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Bale's American Psycho Diet
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I've asked about this before, but I don't think I was specific enough as to what I was asking. So I appoligize if I come across as wasting time.
In the movie Christian Bale is essentially pure muscle, extremely toned, barely any fat, and that's what I would like to aim for.
In the morning I do thirty weights for my biceps standing up, then I do thirty push ups and twenty crunches due to not having very strong abs. I've done this for about ten days now, I used to just do push ups and weights. I'd do this sort of thing through the day a couple of times aswell.
I know this is kind of uneven, so I try to walk for about half an hour a day for my legs.
Something that is annoying me though is I have a "pot belly" from bad dieting. So basically I want to lose weight and get toned, and get a six pack.
So what sort of diet would Bale have been on? What would he eat every day? As I said before I want to avoid looking massive, I just want to lose weight and get toned.
I'm not educated on this sort of matter, so I don't mean to come across as arrogant or anything, I'm willing to go by advice on diet, but I just don't really want to eat massive amounts of food to get huge.
Any advice I will appreciate, and take on board, thanks a lot guys.
EDIT: When I say diet, I mean something that will be sustainable, but also help me lose weight. I'm not great at expressing myself through words, so feel free to ask questions so I can specify.
In the movie Christian Bale is essentially pure muscle, extremely toned, barely any fat, and that's what I would like to aim for.
In the morning I do thirty weights for my biceps standing up, then I do thirty push ups and twenty crunches due to not having very strong abs. I've done this for about ten days now, I used to just do push ups and weights. I'd do this sort of thing through the day a couple of times aswell.
I know this is kind of uneven, so I try to walk for about half an hour a day for my legs.
Something that is annoying me though is I have a "pot belly" from bad dieting. So basically I want to lose weight and get toned, and get a six pack.
So what sort of diet would Bale have been on? What would he eat every day? As I said before I want to avoid looking massive, I just want to lose weight and get toned.
I'm not educated on this sort of matter, so I don't mean to come across as arrogant or anything, I'm willing to go by advice on diet, but I just don't really want to eat massive amounts of food to get huge.
Any advice I will appreciate, and take on board, thanks a lot guys.
EDIT: When I say diet, I mean something that will be sustainable, but also help me lose weight. I'm not great at expressing myself through words, so feel free to ask questions so I can specify.
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First I should ask: how old are you, how tall are you, and how much do you weigh?
Have you done any sort of weight training before?
Getting a great-looking body is no simple matter. You won't be able to achieve it without serious workout four-five times a week, as well as a rigorous diet. You have to count calories, you have to watch out what to eat when. You have to be extremely selective about what you eat as well.
I am saying this because I want you to realize that "getting a body like Bale's" requires strong commitment and determination. If any of the above intimidated you, you might as well set a more attainable goal for yourself.
I would start by doing three things:
1- Clean my fridge and my diet of any unhealthy foods and drinks (especially soda)
2- Start going to the gym
3- Start a rigorous cardio routine
Also, it's important that at every stage, once you feel like you aren't getting anything from that stage, move on to the next. A lot of people go to the gym for months if not years and lift the same amount of weights. That kind of stay-where-you-are exercise won't lead to improvement.
I know this was very general, but it's 4am and I need to sleep.
Okay, so what should I eat to lose this fat whilst I do some cardio and such? Then should I work on the muscle through a gym?
I'm about 5'9, I'm 18 and I weigh about 65 kilos.
Hey thanks,
I gave that a read, and that's why I wanted to avoid this kind of thing. It seems too much for me right now as to not having access to a gym. And I think right now I just want to lose this fat.
So when I ask for a diet I guess I mean what should I eat throughout the day that will be healthy and not make me gain too much weight.
So far I think i've established that I'd like to lose this fat before I start weight training. Would it be wise to work with this?
To accomplish this, you really need to get some books on nutrition. It can get quite complicated and there's a lot more to it than you probably think.
I too have wondered about Bale's body. I haven't seen the movie you're talking about, but in Batman Begins, the scene where he wakes up with all the bruises and does the push-ups, I thought, "I wish I had the trainers and dietitian he does."
As for the six pack, this is also not as easy as it sounds. Even a very thin layer of fat on your stomach will cover your abs. You have to have very low body fat to display a six pack. Most people will never do it, but that's not to say you shouldn't try. Good luck.
Win.
Fail. Doing the following is a challenge, but it's not difficult to understand or overly complicated. I would add a daily multi vitamin, but otherwise this is a great place to start.
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs
Here’s my take on it. I call these principles, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Nutritional Programs," a shameless and possibly illegal play on Steven Covey’s book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." (Great book, by the way—you should read it sometime.)
These aren’t the newest techniques from the latest cutting-edge plan. Rather, they are simple, time-tested, no nonsense habits that you need to get into when designing a good eating program.
1. Eat every 2-3 hours, no matter what. You should eat between 5-8 meals per day.
2. Eat complete (containing all the essential amino acids), lean protein with each meal.
3. Eat fruits and/or vegetables with each food meal.
4. Ensure that your carbohydrate intake comes from fruits and vegetables. Exception: workout and post-workout drinks and meals.
5. Ensure that 25-35% of your energy intake comes from fat, with your fat intake split equally between saturates (e.g. animal fat), monounsaturates (e.g., olive oil), and polyunsaturates (e.g. flax oil, salmon oil).
6. Drink only non-calorie containing beverages, the best choices being water and green tea.
7. Eat mostly whole foods (except workout and post-workout drinks).
Anyways, I bet Bale was on a helluva diet and work-out routine. My suggestion is:
1. Very low-carb/high protein meals.
2. Body building with cardio.
3. Get extra protein into your diet via powders or shakes. 1 gram of protein per pound of weight.
4. Stay away from supps that may make you gain water weight, creatine for example.
Another thing to note is that Bale must have extreme self-discipline to get his body into or out of shape for certain roles. Machinist for example, unbelievable.
If you mean that it's not feasible to try to lose weight while gaining muscle definition, you are less wrong; it is probably pointless until you've dropped most of the fat. But muscle mass is your most effective ally in losing fat.
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You are mis-informed.
On the contrary, he is absolutely right.
Muscles are never in a completely relaxed state. They require energy to sustain. That is why you burn more fat the more muscle you have, and that is why it is easier to build muscle first and then burn fat.
Go ahead. Enter the words "muscle mass" and "metabolism" into the search engine of your choice. Now read the results. See? You're wrong. Muscle tissue absolutely, incontrovertibly, and in every way indisputably burns more calories than fat. There is no debate on this topic. Building your muscle mass increases your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism increases the number of calories needed to maintain your weight. Increasing your muscle mass while decreasing your caloric intake results in the fastest possible fat loss, short of surgery.
Any reputable fitness resource will verify this.
build muscle > boost metabolism (i.e. increase number of calories needed) > lose fat
Got it? Next time, look it up before you post inaccurate nonsense.
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It tones muscles and gives great cardio.
I was also kind of hoping for an actual list of what I should have as a meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I usually eat a lot of rice, but that's probably not for the best if I'm trying to lose weight?
Some samples you could eat for breakfast are:
yogurt, unprocessed fruits, soy meat substitues - good protein, no fat
whole wheat toast
(like doc said, any bleached foods are not good, they contain higher sugar content and there have been studies that show these foods may cause panic attacks/breathing issues as well as help trap fats) Some carbs are needed, especially at the start of the day, not so much later in the day.
for lunch/dinner
raw fruits and veggies are always good, eat the minimum of fruits though, you can still transfer these sugars into fat. Stay away from eating large amounts of starchy vegetables like corn or potatoes.
Lean meats are key, especially cold water fish that contain omega-3 fatty acids. There's something about certain types that you should eat in moderation concerning mercury poisoning, but you'll have to look that up.
Just about any diet can be found somewhere on the internet, sometimes it's more difficult to actually purchase these foods or stick to them.
Lots of water is key, green tea was already mentioned, skim milk or 1%, if you drink juices make sure they contain no added sugars or sweeteners.
Someone mentioned one gram per pound using protein shakes, I would look into this more carefully. I took a nutrition class in college and was told that the human body could only absorb a certain amount of protein in one day. I wish I could remember the number. The human body can absorb an unlimited number of amino acids, however, of which there are 9 essential and 11 nonessential, these can be found in various fruits and vegetables or bought in free form from your local nutrition or health food store. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Omega-3 fatty acids are key to this as well. L-Glutamine is always highly recommended to help prevent muscle tissue from breaking down, process amino acids efficiently, and is good for your libido (it actually contains some amino acids itself as well).
Before you begin to build muscle I recommend you drop a shit ton of fat. I'm gonna guess from the whole pot belly issue that your body fat is around 20-30%. Ideally you want to be at most 10% when you begin to actually put on muscle. Therefore, for the first couple of months you should focus on intense cardio schedule. Run every single day, when you've conditioned yourself run twice a day(morning and at night). Find a gym near you and schedule time for yourself in order for you to go at least 3x a week(preferably 4). Spread your muscle group out amongst the 3/4 days (chest&arms one day, legs&abs another day, and shoulders and back another), spread out however you want but try not to work similar muscles on days close to each other(take into consideration secondary muscles used in your workout). Your sets should include around 12-15 repitions, working 3 sets at every exercise. Your rest time between sets needs to be kept minimal(always keep your heart rate up). Even consider hitting a treadmill for 4 or 5 times at a fast pace to get your heart rate up before your workout at the gym.
The above covers your diet fairly well. I decided to remove the first step because you don't really want to put on weight atm. Get some soy protein powder, although others might recommend whey, you're trying to loose weight and whey usually helps you put it on while the soy stuff is usually leaner. Try to keep count of your calorie intake, you want to eat probably less then you normally would. It can be very hard at first, but its an important step.
Find some friends with a similar bodybuilding passion and workout together, it can help with morale, create competition to push yourself, and its always better to do things with friends.
Some very useful sites:
http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html - HUGE list of exercises, with detailed instructions and pictures.
http://wannabebigforums.com - Consider joining a bodybuilding community such as WBB, you can learn so much from others.
http://fitday.com - Helps keep track of your diet, calorie count etc...
AND STUDY. The best information you'll get are from books and articles.
Good luck with your body building, and don't give up. Its hard at first, but theres no better motivation than results.
So, looking like that all the time is somewhat of an unrealistic goal.
What's crucial to getting anywhere at all with personal fitness, though, is being able to commit yourself to whatever goal you do set.
Daniel Craig in Casino Royale.
Here, I even found a picture! (might not be safe for work)
Bale is a pretty driven actor, as far as looking the part. American Psycho, to The Machinist, to Batman Begins is just amazing. I really enjoy him in films.
It'd be a bitch to maintain with far more weight watching than anyone here would do.
I'd set yourself a more reaslistic goal that you would be able to keep for a long time.
Satans..... hints.....
Even whilst I diet should I do the weights, push ups and crunches that i've been doing every morning? Like I said, my arms are pretty toned for my size considering I don't go to a gym, so I'm only really worried about losing this pot belly fat.
A good combination of cardio, weights, and calisthenics (push-ups, cruches, pull-ups, etc) will get you there.
I hit the stationary bike for 30 minutes, then grab some water, dry off, and move to weights without letting my heart rate drop too much. I try to keep my heart rate up the entire time I am doing weights.
Yeah, that's pretty much impossible to maintain for an extended amount of time.
Seriously, even if you look at gold medalists in swimming, a sport that uses just about every muscle in your body, they don't look like that.
Which would eventually lead to my having a smallish six pack?
Hahah... You have the facts, yet you're still misinformed. And mouthy about it too. Do you happen to be a bush supporter?
Here's a fun thought experiment.
Subject 1 - 150lbs /20% bodyfat.
He drops 10lbs (5 of muscle 5 of fat - easy, shitty dieting)
What is his new BF %?
Subject 2 - 150lbs /20% bodyfat.
He drops 10lbs (2 of muscle 8 of fat - good dieting)
What is his new BF %?
Subject 3 - 150lbs /20% bodyfat.
He gains 10lbs (9 of muscle 1 of fat -AWESOME gains)
What is his new BF %?
Maybe. There a bit of genetic luck there, some people don't get them no matter how lean they get. Look at chuck liddell. Lean, works out all the time, still has a little gut going on.
Lyle Mcdonald has a good book called Rapid Fatloss Handbook. It's a great read. You can google or do a wikipedia search for PSMF for more details, but you basically eat protein only (Protein Strictly MotherFucker), actually is stands for Protein Sparing Modified Fast, but you eat maybe 800 cals a day, depending on your current weight.
Good luck.
"If you're going to play tiddly winks, play it with man hole covers."
- John McCallum
I would just have to say Stay positive, eventually you will self motivate yourself when you see some results. You'll see improvement, and then you'll want more. I would also say drinking a lot of water also helps, for several reasons, you can curb your appetite while supplying your body with more of what it needs. Another tip, eat so your no longer hungry, not full. When you stuff yourself, you tend to get tired after a meal and just wanna sit/lie down and that really kills your efforts. Instead, eat so that the food begins to not taste as good, or completely stop when you notice your eating just because the food is there, sitting in front of you.
I got into those Fitness Made Simple Plans and although they do seem like sort of ametuer like videos, they do have a lot of information to offer, especially the basics video.
It looks like his muscles have been accentuated by airbrushing directly onto his skin. Also, the longer you maintain that kind of physique, the smaller you get. It is impossible to retain muscle mass at that level of body fat for extended periods of time. I did it for a summer once (not quite that cut), starting out at 165 at the start of the summer, I was 142 at the end. I was eating like mad for the muscle and doing a ton of cardio to keep the fat off.
I think the lighting makes a heck of a lot of difference as well. Hell under the blankets, if I half close my eyes, and tense my stomache muscles it doesn't look too bad
Also the guys 5'9 and 65kg, he's not looking to drop weight fast. Honestly, at that kinda weight, just stop eating shit (take-aways, soda etc). Do stomach crunches every night and maybe an hour of cardio 3 times a week, you'll have abs in no time.
"It is impossible to retain muscle mass at that level of body fat for extended periods of time"
This is wrong, you can gain muscle while keeping the same level of body fat, it is just easier to gain fat with the muscle then diet down.
From my experience that is completely wrong. Weighted crunches will actually build on the gut area creating the look of an actually larger gut. This is of course if you already have fat in that area, if you have a 4/6 pack with no gut then its a different story, but he has a gut so thats fairly shitty advice.
Edit: And yes the 6pack is genetic, some will never have it(liddel) while some do. On the topic, I recently went to the Bodyworlds 3 exhibition and it was interesting how the abs looked. Some of the bodies didn't have the separations in abdominal muscles while some did.