Metabolism

Question:

Staying "revved up" is tough. Does your metabolism slow with age? I'm about to turn 52 and it seems it's harder to stay motivated than when I was half this age. LOL! Thanks!

ANSWER: 

Yes, as you age your BMR( basal metabolic rate) will slow down for many reasons.  one of the main reasons is due to the fact that as you age you are likely to lose lean muscle mass from inadequate protein intake and lack of exercise.  when your body does not have enough protein and calories your body will “eat” your own muscle for fuel.  Muscle is the most metabolic tissue in the body(meaning it requires a lot of calories to to be maintained.)  So this means that the more muscle you have the more calories you burn every day.  

Okay, so how do you maintain or increase your muscle mass?  In order to build or maintain muscle i suggest eating about 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight (so if you weight 150 lbs you would want to eat 150g of protein per day.) 

But this isn't enough.  in order for you body not to canabolize your muscle you need to give it a reason to keep it around.  this reason is weight training.  when your muscles are put under the stress of weight training, it tells your body that it needs it so it won't “eat” it.  i suggest weight training 3-5 times per week 45-60 minutes.



Another great bonus of weight lifting is that it slows osteoporosis.  By putting stress on the muscle, tendon, and ligament it puts stress on the bones which tells your body to keep them strong. ( more detail on this in another 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.

On Making Your Own Food

Question:

First of all, congratulations mate. Well done, well done!

I want to know about your diet. Do you make all the food yourself and for yourself? I find it hard to motivate me to make a healthy dinner after a long day at school, and recently, I've let myself into a rot. A lot of pizza and quick junk food. Any tips on how to motivate yourself to make food for yourself?

Answer: 

I wouldn't say I have any motivation to cook for myself but I know for a fact that it is 100% necessary if you want to reach your weight loss goals and there's no way around that.  If you find it hard to cook you need to do the most simple things possible.  Get yourself a george foreman grill first off.  Buy 5-10 lbs of chicken at a time and cook it all so it will last you 6-10 days.  

Buy eggs.  Eggs take about 5 mins to cook and taste great.  Be sure to separate some of the yolks and only use the whites because you don't need that much fat.  If money isn't an object buy egg beaters; this will cut down on time also.  

Use whole wheat tortillas, bread,oatmeal and potatoes/sweet potatoes as your main carb sources.  Tortillas and bread are 100% ready to go so just make a sandwich or wrap in 5 mins and you're done.  Oatmeal and potatoes can be cooked in the microwave; oatmeal will take 3-6 minutes and potatoes will take 8-12 minutes(you can do homework while those are cooking even.) 

By using nuts and peanut butter as a main fat source you will not need to cook either.  



So there you go, that is the fastest and easiest way to cook your food and stay on track 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.

More About Man Boobs

QUESTION:

hi tony,
         
i really have only 2 months of time to go to my graduation can u send or post the exercise to get rid of man boobs?

i mean how did u lift the weights?  a real video of all exercises you have done to get rid of male boobs would be really helpful.

ANSWER: i lifted weights and did cardio in order to burn calories.  the more calories you burn the more fat you are going to lose and that includes in your chest.  if you want to get rid of man boobs the very first thing you have to do is lose fat.  lose fat by keeping your diet in check using my methods or a method that works for you and by doing intense weight training and cardio multiple times per week.



Go back through my blog and check out these posts here and here as well.

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.

Chest Exercises

QUESTION:

Hi tony i just wanted to ask you how long did it take you to build your chest muscles and to get them toned. how much weight would you use in your exercises with weights.

ANSWER: 



 it took me well over 2 years.  the first 8 months was basically about losing fat which is why my chest looked so much better in the first place and this is also the key to getting your chest to look better in general if you are overweight.  the rest of the time was spent weight training.  you can find my chest routine on my blog but i basically stay between 6-12 reps on all exercises and i make sure i am failing or close to failing in the last rep of each set in order to burn out the muscle.

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.

Protein Shakes

QUESTION:
hi tony
been following your blog for 1 month now and its a great help. was just wondering if you could help me with a few things it would be much appreciated

1: im 6ft weighing 200lbs I go to the gym 3 times a week doing 20 minutes cardio and the rest being 50-60 minutes of weight training. was just wondering if you could help me with what i should generally be doing to burn fat but gain muscle while weight training.

2: If i go to the gym 5 times a week with only 3 days cardio and the other 2 just being weight training should i take protein shakes after the workout and if so what protein shake would you recommend?

thanks in advance, keep up the great work :)


ANSWERS: 

I would personally lift weights 4-5 days per week and you can find a 4-5 day beginners split on google there are a ton of them.  i would suggest doing cardio on 1-3 days per week but limit them to 20-30 minutes per session.  



yes i would take a protein shake every time you lift or when you generally need more protein.  since you are cutting and have a high activity level i suggest eating 1g-1.5g of protein per lb of body weight to ensure muscle retention. remember that protein shakes are only a supplement to supplement your diet and they are not completely necessary if you are getting adequate amounts of protein in your diet from whole foods. i suggest optimum nutrition protein because its affordable, reputable, and they have great flavors.  make sure you buy it online at bodybuilding.com or go to gnc and tell them to price match it so you don't spend an arm and a leg for it.

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.

 

Trail Mix

It's easy to make your own trail mix, and use the fruits and nuts that you personally like.   Please hit the link and go visit the CacheCrazy blog, where they are featuring my trail mix post.

While you're over there, take a few minutes to check out their great blog.  Geocaching is a fun game that gets you outside, and involves a wide variety of activities such as walking, hiking, climbing, problem solving and treasure hunting.  The folks at CacheCrazy are a great bunch of people and have been extremely supportive of me and my blog.  So please stop by and tell them "Tony sent me!"

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.

Weight Lifting and Rest

QUESTION:  Hey Tony, I have a question relating to weight lifting. I have been lifting weights for about an hour a day for a week. Is this bad? Or is it okay to lift weights everyday. I looked up resting after weight training but i don't fully understand how long to rest for.  I want to gain muscle, and i love lifting weights. Should i lift and rest the next day, and so on?

ANSWER:

I promise you that rest is even more important than training in terms of seeing gains and not getting injured.  i completely agree that i love lifting weights and would lift everyday if i could.  The fact of the matter is though that the body simply can't handle that type of physical demand without rest even with proper nutrition.  

The minimum i think (and most experts think) you should rest for the week is 2 days but many people will rest 3.  I suggest lifting with a 4-5 day split. so for a 4 day split i would train Monday Tuesday, rest Wednesday, train Thursday Friday, rest Saturday Sunday, and then repeat. 

I personally do a 5 day split so i lift Monday-Friday and take Saturday and Sunday off.  if you want you can do some light cardio 20-30 mins on your off days but i highly suggest taking a minimum 1 day of complete rest per week and no more than 5 days of weight training.

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.

 

Big Book of Exercises and Tony's Routine

Hey Tony,

Im 24 yrs old, 283 lbs and am looking to lose weight. In the past I have lost 40 lbs. and kept it off for approx. 6 months. I unfortunately I have since regained the weight. I am looking to re-lose the weight again. When I lost all my weight previously it was in part to eating a lean diet with a structure of 1800 calories, exercising daily and keeping my attitude positive. I guess my question now is I am trying to figure out a workout routine that includes weight training and I have the Men's Health Big Book of Exercises. I was wondering if your routines were based off these or maybe you use this as a reference or guide. Also I am planning on losing fat, toning up and gaining muscle. Would you be able to provide a sample routine that you think would work for myself. I have been reading your blog up to this point and appreciate all of the information and am intrigued by your success. Keep up the good work. Thanks!

ANSWER: 

Hey there.  I have actually not heard of the book of exercises and the program that i currently use is of my own creation.  It is a basic 5 day weight training split where each day focuses on 1-2 muscle groups.

each exercise is 3-4 sets 6-12 reps with 1 minute rest periods between sets except deadlifts which is 2 minutes of rest. you should be near failure on every set on your last rep.

Back- deadlifts, bent over row, t-bar row, lap pull down wide grip, lat pull down close grip, seated cable row.


shoulders/traps- barbell military press standing, dumbbell military press seated, side raises, front raises, dumbbell shrugs, upright rows, barbell shrugs.


biceps/triceps- rope pushdown, close grip bench press, skull crushers, superset straight bar pushdowns medial grip then lateral grip then underhand lateral grip ( 8-12 reps per grip with 10 second rests in between each grip change).


legs- 9 sets of front squats 6-15 reps, stiff leg deadlifts, feet together leg press, weighted lunges, leg curls.


chest- flat barbell bench, incline barbell press, dips, decline barbell bench, flyes.

this routine has a lot of sets and a lot of volume which burns a ton of calories.

this routine has allowed me to burn a lot of fat off my body while cutting and gain a significant amount of muscle while bulking.

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.

Revving Your Metabolism

QUESTION:

What can you do if you have a slow metabolism?  What foods help to keep your metabolism going?  What exercises rev it up?  Any other tips?  

ANSWER:  If you have a slow metabolism i suggest sticking to a high protein high vegetable diet.  i would only try to consume the amount of fat that is necessary for your body weight which is .45 x your body weight and get these fats from healthy sources like nuts, peanut butter, and fatty fish.  i would limit your starchy carb intake to the last meal before you workout so you have a good source of energy.  a high protein and high vegetable diet will keep you the fullest and most satisfied throughout the day so you will be eating few calories, but feel full.

The more muscle mass you have the faster your metabolism is and the more calories you burn naturally, so i suggest lifting weights and focusing on the compound movements of weight lifting as these burn the most calories and build the most muscle.  

If you do not have access to weight lifting equipment or do not wish to do this kind of exercise the next best thing would be high intensity cardio.  By this i mean doing cardio for 20-30 minutes at a very high intensity and getting you heart rate to skyrocket.  After the high intensity cardio i would do 10-20 minutes of low intensity cardio which would be something like a brisk walk.



As always, never begin a diet or exercise program without the approval of your doctor.

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.