It's interesting that the Ketogenic diet has you in a better mood as I've trained countless clients who've tried it and they've felt irritable and lethargic throughout their time on it. Each to their own however. Thanks for your listing your experiences.

Howdy all,

Just thought I'd shed some light on 'weight loss'. Let's be real here, most of us are referring to fat loss more so than weight loss. So that's what I'll be referring to for the remainder of this post.

I suppose I'll introduce myself, my name is Dave, I'm a Personal Trainer, Dietitian, Nutritionist, Sports Science Specialist and I work with all kinds of people ranging from special needs clients (disabled, autistic, diabetic, obese, asthmatic, pregnant women) to elite level athletes, body builders and those who just have fitness goals and need guidance to help achieve them.

Below are 5 bits of information that I hope will help you with your fitness goals, let's do this!

#1 - Resistance Training (weights) is one of the best ways of burning unwanted fat! Using full range of motion, controlled movements, correct form as well as appropriate weights stresses your body big time! With rest intervals between sets at only 30 seconds, your routine will act as cardiovascular training also, keeping your heart rate high and metabolism firing for hours after as well as the days after recovering.

#2 - Warming up is essential! Warming up for a leg routine does NOT involve swinging your arms around for 10 seconds like a windmill. Dynamic movements such as 2 sets of 1:1:1 tempo full body weight squats is a warm up for a leg session, as is light weight Military press for shoulders. This is to pump blood into the areas to be worked so they are efficient and ready for the working sets ahead as well as practicing full range of motion.

#3 - Drink water! A glass of cold water has been proven to up your metabolism up to 30% temporarily. It's the elixir of life, please steer clear of the energy drinks and sodas!

#4 - Eat your fats! This is going to be a big one, but bear with me please. Polyunsaturated, monounsaturated & saturated. Yes, I said saturated fats. It has been known for a while now that the correlation between cholesterol and saturated fat intake is false as the produce industry has been focused on a 99% fat free strategy for the last decade only to have more deaths than ever from coronary heart disease. Heart surgeons and research institutes have released numerous studies showing this. Only 30% of your cholesterol comes from your diet, the rest is produced and regulated by our bodies. So yes... Eat your egg yolks people!

Here's a link regarding saturated fats, heart disease, cholesterol etc for those interested. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/242516-Heart-Surgeon-Speaks-Out-On-What-Really-Causes-Heart-Disease

#5 - Low carbohydrate crash diets do not work! Our bodies need carbohydrates to maintain optimal function, let alone getting pummeled in the gym! Sure, initially this starvation will drop a few pounds, but what happens after? To put it simply, we're all descendants of the 'hunter gatherers', there was no guarantee that foraging/hunting would provide sustenance for them, so whilst famine was in the midst they sure as hell didn't run around to burn calories, their bodies would resort to using their fat stores to sustain life, lower fat stores result in the body winding down the metabolism so they could hum along during the hungry times on bare minimum. Whereas during fruitful seasons they would have sufficient feeds, their fat stores would be up and the metabolism would be firing all pistons. Anyway, basically it means, don't starve yourself to lose fat. Eat the right foods, exercise right for long term results!

Last but not least, here are some ingredients that will really vamp up your fat loss. Let me know how you go with them!

Cinnamon, Green Tea, Coconut Oil, Cold Water, Grape fruit, Pineapple, Avocado, Chili, Fish Oils, Flax Seed Oils.

Health & Fitness is my passion, it's my life and I'd love for anyone and everyone to give it a chance and to make it part of their lives too. All the best with your fitness goals!

Any questions, please feel free to inbox me. Or comment below with feedback. Thanks for reading! :-)

Hi Daviru,

I want to thank you for sharing your expertise with everyone and with such a great additude...you are a blessing!

I am pretty much into staying heathy as well as in shape but seem to have come to a plateau in my routine.

I'm aware that as one get closer to their ideal weight, it is harder to loose pounds...well I'm there and hold fast but I can't seem to tone and firm like I want to.

I do strength training 2-3 times per week and cardio 3-4 times a week. My main problem is my (OK I know everyone will think I'm crazy) but chest area (mainly breast). I do light weights and more reps as I want to burn, however, I still bulk a bit as you can see from the pic. I know part of it is because of genetics. I don't eat any fatty meats...barely any animal products at all...95% vegan and mosty raw foodist.

I also would love to shrink the mid section without gaining a washboard.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Thank you for the responds!:) OK so let me get this straight...are you suggesting that my upper body (breast area weight) is where my glycogen is being stored perhaps? If so..in theory, should I build muscles in that area so it would not store there here?

Thank you!

OK...I got it. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I'm always gonna be dispreportionate in my eyes cause I don't want all over reduction...just the upper torso.

Thank you so much! One last question...you seem to have lean muscle mass which is nice! What kind of regimen are you on and what is your diet like...OK 2 questions LOL.

Thank you and NAMASTE!

Hey, great post. Everyone could use a little help staying healthy.

My question for you is, do you have a sudgestions for low impact cardio?

I had knee surgery, orthoscopic with a lateral release. I lost a lot of cartilage and the replacement didn't take. They told me after surgery I have the knee of an 80yo man now and that I cannot do full squats or lunges and not to run on hard surfaces, ect. When I do work my right leg, the pain and burning in the muscle from the lateral release is almost unbearable. I'm at a lost on how to work out my right leg or do cardio when the pain is so bad. I don't know if I should work through it and see if it gets better or if I'm doing more harm than good. Any sudgestions?

Thanks for the kind words! :-)

In regards to your situation, I'd suggest turning towards some of the great cardiovascular machines we have access to such as the Rowing Machines, the Cross Trainers may even be an option as they cause minimal stress on Knee Flexion movements at lighter resistances.

I definitely think working through the pain, while great testament to your will, will be detrimental to you both in the long term and short term. Your body is sending these pain signals for a good reason.

Without knowing more, that's about as thorough as I can be in regards to suggestions. I wish you all the best in recovery and your fitness.

Best wishes from Australia! :-)

Never fear regarding the lack of spot reduction, a good example is my waist line, I have a 32cm waist line, I am 5'10 in height which I consider slightly short for a guy. The only way I can have that nice V shaped taper going on is by working on my Lats on my back (wings), in turn widening my overall frame so that my waist in proportion looks thinner. My hip bone and my obliques (side abdominal muscles) are naturally thick, not covered in fat as I'm sitting around 7% body fat at this point. So try working on increasing the size of areas that may take away the focus from your areas of concern.

In regards to my diet, it's all very strict, I stick to a moderate carbohydrate, high fat, high protein diet. I ensure to steer clear from packaged foods as a general rule. I only drink green tea and water, the occasional coffee. No alcohol for sure. Foods consist of lean meats, seafood, nuts, fruits and vegetables as a staple. I don't use supplements of any kind except a balanced Multi-vitamin, Fish Oils, Organic Pure Whey Protein Isolate & Organic Casein Protein, Pro-biotics & Digestive Enzymes as well as Joint Support Formula.

In regards to training, I'm in my hypertrophy phase at this point, my weight sessions go for around 45 minutes, usually a minimum of 16 sets of 4 different compound exercises and a few supplementary sets of isolation, ab/core/balance training follows for around 10 minutes of high repetition low rest burning, followed immediately by interval training for cardio, usually around 20 minutes in duration. I train 5 days a week, on the off days I participate in other sports/leisure activities to stay on it.

Best of luck! :-D

This is a great post!

Any secrets for 'underarm' flab?
After growing up playing with my Grandmother's it's a fear I have...can I prevent it now??

This is a great post!

Any secrets for 'underarm' flab?
After growing up playing with my Grandmother's it's a fear I have...can I prevent it now??