We have an old family saying I just remebered:
"You go to the gym to get a nice body, not necessarily your own."
"You go to the gym to get a nice body, not necessarily your own."
How do you lose weight?
- Thread starter Jarsh82
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Right now I'm going back to trying to lose weight- mostly because I caught sight of myself in a mirror one day and thought "double-chin ahoy!"
I tend to eat fairly healthily, and cook a lot of my meals from scratch, but I really can't lie about having the occasional takeaway and the inevitable processed frozen food that comes from living in the UK on a student budget (pizzas, frozen ready meals and reformed bits of chicken are cheaper than veggies over here, how screwed up is that?) and I enjoy alcohol regularly, but not to excess (and I can't stand beer, so I mostly drink spirits, which I'm told are less calorific anyway). It's entirely possible that my weight gain is thanks to a low-budget, convenience food-filled student lifestyle.
Only problem is, I have a unbelievable amount of books to read each week for my postgrad course at uni, and therefore little time for anything, let alone work-out time. So today I took a book with me to the gym, and stayed on the exercise bike for about 45mins, and did some weight training and crunches for about 15 mins. Hopefully that'll have an impact if I do that enough times a week.
I tend to eat fairly healthily, and cook a lot of my meals from scratch, but I really can't lie about having the occasional takeaway and the inevitable processed frozen food that comes from living in the UK on a student budget (pizzas, frozen ready meals and reformed bits of chicken are cheaper than veggies over here, how screwed up is that?) and I enjoy alcohol regularly, but not to excess (and I can't stand beer, so I mostly drink spirits, which I'm told are less calorific anyway). It's entirely possible that my weight gain is thanks to a low-budget, convenience food-filled student lifestyle.
Only problem is, I have a unbelievable amount of books to read each week for my postgrad course at uni, and therefore little time for anything, let alone work-out time. So today I took a book with me to the gym, and stayed on the exercise bike for about 45mins, and did some weight training and crunches for about 15 mins. Hopefully that'll have an impact if I do that enough times a week.
I manage to burn off my junk food just by walking a couple times a day. Also playing badminton.
After a recent traumatic experience in my personal life i pretty much went from a normal diet to somewhere between 0 and 600 calories a day, Dropped a stone in 2 weeks. It slowed down since then, but I've taken to walking between 4 and 7 miles a day and I'm determined to drop the next 5 stone that needs to go...
Don't ever tell the people on this forum you don't have time to do something. They take it as an invitation to go over your daily routine and tell you exactly when you can fit in a half hour high intensity work out. Then they say you're lazy if you protest.clockworkmonkey said:
I'm a vegan slacker who lives downtown in a city (so I actually walk everywhere).
The unintentional fringe benefits work out well for me.
The unintentional fringe benefits work out well for me.
I started by walking five days a week, for an hour a day, at a 3.5 mile-per-hour pace, and doing light strength training. I also ate more fruits and veggies, more lean protein, and fewer processed carbohydrates. Then I subbed out the walking for circuit-training on exercises that work major muscle groups three or four days a week, for an hour or so a day. I've lost 30 pounds in two and a half months, but I've been hovering in the same general area the last few weeks (probably because of the weight training; I've been getting comments that I'm looking thinner, and I need to punch a new hole in my belt). I've taken the last couple of days off because I've been feeling sick, and I'm thinking of restructuring the program and making another dietary change or two as well when I start again.
You need to monitor how much food you're eating.5ilver said:
You also need some physical activity which you don't hate to do.
Find out what your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is, it's the least amount of food you need to survive. If you eat between 200 and 500 calories less than that you will lose weight.
There's a link for metric and
Re-calculate it every fortnight or every month, because your BMR will go down based on your weight, height (If applicable), and activity load.
If you're training to run a marathon, you need to eat a fuckload more than someone who's just hitting the treadmill for 30 mins 3-4 times a week, who needs to eat more than someone who's sedentary.
The fluctuation for physical activity is quite small though, so don't think "Well I went for a jog today, I'll eat an extra muesli bar." You need to be doing hours of training or really high intensity training to warrant extra food. Like training for a marathon.
I would also recommend going to the gym again, weight training (resistance training of any sort) will fill you out with muscle (which is independent of you losing fat, but the exertion will help you burn huge quantities of calories).
Also, even if you ignore everything I've told you up to this point, you need to continue doing cardio.
Studies have found (and I'm going to go get a source for this one because it's that important)[footnote] Warren, Barry, Hooker, Sui, Church, and Blair (2010) Sedentary Behaviors Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Men. Medical Science of Sports and Exercise Physiology. 42(5): 879?885.[/footnote][footnote]Lee, Artero, Sui, and Blair (2010) Mortality trends in the general population: the importance of cardiorespiratory fitness. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 24(4 supplement): 27?35.[/footnote] that people who're:
smokers,
obese,
have a family history of heart disease,
high blood pressure,
and high cholesterol;
but who exercise at a moderate rate (20-40 mins a day depending on intensity)
are less at risk of dying from anything at all than someone who:
doesn't smoke,
is not obese,
Has no family history of heart disease,
healthy blood pressure,
and healthy cholesterol.
The main reason these people have a lower mortality rate, and live longer is because they're reducing the risk of the highest cause of death in most western countries (including Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US). Heart Disease.
If anyone has any questions feel free to quote this post or PM me. As you can tell I love this shit; I really, really do.
"You" as in "me" or "you" as in "what would I say for the general person"?
I'll answer the latter. Start out by cutting junk food back, if you eat any. Pizza, chips, ice cream, basically anything dessert or that you'd get at a fast-food place. Allow yourself to have it once in a while, like maybe once or twice a week you can have a dessert or something. Or else reduce the portions dramatically and eat them every day, like having a piece of dark chocolate once a day or something. Basically, when you want a burger, consider what it is you really want -- is it the fat, meat, what? And try to make tasty substitutes that still fulfill the craving. If your diet is already decent, try shrinking portions a little, or going to lower calorie versions of what you're already eating.
If you are completely sedentary, start doing minor exercise. Walk or bike instead of drive. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Every hour or two at work, get up at move around a bit, or climb up to the next floor and back down.
If you aren't, start upping the intensity. If you're running, try some weightlifting once or twice a week instead. Muscle mass burns metabolism, and you get a metabolism boost from weightlifting that cardio doesn't always give you.
If you're doing the above and not losing weight, you either have to give up way more of your time to exercise, or accept that your body has a set point that is hard to conquer (which it does) and roll with it.
I'll answer the latter. Start out by cutting junk food back, if you eat any. Pizza, chips, ice cream, basically anything dessert or that you'd get at a fast-food place. Allow yourself to have it once in a while, like maybe once or twice a week you can have a dessert or something. Or else reduce the portions dramatically and eat them every day, like having a piece of dark chocolate once a day or something. Basically, when you want a burger, consider what it is you really want -- is it the fat, meat, what? And try to make tasty substitutes that still fulfill the craving. If your diet is already decent, try shrinking portions a little, or going to lower calorie versions of what you're already eating.
If you are completely sedentary, start doing minor exercise. Walk or bike instead of drive. Climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Every hour or two at work, get up at move around a bit, or climb up to the next floor and back down.
If you aren't, start upping the intensity. If you're running, try some weightlifting once or twice a week instead. Muscle mass burns metabolism, and you get a metabolism boost from weightlifting that cardio doesn't always give you.
If you're doing the above and not losing weight, you either have to give up way more of your time to exercise, or accept that your body has a set point that is hard to conquer (which it does) and roll with it.
You should see a doctor about that. I doubt you're 9% to start with, but it is possible. Going down to 6% is dangerous for almost everyone. If you're a fortunate genetic freak, go for it, but it's a good idea to go see a doctor just in case.SquirePB said:
Well having lost thirty six kilos so far in total since I started my diet in late 2011 I can say with some certainty that giving up on the fatty foods almost completely, at least for the first few months and with the exception of weekends, and small breakfasts like a single tub of yogurt help. I also substituted eating chips and chocolate while watching TV for fruit.
Also I go to the gym more often and do at least two Personal Training sessions a week. That's how I did it anyway.
Also I go to the gym more often and do at least two Personal Training sessions a week. That's how I did it anyway.
I've been trying to watch what I eat as well as getting a job that required me to be on my feet all day, whether it be walking or running.
Eat fewer calories and burn more. All there is to it, really.
Eating slowly: you fill up on less since it takes time for your stomach to send a message to your brain to stop being hungry.
Regular exercise routine: doesn't need to be intense. 200 minutes a week of moderate exercise and 75 a week of vigorous exercise. is plenty and not at all difficult to work into your schedule. It sounds daunting but remember it works out to about 30 minutes of easy workout stuff and 11 minutes of vigorous workout a day. You don't need to kill yourself.
Keep the mind active: staying focused on something makes you forget you're hungry (piano, programming, classwork, painting WH 40k stuff, and video games for me)
And finally: eat less. You don't even need to change what you eat that much, at least. Fist-sized portions. All you need to remember.
Eating slowly: you fill up on less since it takes time for your stomach to send a message to your brain to stop being hungry.
Regular exercise routine: doesn't need to be intense. 200 minutes a week of moderate exercise and 75 a week of vigorous exercise. is plenty and not at all difficult to work into your schedule. It sounds daunting but remember it works out to about 30 minutes of easy workout stuff and 11 minutes of vigorous workout a day. You don't need to kill yourself.
Keep the mind active: staying focused on something makes you forget you're hungry (piano, programming, classwork, painting WH 40k stuff, and video games for me)
And finally: eat less. You don't even need to change what you eat that much, at least. Fist-sized portions. All you need to remember.
All I know is the gym doesn't work. I just end up eating more. Right now I haven't been to the gym for over a year and I'm slim to average weight. I don't diet either.
