Want to lose weight; PLEASE HELP!

[Cornelius]

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!

[guff]

well, I realise it is upsetting. But weight, believe it or not, goes up and down naturally. That means that you may still have lost some weight this week, but are at a "peak" in the natural variation. Don't get dis-encouraged yet, it is a great initiative!

As for tips, I would look at what you eat again. Malnourishing yourself is not a good diet Make sure you get enough energy to last you each day, just take care to get the energy in the right way (I am sure there are many diet sites, but try to look for "natural ones", not crazy ones like "eat nothing but butter!!!" ).

Keep the spirits high, and report back to us next week

[chazus]

I'm about the same as you. I cut down on food, soda, exercised more, and didnt lose a pound. I gave up, had burger king, and generally didnt give a crap about health, and after two weeks lost 15 lbs.

Part of the thing is your metabolism. Its the reason some people can eat like a ravenous teenager, constantly, and never break 150lbs.

Some things will work, some things wont. It's different for everybody. I'd suggest, if you can, talking to a nutritionist. I've seen a lot of people with our body type really lean up by focusing on proteins (Atkins-esque). "Dieting" doesnt work. Finding a particular food intake/exercise regimen does (in general)

Also, its interesting to note that a LOT of study has been done recently on exercise, due to the whole 'obesity epidemic'. Conclusions basically have shown that 'regular exercise', is much less brutal than people think. For the people who just want to slim down and lose some pounds, rather than tone or keep tiny, 20-30 min a day of some basic stretching and exercise proves to be 80% as beneficial as what you're doing now (3 miles).

[Cornelius]

Thank you guys for the replies!

The losing 15lbs in 2 weeks sounds really good. :P I don't expect to lose that much, but I don't know, it may happen! What types of things should I eat? Any suggestions? And is walking about 3 miles a day good? Or should I just keep doing it for a couple of months then change my exercise?

[Maruka]

are you weighing yourself everytime at the same time? ie: at like 6am.

[Weeri2NZ]

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.

[Cornelius]

are you weighing yourself everytime at the same time? ie: at like 6am.

Actually... no. I didn't think about that. Now that I think about it, it makes sense why. Thanks. :P

---------- Post added 2012-05-19 at 12:39 AM ----------

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.

Thanks. I didn't know if it was me or if a week was too soon to judge weight loss.

[chazus]

The exercise part is up to you. I personally can't do that, just because my schedule doesn't permit. But if you're lifestyle is such that you have the time, and enjoy doing it? Roll it. More exercise is NEVER bad (unless it becomes obsessive or overdoing it). But a walk/run is perfectly fine. I only mention the 'short exercise' thing more as a trivia. If for some reason you find your life busy... A little goes a LONG way.

[Siluz]

all you have to do to loose weight is consume more calories then you eat. its simple, take a rough count in your head how much you are intaking then make sure you do enough exercise to burn them off. loosing weight is one of things where everyone wants it to happen in one day or one week but the reality is its a long process and instead of looking for scams or anything just stick to a healthy diet and determination and you will see results. there is no better feeling then looking in the mirror at what you have accomplished so i encourage you to stay with it and remember that if you dont see the same results as what you saw on the biggest looser or on that TV show add dont be discouraged those things promote UNhealthy weight loss, yes, loosing weight to quickly can be unhealthy and then you are left with allot of excess skin.

so start simple check out this website for some good exercises that you can do at home http://exercise.about.com/od/cardiow...rncalories.htm

as for diet a suggest a low GI based diet as i reckon in your circumstance it will work best Low GI diets are especially recommended for overweight chocoholics – Low GI foods actually reduce your cravings for sugary and processed food. so avoid things like White bread, puffed wheat, Cornflakes, Coco Pops, rice cakes, rye bread, bagels, English muffins, French fries, donuts, pizza, ALL FAST FOOD, instant rice, baked and mashed potatoes, watermelon.

eat things like: fruit,vegetables,nuts,oats,porridges,low fat yoghurts and milks, ans use multigrain or wholegrain bread

a diet is a very personal thing and you are best to make one for your self. but when im trying to cut a bit of weight i will use something like this
8:30am
-3 whole eggs, boiled
-1 cup of muesli/oats with low fat milk

10:30am
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

12:30pm
-tuna (200g)
-75g of brown rice
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

3:00pm
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

7:30pm
-steak (any)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

[Chakja]

Dieting does work.

It's only a matter of calories in versus calories out, if you eat less than you spend, you lose weight, at a ratio of 1lb per 3500kcal difference. Simple math.

1 week is not enough time to judge your weight loss but if you really cut your intake by half like you said, you should at least have lost some from water retention due to the lowered amount of carbs consumed. My suspicion is you subestimated your food intake for the week. What you need to do is:

Estimate your calorie spent using an online calculator(just google it, and use different ones to get the best idea).
Buy a food scale.
Weigh and take a note of every single thing you eat, and make sure you're eating below your estimated calorie expenditure.
I suggest you start going to the gym, building muscle not only makes you look better when you're leaner because you won't be as scrawny, but it also makes you burn more calories just for being alive, by incresing your basic metabolic rate. Plus, by coming from this weight you might have some loose skin and filling out your build will help a lot with that. Don't worry about becoming "too big", you will not become bodybuilder big if that's not what you're looking for, believe me.
Do not go for a super high calorie deficit. It's usually suggested to go for a 1000kcal deficit a day at max, aiming for 2lbs/week, but at your bf%(which is probably quite high) people can usually get away with a higher deficit. I just am not sure by how much. Just don't overdo it too much.

I don't know if I'm allowed to post links to other forums but this is a very helpful thread:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981


and so are all the stickies in that section, also the ones on the Losing Fat section
I suggest you read them all.

[Vaengence]

One of the less known things about weight gain and loss is that for the most part, the amount of energy you take in is more important than what you are eating. The nutritional value of food is important for many reasons, getting the right minerals, lowering cholesterol etc but weight itself is solely the body storing more energy than it expends and where the energy comes from is largely irrelevant. In addition, exercise is a fickle thing. Exercise is your body spending energy, however when you exercise your body also desires more energy coming in which tends to make you want to eat or drink more energy so you have to be careful. If you exercise a lot but concurrently increase your energy intake they balance out and you do not lose weight.

I have had the issue myself. I have now lost since October, 18 Kg (40 punds?) following changing habits about energy intake. To make you jealous I work all day in an office sitting down, do not play sports and do not exercise, I am simply eating to the energy levels I need to lose weight.

The app I have been using on iPhone is called ShapeUp. It has an online database of food, and you can add your own in. You enter your current weight, your details, your level of daily work related exercise and it calculates your energy required to maintain your weight and the goal energy to lose it at a rate of up to a Kg a week. You can then record everything you out in your mouth and ensure your intake is correct - and you would be surprised how easy it is to go over when you are not strictly counting.

The weight loss here is designed to be slow- which is much better than fast weight loss as it is more likely to stay off but the advantage as well is that you can literally eat anything you want as long as you keep within limits. Also try to spread it out a much as possible - 6 meals a day, this helps yor metabolism keep going and prevents your body from storing too much.

[Cornelius]

8:30am
-3 whole eggs, boiled
-1 cup of muesli/oats with low fat milk

10:30am
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

12:30pm
-tuna (200g)
-75g of brown rice
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

3:00pm
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

7:30pm
-steak (any)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

Thank you very much for the food advice and the website.

[Bluedragonwolf]

The key is continuing the exercise for the most part. Diet is part of it, but generally speaking; the two big things are water consumption and exercise. Believe it or not, just drinking the proper amount of water each day will help is losing weight.

In regards to the exercise; you dont need to exercise everyday. In fact having at least 1 day off, 2 preferably, is good for you. You most likely wont see serious improvement the first week, and possibly even the second week. I've known some people who didn't until the end of the 3rd week even. The key is to keep it up. If you want to know if it's working, don't only concentrate on your weight, use every day measurements. For example, when at work, home, wherever; if you go up a flight of stairs, notice how you're breathing, how do your legs feel. Things like that. You'll notice when you're in better shape just in the way you do everyday things.

All in all, just keep it up, even if the results aren't to your liking.

[Cynon]

Check out www.myfitnesspal.com That site helped me lose 30 lbs in about 5-1/2 months.

It centers around your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) -- it gives you your maximum amount of calories allowed per day, without exercise. As long as you hit that number of calories, whether you exercise or not, the weight will come off. It takes a lot of discipline to stick to it, but it's not really hard either.

Good luck, and remember -- IF YOU DON'T START TODAY, ONE YEAR FROM NOW YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD!

[Cornelius]

IF YOU DON'T START TODAY, ONE YEAR FROM NOW YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD!

Such good advice. V_V

[Awakar]

Find out your the amount of calories your body burns up maintaining itself every day. Then figure out how many calories you're consuming per day, as well as expending through extra activity (exercise). Run a calorie deficit (shoot for at least 500). The end. Calories in < Calories out. It's really that simple, for the most part.

[Window]

The problem is eating the right food and if you diet you have to stick to it if you slip back to old habits you will gain alot more weight
you are better off to do it slow and slim down over time and stick to the habbit

[Electromatt]

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

[Cornelius]

8:30am
-3 whole eggs, boiled
-1 cup of muesli/oats with low fat milk

10:30am
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

12:30pm
-tuna (200g)
-75g of brown rice
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

3:00pm
-chicken breast (200g)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)
-10 almonds

7:30pm
-steak (any)
-2 handfuls of defrosted veggies (broccoli, carrot, caulifower)

About how many calories is this? Do you know? What if I substitute the 3 boiled eggs (w/ the oats) to only 3 days a week and then eat a greek yogurt (Voskos) with the oats to the other 4?

I revised the diet plan... is this okay? I can't always eat 5 times a day due to scheduling.

8:30am - 3 boiled eggs/1 yogurt (yogurt 4 times a week, eggs 3 times a week), 1 cup oats with

milk (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc)

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

(mixed) and banana/almonds(10) (banana 3 times a week, almonds 4 times)

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)



I converted 200g online to pounds and it's pretty much a half pound. For a marinade (so the chicken and steak isn't tasteless), is garlic, cilantro, parsley, and olive oil ok?

[Deleted]

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.