Everyday cardio, low intensity. The recipe to success.

I am amazed at hour a 45 minute walk once a day can speed up your metabolism and reduce your bodyfat.  Not a stroll, but a reasonably energetic walk.  It doesn’t need to be stormtrooper fast but somewhere inbetween a stroll and a speed walk. 

I can assure you 45 minutes x2 per day will leave you tired and also losing weight at a rate of knots.

I aim for 10 x 45 minutes per week now.  And it works.  Compared to cardio 3×45 minutes per week, it outpaces that considerably.  There is no way I could physically do 10 x 45 minute cardios per week!

So walk it off….constant pace, religous schedule.

I’ve lost 14lbs / 1 stone

The dog definitely did the trick.  45 minutes x 9 per week.  I’ve lost 1 stone.  Wow!

And my diet hasn’t been that good – probably 2 bars of chocolate per week, 1 curry and 3-4 fizzy drinks with sugar – cheese and pasta too.  Amazing, I’m eating HIGHER fat foods and a bit more of them, and STILL loosing weight.

I am thinking that  9 x 45 minutes walking versus 3 x 40 minute cardio sessions per week, the walking is winning.

My body feels fairly flattened after 2 x 45 minute sessions also.  I’m pretty impressed with the results though, my waist is much thinner.

Lose weight – get a dog!

I’ve found the addition of the dog to the family being a great way of getting me out in all weathers for the best fat burning available – walking.

It has to be a fairly fast walk – strolling does nothing.  Get your heart rate in the zone.

I’m doing 60 minutes a day in all weathers and in addition to 4 days at the gym it could work well.  I’m still eating junk from Christmas so it won’t be a while till I see some results.

I’m probably going to do on average 7 hours per week walking + 2 hours cardio + 2 weight sessions so should see some good results.

Get a dog to lose weight…

In addition to my 4 gym sessions a week, I’ve added a dog into the mix.  Playing with the puppy in the garden helps me burn off some calories and I can look forward to 1 hour walks min per day.  I have a beagle dog, which has been recorded to do 100 miles in a day range, so I can walk the socks off the little booger. 

 The Dog Whisperer, aka Caesar Millan recommends 45 minutes minimum walking time each day.  So I think this a great solution for those who are lazy (the dog will be a nightmare if you don’t walk it) and keeps you on scheduled.  By a walk I don’t mean a stroll, a fast walk where your heart rate is around 120bpm.  An extendable collar will help you.

So I am looking forward to around 8 hours of walking per week I didn’t have when my dog is grown – in the days I used to take the bus to work, I walked 7 minutes to my bus stop, 12 minutes to work.  Then 20 minutes at lunchtime and then 12 minutes uphill and a further 7 minutes uphill.  A total of roughly an hour 5 days a week plus extra weekend walking.  Back in those days I did no cardio and was lean.

So, if you hate the gym and love dogs, get one!  And make sure you walk it twice a day for 45 minutes each time and you will be losing weight fast.

How to eat junk food and not put on weight…

Sometimes life dictates you need to eat junk – maybe you’re out and about and there is nothing to choose between.

Maybe you’re out with friends etc.

Maybe you just can’t face cooking another low fat stir fry.

My tips are to reduce the quantity and up the protein.

If it’s spicey food, I try to go for a kebab.  Or if it’s a curry, I eat the meat and only 1/2 the rice.  Or if it’s a McDonalds, try to eat it in the morning/lunchtime to give the body time to burn it off.  Or adjust your calories south for the rest of the day.

When I go for tapas, I load up on calamaris and meat dishes, with a few bits of bread.  The protein is less likely to be stored as fat but also reduces your appetite.

If it’s pizza, I try to eat a small one or 1/2 a 12″.

Quantity is soooooo important.  I’ve seen many people eat bad food but no gain weight because they expend more calories than they injest.  You might see your grease monkey mechanic eat a sausage roll, but it might be the only thing he eats for most of the day.

Losing weight but doing less cardio

I’ve controlled my appetite, and because of this I’ve continued to loss/not gain but reduce my cardio.

Prob.putting in 3 cardios per week plus 1 or 2 weight sessions opposed to 4 or 5 cardios per week.

Appetite is the key and if you have a problem try appetite suppresant like Skinny Mini for a few days a week.  Then when you’re used to not eating, you can stop taking the tablet.  I’m hitting more protein and less carb too to control appetite also.

Cutting my calories….

Have been relatively successful in cutting my calories but occasionally get huge lapses of hunger like this AM…when I had to make myself some fried chicken and noodles!

I felt so weak, and off, it had to be food.  So I reloaded my glycogen stores.  It’s just so difficult some days to starve yourself just enough…

Ditching cardio after weights

As I’m focusing on weight training more, I decided to ditch the cardio at the end of the session.  Normally I’m dying when I do that and I think it’s leading to over-training.

I also push myself more during the weight session, knowing all my energy can go into that.  Most bodybuilders do cardio seperately.

I feel less bushed after the gym and my muscles are definitely recovering better. 

On non-training days, I’m eating very low carbs also.  And low calories.

I’m also going to try to increase cardio days also to compensate from the lack of cardio after weights.  And towards the end of the weights session I speed up, with little rest between sets and this works well – my later sets are done with machines and light weights.

Ultra Skinny Mini rocks….

Had a little cycle off Ultra Skinny Mini – had 1 pill with water pre-workout – it worked good stylee!  Usually totally starvin’ after workout but no problem today.  Had breakfast and could happily skip lunch.  It perfectly blocks the signals from your brain.

 Feel a bit ’speedy’ today….might just reserve skinny mini to workout days as I know it’s effectiveness drops off rapidly if you take regular.  The real danger is after cardio, when my appetite is high and I can over-eat.  So Ultra Skinny Mini helps for sure.  On these days, I’d try to take a protein shake for lunch instead of a meal.

Modify your lunch

I remember my buddy Jam who eats utter crap like sausage rolls and hotdogs mostly, losing a heap of weight.

He mostly did it by cutting out his lunch and not altering his diet.

Basically, eat less!!!!

So I’m trying to modify my lunch so it’s smaller.  Yesterday I just had a lamb kebab and some pitta bread + salad, low on carbs and not a huge meal.

Today, I just had a protein drink and 2 slices of toast with pate.  That for me, is very little.  I do feel a bit hungry but this is probably something I’m just going to have to get used to.  I’ve tried skipping lunch before but that results in a 3pm sugar crash so I have a small lunch now.  Taking Ultra Skinny Mini pills is another option to curb my appetite.

Primarily all diets work on calorie reduction…..Atkins diet is high protein because it curbs appetite.  Fruit and veg diets tend to cut calories daily also.  Diet pills are appetite suppression.  It’s all about cutting calories….there aren’t any magic ‘fat burners’ out there.  So I am going to train my body to get used to less food….