Toning advice please

[QfanatiQ]

Need some advice, tips pointers.

This is a 50 day count down.

A little about me.

Always been a cycler for commute purposes. Currently 3.5 miles each way. For the past
Fast metabolism (considering what I eat I would say very)
Below average height
just turned 31
I eat A LOT (sometimes 3 full meals a day and snack between)
I like Beer, serious ales and German beers, not a night on the Stella, weekends only, usually a 750ml bottle EACH DAY!
I am not overweight and fall within my ratio index at between 64/65 kilos (is that near 10 stone?)
Asthmatic – all under control
I would say Slim build, not broad in the shoulders ( I hate to admit it but there we go)

Typical food intake. Morning coffee (one coffee a day only then about 5/6 pints of water throughout the day).
Bacon Sarni OR Cake
Crisps (2 packs)
Lunch – Baked Tat with Chilli and grated cheese (big portion)
Afternoon tea with two finger kit kat and tea cake (small chocolate marshmallow covered with biscuit base)
Get home about 18:00 eat meal (I cook, all fresh food, but not the healthiest)
Girlfriends gets home about 20:00 – 21:00 I eat again same amount as before.

Lunch can vary, so the weekend just passed I had a small camembert, baked in the oven and ate the whole thing with a loaf of French bread. Afterwards I was still hungry so I cleared out 4 crumpets with butter. Later (before dinner) I had a large pot of olives.

Evening meal - Example, sausages and mash. I will do a three cheese mash, strong cheddar, Gruyere, and parmesan. I will cook 10 snags and eat about 8 of them in two servings with the cheesy tats, broccoli (A LOT OF THAT YUM) and caramelised onion gravy. I should add, when I started to get the dinner together I found some bacon, (only 4 rashers watirose thin cut) I fried them up and eat them as a snack before food was ready)

When we go around to parents and relatives, they will count me as 3/4 people to feed.

You can imagine our food bill!

I have (since last week) cut down (cut out rather) cake. Reduced my sweets but as a result I have found myself having to get an in-between sarni form the shop.

I eat so much I have been down the Dr’s many times for tests, as a child they thought I might have a tape worm as an adult, I get faint and week VERY fast if I don’t eat. I am not diabetic, or the other one (where you eat small amounts regularly).

Recently i have decided to get toned, nothing serious for a trip away. Not to strip off, but as a little bet i have with my 15 year old brother who jokes i will be a small fat man. He is a pot head (yes far to young i know many arguments, another topic) who sits, plays games and eats crap.

So, i have recently dropped my gear ratio, so i am cycling (more rotations per mile) than before. This has resulted in me dropping one notch on my belt.

However, i do have a slight amount of fat build up on my tummy and around my mid drift. I do a few sit ups, but not regularly. I thought I had a 30 inch waist. But my 30” trousers are loose, but my 28” jeans are too tight, even if I try and brave it (so they stretch) just a no go.

I do have access to a gym, with a weight machine for general lifting (one of these all on one machines even with leg work out) a running machines, rowing machine and cycling machine.

I was thinking, it might be good for me to stay away from the cardiovascular machines as I cycle, but perhaps the rowing machine would be a good addition.

There are free weights as well, but they are not too good. I have simple free weights at home (2 dumb bells and one (hehe long rod)) excuse the technical terms.

So in brief, my aim, to tone up my chest, and arms and get a little more shape to my legs while more importantly getting my midriff toned.

Let me know if you need any more info.

Cheers…..Q

[maverick_15]

A combination of good diet and a low body fat percentage will increase visible toning. You can do all the sit-ups in the world but unless your body fat is of a low enough level then you won't see your stomach muscles. The amount that you want to eat shouldn't be a problem because you can train and burn it off/ build muscle but what you will find is a problem is what you eat. You need to cut out the junk from your diet, sugars, refined carbs and fats. However, unrefined carbs are good (providing energy) and you need a certain amount of natural fats (eat fish a couple of times a week). Have you ever tried a diet where instead of eating three times a day in such large quantities you eat 6 times a day in smaller amounts? This keeps your metabolism slowly burning all day. The most important meal of the day is breakfast and you don't appear to be eating it. I'm assuming that if you look at your diet honestly you know it's not healthy and that there are areas where you can make vast improvements? If you are hungry in between meals eat nuts rather than a chocolate bar.

With regards exercise, the fact that you cycle every day is great, especially as you cycle in the morning. Add in a structured weights routine and you will find that you will be burning even more fat because whereas CV fat burn finishes almost instantly when you finish exercise, after a weights session you will continue to burn fat. How long does your cycle take you? For efficient fat loss you want to work at 65% of your maximum heart rate (since any more and you start to lose muscle) so buy an HRM and if possible for your cycle work at this level (even if it takes longer).

Do you know how to devise a weights routine? If so, good stuff, post up what you'll do and we can look at it. If not, someone will be able to sort you out a good one.

Good luck.

[QfanatiQ]

Thanks. I used to eat nuts but i foudn i was getting through so many and simply could not afford those in place of other stuffs that (seem) to keep me going for as long. I woudl eat unsalted Cahews and Pistaushes.

Yes, i do realise my diet needs to be addressed. I will look at this this lunch time with a note pad and go through some changes. My main problem is, if i dont have fats, i seem to get very ill, in terms of energy no tmatter how many times a day i eat. This is what has resulted in me going down to the Dr's so often tryign to pin this problem down.

Despite this, unlike a few years back, i am clearly eating more than i need in terms of fats, hence the slight fat i know have.

I need to find this balance and have been struggling with it for some years now, buts that a seperate thing.

I do eat fish, unfortunaly it flutates. I make a lot of soups as well (in a effort to try and balance out the fats)

Thanks, i will look at the whole diet again and make some changes.

Cheers.....Q