Should I listen to my body?

Stormy · 07-13-2007, 04:36 PM

First off, apologies if this question has been asked many times before.

For starters I'm a bit of a fat boy (36% bodyfat) and it was only recently I got my arse into gear and started trying to get healthy. On a day when I don't go to the gym I'm pretty much hungry for the whole time I'm awake so I drink lots of water and eat lots of fruit and veggies. The problem is the days when I do go to the gym; when I get back in the morning I eat some fruit and then have no appetite for the rest of the day. There have even been a couple of times when I've completely forgotten about eating until late evening. The question is, if I'm not feeling hungry should I still try and cram some food down my neck?

The other thing is I'm doing it all on an empty stomach. I wake up, I get dressed and I go do some exercise and don't feel short of energy.

I do drink a fair amount of water when I'm there but I'm hoping it's not so much that my stomach's full for the entire day.

ognickyk · 07-13-2007, 04:37 PM

you should take in carbs still! your body needs energy and you must also take in alot of protein!

**Kirk** · 07-13-2007, 04:39 PM

**Thomas_Rivera** · 07-13-2007, 05:56 PM

Regardless of if you are hungry or not you need to be getting in at least six solid, well proportioned meals a day. You need protein in each of these meals. Don't think of losing weight as losing weight. Think of losing weight as losing fat while preserving as much muscle as you possibly can.

Your probably not used to getting in as many meals as you should. Personally I could eat in the morning and go almost the rest of the day without being hungry, but I eat anyway at least every 2-3 hours. Eating often will also make your metabolism rise, which is a great thing.

Stormy · 07-13-2007, 06:18 PM

Thanks for the advice all. Next time I'll make the effort to eat something every few hours. I guess I was clinging to the vague hope that my body was deciding to fuel itself with my ample fat reserves. Still, a man can dream.

**Thomas_Rivera** · 07-13-2007, 06:34 PM

Lol. Well, it kinda works like that but not really. If your not eating food, your body is using fat and muscle for food. So basically you diet to stop it from eating your muscles.

Just don't lose the weight too fast, you can have nasty problems with extra skin depending on your body weight.

Ap305 · 07-13-2007, 06:40 PM

if you are not eating yeah you will lose fat but you will also lose muscle...i eat every 2 hours whetehr im hungry or not..2 hours is about the time your body digests a food so whetehr you are hungry or not you still have the capability to eat. eating so amny meals a day will jack up your metabolism making you lose fat. drink as much water as you can (about a gallon) and definately eat before you workout!

ognickyk · 07-13-2007, 07:15 PM

just go easy on the carbs, and when u do eat them eat complex ones that actually have nutritional value

compulut · 07-13-2007, 07:50 PM

I think that doing your cardio on an empty stomache is the most efficient way to burn fat stores, if you do your cardio first thing in the morning.

At this point, from how it sounds, your main concentration should be to lose the fat, with your secondary being on gaining muscle (Muscle burns more calories at a resting state than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you are burning for doing nothing).

What happens when you don't eat throughout the day, your body seems to think "Wow. I don't get very much food, so I better store everything that I get for use when I need it" A simplified way of saying you have slowed your metabolism.

While I respect your efforts, at eating fruits and vegetables, I'm not so sure that it is so good at this point in time. Vegetables - yes - especially the fibrous ones. Fruits are fructose, which is a kind of sugar, which easily turns to fat if you don't use the energy before it gets stored.

I agree with the others on frequent small meals in aiding with the metabolism. I think, though, that if I were you, (and I have been - or close to it before) that I would concentrate on the proteins throughout the day, and starchy carbs (if you have any) should be only before lifting, but after cardio, then fibrous carbs until about 4-6 hours before bedtime, then NO CARBS at all after that.

Beefcake · 07-13-2007, 08:06 PM

^^Cosign.

**Kaboom** · 07-14-2007, 06:02 AM

cosign^ that was lmost exactly what I wanted to say

Stormy · 07-14-2007, 08:30 AM

Admittedly I don't do that much in the way of lifting at the moment, it's mostly attempts to burn off the fat. My normal routine is to at least run 3km, row 2km on maximum resistance and do at least 200 pushups. In between I'll have a go on the weight machines but it's really been something to do between the other things. I'm taking it easy with the lifting as too much weight aggravates my joint problems.

Oh, I also made a point of noting how much water I drink while at the gym and it's about 2.5 litres. Too much?