How do you lose weight?

[Alcoholidayer]

I forget to eat.

No, seriously. I stopped martial arts a year ago to focus on University (which BTW is absolute BULLSHIT). I get my exercise from walking long distances all over the unnecessarily large campus and outright forgetting to eat. I still eat; just not as much as I used to.

I'm unhealthy, Asian, a hermit, anti-social and a gamer! Stereotypes AHOY!

Wow. Replace martial arts with sports and Asian with Indian(who are technically Asian I guess) and you have me.

OT : Not doing anything about it works for me just fine. It's gaining weight that's the problem. I'm skinnier than many of my lady friends, it's embarrassing.

 

[White_Lama]

Nothing at all

Been the same weight now for about 6-7 years, good metabolism, I eat mostly junkfood aswell

If you eat "mostly junk food," odds are you're very unhealthy.

*snippy bit*

Never said I was healthy, I'll be the first to admit I'm unhealthy.
But, I won't live forever, might aswell enjoy it while I'm still here

Whatever works best for you, right? I'm the same. I'm vegan and quite unhealthy lol. I eat tons of vegetables and fruits, but I also eat snacks. Constantly >_> Quite thin, too.

Pretty much. I'm a fruitoholic, I can eat like 10 apples a day without even thinking about it, making my grocery shopping a bit painful when I have to carry pretty much a garbage bag full of apple to last me a week.
Granted I do alot of biking, but hardly enough to counter my snack-/junkfood eating.



Captcha (or whatever it is): Meat and drink, quite fitting. Except the drink part.

 

[Vivi22]

While diet is important, especially things like avoiding soda and virtually everything you can with high fructose corn syrup, altering it is a poor way to lose wait.

No, dietary changes are pretty much the most effective way to lose weight. Fat storage and loss isn't a simple matter of calories in minus calories out and different foods affect the body in different ways. Avoiding sugars and grains is the most effective way because spikes in blood sugar drive fat storage. Stop spiking it and you stop storing fat like it's going out of style and can start burning it. But the main thing to remember is that if you don't make at the very least these changes to avoid most of the foods which spike blood sugar and you're someone who gains weight very easily and has a hard time losing it, you could exercise until you pass out everyday and you probably won't lose much weight, if any.

Your body is designed to alter its metabolism for changes in diet, thus any dietary changes that aren't part of a complete lifestyle change will not be effective long term, even if it has short term benefits.

True your metabolism changes in response to different foods, but even simple changes like reducing sugar intake are not only effective, but effective long term. Your body isn't going to magically slow it's metabolism if you are eating sufficient amounts of the right foods.

Also, virtually any diet "system" includes potential dangers to your system as the weight loss from less/different food enacts starvation mechanisms far more than straight fat burning.

Nobody should be eating with the aim to reduce calories. They should be eating better types of food until they're full, not eating less. That way they see weight loss, and don't send their body into starvation mode. Simply eating less is the worst way to try and lose weight.

Eat smaller meals more frequently, even if the total calories stay the same. Having small meals throughout the day helps keep that metabolism running.

This is completely unnecessary. If you improve the composition of what you eat then you will far more sated after each meal. There are days where I have a reasonably sized breakfast at around 6:30am, then don't eat lunch until 1:30-2:00 because that's when my body starts telling me that I'm hungry. People need to listen to their bodies, eat until they're sated, and eat again when they're hungry. But if you haven't tackled the composition of your diet first, then the blood sugar spikes are going to send you a lot of mixed messages and result in you being hungry sooner than you should be (like 2-3 hours after you eat, almost regardless of quantity). If you've already tackled the composition of your diet and still find you're hungry 3 hours after your last meal, then you probably just don't eat a lot with each meal and you can feel free to roll with it. Most people who are eating the right foods though just won't get hungry that soon and eating many smaller meals is just useless advice for them.

And no, your metabolism isn't going to slow down just by not eating for a few extra hours.

But, ultimately, its about being active. Even for people that don't like to exercise, or simply can't commit to it, just changing your everday activities to include a little more "work" can make a huge difference. Little things like walking up the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Walking/riding to work or just parking further towards the back. Go to a pub that has standing counters rather than seated tables. Rather than meandering slowly at the grocery store, try to keep a brisk pace. These may seem like small things but they can make a huge difference.

Actually, for most people who feel the need to try and lose weight, it's not just about being active. Like I said before, diet plays the biggest role and if you don't get that together, exercise isn't going to do much for most people because your body spends most of the day in fat storage mode.

And changing little things like you mentioned in combination with diet may help some people a bit, but higher intensity exercise is vastly more effective at dealing with years of built up insulin resistance.

Edit: this isn't trying to say that eating carrots over potato chips isn't an improvement or that you won't get serious benefit from swimming for hours a day, only that most people aren't able to maintain things like that.

I fully agree with you on this. How committed someone is definitely plays a role, but I'd rather see people do the thing that will work to keep that motivation going, rather than do little things that don't really do much and have them feel like it isn't happening fast enough or that they're failing so they can keep that motivation going. Even if they have to gradually ease into it, like cutting out drinking pop, or giving up chips, or starting to swim 3 days a week, and continue to ramp up to other changes gradually as the weight comes off then that's fine. But if someone expects to just give up pop and take the stairs at work and lose a hundred pounds, they might get a little discouraged when it doesn't happen. Small changes should always be steps on the path leading to a larger lifestyle change.

And of course, the reality is some people just aren't as serious and committed as they think they are, or want to be and will fail because of that. It's unfortunate, but there's not much you can do about that.

 

[Korolev]

Whatever you do to lose weight - you now have to do that (or something equivalent) forever.

People often "go on a diet" to lose weight. You don't "go on" a diet - everyone is on a diet all the time. It's just that there are bad diets and good diets. Bad diets make you fat, good diets make you less fat. If you want to lose weight forever, you have to change your diet. Permanently. There is no way around this, unless you want gastric-bypass surgery or lap-band surgery - which is expensive and has risks and side-effects.

The key to losing weight is to watch what you eat. A lot of overweight people protest that they do not overeat, claiming that they just eat what everyone around them eats. Studies show that they are either lying or are grossly misinformed about what "everyone around them eats". You can search this up on PubMed, but studies show that overweight people chronically under-report or underestimate how much they eat - by a LOT. If you are overweight, sorry, but chances are you got that way by either overeating, eating the wrong food, or just being immobile for long periods of time. That's just medical fact.

Of course there are a few people who suffer from very unusual and RARE conditions that make the body overweight - microscopic tumors that can secrete appetite-stimulators and so forth - but again, these problems ARE RARE. VERY RARE. The amount of overweight people who claim to suffer from these conditions far, far, far, far, far exceeds the prevalence rate.

Cut Junk Food, get a lot of sugar out of your diet, cut down on fats, watch what the labels say on the packages and exercise more. That's all you need to do to lose weight.

It is also one of THE HARDEST THINGS TO DO, EVER. I'm not going to lie - it is INCREDIBLY difficult to lose weight and keep it off through dietary changes alone. Once you are obese, your brain thinks that's the weight you should be at - any attempt to lose weight will trigger your brain to think you are literally starving. And it's not just the amount of food - it's what you eat as well - if you've been taking a lot of sugar for decades, the moment you stop your brain is going to act like something seriously wrong has happened and will THROW A FIT. It will use every trick in the book to make you eat sugar again. When you are losing weight, your brain will literally make you think you're dying. You're not, of course, but your brain wants you to think you are. Unfortunately, we evolved on the Savannah plains, in an environment of scarcity. Food supplies were never secure. Our brains evolved to make us retain weight as much as possible, because we didn't evolve in an environment were food was common. To our primitive areas of our brain, losing weight is the equivalent of suicide.

All this means that once you're fat, you are very, very, very unlikely to go back. Do you know what the success rate is for losing weight through life-style medication and keeping it off is? It's about 3~4% or even less than that. The vast, vast, vast majority of people who try to lose weight through dieting alone don't make it. Those that do are unusually strong willed people, probably far more strong-willed than I or you.

Many doctors are despairing at the failure to address the obesity epidemic through diet and exercise. Unfortunately, this generation of obese people are done for. The vast majority of them will never, ever lose their weight, unless they get surgery, and it's just not feasible to provide millions upon millions of people with this surgery. Our efforts are focused on preventing the obesity problem from growing and saving the next generation.

But yes - more exercise, less fat and sugary foods. The sugar is the problem, because sugar turns into fat very easily. Carbohydrates also get turned into fat quite easily. Watch what you eat, how much you eat and if you have a VERY strong will (stronger than mine, even though I'm not overweight and never have been, I admit that if you can lose weight permanently you probably have a stronger will than I do), then you can lose weight forever.

Or get surgery. Which I don't recommend unless you are very obese.

 

[Timberwolf0924]

Insanity and HipHopAbs! love those programs..

 

[SquirePB]

I personally don't count calories but rather I count my macro nutrients (protein, carbs, fat) to maintain a low body fat percentage (currently on 9% but looking to get down to 6%). I mostly just do weightlifting. My current program says that I have to do cardio 3 days a week but I'm pretty slack with that to be honest.

 

[Brotha Desmond]

It may sound strange but i'm trying to put on weight. When I started my job I didn't pay attention to how little I was eating so I lost quite a bit of weight. Now I consume at least 4,000 calories a day and I can't seem to get past 140 pounds.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I've never deliberately lost weight. I tried to lose weight as a teenager (by reducing the amount I ate and going to the gym) but got nowhere, so I gave up. Then I hit 19 and dropped two dress sizes in 12 months! My mother says exactly the same thing happened to her at the same age, so I suspect it's genetic somehow.

I stay healthy by going to the gym once a week, fencing once a week, taking the stairs up to my office (on the 15th floor), and being sensible about what I eat.

 

[Zhukov]

By wishing upon a star.

[sub]Individual results may vary.[/sub]

 

[UrieHusky]

I do sword fighting and competitive cycling.

I live in a city called Auckland that has really intense hills, you'll go uphill both ways on nearly any trip, it's great to keep fit.

I eat HORRIBLY, pizza mcdonalds KFC all sorts of rubbish. Yet I only weigh 69-70 kgs, so yeah it's pretty effective.

Sword fighting is a fun alternative to cardio IMO, but I'm no physician

 

[UrieHusky]

Double post, apologies.

 

[lettucethesallad]

Counting calories and limiting portion size has worked just fine for me. Also, I don't really weigh myself, but rather measure myself with a tape measure so as to avoid the whole thing becoming a numbers game where I "just have to lose a few more" over and over again until it becomes unhealthy.

 

[Nemu]

Not eat a lot and just simply move around.

Sure, I game a lot, and am rather sloth-like when I'm home alone on nights off, but I still try to walk a couple of miles a day (I LOATHE running and haven't done it since I played sports) and do little things at home (using Nordic Flex, sit-ups, etc).

If you simply run/walk for 30 minutes a day, and eat better (fruit instead of sweets, don't eat within 2 hours of you going to bed), you'll take weight off and are more likely to KEEP it off. You don't have to deny yourself the things you love, just don't eat a HUGE serving of it. And drink plenty of water. Sodas are bad. ;D

 

[Blaster395]

I don't need to lose weight because I never gained too much weight in the first place. I just don't have enough of an appetite for that to happen.

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

Not eat, or get sick. If I don't gorge myself 6 times a day I lose weight. If I get sick, I'm likely to lose 10lbs in a week.
My problem is keeping healthy weight on. Probably a metabolism thing.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3iUN1-2PHI
Excelent example of a high intensity workout.

Excellent example of sloppy technique and how to get an injury.

 

[Jarsh82]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3iUN1-2PHI
Excelent example of a high intensity workout.

Excellent example of sloppy technique and how to get an injury.

No more risk of injury than playing a competitive sport. I've never seen anyone get hurt since i've been doing it but I saw all sorts of peopel get hurt any a shorter time span back when I used to wrestle. Not saying there isn't an inherent risk but there are different levels of risk for any activity.