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  1. #1

    Started exercise and diet recently, but...

    Well I am being 100% honest, I just wanted to get active and loose weight about 3-4 days ago. I got really motivated and I still am! Starting that, I have biked 2-4 miles, and have done sit ups and push ups and stretches. And dumbbells. Also I have not eaten junk/fatty food, and cut my portions down. These past days I have been feeling great!

    But, I need some help on what to eat. I usually have a banana, apple, fiber bar, turkey sandwich (1 slice of bread and some lettuce) and a portion of dinner (like 70-75% on the plate, usually it is chicken or a meat w/ veggies). I drink tons of water and no soda. I saw a lot of people mentioning eating carbs, fiber, protein, blah blah. I have little knowledge to know what to eat for it correctly. And would like some help of what I need to change.

    I would also like some help on what to do on exercises.

    Thank-you a lot. I am a 16y male.

    p.s. I love my bike!

  2. #2
    Especially at your age, it's better to just eat within reason than to go nuts restricting everything. Refined sugar to less than 100g or so a day, and eat a reasonable amount of calories that doesn't include too much junk food and you're fine. What you're doing seems ok. Big thing is to not overdo it. Extreme cutting of foods and going too hard at the gym is a great way to hurt yourself. Look at long term, 1, 5, 10 year goals, not how big you can get by tomorrow and life is good.

  3. #3
    Herald of the Titans Irisel's Avatar
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    If you eat the right foods (after you regiment you body away from crazy/shitty "american" diet) you can eat until you're full up. Your body is not meant to be starved. But, the idea is to eat the "right" foods.

  4. #4
    Also, it's a slow process, like 2lbs a week slow. That's why they say NOT to weight yourself every day.

    Also, when you get your cardio down, you can bike 20-30+ miles easy. That will be like 600-900 calories right there.

  5. #5
    Yeah just make sure to stay motivated. That's you're biggest adversary. I personally eat Paleo. It's good for me and tastes good. The problem is that it can tend to add up in terms of expenses. Carbs aren't necessarily the enemy so long as you don't consume more of them than you can burn. Sugars that you don't burn = fat (then again you could say that about any food, in general -- though acquisition for energy comes from carbs > fat > protein.

    Biking is a good start. It's good cardio and is pretty easy on the knees.

    I would actually recommend getting into some sort of weight routine. It's much easier for your body to burn fat with a higher muscle %. Cardio will definitely get you into better shape and help you lose weight, but lifting weights will definitely help expedite the process. It'll also make you look a lot better than if you were just doing pure cardio.

    Biggest thing if you're going to add weights -- do not work the same muscle groups within 48 hours. It's counter-productive and hinders your progress rather than helps (this includes abs -- only every other day).

    You might check out a few websites:

    - marksdailyapple.com
    - bodybuilding.com
    - scoobysworkshop.com

    Those will give you a decent start for nutrition/fitness advice in various articles.

  6. #6
    Deleted
    scoobysworkshop

    Great website.

    If you just want to loose fat, you simply need to check your calorie intake. the quality of the food you eat does not matter, for loosing weight just recquire a calorie deficit (yep, you can loose weight only eating the junkiest food around : it's going to be difficult because a medium portion of french fries has the same amount of calories as a kilogram of healthy food, but you'll be full with healthy food and hungry with fries).

    drinking lots of water is great, for you'll fill up your stomach and keep away from being deshydrated.

    once you've lost the fat, you can go on a muscle building diet, which means a lot of natural protein (industrial proteins are rather bad, unless you take some illegal products which are highly unrecommended for you'll loose the additionnal muscle turning it into unloosable fat once you stop taking those).

    natural protein : meat, fish.

    one of the probleme with industrial protein (bars and powder) is that they are industrial (obviously), and that you usually do not have enough calories for your body to fully take benefit of them (and they are expensive).

    to sum up :

    1 have a check up done with a medical doctor

    2 learn to count your calorie intake
    3 do some daily cardio to build up your heart and vascular system

    to calculate your calorie intake is the key (eat accordingly, ofc) : an hour of biking, 15 miles, doesn't even burn a single big mac.
    cardio exercise is very good to build your heart system and mainly to make your body produce dopamine, which is a natural brain produced drug that rewards you for moving your buns and which will make you feel good.

  7. #7
    The Lightbringer Primernova's Avatar
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    Eat what you want, focus on the bike.

    Activity > diet FTW.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Alistairr View Post
    Well I am being 100% honest, I just wanted to get active and loose weight about 3-4 days ago. I got really motivated and I still am! Starting that, I have biked 2-4 miles, and have done sit ups and push ups and stretches. And dumbbells. Also I have not eaten junk/fatty food, and cut my portions down. These past days I have been feeling great!

    But, I need some help on what to eat. I usually have a banana, apple, fiber bar, turkey sandwich (1 slice of bread and some lettuce) and a portion of dinner (like 70-75% on the plate, usually it is chicken or a meat w/ veggies). I drink tons of water and no soda. I saw a lot of people mentioning eating carbs, fiber, protein, blah blah. I have little knowledge to know what to eat for it correctly. And would like some help of what I need to change.

    I would also like some help on what to do on exercises.

    Thank-you a lot. I am a 16y male.

    p.s. I love my bike!
    the best way is to not overthink your eating - if you are not hungry dont eat - its that simple , dont feel the need to eat because of a strict diet - if youve been running and you get home hungry eat something healthy , but if later on someone is cooking and you arent hungry, turn down the meal, own it brap brap

  9. #9
    check out LCHF, its a diet where u take away all carbs so the body takes energi from protein and fat. u can eat as much u like and dont have to eat disgusting light products. i personally lost 6 kilos during 1 month doing this and im not rly overweight, i just got a little extra so to say. so no bread, potatoes, rice or pasta for example but ofc theres more in it but its still rly easy way and u can eat a lot of bacon and meat


  10. #10
    Field Marshal Halpas's Avatar
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    Quick reply (Because going into mass detail takes time and im sleepy): Eat natural fats, not loads, enough for your body to get tricked into eating away fats and not Carbs. If your looking to gain muscle then carbs are your best bet to because it triggers your body to eat away at them.

    Edit: Natural fats meaning

    -Nuts, Avocado and such.

    "You know your good when you feel the need to make fun of people in heroics, Tough guy."

  11. #11
    Well I would say do more biking. I run 5 miles every other day, so biking that should be easy. If its not then push yourself as hard as you can. Once you're eating well, i.e. not fried foods but more baked and what not with vegies and provisions and doing daily exercise or at least 4 - 5 days you will definitely start seeing results within 4 months. If you weigh yourself every week or every two weeks you will see that you're losing like 1 kilo a week. If you put on a kilo don't stress about it because the body fluctuates a lot. Just keep at it. In the past 5 months I lost 16 kilos just doing what I said. Eating right and doing exercise every day or every other day. Also if you're American the conversion of Pounds to KGs is 2.2. So 1 KG = 2.2 pounds

    ---------- Post added 2011-08-07 at 10:26 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Primernova View Post
    Eat what you want, focus on the bike.

    Activity > diet FTW.
    Well not really. If you want to eat what you want then you need to increase activity HEEPS!! Weight loss depends about 70 -90% of diet. If you have a naturally fast metabolism then maybe yea. But diet is the major part. When you reach your goal weight then you can start eating the foods you love but try to absolutely cut out fast foods and soft drinks or "sodas" if that's what Americans call them.

    ---------- Post added 2011-08-07 at 10:28 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Thrazymachus View Post
    scoobysworkshop

    Great website.
    Yes scooby is a great guy. He's a little bit weird but he really knows his stuff.
    Quote Originally Posted by Traknel View Post
    Yes it is. In fact, the next expansion is going to be called "Mists of Metzen" and is just going to be various mobs with his face stuck on them.

  12. #12
    Thanks for all the help everyone! I increased today to 5.5 miles, (without tonight which is 1-2 miles) and it just feels so great doing this. Soon I'll go more and more. It amazes me how lazy I was before, it really does. Also it is fun exercising.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Calibar View Post
    Well not really. If you want to eat what you want then you need to increase activity HEEPS!! Weight loss depends about 70 -90% of diet. If you have a naturally fast metabolism then maybe yea. But diet is the major part. When you reach your goal weight then you can start eating the foods you love but try to absolutely cut out fast foods and soft drinks or "sodas" if that's what Americans call them.
    I am going to absolutely disagree with this statement. Diet is important, but purely for weightloss you just need to burn more calories than you intake, without having your body go into starvation mode. I have tried diet/exercise several times since my teens, and every time I was told to cut fast food and soda. None of them lost me weight, and I actually got physically ill. Diet would last maybe a week, then I would crash.

    Over the past 3 months I just said screw it and made my own regiment. I still drink about 3 cans of soda (Coca Cola) every day, and eat fast food about 3 times a week. In exchange I started walking a lot more, riding my bike, and playing tennis/raquetball. My snacks changed from Twinkies/Snack Cakes to fruits. I limit my red meat as much as possible for more poultry, and started drinking fruit juice. In 3 months I have lost 15 pounds and haven't looked back. Eventually I will probably cut back even more on soda and fast food, but if you tell me to cut it out completely, I will crash and gain weight.

    Not to mention I couldn't drink enough water to offset the soda and was hospitalized three times for dehyrdation after quitting soda.

    Everybody is different. Find out what you can do, what your body can work with, and then go from there. I can't run, but I'll bike 10-15 miles or play an hour of raquetball. Gradually increase your exercise and fix up your diet, but don't try changing 100% cold turkey. Slow and steady wins the race.
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  14. #14
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Alistairr View Post
    I need some help on what to eat. I usually have a banana
    Good.

    apple
    Semi-good

    fiber bar
    Bad. Too much sugar. Pour yourself a bowl of oatmeal and milk instead. Add nuts or small amounts of fruit.

    turkey sandwich (1 slice of bread and some lettuce)
    Make sure it's dark bread, or throw out the bread.

    and a portion of dinner (like 70-75% on the plate, usually it is chicken or a meat w/ veggies). I drink tons of water and no soda. I saw a lot of people mentioning eating carbs, fiber, protein, blah blah. I have little knowledge to know what to eat for it correctly. And would like some help of what I need to change.
    Count the calories. That's the only thing that works. It really doesn't matter what you eat (as long as you fill your basic nutrients needs, vitamins, minerals, etc.
    As long as you eat fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight.

    I would also like some help on what to do on exercises.
    Whatever you like.
    That's a serious piece of advice, incidentally... It has to be fun, or you will have trouble keeping up the motivation. Do something with other people. Nothing motivates better than company and competition.

    But after no more than 6 weeks, change things up. Do something new for exercise. Your muscles will have adapted to your efforts by then, and the burn rate will fall if you keep doing the same style of exercise.

    Oh, and make sure you get enough calcium (milk, yoghurt, cheese, etc.) to keep your bones strong, and fish (oil) to keep your joints lubricated.

  15. #15
    You're off to a good start, and it's a great feeling when you wake up every day feeling better.

    One thing to remember is that just because you're eating healthy, doesn't mean you can't eat tasty and flavorful things.

    Example:

    Instead of a plain turkey sandwich with lettuce, make a turkey wrap - Lay down a whole wheat tortilla, add a thin layer of honey mustard. Pop on a layer of baby spinach, a couple slices of low sodium/natural juices turkey breast, and throw on a small smattering of dried cranberries. Lots of flavor, without upping your calorie count much.

    Also, one of my favorites, the chicken Caesar wrap.

    Whole wheat tortilla, a leaf of Romaine lettuce, ideally grilled chicken, cut into strips, croutons for a nice crunch/added flavor, and just a light drizzle of Caesar dressing down the length. Add in just a touch of fresh grated Parmesan and you're good to go. Very filling and big on flavor.

    Just some examples. It's perfectly ok to add flavor, just know what you're putting on, and how much.
    They can dynamite Devil Reef, but that will bring no relief, Y'ha-nthlei is deeper than they know.

  16. #16
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by goneloco View Post
    check out LCHF, its a diet where u take away all carbs so the body takes energi from protein and fat. u can eat as much u like and dont have to eat disgusting light products. i personally lost 6 kilos during 1 month doing this and im not rly overweight, i just got a little extra so to say. so no bread, potatoes, rice or pasta for example but ofc theres more in it but its still rly easy way and u can eat a lot of bacon and meat
    I wouldn't recommend it, it's very unhealthy and bad for your heart.. it does work fast, it's true, but the weight comes back pretty soon with this diet.

  17. #17
    If you don't make lifestyle commitments about your health and body you will only experience an up and down cycle with your weight. Get in the habit of monitoring and writing down everything you eat. I use a spreadsheet. If you really want to get into it read a book: Burn the fat, feed the muscle by tom venuto. Helped me out alot.

    You need basic knowledge about the way your body works or you will get confused why your body does what it does.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Try to switch to raw food diet with green smoothiess and nuts. Not only you will loose weight, you'll feel like reborn person. Mentaly strong, energetic & full of bliss. Try it for a week. Powerfull stuff!

  19. #19
    I am using Excel and tracking all my foods I eat and what I exercise and how long/how many I do per day.

    Also thank-you everyone for the feedback this will changed my life for the better.

    P.S. is cycling 5-10 miles a day 7 days a week too much strain on my knees? I rode in the car to see how many miles I have been biking and it is 5-10 miles. I am thinking if i cycle 5 days a week and 2 days walk for 45-1hour on Mon and Thurs.

  20. #20
    Take 1 day of rest (Sunday or whatever day you feel like). It'll allow your body to play a little bit of catch up in terms of recovery -- making you feel refreshed after that 1 day and ready to work hard.

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