Weight loss...

[Undomiel]

Yeah I know there was a thread on this recently but anyway.

I kinda need some advice. I want to lost some weight but really don't know where to start. I'm not exactly fat. I'm pretty thin actually but I've put on a good bit of weight lately (I haven't changed my diet though). Its gone straight to my stomach and some of my clothes don't fit anymore and its really annoying me.

I was 8 1/2 stone for ages. I could eat what I wanted and never gained a pound. But gradually I've been gaining weight and now I'm nearly 11 stone. I guess my metabolism has changed or something. My stomach is noticably chubby now and I'm kinda paranoid about it.

I gained half a stone pretty quickly when I went on the pill. I lost some of that when I went off it (I didn't go off the pill for that reason though) but I wanna go back on it again and I'm afraid I'll totally balloon out!

I don't wanna go on some crazy diet. I know too many girls that are obsessed with measuring every little thing they eat and I think its weird and unhealthy. I don't eat much chocolate or sweets. I eat a lot of fruit and yougurts for snacks instead.

I know I should excercise. But thats a problem. I grew up in the country and I used to walk loads and I still do when I'm down there. But I live in the city most of the time and I don't like going for walks here. Apart from the fact that its just miles and miles of housing estates, it stinks and the traffic is loud, there are a lot of bad areas near me so I don't like going far.

Also I like swimming but I can rarely go. There are several swimming pools near me but you have to over €200 a year for them which I can't afford. Other than that, I'm not really into sports or anything.

It also doesn't help that I'm going into the final year of my degree so I'm gonna be stuck inside studying a lot....

Help anyone?

 

[sirensiren]

I need to gain weight and whatever I do, nothing happens. My advice if you want to lose weight, is: don't eat meat, cook your meals yourself. Rice-cakes are great with some lowfat cheese on. Don't eat bread and pasta.
Eat fish, with vegetables. you'll loose weight quickly. Oh and the obvious no sodas or lemonade.

 

[Francisromantic]

drink 8 glasses of water a day, it's amazing how much that helps. I have lost 50 + lbs the last 8 months, mainly by:
1. More fruits and vegetables
2. Less fatty foods (no fried, less red meat)
3. 5 small meals a day, or 3 small, with two snacks (afternoon and evening)
4. Smaller portions, use 100 calorie snack packs
5. find things that satisfy your sweet tooth (if you have one) that are "legal"-- cool whip on bananas or fat-free pudding
-coconut coffee creamer on low fat ice cream is really rich and good
- dark chocolate in moderation is good
6. Watch out for hidden fat and calories-- eating a salad is good, but a salad with cheese, bacon, and most dressings is bad; avoid most cheeses, mayonnaise, fast foods
7. Read labels and count your calories and fat--stay under 2000 calories a day and under 35 fat grams and the weight will go away
8. Exercise-- don't make excuses, don't hesitate, as Nike says, Just Do it-- find something you can do and do it for 30-45 minutes 4 times a week. I started out walking 6 months ago and now run 3-4 miles/day; but any cardio is good
9. Get a partner to be accountable with-- I have had bets with mates, and my life partner is also losing weight, so it helps a lot to have support

 

[SweetErika]

How about exercising inside, at home?

Switch your study/computer chair to an exercise ball; you'll engage muscles that you wouldn't normally, and you can bounce or roll back and forth a bit to work your leg muscles constantly, thus strengthening and burning calories. Simple, fun, and cheap.

You can do crunches and a variety of exercises on that same ball, as well. Schedule it into your day. Even 10 minute periods of using major muscle groups and getting your heart rate up have been shown to be effective for weight loss, so maybe you could do 10 minutes every hour you study, or similar. Taking that break will be good for your studies, too.

Likewise, get some freeweights and/or resistance bands to use with and without your ball. I rest my back/neck on the ball and do butterflies and chest presses with 10lb. free weights because it engages my leg and abdominal muscles as well, thereby making the most of that part of my workout. I also have an over-the-door pulley thingy that uses resistence bands for arm, chest, ab, and some leg work. It was cheap ($30 IIRC), doesn't take up space, I can do it while I watch TV, and it's been effective for building muscle and getting my heartrate up.

Something like that in combination with a healthy diet should help you take the weight off relatively painlessly.

 

[Undomiel]

2. Less fatty foods (no fried, less red meat)

7. Read labels and count your calories and fat--stay under 2000 calories a day and under 35 fat grams and the weight will go away

Well I never eat fried food anyway cause it makes me sick. I use a George Foreman a lot. I do eat a lot of meat though. About twice a day anyway. I wouldn't really have considered meat very bad?

And how exactly does the whole callorie thing work?

SweetErika, maybe I sound stupid here, but what exactly is an excercise ball?

 

[SweetErika]

Well, they go by a lot of names. You might see them as Swiss Balls or Fitness Balls. There's a load of info out there, but here's an image and some links. They're not spendy (I got a big one, including a pump and chart for $10 - the better quality balls are around $25, but mine's been great), and fun to just sit and bounce on (I'm not big on exercising just for the sake of it, so this is something I can have fun with and not really think about).
http://www.advantagehealthandfitness.com/images/balls/ExerciseBall.jpg

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00046
http://www.google.com/search?q=exer...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
http://www.sissel-online.com/ball_main.php

 

[charpentier]

I just cut out my midday meal, lost 2 stone..........

 

[Jo_Huntz]

The first thing I did was to start cycling to work [12 miles round trip]. At the time I couldn’t stand the idea of exercising just because I needed to. It wasn’t fun, it made me feel bad about myself and it takes time to see any results.

Thankfully, there were other reasons for me to cycle, I saved £52 per month by not taking the bus and I got more control over my schedule. I lost weight rapidly and thanks to the fitness I built up from that I felt more confident and I later joined the gym. I actually enjoy exercising now and go to the gym twice a week.

So my suggestion is to find something you can do as part of your every-day life that you wouldn't be able to avoid and has other benefits besides just getting fit.

My partner and I don't have a car so we cycle to get our groceries and anything else we need too. If you do drive anywhere, try to see alternative ways of getting there. Instead of walking to the nearest bus stop, go for the one beyond that.

 

[lil_squirter]

Silly quick question, you are off the pill...are you sure you aren't pregnant?

 

[Undomiel]

Yeah I'm sure. I won't let my boyfriend near me. I should be able to get it again in a few weeks though.

 

[rydia57]

Hey, don't cut out any meals! I mean eat your three meals a day, or six small ones. If you cut down to two or one meals, your body will horde fat. It'll be harder for you to lose it cos it will be in "starvation mode". That was the first thing I had to do in order to lose weight my two cents...

 

[Undomiel]

Oh no I wouldn't cut out meals. I wanna be healthy here!

Whats the craic with diet fizzy drinks? I heard that they're bad for you because of all the chemicals they put into them to reduce the sugar and fat.

 

[PowerLifter84]

Like others have said, don't cut out your meals. By decreasing your meals, you decrease your metabolism. By eating more meals throughout the day that are SMALLER, your body will consume the calories that it needs at that time and since the meal is small, there will be no fat to be stored. By eating more meals throughout the day, you help increase your metabolism.

Cardiovascular workouts are AWESOME and work the most important muscle of all -- the heart. By doing cardio, your body will expend calories and increase your resting metabolic rate (the rate that your body breaks down calories during rest). Weight training is another must since the more muscle mass you have, the more calories that will be used up during the day. Don't worry and think that you'll be 'big and buff' like the fitness girls you see flexing on TV; you do not have the hormone levels to look like them.

I'm not a big diet guru when it comes to losing weight since I'm trying to gain weight but here are a few tips:

1.) DON'T drink pop. Only drink water and green tea extract. Green tea is a thermogenic and if you get the regular green tea, it will be loaded with flouride and flouride is a carcinogen. Only buy the extract.
2.) Stay away from diary.
3.) Keep your carbohydrate and fat meals SEPERATE. By combining the two, the insulin effect from eating carbs will send the fat straight into the cell to form triglycerides and will increase body fat.
4.) The only times that you really need carbohydrates are breakfast, post workout and after your post workout meal. After you workout, your body will go into a catabolic state and pull amino acids from within your muscle and convert it to glucose (sugar/carbohydrate). To keep this from happening, take in about 20-25g of sugar, along with 20-25g of protein. Let me add to this: Only take in the sugar if the workout was INTENSE. If it was at a moderate pace (ie. you aren't sweating and could do it for another 45-minutes to an hour), do not take in the sugar but only the protein.
5.) Fats are good but make sure they're the unsaturated fats. I drink a lot of extra virgin olive oil every day but I doubt you want to do that since it's not all that great tasting.

Hopefully this will help.

The weight didn't add itself over night so don't expect it to leave over night, either. Keep exercising, watch what you eat and you will notice a difference within a few weeks to a month. If you keep at it, within 6 months, you'll notice a big difference and feel MUCH better!

Good luck.

 

[TBKahuna123]

To keep this from happening, take in about 20-25g of sugar, along with 20-25g of protein.

Ha!!! I knew I was right on point with my post-hockey game meal of beer and hot wings!!! Hey Powerlifter, let's write a book! We'll call it the Bar Food Diet!

Seriously now, Undomiel, Whatever you do don't give up. Loosing weight is a constant battle, esepcially for those of us who are genetically predisposed to be on the larger size. I hear what you are saying aobut how hard exercise is, but it really is the key. You can starve yourself and still not lose weight because your metabolism will just shut down. Exercise gets your body burning those excess calories, so with out it your body can't efficiently lose that excess fat.

I constantly struggle with this and here are a few things I've learned that are keys for me:

1.) Exercise. If you ahve trouble finding some place to work out or walk, consider picking up a cheap treadmill, a video of pilates or the like, or even just do some sit ups and stretches each day. Just 20-30 minutes a day will help get your metabolism going.

2.) Set a realistic goal. I for example would love to be 180, but it's not going to happen. Hitting 200 though, is a realistic goal for me, so that's what I've set. I dont' look at it like I have to lose 30 pounds though, I look t it like I want to lose 10. Then I'll set a goal to lose antoher ten. Once I hit that weight, I reset my goals to maintain that weight.

3.) Don't constantly weigh yourself. You weight will fluctuate, so don't get hung up on it. It will jsut frustrate you.

4.) The key is changing habits, so do one at a time. I started by breaking the habit of eating out and eating fast food all the time. Now I'm working on eating healthier. If you try to make too many lifestyle changes at once, you will go into culture shock.

5.) Concentrate less on how much you weigh and more on how you feel. You may not be shedding pounds left and right, but just feeling healthier is also a benefit and a gain. Don't discount that.

I wish you luck in your efforts, because I know how hard it is. Just hang in there and realize that you can do it if you want to, but it won't happen overnight.

 

[PowerLifter84]

LOL, Hot wings contain fat so it's not all that great.

I can use some money so if you want to write a book, let me know. Maybe we can try to find some connections and put it on the bestseller? LOL

 

[lil_squirter]

Some good advice from some points of view here but there is also one key thing to remember.Not every body functions the same. What works for one person might not for another. Some people swear by Atkins while others nearly had heartattcks from it.

If you can, see you doctor, talk it over with a health professional and/or nutritionist who can look at you from a scientific stand point. Also look into your bodies recent changes, has anythign else happened? Even tiny things like a couple of hairs on your face, tenderness and swelling, headaches...small symptoms can be key in catching some things early. So be safe, be healthy and be happy!

 

[Undomiel]

Thanks for all the advice people.

 

[phoenix1224]

One trick many experts will tell you to try is to drink a whole glass of water BEFORE you eat... It will cause you to become full much quicker than if you just sit down and begin eating.