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Losing pounds
Iceman.USAF
MajorEast CoastRegistered User regular
MajorEast CoastRegistered User regular
So, I desire to lose some weight. I've started running daily (bout 3 weeks ago I suppose) again, and I'm seeing some results but not enough. I'm currently at 218ish and want to be around 185ish.
so, how do I go about this?
Please, offer all crazy solutions and/or miracle pills you may have heard of, I'm interested in all options (though I don't think I'll be doing anything 'crazy').
so, how do I go about this?
Please, offer all crazy solutions and/or miracle pills you may have heard of, I'm interested in all options (though I don't think I'll be doing anything 'crazy').
Iceman.USAF on
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Also lift weights.
This has led to the development of treatments where fat cells are ablated through sonication (for non-biology majors, this means they use sound waves to kill off some fat cells, thus reducing the total amount of fat your body stores). That would be a fast easy way to lose weight, but you'd also have to maintain your weight by eating a healthy diet. Or you could get liposuction.
As for eating habits, it's better to eat small meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism up and avoid spikes in your blood sugar. You shouldn't starve yourself, because the body then responds by hoarding more nutrients when they become available. Fish and poultry are good low-fat sources of protein, and they help you feel full so you won't want to snack on fatty junk. I would drink water or non-sweetened iced tea to keep the carb-intake low.
Don't go running. Do HITT three times a week.
As tube said lift big heavy weights. And do just wander into a gym and pick up anything you think looks pretty go in with a plan and a routine.
More importantly have you even looked at your diet?
Satans..... hints.....
The main reason people cant keep the weight off is because although they've lost alot of weight, most of it is muscle which drives your metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn during the day - so if you lose 30 lbs and 15 is muscle and you go back to your regular eating regime, your actually buring less calories then you were before. This is why people have so many problems keeping the weight off.
Do yourself a favour and try and lose no more then 1-2 lbs a week, through weight training - that way your actually increasing your muscle mass and speeding up your metabolism.
Also, what is HITT?
My diet isn't great but I'm working on it. I drink maybe 1-2 cans of pepsi or sierra mist a day, anything else is water (with a few glasses of milk per week).
I generally eat lots of chicken and steak with sides of bread, and less vegetables than I should eat.
So I know what I eat I just also know I don't eat particularly well.
I've heard (and also someone suggested) eating several smaller meals keeps your metabolism moving and hence dropping fat quickly, any truth to that, or more specific plans?
I know if I can drop the weight quick I can keep it off/rebuild properly, as this is generally what I used to do in high school during football season (no use of anything extra, just working out every day did it).
So yeah, I'm not too worried about gaining anything back, rather just how to drop what I've got now (mainly around my stomach).
EDIT: Thanks for all the great responses so far, I knew you guys wouldn't let down.
For example, cycle your guts out for 30 seconds, then take 30 seconds where you are moving your legs lazily without too much effort. Or sprinting and then walking.
This has the effect of elevating your heart rate to a much higher rate than you would normally do if you're just running/cycling for a given amount of time. If you do this for a period of 5-10 minutes, the idea is that your metabolism will kick into a higher gear for the next 24-36 hours than it would have if you had just cycled for 30 minutes at a medium rate.
The benefit stems primarily from the fact that the actual caloric benefit from cardio is not from the actual calories burned during your cardio exercise, but rather the temporary ongoing metabolic rate increase afterwards.
Click image for my huge backlog
That's a good point, I'll have to do that. Thanks.
Yes, but realize that the sodium retains water which may make it look like you aren't losing weight. If you're going to drink soda, you should drink a gallon of water a day as well.
As for the sodas as someone said they are basically giant buckets of empty useless calories that spike your blood sugar level. If you are really serious about it cut out beer and other alcohol drinks too.
Splitting your meals to 5 or 6 (which are SMALLER) basically means you are doing your digestion all throughout the day which again keeps increases the metabolism slightly. It also means that you are recieving energy at a more constant rate than you'd get if you'd just eat three big meals.
Stick to leaner cuts of steak (fattier ones have trans-fats in them) and wipe out anything with HFCS in it. Also stick with bread (and food in general) that are low GI to keep your blood sugar low so you wont get hunger spikes during the day.
Satans..... hints.....
Diet: Lots of non-starchy vegetables, lots of legumes and appropriate portions of high protein lean meat. Corn, peas, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini (courgettes), onions, tomatoes, canned five bean mix, tuna, chicken, lean beef. Because of work I'm finding it difficult to get a 5/6 meal a day system going, but if you have the time it's a good idea. Ideally just eat as much of that as possible. The lack of carbohydrates will restrict your caloric intake and hopefully get your body processing your fat stores, but there should be enough of everything else to let your body do everything it needs to.
Drink lots and lots of water and cut out everything else. You don't need caffeine and you don't need soft drink/soda. If you don't cut those out, you probably need to examine whether you really are determined to do what you need to do to lose the weight.
Workout: I'm hitting the gym 3-4 times a week, parkour training once a week and badminton once a week. One or two of the gym sessions involves muscle strength and endurance building. More muscle means that your body burns more calories in general. Each of the gym sessions involves high intensity interval training on both the bike and treadmill. Because of parkour I'm specifically trying to build up my running/sprinting endurance.
Blowing out: It'll happen. Unless you have no real life responsibilities and incredible iron will, circumstances and motivation will drop at some point. Don't beat yourself up over it, accept it and control it. I eat chocolate, biscuits, cake or even high carb meals when I go out with friends. However, I don't go overboard and I will generally pick healthier options where possible.
Before I started this approach, I just made better choices and lost a few kilos that way. Skipping at home every night, using the HIIT method, plus just choosing not to drink Coke, saying no to dessert and eating a little less.
All of the above is just based on my personal experience and goals, so it will most likely not be useful to you as a complete package, but hopefully will give you a starting point along with what everyone else has posted. I just thought it might be useful to you to see what someone else did to achieve similar goals to yours.
This is great for shedding weight but it's not "getting you in shape" though as you will lose as much (if not more) muscle than fat, which compromises you physically. Not only will it be easier for the weight to come back on, but you'll be more prone to injury when doing sports or exercising. You may look good, but be in worse "shape". You should heed warnings to take a more balanced approach. You'll plateau in running, if you mix up your workout you'll see quicker results (e.g. after a couple weeks of running switch to cycling, then to rowing, keep mixing it up). Also incorporate weight training if all you're doing is cardio. Getting a physical trainer for 5 1-hr sessions should introduce you to several workout series(es?) that you can mix up, you could negotiate something reasonable at a local 24-hour fitness.
track what you eat
6 meals a day and some hiits and weight training and youre on the road to success
This WILL slow - your body adapts and you need to change it up. Do different kinds of workouts on the same muscle groups (IE, bench press one week, flat dumbell flies the next, butterfly machine after that, repeat) to maximize your progress. Don't forget to take breaks. Be steady and disciplined for a month or two, then don't do any weight training for a week.
When starting out, be VERY careful on the weights. When I first started I went too hard. For an entire week my arms were stuck at 45 degree angles at the elbows because my biceps tightened up so much. It was painful to do anything. So start easy. Let your body get accustomed to it.
Also, after a workout, consume something. Give your body some calories to keep your metabolism up.
Now, if only I could follow my own advice.
In all seriousness, set-your-watch-by-it bowel movements are something you should consider a good sign for healthy eating that steak has a tendency to fuck up. A trainer friend swears on chinese dieter teas (basically mild purgatives).
Also, the chemicals in diet sodas actually make people crave sweets, so in the long run you're better to be drinking the regular stuff. :P
What colour do people use when people say blatantly wrong stuff?
Is it orange? Because if it is everything just up there I'd colour orange.
No, just no.
Coke will make you crave sweet things just as much because it will kick your insulin levels through the fucking roof then you'll come crashing down. Do you know what you do when you crash? You look for something to eat.
If you must drink softies at the very least make them diet. However you should just cut them out of your diet 100%.
Satans..... hints.....
Coffee and tea are the cleanest, safest sources of caffeine. You'll get a lot more caffeine out of coffee than tea, though.
Yerba Mate is a very low caffeine source, but has co-factors that will greatly increase the energy you feel as a result of consuming it, making it an ideal energy drink for someone who wants a pick-me-up but doesn't care for the after effects of caffeine or the consequences of an addiction.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Anti-oxidants - It's a good source of them. They come from the coffee bean specifically.
Appetite suppressant - You should not be using this to skip meals, but if you find you have snack cravings when you're bored at work and aren't legitimately hungry, a cup of black coffee has as many calories as a glass of water but will do more to suppress those urges than just about anything.
Caffeine - It wakes you up, keeps you alert, and increases metabolism. It's why it was the principal weight loss drug for years. The addiction can get really ugly though, so moderation is key.
It's also been shown to reduce risks of diabetes (type II), parkinson's and a few other things.
THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO DRINK IT BLACK THOUGH.
Once you start adding cream and sugar you might as well get a bowl of ice cream and no that's not a serious suggestion. It's just as bad as or worse than soda pop if you add that shit, so learn to be a man and start drinking it black. It tastes better that way anyhow.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I was actually talking more about a bunch of studies like this where it say pretty much the exact opposite. I had found them interesting and thought someone else might, too.
I agree that it would be better to cut out soda altogether, though.
It's a body stimulation thing. Most people eat lunch or dinner with their softies therefore negating it.
The researches also point out that there is only a corelation of weight gain with people with a high intake of soft drinks. A basic correlation (though I have no proof) would be that they also have more food as well.
Satans..... hints.....
Click image for my huge backlog
Satans..... hints.....
Hope it helps you.
If you need to invent one: go hiking/camping somewhere pretty for a week, preferably over large hills, live off rations, carry everything on your back including some pointlessly heavy kit you are never going to need, cover at least 15-20 miles a day, with some nice 2 mile runs (with 50-odd pounds of kit) thrown in for good measure at least once a day, only sleep at last light, get up at first light, and if you're feeling particularly masochistic, wake yourself up in the middle of the night to sit around for an hour on sentry in case the Russians invade. At least 2 days / nights must be spent soaked through in pissing down rain, or you're just not doing it right. Getting woken up in the middle of the night by people shooting at you, having to pack your kit away in 5 seconds flat and then run wildly for a few km in the dark; optional.
Bingo weightloss. I'm totally thinking of starting up a company to take fat urbanite women on jaunts like that as a miracle diet in the post-Christmas / pre-Summer body anxiety seasons. Would be an interesting study in motivation to see how many of them would stick it out compared to the number of military recruits who jack in the field etc. I suspect the women would win.
So, thanks?
Knew a Royal Marine who did some hard telemarking as part of their specialist arctic training, went from 14 stone to 10 1/2 in about three weeks.
Seriously, it's very dangerous. Don't do it.