On 22 Apr 2010, at 16:20, Rahul wrote:

Hi Matt

I am a vegetarian who doesn't eat any, meat, fish or eggs. Will you still be able to produce an effective plan for me?

I exercise 3-4 times a week, and take a protein supplement, yet have always been unable to remove the "tyre" of fat around my stomach!!

Rahul

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Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:15:19 +0100

Hi Rahul

Yes we can sort out a plan for you.

Just because you are a vegetarian doesn't mean you have to be overweight for the rest of your life.

• What type of protein supplement do you use?
• I assume you eat milk products?
• What do you think are the prob foods that have contributed to your weight gain?

Gavin Allinson

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On Fri, Apr 23, 2010 at 12:24 PM, Rahul wrote:

Hi Gavin, thanks for your reply.

Yes milk products are fine. I take a whey isolate supplement when working out. Also flaxseed capsules when I remember too!

I try to avoid products that are high in fat, but acknowledge that carb heavy foods probably make up a large proportion of my diet, although I do try and control these too.  So eating less bread (lunches) and replacing them with wraps as an example. I will probably have pasta twice a week. i have tried also to increase my soy food intake too.

I have never been able to have a truly flat stomach and have pretty much given up on the idea. If you think you guys can help I am would give it a go and sign up.

Rahul

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Date: Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:48:27

Ok Rahul

With some tweaks of what you are eating allied with the training we can help you lose this fat.

What I suggest is you read the document go through the plan and then when you work out your weekly meals send us what you would eat normally/that fits into the plan,  and either Matt or I will tweak what you come up with.

It's mostly animal protein based currently but if we do this specially for you ( it will be a bit of work) then we will have a seperate vegeterian meal plan that can be used for other people.

best regards

Gavin

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On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 10:38 PM, Rahul wrote:

Hi guys

I have modified the plan slightly to fit in with a few things specific to my life at the moment. I realise it probably wont be as effective but I hope it will help me to achieve weight loss.

I get up every weekday morning and study for an hour. At the moment this is a requirement I need to fulfil. I know this is the most effective time to exercise, but hopefully I can put in the extra work into my evening sessions to compensate somewhat.  Also my evening exercises are done straight after work (gym is next to work, and football is at 6pm every wednesday). So I have scheduled my final meal after my evening exercise. Is this ok?

I have tried to be as creative as I can considering my strict vegetarian diet.  What do you think?

The entries in red, I am slightly unsure of and need advice.  I am struggling for a breakfast option. Alpen, with yogurt and milk, along with a glass of orange juice is what I currently have.  Also these are currently the times I have my protein shakes. Is this ok?

I have had to put quite a lot of quorn products in as a meat substitute, and was wondering if you knew of any other effective substitutes. Just to add some variety. How about things like Quinoa or Pinto beans? I know they are high in protein but may also have a carbohydrate content…

Thanks in advance

Rahul

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Date: Tue, 4 May 2010 15:57:25 +0100

Subject: Re: Do you know why diets don't work?

Hi Rahul,

Apologies not sure if either Matt or I got back to you on this. We did talk about it.

Re am exercise go to bed 30 minutes earlier and get up and do a quick 20-30 min interval session, it will wake you up fast and you will do better on your studying as you will be alert and alive.

If you exercise at 6pm with football I would still go out at 9 PM and do something for 30 minutes, we are only talking about doing this for a short period of time it is not for the rest of your life.

There are carbs in quorn so keep this in mind when calculating the carbs from veggies you are going to have.

Quinoa and pinto beans are good when you are on maintenance but not on fat loss.

For breakfast options the alpen and orange juice is a definite NO NO you can have savoury meals for breakfast left overs from your evening meals I often do that.

Add some cottage cheese, protein powder and a few ice cubes, psylium husk powder and blitz it in a blender to make a really thick filling shake for breakfast.  I love them.

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On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 9:02 PM, Rahul wrote:

Hi Gavin

Thanks for getting back to me, I was about to email to follow this up today.

Ok I will get up before my study period and go for a run. I am pretty motivated to achieve this weight loss.

Didn't know about the carb content in quorn so will keep that in mind. I looked up the psylium husk powder and it seems this is a effective remedy for constipation. Is this going to help me with the weight loss aspect?

I have tried to co-ordinate my use of protein shakes and creatine to increase my lean muscle, according to what I have managed to find out on the web.  Theory being that lean muscle helps to burn fat and obviously to look a bit better. Am I using these effectively?

I managed to sprain my ankle ligaments last Wednesday running home from work, thankfully the x-ray showed no fractures. I'm hoping I can start exercising again next week, but am going to adapt the eating plan staight away to help me adjust to the changes ahead.

Many thanks
Rahul

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Gavin Allinson to Rahul,
 May 5 (7 days ago)

When you get up do your exercise if you have got a bad ankle you can still do upper body exercises, push ups you can do them with your bad ankle of the floor, one legged squats you need to get creative.

I've got a broken hand at the moment so am having to be resourceful myself!

Don't do too much running do more body weights at home.

Likewise the cross trainer it's better to work harder do,ing weights for 30 min, aim to do 12-15 reps and move onto another machine, keep moving, sweat loads.

Dont have the honey in the shakes
1 tsp creatine is enough each day

In the evenings you can drop the shake if you are having a meal after you train.

Redo your plan and resend

thanks

Gav

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On 5 May 2010, at 22:36, Rahul wrote:

Hi Gavin, made some modifications to my plan, what do you think? Not sure if I can stomach the rich brekkie you suggested, so how about a handful of almonds and walnuts?

I started to introduce honey into my post workout shakes to create an isulin spike. According to my research this helps the body absorb creatine and protein much quicker.  If you say its a bad idea I will remove it. From reading around just now it appears a lot of people use dextrose to achieve the same effect, maybe this would be better?

Many thanks
Rahul

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Date: Thu, 6 May 2010 08:15:25

Only have the evening shake on the days when you have heavy sessions like the 90 min circuit training

When the sessions are lighter like 25 mins you don't need the shake.

You are right about the insulin spike but you are wanting to lose weight here so avoid the honey for now ( you need more than one spoonful to create a spike anyway)

Surely there must be some days eg on the weekend when you can train later on and eat earlier. This will make a difference.

Food looks good now can you get some fibre into the shake.

Gavin Allinson

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On Thu, May 6, 2010 at 10:15 AM, Rahul wrote:

Ok I will ditch the honey for now, and drop the shake on those particular evenings.
 
I can swap the weekend excercise and evening meal easily so yes I will amend my plan. As for the fibre I will purchase some psylium husk powder.

After doing some more reading it seems this adds volume to the shake and helps to make you feel fuller.
 
Seems like I am ready to go!