Overweight. Need tips.

[xile]

Um really quick easy stuff would be this. Stop eating processed food as much as possible i know that when i run, even if i just replace all my processed food with whole real food for like 3 days i run significantly better with more energy. also avoid caffeine, and change all drinks to water. Because youre bigger you should see relatively larger drops in weight even if you just switch from say cokes to water.

[Deleted]

Just some helpfull information here mate just a few baseline tips you should follow if you want to lose weight and get stronger/in better shape:
Your protein should be coming from (Lean cuts of meat, eggs, chicken, fish, nuts, milk, cottage cheese)
Your carbohydrates (carbs) should be coming from vegetables mainly. Grains are ok, but you should only eat oatmeal, whole grain pasta and brown rice, and keep them at a minimum.

Your fats (healthy fats) should be coming from fish, nuts, olive oil, advocado and such

Basically, you should be eating lots of lean meat and low fat diary products, lots of vegetables, decent amount of fruit, some fatty fish and nuts, and some grains here and there.

I put up a diet plan for you, try to follow it. You can modify and adjust it to your needs, but follow the tips I gave you.

Breakfast:
2-3 Hardboiled / Scrambled Eggs
Oatmeal with skim-milk
Vegetables

Snack:
Handful of nuts, some fruit

Lunch:
Either have a chicken or turkey sandwich with whole grain bread. If you want to use mayo, use low fat.
If you don't have sandwiches, or want some variation, eat a can of tuna (tuna in water) and spice it up and put some olive oil on it. Tastes really good.
Glass of skim milk
Vegetables

Dinner:
Either lean cuts of chicken, turkey, beef or fish, or what ever meat your family is having
2-3 table spoons of low fat cottage cheese. Spice it up with some pepper and garlic and it tastes great.
Vegetables

Pre-bed snack:
Some nuts or some fruit.


Also, drink lots of water. No sodas or juices. (Glass of orange juice with breakfast is ok) Cola light, diet coke or what ever you drink in england is OK, but keep it at a minimum.
No candy, potato crisps or what ever. (It's okay to have one "cheat" day per week, where you can eat fast food, but again - don't over do it)

Try to follow these tips and I promise you, you will lose weight.


For exercise, you should really try to get into a gym and lift some weights (Not machines, they're for the elderly! Real men lift weights.). Get a friend to go with you, makes it all more motivating and enjoyable.
Also, try to see if you can run a couple times a week. If you're not in a good enough shape to run, take some long walks or ride your bicycle.

Good luck man, it's very hard but it's worth it in the end when you're slim and you can think to yourself you done it! I took the same path too.

[Aleysia]

I hope you're still reading this thread after 7 pages.


I'll get flamed for this, but that's fine, it's the kind of flak people would've gotten for telling everyone the world is round back when they all thought it was flat.

Try and get your hands on a copy of Gary Taubes' "Good Calories, Bad Calories", or watch the short talk he gives here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...41487661765149

The book goes into a whole lot more detail as to how we reached the current state of nutrition research, and if you know anything about how the politics of large institutions are, it'll make a lot of sense. Simply put, mostly everything we think we know about nutrition and the metabolic syndrome (obesity, diabetes, heart disease) is the result of some initial poorly interpreted research several decades ago that got bought into by the government and became mainstream thought.

[Liagala]

I haven't read the whole thread, so this might already be out there, but the one thing I've found to be the most helpful is purely mental. I've been losing some weight, and I find it impossible to stick to the diet/exercise thing the way I should. I just plain love food and wow too much, and every now and then, I slack off. I go 2-3 days without exercising because "we're raiding tonight, I need to farm", or I go out with the girls one night and have fettuccine alfredo at Olive Garden followed by 3-4 froofy, fruity, full-of-sugar drinks. I buy the candy bar at the check-out in the grocery store, eat it in the car, and slip the wrapper into the trash before my BF sees it. It happens, sorry. In previous (failed) attempts to diet, when those things happened, I beat myself up over it. I felt terrible, thinking that I was weak, always going to be overweight, etc. Feeling bad over it made it more likely I'd screw up again, and inside of a week I was off the diet and doing whatever. Needless to say, that wasn't very effective.

Don't expect perfection - you're going to slip now and then. Accept it, don't be upset over it, and get "back on the wagon" afterward. Just do the best you can with it. Instead of dwelling on the candy bar this afternoon, think about the healthy dinners you've had for the past 5 days instead of Domino's. Those far outweigh one Reese's.

[Deleted]

Only drink water for a while. It is the best drink anyways.

Very good tip.

I lost a lot of weight fast by just drinking water.

[gamingmuscle]

And no, lol peanut butter isn't ok as a dip. If it's had lightly spread its fair game but as a dip, no. Nuts and things like peanuts are fatty anyways, add to that the fact it's butter and you've found your first no no

Peanut better and nuts are AWESOME diet foods. Lots of proteins and nutrients. They are high in fat so you should not go overboard. But celery is basically a stick of water and fiber, it has little in the way of calories. Not sure on if its even worth eating nutrient wise. Can't stand the stuff myself.

If you have like a tablespoon or two of peanut butter with your celery snack that is probably fine.

[Jeffari]

The best advice I can give to someone looking to change their lifestyle is "moderation". 99% of the time people will think it's possible to go from one extreme to the other and I can assure you that does not work. Slowly start making healthier choices and allow yourself to have 1 cheat day where you go out and "indulge" at a restaurant or a candy bar, whatever your cheat food may be (keep it within reason though)

I personally live out of my blender. I make 2-3 smoothies per day since I work 10 hours and go to night school, I don't have the time to prepare perfect meals. I try to make 1 chicken breast /w brown rice and steamed veggies once per day but sometimes it doesn't happen.

Bottom line is, don't do this for someone else. You have to be motivated yourself to reach your goals and until then, you will only fail. A good rule of thumb is every 3300 calories you intake = roughly 1 lbs. I didn't read if you were a guy or girl but look up your daily intake and try to burn that much throughout the day in calories, if not more.

Best of luck

[Forsedar]

I knew someone who lost nearly 100 pounds... I was shocked and asked him how he managed to do that. His EXACT words were "I stopped eating like a fat person." I am completely serious. He didn't really exercise, he just dieted.

[gamingmuscle]

I accidentally bought the Healthy kind of Jiff Peanut Butter.. I'm assuming that's better? 33% Less Sodium and Less Sugar. However, It tastes awful. If I put it on Celery, I'm sure it'll taste great

Buy natural peanut butter. Look at the ingredients. If it lists more then peanuts and MAYBE salt it is crap.

Natural peanut butter can be annoying since the oil will separate out you can either stir it every time or put it in the fridge.

[Laqweeta]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am indeed reading this post, still. And I thank everyone who has words of encouragement or are at-least trying to help <3.
For 1 more time/clarification

I am a Girl

[Jeffari]

Buy natural peanut butter. Look at the ingredients. If it lists more then peanuts and MAYBE salt it is crap.

Natural peanut butter can be annoying since the oil will separate out you can either stir it every time or put it in the fridge.

It's all about the almond butter bro. Stuff is legit and I always toss a scoop into my shakes.

[Saverem]

I suggest you start small, this isn't the kind of thing where you'll see results in a few days unless you actually work at it.

Start off by cutting your carb intake. Carbs are you worse enemy, as well as Saturated fat. Stop eating any greasy food and start eating lean food. If you don;t know where/what those are, you ou can go to any grocery store and buy the "lean" frozen foods there. Chicken, fish, salad, veggies, fruit.

As for exercise, something as simple as walking outside or on a treadmill for 30 minutes will help. After a week, you can try walking for 5 minutes, jogging for 1, then walking for another 5, jogging for 1. As you progress, you'll want to jog more and walk less. For you, cardio is what you'll want to concentrate on. Lifting weights may be of some value, but as for losing weight, nothing beats cardio exercises.


Also, getting your heart rate up and keeping it up isn't a bad thing, but when you're starting off, it's not a good idea to keep it up for extended periods of time because your body isn't used to it. I suggest building it up, or you might actually give yourself a heart attack.

[MasterHamster]

Just wanted to let you guys know that I am indeed reading this post, still. And I thank everyone who has words of encouragement or are at-least trying to help <3.
For 1 more time/clarification

I am a Girl

One of the easiest ways of starting off a new long term diet is to cut back on carbs, then start your day with a couple of boiled eggs. Some mayonnaise on top is good too. The lack of carbs coupled with eggs for breakfast reduces your hunger and eventual sugar-craves substantially. I could probably go for 36 hours on a couple of eggs without feeling too much hunger... (don't, it's moronic) it's a very potent way of reducing eating.

Just never skip too many meals... atleast three per day. You need fats and proteines (chicken and such is a godsend) without adding carbs (you know, rice, potato, bread)

I suppose the most dull thing about this diet is that it doesn't really leave much room for small things, letting yourself go on weekdays will most likely screw your metabolism over completely, setting you back.

Also, a bit of self-esteem goes a long way to keep you going with this.

Good luck

/Lost 25 pounds since mid May

[MasterHamster]

Mannn, I tried cutting soda out of my diet a few days ago. Could not do it. I've significantly cut down on my intake though, I suppose that counts for something. Down from 4-5 sprites a day to just one. Although I'm nowhere near overweight.

Get a buddy to work out with. That's one of the best things in the world you can do. Having someone there to support you makes all the difference.

The sucky thing about sodas is all the sugars, i.e carbs
Diet sodas are no better, the substitutes have the same effects =/

Really, water isn't that much worse than soda (edit: satisfaction/taste!!)... granted I'm a bit odd and barely EVER feel thirst... which kinda disturbs me. It's like, start my day with flushing my mouth after brushing my teeth, taking a couple of caffeine pills, then I'll most likely not feel any thirst until I go to bed, if even then

[Tyrianth]

Mannn, I tried cutting soda out of my diet a few days ago. Could not do it. I've significantly cut down on my intake though, I suppose that counts for something. Down from 4-5 sprites a day to just one. Although I'm nowhere near overweight.

Get a buddy to work out with. That's one of the best things in the world you can do. Having someone there to support you makes all the difference.

Having one pop a day wont hurt you, it's all about moderation. For example I started my "diet" about 2 weeks ago. I put it in scare quotes, because it's not really a diet, I'm just trying to eat a bit healthier. So now instead of eating out 3 meals a day, I only eat out for one (lunch) and it's usually something like wendy's or McDonalds, even though those are horrible foods to eat while trying to lose weight I'm still down 10 pounds.

[Jeffari]

The sucky thing about sodas is all the sugars, i.e carbs
Diet sodas are no better, the substitutes have the same effects =/

Really, water isn't that much worse than soda... granted I'm a bit odd and barely EVER feel thirst... which kinda disturbs me. It's like, start my day with flushing my mouth after brushing my teeth, taking a couple of caffeine pills, then I'll most likely not feel any thirst until I go to bed, if even then

Water isn't that much worse than soda, what?? High calorie drinks are by far one of the worst things for you, especially anything from places like Starbucks. At least with food your body has to work to break it down, that's why eating whole food is better then protein shakes.

Water is hands down the best thing for you. I know when I'm running or working out lots my body is in dire need of water. I chug around 64 ounces a day which is like 8 cans of soda worthy. Why are you taking caffine pills? The only thing they do for you is make you sweat more water weight and make you feel less hungry. If anything, you should be eating more throughout the day just in smaller portions. 5-7 meals a day for me but I'm pretty big into weight lifting so that's just how I do it. Skipping a meal is one of the worst things you can do to your body.

[cmilla]

Any exercise is good exercise. If all you were capable of was flapping your arms like a chicken, I'd still say do it until your face turns red.

As someone who has always been skinny (with the help of a "temporary overactive thyroid") it's a little hard to relate, but I try. I generally think badly on people who are overweight. It doesn't mean we can't be best friends, and it's your body/life to do with what you want. It's only when you start complaining to me about a lack of energy or pain w/e that I am going to get mad and say something like "well look at you". But I also know it's not always your/their fault. I've had, and still may have an overactive thyroid. There are people out their like myself who can eat all night, sleep all day, and not put on a pound, with or without exercise. And there the people with under active thyroids and similar conditions. Those people don't deserve to be treated like lazy shits or w/e.

You are seeking help, so already better than most people with that problem. Exercise as much as you safely can. Don't overdue it though. I'm no trainer, but I would think a fat living person is better than a thin one dying of a heart attack. Also, while healthy eating should be obvious, if you find yourself overeating, try and address that as well. Calorie wise, I am pretty sure a 400 lbs man doesn't need twice the nourishment of a 200 lbs man, even if you feel hungry.

[MasterHamster]

Water isn't that much worse than soda, what?? High calorie drinks are by far one of the worst things for you, especially anything from places like Starbucks. At least with food your body has to work to break it down, that's why eating whole food is better then protein shakes.

Water is hands down the best thing for you. I know when I'm running or working out lots my body is in dire need of water. I chug around 64 ounces a day which is like 8 cans of soda worthy. Why are you taking caffine pills? The only thing they do for you is make you sweat more water weight and make you feel less hungry. If anything, you should be eating more throughout the day just in smaller portions. 5-7 meals a day for me but I'm pretty big into weight lifting so that's just how I do it. Skipping a meal is one of the worst things you can do to your body.

Woops, a bit unclear, I actually meant the taste D: Ice cold water could be as satisfying as some coke... only a million times better
Better edit.

The caffeine pills is a bit of an oddity, they increase body temperature to increase passive energy burn, however I think it's a bit dodgy and I haven't taken any in weeks now... but they do reduce hunger. Or maybe it's just the placebo-ghost

My current idea is to eat a lot of eggs spanning the day
2 when waking up, another a couple hours later (lunch) another 3-4 hours afterwards, end the day with meat, usually chicken, perhaps some rice (started to replace with salads instead though)
As a complement I had some daily vitamin pill and some protein powder whenever I feel I've eaten too little meat... and some extra after workouts

Granted most dieticians would call me an idiot but it seems to be working well so far. However my calorie-intake is most likely far too low.
I've just never liked the "-500 cal/day" thing, what is 500kcal?
? it's near impossibly to pinpoint such a low number, you'll just end up either at near 0 deficit, or perhaps even above (calculating ones base energy need is a bit uncertain). However you might see changes in terms of increased muscle-mass, but weight stays the same

[Ratboy]

Thanks for the reply . Running is kind of out of the question, for now. I've popped by Knee so many times. I may look into getting a Gym Membership at my local gym. It's literally 2 blocks away. I could walk there, get on that Elliptical and turn on my Ipod.

I'm at the same BMI as you and the Elliptical is great! It took a few times to get use to the way it moves but after that it's great. I can go a lot longer on it then I could on a treadmill or stationary bike. But start off slow, figure out what your limits are and over time you'll be able to increase what you can do. Also if you can you should talk with a doctor or at least trainer at the gym about how to safely start working out.

[scotems]

The Primal Blueprint. Check it out, it is the shit. It teaches you how to live a healthy lifestyle in all aspects, including nutrition, exercise, and overall behavior.