I have 2 questions that pertain to nutrition and exercise alternative.

I am using the nutrition lists from John's first 6 months to lose fat and am doing pretty good. My question is about one of the suppliments I am using in addition to John's recommendation.

I am including TwinLabs Amino Fuel "Mass" (Liquid) to maintain some muscle while losing the fat. It's mainly muscle building aminos, so I didn't think it would effect the diet. My workout is as follows;

:spaz: Bike in the early morning (HIIT) approx 5 Days a week.
:bb: Gym (Moderate to Heavy Weight) Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri night
Mon / Thurs - Chest, Shoulders, Tri, Leg Press for 10 reps
Tues / Fri - Back, Bicep, Quad / Ham Curls for high reps

I started 1.5 months ago at 305lbs (keep in mind I can run about 45 to 50 minutes at a decent clip at this weight) and now I'm down to 285lbs with a goal of 240. This seems big, but I'm naturally big in the upper body and want to keep the size.

It's not that I'm on a platue or don't feel I'm losing fast enough, I just want to make sure I maintain some muscle mass while losing the weight. I am carrying the majority of my weight in the belly and am still recovering from a pretty serious back injury so I can't hammer out the situps like in the past.

So to wrap this up

* Is the Amino Fuel hurting my weight loss if I am doing the time in the gym?

* What exercises can I do to work the ab / waist area that isn't hard on the back.

So far, this site has been an amazing resource for knowledge. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your answers.

I am carrying the majority of my weight in the belly and am still recovering from a pretty serious back injury so I can't hammer out the situps like in the past.

* What exercises can I do to work the ab / waist area that isn't hard on the back.


If you are wanting to work your abs/waist area because you want to lose fat there - don't bother, you can't spot reduce. Just keep doing cardio and it will come off. Your weight training and cardio will indirectly work your abs anyway.

If you are looking to preserve muscle... make sure you eat much much more than what John did during his first 6 months, especially for someone at your weight.

As to your other question, I don't know...

Mike

I hope you aren't following John's nutrition regimine to a T, because even John admits that his first few months he was undernourished. Especially since you are at 305 lbs, you need more food.

Thanks for the help. I follow John's diet for the most part, but add larger portions of chicken and salads.

As for the Amino Fuel, it covers all the essencial and non-essencial aminos except for Cysteine (which you get in Chicken and Broccoli).

Essential Amino Acids
1. Histidine
2. Isoleucine
3. Leucine
4. Lysine
5. Methionine
6. Phenylalanine
7. Threonine
8. Tryptophan
9. Valine
10. Serine
11. Tyrosine

Nonessential Amino Acids
1. Alanine
2. Arginine
3. Aspartic acid
4. Cysteine
5. Cystine
6. Glutamic acid
7. Glutamine
8. Glycine
9. Proline

Thanks again and I look forward to keeping up with this forum. It's great to see soch a large group of people dedicated to positive change and not hammering each other in petty ways (like most other forums).

Keep up the good work! :tu: