Weight Loss

[Rex Kickass]

So I guess I could use a little advice or something. This year, I decided to leave the ranks of the morbidly obese and just become grotesquely obese. I'm trying to lose 35 pounds by April 1. I've dropped the first 15, but have since spent 10 days, flatlined. This is starting to get frustrating. Admittedly, my diet hasn't been great, but I'm still watching what I eat generally....

 

So here's what I've done so far.

 

After doing research, I found out that with my Basal Metabolism Rate, my body weight stays constant about about 3000 calories... a little less than that now. So I cut my caloric intake down to about 2000 calories a day. I'm usually a little under that. I've cut back on fat somewhat, and am eating more balanced protein and carbs. I have also given up meat.

 

I work out 3-4 times a week. 95% cardio, and some limited stomach crunches. When it's not ridiculous cold, one of my gym sessions is replaced with a 4-7 mile hike. I've set myself a goal of 365 miles hiked this year. I'm around 20 so far, and - if I can wake up early enough tomorrow and it isn't ridiculously cold - will add 5-7 miles this weekend.

 

Anybody have any tips that might help me get my weight loss moving again?

[SoxFan1]

Make sure to drink lots and lots of water. Stay active and avoid eating past around 7 PM.

[AssHatSoxFan]

you might want to work in some strength training; by building muscle mass you may gain weight initially but helping build muscle will help you burn more calories later down the road and could push you out of the plateau

[Balta1701]

So, last year, in a period of about 6 months, I managed to drop about 30 lbs or so, which is a decent drop when you're not tipping the scales. A few of my successful items:

 

1. Eat more fruit. As far as I can tell, this has been the biggest change for me. About a year ago I flipped from having a v-8 and a nutri-grain bar for lunch to having an apple & a banana or some mixture of those sorts of fruits (whatever was on sale). I immediately began noticing that I was losing weight, without adding in any real extra activity or cutting out anything else. Just replaced some other items in my meal with fruit, and bang.

 

2. Eat less. Sounds simple enough, but it can take some getting used to. If you cut the size of meals you eat, or just don't entirely stuff yourself with each meal, or even just have an extra glass of water with each meal so your stomach fills up faster, you can make a big difference on how many calories you eat. Some degree of will power is useful also...yes, I get hungry when I have an apple at noon and have nothing but water before dinner, but tolerating the hour or two of hunger lets me cut down pretty dramatically on what i'm eating.

 

3. If you're going to have a snack, when shopping, try to pick out a slightly healthier version of whatever you're having. Try for something whole grain if you can find it. Sub in low-fat or low-calorie items. Or replace a snack or two with fruit. In fact, this works for many things...go from 2% to 1% or skim milk if you can take it, go from Rice Chex to multi-grain chex as a cereal, or whatever else you actually eat.

 

4. Up your fiber intake. Very, very few Americans get the 25-30 g of Fiber that the USDA reccommends per day. Keep a particular eye on this line when you're buying food, and if you can't get to that level, consider a supplement.

 

5. Go to China and get a horrible intestinal bug. I wouldn't reccomend trying this one...but if you're really desperate...

Edited February 10, 2007 by Balta1701

[Rex Kickass]

So, last year, in a period of about 6 months, I managed to drop about 30 lbs or so, which is a decent drop when you're not tipping the scales. A few of my successful items:

 

1. Eat more fruit. As far as I can tell, this has been the biggest change for me. About a year ago I flipped from having a v-8 and a nutri-grain bar for lunch to having an apple & a banana or some mixture of those sorts of fruits (whatever was on sale). I immediately began noticing that I was losing weight, without adding in any real extra activity or cutting out anything else. Just replaced some other items in my meal with fruit, and bang.

 

I've done this sometimes. A lot of times, after I work out - my dinner is apple slices and some peanut butter. I'm finding myself eating a lot more apples and bananas recently.

2. Eat less. Sounds simple enough, but it can take some getting used to. If you cut the size of meals you eat, or just don't entirely stuff yourself with each meal, or even just have an extra glass of water with each meal so your stomach fills up faster, you can make a big difference on how many calories you eat. Some degree of will power is useful also...yes, I get hungry when I have an apple at noon and have nothing but water before dinner, but tolerating the hour or two of hunger lets me cut down pretty dramatically on what i'm eating.

I've been less successful with that as of late, but I've been really limiting my snacks too.... Trying to keep them to 150 calories or less... and with trying to keep meals under 800 calories for my dinner, that's been good too. I think I was eating about 3000-3500 calories a day on average before the new year started.

4. Go to China and get a horrible intestinal bug. I wouldn't reccomend trying this one...but if you're really desperate...

 

I would but I'm afraid of flying.

[redandwhite]

When somebody approaches me saying that they need to lose weight, I always start by saying that resistance training is your friend. A lot of people avoid it like the plague, simply because they won't "lose" weight like they would if they simply did cardio.

 

The fact is muscle burns more calories than fat. If you're doing cardiovascular exercise on top of weight training, you're going to end up not only being in the best health you can be, but you're also going to end up looking better than you would if you didn't perform resistance training.

 

As far as your diet goes...

 

As SoxFan1 said, you should up your water intake ten fold. Perhaps it's easy for me to say because I've been interested in weight training/becoming the best athlete I can be for a long time, but I drink anywhere from 1 to 3 gallons of water per day. I recommend you drink at least a gallon, three might be a little excessive for your needs.

 

I don't agree with not eating after 7 PM though. On a normal 9-5 job, if you're going to eat dinner at 6, you would be putting your body in starvation mode for over 12 hours. That's not what you're going to want to do, whether you have the goals I have or the goals you have.

 

I'm not saying you should eat something big, but a glass of skim milk with some celery and 100% natural peanut butter would be a good option.

 

Balta also gave some good advice. Let me see here.

 

1. V8 is so high in sodium it's really one of the most overrated health foods on the market. In a similar manner, so are Nutrigrain bars. While they may offer some whole grains, it's mostly enriched wheat, which means its no better than the food colored wheat breads at your nearest Subway. Also, Nutrigrain's main source of sugar isn't the natural sugar that is offered when consuming fruit, it's all High Fructose Corn Syrup. Pretty much the one thing you want to avoid. Both of you are better off eating more fruits and vegetables, not only because they are more healthy, but because you can more of them, get more filled up, while giving your body essential vitamins that you wouldn't recieve by going with the store bought processed crap.

 

2. Naturally, somebody who is interested in losing weight should eat less food:

 

"You are what you eat"

"Calories in versus calories out"

 

However, you don't need to eat an apple at noon and then feel like you're going to die of starvation for the rest of the day. Eat less, yes. Eat right, yes. But don't kill yourself. For example, if I were trying to lose weight, I'd begin my day with a bowl Kashi Go Lean Crunch with skim milk. Then have a non-store bought chicken breast sandwhich on 100% wheat bread (make sure the bread is truly 100%. Some key things to avoid are the words "High Fructose Corn Syrup" and "Enriched" in the ingredient list. Avoid these whole wheats just as you would normal white bread) with a salad w/ non-fat dressing. Then a couple hours later I'd have that apple that Balta talked about so that I could hold my self over until dinner. For dinner I'd have some combination of lean steak/lean ground beef/lean pork/chicken breast with alot of vegetables and a carb source of either 100% whole grain bread (as discussed earlier), a sweet potato, or brown rice. Then at 9 or so, an hour or two before going to bed I'd have that celery/pb meal I mentioned at the beginning. Of course you're going to crave other things, so why not endulge a little bit and have a cheat meal every saturday or sunday, you pick a day.

 

Some other tips. When you said Peanut Butter, I'm assuming that you meant your skippy or jif or what not. Those are two of the worst things you can consume. It's high in the bad sugars I talked about, it's high in trans/saturated fats. It might take some getting used to but 100% natural peanut butter is as good as it gets as time goes on. Add that to some sugar free jelly and you've got a real nice snack as well.

 

Another thing.. if you can't quite get the grip of skim milk. Do what you are supposed to do with babies. Drink half 2% and half skim and gradually adapt your taste buds to where skim milk tastes like the normal milk you've drank all of your life.

 

I'm sure I forgot some things so I'll be sure to chime in here later.

[LosMediasBlancas]

A few tips I've heard from people who have had success.

One way to eat smaller portions is to eat really slow. I read somewhere that it takes about 15 minutes for your stomach to send the signal to the brain letting it know that it's full. Most people eat way too much food in those 15 minutes and then the signal gets to their brain and they feel REALY full beacuse they've over eaten.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and it took forever for your entree to arrive? In the meantime, you've had a soup, salad, water and bread. Don't you sometimes feel like at that point you don't even need the entree any more? That's because you've allowed enough time for your body to realize it's had enough food. You'd be surprised how little food you can get by on.

Ask for a 'to go' container before you're entree arrives. As soon as you get the entree, divide your meal in half. Most people eat as much as they can and IF anything is left, they take it home with them.

Edited February 10, 2007 by LosMediasBlancas

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Feb 10, 2007 -> 06:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A few tips I've heard from people who have had success.

One way to eat smaller portions is to eat really slow. I read somewhere that it takes about 15 minutes for your stomach to send the signal to the brain letting it know that it's full. Most people eat way too much food in those 15 minutes and then the signal gets to their brain and they feel REALY full beacuse they've over eaten.

Have you ever been to a restaurant and it took forever for your entree to arrive? In the meantime, you've had a soup, salad, water and bread. Don't you sometimes feel like at that point you don't even need the entree any more? That's because you've allowed enough time for your body to realize it's had enough food. You'd be surprised how little food you can get by on.

Ask for a 'to go' container before you're entree arrives. As soon as you get the entree, divide your meal in half. Most people eat as much as they can and IF anything is left, they take it home with them.

 

Good money saver too.

[AssHatSoxFan]

Some other tips. When you said Peanut Butter, I'm assuming that you meant your skippy or jif or what not. Those are two of the worst things you can consume. It's high in the bad sugars I talked about, it's high in trans/saturated fats. It might take some getting used to but 100% natural peanut butter is as good as it gets as time goes on. Add that to some sugar free jelly and you've got a real nice snack as well.

 

are you sure about all-natural peanut butter? most PB doesnt have trans fats and there really isnt significant difference in two as a whole that makes all-natural that much better, at least as far as I can tell, but you may know more than me

[redandwhite]

QUOTE(AssHatSoxFan @ Feb 10, 2007 -> 06:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

are you sure about all-natural peanut butter? most PB doesnt have trans fats and there really isnt significant difference in two as a whole that makes all-natural that much better, at least as far as I can tell, but you may know more than me

 

Positive.

 

All natural peanut butter, the kind that is best for you has only "peanuts, salt" listed on the ingredients. Skippy for instance uses a special oil to create the non-seperated texture that it has and also adds sugar (High Fructose Corn Syrup) to improve the taste.

 

I pretty much avoid it like the plague. Ha.. but then again outside of drinking alcohol i'm rather cautious of what I consume.

[DrunkBomber]

Lots of people have already said the basics but mainly:

 

dont eat before you go to bed, give your body some time to digest the food.

 

dont eat because youre bored which Ive seen a lot of people just eat to eat.

 

definitely weight train with your cardio, it tones up the muscle you do have

 

avoid pop, it seems harmless, I kow people who have lost a lot of weight by cutting that out

 

try doing wind sprints along with hiking. It works your heart differently and keeps your body burning calories even after youre done

[RockRaines]

Dammit RNW im sick of agreeing with you so much lately.

 

I always say protein is your friend as well, but make sure its clean protein. Egg whites and chicken are a huge part of my diet. Also cutting out high fructose corn syrup can lose you 5 lbs right away if you are a big pop drinker.

[DePloderer]

Decrease calories in + increase calories out = less weight. Simple. At the risk of sounding smug I lost 2 stone (28 pounds) while training for last years London Marathon. I'm not suggesting you go to those extreams but running is by far the best calorie burner you can do. Not in a warm gym on a soft treadmill but out in the cold, on grass preferably.

 

I am a licenced UKAthletics endurance coach, if you want me to put a program together for you, whatever your current fitness just let me know.

[Rex Kickass]

Might take you up on that... the problem is finding a program that I can stick with without a trainer. I hate running like the plague. I like hiking, I can do cardio on machines at the gym, but after 30-40 minutes, I'm bored senseless.

[Gregory Pratt]

I've gained twenty pounds in the last two months. Mainly muscle. I'm quite happy with my workout regimen.

 

Good luck to ya, Rex!

[Heads22]

I'm trying to do two really simple things. Really cut down on my pop.....either going with milk, OJ or water.....just something other than pop. Secondly, and I'm getting my roommate to do this, is just 50 situps every night before going to bed. It's just a small step, but doing it every day is the goal.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Damn, R&W is a healthy eating mofo. Lots of good stuff so far. A few very simple things (not everybody can get to the gym 5 days a week) I try to do to stay active and keep my body moving:

 

1: Stay away from esculators and elevators. Malls, banks, movie theaters typically have esculators and elevators. Just use the stairs. Every single time. It makes a big difference.

 

2: When you go out somewhere, no matter where it is, park as far away as you realistically can without getting ridiculous. People are always trying to find the closest spots to park in so their lazy asses don't have to walk. Absoutely nothing wrong with having to walk a few extra minutes.

 

3: Walking, walking and more walking. Not everybody is a runner. I get that. But everybody can walk. Instead of driving everywhere, try walking to places that are in decent walking distance (no more than 20 minutes away). For example: there's a Blockbuster video store right by my house. It only takes me about 3 or 4 minutes to get their driving. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get there walking. That's absolutely nothing. You wouldn't believe the difference walking just 40 minutes a day can have. I know it would be kind of hard to do a whole lot of walking now, due to the weather. But when the weather starts to get better, walk, walk, walk!

Edited February 11, 2007 by Jordan4life_2007

[jackie hayes]

Lots of water. No pop, oranges instead of oj. Doing normal tasks more arduously will do more than you think -- walking to lunch instead of driving, that sort of thing.

 

But, 3-3.5k calories to less than 2k is a HUGE drop. Your body's not going to ramp down gradually with a drop like that. If you want to maintain the weight loss, you need to build muscle, too. And that requires some calories (of the right type). You should not lose more than 2-3 pounds per week. Having lost 15 so far this year, that's in the high end of the range, probably too much, so you may have overdone it on the cal cutdown.

 

Cal in minus cal out will tell you a lot about weight loss, but if you don't do it wisely, you'll eventually be too tired to maintain it. Figure out the diet you'll need at your ideal weight (considering every aspect of health) and adjust gradually to that, not some shock diet designed to merely get your weight down. Do the same with exercise. Good luck.

 

2: When you go out somewhere, no matter where it is, park as far away as you realistically can without getting ridiculous. People are always trying to find the closest spots to park in so their lazy asses don't have to walk. Absoutely nothing wrong with having to walk an few extra minutes.

 

3: Walking, walking and more walking. Not everybody is a runner. I get that. But everybody can walk. Instead of driving everywhere, try walking to places that are in decent walking distance (no more than 20 minutes away). For example: there's a Blockbuster video store right by my house. It only takes me about 3 or 4 minutes to get their driving. It takes me 15-20 minutes to get there walking. That's absolutely nothing. You wouldn't believe the difference walking just 40 minutes a day can have. I know it would be kind of hard to do a whole lot of walking now, due to the weather. But when the weather starts to get better, walk, walk, walk!

Bingo.

 

On (2), it's usually not "few extra minutes", but "minute", singular. Amazing that people spend 10 min looking for a parking spot to save them 1 minute, max. Sad, really.

 

And on (3), I enjoy running, but I'm bad at it. Good walkers beat me. But in any case, if you can walk to the supermarket, do it. To the Bb, do it. To the strip joint, etc. Not as "exercise", but as a routine. It will help more than you can imagine.

[redandwhite]

Perhaps I'm not the anti-christ afterall...

[Steff]

Perhaps I'm not the anti-christ afterall...

 

 

 

Oh no.. you are.

 

DePloderer, I have some medical issues that have caused me to have to change my workout and I've been so focused on it that I have pretty much stopped everything but walking on the treadmill and I've slacked off on that a ton compared to what I used to do. I've only gained about 6 lbs over the past 2 months, but to me that's 5.5 to many. If you don't mind I may PM you for some program advice.

[Texsox]

Reality show. it's all you need.

[redandwhite]

Orange juice and all juices for that matter are overrated. They are so high in sugar that I'd really only have some if it were apart of a cheat meal or perhaps used in a mixed drink.

 

Eat apples and oranges, don't drink apple or orange juice.

[DePloderer]

Might take you up on that... the problem is finding a program that I can stick with without a trainer. I hate running like the plague. I like hiking, I can do cardio on machines at the gym, but after 30-40 minutes, I'm bored senseless.

 

Take your mp3 player with you, but instead of music; listen to an audio book, the time passes far faster.

[WilliamTell]

This is kinda related to this topic but does anyone read or subscribe to Men's Health? If so is it a good magazine to learn about nutrition and excercising or is it must about supplemental pills and etc?

[RockRaines]

This is kinda related to this topic but does anyone read or subscribe to Men's Health? If so is it a good magazine to learn about nutrition and excercising or is it must about supplemental pills and etc?

I do. i find it gives me new workouts sometimes that helps break routines, also it has great recipes (that may sound kinda gay) that really are easy for guys and are healthy.