It's time to get fit...But how?

[DrProfessorPhantomous]

Me
16
211.5 lb
5'11
High School Student
Fat.
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 12 (not even obese.).

I own a treadmill,I have weights, I have a health-ball thing. Whatever I do to exercise, it just doesn't seem to work at all so I lose motivation.

I was 205 lb evenly and I thought if I ever got higher than that I'll put getting slimmer to my upmost priority.

I don't eat fast food everyday or anything, I don't really exercise. My day is really just waking up and practicing good hygiene and whatever getting good grades come home and sleep and play WoW. Eating is mainly consisted of granola bars and whatever my mom makes for dinner. I don't eat breakfast or lunch usually. I really don't know what to do.

When I used to go on the treadmill, I ran on 3.5 miles for 30 minutes everyday and almost no progress was made (This lasted for two weeks). I'm running out of options and this is really starting to bother me on a psychological level.

My father tells me that we carry 'the fat gene', but if such a thing exists. I just wanna beat it.

So I'm coming out to you MMO-Champion, please tell me what actually works.

[Averrix]

I can tell you what works, eating more. That may sound funny but with you not eating breakfast or lunch like you said, you are slowing your metabolism down so your body is storing more fat when you do eat. You should be eating at least 5 small meals a day that won't affect your diabetes.

I started a workout/diet program, nothing that I found online or asked anyone about. I just started eating better and more often everyday and used a little exercise 'game' called EA Sports Active 2 on my PS3. I recently finished a 9 week program on it where I worked out four times a week for 30-45 mins each workout. And in a 3 month span of doing those exercises and eating right, I lost 14 pounds. I'm currently at 200 lbs and looking to lose another 10-15. Yes, not seeing results right away can be a motivation killer, but you have to keep at it. I plan on starting another 9 week program this week.

Like I said, your main problem is not eating enough and when you should be. Starving yourself is not the way to lose weight. When you do eat you will just keep it on. You should always eat breakfast in the morning because your body was just in a sleep cycle and it needs the nutrition to get the metabolism going. Then about 2 or 3 hours later you should have a little snack, like a granola bar or something, then have a small lunch 2 hours after that snack, then another 2 or 3 hours have another little snack and then have a good dinner, but don't overdo it at any time you eat. That is the real key to helping to lose weight is to keep your metabolism going.

I'm not fitness expert I'm just going off of what I did and it may not work for everyone, but you should really give it a try.

[Blooddeity]

Me
16
211.5 lb
5'11
High School Student
Fat.
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 12 (not even obese.).

I own a treadmill,I have weights, I have a health-ball thing. Whatever I do to exercise, it just doesn't seem to work at all so I lose motivation.

I was 205 lb evenly and I thought if I ever got higher than that I'll put getting slimmer to my upmost priority.

I don't eat fast food everyday or anything, I don't really exercise. My day is really just waking up and practicing good hygiene and whatever getting good grades come home and sleep and play WoW. Eating is mainly consisted of granola bars and whatever my mom makes for dinner. I don't eat breakfast or lunch usually. I really don't know what to do.

When I used to go on the treadmill, I ran on 3.5 miles for 30 minutes everyday and almost no progress was made (This lasted for two weeks). I'm running out of options and this is really starting to bother me on a psychological level.

My father tells me that we carry 'the fat gene', but if such a thing exists. I just wanna beat it.

So I'm coming out to you MMO-Champion, please tell me what actually works.

Ok you have diabetes, so you have to be careful with your diet. I am no expert but, if you want to reduce the food you eat, I think diabetes will make it a bit more difficult to go on a strict food regimen. You might want to consult a nutrisionist at school (surely they have them) to make a proper diet for you.

Here are some tips.

1.You need to limit yourself to 2000 calories a day. The only way to do that is to start counting. Breakfast cereals with semi-skimmed milk around 300-400 calories. Lunch should be around 400-500 calories (healthy sandwhich) and diner most of the times somewhere around 600-750 calories. Counting all the higher estimates leaves you with 1650 calories, which means you have about 350 calories left for the rest of the day. In between meals you need to eat a piece of fruit, vegetables or low-fat yoghurt. For example:

1.Breakfast in the morning - 2.An apple/pear/banana to bridge towards noon - 3.Lunch - 4.A couple of carrots (or toast with turkey) towards the afternoon - 5.Diner - 6.Yoghurt before going to bed.

2. Remove snacks from your diet. 1 Mars bar is 200 calories, 1 pint of Ben and Jerry's is 1000 calories and bag of chips (depends on size) is between 500-1000 calories + a crapload of salt. Yes you allready know what I am going to say, NO SNACKS! Forget them, remove them out of your diet. Forget about twinkies and all the good fluffy fat stuff. If you want to motivate yourself you can set 1 day a week where you can have a pint of ice cream or a chocolate bar if you really want to.

3. Forget about all the diet soda and diet bars and all the crap that says diet. Doesn't work. And worst of all is that all the diet stuff has artificial sweetners. Allthough artificial sweetners don't add to the calorie count like sugar, the problem with artificial sweetners is that they are sweet, and thus they maintain your body craving for sweet goods. Which is bad if you want to get your mind of snacks.

4. Forget about the treadmill. If it's dry go run outside. Why? Resistance is higher outside then on the treadmill. Also outside you will be able to get more fresh oxygen which improves your combustion. Treadmill should be saved for rainy days. If it's dry you go out side. If it's cold you go outside. The colder the better since your body will burn extra calories to maintain body temperature (How ever don't go running around naked in the snow that will just get you hypothermia).

5. Do light weight excercises. You said you have weights at home? Well use google and look at simple exercises you can do at home with weights.

6. No soda or diet soda. You will want to drink the following beverages: Water, tea(without sugar), lemon water, fruit juice(no concentrate, preferably self made juice and not store bought).

7. You need to sleep a minimum of 7-8 hours a day. Yes sleep is important if you want to lose weight. If you are sleeping less than 7 hours a day you are doing damage to yourself. So go to bed early.

8. Eat more FIBER!!! Get high fiber cereals for you breakfast (like all bran fruit and fiber), eat brown bread, eat plenty vegetables. High fiber foods will keep you going for longer without getting an empty feeling in your stomach. Also fibers help your body dispose more waste if you know what i mean.

9. Be hard on yourself. You need to be strict and you will need to do it for more than 2 weeks to notice results. The beginning is the hardest part. Your body will crave food and you will become irritated. You will need to fight yourself and have the will power to continue. The longer you can withstand the cravings the less cravings you will have. Eventually following the diet will become almost effortless. Losing weight is not a 1 off deal, it's changing the way you live. If you can't keep up then sulk yourself in a pint of B&J, but then stop complaining.

10. Most importantly. School > Exercise/diet > WoW. Which means you day should look like: School, homework exercise and if you have time left WoW. It's all about priorities, what do you want epics that become obsolete in 2 months or a healthy body?

So in short, first thing you need to do is go see a nutrisionist (at school or ask your doctor) once you have established a diet that goes well with your diabetes then do all of the above. Have fun losing weight.

[saberon]

Usually, I'd advise a bit on diet, but since you have Diabetes, I won't go into specifics.
That being said...
What does your mum make for dinner? Give a few, specific examples.

Diet

- Don't eat junk food at all. It's bad for you.
- Drink water. Lots of water.
- Don't drink Soda's, don't drink Juice - Stick to water (breaking this every now and then is ok... but try and stick to water for the most part).
- Eat regularly. Eat smaller portions.
- Eat fruit. Almost all sugar cravings you get should be met with fruit. Its healthy, it's delicious... what more could you want?

All of this said... I'd recommend seeing a nutritionist and/or doctor to ensure your diet is diabetes-friendly.


Weight

Your weight fluctuates. As a result, you may weigh yourself, see you've gained weight, and quit. Don't. To avoid this sort of demoralisation:
- Weigh yourself at a specific interval/time - ideally when you wake up, before you do anything else.
- Wear little/nothing, to give you a true and accurate weight.


Exercise

Motivation is the hardest thing about losing weight. And it is fucking hard. Your best bet is to find a sport. Something that you enjoy. If you are enjoying yourself, you'll be motivated to push yourself, and you will see results. It doesn't matter what you pick - Team Sports, Swimming, Running, Martial Arts... whatever you find enjoyable. Try something - if it doesn't work, try something else. Just keep looking until you find it.

Additionally, you can "sneak in" exercise. Catch a bus to school? Leave 10 minutes earlier and walk to the next stop. On the way home? Get off the stop before and walk a little farther.

Going for a run? Bring headphones and appropriate music. Anything with a good beat will do. The beat will help keep your body in rhythm, and the music will distract you from tiredness, allowing you to push harder and last longer.


And Finally...


Weight loss is not instant. You will not be fit and buff a month from now. However, if you eat well and exercise regularly, you will see results. Stick at it and you will make it.

[DrProfessorPhantomous]

Thank you for the support and all of your advice.
What's considered a 'good' breakfast?

[Projali]

Your statement of (not even obese) next to your type-1 diabetes diagnosis confuses me. Type-1 isn't related to obesity.

[Blooddeity]

Thank you for the support and all of your advice.
What's considered a 'good' breakfast?

Good breakfast would be:

A. A bowl of cereals that are rich in fiber with either semi-skimmed milk or yoghurt and a glass of OJ.
B. Wholegrain bread with a slice of cheese/turkey/roasted chicken and a glass of OJ.

The reason you want to have cheese in the morning is because it's a slow food. Meaning it will release the energy slowly during the day. That's why during the morning/or lunch time cheese is good to take. During the afternoon/evening you should avoid cheese at all costs.

[Radux]

Given you have diabetes, you'll probably want to try some sort of ketogenic diet (Paleo, for instance). This means that you will get most of your energy from Fat opposed to Carbohydrates. Not only will this help lower body fat, but it also means it limits stress you put on your pancreas (also a good thing since you can't regulate insulin naturally).

I also want to point out that you won't be cutting carbs completely. And there will a difference in the kind of carb you will want and the ones you won't. Carbs break down into two categories: Simple and Complex. Simple carbs are basically just sugar. Unfortuntely, this means cutting out all your typical bad things like soda and candy. This also means limiting your fruit intake. Complex carbs are basically starchy/plant foods that are slow to digest. In this category, I mostly just recommend vegetables. If you want to cut out all grains, more power to ya, but it's a long tough road. Vegetables, more often than not, will accomplish the same thing as stuff like pastas/whole wheat bread but are much better for you (via other nutrients).

[Vapori]

If you intend on being highly active ie: weight training, intense cardio etc., do NOT limit yourself to XXXX calories!!!!!! This is starting to become well known but a lot of uneducated people who think they know what they're talking about will still tell you to stay under X amount of calories.

I suggest you check this out.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...fat-loss/intro

[DrProfessorPhantomous]

Your statement of (not even obese) next to your type-1 diabetes diagnosis confuses me. Type-1 isn't related to obesity.

It doesn't, but at the same time it does when it comes to working out.
I was just giving a little description of myself so people understood what I was dealing with. I can't work out for an hour and expect not to have a low blood sugar, it just will always happen.

@Radux, in your opinion what food would you personally suggest then if my energy will be from fat?
Also:
I don't eat sweets or soda anyway, I drank diet soda for a very long time but stopped about a month ago. The only sweets I intake is when I'm low(blodo sugar) and I take juice and glucagon (either tablets or a shot drink kind of ordeal.).

Really keep the advice coming, it's helping a lot.
About to go run up and down my block outside for 3-4 laps.

[Radux]

When I say fats, it can as simple as using olive oil while cooking your chicken or you can get some naturally from some foods like certain fish (Salmon or Tilapia) or some dairy (dairy is kind of a wonder food... has protein, carbs and fat in it). You could also try foods like Avacado and some Nuts. There are lots of different options. You just want to get some fatty acids going on in your diet. When I say 'fats' I mean the healthy kind, not the bad kind like Trans Fats.

[Blooddeity]

If you intend on being highly active ie: weight training, intense cardio etc., do NOT limit yourself to XXXX calories!!!!!! This is starting to become well known but a lot of uneducated people who think they know what they're talking about will still tell you to stay under X amount of calories.

I suggest you check this out.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/guides/m...fat-loss/intro

Losing weight is not equal to Body building. From his openingspost it's clear he wants to lose weight and not do body building. So he has to limit the calories otherwise it's futile.

[ewhenn]

I'll tell you the big secret to health for free. Follow this equation and win.


+

+


=

Eat right, get a good amount of exercise, and drink lots of water = you will get in shape. Forget the fad diets and all of the "easy way" scams. The only real way to get healthy takes work. Notice I said healthy, not "thin". Yes, being "thin" is part of being healthy (actually body composition is more important than being "thin"), but it's not the only part of measuring your actual health. Your goal should be to get healthy, not lose weight. If you try to "easy way" out of it you are only cheating yourself. The above method always works if you are honestly doing it.