How to slim down without building muscles?

[Benji77]

firstly muscles dont become fats.

what happens is when you exercise, you build muscles and raise your overall metabolism rate. and what you eat during this period is mostly burned off due to the higher metabolism and greater muscle mass.

if you stop exercise, your metabolism will drop very soon. if you continue to eat the regular portion like before, you will start to put on weight cos the extras are not burned away.

in short,

when input < ouptut, you will lose weight(referring to energy transfer)
when input >output, you put on
when inout=output, you maintain your wt.

Surge is right on all counts.

you lose your muscles when you starve - no muscles = no definition = flabby

what you should do is eat less, but not to the extent of starving yourself, and exercise

the body is an efficient machine - muscles use up more energy than fats, so when you starve yourself, the first to go would be your muscles

that said, if you just starve eventually yoru fats will go too, just that you'll look like an african

Line in BOLD is extremely important to note.

I wish to cycle. But my mum's bans me from cycling. She says its dangerous. My house used to have 5 bikes(Pinarello Dogma, Eddy Mercx, Airborne titanium, fondriest and cannodale)

It matters not the brand/make. If it matters, then get a Japanese or China made one, then maybe you would not get knocked down.
If you are clumsy, an European or Asian brand will not ease that problem.

To cut down body fats you first have to have muscle that help you burn away the calories you eat. Everybody needs a certain amount to complete his/her day. If you eat too much, you get fat, too little, you have no energy. Simple.

If you want to loose weight without moving, see a magician.

 

[tjhan]

"the first to go would be your muscles"

I see many who spread misinformation! That's nonsense btw. The sequence is always glycogen > fats> muscles. TS didn't specify what "weight" he wanted to lose. Thus we can only conclude he wants to reduce his overall mass for some reason.

a) Lose fats. This is most common of course.
b) Lose muscle. You get a lot more actual WEIGHT loss this way since as stated, muscles are denser than fats.
c) Lose other stuff. Like your wallet (buy more lenses), hair, even chop off your limbs. You lose weight too. It's statistically proven that people with no limbs are lighter than people with 4 limbs btw.

But one piece of advice: DONT EVER SIGN UP FOR GYMS like CALIFORNIA FITNESS!!!!!!!

 

[soeypixels]

eat clean (steam, boil, bake)
switch all rice/bread to brown rice and whole meal
basically switch from simple to complex carbo

drink at least 2l of water
eat only apple and only apple for fruit

hit the gym

perform Hight intensity interval training , HIIT

sleep early - 8hours a day

5-6 small meals a day to increase metabolism
a zero carb dinner help alot, no carbs after 8pm

add some good oils, EFAs, Essential fatty acids like fish oil or omega 369
take a multi vitamin

mroe at
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bbmaintrain.htm

pics for inspiration
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=108359701

good luck

ps: remember to lose weight slowly cos u don want to see some loose skin on your tummy or arms
else u will need surgery to remove them, 2-3 kg a month is good

 

[tjhan]

Re: Soey pixels, that totally wasn't what Hennessy was asking for lol.

 

[soeypixels]

why not?

my friend lost 20kg w.o being a muscle man
he doesnt have six pax or as fit as those man in the pics from bb.com
he just become smaller, i can say he literally shrunk in size

greatest asset from ippt pass to gold

 

[night86mare]

"the first to go would be your muscles"

I see many who spread misinformation! That's nonsense btw. The sequence is always glycogen > fats> muscles. TS didn't specify what "weight" he wanted to lose. Thus we can only conclude he wants to reduce his overall mass for some reason.

a) Lose fats. This is most common of course.
b) Lose muscle. You get a lot more actual WEIGHT loss this way since as stated, muscles are denser than fats.
c) Lose other stuff. Like your wallet (buy more lenses), hair, even chop off your limbs. You lose weight too. It's statistically proven that people with no limbs are lighter than people with 4 limbs btw.

But one piece of advice: DONT EVER SIGN UP FOR GYMS like CALIFORNIA FITNESS!!!!!!!

you need to pick up more knowledge on sports science, before you go around spouting misinformation; and at the same time ironically, calling it misinformation. you are right that glycogen is the first to go; that's very little in the way of energy stores; the next to go will be a combination of muscular protein and some fat. after the body dumps all the muscle it thinks you doesn't need, then it will go full-scale into fat metabolism - which is really quite dangerous due to a process some may know better as ketosis; before it starts eating up whatever else protein you have and your body fails, etc.

lest you say that only bodybuilding sites spout such "misinformation";

read this; it's healthy family education.

this is why crash diets do not work, end of story; and restricted caloric diets can work, but only for a short span of time; and resumption of normal diet leads to a slight burst of weight gain again.

metabolism is closely linked to the amount of muscular mass you have; this is the reason why our darling olympic champion swimmer eats so much; not because he wants to keep his weight, or not because he wants to look good; he needs the muscle mass preserved so that he can keep swimming at the top speed he is.

in short, if one wishes to retain his muscular mass, he just needs to do maintenance weights, if he has been doing them; eat cleaner, with a caloric drop of 300-400 calories per day from his usual diet - muscles need stimulation in order to be kept, you don't just grow overnight and keep them forever like the incredible hulk. throw in some exercise, and a lot of discipline, and anyone can do the trick.

that said, let me clarify that i do not mean that if you starve yourself you will dissolve into a pile of lard and bones; it doesn't work that way, but it defeats your purpose of weight loss (healthy weight loss, in any case) if you choose to fight a downhill battle. and if indeed, the correct sequence is always what glycogen > muscles > fats, then whee, it will be just so easy to get ripped, but is it?

 

[soeypixels]

Re: Soey pixels, that totally wasn't what Hennessy was asking for lol.

so wat your advice to him ?

 

[tjhan]

Well well, here we have an econs under grad lecturing a food science undergrad on nutrition. What nightmare says is correct, but see, I've seen way too many people who are advised out of good intent, but do not follow through because of how daunting it seems. Think about it, you people speak of going to cycling, gyms, cutting back on good food (face it, Salads suck for most people) whatever whatever. How many but the most disciplined follow these? Most just think "Alright, that sounds hard, forget it."

In my experience, the easiest way to lose weight is to sleep a lot, slack off, watch some anime and do maths problems. Doesn't make sense? But it's easy to do, and actually works, except you don't get rippling muscles, you just lose weight. Going into metabolic pathways and hormonal regulation cycles are not very productive here, maybe if you are speaking to bodybuilder-wannabes like Soeypixels then yes, but the regular joe? Unlikely.

Ask a cardiologist how to lead a healthy lifestyle, he will say "Exercise, eat healthy, don't smoke". But in truth, they themselves just don't smoke and eat statins. Theoretical best is never what is practical best for most people.

And even the threadstarter has mentioned that he doesn't want muscles and would like an easy way... probably in his attempt to pre-empt people who will surely advise him to do an arnold and pump iron, suck in protein powder and the like.

 

[tjhan]

so wat your advice to him ?

You probably don't read people's posts other than those replying to you, but try to do so eh?

Btw, once more, I must curse California Fitness centre. The place is full of bimbo and himbo instructors who think all humans on earth must love their (the instructors') bodies and must obtain some chunky muscles in order to be successful in life. Where success = having large muscles of course.

 

[CYRN]

Be a long distance runner.... just make sure you do your warm-up and cool-down properly.

There are quite a few programs available on the net on how to train up for a marathon, do try one out. Most importantly, do ensure that you are medically fit for such program.

*edit.. I dun mean that you must complete the whole program and run a marathon, but the step up with the program until you are at a comfortable distance and time... and you can remain there until you want to try something more.

 

[Yappy]

For a start, eat less until you are satisfy with your outlook. Then eat what you need to maintain.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

For a start, eat less until you are satisfy with your outlook. Then eat what you need to maintain.

where to buy 'less'? :bsmilie:

 

[Benji77]

Do lots of cardio, but note that this will affect your joints due to stress on them.

 

[mattlock]

Generally, forward is correct. If you want to be hardworking and not just sleep, you should do low-intensity workout like cycling. One of the above guys who talked about metabolic rate sounds exactly like those California Fitness instructors. Generally, that way is for making Arnolds...

Muscle burns fatty acids primarily for energy during low intensity workouts and resting. Muscle burns glycogen during high intensity workout.

I would like to speak from experience (since I used to be a fat kid)
I lost about 9 kg in 3 months from the following routine - jogging once every two days (at least 2km each time), cut out soft drinks and fried food except once a week.

Also, don't finish your food. Psychologically it's an easier way to lose weight than to actually go about with a whole new diet...instead of finishing all your food, just stop when there are 2 spoonfuls of rice left.that sort of thing.

Jogging is really good at helping you lose weight, but when you start adding in other forms of exercise like push ups, you will bulk up very quickly.

In other words, stick to just cardio if all you want to do is stay skinny.

 

[hazmee]

I just started exercising about a week ago. Bought new running shoes and shorts. Damn... my legs are all useless when it comes to running. Its been 5 years (minus the occassional remedial training during reservist) since I last had a decent and I mean really decent exercise. But overall, I feel good despite all my 'muscles' aching. Alas the saying, no pain, no gain but oops... the TS wanted to loose weight instead. LOL!

Running schedule for me is every morning wake up 5.30am, go for my prayers then hit for Pandan Reservoir and slog it out! Every morning I am greeted with beautiful sunrise but no camera with me! Ptui!

 

[shojibake]

But .... if you do jogging and eat less during say 14-18, puberty + all that, will really ensure you lose weight. You don't have to go on some starvation diet thing.

yeah and that LKY/okinawan diet can work as long as you jettison all the high cal/ fatty products.

 

[tjhan]

Yes, Mattlock. That is the reason why marathon runners are super duper lean. Long distance running barely even burns any glucose and your glycogen is replaced. The fuel that powers LDR is essentially just fatty acids, which are obtained by lipolysis of the triacylglycerides in adipose tissue.

So yeah, to lose fats, jog loooooong.

 

[night86mare]

Well well, here we have an econs under grad lecturing a food science undergrad on nutrition. What nightmare says is correct, but see, I've seen way too many people who are advised out of good intent, but do not follow through because of how daunting it seems. Think about it, you people speak of going to cycling, gyms, cutting back on good food (face it, Salads suck for most people) whatever whatever. How many but the most disciplined follow these? Most just think "Alright, that sounds hard, forget it."

i happen to also be an ex-canoeist, and there was a period where i took a special interest in such things; so there's a chockful of knowledge in that area that i would like to get rid of, but can't.

i won't profess to know everything about economics, btw; anyone is welcome to lecture me on the subject any day of the week.

in any case, what i understood from henessy's question was that he didn't want to put on additional muscular mass, but drop his body fat levels. i doubt he wants to actually lose his current muscular mass - and to preserve it, well.. you do have to lose it slowly, one step at a time. unless of course, he wants to.. in that case i'd be puzzled by why anybody would want to do that.

 

[tjhan]

Actually, nobody here knows his current body size so we can't really offer the best advice. And he's not replying to the thread lol.

I belong to the "easiest way out" school of thought on keeping healthy. I don't do sports (besides cyber ones) and don't have the dietary discipline and wish to enjoy food more. I find it incredible that people would completely avoid good food for at best marginal savings in calorie intake. You only live once! Shouldn't we spend more time on fun and memorable things, rather than look back in your old age and remember wasting 2 hours a day in your gym pumping iron when jealously staring at other macho men?

Mind you I have a 12 percent body fat, and a sub 2000 Cal daily metabolic rate, yet I still eat whatever I want. I have a small appetite though, which might explain it. But I have a small appetite because I have a low metabolic rate, which means I save money on food too. Makes sense right. Only sucks when I have to go for buffets.

 

[Old Boy]

I wish to cycle. But my mum's bans me from cycling. She says its dangerous. My house used to have 5 bikes(Pinarello Dogma, Eddy Mercx, Airborne titanium, fondriest and cannodale)

Wah all expensive. top range bikes ! I presumed you sold them off ? Anyway, there's a stretch of cycling path from Fort Road to Changi Village which is about 25km per trip, so you can easily cover 50km to and fro. No need to worry about cars, just be careful of skaters doing abrupt turn around. I find that cycling is the most effective. My friend also do brisk walking which I think it's amazingly effective. No muscle built for this exercise, cycling built "rock" thighs. Cycle and carry a camera along:bsmilie: