a few question on diet.

[Siobhan]

Hi

I have read so many things on diet etc and would like if anyone could answer the following question (and maybe more depending on answers received)

1) Ok your body needs 2000 calories approx..if you eat less but are exercising more will your muscles burn up fat to get the energy in needs?
2) is it best to eat before or after exercise.. read that if you eat after exercise your muscle still burn calories..is that true?
3) Does your stomach shrink if you are not eating as much food. i.e after a while of diet your stomach can only take in a smaller about cause it is smaller?

[di marco]

1) Ok your body needs 2000 calories approx..if you eat less but are exercising more will your muscles burn up fat to get the energy in needs?
2) is it best to eat before or after exercise.. read that if you eat after exercise your muscle still burn calories..is that true?
3) Does your stomach shrink if you are not eating as much food. i.e after a while of diet your stomach can only take in a smaller about cause it is smaller?

these answers might not be entirely right but i think:

1) yes i think thats true, i think i remember from biology that your body will use your stored fat or something like that
2) not sure whats best, but i heard that you shouldnt eat an hour before or an hour after exercise due to something i cant actually remember (should really pay more attention lol!) but basically its not good for you to eat too near exercise
3) yes thats true, although im not sure to what extent, it might only be with the extremes, but i do know that if you starve yourself and hardly eat anything for ages then you are only able to eat small amounts at a time (so then you have to eat more regularly) and in contrast if you eat a lot all the time your stomach expands so that you can eat more food at one time

as i said i think those answers are right, although im sure others will correct me if im wrong

[Siobhan]

2) not sure whats best, but i heard that you shouldnt eat an hour before or an hour after exercise due to something i cant actually remember (should really pay more attention lol!) but basically its not good for you to eat too near exercise


So this means in order for me to exercise in the morning, I have to get up one hour earlier and either exercise then eat 1 hour later or eat and then exercise 1 hour later... I don't like that.. I am already up 30 mins earlier in the mornings

[di marco]

2) not sure whats best, but i heard that you shouldnt eat an hour before or an hour after exercise due to something i cant actually remember (should really pay more attention lol!) but basically its not good for you to eat too near exercise


So this means in order for me to exercise in the morning, I have to get up one hour earlier and either exercise then eat 1 hour later or eat and then exercise 1 hour later... I don't like that.. I am already up 30 mins earlier in the mornings

i dont think its essential, i think its just one of those things they advise you not to do but most people do it anyway, i quite often eat just before or just after exercise cos thats when i have time to eat food! dunno what difference its actually meant to make but i dont think it can do you that much harm, im still here lol!

[Meh]

Hi

I have read so many things on diet etc and would like if anyone could answer the following question (and maybe more depending on answers received)

1) Ok your body needs 2000 calories approx..if you eat less but are exercising more will your muscles burn up fat to get the energy in needs?
2) is it best to eat before or after exercise.. read that if you eat after exercise your muscle still burn calories..is that true?
3) Does your stomach shrink if you are not eating as much food. i.e after a while of diet your stomach can only take in a smaller about cause it is smaller?

This is my experience after getting down to 11.5st

1. Starving your body of food can be negative as well. I found that if I just stuck to eating healthy, forget the calories and really worked out, then my body was more than happy to lose weight

2. Both. At first I was really restricting what I ate before and after. I mean, why would you have a lucozade energy drink with 200 calories before a workout when you would probably only burn 300 calories during the workout? And then by consuming food afterwards you'd have eaten/drank more than you've burned. What I found was my body didn't lose weight, I was tired and fatigued with little motivation. I then read somewhere that the exercise is just the beginning - the harder you exercise the more your body will change and lose weight. So before exercise I tend to have a bowl of fruit and lucozade during with a nice healthy meal afterwards. My body just loses the pounds. That's my secret anyway.

And the one exercise I recommend for losing weight is spinning. Get to a class and workout HARD. Watch those pounds fly off.

[moonstorm]

Thanks Rimmer for the advice on spinning classes. I have just started them and was wondering if they were for me as I really do feel the muscle strain the next few days. But if it worked for you, I'll stick with it for a bit longer now I know you CAN get results.

[Siobhan]

Thanks Rimmer for the advice on spinning classes. I have just started them and was wondering if they were for me as I really do feel the muscle strain the next few days. But if it worked for you, I'll stick with it for a bit longer now I know you CAN get results.

spinning classes? what are those? like spinning around in a circle or something? I am doing pole dancing which I find exercises every muscle in your body and also has a feel good factor

[Trinity]

Spinning is stationary bike classes.

You shouldn't have a heavy meal within an hour before exercising because it causes cramp.

Exercise increases the metabolic rate and you will burn off more calories ALL the time.

[Meh]

Thanks Rimmer for the advice on spinning classes. I have just started them and was wondering if they were for me as I really do feel the muscle strain the next few days. But if it worked for you, I'll stick with it for a bit longer now I know you CAN get results.


The first few spinning classes are tough. You need to give time for your body to adjust. The little aches will go away.

I've seen people that go to spinning classes and do very little as they have the resistence all the way down. After 45 mins they work up a small sweat but the actual amount of colories burnt is negligible. Keep the resistence from medium to high and you should get a real good workout.

Siobhan, spinning is done on a stationary bike that has a heavy front wheel. you can't freewheel, so you are pedalling all the time. The bike has a simple mechanism for increasing/decreasing the resistance and the instructor will take you over a course of hills, flats and sprinting.

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

Sounds really good.. I remember years ago we had a stationary bike which was nice but we left it behind when we moved houses..

How many times a week would you reccomend going to get into a good 'fitness regime'?

[Perdita]

If you are just starting out and you are not very fit, you should give your body a rest day between exercised to help it recover, aching muscles are actually small tears in your muscles. When you are really fit and used to exercising you can do some workout every day. Doctors recommend 30 minutes exercise 3 - 4 times a week.