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Can I start doing core/ab exercises now or wait til i reduce some body fat?
Do them now. Strengthening your core which includes your whole torso front and back will enable you to perform better on your other exercises and give you balance and will help keep you from getting injured. Do not just focus on your abs alone.
A boiled egg is fine, but you won't get as much *food* in a single boiled egg, as you will in a 1-whole + 1-white omelet with veggies and cheese in it. You won't be as full, and you'll get less nutrients. If you want, you could make a little side of veggies, with sauteed mushrooms (in a *tiny* amount of butter) and onions, maybe a palmful of peas in there too, just enough to fill a couple of shotglasses (or half a pudding cup).
8% body fat can be unhealthy if you're relying only on advice from strangers on an internet forum to get there. You should really check with a professional trainer, in real life, away from the computer, at a gym. They can help monitor your workouts and dietary intake to ensure that you're doing it right, rather than haphazardly and ending up in the hospital or otherwise failing miserably to hit your mark.
Thanks for the advice. 8% did come from some muscle building planning website. I will talk to trainer at local gym and just focus on eating healthy for now, baby steps! I will try the omelet.
Ah you posted again saying that your focus isn't to lose fat, it's to gain abs, and you (mistakenly) say that you know you have to lose fat in order to gain abs. This explains some of your dilemma.
Abs are muscle. Fat is fat. The two are not the same, and one doesn't turn into the other. If you want definition in your abs, you have to exercise them. Excercising the muscles around the stomach area = abs.
If you have a layer of fat on top of the abs, you have to work on your dietary intake, specifically sugar and starch. Eating properly = less fat.
If you lack strong abdominal muscles AND have a layer of fat covering them, then you need to do both: reducing starch and sugar, AND building up your muscles through exercise.
Once you achieve one, you will still need to maintain it. Once you achieve both, you'll need to maintain both.
Gain abs, lose fat - all part of a journey. But the journey doesn't end at a successful achievement of a goal. Once you get abs and lose fat, you'll be able to add *some* sugars and starches, and you'll be able to ease up *somewhat* on the muscle building. But you will always have to be careful of your sugar/starch intake, and you'll always have to do some kind of "core" exercise (abdominals, sides, back, basically all your torso muscles) in order to keep the new look.
Ah you posted again saying that your focus isn't to lose fat, it's to gain abs, and you (mistakenly) say that you know you have to lose fat in order to gain abs. This explains some of your dilemma.
Abs are muscle. Fat is fat. The two are not the same, and one doesn't turn into the other. If you want definition in your abs, you have to exercise them. Excercising the muscles around the stomach area = abs.
If you have a layer of fat on top of the abs, you have to work on your dietary intake, specifically sugar and starch. Eating properly = less fat.
If you lack strong abdominal muscles AND have a layer of fat covering them, then you need to do both: reducing starch and sugar, AND building up your muscles through exercise.
Once you achieve one, you will still need to maintain it. Once you achieve both, you'll need to maintain both.
Gain abs, lose fat - all part of a journey. But the journey doesn't end at a successful achievement of a goal. Once you get abs and lose fat, you'll be able to add *some* sugars and starches, and you'll be able to ease up *somewhat* on the muscle building. But you will always have to be careful of your sugar/starch intake, and you'll always have to do some kind of "core" exercise (abdominals, sides, back, basically all your torso muscles) in order to keep the new look.
Thank you so much. Its making sense. In a nutshell I need to do both, cause I have some fat in my stomach, and currently not doing abs exercises.
I join myfitnesspal to track my low calorie diet, and they website suggest my sugar intake does not exceed 34g per day. Now I understand why you suggest no drinking fruit juice. They have lots of sugar.
Does 34g per sound reasonable or do you suggest no sugar per day or even less than 34g?
I've had success using myfitnesspal as a guideline to help me re-structure my eating habits. I'd stick to their recommendations at least to start with, give it a couple of weeks to see if you're feeling good, looking better or worse or the same, etc. You'd be surprised how much sugar there is in what you eat.
I would never recommend *no* sugar. Even doctors don't recommend it, unless there's some significant medical reason to do so.
Yes so far myfitnesspal is working good. It not only shows me goals for calorie intake but for sugar, protein, soduim, fat as well.
Yes, so far for two days, I have exceeded the sugar intake. lol. So I need to work on this part for sugar intake. It takes time. But atleast I have plan now.
I think I had a tough time getting the numbers "right" on myfitnesspal. I cut down on starch and sugar, resulting in a reduction in overall carbs. I added protein, and was working out, but at the end of the day, I was still short on calories. I even tried to add a little more fats. But I kept getting that "you're not consuming enough calories to reach your target weight" or whatever that message is.
It's not easy learning how to maintain a healthy balance of carbs, proteins, fats. But once you learn how to juggle the nutrients efficiently, you discover there are TONS of options that allow you to eat pretty much anything you want, as long as you respect portion sizes, and as long as you continue to exercise.
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