Hi guys, be kind to me as its my first post! :bow:

I’m 22, a college student and coffee shop cleaner. I have quite a bit of fat around the stomach and chest that I have never been able to get rid of.

I spend most of my time of the fifth and sixth floor at college and I mostly use the stairs (especially in the mornings) to get up and down the tower block. I also have about a quarter of a mile to and from the train station which I walk. The walk home takes my up quite a steep hill which takes a good 20 minutes to climb and some days I walk up the hill twice!

The coffee shop where I clean is not that big, but I often find myself sweating as I get myself into a ‘fast’ rhythm.

I also do a bit of light jogging in home before I go to work for about 45 minutes just to try and burn a few fat cells!

Taking this into account I cant help but feel my diet is the problem. While I have pasta most days I normally end up having chips (fries if your American!) to go with it as I do have a big appetite. Eating at college is also a problem because an apple at break is not enough to satisfy my hunger.

So you see my problem? I want to loose as much fat as possible and tone up but my diet is what I think is holding me back. I don’t have money or space for gym equipment which is really annoying!

Summer is on its way and I don’t want another summer where I’m shy because of the bumps I have showing through my T-shirt. :d_frown:

By the sound of it your diet is your main problem indeed. But also, while your uphill walking and your job might count as *light* cardio for a beginner, you need weight training to achieve optimum results because having muscle does raise your metabolism and causes you to burn fat.

You really need to get information on good nutrition. I mean, pasta is not great either (although better than fries). Unless specified otherwise, pasta are made with refined flour and count as a simple carbohydrate that spikes your insulin. They are also very calorie dense, i.e. the number of calories per serving is higher than with say... carrots or green veggies.

I always recommend "Burn the fat, feed the muscle" by Tom Venuto to learn the basics, because it works so well for me. It's available at www.burnthefat.com and to find more about the author you can visit his other website www.fitren.com.

There is also the book by Jeremy Likness which has received numerous nice comments here. Jeremy's website is great but I haven't read his book yet. It's available from www.naturalphysiques.com.

I recommend an e-book as a great way to have all the info you need in one place. You can also read the forums here and understand a lot of things, but it's a lot more work and you will miss things.

Good luck with this anyway, you can do it!

Vincent.

Yes, diet is the issue here. If you clean up your diet, you will see big results! Then, if you start lifting weights (or other resistance training), you'll be lookin' good by summer for sure.

The best place to start for diet info is the sticky thread at the top of the Fat Loss forum here. It's the one on nutrition from Marcus. It's terrific for beginners.

By the way, you'll soon learn that an apple will not really satisfy your hunger much -- but other foods with low calories will. Especially if you get into protiens the way Marcus suggests. During the day, I eat 6 oz of tuna fish and 4 pieces of whole wheat bread -- that will fill me up for a while, and it is good, clean calories.

Welcome to the forums. You'll find lots of support here, lots of encouragement, lots of good information. Keep us posted how you are coming along.

Thanks for the info guys.


I do have a problem in that a lot of the ‘technical’ speak you get when you talk to ‘fitness fanatics’ is mostly foreign to me. One aspect of my problem is that I don’t have time to cook in the mornings, I have to fit my eating around my college timetable and when I come home from work at 7pm I’m not in the mood to work out what intakes I need and what to cook!

I’m hoping that at least one of the supermarkets sell those ‘protein’ bars or whatever that I can eat through the day when I’m hungry. I do like tuna (but not the bad breath it gives you!) so that’s an idea for college food.

There seems to be a lot of info around here, so I’ll see what I can dig up.



P.S. walking up 7 floors worh of stairs is 'light' cardio? :mad:

One aspect of my problem is that I don’t have time to cook in the mornings, I have to fit my eating around my college timetable and when I come home from work at 7pm I’m not in the mood to work out what intakes I need and what to cook!

If you can't sacrifice a little time and effort, what exactly are you willing to do? Just wanting to lose weight doesn't make it happen.

You don't need time to "cook" in the morning to eat a meal. Cereal and fat free milk is just fine. Kashi's line of cereals are great because they have lots of fiber and aren't loaded with sugar. I eat cinnaraisen crunch every morning and it's great. Takes no time to make. You have access to a fridge, right? that's all you need to store the milk.

Eating a meal the first thing you do in the morning is the absolute best eating habit you can make. If you do what typical college students do and don't eat until lunch, then your body does not burn fat the whole morning until after you eventually eat. You are seriously hindering yourself right there by not eating breakfast.

By cardio people mean performing an aerobic activity that gets your heart rate up to 70% of your max heart rate (think breathing really heavily) and keeps it there for an extended period of time (30-45 minutes). Unfortunately walking up hill for 20 min and then stairs doesn't really equal that.

But that's okay. By changing my diet and incorporating weight lifting into my life last year I was able to lose 35lbs and keep it off for the last 8 months without any cardio at all (I had hurt my leg). This is how important doing weights like 3 times a week is. Does your college have a gym? most do with free access to students.

Pasta everyday is not good. If your at college there must be a dining hall or at least a deli nearby. Make a staple food you eat every day to be turkey or chicken on whole wheat breat with lettuce, tomato, other veggies, and mustard. A big sandwich like that is very filling and much better for you than pasta. Sounds like you don't eat protien much, you definitely need to change that. Bars can work, but buying a tub of protein powder is much cheaper. You can mix in milk and other drinks. Makes for a great snack. Tuna is good. Look at different kinds of beans too as you can get them canned or in a freezer without having to worry about them going bad. I love edamame soy beans, boil them in water and eat them out of a bowl. Lots of protein and very filling. Have you ever tried just boiling chicken breast in water. It's the easiest way to cook it with no clean up, takes like 17 minutes and with salt and pepper it is not bad. Put a side of edamame and some other forzen vegetable on the side and you have a pretty nice dinner right there.

Work on your diet and make time for weights. Good luck!

turkey or chicken on whole wheat breat with lettuce, tomato, other veggies, and mustard.

Work on your diet and make time for weights. Good luck!


Turkey and Chicken is good, very good. :tu: You gave me some good ideas in your post, thanks a lot :)

I have been worried about using things that may ‘bulk’ me up as I want to thin down, but I’m realizing that to loose fat I will have to do this.

I have been worried about using things that may ‘bulk’ me up as I want to thin down, but I’m realizing that to loose fat I will have to do this.

If the food is clean, that is, low in fat and sugar, then it will not bulk you up. Actually the total amount of food you eat in a day will determine whether you bulk up or lose weight.

In addition please don't think that because protein is used in building muscle that eating it will make you bulk up. There are many different ratios for protein, carbs and fat that you will find for losing fat. Almost all of them have a good amount of protein. On this board 40/40/20 as the ratio for carbs/protein/fat calories you should eat is generally followed as this is the ratio John Stone followed during his initial cut.

Definitely read the sticky at the top of the fat loss forum to learn more about food an nutrition. Goodluck!

Something you'll learn as you read more here and elsewhere is that you can't bulk up and cut down at the same time. It's a simple equation of calories in - calories out = energy stored.

A couple of protein sources that I've made regular parts of every day are cottage cheese and tuna.

Oh Tuna is nice, i just need to change from white to brown bread ;)

I agree with the others, I'd focus on your diet first and keep up the walking/jogging you've been doing. Once you get your food situation in check then I'd move into weight training.

There are so many options available to you for good foods. Nuts, natural PB, jerky, dried fruits, fresh fruits, yogurt, turkey or chicken inside a low-carb wrap or whole wheat bread. All of the above is very portable.

If you don't have space for weight training equipment you can always do weighted pushups, pullups, etc. I'm sure you can find a way to do modified deadlifts and lunges using heavy items around the house for resistance. Sounds kinda weird but it's free and doesn't take any space. Best of luck!

Thanks for the info guys.

P.S. walking up 7 floors worh of stairs is 'light' cardio? :mad: