I've been working out twice a day now for almost 2 months, now up to about 40 - 60 minutes daily on hard-cardio...(the not-always exact calorie counter on the cybex machine usually ends up saying somewhere between 800 and 1200 burned depending on how much time i have, how i'm feeling). Anyway, I'm a relaly big guy, and have a HUGE apetite, and a sweet tooth to boot. I've been good about eating healthy, but I still get really hungry late at night. Eating more frequently throughout the day has helped that, but I still can't go a night without a bowl (or 2) of cereal before bed...

Can I get to the point where I'm working out enough so that I will continue to tone and burn fat even with that late-night snack? (Just had a fitness test this past weekend and did great, excellent in most categories with 6.5% body fat....although most of that seems to be in my abs, (which I think seem to be getting better). I'm assuming it's because of those late night snacks. BUT, like i said, as long as I keep up that cardio, can I afford that cereal and still keep toning (especially abs now)?

thanks

If you're still seeing progress, you might be able to pull it off. But remember that the last few pounds are the hardest to lose. Those are the stores of fat thet the body tries to keep "in case of emergency" and is usually very reluctant to give up. If you're set on losing the rest of the gut, you'll probably have to control those urges or find a less detrimental substitute. However, at 6.5% bodyfat, I can't imagine that you have much of anythng to lose at all. Either the test was slightly off or you really don't need to drop any more fat unless you're planning on competing. If you go much lower, you'll be tapping into "essential fat" which is what the body needs in order to function properly. What method did they use to test you? You might see if you can get someone else to test your body fat just so you can be sure you're getting a good average.

However, at 6.5% bodyfat, I can't imagine that you have much of anythng to lose at all. .

I diet like a madman to get to 3% for competition! It is impossible for me to hold that % for any length of time. What do you want to get to? I have found to get to "the promise land" and have that road map look wher you have paper thin skin, and show cross striations everywhere you just can't cheat - and its much more than the calories at that point its the chemical reactions that happen inside your body. depletion and introduction are the magic bullets at that level but, these are only temp fixes (for photo shoots or shows).

Maybe it was off, who knows...they measured in 3 places to get an average, my pec, my thigh, and my abs. My abs are the only place that has extra fat though. Obviously I wouldln't call it a gut, but fully relaxed, When I sit or bend over etc, you can see it still there. Only place on my body! Still though, If I flex standing up I can see an "8 pack"...
i'm a little over 6'6", and have been around 197-200lbs, now at about 195 last time I weighed, 2 days ago...weird, I know muscle weighs more...I do all that cardio, but I weight lift daily as well.

You may just be at 6.5 with that description - a well trained individual can get a 2% margin of error either up or down. With that said, sounds like you have results people would kill for! If you want more cut the cereal and all simple carbs, it will suck for 2 weeks (its an addiction) but then you will be over it.

is it truly an addiction? I feel like it is, but hard to believe it's actually chemically addictive like alcohol or speed etc...I mean I know if I could just cut the rest of that fat around my stomach it'd be great, the amount of weight i do on ab machines has gone through the roof, where im lifting all the weight on the machine (210 i think) plus 2 extra "dummy" weights which are probably 10 each...and I can do about 25-30 reps...then i hold the last one as long as i can. so i guess im basically trying to (if i can't lose that fat) build up enough muscle there so that it just kinda "takes over" and you see it despite the fat.

sugar, while its no crack it is addictive.

True, although for some reason it's just that time of night I crave it...and I do my hard cardio at around 6 or 7pm, so maybe i'm craving the carbs as well? It's not like I go right after pure sugar stuff....something about the filling-ness if you will, and crunch...etc of cereal...PIeces of turkey or chicken don't do it for me at that time. so maybe sugar ANd carbs is what i'm craving?

Just curious... what kind of cereal are you eating?

While we're on the topic of late night snacks, I have a supplementary question:

-In my family the heaviest meal is cooked in the evening and eaten at around 7PM-7 30 PM.

However less I eat, the food is usually extremely rich and heavy. Does it matter that I'm eating this food in the evening, 3 hours before going to sleep? Or would it be the same as eating it any time of the day?

hobbz- pretty sure as long as its a good 4 hours or so before bed you should be alright, but the longer the better.

for the cereals i eat, it really varies. but i do try and stay away from sugary ones if possible, although then they might be higher in carbs. if i had to name the most common, it'd be honey bunches of oats, all bran, golden grahams, yeah i know, all not too good. but like i said, im just tryin to counteract all this by working out twice a day, and hard on the cardio end...keeping my metabolism well up to burn that off

but I still get really hungry late at night.
I know how you feel. :rolleyes: BTW, I'm trying to practice this cut and copy thing with the backround look, and it's not working.

I'm with you on the cereal thing. I eat a half-cup (dry) every morning with a protein shake and a yogurt. It's portable, it's easy to eat, and it's crunchy.

I looked around and tried to find a cereal which was low in carbs and/or high in protein, and settled on Post's "Carb Well" brand, which breaks down as follows:

Post Carb Well Cinnamon Crunch Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Servings per container about 10
Calories 110
Calories from Fat 20
Total Fat 2g
Saturated Fat 1g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 140mg
Potassium 360mg
Total Carbohydrate 14g
Dietary Fiber 5g
Sugars 5g
Other Carbohydrate 4g
Protein 11g

As I said, I'm only eating 2/3rds of the recommended serving size. But my experience has been that most people WAY overestimate serving sizes on breakfast cereals... something about the size of the bowl and the displacement of the product by the milk causes people to routinely eat a cup or more when they think they are actually eating the recommended serving size. A good tip is to open the box, measure it out into individual servings in zip-lock bags, and then put the bags back into the box for storage.

I'll have to check out that brand, because I DEFINITLY don't stick to the one serving before bed. If i have one bowl, it's probably 2 or 3 servings, I heap it in there. My cardio is saving me bigtime. My metabolism must be really high now since I'm still losing weight. If I have only one bowl of cereal before bed, that's a pretty good night for me.