When, and if to add fat burners? Diet check..

[Ashley1980]

Was wondering how and when I should add a fat burner? I hear a lot of people take them, and I see them advertised in every fitness I read. If you are eating less calories than you are burning, wouldnt you lose weight, even without them? Will a fat burner help give me energy? Do I need to be doing a lot of cardio? I am going to include what I ate yesterday, please tell me what I should add (or take away) from my diet ...

Egg whites, Turkey sausage, 1/2 english muffin w/ tab of butter

Sm. Skinny latte (skim milk & sugar free vanilla)
apple
Few peices of Beef Jerky

chicken breast
one slice low fat pepper jack cheese
steamed broccoli

Chicken
spinach salad with cucumbers , onion, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoe
fat free italian, (will sometimes use sweet onion from subway)
(I use very little dressing, I dont measure, but even my husband will ask "can you even taste the dressing??)

hot coco w/marshmellows (blah!)


Im trying really hard to include protien in just about every meal/snack I eat. I feel like I usually eat pretty good...until the evening. I dont know what happens but I seem to have no self control and I will eat something sweet if its around (like the coco..which I wouldnt have bought, but the hubby and kids BEG for it now that its getting cold) or if were out and about and hubby buys snacks for him and the kids I can't seem to say no...

I realize I have to work on that...but if I take out the pm "treats" what adjustments should I make? I have read to build muscle I need to bulk, but Id really like to get rid of the fat I have first, about 10lbs. Would love some input!
Ashley

 

[Blondie85]

Welcome! What are your current stats? And what is your cardio/weight training routine?

 

[Ashley1980]

Hi Blondie, and thanks for the welcome!
For the past two months, I have not been going to the gym on a regular basis. I just havent had the motiviation or energy. Prior to that I as doing lifting weights 3 times a week for about 4 months, then I upped it to a four day split, which I think got too overwhelming for me, because thats about the time I started to slack off... I want to get back to going three times a week for weights...I was thinking about a full body routine, or maybe doing SL 5x5...It seems simple and looks like it can be an "in and out" of the gym type routine, and Ive read its a good program? If you have any advice on training Id love to hear as well... Cardio?? blah..I really hate cardio, and I cant seem to make myself stay in a treadmil or elliptical for more than 15 min....i was thinking after lifing I could do 15-20 min on the elliptical or treadmil, and try and work my way up, and if not no biggie just keep it short but Id like to also start taking spin classes 2 times a week. My gym also offers bodypump classes, Im wondering if I can use this as a cardio class as its kinda fast paced and has a lot of reps..but it uses weights , so Im not sure if I can lift heavy AND do the classes..would that be too much? Sooo, Im about to just get BACK to the gym, I feel like I should just start from square one so I dont fall off the bandwagon again. Im not completely new to working out, yet I feel lost.
Edited to add, that Im 5'10" and weigh 147lbs

 

[Island_Girl]

Looked over your diet. Suggestions in red.

Was wondering how and when I should add a fat burner? I hear a lot of people take them, and I see them advertised in every fitness I read. If you are eating less calories than you are burning, wouldnt you lose weight, even without them? Will a fat burner help give me energy? Do I need to be doing a lot of cardio? I am going to include what I ate yesterday, please tell me what I should add (or take away) from my diet ...

Egg whites, Turkey sausage, 1/2 english muffin w/ tab of butter

I would get rid of the butter. You don't really need it.

Sm. Skinny latte (skim milk & sugar free vanilla)
apple
Few peices of Beef Jerky

Is your skinny latte homemade? Apple and beef jerky. Ok, beef jerky not the best. But alright. How about lean steak or lean ground beef patty?

chicken breast
one slice low fat pepper jack cheese
steamed broccoli

chicken and broccoli, Excellent! If you really need the cheese then ok. If not, I would get rid of. How about some carbs at this meal?

Chicken
spinach salad with cucumbers , onion, bell peppers, banana peppers, tomatoe
fat free italian, (will sometimes use sweet onion from subway)
(I use very little dressing, I dont measure, but even my husband will ask "can you even taste the dressing??)

Again chicken, excellent choice. Great variety in salad. Hear ya' on the dressing. If you need it just a drizzle. I would add some fats here. Maybe 1/2 oz of almonds. Approx. 14 almonds.

hot coco w/marshmellows (blah!)

Use this as a treat, but I wouldn't have it everyday.


Im trying really hard to include protien in just about every meal/snack I eat. I feel like I usually eat pretty good...until the evening. I dont know what happens but I seem to have no self control and I will eat something sweet if its around (like the coco..which I wouldnt have bought, but the hubby and kids BEG for it now that its getting cold) or if were out and about and hubby buys snacks for him and the kids I can't seem to say no...

I realize I have to work on that...but if I take out the pm "treats" what adjustments should I make? I have read to build muscle I need to bulk, but Id really like to get rid of the fat I have first, about 10lbs. Would love some input!
Ashley

I do realize healthy living/eating needs to be a lifestyle. You have to find your balance.

In regards to fat burners. I would suggest you stay on a clean diet that is tailored to your body and goals for about 3-4 weeks. Let the diet and cardio do the work and see what kind of results you can get from this alone. Then when you reach a plateau, incorporate a fat burner. Need2BuildMuscle has a great fat burner called Forged Burner. Forged Burner

 

[musclemom]

Okay, what are you trying to accomplish? You're a slightly low normal weight at 5'10" and 147. If you don't like your body composition then decide what you want changed, then we will need more detail on food (measurements, macros). But you DO NOT need to lose weight, really.

 

[Ashley1980]

Thank you much for your advice, and fat burner recommendation. I am going to book mark it for future refrences if I decide I want to try one. Im going to stay on a clean diet and bust butt in the gym and see what happens in 3/4 weeks as you suggested.

Looked over your diet. Suggestions in red.



I do realize healthy living/eating needs to be a lifestyle. You have to find your balance.

In regards to fat burners. I would suggest you stay on a clean diet that is tailored to your body and goals for about 3-4 weeks. Let the diet and cardio do the work and see what kind of results you can get from this alone. Then when you reach a plateau, incorporate a fat burner. Need2BuildMuscle has a great fat burner called Forged Burner. Forged Burner

 

[Ashley1980]

My goals are to lose access fat and build more muscle, so I'm not just "skinny". Looking at me clothed one would not think I have any weight to lose, but trust me, I have more than a few pounds of fat in my midsection and thighs. This fat is what Im really insecure about and my first goal..to lose it. I dont keep track of macros. Honestly Im confused how to figure out what I need and exactly how much.

Okay, what are you trying to accomplish? You're a slightly low normal weight at 5'10" and 147. If you don't like your body composition then decide what you want changed, then we will need more detail on food (measurements, macros). But you DO NOT need to lose weight, really.

 

[musclemom]

My goals are to lose access fat and build more muscle, so I'm not just "skinny". Looking at me clothed one would not think I have any weight to lose, but trust me, I have more than a few pounds of fat in my midsection and thighs. This fat is what Im really insecure about and my first goal..to lose it. I dont keep track of macros. Honestly Im confused how to figure out what I need and exactly how much.

You don't need to lose weight and you're never going to lose that midsection/thigh fat unless you get serious about your diet. That means logging it, measuring and weighing food portions. While it may seem counter intuitive, your body will NOT drop that fat unless it believes there is sufficient food around. Humans were designed to survive famine. That means you need to eat properly and regularly, small meals and snacks eaten about every three to four hours, which works out to five to six meals/snacks a day.

Macros are the grams of protein/fat/carbohydrates in every meal. We recommend a breakdown of 40% of your calories (in grams) coming from protein, the remaining 60% of calories divided equally between fats and carbs. When a person is "cutting" fat they generally eat 10 to 12 times their bodyweight in calories, but you don't need to lose weight though and you want to build muscle, so you should probably start out with maintenance calories, eating about 13 to 15 times your bodyweight, which would be 1910 to 2205. The breakdown would be as follows:
1910 (13 x 147) - 191 g. protein, 143 g. carbs, 64 g. fat
2058 (14 x 147) - 205 g. pro., 154 g. carb. 69 g. fat.
2205 (15 x 147) - 221 g. pro., 165 g. carb., 74 g. fat.

Now, for purposes of discussion, take the smallest number, 1910. You divide that by, say, five. You eat five meals of 380 calories each, or three big meals of around 500 calories each and two small snacks worth 200 calories each.

There are numerous sample menus stickied up at the top of the forum.

You don't need to lose weight, but you want to recomposition what you have. You'll get that with weight training and the proper diet. All you're going to get by taking diet pills and starving yourself is your body is going to really believe it's in a famine situation and it's going to burn up your existing muscle, further reducing your metabolism. You want to ADD muscle to ramp up your metabolism. You can't starve your body and add muscle, it doesn't work. Muscle is metabolically wasteful. Your body, if you starve it, will burn muscle to reduce your metabolism and conserve the fat for long term survival and that's why crash diets always result in the person gaining back everything they lost and then some. They lost as much, if not more muscle, than when they started out, now their metabolism is greatly reduced and eating the same amount of food that they maintained on before now causes them to gain weight.

 

[Ashley1980]

The very last thing I want to do is starve myself. I have learned thru reading things on the Internet I can't be eating at a calorie deficit to gain muscle, but I need to at least be at my goal weight first. I truly believe I have more than enough fat that needs to be burned off first. I may be wrong, and I do value your advice, and as soon as I push "reply" Im going to read more of the stickies. Today I took a couple pictures, to help track my progress. Would you mind taking a look at them and let me know if you still dont think I need to lose any weight at all? My kids busted my food scale...Im off to buy another one tonight.

 

[musclemom]

The very last thing I want to do is starve myself. I have learned thru reading things on the Internet I can't be eating at a calorie deficit to gain muscle, but I need to at least be at my goal weight first. I truly believe I have more than enough fat that needs to be burned off first. I may be wrong, and I do value your advice, and as soon as I push "reply" Im going to read more of the stickies. Today I took a couple pictures, to help track my progress. Would you mind taking a look at them and let me know if you still dont think I need to lose any weight at all? My kids busted my food scale...Im off to buy another one tonight. Are there any websites you would recommend that not only help track calories, but also macros?

I will be more than happy to look at your pictures and I will give you an absolutely honest answer.

Fitday.com is a free site (at least it used to be) that is a diet diary that tracks macros and calories. CalorieKing.com is not free, but (it does have a free trial) however, you can download it to your computer or handheld device and it has an awesome database.

I looked at your other thread, no matter what I can assure you 1500 calories is WAY too few for you. At 30 years old, 5'10" and 147 your BMR (basal metabolic rate, the amount of calories you burn just lying in bed breathing) is 1480. You definitely need to be in the 1900+ range, more depending on your level of activity.

I'm telling you, that whole idea of "being at your goal weight first" is bad thinking. If you lift right and eat properly your body will start changing very rapidly and you might end up weighing WAY more than you think you should but you could very well lose a dress size or two.

Ever see the 5 lbs of fat vs. 5 lbs of muscle picture?

I'm not kidding you, Ashley, even if you weighed 247 I'd still be telling you "Don't worry about losing the weight, lift, get cardio and eat the macros." Seriously.