Any fitness/nutrition guru's here?

[marco_1978_spyder]

Just thought I'd try to tap into some of the collective wisdom here on the H body site. I'm thinking there's people here who are seasoned in other important thing's outside of the H body realm.

So I'd like to hear some input on my nutrition/fitness goals.

Who here is currently trying to lose a spare tire? You can identify me in the monzaque photo's by looking for the guy with the full size spare tire. (his monza has the space saver)

Anyone working to try to lose their's, or have an opinion on a direction to take? or a what to focus on?

What I know is this..

1. I need to build muscle mass to burn more fat.

2. I need to eat the right food's...in the right proportions and times < input please. I'd eat sushi always if I could afford it. Any and all opinions welcome.

3. Do lot's of ab-crunch exercises.

Is that incorrect? anything else? I have a gym membership.

Thanks for any and all inputs!

[cjbiagi]

I lost about 50lbs about 2 years ago and managed to keep most of it off. I am certainly no expert on fitness but in my case I had to lower my blood sugar so I cut way down on carbs, sweets etc. It wasn't my intent to actually lose weight but once I started eating a bit better it came off pretty good. Went from about 200 to my low of about 150. I am up maybe a little bit now but it helped my waist size and I am trying to keep it there. No more bagels in the morning ( I hear those are very bad, who knew?) just a bowl of cereal. I have a half sandwich on whole wheat bread (stay away from the white) along with some baby carrots and a piece of fruit. For supper I eat whatever my wife makes but since she is diabetic she always makes something healthy. After that maybe a bowl of cereal at night. It's just common sense type of stuff, not easy to do in this world of fast food but get used to reading labels and know what to look for. I do 500 crunches a day which helps tighten the stomach muscles a bit. I had to work up to that level but do what you can. If you belong to a gym I am sure there is someone there who could guide you better than I can, but just stick to it most of the time and you'll be ok.

[HI WINDING MONZA]

Go work on a farm , I went from 212 ( truck driver) to 174 ( farm laborer) in 10 months over here. ( which means = get a physical job and eat all you want)


Doug In P. R.

[Monza Harry]

Marco you forgot to mention your shirt colour or some other distinguishing marks when referring to the "MonzaQue pic's" So to help out identifying the participants, I'm the pasty White guy in the yellow shirt at a svelte #240, (basketball with legs) and my see food diet (if I see food I eat it) isn't going to help you any more than it is me! And I've recently cut way back on my food intake to help my blood sugar levels and something in my blood work (Kidney function Way Bad) and all it has done is make me Angry & Hungary! Harry

[NVEGAR8D]

Hi Marco,
The best advice i can offer is being active cutting down on breads and cutting down portion size.The biggest is activity. At the Monzaque last year i was in the 220# range and i'm down to 200 due to more activity i think alone.
nick75vega

[bugdewde]

I took a bit of interest in the topic when my dad was diagnosed with diabetes.... and I was wanting to gain weight! But I really got involved in it when I had to write a research paper on the subject for a college paper.
There are many varied approaches to weight loss and they all work to some degree because the intent is basically the same...... starve your cells from taking in glucose and make them metabolize your stored energy reserves (mostly fat but also muscle).
Common methods are simply reducing your intake of calories, exercise and flat-out fooling your body(using various fad diets). There are scientific approaches using enzymes, hormones and other substances as well as spiritual approaches- just depends on what works for you.
There are too many to list..... but realize they all boil down to one thing.
<<<Burn more calories than you take in.>>> Period. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Doesn't matter if it comes from a banana split or a sack of carrots, too many calories make you gain weight.

Obviously, if you burn 1500 calories a day and eat 1501 calories..... you gain weight. Eat 1499, you lose weight. Carrots or banana splits.... it don't matter.
The trick is to do it effectively and not starve your body of it's reqired nutrients. That's the hard part.
Lose weight too fast, your body will react and gain it back.... plus 10%(in anticipation of the next drought). The body is amazingly good at maintaining it's equilibrium... it's taken years to build up and has gotten used to it .... it will not be happy when you starve it. You have to re-train your body (fooling it will only work temporarily as it is really smart). Willpower goes a long way in this fight.
It's about getting the required nutrients you have to have in order to maintain all your enzyme and hormone production and restrict calories to the cells.
Seriously, the best source I've found on the subject is a book called "Nutrition for Dummies". Those corny self-help books that are everywhere. Easy read and explains things in layman's terms that aren't too over my head. I highly recommend it. Prob can find it on ebay for cheap!

Exercise is also another debate. There are several camps on targeting one specific fatty area(like belly fat). Some say crunches direct some fat burning to the nearby areas, thereby reducing belly fat quicker. Others say it doesn't target belly fat, but say crunches is effective at getting more calories to burn overall so they are good exercises.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Thanks! Lots of great insight!

[monzabug350]

Like Sean Connery said in the movie "What are you prepaired to do?" some words of wisdom Ive seen: "If you are overweight your dog is not getting enough exercise" "Eat anything you want...jut dont swollow" Read lables,talk to people who are in your situation(oh, you are doing that here) Just like building your H body,Make a plan and stick to it,In time you will end up with shape that compliments your car. Here is a visual to motivate you...6ft 5,289 getting into or out of a Dodge Viper. Good luck