Ask a Personal Trainer

Wardy257

From some one far wiser than me:

Twitter / BioLayne: Yes I've seen the new study ...

Correlation is NOT causation

ChilliRed

My protein is up the last few days, between 80g and 120g per day.   I am still doing my strength training in the gym, but have decided to take up running again, so started on the couch to 5k as well.  I am determined to get fit healthy and back in shape

silent ninja

       

The mainstream media are utterly clueless about nutrition, health and fitness. It's actually cringeworthy and embarassing some of the stuff your read and hear-- especially when they talk about it at work*. I would ignore them completely. It's sensantionalised junk, no better than reading The Daily Fail.

These are the same people that told us for decades low fat (substituted with sugars) was good for you and led to low body fat. Not to mention the endless number of fad diets they promote. They are morons and just make me angry lol

*a guy was telling me at work how sugar destroys your blood and some other nonsense which was about as credible as witchcraft. There's really no hope for a lot of people. Another girl at work, admittedly she is quite in to her fitness and works out 5-6 times a week. I see her diet and it's nothing but carbs and vegetables -- low fat and low protein. I try to explain why she needs protein and good fat in her diet but it falls on deaf ears. Oats may be an excellent carb source, and a good constituent for any meal, but if that's all you're having you really are abusing your body.

Boozehound

That article is utter nonsense with a sensasionalist headline. Yes, eating a ton of red meat is going to cause issues but chicken, turkey, pork, eggs, fish are all healthy in the right amounts. So is red meat in the main to be honest.

tbc

Could somebody tell me if they would recommend using a rower with a 'volatile' back. I don't have a constant bad back but did pop two discs a few years ago. I do have to be careful lifting and bending over for too long. We are looking for some cardio equipment for the house, were thinking of a spin bike but have now bought mountain bikes instead for some outdoors stuff. We do really need something for the home though for convenience and would love a rower. Would you recommend it or would it be safer to get a eliptical for example?

Thanks

Wardy257

To be honest that sort of question is beyond my qualifications and is something you should talk to a Dr or physio about.  Something that can strengthen that area is clearly going to help you as long as it does not do more damage as you build up.  

If pushed, considering I am not a physio/Dr, and this was me I would probably purchase some suspension training equipment like TRX instead.

tbc

Ok thank you, I'll take your advice.

ChilliRed

I have been going to the gym three times a week now for 8 weeks and I have been eating healthy.  My fitness Pal calculated that I need 1260 calories a week to lose weight but I have did not lose an ounce in 7 weeks.  Someone told me to go on Scoobys Workshop and calculate my TDEE which I did and it was 2111.  I was then told that to lose weight I needed to take the calories down by 20% which make it 1689.  For the last week I ate more and I have lost a lb in weight, finally after nothing for 7 weeks.  I mentioned on MFP that I was pleased that eating more seemed to work for me because I lost a lb and was told by someone that was not right.  What are your thoughs on this Wardy if you dont mind me asking?  Should I be eating 1260 calories a day or 1689.  I go to the gym three days a week, I also go out walking and I have just started doing the 30 day shred workout this morning (after my weigh in which I do the same time every Monday morning)

Wardy257

I need more details please, height, weight (kg), sex and age for a start please.  What sort of exercise and intensity do you do?  Do you log anything exercise wise (heart rate, distance, weight lifted etc)?

sniffer66

One thing I will add (because I have used MyFitnessPal and also done a TDEE based fat loss)

One thing people dont understand with MFP is that the calorie target figure it gives you is a NET target. i.e its the amount of food you need to eat after you deduct your weight loss target   add in any exercise calories for the day. if you do differing amounts of exercise and add them into MFP your net target will change. The problem I found with that approach is that calorie burn for each exercise can only ever be an estimate unless you are hooked up to very precise, expensive kit. People see a taget in MFP, and see it as gospel - you have to add in your exercise cals and eat them back to maintain your, say 500 cal a day deficit

I found it better to estimate TDEE, keep everything else consistent per week - exercise etc, hit my daily calorie deficit and track results. After a week or two you can tell if it is working and adjust if needed

EDIT: having said that, if you work out you TDEE and cal target in the standard way, MFP is a good way to track overall daily calories. Just ignore the target it gives you

and sorry to butt in Wardy - just sharing MFP experience