I need to lose weight..

Toxin01

I've been reading the fourms for a while, and decided to make an acount to contribute, more or less, to these fourms.

But first, I've got a problem.

I'm a fatty, I've lost 20 pounds already but it seems harder to lose that other 10 or so I want to drop, and I've started getting into sports and I'd rather not be "The fat guy" on the team.


Any list of basic workouts/ eating habits that aren't expensive would be appreciated.

Sorry for the bad grammar/spelling, I just started my Freshman year of highschool, heh.
*EDIT* Picture for help on deciding just how much I need to lose.

Muramasa18

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=33257

There ya go

Toxin01

Yeah I saw that right after I posted.

PirateJon

Eat less. Exercise more.

ViolentChemistry

PirateJon wrote: »

Eat healthier. Exercise more.

Just eating less isn't necessarily going to help if what you're eating doesn't have anything of any nutritional value in it. Switching to healthy food will usually do more good than merely cutting intake.

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

Uh, you don't look fat. Exercise regularly if you want to get toned I guess.

Deathwing

Yeah, I have to agree here also - you don't look like you're really in need of weight loss, based on that picture. If anyone's calling you "The fat guy", they have some rather odd standards.

Just keep exercising, try to eat multi/whole grain stuff for your carbs, stay away from fatty fast foods, eat stuff with lots of sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup only in small amounts, don't skip meals and starve yourself....All pretty much common-sense stuff.

Docken

Ok, you are a little confused about what you want.

As other people have said, you are not fat. However, I can assume from your comments that what you are actually asking is how to reduce your body fat as a percentage of your total body weight. In your situation, that means either gaining muscle mass (preferably lean muscle mass), thereby reducing your fat percentage by increasing total weight, or by burning fat (in your case this might be difficult as after a certain percentage threshold some people can't drop anymore due to genetics). Or of course a combination of the two. To be honest, weight lifting will help you big time, which will have a knock on effect anyway as muscle burns 4 times as many calories as fat, so after gaining some muscle you will start burning fat just sitting there.

As other have said, eat better found and exercise more often. However, it is important that you understand that since you really aren't that fat, "dieting" will most likely be completely useless. As a result, it will be harder for you to get to where you want to go, but looking on the bright side, it's because you starting from a decent place to start with!

Nakatomi2010

Unless theres a gut under that shirt we're not aware of, that looks like a perfectly helthy male who's not overweight...

Thanatos

I very strongly recommend against going on a calorie-restricted diet at your age, especially given that you really don't look that fat at all. Once puberty kicks into high gear, you're probably going to lose all that extra "baby-fat," anyhow, and you really don't want to be giving your body less energy than it needs when you're going through that change.

If you want to look better, eat healthier, not less, and exercise, including weightlifting.

Katholic

Toxin01 wrote: »

I've been reading the fourms for a while, and decided to make an acount to contribute, more or less, to these fourms.

But first, I've got a problem.

I'm a fatty, I've lost 20 pounds already but it seems harder to lose that other 10 or so I want to drop, and I've started getting into sports and I'd rather not be "The fat guy" on the team.


Any list of basic workouts/ eating habits that aren't expensive would be appreciated.

Sorry for the bad grammar/spelling, I just started my Freshman year of highschool, heh.
*EDIT* Picture for help on deciding just how much I need to lose.

In terms of diet you want to go aobut 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat.

Go for healthy fats: olive oil, nut fat, etc.
For more details click http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/clinical/pyramid/fats.htm"]http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/clinical/pyramid/fats.htm

In terms of carbs:
Cut out simple carbohydrates like lots of white bread products. Eat lots of fruit/vegetables/whole grain bread products.

Protein:
Lean protein-->chicken and turkey less cow and pig.

If you can manage a more demanding diet (more rules) then you should try this...
http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm




For exercise:
You need to lift weights as well as do lots of cardio otherwise you will be a flabby skinny guy.

My favorite cardio is swimming. If you can stand to wear a speedo/can stand the monotony then join a local swim team.

Katholic

Thanatos wrote: »

Once puberty kicks into high gear, you're probably going to lose all that extra "baby-fat,"

If you want to look better, eat healthier, not less, and exercise, including weightlifting.

This. I was overweight during elementary and middle school but the combination of hard workout plus puberty will get you a good body in no time at all. Sack up and get out there.

Docken

Katholic wrote: »

If you live in the right area I recommend playing water polo-->greatest sport this world over as well as an amazing workout.

Take note that whilst swimming and waterpolo are good workouts, they put strain on your shoulder joints. Waterpolo in particular is well known to cause shoulder dislocations.

If you do take this route, make sure your should muscles are up to the task, and by that I mean hit the gym routinely and do plenty of upper body weights.

mastman

Docken wrote: »

Katholic wrote: »

If you live in the right area I recommend playing water polo-->greatest sport this world over as well as an amazing workout.

Take note that whilst swimming and waterpolo are good workouts, they put strain on your shoulder joints. Waterpolo in particular is well known to cause shoulder dislocations.

If you do take this route, make sure your should muscles are up to the task, and by that I mean hit the gym routinely and do plenty of upper body weights.

every sport fucks something up. Thinking this way would turn everyone off of playing any sport.

Katholic

Docken wrote: »

Katholic wrote: »

If you live in the right area I recommend playing water polo-->greatest sport this world over as well as an amazing workout.

Take note that whilst swimming and waterpolo are good workouts, they put strain on your shoulder joints. Waterpolo in particular is well known to cause shoulder dislocations.

If you do take this route, make sure your should muscles are up to the task, and by that I mean hit the gym routinely and do plenty of upper body weights.

Water polo and swimming are low impact sports....yes there are shoulder injuries but compared to other sports they are a breeze on your joints.

Nitsuj82

Hit the weights. I'd assume you're probably doing a lot of running around on your team, so you can probably do a little less cardio than you normally would if you weren't participating in sports (you should still do 30 minutes or so to warm up though). The more muscle you gain, the more calories you will burn while it builds.

Nima

Don't restrict your calories.
a) You are still growing
b) calorie restriction may damage your metabolism. You don't need that
c) If you do manage to lose weight by restricting your intake, for most people weight lost by this method doesn't stay off.

I think you'll find that as you play sport your weight should sort itself out. Especially if you are eating right.

Toxin01

To be perfectly honest, I don't eat right. I don't eat a breakfast because school starts so early (6:30..) and my lunch is usually a diet coke and a bag of chex-mix out of the machines. Dinner is usually the only full meal I eat.

Also, I've got an after-school job and practice every other day (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays), so I'm pretty busy, which is why I said I don't think I can find a whole lot of time to devote to working out, but I can some.

Also, every other week I am on the road for an event, and we can't really afford to eat anything but fast food, so that doesn't help.

Thanks for the input guys, I might just venture out to Debate and Discourse once I can find a thread I can post in and not feel stupid.

Oh, and also, I'm not emo or anything, those gloves are for protection.

Thanatos

Toxin01 wrote: »

To be perfectly honest, I don't eat right. I don't eat a breakfast because school starts so early (6:30..) and my lunch is usually a diet coke and a bag of chex-mix out of the machines. Dinner is usually the only full meal I eat.

Also, I've got an after-school job and practice every other day (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays), so I'm pretty busy, which is why I said I don't think I can find a whole lot of time to devote to working out, but I can some.

Also, every other week I am on the road for an event, and we can't really afford to eat anything but fast food, so that doesn't help.

Thanks for the input guys, I might just venture out to Debate and Discourse once I can find a thread I can post in and not feel stupid.

Oh, and also, I'm not emo or anything, those gloves are for protection.

Hard boil 14 eggs once a week (leave the shells on, keep them refrigerated), get up at 6:20 instead of 6:30, and have two of those with a big bowl of whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk. If all you can get is fast food, then get fast food, but get the grilled chicken sandwich (or two, no fries), or, better, the grilled chicken salad, with honey mustard sauce or vinaigerette. Start doing a little grocery shopping, too, and packing a couple of healthy snacks with you to school, especially fruits or vegetables, or nuts. Get something healthy from the cafeteria, instead of shit out of the machines for lunch. You're basically encouraging your body to build fat in the mode you're in right now, where you're eating, like, a couple small snacks over the course of the entire day, then a big dinner, when you should be encouraging it to build muscle. Make a habit out of packing healthy shit to snack on wherever you go, and eat something every 2-3 hours, even if it's not the healthiest thing ever (try to avoid things that are pure processed carbs, like, say, Chex Mix, and try to get more protein, but if it's a burger or nothing, eat the burger). Your body is going to deal a lot better with a healthy diet with a fair amount of junk right now than it will be in 10 years, so if you start the general habits now, with a mixture of junk eating included, it's going to be way better for you in the long run than the pure junk diet it sounds like you've been on lately. At your age, you don't have to be hardcore about this kind of stuff to see a lot of improvement, but you do have to put in some effort.

You're going to have to really want to change your eating habits in order to get healthier, and it's not going to be easy, or totally convenient, but you should do it, anyway. Also, tell whoever the hell is calling you fat to fuck off. That kind of shit isn't okay, and don't let yourself get a complex over it; I had a couple of friends in high school who had some pretty serious body image issues from people doing shit like that to them (both guys), and you really, really don't want to go down that path.

Toxin01

Thanatos wrote: »

Toxin01 wrote: »

To be perfectly honest, I don't eat right. I don't eat a breakfast because school starts so early (6:30..) and my lunch is usually a diet coke and a bag of chex-mix out of the machines. Dinner is usually the only full meal I eat.

Also, I've got an after-school job and practice every other day (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays), so I'm pretty busy, which is why I said I don't think I can find a whole lot of time to devote to working out, but I can some.

Also, every other week I am on the road for an event, and we can't really afford to eat anything but fast food, so that doesn't help.

Thanks for the input guys, I might just venture out to Debate and Discourse once I can find a thread I can post in and not feel stupid.

Oh, and also, I'm not emo or anything, those gloves are for protection.

Hard boil 14 eggs once a week (leave the shells on, keep them refrigerated), get up at 6:20 instead of 6:30, and have two of those with a big bowl of whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk. If all you can get is fast food, then get fast food, but get the grilled chicken sandwich (or two, no fries), or, better, the grilled chicken salad, with honey mustard sauce or vinaigerette. Start doing a little grocery shopping, too, and packing a couple of healthy snacks with you to school, especially fruits or vegetables, or nuts. Get something healthy from the cafeteria, instead of shit out of the machines for lunch. You're basically encouraging your body to build fat in the mode you're in right now, where you're eating, like, a couple small snacks over the course of the entire day, then a big dinner, when you should be encouraging it to build muscle. Make a habit out of packing healthy shit to snack on wherever you go, and eat something every 2-3 hours, even if it's not the healthiest thing ever (try to avoid things that are pure processed carbs, like, say, Chex Mix, and try to get more protein, but if it's a burger or nothing, eat the burger). Your body is going to deal a lot better with a healthy diet with a fair amount of junk right now than it will be in 10 years, so if you start the general habits now, with a mixture of junk eating included, it's going to be way better for you in the long run than the pure junk diet it sounds like you've been on lately. At your age, you don't have to be hardcore about this kind of stuff to see a lot of improvement, but you do have to put in some effort.

You're going to have to really want to change your eating habits in order to get healthier, and it's not going to be easy, or totally convenient, but you should do it, anyway. Also, tell whoever the hell is calling you fat to fuck off. That kind of shit isn't okay, and don't let yourself get a complex over it; I had a couple of friends in high school who had some pretty serious body image issues from people doing shit like that to them (both guys), and you really, really don't want to go down that path.

I don't get up at 6:30, or school bus gets me to school -at- 6:30, class starts at 7:00.

I suppose I could start going to be earlier, and the only problem I see with getting the "Healthy" foods at fast food places is that it's pretty expensive, if I recall.

Thanks for helping me out, though.

The healthiest thing we have in our cabinet is like, homemade rasins. Suggestions/stuff to by that I could keep in a pocket?

Thanatos

Toxin01 wrote: »

I don't get up at 6:30, or school bus gets me to school -at- 6:30, class starts at 7:00.

I suppose I could start going to be earlier, and the only problem I see with getting the "Healthy" foods at fast food places is that it's pretty expensive, if I recall.

Thanks for helping me out, though.

The healthiest thing we have in our cabinet is like, homemade rasins. Suggestions/stuff to by that I could keep in a pocket?

Raisins are good. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, celery, carrots, apples, oranges... all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Odwalla makes some healthy snack bars that don't taste like foot mixed with patchouli (I get them at Safeway), but if you go the direction of the cereal bar, make sure it's made with real fruit, and 100% whole grain (the Odwalla ones you definitely don't have to worry about that with).

Toxin01

Thanatos wrote: »

Toxin01 wrote: »

I don't get up at 6:30, or school bus gets me to school -at- 6:30, class starts at 7:00.

I suppose I could start going to be earlier, and the only problem I see with getting the "Healthy" foods at fast food places is that it's pretty expensive, if I recall.

Thanks for helping me out, though.

The healthiest thing we have in our cabinet is like, homemade rasins. Suggestions/stuff to by that I could keep in a pocket?

Raisins are good. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, celery, carrots, apples, oranges... all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Odwalla makes some healthy snack bars that don't taste like foot mixed with patchouli (I get them at Safeway), but if you go the direction of the cereal bar, make sure it's made with real fruit, and 100% whole grain (the Odwalla ones you definitely don't have to worry about that with).

Are they available at your local wally-world or ingles?

Thanatos

Toxin01 wrote: »

Thanatos wrote: »

Toxin01 wrote: »

I don't get up at 6:30, or school bus gets me to school -at- 6:30, class starts at 7:00.

I suppose I could start going to be earlier, and the only problem I see with getting the "Healthy" foods at fast food places is that it's pretty expensive, if I recall.

Thanks for helping me out, though.

The healthiest thing we have in our cabinet is like, homemade rasins. Suggestions/stuff to by that I could keep in a pocket?

Raisins are good. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, celery, carrots, apples, oranges... all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Odwalla makes some healthy snack bars that don't taste like foot mixed with patchouli (I get them at Safeway), but if you go the direction of the cereal bar, make sure it's made with real fruit, and 100% whole grain (the Odwalla ones you definitely don't have to worry about that with).

Are they available at your local wally-world or ingles?

Seattle zoned Wal-Mart out of the city limits. I have no idea what Ingles is.

If you have a nearby Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, those are also great places to shop.

FyreWulff

An easy way to start is to stop drinking pop, or switch to Coke Zero or any other zero-calorie pop.

This way it's easier to do.

You'd be amazed at the amount of calories you get just from drinking that stuff.

Toxin01

FyreWulff wrote: »

An easy way to start is to stop drinking pop, or switch to Coke Zero or any other zero-calorie pop.

This way it's easier to do.

You'd be amazed at the amount of calories you get just from drinking that stuff.

I only drink Diet coke and Flavored water.

ruzkin

Carrots, my friend. Wash them and eat them. You don't need to peel or anything. Two carrots a day max though, they aren't a substitute for all your other vegie needs.

Oranges are self-contained. So are bananas, mandarins and apples.

Tarantio

My little brother thought that he was fat when he was about your age, too. Like you, he was mistaken- and now the best word to describe him is "lanky." You really don't have to worry.

Still, eating right and exercise are always good things. Sports are great, and so are martial arts if you've got a good school nearby.

Gotta jump in an emphasize how important breakfast is, too- the one part of your day when eating will cause you to lose more weight than you gain. I don't care how early school starts, you've got time to grab an apple to eat as you walk to the bus.

Edit: Oh, and in case it hasn't been made clear, you shouldn't be trying to lose weight at this point, at all. It'd be better to gain muscle mass at this point than to lose whatever fat you've got, and you'll probably be getting larger no matter what you have to say about it. You can safely ignore the scale, as long as you're exercising and eating healthy food.

Toxin01

Yeah, I've kinda figured that. My plan now then is more to get in better shape than to lose weight, since apparently it's not necessary/possible, so we'll just see how it goes.

I'm going food shopping after school if I can get a ride from someone.

Seldom

just on the working out and weight lifting thing, i used to get told by my physical education teacher in highschool that a kid your age who is still developing should be very careful with how far they push their bodies. as a rule of thumb, he said that a kid who's still pretty young like yourself should never lift or put their body under any more weight then their own body weight.

so don't go over zealous with the whole working out thing. i think pushups and situps are reasonable if you want to get fit, still - don't go crazy with them.

just my 2cents...

PirateJon

Seldom wrote: »

just on the working out and weight lifting thing, i used to get told by my physical education teacher in highschool that a kid your age who is still developing should be very careful with how far they push their bodies. as a rule of thumb, he said that a kid who's still pretty young like yourself should never lift or put their body under any more weight then their own body weight.

so don't go over zealous with the whole working out thing. i think pushups and situps are reasonable if you want to get fit, still - don't go crazy with them.

just my 2cents...

Not to bash your teacher or you, but that's terrible advice. If you lift correctly (something not found in most highschool lifting programs) you'll be fine. Start with the book "STARTING STRENGTH".

EggyToast

seriously, if that's how you look, you're not fat. You need to build some muscle, sure, but you're more "teen doughy" than "teen fat." Seriously, I was skinny in high school and it wasn't until I got into my mid 20s that I actually developed muscle mass and voila, suddenly I looked a hell of a lot better. Thin is REALLY ugly if you don't have muscle to back it up. Especially for guys, since most guys have a pretty minimal wardrobe.

An hour before bedtime, do some situps, pushups, and jump a jumprope. Workout for 30 minutes (so if you go to bed at 10, from 9-9:30), and if you're too wimpy to work out that entire time (which is OK if you're just getting started), take breaks after doing an activity to stretch your legs, arms, back, etc. It doesn't have to be like bootcamp regimented shit, just get some muscle activity going.

Also, don't feel too bad -- at your age, there's a lot of "in-between" going on w/ puberty, and a mix of guys who have had it, are in the middle of it, and still have a year or so to go. Make sure you're eating enough (seriously you should eat a breakfast of something, even if it's just some granola bars), and as long as you're not a slug you probably won't have anything to worry about.

Ioga

I don't think I'd make losing weight your primary concern. You don't look heavy or overweight, not more than I or any other kid did when we were going through puberty.

You seem active, you avoid non-diet soda...

Honestly, just make an effort to eat right and do strength training when you have the time (or maybe regularly if you find that you like it) and I think you'll end up just fine.

I'm pretty sure even Wal-mart has an organic section, at least it does here in southern Virginia.

Also, for good, low-fat, portable food, beef jerky might be a decent snack. It's got plenty of protein as well.

Toxin01

So basically I'm getting boned by puberty?

saggio

You may not want to lift weights, if you haven't gone through puberty yet. The rapid growth + massive hormonal change can have negative effects on your bones, and if you lift too heavy and too often you will end up either seriously hurting yourself or stunting your growth.

There are two things you can do right now that will really help you. The first one is easy: sleep. Sleep lots. Teenagers need more sleep than any age group except babies. You are growing fast, and puberty is going to seriously strain your system. You should be sleeping at least 10 hours a night if you can, and possibly more on weekends. I know it's not a very popular thing to sleep these days, and I took shit for it when I was in high school. But I'm a guy that needs his sleep, and I still need more than my friends in uni.

The second is eating healthy. You need to learn how to cook. If you can take any sort of home economics course in high school, take it. If your friends laugh at you, tell them to fuck off - you'll get the ladies (my experience is that home-ec is overwhelming female), plus you'll learn how to cook really healthy, tasty meals. All of which will be very, very important when you start to lift often. I'm a guy who can hardly cook to save my soul, and I'll be straight with you: eggs can get really old really quick unless you are a creative cook, and I'm not, so I get stuck with bland-as-shit eggs most mornings.

Finally, pick one day a week that you don't work out and get to sleep late and eat whatever you want. Save all of your sugary/bad foods for this day, and then just go all out. But be sure to stick to your guns and make it one day a week! After a while, you will get tired of all the crap, and your cravings for sugar and sweetness will lessen.

Goodluck.

Toxin01

To be honest I kinda figured I was getting near the end of puberty, my voice stopped cracking, and I have to shave X_X.

I could be wrong, I'm not to knowledgable of the subject.

saggio

Toxin01 wrote: »

To be honest I kinda figured I was getting near the end of puberty, my voice stopped cracking, and I have to shave X_X.

I could be wrong, I'm not to knowledgable of the subject.

Cool, puberty is a pretty sucky time as I remember it.

If you want to get into lifting weights, you still ought to be careful. Lifting too much too fast is like the most common problem when it comes to weight lifting, and it can cause a whole bunch of unpleasant problems, the least of which is making you sore as hell and not wanting to do it ever again. But if you eat healthy, get some cardio, and sleep, then you shouldn't worry to much about lifting - at least, not seriously.

PirateJon

Lifting weights is a perfectly normal activity for a healthy person, whatever the age. As long as form is correct there are no risks to any sane lifting program.

http://www.startingstrength.com/

Muramasa18

I'd just like to say that in my mid-teens I was fat (as in, a LOT fatter than you, as in about 5'9" and 205lbs at my heaviest), and I failed losing the weight until I was pretty much finished with puberty. 6'0", 160lbs was my lightest, when I was 17. With eating right, kickboxing, and finishing up puberty, the weight fell right off me. But, like I said, you're nowhere near as fat as I was, so don't worry.

thunderhorse

In that picture are you at Gator Paintball?


then again everyone's trailer / pro shop looks the same.


Paintballing is a great way to loose weight, I have a friend who lost about 40 pounds from going every weekend for 2 months.

Toxin01

thunderhorse wrote: »

In that picture are you at Gator Paintball?


then again everyone's trailer / pro shop looks the same.


Paintballing is a great way to loose weight, I have a friend who lost about 40 pounds from going every weekend for 2 months.

Nope, sorry man It's The Alternative Sport.

I just got that taken really quick for my APPA picture, playing CFOA this year.

Spacehog85

I do basic exercises and mostly eat right to keep myself in shape, but im in no position to tell you what to do in that respect, different things work for diffrent people, however what Thanatos told you was pretty damn near to what I did to get to my healthy weight. But what I will tell you is that you are not fat. I know other posters have said it but I just want to repeat it. If anyone calls you fat, they're a fucking moron.

Good luck with paintball and toning up thouch