Hello, newbie seeking some advise please!

Hi All,
 
I have struggled with my weight all my life and have spent it forever yo yo dieting however, I have recently decided to take a leaf out of my partners book and start training properly with him. He has very very little fat and is extremely ripped due to his hard work in the gym, which I have now started doing with him (well he is breaking me in slowly having never done weights, only cardio before!).
 
The problem I have is that although looking at him you would think he could advise me of my eating plan, he is an absolute junk food addict/fussy eater and I know that if I ate what he did I would pile on the stones!
 
Where I am getting confused is all the contradicting advise out there!
 
I have invested in Maximuscles Promax Diet which I intend to drink twice a day, but what I am unsure of is what I should eat with it. Maximuscle provide an example meal plan which includes carbohydrates such as porridge/wholemeal bread/jacket pot etc but I recently won a free personal trainer session at my local gym and the PT said that I should cut out all carbs completely if I want to see quick results (I am off on hols in 5 weeks, I know I wont be anywahere near where I want to be by then but obviusly the more in shape I am for then the better!)
 
The other contradiction that I have come across is that in a fitness magazine I bought recently it suggested that I do 30mins cardio first thing each morning, but again, the PT said that this is too much as too much cardio can be bad and actually store fat.
 
Ideally I would like to weight train 3 times a week, cardio I can do as many times as is necessary as I have a running machine & cross trainer at home.
 
Incase it helps with any advise I am 25 years old, 5ft5in, 11stoneish (my weight fluctuates day by day). I dont have a target weight, I would like to loose a bit more but more importantly tone up my wobbly bits!
 
Many thanks in advance!
 
Emma :)
 
 

What do you currently eat?  What is an example days food?

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Leg Press PB 500kg 11/02/10


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Howdy Doody!

As Papa has stated give us an idea of what you eat and when! Yes low carb diets work and you can drop weight quickly but they are difficult and many argue not advisable over a an extended period of time. Remember you didn't put fat on over night so don't expect it to go overnight. By the wat we have similar stats - pretty much same height and weight.....but i've got 15 years on top :0)

It's Just A Ride
http://www.paulgeorge.org/
http://www.youtube.com/elfintan

OMG!!! No wonder you're confused you poor thing!!
 
Welcome to MT by the way
 
For a start I wouldn't advocate leaving carbs out altogether although some people do this and quite successfully. Unless done right it make you feel ill and weak pretty quickly so keep the clean carbs in but limit the amount you do eat as they are very easy to overindulge on.
 
Of course cardio doesn't make you put on fat! What a ludicrous comment!! We put on bodyfat when we eat too much and/or become inactive.
 
A 3 day split and cardio on non weight days would be a good starting point. Aim to do 4 hours cardio per week minimum if you are looking at some serious weight loss for your holidays.
 
Keep your diet clean and eat every couple of hours to fire up your metabolism.

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I try and eat reasonably healthy most if the time (depending on the carb/no carb theroy as I am a bit of a pasta addict), however, I am a bit of a binge eater and will then eat anything and everything I shouldnt in one go. I am hoping that by putting all the effort into training will make me cut this cycle as hopefully I will start to realise with a bit of hard work I can get results (rather than wishing I can have my dream body overnight!) 

A typical day (when being good) may be:

breakfast - large fruit salad with low fat yougurt or porridge

mid morning - apple, green tea

lunch - chicken or low fat cheese sandwich on wholemeal break, low fat yougurt

mid afternnon - 2 satsumas, green tea

dinner - pasta & chicken or steak & jacket, salad

when I am having a bad day gosh, a full breakfast roll, panini/crisps/choc bar, pie & mash and anything else I can scoff in between!

I started Promax Diet yesterday and had a shake (made with skimmed milk and with some strawberries) for breakfast, same again for lunch and then for dinner I had a grilled chicken breast and large salad for dinner. For snacks I had fruit. I am not sure if this is cutting down too much, I dont want to start loosing the muscle I am trying to tone. The PT made me feel like I should vut out the carbs but would I be better off following my 'healthy' typical day as above and then adding 2 promax diet shakes to this.

Bit of a cliche expression with the youth of today, but I am definitely confused.com!

Kitty you said tha much more diplomatic then I would with regards to the PT's cardio statement!!!!! :0)
 
EKA - I'll dig out my diet later and post it. As I said we are similar in height n weight but I can probably guestimate that I carry a bit more muscle but it should give you a starting point. I'm sure others will agree that it is better NOT to use 'meal' replacements and try to eat proper food. Again this will lead to a rapid weight loss but it does not adress cr8p eating habits and once you go back onto 'solids' then you are very likely to regain the weight.

It's Just A Ride
http://www.paulgeorge.org/
http://www.youtube.com/elfintan

This was my starting point.

8am – 1 whole & 200ml egg white, 3 oatcakes & red sauce
10.30 –  100g chicken, veg/salad, drizzle olive oil
1pm – 1 scoop pro pep, 2 rice cake, tsp natural peanut butter 
2pm – train + cardio
4pm –1 scoop  pro pep
4.30 100g chicken, 3 rice cakes, 20g almonds
7pm – 100g chicken, veg/salad tspnb
9.30pm – 1 scoop pro pep & 25g almonds or 1 egg 150ml Liquid Egg White mustard

It's Just A Ride
http://www.paulgeorge.org/
http://www.youtube.com/elfintan

Thanks for the advise all!

I will aim to do my weights on Mon/Wed/Fri and then cardio the other days. I also walk the poochies for about half an hour a day so as long as I sort my bad eating habits out I should get the ball rolling to my beach bod ;)

Many thanks for the diet siggestion, has certainly given me some food for thought! I definitely need to get into the habit of having little and often rather than three larger meals. I dont often actually feel hungry, I just gorge on three large meals as thats what I am used to!

Thanks again, I will keep you posted on how I progress! :)

HelloOo!

Blimey yes, no wonder you're confused!
It is hard when people have such different theories, all of which prob originated from a half decent premis. You have to try and find what works for you.
I'd go insane and so would most around me if I went carb free!
The link below is quite an interesting site, maybe a little high on calories, but show that you definitely shouldn't go too low.

BMR calculation

xx

Be The Change
My Journal

As above. 

Keep your calorie intake lower than overall expenditure.  To maintain my current weight I have to eat 1600 calories a day.  I was consuming about 1000/day but now am around 1100-1200/day and weight training every other day.  Lost a fair bit over last couple months.  You could see if your gym can measure your calorifie maintenance value (that's what I'm calling it - not sure what its called)? 

Not suggesting you cut your calories by that much.  Initially I reduced my carbs significantly but did not do cardio.  You might want to look into cycling carbs?  I have now increased my carbs a bit and doing cardio.

I've been using promax diet (along with a slow release protein), not sure there is anything wrong with protein supplement as long as it is used as a supplement and you are eating the right foods at the right times.  But then I'm male so it may be different.

If you do what you say you will do above you will certainly lose bodyfat.  One more thing write your goals in the present tense.  I have posted pics around the house of the physique I'm after, and above the pics written 'my body'  32" waist, 10% body fat.  Seriously, write your goals down and good luck.

Journal

I think the trainer had a lot of things mixed up. If you do nothing but cardio you can end up 'skinny fat' meaning you lose any muscle you may have, weigh in light and maybe take a smaller dress size but you have no shape. Also if you over do cardio constanly then your metabolism gets used to this, and you either overtrain or end up having to do the same excessive cardio all year round.
 
This is why most peeps phase their cardio through the year - increasing it slowly to keep the body guessing as well as always allowing for something extra, then letting it have a rest off-season.

Dryfit

Making yourself eat small meals more regularly even when you're not hungry does spark the metabolism. Give it 2-3 weeks and you'll soon be feeling hungry when it's time to eat as your body adapts to new habits.

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Im thinking that PT wasnt much of a prize! Not got anything to add that hasnt been said except to avoid the foods that start the binge, mines bread..I just had 2 sandwiches and may have to lock the rest of the bread up, other carbs Im fine, never find myself going back for more poridge! Sounds like pasta is yours, avoid or make sure you measure out what you need.

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