It really did do wonders for my mood once I pushed through the initial discomfort and then the weird thing my body does when I try getting in shape where I get really frustrated and short tempered from all the stress hormones and stuff.
I remember in July that year I made it through every trail in swan creek metropark in one afternoon. 6.6 miles total in about 2.5 hours. I was really proud of that. And that was only half a year to get to that point. But then I was starting at 380lbs and without as severe of asthma and back issues. My doctor's visit has me at 407 pounds as of today.
I'm going to look into my insurance benefit of a gym membership again soon and maybe try to get on a treadmill a couple times a week again.
My goal will then probably be something somewhat reasonable, I walk around 2 miles an hour, so assuming I can get two hours in a week for 52 weeks I think around 200 miles of walking from January till the end of December 2024 isn't out of the realm of possibility?
The thing I enjoy about walking is it is easy to just zone out and do while listening to music or a podcast or something like that. That is if I can get my weight under control enough to ease the lower back pain I've been getting. So I'll be focusing on balance and core strength stuff the end of this year, probably just yoga and low impact bodyweight exercises to manage to stay upright long enough to make a treadmill even endurable for me.
That and I need to work on my eating habits still. It sucks Thanksgiving is coming up, after that I'm for sure going to try some meal prep stuff. I wish there were a like a decent book or something like that I really don't like looking for fitness or nutrition info on the internet so much of it is very triggering for me.
Literally the biggest hurdle for meal prep for me anyway isn't the cooking part I can do that, it's cleaning up after that kicks my ass, and eating food that's been refrigerated for very long without feeling like it's lost all it's flavor and moisture to the microwave.
Skinnytaste is a cookbook writer I really love, her recipes actually got me into cooking because they're generally sub-500 cal portions that all taste really great despite being "healthy" (to the degree where my family will happily pick stuff out of 'em without me asking)
I haven't bought her meal prep book yet (I might now that I have office days though), but I have all her other cookbooks and they're solid
Also consider using the oven instead of the microwave if you can; also like, air fryers rule and can be surprisingly cheap if the time to reheat is the issue. Both of those methods taste wayyyyy better than microwaved food for the most part
I'm going to look into my insurance benefit of a gym membership again soon and maybe try to get on a treadmill a couple times a week again.
My goal will then probably be something somewhat reasonable, I walk around 2 miles an hour, so assuming I can get two hours in a week for 52 weeks I think around 200 miles of walking from January till the end of December 2024 isn't out of the realm of possibility?
The thing I enjoy about walking is it is easy to just zone out and do while listening to music or a podcast or something like that. That is if I can get my weight under control enough to ease the lower back pain I've been getting. So I'll be focusing on balance and core strength stuff the end of this year, probably just yoga and low impact bodyweight exercises to manage to stay upright long enough to make a treadmill even endurable for me.
That and I need to work on my eating habits still. It sucks Thanksgiving is coming up, after that I'm for sure going to try some meal prep stuff. I wish there were a like a decent book or something like that I really don't like looking for fitness or nutrition info on the internet so much of it is very triggering for me.
Literally the biggest hurdle for meal prep for me anyway isn't the cooking part I can do that, it's cleaning up after that kicks my ass, and eating food that's been refrigerated for very long without feeling like it's lost all it's flavor and moisture to the microwave.
To help with the moisture, put a slightly damp towel over the dish, it'll trap all the moisture and keep food from drying out. Works great on starchy foods, as for flavor, I always hit mine with a bit of salt and pepper when it goes into the microwave, helps pep things back up, along with hot sauce when it comes out.
Aidan Roberts and Will Bosi 8C+s in the last couple of days 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 🇬🇧
+1
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Winter is coming.
The November to January stretch is always the roughest for me between the holidays and the long, cold nights meaning all I want to do is stay in bed all day.
The November to January stretch is always the roughest for me between the holidays and the long, cold nights meaning all I want to do is stay in bed all day.
Yeah, I fucking hate cold weather so goddamned much. If it could just never drop below 80F that'd be perfect, thanks.
Instead it was 27F when I left the house to go to the gym this morning and I prayed for death. Instead i was forced to live, so I did bi's and tri's today, and it's the second time ever I've been able to do 20lb dumbbells for all of my sets and not have to drop down to 15s!
I also did some dumbbell rows since my physical therapy started including them, and 20lbs seems like a good place for those too. Could probably do more, but since I'm still relatively new to a lot of these exercises I'd rather start with something more manageable so I can work on form and making sure I'm doing it right before I start seeing what my limits are.
Meanwhile I've just successfully placed my preorder for that ice cream advent calendar, so my decision to return to maintenance until the end of December and then trying a brief bulk is going swimmingly
Meanwhile I've just successfully placed my preorder for that ice cream advent calendar, so my decision to return to maintenance until the end of December and then trying a brief bulk is going swimmingly
I regret not pulling the trigger on a sake advent calendar I saw earlier in the year.
Meanwhile I've just successfully placed my preorder for that ice cream advent calendar, so my decision to return to maintenance until the end of December and then trying a brief bulk is going swimmingly
I regret not pulling the trigger on a sake advent calendar I saw earlier in the year.
Thinking of putting together an advent calendar thread in a week, I unabashedly love all the weird calendars that are coming out now
Give me the pageantry of a surprise every day for a month!
Here's the thing about the holidays: they rule and have delicious treats and I don't think the time of year is a license to be a complete numbskull but also I'll be damned if I don't steal some of my kids' Halloween candy and try every pie at Thanksgiving because some things only come around once each year and fun is fun.
Hmm, thinking of adopting a wake up - hot shower - exercise - cold shower - protein breakfast as a morning routine and see how that goes. I figure that exercising around the time I shower regularly makes it so two showers packed close together doesn't excessively dehydrate the skin as much as showering every 12 hours and avoids repugnant hygiene issues while exercising. In addition, the heat / cold dynamics would help warmup and cooldown.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Hi Fitness and Weight thread. It's me, the Jokerman here.
I've been struggling with my weight but also my body since 2020. Before, I was working a pretty physical job and commuting by bicycle, but now I'm working a much more sedentary job and drive into work (I can't afford to look sweaty and disheveled when I roll in unfortunately).
I was never what you would call skinny, but not feeling comfortable in my own clothes, having my feet hurt, and just generally becoming more concerned with getting on a good track healthwise is making me rethink a lot of things. I don't eat terribly (I have a terrible Soda habit but have migrated to diet soda), and I'm getting in the gym lightly here, but I'm just not seeing any change and I feel like I'm a little disheartened. I used to use My Fitness Pal to calorie count and that helped a lot when I was a smallguy, but it seems a lot of the features are paywalled. So what does a guy do to get into the shape he wants to be? I don't feel like I have unattainable goals I just don't want to be so chunky and tired all the time
0
webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Hi Fitness and Weight thread. It's me, the Jokerman here.
I've been struggling with my weight but also my body since 2020. Before, I was working a pretty physical job and commuting by bicycle, but now I'm working a much more sedentary job and drive into work (I can't afford to look sweaty and disheveled when I roll in unfortunately).
I was never what you would call skinny, but not feeling comfortable in my own clothes, having my feet hurt, and just generally becoming more concerned with getting on a good track healthwise is making me rethink a lot of things. I don't eat terribly (I have a terrible Soda habit but have migrated to diet soda), and I'm getting in the gym lightly here, but I'm just not seeing any change and I feel like I'm a little disheartened. I used to use My Fitness Pal to calorie count and that helped a lot when I was a smallguy, but it seems a lot of the features are paywalled. So what does a guy do to get into the shape he wants to be? I don't feel like I have unattainable goals I just don't want to be so chunky and tired all the time
The biggest thing is what you eat. Managing your food intake will be like 80% of the work. The other 20% is being active, whatever form that takes. If you have specific fitness goals then those could point you in the direction you want to go there. I will say strength training is an all around good thing for whatever you end up wanting to do.
Another thing I would recommend, especially if you have a sedentary job, is get in exercise everyday, ideally twice a day.
Like, this doesn’t need to be an epic workout session or anything. It could be as simple taking the dog on a 15 minute walk. (Doing something short but intense like jump rope is also great).
This will help keep your metabolism up and burning calories throughout the day, which when combined with diet can go a long way. It’s also, in my experience, great for your overall energy levels.
If you can also get in some muscle building workouts like weight lifting from time to time, even better.
Another thing I would recommend, especially if you have a sedentary job, is get in exercise everyday, ideally twice a day.
Like, this doesn’t need to be an epic workout session or anything. It could be as simple taking the dog on a 15 minute walk. (Doing something short but intense like jump rope is also great).
This will help keep your metabolism up and burning calories throughout the day, which when combined with diet can go a long way. It’s also, in my experience, great for your overall energy levels.
If you can also get in some muscle building workouts like weight lifting from time to time, even better.
Yea this is big. I do half mile walks on my breaks and a mile or two at lunch. It really helps break up the day, and i have a lot more energy. Ive also been doing a basic kettle bell routine 3 days a week for strength training. It's no deadlifts, but it is good sustained work.
Hi Fitness and Weight thread. It's me, the Jokerman here.
I've been struggling with my weight but also my body since 2020. Before, I was working a pretty physical job and commuting by bicycle, but now I'm working a much more sedentary job and drive into work (I can't afford to look sweaty and disheveled when I roll in unfortunately).
I was never what you would call skinny, but not feeling comfortable in my own clothes, having my feet hurt, and just generally becoming more concerned with getting on a good track healthwise is making me rethink a lot of things. I don't eat terribly (I have a terrible Soda habit but have migrated to diet soda), and I'm getting in the gym lightly here, but I'm just not seeing any change and I feel like I'm a little disheartened. I used to use My Fitness Pal to calorie count and that helped a lot when I was a smallguy, but it seems a lot of the features are paywalled. So what does a guy do to get into the shape he wants to be? I don't feel like I have unattainable goals I just don't want to be so chunky and tired all the time
If you don't mind paying, I've been quite happy with MacroFactor as an app that figures out my calories per day given my goals and daily weigh-ins (but do not use it if weighing in daily is triggering). There's an effectively free version of this that's an Excel spreadsheet someone on Reddit made but it's more rudimentary and requires you still count calories elsewhere
Otherwise it depends on what your goals are. Do you want bigger muscles, or just to lose fat? Are you aiming for a more athletic build? (As a lady, socially the pressure has always been "lose fat until you're a skeleton and even then you may be too big", but I am recently a proponent of putting on muscle to get an *actually* athletic build, because it also lets you eat more, so.)
Your options are effectively:
Recomposition: it's slow but studies are showing it can be effective for newbie lifters. Start at your maintenance calorie intake and lift weights ideally 4 times a week. You'll lose fat and gain muscle but it's a lot slower than a bulk-cut cycle.
Bulk/cut: this is what bodybuilders do! An alternating cycle of bulking (eating above maintenance) and cutting (eating below maintenance) with maintenance periods in between. The intention is to put on muscle (and fat), and then cut to lose the extra fat and then have more visible muscles. This also has the happy side effect of increasing your maintenance calories!
Losing weight: honestly I think a lot of people do this and don't realize the value of putting on muscle in terms of raising your muscle mass/calorie intake/metabolism/etc. If you do decide you don't want to put on more muscle, at least be sure your absolute maximum weight loss is 0.05% per week, or you'll lose muscle too and risk having a "skinny fat" look, while also reducing your daily calorie maintenance levels. Losing weight too quickly is bad for this reason - it takes a lot more work to build muscle.
In all of these diet modes, your protein intake should also be tracked. Protein helps build satiety (important for cutting) but is also shown to reduce the amount of muscle lost in a cut/help to build more muscle at maintenance and in bulking.
My honest recommendation as someone who has been really delighted by my physical changes in the last year: start at maintenance, try to increase your strength training (see a trainer if you're not sure about a good all-around regimen) and protein intake (there's macro calculators that will tell you what to aim for). Once you're in a good habit and see some progress, decide if you want to put on more muscle or cut first. Don't do a cut for longer than 8 weeks at a time.
(You also don't *have* to do weightlifting - you could do other sports and be active and see some aesthetic changes! But nothing in my history of high cardio/medium strength sports has had as much of a change to my build as dedicated weightlifting.)
Health and fitness adjacent rant: Decathlon seems to have things sized in European sizes, whereas I am apparently North American sized. I fit comfortably into large sized North American shirts and jackets; I could barely put on some large sized clothes I bought from Decathlon last night. And the running pants were right out. I couldn’t get my leg down the pant leg, my calves were just too big. Grumble, grumble, whine, complain.
On the bright side for running, it’s finally cooling off outside. Last night was a rainy 5°, and I meant to go 5k, but it was so nice out that I went 13k. It’s terrible weather for walking, but my runs are going to be pretty sweet until the snow and freezing rain start to arrive.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
What free time do you have that you can set aside? A lot of the problem with adopting a weight loss habit is that other parts of your life have squeezed into all the cracks between activities, which makes devoting your time to a new task stressful and negative feeling.
This time you need is not just for exercising but for ancillary activities like meal prep, logging and reviewing calories or workouts, and other buffers like transportation, clothes, and hygiene you need to at least initially put in to accommodate this different lifestyle. You may even need extra sleep. You will get more efficient over time, but if you try to do too much initially, you will overbudget your time and energy, which risks failure.
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Do yall think maybe trying to reduce my calorie intake a bunch without also increasing my exercise much if at all has been kind of counter productive?
Thing is cutting my calorie goal lower seems impossible every time I try it as I just don't have much energy to focus on the logging and prepping meals, and I often crash and burn ending up hitting a day where I eat pretty much everything in my home because I just get so painfully hungry.
Before when I've had success it's been both eating habits and exercise at the same time, the main barrier to that for me right now is I'm so out of shape that even walking around my little apartment can be pretty hard some days and I just don't know anything else that I'll have an easy time sticking too besides walking because I really don't enjoy exercise that I can't really zone out for, it makes it all the more agonizing having to really focus to keep my balance and breathing like with yoga, or just makes me too sweaty to wear headphones like any kind of bodyweight strength stuff. Plus the effect of number go up just isn't there for me the same way, so it's hard to stay motivated.
Since MyFitnessPal seems to have locked down a lot of the previous free functionality, what tracking apps do y'all rate these days (free would be nice, but I get that's not always a thing anymore)
Doug I'm not mad at you but that blog post links to one Pubmed study, one Huffington Post story with again one human trial study linked, and a CBS article that I can't understand why they cited it. The video Shadowhope linked from Dr. Mike has more studies cited in it and the argument he makes is sensible, and there's a Stronger by Science article with a bunch of studies linked in it that says a similar thing, which is basically that correlation isn't causation. Diet soda is zero calories and doesn't make your weight go up and if you replace regular soda with it your calories go down and your weight will probably go down IF THAT'S THE ONLY THING YOU CHANGE; the worry in the study that you linked to is that sweet things trigger your brain to want calories, and the diet soda doesn't have any, so your body's going to feel like you need to eat more to compensate, and that'll make you gain weight. If you're tracking your food and don't start eating more to replace the soda you aren't drinking you should be fine and have a net positive effect.
Since MyFitnessPal seems to have locked down a lot of the previous free functionality, what tracking apps do y'all rate these days (free would be nice, but I get that's not always a thing anymore)
Chronometer I see thrown around a lot in my lifting Discord as a free option that is also nice for if you simply want to track macros; I personally am getting a lot out of MacroFactor but it's paid
Do yall think maybe trying to reduce my calorie intake a bunch without also increasing my exercise much if at all has been kind of counter productive?
Thing is cutting my calorie goal lower seems impossible every time I try it as I just don't have much energy to focus on the logging and prepping meals, and I often crash and burn ending up hitting a day where I eat pretty much everything in my home because I just get so painfully hungry.
Before when I've had success it's been both eating habits and exercise at the same time, the main barrier to that for me right now is I'm so out of shape that even walking around my little apartment can be pretty hard some days and I just don't know anything else that I'll have an easy time sticking too besides walking because I really don't enjoy exercise that I can't really zone out for, it makes it all the more agonizing having to really focus to keep my balance and breathing like with yoga, or just makes me too sweaty to wear headphones like any kind of bodyweight strength stuff. Plus the effect of number go up just isn't there for me the same way, so it's hard to stay motivated.
Working out basically just reduces the size of the gap you need to cut to lose a certain number of pounds a week (e.g. you can do very little exercise and cut approx 500 calories a day (though this is an average and not the same for everyone), or you could go for a 250 calorie walk and cut 250 calories, and probably lose the same amount of weight). Important to be cautious with this to not land on some disordered thinking of working out being directly correlated with eating more/creating an unhealthy focus on exercise, mind (this is one big issue with Noom for example).
Exercise helps with keeping you on target for food goals by introducing healthy habits, reducing muscle loss as you cut calories, heart health and cardiovascular health, reduces depression symptoms, etc.
Have you considered swimming? It's much more low impact and easier on the joints. You might be more comfortable with that if you're experiencing pain with other exercise.
The more interesting question is which calorie restricting diets require the least willpower to maintain
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
The more interesting question is which calorie restricting diets require the least willpower to maintain
This is going to vary person to person depending on tastes.
There's some generic stuff like protein and fiber giving lasting satiety, but yeah this requires individual experimentation. However, the outcome is kind of non-intuitive: instead of what tastes the best, what makes you less likely to eat too much?
Marty: The future, it's where you're going? Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
The more interesting question is which calorie restricting diets require the least willpower to maintain
For me personally? I usually aim for 1g of protein per pound of body weight per day, 40 grams of fibre per day, at least 0.5 g of fat per pound of body weight per day. What foods I actually eat will vary a bit, though because of the high protein count protein powder and egg whites crop up a lot. And of that, the protein is the most important part for me personally, as well as making sure it’s all spread through the day to minimize crashing.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
Posts
It really did do wonders for my mood once I pushed through the initial discomfort and then the weird thing my body does when I try getting in shape where I get really frustrated and short tempered from all the stress hormones and stuff.
I remember in July that year I made it through every trail in swan creek metropark in one afternoon. 6.6 miles total in about 2.5 hours. I was really proud of that. And that was only half a year to get to that point. But then I was starting at 380lbs and without as severe of asthma and back issues. My doctor's visit has me at 407 pounds as of today.
Skinnytaste is a cookbook writer I really love, her recipes actually got me into cooking because they're generally sub-500 cal portions that all taste really great despite being "healthy" (to the degree where my family will happily pick stuff out of 'em without me asking)
I haven't bought her meal prep book yet (I might now that I have office days though), but I have all her other cookbooks and they're solid
https://www.amazon.ca/Skinnytaste-Meal-Prep-Make-Ahead-Simplify/dp/0593137310
Also consider using the oven instead of the microwave if you can; also like, air fryers rule and can be surprisingly cheap if the time to reheat is the issue. Both of those methods taste wayyyyy better than microwaved food for the most part
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Because honestly that's the major advantage of the microwave if not.
Wait. Pyrex containers! Why didn't that occur to me until now?
To help with the moisture, put a slightly damp towel over the dish, it'll trap all the moisture and keep food from drying out. Works great on starchy foods, as for flavor, I always hit mine with a bit of salt and pepper when it goes into the microwave, helps pep things back up, along with hot sauce when it comes out.
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New climbing gym opened up and they have a really cool arch feature for lead climbing.
The November to January stretch is always the roughest for me between the holidays and the long, cold nights meaning all I want to do is stay in bed all day.
(Also excited to start terminator power walking during meetings).
Yeah, I fucking hate cold weather so goddamned much. If it could just never drop below 80F that'd be perfect, thanks.
Instead it was 27F when I left the house to go to the gym this morning and I prayed for death. Instead i was forced to live, so I did bi's and tri's today, and it's the second time ever I've been able to do 20lb dumbbells for all of my sets and not have to drop down to 15s!
I also did some dumbbell rows since my physical therapy started including them, and 20lbs seems like a good place for those too. Could probably do more, but since I'm still relatively new to a lot of these exercises I'd rather start with something more manageable so I can work on form and making sure I'm doing it right before I start seeing what my limits are.
Legends of Runeterra: MNCdover #moc
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I regret not pulling the trigger on a sake advent calendar I saw earlier in the year.
Thinking of putting together an advent calendar thread in a week, I unabashedly love all the weird calendars that are coming out now
Give me the pageantry of a surprise every day for a month!
3DS Friend Code: 0216-0898-6512
Switch Friend Code: SW-7437-1538-7786
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
And I just laughed and laughed for five minutes. Then cried.
Also diet culture sucks. Dude is 5'8, 160ish lbs and he was talking about trying to stay under 1200 calories since he wants to lose weight.
It for no other reason than to save money at this point. Losing like 2 or more pounds a week would just be a bonus.
I've been struggling with my weight but also my body since 2020. Before, I was working a pretty physical job and commuting by bicycle, but now I'm working a much more sedentary job and drive into work (I can't afford to look sweaty and disheveled when I roll in unfortunately).
I was never what you would call skinny, but not feeling comfortable in my own clothes, having my feet hurt, and just generally becoming more concerned with getting on a good track healthwise is making me rethink a lot of things. I don't eat terribly (I have a terrible Soda habit but have migrated to diet soda), and I'm getting in the gym lightly here, but I'm just not seeing any change and I feel like I'm a little disheartened. I used to use My Fitness Pal to calorie count and that helped a lot when I was a smallguy, but it seems a lot of the features are paywalled. So what does a guy do to get into the shape he wants to be? I don't feel like I have unattainable goals I just don't want to be so chunky and tired all the time
The biggest thing is what you eat. Managing your food intake will be like 80% of the work. The other 20% is being active, whatever form that takes. If you have specific fitness goals then those could point you in the direction you want to go there. I will say strength training is an all around good thing for whatever you end up wanting to do.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Like, this doesn’t need to be an epic workout session or anything. It could be as simple taking the dog on a 15 minute walk. (Doing something short but intense like jump rope is also great).
This will help keep your metabolism up and burning calories throughout the day, which when combined with diet can go a long way. It’s also, in my experience, great for your overall energy levels.
If you can also get in some muscle building workouts like weight lifting from time to time, even better.
Diet pop is totally fine.
Yea this is big. I do half mile walks on my breaks and a mile or two at lunch. It really helps break up the day, and i have a lot more energy. Ive also been doing a basic kettle bell routine 3 days a week for strength training. It's no deadlifts, but it is good sustained work.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
If you don't mind paying, I've been quite happy with MacroFactor as an app that figures out my calories per day given my goals and daily weigh-ins (but do not use it if weighing in daily is triggering). There's an effectively free version of this that's an Excel spreadsheet someone on Reddit made but it's more rudimentary and requires you still count calories elsewhere
Otherwise it depends on what your goals are. Do you want bigger muscles, or just to lose fat? Are you aiming for a more athletic build? (As a lady, socially the pressure has always been "lose fat until you're a skeleton and even then you may be too big", but I am recently a proponent of putting on muscle to get an *actually* athletic build, because it also lets you eat more, so.)
Your options are effectively:
Recomposition: it's slow but studies are showing it can be effective for newbie lifters. Start at your maintenance calorie intake and lift weights ideally 4 times a week. You'll lose fat and gain muscle but it's a lot slower than a bulk-cut cycle.
Bulk/cut: this is what bodybuilders do! An alternating cycle of bulking (eating above maintenance) and cutting (eating below maintenance) with maintenance periods in between. The intention is to put on muscle (and fat), and then cut to lose the extra fat and then have more visible muscles. This also has the happy side effect of increasing your maintenance calories!
Losing weight: honestly I think a lot of people do this and don't realize the value of putting on muscle in terms of raising your muscle mass/calorie intake/metabolism/etc. If you do decide you don't want to put on more muscle, at least be sure your absolute maximum weight loss is 0.05% per week, or you'll lose muscle too and risk having a "skinny fat" look, while also reducing your daily calorie maintenance levels. Losing weight too quickly is bad for this reason - it takes a lot more work to build muscle.
In all of these diet modes, your protein intake should also be tracked. Protein helps build satiety (important for cutting) but is also shown to reduce the amount of muscle lost in a cut/help to build more muscle at maintenance and in bulking.
My honest recommendation as someone who has been really delighted by my physical changes in the last year: start at maintenance, try to increase your strength training (see a trainer if you're not sure about a good all-around regimen) and protein intake (there's macro calculators that will tell you what to aim for). Once you're in a good habit and see some progress, decide if you want to put on more muscle or cut first. Don't do a cut for longer than 8 weeks at a time.
(You also don't *have* to do weightlifting - you could do other sports and be active and see some aesthetic changes! But nothing in my history of high cardio/medium strength sports has had as much of a change to my build as dedicated weightlifting.)
3DS Friend Code: 0216-0898-6512
Switch Friend Code: SW-7437-1538-7786
Health and fitness adjacent rant: Decathlon seems to have things sized in European sizes, whereas I am apparently North American sized. I fit comfortably into large sized North American shirts and jackets; I could barely put on some large sized clothes I bought from Decathlon last night. And the running pants were right out. I couldn’t get my leg down the pant leg, my calves were just too big. Grumble, grumble, whine, complain.
On the bright side for running, it’s finally cooling off outside. Last night was a rainy 5°, and I meant to go 5k, but it was so nice out that I went 13k. It’s terrible weather for walking, but my runs are going to be pretty sweet until the snow and freezing rain start to arrive.
This time you need is not just for exercising but for ancillary activities like meal prep, logging and reviewing calories or workouts, and other buffers like transportation, clothes, and hygiene you need to at least initially put in to accommodate this different lifestyle. You may even need extra sleep. You will get more efficient over time, but if you try to do too much initially, you will overbudget your time and energy, which risks failure.
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
Thing is cutting my calorie goal lower seems impossible every time I try it as I just don't have much energy to focus on the logging and prepping meals, and I often crash and burn ending up hitting a day where I eat pretty much everything in my home because I just get so painfully hungry.
Before when I've had success it's been both eating habits and exercise at the same time, the main barrier to that for me right now is I'm so out of shape that even walking around my little apartment can be pretty hard some days and I just don't know anything else that I'll have an easy time sticking too besides walking because I really don't enjoy exercise that I can't really zone out for, it makes it all the more agonizing having to really focus to keep my balance and breathing like with yoga, or just makes me too sweaty to wear headphones like any kind of bodyweight strength stuff. Plus the effect of number go up just isn't there for me the same way, so it's hard to stay motivated.
Chronometer I see thrown around a lot in my lifting Discord as a free option that is also nice for if you simply want to track macros; I personally am getting a lot out of MacroFactor but it's paid
Working out basically just reduces the size of the gap you need to cut to lose a certain number of pounds a week (e.g. you can do very little exercise and cut approx 500 calories a day (though this is an average and not the same for everyone), or you could go for a 250 calorie walk and cut 250 calories, and probably lose the same amount of weight). Important to be cautious with this to not land on some disordered thinking of working out being directly correlated with eating more/creating an unhealthy focus on exercise, mind (this is one big issue with Noom for example).
Exercise helps with keeping you on target for food goals by introducing healthy habits, reducing muscle loss as you cut calories, heart health and cardiovascular health, reduces depression symptoms, etc.
Have you considered swimming? It's much more low impact and easier on the joints. You might be more comfortable with that if you're experiencing pain with other exercise.
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Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
This is going to vary person to person depending on tastes.
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There's some generic stuff like protein and fiber giving lasting satiety, but yeah this requires individual experimentation. However, the outcome is kind of non-intuitive: instead of what tastes the best, what makes you less likely to eat too much?
Doc: That's right, twenty five years into the future. I've always dreamed on seeing the future, looking beyond my years, seeing the progress of mankind. I'll also be able to see who wins the next twenty-five world series.
For me personally? I usually aim for 1g of protein per pound of body weight per day, 40 grams of fibre per day, at least 0.5 g of fat per pound of body weight per day. What foods I actually eat will vary a bit, though because of the high protein count protein powder and egg whites crop up a lot. And of that, the protein is the most important part for me personally, as well as making sure it’s all spread through the day to minimize crashing.
Report; I'm so tired. But slightly less tired than last time.