Q & A - How to Control Snacking

Hi tony! I have recently discovered your blog and I love it.

QUESTION: 


Now I'm not majorly overweight, but I do have a man boob/belly problem. I attend a boarding school for theatre. Now recently I have been trying to eat healthy, and I have been trying to steal some fruit from the cafeteria every once in a while, but the problem is, I can't stop snacking. And when I don't have an apple or a banana around, I feel the need to just shove something in my mouth (with I often do...... and kinda sorta doing right now lol)  so that I feel satisfied. But I never do. What would you recommend? Did you ever have that problem?

Thank you!


ANSWER:  Hello.  Snacking is a problem for most people, including myself.  The best way I have found to combat it is to eat a lot of vegetables when I want to snack.  Carrots, peppers, lettuce, celery, and green leafy vegetables are the ones that I eat when I want to snack on something. When I lost the 85 lbs I ate 1-3 apples a day.  Whenever I felt like eating but knew that I needed to be healthy I would eat an apple.  Apples are great because they have a very high satiety index so they are filling. 

My suggestion to you is to get your hands on whatever vegetables you can and snack on those and also eat 1-3 pieces of fruit a day for snacks.  If you do not see weight loss then try to only eat 1-2 pieces of fruit because the fruit will have more calories than the vegetables.

Tony isn't a  licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.   Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a  diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a  journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions  only.  He is NOT a professional.

Q & A - Using a Log Book

QUESTION:


Hey tony I LOVE your fitness tips! I currently use an app that is pretty cool, it's called my fitness pal. I'm not sure if you've heard of it or use it or something similar. I use it to log my food during the day and it logs exercise too. Just wondering if you use anything like that or think that it is a good way to keep track of things? Again, I'm a huge fan of your tips. Ever since I saw your transformation video on YouTube I've been going to your site.

ANSWER:  I think that APPs and websites that help you track macros and calories are great for weight loss.  One of my “clients” that i helped to lose weight used it throughout her weight loss and it helped her lose 15 lbs.  She swears by it and it helps her keep track of what she has eaten throughout the day.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.

  

How artificial sweeteners and diet drinks cause weight gain.

A very controversial subject among the community is whether or not artificial sweeteners and diet beverages cause weight gain.  The answer is NO they do not, but they can contribute.  Artificial sweeteners and diet beverages are nearly 0 calories.  If a food or drink does not contain calories it cannot cause someone to gain weight.  However, the affect these things have on the body can contribute to overeating.  


When you drink things with artificial sweeteners you body wants to use it for energy (the calories are the energy source) but because there are no calories present the body makes you want more and more.  Since the body is looking for calories (because of the diet drinks and artificial sweeteners) it causes you to feel hungry which can lead to over eating/ extra calories and then causes weight gain.

Diet drinks can also cause bloating because of the carbonation and because of the sweeteners themselves.  This bloating causes you to look bigger than you actually are.  For example I recently started drinking diet coke. After 2 weeks I looked like I had gained 5 pounds around my mid-section.  After 2 days of only drinking water all that “gained weight” had gone away and I was back to normal. Diet drinks cause bloating which gives you the appearance that you are carrying more weight than you actually are. The artificial sweeteners and sodium in these drinks also cause water retention which gives the same appearance.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.

     

Q & A - Exercises to Help Get Rid of Gynecomastia

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Gynecomastia is a very common concern.

QUESTION:


Please don’t take this as rude, but as a former overweight guy I think you will know exactly where I am coming from. I noticed in your earlier pictures on your blog that you had the dreaded “man boobs” (which I have too). What weights or exercises in particular helped you to tone up and slim down in that area?


ANSWER:


As for your question I'll tell you exactly what exercises I have used and that I beleive are good for tightening up that area.  For the chest- Pectoral flye, incline pectoral flye, bench press, decline bench press, incline bench press.  


Also, using exercises that target your back will also help stretch the skin and disperse the fat so I will also tell you that lat pull downs, bent over rows, t-bar rows, pull/chin ups, and seated cable rows, will help you see improvement.  


I suggest devoting a day to chest and then a day to back instead of doing them both on the same day.  One last note, cardio and being in a caloric defecit in general will burn that fat off like no other!


I recently received a very nice email from a gentleman, thanking me for my posts.  It really means a lot to me to hear from people, especially when tell tell me about the positive results they are seeing.  Those emails are what help keep me going!   His biggest concern was gynecomastia, so I hope this post helps.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.

Q & A - What To Do When You Hit a Diet Plateau

QUESTION:

Okay tony, first of all I’d like to say that thanks to you I decided to change my lifestyle, your awesome man. So before I wanted to lose weight I was at around 200 pounds, 5'11" slightly muscular not much.  After I saw your video I was instantly inspired.  The next day I had begun, I cut out all junk foods, ate healthier but still had to eat bad stuff here and there because of family and social life.

After a month I ended up losing 20lbs but this is where the trouble comes in - I wasn’t losing any more weight.  I was maintaining it, even though I was going to the gym 2-3 times a week. I reached my 2nd month of dieting the 10th of this month and had gained back 8lbs,  I think a lot of it was water because I felt bloated a lot and just bigger, I’m really disappointed and frustrated that after such hard work I went back to my old ways.   This Sunday was my last day of spring break in which I started to eat bad again,.  It’s been weeks since I’ve worked out and I can’t find the energy to do it at home, I would really like to get down to lean but I’d say I want to lose around 50-60 pounds considering I’m tall and have muscle mass.   I just wanted to share my story and express some things in hope of maybe getting some tips from you about how to approach all these obstacles. You’re a great inspiration to many people.  If it wasn’t for you I would still be eating very poorly, also I’m not taking any proteins just taking vitamin E and A and iron pills that’s all.   I hope to get back on my diet when school starts Monday.

ANSWER: 

Hello, I want to quote a phrase I once heard “abs aren't made in the gym there made in the kitchen.”  By this I mean that you can exercise 3 hours a day but if your diet is not consistent and supportive for weight loss, that weight loss will not happen.  In order for you to continue to lose weight you have to cut out calories and increase exercise.  The combination of the two will lead to weight loss and muscle retention.  

If eating healthy has been difficult for you I suggest eating high protein foods because these are very filling. Limit your fat intake to healthy fats only from nuts, fish, or olive oil but try to only eat around .45x your body weight, total fat a day ( so 200x .40= the amount of fat you should have max).  You can also decrease your carb intake to promote the burning of fat.  

When you do eat carbs make sure they are complex and slow digesting like oatmeal and whole wheat/grain products.  You should try to lose 1-2lbs a week and as soon as you begin to plateau that's when you drop your calories a little lower until you continue to lose weight.

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.

  

From Massive to Muscular

Many of you are familiar with my weight loss journey.  Now that my first year of college is over, I have a little more time to concentrate on some new blog posts.   I'm also trying to devote more time to fitness video's and I just put up a new one.  Check it out....

If you have any diet or nutrition questions, please post them to the blog.  I'm finding that many people want to know the same things.  I'm doing lots of question and answer type posts now, so don't be afraid to ask!

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.

How to get rid of loose skin in the belly and arms, and lose man boobs

Out of all the questions I get asked on a weekly basis I without a doubt get asked about loose skin, body fat, and man boobs more than anything else.  Most of the time people want to know what the best way is to lose stomach fat or man boobs.  

Unfortunately it is a complete myth that someone can “target” these trouble areas and see extra fat loss in those areas.  In complete honesty the best way (and in most circumstances the only way) to burn belly/chest fat is to burn body fat overall.  As everyone knows, if you want to burn body fat you must be in a caloric deficit.  In order to increase your caloric deficit the best thing you can do is exercise as opposed to continually eating less and less.  

Exercising will keep your metabolism higher whereas eating less will decrease your metabolism.  And let’s be honest, what would you rather do, eat 2000 calories a day and exercise for an hour, or eat 1500 calories a day and not exercise? Food is great!  The best way to burn extra calories in my opinion is through cardio where you get your heart rate elevated and by vigorous weight lifting. 

So if you want to burn belly fat or chest fat you have to burn body fat all over your body. To do this you must be in a caloric deficit with both decreasing calorie intake and exercising.

On the topic of weight lifting; this is a great way to tighten up loose skin.  By adding muscle to the trouble area and the opposing area (the opposing area of the chest would be the upper back) you will force the skin to stretch. Also, for all the women out there worried about getting “bulky” I promise this won't happen (more on this in a later post).

Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what  to do.  Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.

Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him.   He lists general guidelines and suggestions only.  He is NOT a professional.