Weight Loss! - TTLG Forums

Hewer on 1/8/2008 at 01:08

Quote Posted by Yakoob

Also, in a month when I go back to college, I plan to pickup some weight lifting (yay campus gym!). I might give up jogging if I do enough leg exercises there, not sure (though I hear jogging = cardio which is better for losing weight than weight lifting).

Cardio is a must, but lifting weights helps a lot also. Muscle is metabolically expensive, so you burn more calories even at rest just to maintain it.

Pretty much agree with every thing else posted. Good luck.

Muzman on 1/8/2008 at 01:25

The stuff about not eating at night because 'night food' goes to fat where other food doesn't is misleading but there's a kernel of truth to it.
They tell people not to eat after a certain time because by then they (average white middleclass westerners) are getting tired and being tired makes you hungry, whether you need any nourishment at that point or not. This is where most people's daily intake tips from eating to overeating. So we get somewhat uninformative and confusing tips like don't snack in the afternoon, don't eat after 6pm etc.
If you're genuinely watching your joules closely this isn't an issue. But it's a strategy for people who aren't.
(at least I think this is where it comes from. Dunno for sure)

Scots Taffer on 1/8/2008 at 01:49

No matter how I eat, though it's mostly well, I won't fluctuate more than a stone (~6kg, ~14lbs) outside the weight I've been since I was 16 (11st, ~70kg, ~155lbs). My standard is 2 squares a day though, I tend to skip breakfast or amalgamate breakfast into a larger lunch and my dinner serves are larger than average, and I have been known to eat many late night sandwiches, snacks, entire meals. :)

I do feel less healthy though. I really need to exercise.

WAREAGLE on 1/8/2008 at 05:50

If youre a guy, go to GNC and get the Mega Man vitamin box, ask the guy when you should take them. They are worth their weight in gold.

Yakoob on 1/8/2008 at 06:40

Thanks for all the awesome replies :D

Quote:

1) Realize that you're not just going to go on a diet. You're going to change your lifestyle. What good does starving yourself for two months and gaining all that weight back (and then some more!) 6 months down the road? Whatever changes you take, make sure you can stick with them forever. You want to become healthier AND stay that way.

Aye! Hence why I didn't turn to some fad diet but instead decided to cut down my eating and inject more healthy stuff like lots of veggies and fruit. I am planning to make this change permanent.

Quote Posted by WAREAGLE

You are eating FAR too little!!! * 1000

As I said, that was my concern. My estimate was based on the fact that according to multiple online "daily required calorie intake" calculators, I need something like 2000-2400 cals a day. Further, 500/day = 1 pound and it is safe to lose max 2 pounds, so cutting my eating by 1000 cals seemed reasonable. But yea, even so, I was concerned about this and you guys convinced me so. I'm stepping up to 1,500 a day (and perhaps a bit more on days I exercise). I agree with Starrfall that 2000 seems too much. I am also gonna spread my meals out so I have around 5-6 a day.

Quote:

Sitting around all day and then going to the gym and running for an hour followed by more sitting kind of confuses your body, if you are going to run/jog etc try and do it a few times a day when you can, its better for you and you'll feel better.

That's, unfortunately, unfeasible as I have a 10 hour block in the middle of my day where I am pretty much forced to sit (either on the bus or in front my a computer working). Maybe when I go back to campus and have a tad more flexible schedule.

Quote:

Take up athletic hobbies that you enjoy. Forcing yourself to run 4 times a week if you loathe it is not sustainable. Sooner or later it will rain and you won't go for a few days and before you know it, it's over. If you do enjoy it then good for you, just be careful of your knees - running when that heavy can do damage.

Well I live in Cali and it doesn't rain here, so that shouldn't be an issue :P Though I totally see what you're saying. I wish I could pick up bicycling (which is probably my favorite athletic activity), but due to the uber hilly terrain around my campus, it's not enjoyable at all :(

Quote:

Then I lost more weight by running - not jogging

Aye, but with my utter out-of-shapeness, I could not even run a minute without dying. Hence why I started with jogging and took it slow - I wanted to build up my endurance without overkill. Like I said, I already went from 5-30 mins so it's a biiiiig improvement for me and I think I can start doing harder stuff.
I definitely like the walk/jog/run alternation route (someone also said sprint, but I don't see a difference between this and run; unless it refers to some hyper unattainable speed for me, cause I can't go faster than my run).
And like I said, once I am back on campus I am gonna start going to gym and doing some weights.

Mr. K. on 1/8/2008 at 08:30

You also have to do some tests by yourself, everybody's different. I lose more weight by doing HIIT (raising metabolism) than regular cardio, but I have a friend who responds better to regular cardio.

Heavy weights WILL help you lose weight if you have a sensible eating plan, by promoting metabolism and hormonal responses. But for weight loss, you want to combine them with aerobics, low impact aerobics for you until you trim down some fat, then you might want to try HIIT. Low impact aerobics, as stated by others before are swimming and cycling. They won't put undue stress on your joints. I personally would go for swimming, but whatever amuses you better is good.

Please allow me to recommend you bodybuilding resources again, those people live by weight control. Just don't go into any weird dieting plan, eating natural and varied foods will serve you better until you have learnt how does your body respond to different stimuli.

Naartjie on 1/8/2008 at 12:52

I have lost about 5-6kg over the past month by the plain fact that I spend 50-70 hours a week engaged in low-intensity cardio working in a restaurant. This does mean that my biggest meal of the day is when I get home at about 11/12, right before I sleep, and I usually have a few beers at this point to wind down. Cancelled out by all the time I spend on my feet I guess. I have more or less plateaued in the past week, am going back to a conventional eating pattern and exercise programme once I'm back at university in a few weeks' time.

Jennie&Tim on 1/8/2008 at 14:29

Small caveat to what Stitch said, I had gestational diabetes and was told that people who are diabetic (and many are without knowing it) should have a small snack right before bed, otherwise the liver will pump large amounts of glucose into your blood and you'll get sugar swings that are bad for your health. It was the only part of my blood sugar I couldn't control by diet, I had to take some insulin or my morning numbers were too high. I don't know if you have diabetes or pre-diabetes; but if that's one impetus for your weight loss, then you should have a bedtime snack.

Also, and this may help the sugar binger person, get enough sleep. Sleep and hunger are related strongly, and studies have shown that the hormone that makes you hungry rises if you short your sleep.

Another thing, pay attention to your hunger, and eat if you are hungry, then stop when you are full. Some researchers studied French eating habits versus American eating habits (the French are, on average, slimmer) and found that Americans don't pay attention to hunger cues, we eat until the plate is empty or the show is over instead of stopping when we're full like the French do. Eat at a table, without distractions, and pay attention to what your body says. Also pay attention to how it responds, if you are cranky, foggy, and thinking is just too much work; then you probably have cut calories too far because your body isn't working right.

Finally, don't stress too much about your weight. There are also many studies out there showing that diets don't work long term. Most people regain within five years and weight/metabolism is strongly influenced by your genes. Exercise and eating lots of plant foods is good for everybody, and there was in fact a study of diabetic patients where they split them into a diet group given standard weight loss advice and a healthy eating/exercise group. Twice as many people stayed with the healthy eating/exercise group and they had better blood pressure/cholesterol/blood lipid numbers after two years. So even if you don't lose weight, a good diet and exercise will help you feel and be a healthier person.

Yakoob on 1/8/2008 at 16:43

I don't have diabetes (not that I know of, anyway), and besides being overweight and some most-likely related occasional back pains, I'm actually in a pretty good health.

Quote Posted by Jennie&Tim

Hence why I am not dieting. I am changing my overall eating habits so that I can drop down to my optimal weight and maintain it. I also don't buy into the "your body has a natural genetic set weight point of 200 pounds and if you go below it you'll DIE" fat-activist stuff, if that's what you were getting at, sorry.

I tried a bit of HIIT in the form of walk/jog/run/jog/walk/repeat and was more tired (obviously) and my ankles and shins hurt a bit (unlike when I just jog), so I don't know if I will keep at it with my current weight. I guess, like Koki said, "Jogging is for slim people," but replace jogging with running in this case (makes it even more applicable, eh?) And to clarify why I do jogging - I will be going back to campus soon so I don't want to enroll at a gym. I also don't have a bike (and yes I've been trying to find a cheap one for a while but no dice). So that leaves jogging as my only option at this point, but once I'm back on campus I'm definitely kicking in other stuff.

Also, I am gonna aim for 1500 cal on my rest days and ~1800 on my workout days, that should be much healthier for me. It's a bit funny, though, after eating less for the past two months I'm actually finding it hard to figure out what else to throw into my diet to get that high :laff:

D'Juhn Keep on 1/8/2008 at 17:30

Quote Posted by Jennie&Tim

Finally, don't stress too much about your weight. There are also many studies out there showing that diets don't work long term. Most people regain within five years and weight/metabolism is strongly influenced by your genes. Exercise and eating lots of plant foods is good for everybody, and there was in fact a study of diabetic patients where they split them into a diet group given standard weight loss advice and a healthy eating/exercise group. Twice as many people stayed with the healthy eating/exercise group and they had better blood pressure/cholesterol/blood lipid numbers after two years. So even if you don't lose weight, a good diet and exercise will help you feel and be a healthier person.

I find this a bit misguided. Diet should be a healthy way of life, not some fad to follow for a year and then put weight back on. "Dieting" is stupid and sucks. Having a healthy diet is what you want. Genes and metabolism may well play a part in your weight but the amount of people who are limited by their genes in what their weight can be, as opposed to limited by their willpower, is infintessimal.

"split them into a diet group given standard weight loss advice and a healthy eating/exercise group."

You may want to rephrase this as these groups should be indentical!!