Androo's fat-bustin' thread

[Androo]

Well ok. Woke up today tired, freezing and feeling like shit on a stick. Surprisingly I did manage to get to the gym. Workout was only average except for a couple of high points on leg extensions and calf raises but basically was a tired, unenthusiastic vegemite this morning.

We had a morning tea at work this morning. I was quite good and stayed away from the crap...well..mostly...had a couple of party pies but kept mainly to this asian spicy beef dish that someone brought in. Man, that was nice!

Had lunch with some friends at the club just down the road from work. Got the small roast beef with potato and veg. Meant to ask for no gravy but forgot. Got a side salad too but didn't managed to fit that in with the roast.

I'm amazed at how LITTLE I need now to feel full. It's definitely a learning process not only for me but for my friends who usually eat about half as much as me. This time it was the other way around.

Sundays are my off-diet day and by now I'm usually absolutely aching for that but at this point I'm doing really well. I'm actually considering not having an off-day and keeping up the plan. I remember my first off-diet day. I was planning what I would eat for three days. I went nucking futs . I ate everything in site...twice. Felt like crap for days afterwards lol. Now my off days a more 'refined'. I'm reasonably sensible about what I stuff in my mouth but go for taste over anything else so I might have sauce or salt or something where I otherwise wouldn't on another day. Whatever I choose to eat over the Sunday I have always started with a steak sandwich for breakfast. This week....meh....I might give it a miss.

With my first week back on the wagon almost at an end, I'm not feeling too bad at all. I even feel like I've lost a kilo or two more. Sunday morning weigh-in will tell all though.

[Rusha]

This is pretty awesome Androo. Those work events can be killers. I have a planning day on Wednesdays and not only does it run into my gym time but the fuckers will have ordered everything i shouldn't eat.

Sounds like you are feeling a lot better and stronger so its all good. Maybe compromise on the cheat day and just have a cheat treat.

[KromTromeggadom]

Yeah, I personally DO NOT recommend having a complete off day to your diet. You've got to remember that this is a lifestyle change and by having a complete off day, you're going to prolong your cravings for foods you shouldn't be eating.

I know its difficult but I used to crave the taste of foods I shouldn't be eating. However I got pissed off and dieted strictly for 2 months (not 1 cheat meal) and as a result my tastes have completely changed. Now tasty to me is nice plain broccoli, plain tuna as I enjoy the actual flavour of what I'm eating. Every time I think of burgers,pizzas or anything with artificial tastes I think YUK! I don't feel depressed or anything as a result and in fact I feel better than ever! (I've never depleted my carb intake as I'm not preparing for comp or anything although I do cycle amounts between training and non training days) I still eat clean week in week out (The only exceptions I've made have been 21st parties and Christmases as I've always gotten too pissed to care which for some reason always makes me crave for things I shouldn't have - hell, beer still makes me feel like smoking a cigarette even though I haven't done so for two years!) Although I do like the occasional scoop (or two) of ice cream when I'm feeling down

However this is just me as I have a knack to take things to the extreme, its just in my nature. As for you, I recommend to just have a cheat meal as Rusha said and NOT a cheat day!

Although, I do acknowledge that you are a bit older than I and change can be much more difficult. So rather than take the extreme route (I'm sure you have more things on your hands to worry about than I do to deal with all the hassles of this method) just make sure you did better than last week and make this your goal every week. This way you at least know your making progress.

All in all, your doing very well mate, keep it up! You are doing the right thing by playing it by ear and seeing how your body responds in regard to your macronutrient intake. Everybody is different!

[azzah]

Hey Krom, I've never taken up smoking full time but I fucking love cigarettes when I drink - its the only time I like them. Weird, huh?

Androo, I've always battled the bulge too. The only way i've gotten my weight down is to really get hooked into HIIT (which took me a few months but now I run up hills) and drastically cut calories. People always say don't cut too much, but I just found if I had a few days when I cut drastically (like about 1400 cals) and exercised, the fat dropped of pretty quick, but if I didn't, I only lost about 0.3kgs a week. After three days I would raise my cals a bit but also do a leg workout or something.

I think people who are more naturally lean but are fat just because of the huge quantity of food they eat (and some people eat shit loads), well its okay to only cut cals a bit and exercise. For those of us who are more naturally prone to put on fat and have slower metabolisms, I find that shocking the body works best. One advantage is I can put on muscle relatively quickly!

I would be intersted in what other people's experiences are.

[Androo]

Thanks guys very much for your replies. I too have come to the conclusion that a cheat day is too much. I agree with you that it's a lifestyle change and not a temporary thing. I kept this in mind when I weighed in this morning. 105.9kg which is up 0.8 on Monday.

I thought about this while having my cheat meal for breakfast (Steak Sandwich). It was too big and I couldn't finish it so the dogs had a good meal lol.

I'm not that worried about the weigh-in although I would have liked it to be less :-) I'll tailor my meals a bit more (change carbs from rice to potatoes). I'm not keen on reducing my food intake just yet. I think it's pretty good but I need to be more strict with it. I'll also alter my training. I'm going with Squats as the major leg exercise this week rather than the leg press. Squats nearly kill me so I figure I'll burn a few more cals that way.

Edit: Oh...I have a mate's birthday this Saturday. We're having it at our place. Just a small gathering. He is Indonesian so it's going to be a huge Italian meal with bolognese, spaghetti, soup and of course, cake etc etc. Figure that one out lol. I decided to make that my weekly cheat meal but I'm going to cook my own wholemeal pasta to go with the bolognese lol

[Rusha]

Happy to help. I know you know that its often best not to look at the scales. Or look but don't consider (that takes alot of mental retraining). I can be feeling great about myself, step on the scales and nothing has changed. Stressed me for a while but you can't lift weights and expect the scales to drop dramatically can you? Hope not as i drop a kilo every two or three weeks or so. And yeah, I was told legs are the way to burn calories/fat. This true?

[Androo]

Happy to help. I know you know that its often best not to look at the scales. Or look but don't consider (that takes alot of mental retraining).

Absolutely. I'm totally fixated on what the scales say.

Stressed me for a while but you can't lift waits and expect the scales to drop dramatically can you?

Excellent point :-) Upping the weights at the gym and lifting intensity is going to grow more muscle so 'weight' loss may be slower but 'fat' loss could keep going, assuming diet is in order.

[Dedication]

Hey ANdroo..

SOund slike your doing yourself wonders... waist measuremnts changed yet.. it helped me heaps getting me wife to help me with measurements. Really helped me keep my chin up while dieting...

[Androo]

Hey ANdroo..

SOund slike your doing yourself wonders... waist measuremnts changed yet.. it helped me heaps getting me wife to help me with measurements. Really helped me keep my chin up while dieting...

Not sure. Will have to check. I got them taken late last year and not since then though.

[Rusha]

Yeah measurements are the go. And i shouldn't post when im in a hurry to leave for kids soccer. Waits LOL.

Use the scales as just a rough guide. They are so subjective ie fluid, time of day etc.

[Androo]

Week 2 of Androo's 'back-on-the-training-wagon' began in earnest. Got to the gym nice and early planning to stick to the same weight this week but increase intensity.

That translated into holding for that extra second or so between reps. Nearly killed myself and felt great afterwards but I think somehow I've managed to bugger up my lower back. Might have been the Seated Rows. I'm sure I'll survive

Gotta tell you though, there was this girl there at the gym this morning. Wow. Really beautiful. I mean heart-meltingly beautiful, like nice china vase you want to wrap up and not allow to get damaged in any way. A red-head too. Yowsers, I'm a sucker for red-heads. Bloody hard to keep my eyes off her and my mind on what I was doing

Diet-wise today - all ok. No real issues with hunger.

[Rusha]

Andrew how are you going with 'stuff'?

[Androo]

Total shite. Had to suspend my gym membership. Full time work took over (lots of Tenders came out) plus I had a heap of web development/hosting work come in in the last few weeks as well. I'm working from 4.30am through to 9pm almost every freakin day.

Case in point: The mrs shook me awake at 6:10am this morning "it's late - you need to get to work".

Thank God I love what I do else I'd go insane. I do however (mostly) retain my sense of humour and sunny disposition.

[dohes1984]

Case in point: The mrs shook me awake at 6:10am this morning "it's late - you need to get to work".

Ouch! On a Sunday morning. That is brutal mate, I feel for ya.

[Rusha]

Lucky you do love what you do. Geez.

You'll get back into it when your work slows down.