Why can't I lose my belly and get a 6 pack

2

Comments

  • No you don't really need sugar for energy - but this is not a short discussion Lee.  You can get energy from fat and from carbs. I don't think it is possible for an endurance athlete to be truly low carb (unless they follow an inuit-like super high fat diet and never go above their aerobic zone and quite frankly - YUCK!).  But I don't think you need to live on sugar either. You can be an endurance athlete, eat a clean diet (i.e. no processed foods, low in sugar) but high in veg then fruit then lean protein and the carb sources of your choice (assuming no gluten issues).  

     

    I do think that I  can't live without sugar - but that is my personal preference and also training for an ironman or marathon - gels come in kind of a handy.image

     

    Or is it splitting hairs to say that gels aren't 'sugar' exactly as they are usually a combination of glucose, dextrose, maltodextrose and sometimes fructose rather than sucrose.

  • mmm Avit - I think you need to learn a bit more about this before you start pretending to understand it. Are you seriously telling me you think you know about a low carb diet but don't know about carb cycling.

     I would refer you to 'The Paleo diet for athletes' as a starter for 10.

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    avit wrote (see)
    Stevie G . wrote (see)

    Avit, reading your other threads, you need to find a way to take some of this knowledge to aid your running, as seems you're struggling a bit on that score.

    Lol ok big man, sorry didnt realise you need a fancy RW profile pic, entry reviews and 10k posts to provide great advice on diet, perhaps you should get off your backside and run more instead of posting 10k times on here....

    Yeah sorry mate, you're clearly right, my 60miles a week is pretty darn lazy of me.

    And all these carbs make me a right bloater image

  • GymAddict wrote (see)

    No you don't really need sugar for energy - but this is not a short discussion Lee.  You can get energy from fat and from carbs. I don't think it is possible for an endurance athlete to be truly low carb (unless they follow an inuit-like super high fat diet and never go above their aerobic zone and quite frankly - YUCK!).  But I don't think you need to live on sugar either. You can be an endurance athlete, eat a clean diet (i.e. no processed foods, low in sugar) but high in veg then fruit then lean protein and the carb sources of your choice (assuming no gluten issues).  

     

    I do think that I  can't live without sugar - but that is my personal preference and also training for an ironman or marathon - gels come in kind of a handy.image

     

    Or is it splitting hairs to say that gels aren't 'sugar' exactly as they are usually a combination of glucose, dextrose, maltodextrose and sometimes fructose rather than sucrose.

    totally agree with you here, except the last bit as all of those you listed are sugars..... image

    I dont profess to know every published term such as your carb cycling but I do profess to understand how the body works and if you explained this to me I could prob offer far more of an understanding than yourself, however this is not the place, that is the place of PM discussions if you so wish.

    GymAddict wrote (see)

    No you don't really need sugar for energy - but this is not a short discussion Lee.  You can get energy from fat and from carbs. I don't think it is possible for an endurance athlete to be truly low carb (unless they follow an inuit-like super high fat diet and never go above their aerobic zone and quite frankly - YUCK!).  But I don't think you need to live on sugar either. You can be an endurance athlete, eat a clean diet (i.e. no processed foods, low in sugar) but high in veg then fruit then lean protein and the carb sources of your choice (assuming no gluten issues).  

     

    I do think that I  can't live without sugar - but that is my personal preference and also training for an ironman or marathon - gels come in kind of a handy.image

     

    Or is it splitting hairs to say that gels aren't 'sugar' exactly as they are usually a combination of glucose, dextrose, maltodextrose and sometimes fructose rather than sucrose.

     

    Stevie G . wrote (see)
    avit wrote (see)
    Stevie G . wrote (see)

    Avit, reading your other threads, you need to find a way to take some of this knowledge to aid your running, as seems you're struggling a bit on that score.

    Lol ok big man, sorry didnt realise you need a fancy RW profile pic, entry reviews and 10k posts to provide great advice on d

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    avit wrote (see)
    Stevie G . wrote (see)

    Avit, reading your other threads, you need to find a way to take some of this knowledge to aid your running, as seems you're struggling a bit on that score.

    Lol ok big man, sorry didnt realise you need a fancy RW profile pic, entry reviews and 10k posts to provide great advice on diet, perhaps you should get off your backside and run more instead of posting 10k times on here....

    Jason Wintin wrote (see)
    Avit your diet sounds crazy!! Doesn't sound like a diet for a runner at all!

    How much knowledge in this field do you have??

    Cutting out sugars is practically impossible, and a meat only diet..... Come on!!

    You make out like every food is bad apart from meat. Sounds about like a weightlifter friend I have!!!

    It is a drastic measure and I have to admit I eat sugars but that would be the answer to the OP's question. If you eating food provided by nature you wont go far wrong, however alot of people underestimate the value of meat. Im not a chicken leg captain upperbody weight lifter at all but I do advise you eat more meat than you are doing. Carbs are not as neccesary as you think for the average runner. Try it for a month and you will see.

    GymAddict wrote (see)

    Avit - if you read the replies on page one - most folks are telling the OP that it is having too much body fat that is preventing his 6-pack and a couple mention curbing the usual 'carb' habit that runners and endurance athletes have.  You are not telling us anything we don't know here.

     

    However - an endurance athlete can 'get away' with a lot more junk(i.e crap carbs and sugar) in their diet than the average bod.  If you know how the body works - then you should know why this is. 

    If the OP wants a six pack it is more than likely he will need to cut down his carbs.... I think he got that message.

     

    In response to the footballer having half a loaf before a match -!!!  If they do need to practice calorie/carb restriciton (which I doubt) it is more likely they carb cycle and have it afterwards as the resultant energy slump from the insulin reponse to the bread pre-match would not be ideal although perhaps a few hours would be long enough - certainly doesn't sound like the kind of things a sports nutritionist would recommend - especially one with a primal/paleo ideaology.

    Not quite sure what your point is in the first few paragraphs as you're just reiterating my points. However the in reference to the last paragraph. The footballer as an example, would burn off the sugars in the bread throughout the match. He wouldnt have an insulin slump at all. He would if he ate a carb then didnt burn it off, such as like what you said about eating carbs after an event..

    I havent mentioned anything about deliberate calorie restriction, if you need energy then eat carbs... simple. As for eating just before the match its a myth, it wouldnt matter too much, why do tennis players eat bannanas during a match???image

    🙂

  • yeah and the 100 miles a week I cycle, the 6 hours of karate I do and the 20 miles of running I do makes me a couch potatoe. If you want to be as immature as to compare how much we do to see you is the bigger man thne you can go fish, because I see enough of you so called professional runners who run X number of miles a week, but funnily enough you never see you on tv despite you being such a superhuman action hero....

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    What about gels then?

    Avit you can't spell potato.

    🙂

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    Ah, but it was you who tried to link my post count to some perceived laziness.

    Stick around for 10years on here and you might rack the posts up. There's people on here who have 100,000+ posts old son....they run as well apparently!

     

    ps Ric, is that the worst attempt at using the quote facility ever seen on this forum image

  • Do you deliberately misunderstand or don't you bother to read the posts properly.  Do you understand what the term 'splitting hairs' means?

     

     

  • RicF wrote (see)

    What about gels then?

    Avit you can't spell potato.

    Nor does he have a handle on grammar  - but I feel a tad churlish pointing it out.

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    And on the left we have SG, and on the right Avit

    /members/images/493151/Gallery/karate-kid.jpg

     Bring it on.

    🙂

  • I think they should settle this the old fashioned way......a race



    I wonder who would win ???
  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    A speed typing contest might be more applicable around here.

    🙂

  • oh I c, because Im not a RW veteran and I dont comment on every boring pointless thread on here makes me in some way a bad runner/athlete?

    As for the quotations I was having trouble even responding, must have been the sites fault, as quotes wouldnt show, but of course you'd know all about that having 10k posts..

    Lol to the above picture, have you seen the end of this film? I do believe the right wins image

    Love how forums inspire ppl to become so confident when they are hiding behind a keyboard. all from me giving dietry advice that you guys dont agree with, but have no backup for your own comments... dear me, you must have some sad lives.

    Let me guess what comes next.. a bunch of comments all from RW veterans who think they know everything/everyone. Its like that feeling you get when you walk into a working mens club and your not from the area... *claps slowly* for all you 'professional' athletes who are so amazing but have never won a race in your life....

  • he wins he has a professional action shot of him running for his RW profile picture.. I mean who can compete with that!?......

     

    oh then we've got RichF who also has one, plus he has a stern expression....

    then theres gym addict.. omg they must be amazing with a name like that

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    Avit is being rather aggressive, but most of what he says is true. Sorry, those arguing no six pack due to genetics are completely wrong.

    Plus western nations do eat too many carbs these days and science is starting to provide links between that and obesity. They are also starting to declare that we've been sold a marketing lie for generations. Low fat is completely wrong for weight loss. Full fat is actually better. The people I know that buffed on paleo their breakfast is fried bacon and eggs. We now have a abundance of carbohydrates in our diet. Most of this is a modern invention. Cereals are reasonably modern. Historically in the UK our carb intake would have been some bread and some from veg such as potatoes. We didn't eat rice, pizza or pasta. Even worse if you are in the USA and they add corn syrup to nearly everything thanks to the agricultural lobbyists.

    Think bout it, most peoples diets are completely unbalanced.

    Breakfast: Cereal/toast = carbs

    Lunch: Sandwiches = carbs

    Dinner: Rice or pasta based dish = carbs

    Then add a dose of sugar with the snacks.

    Now as most on this forum are distance runners we get away with it. We use the energy those carbs provide. The general population doesn't and the science dictates that our bodies store those excess carbs as fat at a far greater rate than animal fat, which we have been told to avoid.

    Can anyone who wants it get a six pack, well yes. Just like anyone can get out and run a 10km if they really want it. Am I going to give up bread, rice, pizza and pasta hell no. I'd rather be unbuff and enjoy my grub.

  • thats what i was trying to say but until someone comes along to back you up its hard for you to get your point across to people without force. The above is 100% correct, so thanks for posting this.

    Maybe the 'brainwashed' will actually listen.. but i doubt itimage

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    avit wrote (see)

    oh I c, because Im not a RW veteran and I dont comment on every boring pointless thread on here makes me in some way a bad runner/athlete?

    As for the quotations I was having trouble even responding, must have been the sites fault, as quotes wouldnt show, but of course you'd know all about that having 10k posts..

    Lol to the above picture, have you seen the end of this film? I do believe the right wins image

    Love how forums inspire ppl to become so confident when they are hiding behind a keyboard. all from me giving dietry advice that you guys dont agree with, but have no backup for your own comments... dear me, you must have some sad lives.

    Let me guess what comes next.. a bunch of comments all from RW veterans who think they know everything/everyone. Its like that feeling you get when you walk into a working mens club and your not from the area... *claps slowly* for all you 'professional' athletes who are so amazing but have never won a race in your life....

     Amit, the moment I read your piece about the footballer, loaf of bread and bacon. I could tell you knew your stuff. 

    We do actually read all the postings, but its easier for most of us if the info doesn't appear in one massive hit. 

    If you take your subject and self too seriously then its likely you'll get a set of reactions like you did.

    Rest assured, most of its a wind up but don't assume we've ignored what you've put down. 

    Its club Rhetorical around here. 

    If you were really wrong and dull with it, most likely you'rd get zero replies.

     Oh! the picture of the karate kid. I already knew that the 'kid' on the right won. I've seen the film. Its one reason I posted it. 

     

    🙂

  • Some strong broscience and internet tough guys in this thread, shame I cba to read most of it.

    The truth be told if you really want to understand how to get a six pack I dont believe runners world is the best place to get advice on it.

    Bodybuilding and running are pretty different goals and aren't neccessarily easy to combine. 

    As someone who's running has been limited by injuries throughout last year and again into this year, when I started picking things up and putting them down (lifting) and following a bodybuilders diet I really noticed the difference in my body.

    Genetics are believed to play a role in when your AB's will become visable, personally mine start showing at around 15% body fat thought this can be different for different guys. Note - showing.  It takes a lot more effort to get that really cut and defined look.

    The key determinant in getting them to show is low bodyfat, so if they aren't showing now that means you need to lose more weight.  As noted in some of the posts above there are other factors involved, although there seems to be a lot of disagreement out there as to what really makes a difference.  Pro bodybuilders will indeed avoid salts and sugars, carb cycle, etc to get that ultra lean look.

    However, if the only exercise you do is running and you don't work your core out at all your ab's are probably gonna look shit anyway.

    This 2 minute piece of broscience was brought to you by Running Manlet.  Please submit your flames after the tone.

     

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭
    avit wrote (see)

    oh I c, because Im not a RW veteran and I dont comment on every boring pointless thread on here makes me in some way a bad runner/athlete?

    As for the quotations I was having trouble even responding, must have been the sites fault, as quotes wouldnt show, but of course you'd know all about that having 10k posts..

    Lol to the above picture, have you seen the end of this film? I do believe the right wins image

    Love how forums inspire ppl to become so confident when they are hiding behind a keyboard. all from me giving dietry advice that you guys dont agree with, but have no backup for your own comments... dear me, you must have some sad lives.

    Let me guess what comes next.. a bunch of comments all from RW veterans who think they know everything/everyone. Its like that feeling you get when you walk into a working mens club and your not from the area... *claps slowly* for all you 'professional' athletes who are so amazing but have never won a race in your life....

    so angry!

    just to backtrack here...

    • noone's claiming to even be close to a professional athlete here!
    • I was gently joking with Ric about his quote job not yours, as he's a regular on here, yet managed to quote half a page and not add a comment image
    • You called me lazy, based on an assumption that my post tally means I never run! Ignoring that the posts have been made over the best part of 10 years!
    • You then took the mileage i quoted as some kind of boast versus what you may or not do! When, i didn't ask, or care!

     

    For what it's worth i couldn't care less about 6 packs...when you get a bit older you realise staying fit and healthy is way more important!

    Chill out relax, get yourself a little photo and we'll all go on to be great buddies image

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    Yes indeed.

    I made a right bollox of the quote thing.

    What I was trying to do was collate all the posts (massive and full of detail) in one great lump and then; in an attempt at humour, add just one word at the bottom.

    Explain!

    However, the posting Gods had decided that was a piss take too far and I found I couldn't add it [the word]

     

    🙂

  • Stevie  GStevie G ✭✭✭✭

    maybe you should run more Ric, as I'm sure those 1,650 posts of yours have been over the last year image

  • avit - I am by no means an expert in food, apart from being able to consume large qunatities of it.

    There are a couple of your comments in this thread that dont make sense to me so would appreciate it if you could clarify what you mean - firstly you say "If you eating food provided by nature you wont go far wrong" and then you say "Fruit is very high in sugar and will make yu put on weight if you eat lots of it" (copied and pasted from earlier in this thread)

    To me, those two comments of yours seem to contradict each other ? 

  • Not wanting to add to the flames, but most of those Kenyans based out in Iten have 6 packs. One of their main foods if Ugali.  Stick them on a paleo diet and I'm sure we will have a sub 2hr marathon.image

    Apologies in advance for having a picture on my profile when I have not even served my apprentice year on RW

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭
    carterusm wrote (see)

    avit - I am by no means an expert in food, apart from being able to consume large qunatities of it.

    There are a couple of your comments in this thread that dont make sense to me so would appreciate it if you could clarify what you mean - firstly you say "If you eating food provided by nature you wont go far wrong" and then you say "Fruit is very high in sugar and will make yu put on weight if you eat lots of it" (copied and pasted from earlier in this thread)

    To me, those two comments of yours seem to contradict each other ? 

    His reasoning was wrong on that. Although most people on a paleo style diet will avoid fruit as tends to be high in natural sugars. A paleo way of life would have you snack on nuts and naturally fatty foods rather than naturally or otherwise sugary foods. The main basis of their meals will always be meat and veg and eggs at breakfast.

    The thing to remember is paleo is not a no carb diet, but a low carb one. What they tend to be fussy about is where those carbohydrates come from. Things like potatoes in small quantities are viewed as fine, sweet potato seems to be a favourite among them and even small portions of white rice tend to be welcomed. Things like bread or anything grain based is pretty much viewed as a toxin by them. Although I'd argue they vastly overstate some of the populations gluten intolerance as a reason why grains are a toxin.

    It does highlight the failure of bad science marketing and government campaigns though. Marketing smoothies as healthy when the sugar count is through the roof. Low fat yoghurt's that are high in sugar. The five a day campaign, which has no scientific grounding at all. The constant bombardment that fatty food is bad food, but ignores the sugar levels in most full fat alternatives.

    The concept that you can't do endurance of paleo is false too. There are a number of paleo Ironmen out there, and one of the gits that took to it that I know utterly destroys me in a 10km.

    And with all that said I plan to stuff my face with pasta after tonight's run. No bread, screw that.

  • DeanR7DeanR7 ✭✭✭

    also ran - but i think avit is saying they burn those calories off training, hence are zero carb remain (or thereabouts) and why you can see the 6 pack.

  • fuck 6 packs - just go for the full keg look..

    [pats belly....]

    image

  • I'd quite like a 6 pack......of dohnuts

    mmmmm dohnuts

  • i always thought that the natural sugars in fruit are fine.

    albeit dont eat tescos worth, but apart from the teeth thing the dentists are going on about ATM (acid erosion) fruits good isnt it??

     

  • Eggyh73Eggyh73 ✭✭✭

    Fruit really depends what your dietary goal is. Fruit do provide vitamins, but as you are aware moist fruit is sweet for a reason and that is the natural sugar in them.

    If like most on these boards you are active that is not an issue. You get the vitamins and you'll burn that sugar through exercise. If you are less active that natural sugar from the fruit will be stored as fat, so if weight loss is your goal it's not the best option.

    It's part of the reason the five a day campaign is laughable. It's doesn't distinguish anything of value and gives a very generic and useless message. That also allows companies to jump on board claiming their product offers a portion of their "five a day". Most notably fruit juice drinks and smoothies, which people eat as they view them as healthy and some misguided people see that as a good lose weight option when they are actually loaded with sugar.

    Is fruit bad for you, well no. If you want to lose weight should you be eating lots of fruit, again no.

    And there lies the problem. People eat what they see as healthy choices trying to lose weight, but those choices are often hideously wrong if that is your objective. The recent political babbling once again went on about labelling fat contents in food to make things easier for people to make an informed choice to stave of the obesity epidemic, when all recent studies suggest high fat diets aid weight loss far more than high sugar diets (which pretty much includes how your body deals with excess carbohydrates).

    Personally I still think we are many years away from fully understanding how our bodies use the fuel we provide them, but it does seem to be coming more apparent for the last thirty years or so we've been barking up the wrong tree in terms of what in our diets is making people so fat.

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