Knee injury, fat loss, not weight loss

[thingsuwant]

Hi - about 22 months ago I seriously damaged left knee (2 ruptured ligaments, compression fracture on end of femur, badly damaged back of patella/knee cap).

In the time since injuring myself, I have not exactly been very disciplined (!) on the food front, and in the absence of any exercise put on quite a bit of weight/fat.

About 12 weeks ago, I started exercising again and watching diet.

I work on a 1750 net calorie intake per day (food less cals burned through exercise). I try to stay away from sugary and fatty foods, and also reduce carb intake after about 4 in the afternoon. I exercise about 5 times each week. current routine is on a 4 day cycle, day 1 swim, day 2 gym, day 3 swim, day 4 gym - day off, then start again. I swim for about 25 to 30 minutes. In the gym I do free weights and floor work for about 25 minutes, followed by interval training (1 minute fast, 1 minute slow) on a stationary bike for another 25 minutes.

I am , 34 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall (about 180cm?). I sit at a desk all day for work, so exercise routine is the only time I truly burn calories.

Since starting routine I have lost quite a bit of weight (220 lbs down to 196 lbs) and a few inches (trousers starting to fall down!) which of course I am very happy with. I am now concerned about body fat percentage. I weigh myself at the same time each week and in near identical circumstances. At the same time I use a body fat monitor (on scales) to measure body fat. It has come down maybe 1.5%, but is still way too high. Currently body fat % is 24.5% to 25% - it needs to be below 20%.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might adjust routine to burn the body fat? Not too concerned about weight loss, but more with the fat loss. Because of injury I am still unable to place too much pressure on knee - I cannot jog or run, and cannot play any sport like tennis, squash, football etc. I am therefore limited to machines in the gym that do not impact knee, likewise swimming.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Matt

[Boss Man]

Diet could be the answer. What meals do you eat and what times do you eat?

[thingsuwant]

Hi and thanks for your reply….

*07:00 to 07:30 Breakfast
Porridge with low fat milk and a handful of raisins OR wholemeal cereal with low fat milk

*09:00 to 11:00 Snacks
Some days I eat fruit during this time, normally a banana, an apple and a small orange
I almost always have a low fat yogurt at around 10:30 to 11:00.

*12:30 to 13:30 Lunch

Normally a chicken or ham salad sandwich on wholemeal bread. Low fat potato chips or low fat yogurt.

*15:00 to 16:00 Snack
Typically another yogurt!

*18:00 to 19:00 Snack
Banana and an apple or orange

*19:00 to 22:00 (depending on work and whether I am in the gym/pool) Dinner
Normally this is 2 turkey steaks with a pile of green salad, cucumber and quite a large portion of tomatoes. Low fat yogurt.

On rest days I sometimes have a large bowl of vegetable soup with a single slice of bread instead of the turkey/salad.

When I go to the gym I normally eat extra snacks afterwards like a few walnut halves, fruit, occasionally rice cakes.

Throughout the day I have 3 or 4 cups of coffee in total.

I have probably missed some things off here, but in terms of calorie intake that is usually between 1750 and 2250 calories before exercise. I am also aware that I blow it about 1 day in 10 with something fatty, sweet, or alcoholic! That is bad although it probably keeps me sane!

Although I almost always hit daily calorie goals I can’t help thinking this diet is too heavy on the carb front (around 50 to 60%)??

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Matt

[Boss Man]

Hi and thanks for your reply….

*07:00 to 07:30 Breakfast
Porridge with low fat milk and a handful of raisins OR wholemeal cereal with low fat milk

(Raisins are very sugary so care is needed with those not ot have too many. I'd increase your protein intake too, by having things like some Ham, Chicken turkey, or a couple of Egg Whites and a yolk scrambled as examples.)

*09:00 to 11:00 Snacks
Some days I eat fruit during this time, normally a banana, an apple and a small orange
I almost always have a low fat yogurt at around 10:30 to 11:00.

(Again protein intake could be increase via the sort of things mentioned before, but obviously if you've had Eggs first, thing choose a different option.)

*12:30 to 13:30 Lunch

Normally a chicken or ham salad sandwich on wholemeal bread. Low fat potato chips or low fat yogurt.

(Seems fine)

*15:00 to 16:00 Snack
Typically another yogurt!

(Same deal with the first snack, the calories could be boosted here, as that's too low.)

*18:00 to 19:00 Snack
Banana and an apple or orange

(You're overcarbing here. Add a protein source in and stick to either a medium sized Banana or an Apple. Uoi'll get about 20 g Carbs anyway.)

*19:00 to 22:00 (depending on work and whether I am in the gym/pool) Dinner
Normally this is 2 turkey steaks with a pile of green salad, cucumber and quite a large portion of tomatoes. Low fat yogurt.

On rest days I sometimes have a large bowl of vegetable soup with a single slice of bread instead of the turkey/salad.

(Seems fine.)

When I go to the gym I normally eat extra snacks afterwards like a few walnut halves, fruit, occasionally rice cakes.

Throughout the day I have 3 or 4 cups of coffee in total.

(I'd ditch the Coffee. Caffeine blocks Iron uptake which could reduce Erythrocyte formation and Myoblobin formation and it can constrict bloodvessels. All this means potentially less red bloodcells in your body, which may potentially circulate more slowly and less Myoglobin means less Oxygen storage potential in muscles and that might affect Oxygen recovery to muscles, increase Lactic Acid formation potential, when the body tries to use Glycogen and Glucose without Oxygen present and potentially hasten the onset of muscle fatigue during sets.)

[thingsuwant]

Thanks Boss Man, thorough as always!

You mention to be careful of raisins with the Porridge, can you suggest an alternative as not sure I can take plain porridge. Grated apple maybe?

Also, if aim now was slow weight loss, bit majoring on fat loss, with 3 gym visits and 2 swims a week, what net calorie inatke would you advise I aim at (food in less cals burned through exercise)? Also what macro nutrient % would you recommend?

Thanks again, all help appreciated.

Matt

[Boss Man]

In terms of weight loss, don't exceed 40% on Carbs. Then it's up to you if you go 30 /30 on the other 2, or 40% Protein, 20% fat.

I'd aim right now for around 2,500 calories a day and see how that pans out, this is not accounting for exercise, but as a sedentary average is 2,000 a day, you should have enough calories there to provide for exercise anyway.

I think these things will be of some benefit to you .

[thingsuwant]

Thank again Boss Man, am tweaking diet as we speak! All really helpful advice....

Matt

[dkas2929]

thingsuwant,
Glad your getting better. Your diet is what is going to get rid of unwanted fat. I don't know if you have looked
at the hcg diet program but wife used it a few months ago and got some amazing results so you might want to take
a look. Abnormal fat is your problem and that's the hardest fat to get rid of. good luck

[Gym_Junkie]

Diet is definitely a crucial part of losing fat. Instead of eating foods that aren't vitamin/protein/carb rich, you should stick to eating meats such as white chicken, vegetables, yogurt is a good source of protein (chobani has 14g of protein!).

Never eat fast food as that will never benefit your body in any way shape or form. Drink lots of water because that can sometimes curb your appetite if your in the mood for a nice greasy steak.

Aside from the diet, working on machines or free-weights doing higher reps and lower weights would be most ideal because it burns more calories.

[LuvrOlife]

I researched the hcg diet you recommended and found this. I figured I'd pass it along fyi:

As of December 6, 2011, the FDA has prohibited the sale of 'homeopathic' and OTC hCG diet products and declared them fraudulent and illegal

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

by dkas2929 » Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:33 pm

thingsuwant,
Glad your getting better. Your diet is what is going to get rid of unwanted fat. I don't know if you have looked
at the hcg diet program but wife used it a few months ago and got some amazing results so you might want to take
a look. Abnormal fat is your problem and that's the hardest fat to get rid of. good luck

[Boss Man]

god, the FDA actually phohibited some kooky product . Is that guilt trip action because the Hydroxycut Hardcore death findings about 3 years ago, didn't prompt the banning of all Fat Burners, Thermogenic Serums and Appetite Suppressants?

Oh wait no, they wouldn't do that, as those awful things are big business, compared to some fairly low key kooky stuff.

Still at least it's a positive step for supplement consumers, so they don't get scammed or possibly receive health issues off a product.

Thanks for posting that .

[LuvrOlife]

Right?!!

It may have something to do with regime change in the agency top brass, having a different agenda than the last administration...don't worry it may well change in a couple more years, and you'll be able to buy anything regardless of potential hazards....it's just business, not personal!

You're welcome, Bossman!

[Boss Man]

About time that gormless organisation paid some real attention to what's going on. Their sometimes laughable attention to detail, regarding supplements and diet reccomendations leaves a lot to be desired.

Did you ever hear about the minor furago regarding Sesame Seeds and Excema about 2 years ago?

Incase you didn't, three well heeled medics with around 500 patient histories, exposed a link to Sesame Seeds triggering Excema and rather than even offering Excema sufferers a basic "heed with caution" caveat over Sesame seeds, the FDA said we know Excema is triggered by Peanuts and Nuts and that's good enough for now and baulked the evidence, saying it wasn't comprehensive enough.

Personally I don't care what any countries population size is, and what proportion 500 people make up, it's too many to be a load of misdiagnoses and coincidence, or medics diagnosing with 18th century knowhow, but then maybe I'm just too rational sometimes for own good .