adapted very nicely over the millennia to metabolize food according to need.

Protein is broken down into amino acids which are then used as amino acids in various processes throughout the body.

Excess protein is processed according to need. If blood sugar is low or if daily caloric intake is inadequate, protein is processed through a process called gluconeogenesis which converts protein to sugar. It's not a simple process, so this is why protein is typically not used as a source of sugar.

We do know that excess protein intake does seem to raise blood insulin levels. We aren't sure exactly why. We do know that increased insulin levels do increase fat storage. There is some interesting research going on about metabolic syndrome where in a population prone to diabetes, increase in dietary protein and fat seems to exacerbate diabetes. We don't completely know why, so the research is still ongoing.

But for the most part, excess protein consumption is either lost via urination of various
nitrogen-based compounds or through the bowel as undigested protein.

Protein is absolutely stored in human tissue and in blood plasma - is it a major component of every cell in the body, particularly muscle cells and it is a major component of serum albumin in the blood.

Back to the original question.

Looking at your diet, it would be fine for a short-term weight loss strategy but for a long-term diet, you're substituting protein shakes for adequate food intake. Humans need fiber and carbohydrate for normal body functions. If you were a vegetarian or if you were doing aggressive weight work to build mass, protein shakes would be a way to get affordable protein intake. But you would be better off eating a lean protein and some vegetables for dinner than relying upon protein shakes as your primary source of dietary calories.

 

Well of course it is used as a constituent component of cells - but that's usage, not storage. It isn't stored in a latent form that can be used at a later date, like energy is stored as fat.

Every source I've seen says that amino acids are converted to carbohydrates and then used as an energy source; whether this means they are immediately used or stored as fat depends on the rest of your diet and your energy needs.

I find it hard to believe that your body would make a regular habit of just excreting protein that it doesn't need. Increased levels of urea in urine after protein consumption are a result of the protein being deaminated and used as an energy source, which produces urea as a byproduct - it's not just the protein being peed out in it's original form.
If anyone is passing protein through their bowel undigested I think that points to some health problems, not that their body is just deciding to not use it because it doesn't need any more protein at the moment.

 

2800 is still more reasonable for someone who is young and active.

You can calculate your requirements here:
Calorie Calculator

We focus too much on diet and not enough on exercise but they are very related things. We get a lot of people who say, "I lost fat and I look but better but I run out of energy late in the day and my workouts aren't producing the results I want". That's often a sign that you need to look at your diet and whether you're taking in enough calories to build muscle.

 

First of all Raptor, you need to eat more food! You should never cheat meals by the way because that slows your metabolism. By the way, you can calculate the amount of protein that you need per day by multiplying your weight by .333 and that is the amount of protein that you need to consume per day. Remember, it isn't that protein that gives you muscles - it is the testosterone that you have in your body. The purpose of protein is to aid in building and recovering muscles; however, contrary to popular belief, you don't need that much for muscles. My advice would be to consume at least 1500 calories per day and keep the fruit and veggies up. Also, 400 crunches is a bit overkill, is it not? Another thing you need is some carbs to help fuel your workouts - try sweet potatoes, as they are a good source of vitamins, and rich in beta carotene. Starches work as fuel for long workouts. Another thing for when you eat salads : Dressing is definitely okay! You can even go the conventional route and use olive oil and salt\pepper\vinegar - just b e sure you don't over due the dressing. Remember, it is the creamy dressings that are bad for you - they contain all the unnecessary fats and additives. Also on your salads try eating half an avocado as a source of good fat; nuts work also.

 

.333 grams...