Slim Fast shakes good or bad plan? + Exercise questions?
Lorena April 13th, 2012
I’m 17 and have been dieting for around 3 1/2 months now. At the beginning of the diet I cut out all junk food and reduced carb intake and meal proportions. I also jog/run treadmill for an half an hour hour 7 days a week. I lost around 12 pounds after cutting out junk food and such but after that weight loss sort of stopped/slowed down.
I increased my exercise now it’s 1 hour 5 days a week 30 minutes of jogging 30 of running. Dad also got slim fast and I’m trying out the 321 plan. 2 shakes a day and 1 meal.
I know it’s not like a magic weight loss shake it’s just cleverly disguised calorie reduction. It pretty much curbs the appetite, gives you sugar so you have energy, and tries to fill your bodies vitamin needs that you are lacking from not eating meals. I also know it’s not long term but it does seem to be faster as I’m already slimming down the way it says on the can.
Questions:
Would eating a 180-200 calorie meal give me the same vitamin supplements/energy a shake would if I substituted that sized meal for the shakes? I like the calorie plan and would like to keep it while eating my own foods instead of buying shakes but I don’t know if nutritional value would be up to par…
What would I need to do to my diet once I stop slim fast?
Am I running too much? I hear that when your goal is to lose a lot of weight it’s hard for your body to build muscle and it actually eats down muscle mass? I do strength training too but is that pointless until I lay off running a bit?
Or should I just get off slim fast and do it the slow way? I’m a mesomorph so it’s not totally hard to lose or gain weight but I’d rather do something like slim fast… if its bad though I’ll stop.
Is there a way I can MAXIMIZE the break down of fat and MINIMIZE the break down of muscle while I’m losing weight?
How long does it take to build muscle?
How can you tell if you gain small muscle mass opposed to thinking your diet isn’t working? (with out some fancy device or going to the doctor)