A change of pace

[Pork Chop]

Hope this isn't a waste of a thread but I had to take a week off to heal up from overdoing it & picking up some nagging injuries; which gave me a lot of time to think.

The big thing standing in my way of competing is my weight.
Muay thai + weights + crossfit type training + sprint intervals isn't really doing it.
Good ol' fashioned road work would strip the weight right off but my bum leg prevents me from doing it regularly.

I'm thinking of taking a few months off and joining a swim team full time.
I'll still lift and do some sprint work.
I'll pay more attention to my diet as well.
The goal's to drop 20 or 30 pounds, return to training in the fall; work hard for a few months, and hopefully compete in the winter.

The bumps & bruises are really wreaking havoc on my sleep.
I think if I focused on one thing at a time; I'd be a lot more successful.

Any of you experienced guys (and gals) out there think I'm smoking crack?

[Landon S]

Its all diet man, if your working hard and you still have substancial fat your eating the wrong stuff. Its hard to be big if you eat good foods only, even if its quite a bit.

The general rules I follow are: no more than 750ml of milk a day, as little bread as possible, no sweets (aka pop), anything I drink is either water or REAL juice, creamy=fat, no sauces, snack on fruit or veggies (usually fruit cuz theyre tasty), control meat portions (in reality its usually controlled by my wallet), dont eat at least 4 hours before bed unless its really healthy, individually wrapped=usually bad.

The reason for the first two is that bread increases insulin resistance meaning you store sugars as fat easier, and although I cant remember exactly but milk does something similar. I usually only get milk in my breakfast cereals. Oh and the meat thing, Ive done the 1g per lb thing and it just makes you fat..,its for bodybuilders. 1-1.5g per kg of LEAN weight is all you need unless your trying to add muscle, but lean out first

[Pork Chop]

I'm working on the diet.
Up until the last couple weeks it has been very clean for me, and close to your recommendations.
I'll make sure for the next phase of training that it's spot on to your recommendations; thanks.
My gf cooks and has agreed to help.

When I was in high school I used to starve myself for extended periods.
In 2003 I lived off of a bowl of oatmeal with dried fruits & nuts (less than 800 calories a day) for 6 months just in order to drop down to 185lbs (from 240)- of course I was working out twice a day, averaging 15-18 hours a week in the gym.
I just have a really slow metabolism.

Long distance slow cardio is about the only way for me to cut weight.
In the past I did use swimming and it worked.
If I was able to do road work that would probably work too.
If I make it under 200, I can probably add jogging back in, coz my joints should be able to handle it then.

E-mailed the swim coach today and feel good about it.
I think a good 6+ hours of swimming a week would help me out a lot; especially with 2 weight lifting/sprinting sessions a week at an hour each.
When I was in swimming shape it didn't really matter what I ate; of course I'll be going even beyond that.

[Landon S]

....well you dont have to be spot on MY recommendations, Its not like I know everything. Alot of what I wrote is just common sense that sometimes people just need to be reminded of.

But the "rules" I layed out are rules for me, suggestions for you. It is solid advice though and you really cant go wrong. Although all the fruit gets expensive sometimes, berries cost a friggin arm and a leg. At least theres no need for multi-vitamins the way I eat. On that note I failed to mention Fish Oil capsules are good for your mind and can help with weight control. Or just eating a little fish once or twice a week does the same.

BTW dont starve yourself (ie 800 calories a day) it just puts your body in preservation mode and your metabolism slows to a crawl.

[Pork Chop]

Yeah, I have no plans of starving myself again. I mentioned it because I have a feeling that the damage has already been done as far as my metabolism being ridiculously slow.

I take fish oil capsuls every night. There's flax oil mixed in there too. They help my joints.

I love fruits and veggies; I eat them every day.
My girl's Japanese. She doesn't let me go a meal without a big helping of vegetables.
I eat seafood probably more than your average american.
I do skip out on the white rice (white breads as well).

My diet this year has been really clean compared to my past; but I don't deny that I've got a lot of work to do.

I think I'm just getting really excited to swim and getting back into swim team kinda shape.

[Trrmo]

If you have got MS Excel on your computor do a list of all the foods you generally eat. Have a column for grams of protein carbs fat and total calories/kilojoules. Look at the labels on the food you eat or go here to calculate http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/nutrient.htm

roughly work out your Base Metabolism Rate (do a search to find a BMR calculator) this will help you calculate the amount of calories you need to maintain weight for your weight/age/activity level. To lose weight start by dropping 2-300 calories from your BMR level and weigh yourself each morning.

Protein should be around .8 grams per pound you weigh, I weigh 77 kilograms and eat 2000 cals normally 140 gms protein 260 gms carbs 50 gms fat. (this will depend on your goals whether you are trying to gain or lose weight, fat or muscle - I am trying to lose about 2 kilograms, to gain muscle I eat around 2300 + cals)
Regardless of the protein/carb/fat ratio it is overall calories in versus calories out through exercise which will determine if you gain or lose weight.

It is a bit of a pain in the arse to calculate what you eat at first but after a while you will know instinctively. I have fine tuned it now so I know nearly exactly what I need to eat to gain maintain or lose weight. Dont make huge changes or try to lose more than 1 pound or so a week.

I dont worry about timing that much as long as overall calories goals are met for the day.

This works for me.

[Pork Chop]

Regardless of the protein/carb/fat ratio it is overall calories in versus calories out through exercise which will determine if you gain or lose weight.

Not to be argumentative, but I actually don't agree with this statement.
I gained weight for a long time in baltimore (a few years back) when all I was eating was a 240 calorie big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and an 920 calorie serving of buffalo chicken strips in the afternoon - every day, for weeks on end.
Not all metabolisms are equal.

[peewee1460]

like they said above diet is the key to weight. just remember that your body can only put on what you put in it.

[Trrmo]

Sorry Pork Chop, metabolisms are different but I have to stand by my statement that calories (energy you consume) in versus calories out (energy you burn) is what determines wieght loss or gain. If you have a fast metabolism your calories out rate is higher than someone with a slow metabolism. You also need to weigh yourself regularly at the same time (me first thing in morning after ****)

[danny stash]

Hey Po Chop...(eric)

Swimming as you probably know is the least invasive on joints. I too feel as if I can get worn down and need a break. Its overtraining and age. See my thread about the great supplement for joints. I like the idea of totally switching up your routine. The body needs a shock every once and a while.

Good luck,
dan