Losing Weight

[AFrozenSoul]

So I know a lot of my self-esteem issues center around how fat I am. Well I think I am fat anyway, and my BMI suggests I am VERY obese. I think that I can lose the weight. I just don't know the best regiment to go on. I want to get rid of all my belly and chest fat, the excess anyway.

Has anyone in here had a successful work out regiment? How long does it take to start seeing results? I have set up a hefty goal of losing at least 100 lbs in the next year, though I would like to lose it sooner than that. Can anyone advise me? On routines, diets, how long I should work out, how long I should rest?

Would anyone want to be moral support for me?

 

[Badjedidude]

You don't want to lose MORE than 100 lbs in a year. Losing about 2 lbs a week is actually a good, healthy amount of weight to be losing. Anything more, and you run the risk of not letting your body adapt to the weight changes. If you lose weight TOO fast, then your body wrecks itself trying to keep up with everything, and your metabolism gets screwed...and it's just generally a good idea to keep to about 2 lbs/per week.

I lost about 60 lbs in a year, and I did it by simply eating less and working out more. I had no special plan, really....and NO DIET. A diet is SHORT-TERM. If you want long-term weight change, then you eat the same things, but just be careful to eat LESS of it...and maybe add some more veggies and stuff. That's really all it takes.

For exercise, I just started doing a few pushups and stretches every morning, and slowly worked up from there. Now I do like 120 pushups every day, along with stretching, situps, upper body workouts (like 3 times a week), and running (every day). So it's really just about starting small and working your way up.

A good tip about exercising: You're doing it right if you're out of breath, sore, and in pain. Seriously. It's SUPPOSED to be hard, but it's worth it. You'll hate it at first, but eventually (I PROMISE) you'll learn to actually enjoy it.

I wish you luck on your journey! ^_^ And I hope that I said something that might help.

----Steve

 

[AFrozenSoul]

Well the main reason I am going to do this is so that I can get high off the endorphines. Because reality is very bleak right now. I am planning on working out a bit every morning and a bit every evening, at least an hour for each. I was just planning on following basic rules, lots of cardio, only work out 2 muscle groups at a time, eat lots of low fat foods like chicken and broccoli. I am still trying to decide if I can have one 12 can of pop a day on the week days or not.

 

[Badjedidude]

I wouldn't go for pop if I were you. Water is best. When you count up the calories that pop equals in a week, it gets pretty crazy.

Are you accustomed to working out? Or are you new to it? Because an hour every morning and evening might be a bit too high of a goal just for starting out. If you're completely new, I'd recommend half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, and then work up to an hour. Just a thought.

----Steve

 

[AFrozenSoul]

I am not completely new to it. I had a personal trainer for a while... till they got to expensive. I have not been dedicated to going every day for a while. But when I do go I generally go for about 45 minutes.

I also want to start working Dance Dance Revolution into my routine. Currently my apartment is not really set up to be able to do that easily. But I am moving in the next month so I intend to change that.

I am also trying to use SparkPeople to help keep me on track and do all the data tracking for me. I am a complete and total geek... I like charts and graphs and data.

 

[Sonic_95]

I am in your position myself AFrozenSoul - I have eaten out of emotion for most of my life, mainly due to loneliness and depression.

I knew I had to change when my legs and feet started swelling up and it was hard to get my shoes on my feet. One day, it just hit me and I just lost it and broke down. I never imagined I'd ever get as big as I am now. But that day, it just hit me, and I was saddened, ashamed of myself (for letting myself get to this size) and scared. I was scared because Diabetes runs in my family, and so far I have been perfectly healthy.

I decided to go get a physical. I weighed 400 pounds when I got weighed in. 400 ******* pounds. I was just stunned. I knew I was overweight, but I never, EVER thought I would ever let it get that far out of control.

Thank god, I did not have diabetes yet, but the doctor told me I needed to join up with weight watchers. I joined up that day, and you know, I stuck to it for the first month and lost 25 pounds immediately. The swelling in my feet and legs went way down. it has worked very well for me.

that is, when I stick to it. I have a bad habit of falling off the wagon, and over the last few months, I have just maintained when I really should be losing. But when I do stick to it, the program works great. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[AFrozenSoul]

I have thought about joining a program like weight watcher. The problem is I like to cook. I am not an overly huge fan of having meals made for me.

 

[Spare]

Losing about ten pounds a month is pretty healthy. More than that might not be the best thing for you.

I would also recommend just working out for an hour or so everyday, morning OR evening. What worked for me was ten or fifteen minutes of cardio, then weight training. People don't realize how important weight training is to fat loss. Building muscle is the key to weight loss. It makes you a calorie burning machine. If you lift weights in the morning, you'll continue burning calories throughout the day. I'm speaking from experience here. People tend to fixate on the upper body, but I'm here to tell you, don't shirk on the leg workouts. They're by far the most difficult, but they incinerate calories. Be careful, though. Learn the proper form for everything you do. Bad form is a good way for one to hurt themselves.

Whatever you do, though, make sure you ease your way into it. If you jump right in and start pummeling yourself, not only do you run the risk of injury, but you'll be so bloody sore for the next couple of days you'll hardly be able to move. If you go to a gym, I'd recommend talking to a trainer there, or reading up on weight training. There's a lot of right ways to do it, but lots of wrong ways as well. The wrong ways can be dangerous, and MUST be avoided. Again, I'm speaking from experience.

Oh yeah, don't forget protein. You need to get some protein within a half hour or so after lifting weights. Protein is to muscle building what lumber is to home construction. Need it.

Hmmm. Time to start practicing what I preach again.

Good luck!

By the way, BJD is right about the soda. Cut it right out of your life. You'll be amazed at how big a difference that'll make. The exercise won't work without a healthy diet. It's all about a lifestyle change.

 

[h i]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_calories_equal_1_lb_of_body_fat

doctor did something for my mother. its like you do so many exercises and eat cereal for breakfast and whatever you want for dinner as long as its under 1500 calories. thisll end you at about 2000 - 2500 calories a day. then with the exercise your body burned like 3500 calories so if you only take in 2500 you lost 1000 calories. then at the end of the week youll lose like 2 pounds. she did some stay put bicycle thing like 20 minutes on it was equal to 250 calories. so if she drank a soft drink like cocacola she would do 20 minutes on the bike.

she eventually quit...

but thats just how it goes.

 

[AFrozenSoul]

@Spare: Yeah that is what I read online. My trainers showed me so good muscle building exercises that had a good chunk of cardio in them. But my trainers also warned me against only focusing on weights. I still need dedicated cardio to burn off access fat.

I do not mind preaching. Feel free to put all the info you want here. That way we can all benefit from it.

[@h i' : I know my exercise will eventually go from intense work outs to maintenance working out once I get where I want to be. Thanks for the link though.

 

[Badjedidude]

uilding muscle is the key to weight loss. It makes you a calorie burning machine. If you lift weights in the morning, you'll continue burning calories throughout the day.

Spare = Speaker of Ye Truthe.

By the way, BJD is right about the soda. Cut it right out of your life. You'll be amazed at how big a difference that'll make. The exercise won't work without a healthy diet. It's all about a lifestyle change.

Yup yup. You don't even realize how much it affects you until you stop drinking it. Aside from dropping a possible 1,000 (or more) calories per WEEK, you will be getting rid of a bunch of harmful chemicals that only muck up your body chemistry and fill your cells with sludge. Seriously...water is the way to go. Water also makes an excellent appetite control:

When you feel hungry and it's not yet time to eat, just drink water until you're not hungry anymore. Usually hunger pangs will only last about 20 minutes anyway, so if you can trick yourself into feeling "full" (using water), then you're good to go.

I know my exercise will eventually go from intense work outs to maintenance working out once I get where I want to be.

Once you have more muscle mass, your maintenance stuff won't even have to be very hard, if that's what you want to do. Personally, I'd recommend continually pushing forward, always working harder. That's up to you how far you wanna go, though...and I wish you luck in wherever your journey in health takes ya!

----Steve

 

[Spare]

But my trainers also warned me against only focusing on weights. I still need dedicated cardio to burn off access fat.

Very true. A mix of both is best. Just keep in mind not to push the pace too hard with cardio. You want to keep the heavy breathing to a level where you can still kind of maintain a choppy conversation. Heavy, high paced cardio is great for the heart, but when you're working that hard your body will actually try to hold on to excess fat for energy-replenishing purposes. Breaking a decent sweat with cardio without going too hard will actually burn more fat. I read somewhere that bodybuilders, when burning off the last of their fat before a competition, will walk briskly on a treadmill for a longer period of time rather than run for a shorter period of time.

Confirm this with your trainers, though. They would definitely know better than me. I'm just an English major (despite the grammatical errors in this post).

Again, good luck!

 

[AFrozenSoul]

@Badjedidude: Trust me I try to fill up on water. But sometimes, my body just won't let me. Drinking lots of water helps me pad my work day. Because I have to keep my glass full.

@Spare: that is the challenge, finding the perfect balance to shape your body the way you want to shape it.

 

[Brian]

As an addition to this other great stuff, I suggest chewing gum to keep from snacking. I started doing it recently because when they shut us down at work and all we did our whole shift was sit around the fire station with no work, out of boredom I started snacking -a lot-. I gained a bit of weight. I'm still pretty thin, but I put on 10 pounds I didn't have prior.

The benefits:

-Occupies the urge to 'idle eat'
-Tasty
-Burns some calories
-Newer gum is actually good for your teeth!

It also gives you something to offer somebody in social situations. This is a great way to help build a connection to someone new with idle chit-chat; firstly because you're sharing something, secondly because then you can talk about why you started chewing gum. Sounds silly, but it's true!

 

[VanillaCreme]

I love fat guys. They're just disappearing.

And I'd agree, 2 pounds or so per week is a good start. Most people who lose weight quickly end up gaining it all back, plus more. So pace yourself with it, it's more likely to stay off.

 

[AFrozenSoul]

A question I forgot to ask, what is the best way to go about choosing a protein supplement?

@Brian: I have never been a fan of gum, but I do have tea tree chewing sticks. I might get back into gum though cause chewing sticks are not caffeinated.

@VanillaCreme: Well I would stay fat if it was not as unsightly as it is. Plus I don't like fat on women. So it would be hypocritical of me to not hold myself to the same standard. But you can try to convince me otherwise if you like.

I will definitely try to lose the weight slowly. I am just impatient on this matter.

 

[jbates]

Props to you for not being hypocritical. Holding yourself by the same standard you do your women is extremely respectful bro, good on ya.

As for weight loss, can't offer much advice. I'm actually well below the average weight for my age/body type. It's not that I watch my weight or eat healthy, it's just not always easy for me to afford food lol. Starving student so to speak.

What I can say is patience is key. You want to make sure you lose the weight in a healthy way so that you feel better and can more easily maintain a healthy lifestyle when you reach that target weight.

 

[matabankosi]

Heya,

Trust me when i say i have a great way!!

I have been training for 15 years and when i want to lose wait i do it easily and it becomes a way of life.

SIMPLE!! Small portions!!! eat 5 meals a day and stay away from sugar

No bread or carbs after 2 PM.

you can even eat 6 meals a day. have carbs for breakfast and then have balanced meals veg with protein. No oil or sugars.

Try exercise in the morning before you eat thats when you burn the most fat as you dont need to burn what you eat.

NEVER NEVER eat before you sleep, no matter how healthy.

Lots of water.

Be patience dont rush it and make it a way of life, time goes by so fast! before you know it you will be thin.

I put my friend on that he was fat and after six months this guy was a new human!! Seriously his nick name was ass man! He went to Vise for miami vise he had so much style.

You only have one life do it.

---

the main thing is portion sizes!!!

your stomach is the size of your fist, each meal shouldn't be much bigger than it!

 

[AFrozenSoul]

jbates: Hypocrisy is one of the few things that I cannot stand in the world.

matabankosi: I for the same advice from my trainer. I try to space out my meals so I can have 5 a day. But it is hard sometimes with my job. I just get working and suddenly it is lunch time.

I also got confused by what was meant by a meal. Generally i just ate like a few mushrooms or strawberries in between the official major meals.

The no carbs thing is going to kill me. I love my Italian cuisine but I get around that by eating it for lunch. I hope rich is not to Carb rich. I often times use that to pad my stir fry meals.


6 months... patience and I do not get along very well on issues like this. I will make it some how.

Any advice on how to maintain after I feel I have lost enough weight?

 

[Badjedidude]

The no carbs thing is going to kill me. I love my Italian cuisine but I get around that by eating it for lunch. I hope rich is not to Carb rich. I often times use that to pad my stir fry meals.

Don't worry so much about not eating carbs...they really aren't that horrible. It's actually bad to eliminate ALL carbs from your diet. It's actually just about portion control; just like it is with every other food you're going to be eating.

One thing that I do is OVEREAT once a week, every week. I have a special PIG-OUT day where I just eat a lot and I don't pay attention to what I'm eating...and when the day ends, I go back to my normal, healthy food routine.

What this does is give my metabolism a boost by keeping it from stabilizing...so really, by overeating one day a week, I end up losing MORE weight and being MORE healthy than I would if I were to let my metabolism find a balance. So that might be something you could try.

----Steve