Losing weight -Tips..50 lbs in 16 weeks - Doable?
Basically, over the past 12 months, I have severely sprained my ankle twice and its meant I've been sitting around on my ass a lot. I've gained a fair amount of weight so needed help shedding it as soon as possible. I've put on about 25kg in the year. I'm desperate to get rid of it as soon as possible, ideally before I go back to grad school in September.
So what would you recommend? I'm joining up my local gym again, and ideally need help with:
Diet
Gym routines/etiquette
losing weight around waist (ballooned quite a bit)
building stamina as I get winded quite quickly now while playing basketball (how I sprained my ankle in the first place). Any help would be huge.
Go.
There's no such thing as targeted weight loss. Just burn more calories than you take in and you'll slim down. Figure out your resting metabolic rate, and eat at about 500 calories a day less than that. Do cardio as much as you can until you get closer to your goal weight. Nothing wrong with doing it 5 days a week. It doesn't kill gains, and you won't have to worry about that until you're thinking about bulking up (with muscle). Lift 3 days a week. Eat healthily and often so you're not starving throughout the day.
The most important thing is to make it tenable. If you go hardcore on day one, you'll probably be done by week 2 and that won't help you. Slowly make positive changes and your body will reflect your efforts. Why the emphasis on 4 months?
Generally 2lbs a week is a healthy amount to aim for and keep up.
Thanks for the help. No real emphasis, I thought it gives me a good window to actually make a difference. Ideally, I would like it to be quicker as I hope to start a new job soon.
Isnt 500 calories a day too little to actually prevent me from starving? At the moment, I easily consume about 2,000. As I'm gonna be a newbie at the gym again, any tips for good cardio workouts?
do this: 1 bowl whole grain cereal + banana for breakfast at 8 am. handful of grapes at 10:00am Lunch at 11:30- eat another banana, an apple, green pepper slices, a bowl of mixed veggies, a cup of light soup. 2:00-another handful of grapes P90x when you get home. Stay off the plyos and legs b/c of injury. 2 more bananas for dinner.
+1. Can't speak for the diet but P90x is very effective.
this diet sucks. 4 bananas is a shit load of carbs. you are much better off eating brown rice and some lean meat for dinner rather than 2 bananas. id stick to one banana and an apple, eat slow digesting cars (brown rice, whole wheat, bran, sweet potato, etc) and a lean meat.
yeah 4 bananas is over doing it. After p90x hit some slow-digesting carbs and a potent protein shake.
This is what I've bee doing throughout my analyst stint and I'm ripped as fuck.
Grapes? I hope you're kidding.
HAHA just realized that.
I'm going to assume that your ankle is better and if so...here's my story.
Was an athlete in college until Senior year, at which point I gained 40 lbs. I managed to lose 30 lbs in a few months after graduating, and have kept the weight off since. Look up "the Abs Diet" by Men's Health. It's a fantastic read that has amazing workouts. Switch from lifting to doing circuits, and eat healthier (the book has a great nutrition section), and you should be good to go!
I also find that drinking a ton of water helps stave off passing hunger pangs. Used to drink a gallon a day between meals to help defeat the urge to snack on empty carbs.
Do some strength training too. It'll burn calories during the workout and after it's finished as well.
From an eating stand point, try to change up your habits. Pay attention to portion control, especially when eating out/ordering in. Stop eating when you are full, even if there is still food on the plate - this one can be easier said than done, as most of us habitually want to finish what's in front of us/what we paid for.
I've followed my own diet rather than the P90x one, just eating healthier and stuff, but I definatley recommend P90x workouts. Thought it was a gimmick but I think ive started to see real results a month in
If you're going for absolute speed, the fastest way would be to do a PSMF (protein sparing modified fast) with 3x a week of heavy lifting and LISS (low intensity steady state exercise on off days - eg. walking).
Read this for more (and read the rest of Lyle's articles) http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-rapid-fat-loss-handbook
Basic premise is, eat 1.2- 1.5g/lb bodyweight of lean protein. Fill the rest with vegetables. Lift heavy weights. It basically works out to something like 1200 calories a day.
You'll lose weight super fast and maintain most of your muscle mass because of the protein and weights, but it's going to be absolutely miserable.
A less miserable way of doing it (that is sustainable in the long run) is doing intermittent fasting. Different ways of doing it such as 8 hr feeding windows (basically skip breakfast), alternate day fasting (skip days.. ug.. could not do that).
Couple that with a good gym program (I'd recommend starting strength or stronglifts) and you'll be good to go.
wadtk's diet is junk. You will lose weight, but not the right kind of weight. You need more protein or you will lose lean mass during your diet.
Btw,
You know WSO just isn't what it used to be when a thread about losing weight gets faster replies than ones about recruiting, networking and actually working in high finance...
@seedy underbelly, people need something to break the monotony of "I didn't get any BB interviews, am I fucked?" questions.
And I'm pretty sure that diet was a troll, I'm a slim/athletic 5'2" girl and I'd starve/go crazy on that.
The workout consistently/eat healthy/sleep enough thing is the best method that will last you in the long run. Get a trainer at a gym for a few weeks to start you off on a good routine (and then do it on your own bc it's a waste of money once you learn it). Work on running/long distance and interval training. That's really the best way to lose weight in addition to just lifting, as long as you're eating healthy (for that: see a nutritionist or ask someone else who looks fit at the gym, or your trainer). Also, real food tastes infinitely better than protein shakes and is probably cheaper. Avoid supplements.
Go on...
My friend lost 50lbs over a few months by doing this:
you will drop a health 2 lbs every week. Good luck.
Less than 1000 a day is pushing it for the majority of people. It takes some serious discipline and commitment. It truly is a lifestyle change. -Stick to fish, chicken, lean meant, bison, turkey, ham for entrees -Oatmeal in the mornings-just plain, nothing added or it just dilutes the nutritional advantages -water, and only water. no soda or fruit juices. perhaps some crystal light added but go easy -cardio/weights as many days as you can 4-7days per week is good -stop drinking -make it fun, do swimming, basketball, get out and do sprints on the track, tennis, biking, start walking whenever you can -get a phone app to help to you keep track of all this so you can quantify your progress on a minute-b-minute basis -don't eat out. its never a good idea, and there are no healthy places to eat out at -learn to love to cook, experiment, enjoy
Well, the OP asked how to lose a large sum of weight over a small period of time...not an easy task.
EC Stack.
Bronkaid. Yum.
Why post this on WSO?
Saw previous posts and it got a lot of great feedback so thought mine (specific cases) might get the same.
Crossfit + Paleo diet + 8 or more hours of sleep per night. That will be huge help
Anymore tips? Specific to gym routines and diets? And how to lose weight around my gut? I can see manboobs in my future if I carry on this way!
Could someone explain the Paleo and P90X diets?
Cut the junk food, cut ALL grains (excessive, unnecessary source of carbs and anti-nutrients). Eat hearty protein and fat-filled meals. You can drop 2+ pounds per week. The math doesn't add up as far as using exercise to create a calorie deficit. You'll just feel starved if you even achieve this. Note--I'm not suggesting indefinite ketogenic diet, but if you go very low carb for a period, you will jumpstart weight loss. 100-150g of carbs for maintenance weight should do it. You need nourishment to trigger satiety and proper hormonal/body composition, and this is achieved by switching off your "fat sensor", the leptin hormone--by eating fat and the accompanying nutrients. This is a gross over-simplification, but the data, studies, books, info are out there. Don't follow conventional wisdom on this, it has not worked for the masses, now, has it?
That's because keto diets are insanely difficult to follow.
sounds like atkins...I don't know about you guys but I feel lethargic as hell on low carb/high fat diets.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis
-Eat Cereal, PBJs and ramen noodles. -Run 5 times a week, averaging at least 5 miles. Do it on a long hill, pushing harder while going uphill. Sprint uphill on your toes a few times. -Do some pushups/squats at least twice a week so your muscles don't atrophy excessively. You could probably do it in 4 months this way.
Just go to mexico and buy a tape worm..they're about 1200 pesos...after a month, take some medicine and itll pass
I think key for me is to build up stamina. I used to play a lot of basketball with my frat bros but now I just tend to collapse 10 minutes in.
The weight around my stomach is worrying me and affecting other activities too.
Anyone with anymore thoughts? I've started a gym routine. I hit cardio and weights mostly at the moment, but I struggle with endurance at the moment. My back starts to hurt and I am struggling to catch my breath.
Again like I said, key for me is to build up stamina. How could I do that?
Also, what are the best things for me to do to lose this beer gut? Its killing me and my game.
I might also take up running. First time though. Tips?
Only way to lose the beer gut is to keep exercising...you can't choose a place to lose fat from (minus liposuction which is never a good idea haha) so you just have to keep working out and watch what you eat.
Best way to do it quickly is just do a lot of intense cardio. If you take up running, start slow and increase your effort. Make sure you learn stretches, especially for your calves (shin splints are a bitch).
Key for building up stamina (through running and other forms of exercise): mix of intervals and longer distances over separate days. Example: Do a day of 30 minutes of 1 min: run as hard as you can - 1 min: walk. Next day, set a distance for you to run (depends on your current ability) - like 3 miles--jog as long as you can, and if you have to stop, stop and walk for a minute, and as soon as you can, start running again. It's kind of like intervals when you don't have a lot of endurance. But you have to make sure you push yourself a little longer every week before taking a break. >>you can also do this on things like the elliptical and bike, but I've found you tend to work yourself harder if you're actually running.
Also if your back starts to hurt, it means you need to build up your back muscles (people generally focus too much on abs...) - look up some good exercises for your back (both body weight, and things like dead lifts, but be careful with those)--if you have time, I highly recommend vinyasa/power yoga at least once a week. Plenty of guys do it too, and it will definitely help you build up your back (and work everything else).
Thanks John Basedow!
Haha I had to google that...never heard of him before.
My second life after making money in finance will be yoga/fitness teacher/trainer/thing haha
I've heard breast feeding makes you lose weight FAST!
Absolutely doable. Eat less and exercise more. Recommend cycling and jogging 1 hour per day.
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Losing weight - efficient and fast way to do it? (Originally Posted: 04/09/2013)
So I'm in a struggle right now. I've put on a lot of weight of late (easy 110kg) and I'm desperate to lose it for the summer. Obviously I will join a gym once I have sorted out my job situation.
However, I want to lose this excess weight quickly and was wondering what if anything, is the most efficient and quickest way to do it.
Ideally need help with:
Diet Gym routines/etiquette losing weight around waist (ballooned quite a bit) building stamina as I get winded quite quickly
anything else you have to suggest. Any help would be much appreciated.
Watch "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" on Netflix and you'll have your answer. Fastest way possible to safely lose weight.
i did this and before my juicer burned out i dropped damn near 30 lbs in 25 days!
A few tips on the diet front which I have found to be effective:
Absolutely drink nothing except water and black coffee. No adding sugar/cream with coffee. No more empty calories from liquids. This means you have to stop drinking beer/whiskey. Weight loss does not come without sacrifices. (Also drink a lot of water)
Set fixed times for eating, and fixed items to eat during those times. This can get really boring really soon, but you need to do it.
Always go for the marginal improvements. Used to get a foot long sandwich at Subway? Now get a 6-inch one without any cheese or dressings? Used to eat two slices of pizza? Always eat just one from now on. Just keep on making those minor changes.
Eat more lean protein in place of carbs. (Absolutely do not eat white carbs such as white rice or white bread)
Do not do anything else when you are eating. Concentrate on your eating, not on anything else. This way you are less likely to feel hungry soon.
If you feel hungry, drink a glass of water before you eat anything. (The human brain often confuses thirst with hunger)
Eat healthier snacks. Replace red meat with poultry.
Obviously work out (absolutely need to do cardio) and have one cheat day/week to preserve your sanity.
Edit: I am struggling with weight myself, but these are some steps I have taken.
There's some pretty good info from this post. I'll chime in myself.
When it comes to working out, there's going to be a lot of people that tell you X program is the best. What I've found is the best program is the one that is fun and will keep you committed for long-term. There's no sense in spending 2 hours in a gym for 2 months to be completely burned out and quit going. My answer was I started to box. I hated lifting weights day in and day out and jumping on a cardio machine afterwards. I started boxing and loved every second of it. The important thing is that you do the exercises properly, and that you enjoy it. Just keep your heart rate up as high as possible regardless of what you choose to do. I like to jump rope or do box jumps in between sets just to make sure my heart rate stays higher.
For me with boxing, I lift once or twice a week, but my goal isn't to get huge. I wanted to drop weight and add a little bit of strength. To sum it up, "I want to look good naked." That's really all I care about. Accept the fact right now that you're not going to drop a ton of weight and get way stronger at the same time. Initially you will see weight come off and strength increase, but you'll hit a point where you'll continue to drop weight, but you will see very minimal improvements on strength. Simply put, when losing weight you burn more than you take in, and to build strength you need more food intake.
The most important part of losing weight is your diet. Someone mentioned making their meals for the week all at once and that's what I do. Eating is meant for survival, not for pleasure. The food will get boring and bland, but just suck it up and do. I suggest getting an app that counts calories and using it for a few weeks. Eventually you'll get to where you know how much everything is and you can keep up with it in your head. A good starting point is to multiply your body weight by 13 to get your estimate maintenance intake. I weigh 195 lbs so I can consume roughly 2500 calories a day and maintain the weight I'm at. Aim for 200-300 calories below your maintenance intake and you will drop weight. It takes 3500 calories burned to lose a pound.
Here's what I eat on a typical day to give you an idea:
Breakfast: 1/2 cup of oatmeal w/ cinnamon, splenda, and a small spoon of peanut butter (I can't handle oatmeal without the extras but if you can even better).
Snack: usually a handful of almonds
Lunch: grilled piece of chicken and broccoli or a sweet potato
Snack: banana/apple
Snack: protein bar
Dinner: grilled piece of chicken/salmon/tuna with either broccoli or a sweet potato. I liked to eat a little bit of oikos greek yogurt too to fill the sweet craving.
Pretty bland diet, but it does the job. As someone previously mentioned, don't forget to cheat! It's important that you have a meal or two a week where you eat "bad" food. Too many people go balls to the wall for a couple months and burn out.
This is all I can think of right now, but if you have questions you can pm me or reply here. There's some others in this thread that have already posted some great information. Best of luck and just stay consistent.
I downloaded p90x because of all the good things I heard about it. Was definately not a gimic, I did it for the 3 months along with a pretty half assed diet and lost like 25 pounds (220-190 or so) . Since then I've been going to the gym since you do tire of the routines after 8 or so months. Down to 180
Great comments by mongoose. I just would like to add:
First off, I lost 30 pounds in my last semester of college anticipating the wieght gain from the lifestyle of a consultant (and I was always too embarrassed to do those "nearly naked run" activitie swhich was one of my biggest regrets in college).
1) I pre-package my meals for the week in ziplock baggies and bring that every day. That way I would know exactly what my nutritional and caloric intake was. HOWEVER, the best part was that this was a "lazy" diet whereby it was more convenient than fast food.
2) I always got food that didn't require cooking. Celery, lettuce, carrots, apples, bananas, and hardboiled eggs (that I bought). Time efficiency and laziness.
3) To spice up my food I used hot sauce and pepper. Of all the condiments those are 2 of the nutritional-acceptable ones.
4) I spiced things up a bit by buying food on sale at the grocery every week. So one week Yogurt is on sale, the next week it was oranges. I would always get excited when I saw Rotisserie Chicken on sale (still not super healthy, but you deal).
5) Cheat meal once a week to prevent your metabolism from going down. Not some 3000 calorie meal, but get some pizza once a week as a reward.
Eating after awhile just becomes boring, and allows you to focus on more important stuff. It's not that difficult if you have the right mentality and discipline. Hey I lost 30 pounds in 6 months right? Pretty decent rate. Now I weight lift so obviously I eat more now, but still look fairly healthy. You can do it. :)
BONUS TIP: Make lots of bets. I made weight loss bets with girls that for every pound they loss I had to lose 2 (which is weighted against me and how I got girls to agree to it). Got me a lot of payoffs once I won ;) heheh.
Gym bro here (10% bf)--there is only one thing you need to know to lose weight: Eat less calories than your maintenance. Your diet can be 100% Oreo's all day every day and you can shed pounds. Sure that wouldn't be healthy, but as long as you're in a caloric deficit you will lose weight.
I was waiting to see how much bullshit the OP would have to see before someone broke it down as simply as cals in
This is what I do when I need to lose weight: eat 30%-40% less than usual amount for a week, which does really suck, and during that time I drink tons of water to help with the hunger pains. Soon though, your body gets used to eating less and you don’t get as hungry nor do you need to eat as much, and it is easier to stick to the diet and lose weight steadily (no idea what the physiological reason is for this). I actually avoid working out (not that I would anyways) because that always makes me very hungry. Simple caloric restriction is the name of the game, in my opinion, but I realize the no working out thing goes against the grain.
Increase your fiber intake and other foods that fill you up. Also, be smart about what you eat. For example, you can crush a pound of chicken a day, which will fill you up, and it will only be about 450 calories. You can also eat 1 chocolate chip cookie from Starbucks and be at the same 450 calories except minimal satiation.
The short version? Consume less calories than you body uses. It doesn't matter what diet plan you use. Exercise tightens shit up and builds muscle, but it has a lot less of an effect on losing weight than proper diet.
Paleo diet (keto or other derivatives will work well too):
http://thepaleodiet.com/
5x5 lifting routine:
http://stronglifts.com/madcow/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm
Start "Couch to 5-k" app on smartphone, alternate days with lifting and keep a rest day. Here are more advanced options (I'm doing half marathon training currently):
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/
Track it all here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
If you follow this you will lose 7-15 lbs the first month and gain substantial strength/stamina.
For cardio, I recommend listening to Flux Pavillion or Skrillex on Pandora and getting the A State of Trance podcast, but that's def personal preference.
I don't want to get into this too far, OP, but watch this before you listen to the calories in vs calories out is all that matters crowd (because that is bullshit):
[quote=RiskyBizness] I don't want to get into this too far, OP, but watch this before you listen to the calories in vs calories out is all that matters crowd (because that is bullshit):
]
You cant open up the can of worms and then say you dont wanna get into it...
How is it bullshit? Its the fucking laws of thermodynamics. Idk why people insist on complicating shit.
[quote=RiskyBizness]Paleo diet (keto or other derivatives will work well too):
http://thepaleodiet.com/
5x5 lifting routine:
http://stronglifts.com/madcow/5x5_Program/Linear_5x5.htm
Start "Couch to 5-k" app on smartphone, alternate days with lifting and keep a rest day. Here are more advanced options (I'm doing half marathon training currently):
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/
Track it all here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
If you follow this you will lose 7-15 lbs the first month and gain substantial strength/stamina.
For cardio, I recommend listening to Flux Pavillion or Skrillex on Pandora and getting the A State of Trance podcast, but that's def personal preference.
I don't want to get into this too far, OP, but watch this before you listen to the calories in vs calories out is all that matters crowd (because that is bullshit):
]
re paleo diet: Marlene Zuk’s Paleofantasy book: Diets and exercise based on ancient humans are a bad idea. http://mobile.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2013/…
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WG6Jg17Ouus
vegetable juice fast if you don't have time to workout
My brother used weight watchers, yes I know it might seem somewhat effeminate, but he lost 40 lbs easily and looks great. Everything can be converted to their points, and it seems pretty brainless. It's really just a matter of reducing your intake.
Stay away from diet soda and minimize artificial sweeteners. Diet soda has been documented to increase cortisol levels in your body, which is directly correlated to fat around your mid section. Artificial sweeteners make you crave more sweets. Eliminate white flour products, but I don't find it necessary to eliminate carbs all together.
Cardio is essential (mix of high and low impact) but so is weight training. Don't forgo lifting to only do cardio. To build your stamina, try a combination of walking and running ( e.g. 5min run, 10 walk x 3) and change up the incline.
From a general strategy viewpoint, the first step is to track what you eat. "What gets measured gets managed" and if you are going to make any consistent change to your diet or workout schedule, then tracking what you eat and how much you burn is critical. So download an app like myfitnesspal and start tracking how many calories you eat per day, and how much protein you eat per day.
Aim for the following once you have started tracking how much you eat.
depending on how quickly you want to lose weight, and your stress levels, set a caloric deficit of 500 - 750 calories per day. That will keep you on track to lose 1~1.5lbs per week.
within that calorie allowance, make sure you eat 0.75 to 1g of protein per pound everyday (or if you have a good idea of how much lean body mass you have, 1g per pound of lean body mass) - protein preserves muscle mass and keeps you feeling full.
Aim for at least 25 grams of fiber per day
IIFYM (if it fits your macros) you're free to eat whatever you want as long as you get your protein, but "healthier foods" generally keep you from feeling hungry (which is one of the reasons why Paleo works) at a lower "caloric cost".
lift weights making sure you hit the three majors twice a week - bench (incline is fine if your shoulders are weak) / squat / deadlift. Starting Strength is a good program, but the regular 5x5 works fine.
do cardio if you feel like eating a little more, or to "bank" some calories if you know you'll be eating more due to a social event, or if you just feel like keeping your heart healthy. It's not as important for weightloss as long as you maintain a caloric deficit.
This won't seem very fast, but compared to the "diet like crazy 3 weeks, binge as your willpower crumbles and your work suffers, and then give up" cycle that most people go through, you'll see some real changes and it's relatively painless.
Wow, lots of good stuff on this post. Here's some stuff I also do (or try to do):
Drink water, lots of it, and give up every other liquid except coffee for a while. Cut back on that as well.
GET UP AND GO TO THE GYM IN THE MORNING. Muscle burns fat. Build muscle. Verrrrry simple logic. Even if you go in and just do pullups/situps/crunches for 15 minutes. You'll HATE IT for the first week. After that, it feels normal. Day comes when you can't wait to get there and burn baby BURRRRRN, you'll NEED IT.
Eat breakfast. Eat a REAL breakfast. It actually IS the most important meal.
Eat an early lunch, before 1PM. The benefits of this are documented.
Eat granola/fruit/yogurt as snacks. Buy it in bulk and just do it. You can eat like a pig, guilt free. This is what nature built you to do. Don't mess with nature, you'll ALWAYS LOSE. Have some pringles or whatever on the weekend.
Eat good food. It takes the same amount of time to order/make a turkey sandwich as it does a greasy burger
Sleep more. Turn off the TV, the video games, WSO, whatever, and get rest. And turn off the music. You don't need a soundtrack for your every waking moment, it just alters your brainwave patterns. You also might have to COMMUNICATE with people around you if you're not in your own little world. You might even meet someone. If they want to have sex with you, that burns calories.
Take a break from booze. Try something new on a Friday night. Seriously, get a life instead of being a barfly. How about this: ask a girl out. You might get lucky. Again, sex burns fat. And it's fun. Having fun while burning calories, who could ask for more?
Get a good multivitamin, I like GNC Megamen, and make sure there's lots of vitamin B. Get Sam-E, enterically coated. They boost mood, you eat less, and your body's systems work cleaner and faster if they have the building blocks they need. Accelerated systems burn more fuel. Accelerate your system. Also very simple logic.
Don't think in terms of fat. Think in terms of health. If your BMI is up or down a few points, it's irrelevant in the face of overall holistically good health. You're not a model, you're sitting at a freakin desk, you need to be healthy more than you need to abuse your body with diets and chemicals to look like some arbitrary 'model' of fitness.
Walk. Get off the subway a stop down from where you work and walk the difference in the morning. By adding a few minutes of light excercise, you boost your mood, your metabolism, and get some sunshine....sunshine also boosts mood.
QUIT SMOKING NOW. It IS a stimulant but in the long run it's like pouring mud into an engine...it totally destroys your metabolism. And it's going to kill you. Repeated for emphasis: SMOKING IS GOING TO KILL YOU. Nicotene leaves your system in 72 hours, so take a Friday off, lock yourself in your room, and just sleep. On Sunday, you are no longer a smoker. Form new habits. Do it. DO IT NOW.
This last one is my personal pet peeve: turn off the fucking sports and go play. Seriously. If it's not a big game or a BBQ, catch the highlights and get outdoors or on the court. You were built to move.
i've been on a diet the last month and have seen pretty good results, main points:
-more protein (particularly hard boiled eggs, grilled chicken, and legumes) - less carbs, no white bread / cereals / pastries / etc -snacks = handful of almonds, banana, - lots of water -more greens, mostly spinach -less dairy -very little sugar -less alcohol -i have a few cheats meals per week instead of one cheat day, makes me forget i'm even on a diet -never been a gym rat, but about ~5 days a week try to do at least something, whether a run, basketball/baseball league, goalie in soccer, something to get some cardio + have fun at the same time
Best synopsis so far. All calories are not the same; it's not "simple thermodynamics". Also, cutting out most carbs/caloric liquids cuts down a lot of the usual choices for most people, which alone could reduce calories from lack of replacements.
A couple other pointers: - General guideline: aim for 1g protein/lb bodyweight (don't kill yourself over this, ballpark it) - Decide if you want to focus more on hardcore workouts or dieting. If you want to focus on a strict diet (maybe from time restrictions), do low volume workouts with high weights. This is a little dependent on how long you've worked out before. If you workout like an absolute monster, you can basically clean up your diet without cutting calories and still end up ripped. But given that you are asking this question, you're probably not ready for this approach.
I haven't seen anybody say anything particularly bad in this thread. Everybody has something that works for them.
Nobody else's opinion matters. Do what is working/is going to work for you.
Now, let's break it down here really quick:
1) Calories in vs calories out is very important. It is not the end-all be-all of weight loss. You will be fine eating 3 meals per day, though if you're able to do 4 or 5 that will be better. The reason I say this is, from personal experience, it's a lot easier to eat 5 small-mid sized meals per day than 3 normal sized meals without pigging out.
2) The more "healthy" food you eat, the better. Try and at least keep a 33% proteins/33% carbs/33% fats diet. Preferably higher in protein. Ideally you won't be eating McDonald's every day. Ideally you will be eating vegetables and lean meats (chicken is the shit)
3) Exercise helps. It improves your body's metabolic performance. It's not as important as diet, but if you want to lose weight quickly, as little as 1/2 hour of exercise a day that makes you work will help a lot.
4)Make sure you warm up before exercising and stretching AFTER. If you overdo it and injure yourself, you're going to be pissed.
5) Stronglifts is a version of Starting Strength. Mark Rippetoe has years of experience with weightlifting. I'd take his advice over a guy who gave it a different name and marketed the shit out of it.
6) If you do one of the above weight lifting routines, on your off day do LIGHT cardio. You don't want to stress your body too much.
7) For soreness, use ice on the affected area. For optimal healing, use ice baths. If you have to, take advil. I say that not because it's bad for you, but if you don't need medication, why use it?
8) You need sleep. 8 hours per night, no less.
9) BY FAR THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO DRINK WATER. It curbs hunger, helps your muscles heal, and improves organ function (specifically liver and kidneys, though all around it.
I like Andy's post, so I'll throw in a couple more tips here that might help you:
1) Egg whites. Instead of eating 2 eggs in the morning, eat 1 and mix it with egg whites.
2) I eat double fiber bread. Honestly, I prefer the flax seed bread but I don't get enough fiber in my diet so I suck it up.
3) Chicken is amazing. Eat it. Trust me.
4) NO SODA WHATSOFUCKINGEVER. The shit is so bad for you. Avoid high fructose corn syrup at all costs.
5) If you can stop drinking alcohol altogether, do it.
About a year or year and a half ago I lost 30-40 pounds in 2-3 months. How, when I didn't exercise at all? I stopped drinking alcohol. There went 10-15 pounds. I stopped drinking soda. There went another 10-15 pounds. I stopped eating red meat regularly. There went 5-10 pounds.
PX9000 I think that's what it is called
here's what I did
breakfast: fruits, yogurt, and nuts lunch: SPINACH salad with no dressing. Toppings: eggs, avacado, tuna, cottage cheese, nuts dinner (no workout): smaller version of lunch dinner (workout day): same as lunch but with salmon, chicken, or turkey drink: only water or tea cheat meals: 3 a week, only for weekends (so 1 for F Sa Su)
mini-workout (everyday, sometimes twice in one day): warm up + 8 minute mile + 7 minute slow jog workout: weight lifting usually an hour to burn more calories - started once a week but ended up 3 times a week fun workout: weekly or biweekly sports, dancing, or wtv.
you end up saving a lot money!!
so many noobs with so much advice...
For me personally, calories never mattered, but what I ate did. Cut down 30 pounds in 1 and a half months just by eating less/no carbs. Of course exercise for toning, but you can lose weight just by eating lots of meat and veggies. For breakfast eat eggs, sausages, bacon, whatever you want, just no bread or cereal. Also no ketchup or whatever sauce you like. Would not recommend coffee at all. Replace with green tea(healthier, gives you a caff. boost and helps you lose weight as well). I am asian, so this was extremely hard since rice/noodles were part of every meal, but I am still doing it(5 months in) and it's great.
EDIT: Drink water like everyone here suggested. Nothing else. For alcohol: Drink the harder stuff. No beer/wine.
Hope this helps.
Lots of erroneous information being presented here. WHAT you eat doesn't NECESSARILY change your weight. There is a famous story about a guy who ate nothing but junk food (twinkies, potato chips, etc) and lost tons of weight.
Weight Lost = max(Calories Burned - Calories Consumed, 0) Calories Burned = Function of (Exercise, Daily Activities)
Therefore, if you want to lose weight, all you have to do is some combination of eat less calories, exercise, and be less sedentary in your daily activities. That's it. Sounds so simple, but that's because it is. The SOURCE of calories has little to no relevance on your weight (health is a separate issue). How you consume less calories is up to you, but avoiding soda and fried foods is a good start.
FYI, I recently decided I had put on a few, and proceeded to lose 14 lbs in 6-8 weeks using this simple logic.
Workout your maintainace calories and eat 10-20% less each day. Track everything you eat with an app like my fitness pal. Lift some weights. Do some cardio. Don't worry about eating "clean" just try to get +180g of protein and around 40-70g of fat then fill in the remaining calories with carbs. Weigh every week and if you stop losing weight either drop your calories or increase cardio
Don't sweat the little things like only eating brown rice and boiled chicken just commit to making a change however small.
Everyone has their little secrets but they don't realize that they're probably eating less whenever they implement these little tips and trick...
For example, someone will say "the secret is grille chicken and egg whites!"... There's nothing magical about those foods, but if you eat that instead of the usual take out from a Chinese restaurant that's going to be fewer calories.
If you start paying attention to what you eat, odds are you're going to eat less of it. That's why everyone thinks they have their magic little diet that works because you ate a meal at a quarter past the hour every three hours and didn't eat after 8:36 pm and ate exactly 3 beans per minute.
Do what you want OP but maybe WSO isn't the best place for this kinda advice, go to the "losing fat" section of the bodybuilding.com forums.
You'll never out-exercise your mouth. That is all.
Regarding diet: 1. Drink a ton of water. I've found the easiest way to do this (without looking like a total tool) is to purchase a 1.5L of SmartWater (strictly for the container) and fill it up throughout the day. I think it looks much better than carrying around a gallon.
Eliminate sugar as much as possible.
Eat a very high protein diet.
Avoid most fatty-foods (obviously stay away from anything fried but almonds and foods with high natural fats are okay.)
Eat often throughout the day. You'll start working out probably harder than ever before so you'll need the energy, plus this is the best way to get your metabolism going.
Limit alcohol consumption to at most 1/week but should really be 1/2-3 weeks.
Regarding workout: 1. Lift weights. I could rant forever about the health benefits of this but think of it as a positive feedback loop; lift weights-->burn calories/fat & build muscle-->higher muscle content-->higher metabolism-->more calories/fat burned around the clock, etc.
I wish I could add a lot here but you already have some great tips. I lost 30+ pounds in 6 months like a previous user. Some tips are:
Eat healthier. Calorie count. Keep a spreadsheet of it. I wasn't looking to diet but I knew I was probably absorbing at least 2,500 calories/day before doing this. Try to keep it below 2,000 and if you really want to lose weight I guess 1,700. After a while you should be able to just glance and guess the number of calories. Some tips here are: Chicken, no soda, less alcohol (really bad for you actually), less fried food.
Set up a workout routine that works for you. I use a stationary bike and watch tv for 40min 5x/week. When I was learning modeling on my own I was literally watching BIWS videos while using my bike. What can I say, I like to be efficient with my time.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/UJRoyzODlhM
Agree w/ the calories in, calories out method. Just know your basic macros (how many calories each gram of protein, fat, and carbohydrates has), and stick with the 40% protein, 40% fat, 20% carb rule.
As a rule of thumb, one lb = 3500 calories, so you'll need to eat ~500 calories less per day per week to lose one pound per week.
You can only lose fat from your entire body at once (so no target area unless you get lipo.)
Try running every other day (alternate between sprints and pacing.)
Lift weights too ! You need to change up your workouts every so often so you maximize the calorie loss.
Stop drinking, eat more protein, and avoid sugar and white carbs (read lables) like the plague.
Also, losing weight is 80% diet and 20% working out. You can train as hard as you want, but if you're carb-happy, sugar-happy, and booze-happy you're not going to see results.
So after meeting with one of my good friends that I haven't seen in 2 months I noticed that he had lost considerable weight (roughly 20 lbs). In asking him what the hell he did this wa shis response:
For breakfast when I get hungry I drink coffee and continue with my work (OK so he skips breakfast, sure why not)
For lunch when i get hungry I drink coffee and continue with my work (OK.....so he also skips lunch)
Once dinner time starts rolling around I hold off until i get back to my apt (roughly 7PM) at which ponits (wait for it..........) I start eating baby carrots until I am not hungry anymore, at which point I go about the rest of the evening and head to bed. (At this point my jaw drops and I am in disbelief)
**The even more unbelievable part is that he did this for a month and a half straight...... Don't get me wrong my friend is an idiot but God dam does he look good :)
One of the best laughs i've had in a long time. Disclosure: He is an associate PM and puts in the hours....I guess carrots are enough. (No multi-vitamin either....smart choice)
This is almost as great as Steve Jobs' fruit diet.
And by great I mean stupid.
What I have learned through trial and error is the following.
1) Your attitude about food is important. If it is viewed as a fuel, you will eat what you need. Emotional? Probably way more. 2) Carbohydrates can be useful, but they are going to add weight.They are stored almost immediately and will increase appetite so you will eat well beyond what is necessary. (especially when you are under stress) 3) More saturated fat will curb appetite and will not make you fat. Why? it is metabolized differently than carbs, fills you up and you will get sick if you eat too much of it. This does not apply to junk food: see Michael Moss's new book Salt Sugar Fat 4) Wheat Belly: tried dropping the wheat for 3 weeks, allergy symptoms down 80-90%, physical performance up. weight the same, but wife has dropped 7. No other change in diet, and we eat higher fat. I would drop wheat. 5) Alcohol is worth 10 lbs for most people. Lots of sugar 6) All carbohydrates are in one form or another, a sugar. Sugar plus insulin = fatter 7) Lots of fat people on tread mills get fatter. Why? Eating healthy (whole grains, low fat etc) You add fat by telling your body to store more fat by eating carbohydrates and by teaching your body to run on them. 8) You want to drop fat, teach your body to run on it. That means substituting fat for carbohydrates that are removed. You don't need to count calories. 9) Regular meals: 3 times is fine. You don't need to eat 20 times a day. I have 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast and last for hours without need for a meal. I'm 6'2" 230 and can eat like a horse. If you run your body on fat you will eat less and you will snack less. 10) Meals higher in fat are perfect for high performance activities.(mountain biking and skiing specifically) 11) You don't need any extra fiber. If you eat properly in the first place your intestines will work as designed. 12) High carb diets require more variety and more fiber. Higher fat requires little or no variety and virtually no added fiber.... 13) In Salt Sugar Fat Michael Moss talks about bliss points and the combination of these three components. Less fat means more sugar ect. Avoid low fat. 14) Convert gradually and don't obsess about the weight loss. I go to the gym and pack on 10 for ski season, and leave the gym to shed the 10 for mountain bike season year in and year out. But fat content is always high. 15) When you start exercising your weight will probably rise a little first then fall. If you obsess about weight you will be miserable. Focus on food as fuel. If you are satiated you will think about food less and the weight will eventually reduce. 16) I am coming to the conclusion that GMO foods are to be avoided like the plague. The wheat experience was a wake up call.
Yes I know, everyone is different. Trial and error is the way to get it done.
Here are 3 books that have influenced my thinking and behavior on the subject:
Trick and Treat: Barry Groves Wheat Belly: Dr. William Davis Why we get fat: Gary Taubes.
Plus Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss for a great primer on the large food companies and how they influence your eating behavior.
This is key.
You guys are all stupid. So much misinformation in here.
What I do when I need to drop a few is tie weights to my forearms before I masturbate. Kill two birds with one stone. Thank me later bro.
A lot of good advice in here but people fail to realize that humans are bad at following multi-step advice.
Start with this one change in behavior and come back to this thread in 30 days and give us the results.
Drink 20-30g of protein AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP.
Start there.
Dude, that is sooo clutch. If there is one single thing you can do to lose weight, that's it.
That's essentially all I've done aside from quitting drinking, and I've dropped 20 pounds since February.
This is exactly what I do in the morning, along with a multi-vitamin. Should probably differentiate between whey and casein, but I take whey.
Roughly how many calories do you take per day after this protein drink?
EC stack brah
that reminds me, I need to start my spring cut :(
Most people have already stated the obvious about what to do (calories in v calories out, what foods to eat, making sure you're lifting and not just being a cardio bunny, etc.) but I want to change things up a little bit. I understand that it's summer and that you want to look good with a shirt off, etc., but I think you need to change your expectations a bit. A few months of working out/dieting isn't going to transform you from what you are now to having a Patrick Bateman physique, realistically speaking.
Here's the sad part about fitness/bodybuilding: it's usually a very, very slow process and can be extremely frustrating. Instead of saying, "I want to look like X by summer", I challenge you to instead say, "I'm tired of looking like this and I want to make a change to better myself". I've heard of pros that use diets for quick results, but they're usually hard for mortals like us who have other responsibilities to pursue and usually are not sustainable. You may see some progress, but the minute you stop, it'll be back to square one and you'll get frustrated again.
Instead, think about this as a "lifestyle" switch and be prepared to go into this thinking you're running a marathon rather than a sprint. Make a conscious effort from now on to avoid sugary drinks/high-calorie snacks. When you go out to drink with buddies, challenge yourself to only have a couple or at the very least, avoid taking in extra calories from mixers (use soda water or diet coke instead of regular coke with a drink for example). Switch from white rice to brown rice and from white bread to whole wheat bread. Make your snacks an apple, banana, or nuts/vegetables instead of a sugar-laden snack bar. These changes may suck at first, but it's little things like this that will help this become part of your lifestyle.
I tried the whole heavy dieting thing and lost a lot of weight, but even then, it took a while to get there and once I stopped, I started to climb the scales again. Now, I'm on the "use common sense diet" (patent pending) where I enjoy life a little bit by eating dirty when the occasion calls for it, but I do so in moderation and make healthy substitutions whenever possible. Hell, even when I eat a dirty meal (like pizza), I try to make it cleaner by adding veggies instead of going for the meat lovers or something like that. Now, I've gotten much stronger and happier than while I was dieting, plus I'm confident that if I continue to use common sense and hit the gym hard, I'll reach my goals eventually with a bit of patience.
Sorry for the long post, but I just don't want you to get discouraged if you don't get where you envisioned you want to be by summer. I've had so many friends who try diets I send them, don't see progress after a month, and then give up. Make this part of your lifestyle and the results will come; I promise.
Also, just a disclaimer, my advice is more for body transformations. If you just want to lose weight, then yeah, listen to others and eat less and drink more water/up the fiber & protein content in your food so you feel more full.
Love your advice on making a lifestyle change, and I 100% agree with this, but many people won't do this because they see it as sacrificing too much.
Again, I repeat CHANGE ONE BEHAVIOR AT A TIME. If you can't get an EAS myoplex protein shake to drink right when you get upm then you can't change yoru entire lifestyle. Do 1 step.
And accrual, telling him to stick to low sugar snacks and mentioning bananas shows a lack knowledge there. Bananas are LOADED with sugar and should be avoided. Stick to veggies and BEANS for your carbs.
Eat lean protein and vegetables/salad for every meal. Get ALL of your carbs from fruits and vegetables - eat lots of vegetables. Make sure you snack (almonds, fruit, low sodium beef jerky, vegetables, protein shake. NO granola that shit is loaded with sugar and bad carbs) in between your meals. Drinking water to quell hunger pains is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Do not let your stomach become empty. Once that happens your body will go into “starvation mode” and start to store fat, rendering your diet useless. A spoonful or two (depending on your workout) is a nice little snack. Try to cut out as much dairy as you can.
Be sure to workout at least three times a week.
Diet is the largest part of losing weight…in a healthy way.
By the way, JFC!!, did you put on 242#s or is that how much you weigh?
I'm surprised no one's mentioned a plant-based diet - it's low in calories and high in nutrition. Take the advice of Michael Pollan from his book, In Defense of Food and eat whole foods, mostly plants.
A few primers that got me going plant-based were Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and Fork Over Knives which are both very inspiring docs that you can find on Netflix. It's eye opening to see the toll that animal proteins have on your health and the healing power that comes from eating simply vegetables. Also The China Study by T Colin Campbell is an excellent book that studies the significant statistical correlation between eating animal protein and developing heart disease that was down over a huge population in, you guessed it, China. I'll probably get a lot of hate for eschewing protein, but you don't need as much as Muscle Milk and the general population thinks you do. Whole plant foods contain plenty of protein and enough to sustain even elite level athletes. Look at Arian Foster, he's vegan and a pro football player.
I bought a vitamix about a year ago and it's been the greatest investment in myself that I've ever made (well as far as kitchen appliances go). Make a smoothie every morning that's kale/spinach based and you'll feel more alive than drinking a cup of coffee.
Also give up the dairy. Milk is the perfect food - for baby cows - it's not made for humans to drink. In fact, I wouldn't drink anything that's not water.
A plant-based diet is great too in that you don't have to starve yourself like some of the people suggesting to eat less than you burn - that will make you feel terrible. Instead, eat as much healthy, whole foods as possible and you won't regret it.
Being disciplined is key.
It will be tough at first but your body will slowly adjust to the changes to your routine over time (such as eating and exercising).
I'm doing the opposite of you (gaining weight) but I think that there's some things that are very similar. At first, it was super hard for me to eat a lot and it was a chore for me to go to the gym. But after getting into it for a couple of months, my body has adjusted to it. I get hungry at the times I'm supposed to eat and I'm encouraged by the gains that I've been making and actually enjoy the gym.
Just like anything else, nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter. You gotta work.
TL;DR Persevere through it.
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