Help! Trying to eat healthy - Avocados - Healthy Eating

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Help! Trying to eat healthy - Avocados

CrashL334 profile image
21 Replies

I've intensively changed my lifestyle in an effort to become far more healthy. I frequently visit a gym, utilising cardio and weight lifting.

My flabby belly still hasn't budged.

I'm trying my best to eat healthy but I'm at a loss with avocados.

They're never ripe! I have some right now that were best before end 28th April. Well it's 8th May and they haven't even ripened yet :(

Supermarket avocados aren't very good, so what can I do to speed the ripening process along? They're delicious and super healthy but I can't eat them pre-ripe :(

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CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334
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21 Replies
Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto

Your flabby belly will budge. It just takes time and consistency. How long have you been doing this? You need to think in terms of months not weeks. By which time even the unripest avocado will have softened.

Some supermarket avocados are so unripe that they take forever, it is true. I always test them by squidging them before buying. I often buy them from the dicounted for quick sale section if I am going to eat them within a day.

The other trick is to put your unripe avo in a paper bag with a banana to accelerate the ripening process. Still takes 2 or 3 days but speeds things up a lot.

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

I've been at the gym 3 days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning (5:30am - 7:30am) since the start of April, so just over a month. i'm getting quite muscular in my legs and arms, but still that belly won't go away :( I look weird now lol

I squish my avocados too, and they seem to be squishy from the outside, so I open it and it's hard as a rock! >.<

I'll try the banana trick, that may be the break I need, thanks! :)

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toCrashL334

Give it six months and see where you are. To get visible abs you need to be uder 10 percent body fat for men 15 for women. It takes a lot of time.

What are you doing for the 2 hours at the gym if you don't mind me asking?

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

Oh okay, well i'm happy to play the waiting game as I am very patient, as long as there's results in the end :)

I spend 20 mins on the bike, and burn 170-180 calories.

I then lift free weights, that are simply numbered. I used number 7 (which I think are 7kilos maybe?).

First I just lift 30 reps per arm.

Then I lie on a bench and do 12 reps pec fly, then 8 reps thrusting the weights up into the air, then descend back down to my chest. I repeat this set 3 times.

I then supplement my weight training with some of the fixed weight machines, including the Pectoral Fly. I always do 10 reps, 3 sets.

I then finish with 20 mins on a treadmill, burning 226 calories at 9kph constant speed.

I need to do more core exercises, but I think i'll wait until i've lost more belly fat.

My diet is much better than it used to be.

For breakfast I have a banana, as I'm convinced I have a wheat intolerance, milk intolerance and can't eat eggs as I keep coughing for hours after.

I then have sliced avocados, kipper from a tin and lettuce on a plate, for brunch.

For lunch, I either skip it as I'm full from brunch, or have soup. Usually Mulligatawney or Ministrone.

For dinner, I have 2 chicken fillets, 2 hand ful of veg and on my gym days, I also have Uncle Bens Spicy Mexican Rice. Very nice!!

I still uncommonly fall and eat the occasional nonsense food, like burgers, but it's rare and I'm getting better at avoiding junk food as time goes on.

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toCrashL334

That all sounds pretty sensible. If you want to accelerate the weight loss, you might want to try doing lower reps with heavier weight: use a weight that you can only manage 4 to 6 reps of. Start with 3 sets of 4 and each time add a rep until you are up to 3 sets of 6 or 7, then go up to the next weight and drop back down to 4 reps. This will develop more trength and accelerate you metabolism more. Progressive overload is your ally here.

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

Ahh nice, thanks for the tips! I'll do that :) I'm also going to work on my core more and run on a treadmill with a gradient :)

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toCrashL334

try throwing a bit of freeletics into the mix. That'll strengthen you core and burn some calories

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

Is that the app? I just Googled it now as I never heard of freeletics until now >.<

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toCrashL334

there is an app but you can just download the workout programmes as pdfs

docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

Thanks dude!! I really appreciate your help :)

Rignold profile image
RignoldKeto in reply toCrashL334

If you look on YouTube there are a load of people's transformation videos from doing it

CrashL334 profile image
CrashL334 in reply toRignold

I've beaten you to it, already there! :P

TheAwfulToad profile image
TheAwfulToad in reply toCrashL334

Apart from Rignold's responses - which are all spot-on - I'd just add that it sounds like you may not be eating enough, which paradoxically will make your body hold onto bodyfat.

Try to focus on filling up on green vegetables and meat. It's a pity you can't eat eggs because they're one of the best foods for both weight loss and muscle gain, but you can substitute fatty meat (eg., chicken leg and thigh portions cooked skin-on, or good-quality steaks with marbling, or oily fish). It is perfectly possible to gain muscle while burning fat, but it won't happen unless you drastically reduce your carb intake (ie., say No to Uncle Ben).

I would split those two chicken breasts into two meals (and as mentioned, use more fatty cuts if you reduce carbs). Your body cannot make use of more than about 20-25kg of protein in one sitting.

The calories you burn are irrelevant to fat loss. As Rignold said, focus on overload. Whatever you do today should be slightly more than whatever you did last time. I would try interval training on CV - you'll get more done in less time. For example on the treadmill I do 9.3kph for 1:10 and 14.2kph for 0:50, repeated for 3-5km (depending on my mood). Tweak that according to your preference and abilities.

Zest profile image
Zest

Hi CrashL334

There is an article here from the Huffington Post on a technique to try to ripen that Avocado:

huffingtonpost.com/purewow/...

I haven't tried it myself, as I tend to select my avocadoes by 'feeling them' when I buy them - and I have been lucky to have ones that are usually 'just right'.

Let us know how you get on!

Zest :-)

Cooper27 profile image
Cooper27Administrator

I think there's something about storing bananas in your fruit bowl, that's supposed to make other foods ripen quicker.

You can buy frozen avocados too (keep in a airtight container to defrost). They're halved and destoned, and handy to have in the freezer to fall back on.

getrico profile image
getrico

Try coconut oil. 1tsp daily or 3/4 times a week. Misdemeanour that it's bad and it actually isn't. Raises HDL, lowers LDL, an antioxidant and has other health benefits.

Less stodgy carbs. More greens. Also do more cardio. Less weights or mix your gym program with interval training or 15 min weights 15 min cardio which I do.

I've a slight six pack now and haven't done any stomach exercises.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbs

If I want to lose weight avocados are something I avoid because they are highly calorific with over 300 calories in each one.

Also gym work will make your body trim up and generally help with other aspect of health. But it will not help directly with weight loss. Yes it can help with motivation and happiness with dopamine release etc. But the research clearly shows that weight loss has absolutely nothing to do with exercise per se.

What loses weight is diet, and I would argue 100% diet.

Vickytom profile image
Vickytom

I love avocados and often buy Unripe ones. I just leave them in the bowl, in the sun. They do ripen quickly when left with bananas

mdr1000 profile image
mdr1000

Hiya, the banana thing works for me. I keep avocados in the fruit bowl with the bananas.

Try these exercises too. It should help you loads. Good luck, all the advice on here is sound.

m.youtube.com/watch?list=PL...

mdr1000 profile image
mdr1000

If the link doesn't work, go onto Youtube and search 'ridgeline swissball exercises

HAP83 profile image
HAP83

Hi CrashL334. Don't worry too much about your belly. If you keep your focus on exercising 3 days a week you will get there.

I hope that by now you are still committed to your training and slowly increasing on a daily basis.

After that, it is only a matter of choosing the right foods to eat and always stick to a plan.

To ripen avocados I try to squeeze them a bit to see how ripe they are too soft maybe they are not good and over ripen.

The technique of the paper bag is very good. I use that too but remember to leave them outside of the fridge. This will help too.

If you need ideas for yummy recipes, feel free to ask.

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