Want to lose weight; PLEASE HELP!

[cdmcg]

You really should start doing some strength training. Resistance bands stuff at least. Your muscles will continue to burn calories long after you stop working out. Where as just light cardio doesn't have any lasting calorie burn.

As for food intake, you best bet is to take in 1800-ish and a variety of whole grains, proteins and produce is all you need to concern yourself with. That is where sites like myfitnesspal.com, dailyburn.com, myfatsecret.com all come in handy. They will show you how much of your intake was carb, protein, and fat so you can better monitor those items without having to do the math yourself.

Also, dont get discouraged when you plateau. You will plateau, it may be for a week, it could be as long as a month. Do not slip up and quit. One last thing, if your pals want to go out to dinner, go with them. Have burger if you would like. "Cheating" every once and awhile is actually very beneficial for you and your weight loss goal. Studies have proven people who enjoy a special treat every once and awhile have a greater success with their weight loss over all.

[deuce7]

Hello, first time poster here.

I am 6" 1' (about 185cm I think?). I weigh about 295lb or about 134kg. I realize I am pretty overweight and I want to slim down.

About 1 week ago I decided to start exercising to lose weight. I cut down on what I ate, but didn't necessarily change what I eat (just less of it, about half). The one big thing I changed is I don't drink soda anymore, I only drink water. I walk 3 miles a day 5 days a week and 1 1/2 miles a day 2 days a week. I have not lost ANY weight at all ever since I started. Is this normal? I am trying to slim down, my goal being just 250lbs to start with.

I do not know why I have not lost at least ONE pound this week.

I assume it's my diet. Can anyone recommend how I should workout (if differently) and what I should eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner? I do not know if I should eat before I walk or if I should eat after I walk. Does biking make you lose more weight? Is it better/faster?

Where I live, walking the 1 1/2 miles, I'm pretty worn out when I finish (I really never exercised before this, I just sat on my computer playing WoW/LoL). There are a lot of uphill areas on my path that aren't necessarily easy. I kind of power walk my whole walk... will jogging help?

I really appreciate all the advice I get. Thank you!

I am 5'11", and 3 months ago weighed 295 lbs. I'm down to 259 lbs, although I've got away to go to my target. Here is what I've done:

Your body is a system. It's fuel is energy (calories). Math cannot be denied. So, I set a daily calorie limit for myself, and every week i lower it very slightly. I started at 1700 calories and lowered it by 10 calories / week. I eat whatever foods I want, so long as I don't go over my daily limit. There are many websites to aid you in this. You'll also get very good at estimating recipes prepared by other people.

Exercise: Not required. However, on days that I want to eat more than my daily calorie limit (which is often, or at least was before D3 release), I allow myself to "purchase" additional calories through exercise. There are many websites to aid you in this calculation as well. The beauty of this is that it protects your diet from friends and family. I can eat the food at family gatherings / work functions while silently taking note of my intake. Later, when I get home, I pay the price in exercise.

Whatever you end up doing, mindset is everything. Think of yourself like a recovering alcoholic. You have a food problem that thin people don't. The good news is, sometimes the math involved for whether or not you can have a second helping is too much, and you take the lazy way out, which is to pass!

[Deepsidedj]

Stop eating

[Blobfish]

Diets are all about Discipline
& sticking with it.

You cannot diet one day
& be eating hamburgers the next..

[Cornelius]

Copied from my notepad.

8:30am - 3 boiled eggs/1 yogurt, 1 cup oats with

milk (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc)

11:30am - 1/2 lb chicken w/ 2 handfuls of vegetables

(mixed) and banana/almonds(10)

2:30pm - 1/2 lb chicken w/ 1/4 cup rice and 2

handfuls of vegetables (mixed)

6:00pm - steak (any size, probably 1/2lb),2 handfuls

vegetables (mixed)

CALORIE BREAK DOWN

300 oats
140 yogurt
300 chicken 1/2 lb
300 chicken 1/2 lb
160 1/4 cup rice
50 x 3 (1 cup vege = about 2 handfuls)
135 banana (ex-large)
61 almonds (10)
80 per boiled egg
240 steak


Banana Day (w/ 3 eggs) - 1905

Banana Day (w/ yogurt) - 1805

Almond Day (w/ 3 eggs) - 1831

Almond Day (w/ yogurt) - 1731


Does this look good? I think it's a great start. This is a vast improvement over what I usually eat and I don't think I would be starving.

Also.. where it says 2 handfuls of veges, I substituted one cup of veges. It's weird but even as a child I have always liked my vegetables. It doesn't add much calories and I already substituted in the values when I figured them out. There will be a bit more calories consumed due to the marinade I will be using (Garlic, Cilantro, Parsley, and Olive oil). It sounds pretty healthy and won't add a ton of calories. (I will shake the oil off when I grill the chicken/steak).

[Buyaka]

Cornelius' diet plan is almost the plan i used to use whenI was working out and losing weight while building lean muscle. Lots of protein, and low carb. I went a bit more balls to the wall though. Ill guess off the top of my head at the time intervals and what not but basically i was doing this:

Morning - 3-5 eggs, small bowl of oatmeal, glass of milk. (Also, eat within a half hour to an hour of waking up!)
1.5-2~ish hours later - Protein shake or bar
Lunch - Chicken Breast(or breasts depending on size) and rice. I did white rice but Brown is better.
1.5-2~ish hours later protein shake or bar
Dinner - See Lunch.
Dont eat anything before bed. Assuming you go 2-3 hours between dinner and bed youre good.
My workout times varied as well. Sometimes Id go early in the am, mid day, or at night after my late classes. Only real recommendation I have for that is to eat something an hour before a workout, and eat something WITHIN an hour of finishing. Gotta fuel the machine.

Hope that helped.

[Awakar]

Pretty much this, except you want to run a calorie deficit of a PERCENTAGE of your requirement, not a flat out number. For example, if you cut 500 calories from a person who needs 1500 then you're reducing 33% of their calorie intake, whereas a person who needs 2500 is only reducing 20%. Also, meet your macros (proteins, carbs, fats). Here is a good informative thread: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981

Also, if you're losing any more than 2-3 lb per week then you're probably losing muscle.

Yeah, macros are obviously important....but I'm assuming he has basically zero muscle right now and doesn't have to worry too much about anything and therefore can keep it simple and just drop weight. As for the number, I think it's safe to assume he would need more than 1500 minimum, hence the suggestion.
Good stuff though, and good link: the forum there in general is quite helpful, if you can sift through some of the garbage. You're more likely to get helpful advice there than here.

[Dreyen]

Don't try to cut down what you eat, you'll be back where you started soon enough without realizing, it's easy to falter... just ask yourself: Can you keep up you current food pace forever?

Just try to eat healthier, less caloric. In a perfect world, what you're suppose to eat in your plate is supposed to be 75% vegetables and fruits and 25% meat, although the more vegetables, the better. Vegetables are so low in calories, that you won't really gain weight even if you eat to your heart's content. Of course, you can't forget about excerising : P

Stuff takes time though, don'T worry about whether you lose one pound a week or not, you're not participating in one of these reality shows where people lose weight after all... my girlfriend's sister lost 17 pounds in about 20 weeks, thats less than a pound a week : P. Plus if you train, you might gain muscle, which is heavier than fat.

[Deleted]

82kg ( 180lb) i droped to 78 (171) in 5days without starving myself to death.

Really? o_O

[Markatron]

Find/create a diet plan that focuses around the macros of 30%carbs/40%protein/30%fats. Id suggest lifting weights. Gaining muscle really helps in shedding some pounds. I was near your weight at 280 lbs nearly 2 years ago, started lifting, down to 180lbs now and have maintained this weight for nearly a year(actually trying to gain some now as muscle) I did little cardio and just lifted. But keep your diet in check and clean, lift hard, and do the cardio for your heart too, I wish I did.

[Worgoblin]

There is no one way to go about it. My methods of fitness are pretty simple. All day every day, whenever I have a few spare minutes, I drop to the floor and do as many push-ups as I can. It usually adds up to well over 200+ at the end of the day. And if I'm at home, I combine that with jumping on my elliptical machine (best piece of fitness equipment in the world IMO) for 10 minutes at a time. Usually ends up being 80+ minutes at the of the day.

My diet recently has been kinda strict. Tons of granola, beans, skim milk, and eggs.

It's working for me, as before I was only able to achieve a 6-pack, I'm now fully shredded with ridiculously defined abs and veiny arms.

Starving/fasting/calorie restriction is very bad. I've tried it. Lost weight, but much of it was muscle. Which is fine, if you want to be scrawny. I personally did not like it.

[Mendorin]

Gah, this is all overly complicated. I have been loosing 2 pounds a week (im 6'1'' 271lbs) and I have been doing excercises and meal planning.
I don't think that it is overly necessary to go to the lengths of counting every calorie. Doing that is stressful and stress makes us gain weight.
My plan so far has been to increase my protein intake (eggs, yhogurt (greek), meat) and decrease my simple carbohydrate intake (which is your potatoes, rice and wheat) and where possible, replace the simple carbs with complex ones (whole grains etc). So this just means my two potato with my dinner drops to half a potato or just a potato (size depending). And increase your veg and salad intake (without the cream dressings or replace those with ones made of yhogurt).

By meal planning, i mean I sit down and decide everything i am going to eat for the week (breakfast, lunch and dinner) this prevents spontaneous I-donno-what-to-make-lets-go-out-for-dinner dinners and its also really nice to know what you are going to be eating. and for the snacks I have smoothies with a little protein in them (frozen fruit, oats/yhorgurt/protein and juice).
Excercising I haven't actually seen anyone say anything about it but I did scan the last page so here is my two cents:
if your walking thats great but you have to make sure you are walking fast enough so that you can't speak in full sentences. What I do is I bought EA Sports Active 2 and use that as a excercise guide. that way I know that I am getting a proper excercise program and I save the gym people from seeing my fat jiggle.

one last thing from me: if you are having three boiled eggs for breakfast, don't eat the yolks of two of them. They aren't good for loosing weight.
one last thing, promise: watch what granola you eat. a lot of them are made with crap tonnes of oil. I make my own because there isn't any oil in it and its much more tastey!

[Zeliak]

Diet is the most important thing about losing weight. However the term "Diet" is referring to controlling your eating habits to create Calorie deficits. Diets, like the South Beach Diet, The Paleo Diet, The Atkins Diet, A Vegan Diet are unnecessary for health or weight loss. The best thing to do to remain healthy while losing weight and to stay on it is to not do anything drastic with your diet UNLESS you can prove (to avoid self serving biases) you have a lot of self control. Chances are if you have the willpower to stay on a Vegan Diet or the South Beach diet when you are the type of person who loves the awesome high carb foods then you have a lot of self control, but still, don't risk it.

Calculate your BMR (basal metabolism rate) and do not exceed the amount given. Do NOT guess the amount of kcals in your food; rather make sure you are getting an accurate number from the Nutrition facts and add them up. If you accidently go over the amount you set for yourself (at least make it something noticable like 200 kcals lower than what your BMR is) then exercise to get rid of the extra. Note: That exercise makes you hungrier because your body is burning up kcals directly, and since it still lives in our old Hunter-Gatherer mode, it doesn't know you are intentionally trying to use up its energy. Exercise is bad for losing weight, mainly intensive exercise, especially for those who lack self control, since exercise will make you hungrier, thus causing you to consume more calories.

You do not have to cut your foods. Simply continuing eating whatever you are eating but do not go over the amount you set for yourself that is below your BMR.

Things of Note:
1. Calculating your BMR online should only be taken as an estimate as things like genetics, environment, illnesses factor in to your actual BMR. So in the event you have a condition like Hypothyroidism, then you will have to get it treated before you can see real steady progress in weight loss.
2. Do NOT cut carbs. Cutting carbs will cause your body to use up another source for energy (like Protein) which will cause your body to release ketones in your blood stream and could cause you to get an illness called Ketosis. If you were wondering what KETONES meant on your blood test results, now you know.
3. You can sabotage your habits. For example. If you are craving a burger, but don't have gas, use your laziness to your advantage to stay home and avoid that burger. Something like that.
4. Vitamins and Minerals make up a minority of the things necessary to keep your body healthy and it does not store excess. The excess Vitamins and Minerals will be lost through Urine, so do not worry too much about it, but make sure you don't deprive yourself of certain necessary ones like Iron (eating a purely Vegetarian Diet can cause you to lose a lot of Iron, as it is not rich in Iron.)

[Mendorin]

Things of Note:

2. Do NOT cut carbs. Cutting carbs will cause your body to use up another source for energy (like Protein) which will cause your body to release ketones in your blood stream and could cause you to get an illness called Ketosis. If you were wondering what KETONES meant on your blood test results, now you know.

Actually, this is what you want your body to do. to loose fat you have to burn it and to burn fat (which is the first thing the body burns after carbs - proteins are last) you have to excercise. I think people misunderstand what professionals mean by cutting carbs. decreasing intake while replacing simple carbs with complex ones allow for the body to regulate a more balanced Blood Glucose level. Spikes in your Blood Glucose are bad and this is what simple carbs do (the body goes AHH! too many! must store for later use! =Fat) Complex carbs take longer to digest, take more engery digest and burn slower (more efficently).
pretty much what that means is having 4+ pieces of toast for breakfast is bad (fast burn, quick spike then gone), a nice bowl of steelcut oats is good (slow ramp up in glucose and maintains for a longer period of time). Also, by keeping your blood glucose steady you will stay fuller longer (the spikes in your blood gulcose will quickly follow a drop which tells the body that you are hungry)
So as long as you are looking at what you eat and learn what is healthy verses what isn't you can loose weight without strict calorie counting (but you can't forget excercising)

[Brewski]

Don't listen to all that weight loss crap, its all garbage. Losing weight is really simple, if you follow what I tell you you'll be shredding weight like you've never had before.

Reduce your calorie intake. This is a big one... if you reduce your calories you will lose weight. Make sure you eat 6-8 times a day, small portions. The more often you eat the faster your metabolism gets.

Run, don't walk. You need to get your heart-rate up so running would be the best option here.

Drink lots of water, you've been doing that so its good.

Its very important to watch what you eat, don't eat any fast food, sweets or anything high in sugar.

Try to eat lean meats like chicken breast if you're eating meat.

[Radux]

Make sure you eat 6-8 times a day, small portions. The more often you eat the faster your metabolism gets.

This is pure bro-science. Please look up the Thermic Effect of Food.

Meal timing/frequency is irrelevant. So long as you get your daily caloric needs, while fulfilling your macros, it doesn't matter how many meals you have or what time you eat them.

Eating small meals may teach controlling portion size, but that's it. Hell, it's fine to do it just because you prefer it.
But eating 2-3 meals a day vs. 6-8 meals a day won't make a bit of difference.

[Crushima]

A diet i did ~3weeks ago, atm im restarting it.
Lost 4kg (thats almost 9lb). You probably gonna say is not that much, but from 82kg ( 180lb) i droped to 78 (171) in 5days without starving myself to death.

How :

First day - eat only tomatoes, i tryed to limit myself to 1 kg ('round 2lbs), but for your weight you might need bit more, you can eat like 1-2 for breakfast, then 1 more 'round midday, then 1-2 more for dinner. Most imporant - DO NOT EAT ANYTHING less than 2hours before goin to bet
Second day - eat yogurt, i had 3x500, but the country i live in its pritty nice xD No fruits inside, just white yogurt!
3rd - carots - jees, as much as you can, i doubt you will be able to eat that much, tbh (you can do that with cucumber instead also, is pritty much eating water)
4th - go for eggs, 6-7, not at once, ofcorse, and broiled!
5th day is fruit day, i skiped it, as i wasnt feeling really good and i started to feel hungry, so i jumped to last day
6th day is meat - buy a chicken, cut it in half, broil it.

No bread, no soda, lots of water. No bread. any bread - no.

After that try to get back to your usual eating, but keep the 'no bread' part, see results on day 9th to 10th and try to repeat later if you can.

ps. Apologies for my bad English, hope is clear enough.

LMAO where did you get this guide from?

[Stankymcgee]

Remember that muscle is heavier that fat so just because you arent losing weight doesnt mean your body isnt improving from your exercise.
6" 1' is tall so I'd assume that you would naturally carry around more muscle and / or fat than most people so dont be alarmed if you cant reach a certain goal or if you arent losing weight as fast as you like.

Another thing from personal experiance, 1 week isnt enough time for your exersicing to show any effect on your body, well atleast for me it two about 2 weeks before i started losing weight and after that it was pretty consistent each week until I got to a point where I was gaining more muscle than losing fat so my weight was seesawing up and down.

Anyways keep at it and try not to worry about your weight, If you feel fitter and healthier and start to notice a difference in your shape than who cares how much you weigh.

Nothing against you,but muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. A pound is a pound, weight does not change, muscle is denser that is all.

[Fojos]

Nothing against you,but muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. A pound is a pound, weight does not change, muscle is denser that is all.

Semantics. It's more dense, so it does weigh more by terms of weight against volume, which is what you count. One litre of muscle weighs more than one litre of fat.

You wouldn't say water has the same weight as oxygen, just because it can.

[Roose]

Eat less more often and exercise. It is that simple.

Drink tons of water. Do not eat 3-4 hours before bed.