Strange Famous

OK, I am 280 lbs, I have been trying to lose weight for the last year and I have stayed at this size... its started to scare me a little, Im 26 now and by the time Im 30 aI think it will become a health issue... I tried Atkins and just couldnt stick to it... I play some sport, but I find it hard to be motivated to go tpo gym 3/4 times a week - I work long hours and after a shitty day I just cant face it, I am a heavy drinker, I eat bad food most the time, I play quite a lot of tennis and squash (ever week) and for a big guy I think I am quite fit in myself (I have only lost 1 squash game out of 30 or so this year)...

But I REALLY REALLY want to lose weigtht,,, as well as the health issues, it makes me feel so ugly and it saps all my self confidence. I KNOW the basic answer is simple, I am too fat because I comsume more calories than I use... I KNOW I am fat cos I eat and drink too much and dont get enough exercise... what can I do? I mean, has anyone here been in a similar situation of trying to lose weight for a long time and not being able too? I go on diets all the time, lose 10 lbs, then just drift off them and put it back on again... I get depressed and start drinking again, and it is all just calories making me fat

btw, Im 5 9, so I really at least 100 lbs overweight, I know whatever I can do has to be long term and it will take at least a year to get to a decent or normal size... I keep thinking if I can just get a little way further my momentum can carry me on, but how does one get past dieting for just two weeks and giving up and making a better effort at it all?

It is all so stupid. I mean, I know how I can come across, but I am not really such a stupid person, intellectually I can understand the risks of being my size, and how much better it would be to be fitter, and I can understand that all is required is some willpower, but still I dont do it.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

stevie667

It's good to hear that you've taken the first steps already, now lets see what we can do to get those pounds off.


Firstly, set yourself some goals. Going on a diet for a few weeks not really knowing how much weight you want to lose doesn't work, as you can attest. Set yourself a goal of dropping 10 pounds over a month or two, then when you reach that goal, set yourself another.
Break your bigger goal (for instance looking like hurcules on the beach) into smaller goals of losing weight bits at a time, putting on the muscle, riding your bike e.t.c. Breaking it up helps to make where you want to go that little bit less daunting, and that little bit easier.


Secondly, get some regular cardio in somewhere. Even if you just go for a walk to the park once a day, or a quick cycle, something to keep you active. Do more squash and tennis, next season don't lose that one game.


Thirdly, start cutting down on junk foods. Don't go cold turkey, it ain't going to happen, but just slowly over a couple of weeks cut down on the junk food intake. Buy yourself some salad, or some nice big peices of steak.
Whenever you go to eat something, flip over the packet and take a look at the nutritional content. Avoid foods high in sugars and fats, High protein foods are good as they make your body work harder to get the energy, burning more calories.
Drink iced water, it helps bring your metabolism up, and burns alot of calories.
Don't be afraid to cheat every once in a while, just don't make a habit of it.

Same thing applies with the drinking. We all like a good pint, don't deny yourself that, just don't drink as much. If your really desperate, try vokda, it has roughly a quater of the calories of beer, but still gets you nicely drunk.


Fourth, build some muscle. Get yourself a few weights at home you can tinker about with. As you start to lose fat, you'll be able to see the muscles coming through, which is a great boost to your esteem.


The hardest part about starting diets and similar things is getting going. Once you reach a month, then your already in the cycle of what foods to eat, what things to do, and it's really not that hard as your mind just goes into autopilot.
Look at yourself in the mirror, say that you refuse to be this way anymore, and just plough into making yourself the person that you've always wanted to be.

powerclown

There's nothing in the world harder than changing your lifestyle.

Walking on water is probably easier.

I'm in somewhat the same situation, where I need to lose weight and lack motivation. A week ago I joined a gym, and so far have gone twice. I don't particularly like it and I don't know whether or not I will be able to keep going. Plus there's the whole 'eating right' thing to maintain. It just seems to be a do it or don't thing.

Don't know what to tell you, that you don't already seem to know.
Diuretics?

Good luck...

matteo101

I think the best atmosphere to really get excersize is in a gym environment. I think it pushes you harder to work hard, because of the other people, and if you know you are paying money for a membership it will encourage you to go and get your moneys worth. Just make sure the gym is somewhat close to where you live, or close to where you work. Make it a habit to go everday, or 5 days a week, and you don't even have to lift weights at the begining. Just go on a cardio machine for 15 minutes, and work up a good sweat.
As for your diet, just make sure to try and eat healthy. If you want fast food, try going to subway instead of mcdonalds. And instead of getting mayo, get mustard. Instead of getting salami, get turkey. Simple things like that. Don't deny yourself good food once in a while, but eat things in moderation, never over eat.

st33lr4t

your telling us you want to lose weight, you know what the problems/solutions are, but they are too hard so your not going to do anything about it. not to be a dick here but all you are doing is making excuses for yourself...i really dont think your ready for a lifestyle change that will give you the results your looking for. losing a significant amount of weight isnt a hobby you pickup when you feel like it, its a 24 hour job. this is not a diet you will be on...this is a lifestyle change.

personally i would head over to www.bodybuilding.com and read their nutrition and fatloss forums. learn what your body needs to achieve the goal you have set so you can tailor your own 'diet' that fits your needs. plus there are lots of other people there in the same boat as you which might help your motivation when you see their before and after pictures.

i jumped around on a couple of diets trying to shed 50lbs i was carrying around. i was defeated just like yourself. i tried all i could do and the weight just wouldnt come off. after learning what MY body needed to achieve my goal i change my lifestyle to accomdate things and poof....i dropped the weight in a year and look like a new person.

get strong and just do it.

TheKak

Eating right is a huge part of it. Start with a simple plan. For me, I'm dropping weight with no problem using a basic Slim Fast plan. I have a shake for breakfast, and usually a piece of fruit to go with it. Have a healthy snack mid morning, eat a reasonable lunch (I eat good food here, but the thing is that I don't eat nearly as much of it). Another healthy snack (like a piece of fruit, or maybe a protein shake), and I eat a Slim Fast dinner for dinner. I have to say that the macaroni and cheese, and the fettucini alfredo taste REALLY good. Another snack sometime after dinner, but not too close to bed time.

Another tip that has really helped me out: When you are feeling hungry, drink water. If you are hungry 80% of the time, then you are probably actually thirsty. This has helped me A LOT!

Good luck though on whatever you choose to do, and just remember it takes time, so think positive and keep at it!

__________________
Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm a schizophrenic and so am I.

Trisk

Extreme diets usually don't work. They usually call for extreme measures that most normal people can't stick to due to lack of willpower, lack of time, lack of patience etc....and a lot of people end up binging once they've reached their goals and ruining the whole thing.

You should try to just limit yourself - instead of buying the box of oreos, buy the small pack of 6 (this way you can make sure you won't eat the whole box). Eventually, you might work down from there to getting no oreos.

Drinks have a LOT of calories. I'm not saying your an alcoholic but if you can't just cut that out, you might need to go to AA meetings or something.

I know people who have lost a lot of weight on wieght watchers. You might want to try that because it allows you to eat whatever you want within "point limits". However, I believe there is a monthly cost so unless you're really serious about losing weight, don't do it.

Also...you could try getting a nutritionist and/or a trainer. A trainer will help you set goals for yourself and teach you certain excersizes to do to reach your goals faster...but since they're expensive, you might want to just get one once or twice to teach you the basics.
A nutritionist will evaluate what you eat and tell you how you should change your diet to reach your goals.

Drink water when you are hungry, like TheKak said...but if you just feel like munching on stuff a lot, it might be good to get baby carrots, celery, etc instead of chips. I believe carrots and celery are some of those "negative calorie foods", but if not, they can't have too many and they're healthier than chips. For other options, I sometimes suck on/munch on ice cubes or gum to stop myself from eating crap.

Don't keep too much yummy junk food in the house. I find it really hard to resist it when it's there. The best thing to do is just force yourself to avoid buying it and once you're at home, you won't have it there to eat.

If you join a gym, make sure it's close to you. I used to be part of this gym really far away from my house and I hardly ever went because it was just such a pain in the ass to go over there. Ever since I joined a gym across the street from my house, I've been going every day/every other day and I've seen a lot more improvements.

If you like any sports (like Tennis), try to do that more often...and don't stop when you break a sweat. Do it until you're dripping sweat.

Oh yeah...and a lot of people will say "it's okay to designate one day to eat whatever yuo want but just don't go overboard". I think that's a great way to mantain a diet. If you eat super-healthy all week, it's okay to reward yourself with some candy or a nice juicy cheeseburger at the end of the week. Just don't eat a quart of ice cream as a reward

apeman

well, for what it's worth here's my 2 pennorth:

1) make small changes to diet that you can stick to
2) if exercise ain't fun it's a lot harder to motivate yourself ... i like doing weights cos you get to see results quickly, and mountain biking cos I'm a speed freak i like running too but that's definitely an acquired taste
3) either get a routine, or someone else to exercise with
4) let us know how you get every few weeks if that helps

good luck dude

__________________
pain is inevitable but misery is optional - stick a geranium in your hat and be happy

Sargeman

I would also suggest and I know everyone is different, to hang out with someone that can help motivate you. Such as a friend that will go walking with you or that you can play a little ball with who can actuall get you to go out and do things. He won't take you to McDonald's all the time or who will order you something sensible.

Sometimes your lack of will power is someone else's strengths.

__________________
...because there are no facts, there is no truth, just data to be manipulated. I can get you any results you like, what's it worth to you.....

wonderwench

The key in your post is that you say you are a heavy drinker. This is the crux of your weight issue (at least in terms of lifestyle habits). Alcoholic beverages are empty calories - and stimulate the appetite. If I were you, I would talk to my doctor about this. If you are having trouble stopping drinking - ask for some antabuse to help you adjust your lifestyle.

Molo

It's good to see that you have at least tried a few times to lose weight. That means that you do have the motivation inside of you to accomplish what needs to be done.

Now, coming from a rookie, this probably won't mean much. But I was 320 pounds and I wasn't even 20! I managed to lose about 50 (and I'm still losing), in around 6 months, even though over the past months (with summertime and all), my diet went downhill.

Baby-steps is the easiest way. I went to my local fitness store and purchased an exercise bike for around 350 bucks (CAD). Now the thing they try and do with exercise bikes is put a weight limitation on them. Ignore it. If the bike doesn't shake when you ride it, you're going to be fine (for me to get a bike that would've supported 300+ pounds it would've cost around 2000 dollars).

On the first day I rode it for 5 minutes. Only 5. Then for everyday after that I increased it by 5 minutes until I hit one hour. So 2 weeks later I was doing an hours bike ride everyday, without over exerting myself because it was a simple workout. Then with the newfangled bikes, all you do, instead of cranking up the time, is crank up the resistance. It gets easier and easier as you go, it's just the start that is the hardest.

And as most have been saying, cutting some of the drinks out of your diet could greatly help.

Best of luck.

Cowman

Also, remember this:
Most Americans, when thinking about what to eat, think of these three things in THIS order:

A) how tasty is it?
B) how affordable is it?
C) what can it do for my body?

In order to truley lose weight and start living a new life style, you need to switch that around and start thinking :

A) what can it do for my body?
B) how affordable is it
and THEN
C) how tasty is it?

Once you start thinking of how healthy and affordable it is, how tasty it is will start to mean less and less to you..

__________________
You don't like my point of view..but im insane

sailor

Ive found the trick is moderation. If you just *love* drinking a couple of beers after dinner, or if you have a soft spot for, say, chocolate chip cookies, thats fine. What you have to do is have moderation. Instead of drinking the two beers every night, knock it down to one a night, then one every few nights. If you love cookies, have one or two once a week. By cutting cold turkey, you create too much temptation.

Speaking of temptation, try getting rid of it. Get rid of the junk food in your house. Dont go to restaurants where you know you'll be tempted to eat too much.

And remember--it takes diet *and* exercise. Both have to be done together for effective weight loss.

__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

jmad

As far as the exercise aspect goes, I'd have to stress two things that have already been said:
1) Start with babysteps (small goals so you don't lose motivation)
2) Find someone to go to the gym with. Honestly, I have been going to the gym by myself for the last year or so, and have no problem with it. However, if I hadn't been motivated by friends to get to the gym initially, I might not be going at all anymore.

Good luck and don't give up

Sugar&Spice

My mom wanted to lose weight so she joined weight watchers. Now, I never thought any of those diet plans would really work. But, you don't have to go out and buy new expensive food. You can eat whatever is in your house. Plus, if you need the motivation they have meetings every week that you can go to and talk to other people in your exact same shoes and cheer each other on.

__________________
-Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Cowman

Weightwatchers is simply paying for someone to simplify calorie counting for you.

__________________
You don't like my point of view..but im insane

Ilow

as several people have noted, try to find a buddy to share your "pain" with, the extra support nutritionally and working out is a big help. I also suggest going to a site like bodybuilding.com and developing a reasonable nutrition plan you can stick with. another thing that I lilke to do is develop a few "staple" meals that you have several times a week, these should be cheap and easy as well as nutritionally sound (tuna and rice, spinach salad with chicken, etc). Also, squash is a great activity, however it isn't the best for losing weight, it it too much stopping and starting to be effective. you need consistant activity over an extended period, say 30 minutes or so at least 3x per week, and this activity may be walking light jogging biking etc, anything to get your heart rate up in a good fat burning level (say 145 bpm or so). anyhow don't give up and just do what you can when you can and you should see some steady progress.

__________________
"Religion is the one area of our discourse in which it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about"
--Sam Harris

Harshaw

While you are right about it take a while to get to a "decent" size. You would be supprised how fast you can expect to see results. I'm visiting a friend who has tons of pictures of me in high school, and it is amazing to compare them to how I look now. Most of my recent weight loss took place in the first 3 months of my diet.

__________________
This too shall pass.

Xell101

I'm in the same boat, course not nearly as far in. (probably only about 40-50 lbs of fat) I'm 288, 6' 1" and trying to change lifestyle. I'm finding it enourmously difficult. I'm used to consuming huge quantities of super tastey food that puts me *insert gesticulation* this close to feeling my arteries harden as the food goes down. Tis quite a pain in the ass to work at.
What I find as the easiest way to go about doing it is to make some real tastey food (seeing as how real tastey usually mean good ingredients, which aren't cheap, but much in the same way huge amounts of cheap food aren't) and savor as much as possible, and before I get started eating, think about how much food it actually is, not how much my stomach or mouth feels like it is, but how much is actually there, and the idea of that much food being in my stomach and feeling that that is a reasonable amount of food. It's slowly working for me, I'm only eating unreasonable amounts food, not the usual 'larger than my head' serving size. Now that I think about I must've been burning an obscene amount of calories daily.

sailor

Yes, but that can be a very good thing. Having someone else keep track of it keeps you accurate and prevents your fudging of the numbers. It also provides the feeling that you arent in it alone. Weight Watchers is about the only "popular" diet that really makes sense--eat balanced meals, keep track of what you eat, and exercise. I think its a very good thing for people looking to lose weight. It doesnt promise any magical results, but instead relies on good, solid advice--watch what you eat.

__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

majik_6

I was in the same situation as yourself a while back. I graduated highschool at 5' 10" 300 pounds. I tried a ton of diet/training regimens, most consisting of heavy workouts almost everyday and very strict well-planned meals. If I would have been able to stick with them, I'd probably be in INCREDIBLE shape now. However, they were a little too difficult for me to keep up with.

I realized however that any change that I could maintain would help, even if not as much.

Now I don't know about you, but for me to maintain the weight at 280-300 pounds, I had to eat an unbelievable amount of food. It didn't seem like much, but when I tallied it up I was eating 6000+ calories minimum of really shitty stuff. In college, I'd do things like order three medium pizzas at night and have them gone by breakfast/lunch the next day. I started cutting down to what a "normal" sized person would eat. Not a bodybuilder or a health nut, but an average joe. I still ate pizza, but I'd only eat 3-4 slices (or a little more sometimes). I'd still get a veg. burger and fries, but I'd only get one order of fries and one sandwich. I already drank diet instead of regular pop, so that helped, but I just started making those kinds of changes. If I wanted cake, I ate cake. But only one normal piece, not the 1/3-1/2 a cake that I'd been eating. I started feeling better about myself and I really noticed a lot more energy. Next thing I knew I was down to 230 even, and the weight loss had straightened my back out to a point where I'm now around 6'0" tall.

I realize that to achieve some serious fitness, I'm going to have to buckle down and start exercising hard again (now I do minimal physical activity which is more than I was getting, but probably not enough) as well as eating a more balanced diet, but I also can't ignore the fact that I lost 70 pounds in about a year (I graduated at 300, but didn't start losing weight until last summer, with most of it coming off from last November until this April/May).

It's all about finding what will work for you, and finding people that can help you stay accountable for your plans. Also, once you start losing weight you're gonna get addicted. Maybe not to the "runner's high" or the taste of granola, but being able to pull off fashionable looks from any store in the mall (not just the select few that sell pants about 42" and shirts 2xl and up)...you'll find yourself hooked on being able to fit into the regular seats on a roller coaster, or ride "bitch" in the backseat of a car without invading everyone else's space. And of course you're gonna find a ton of new attention from friends, family, and of course the fairer sex.

You seem like a great guy with a cool personality, this will just help you put together the whole package. For me, my weight was preventing people from ever taking the time to get to know me and realize I was more than a morbidly obese sorta-goth kid.

__________________
it's all about self-indulgence

Cowman

My problem with weight watchers is that they advertise cakes and stuff on their commercial saying "only 6 points!!" and whatnot. If you eat a slice of that cake and deplete 6 of your 21 or whatever points, you're going to have to pretty much starve yourself for the rest of the day, which will in tern slow down your metabolism.

People need to learn the actual values of foods and how they effect their bodies.

I dont eat cake because I understand that, while a small slice might "only" be 350 calories, I understand that all of those calories are made up of simple carbs and fats. I KNOW that if I ate a can of tuna at 100 calories instead, I know that im getting the protein I need to feel FULL.

__________________
You don't like my point of view..but im insane

Lasereth

I'm 5'10" and weigh about 250 pounds. I'll just say that while I have problems keeping on a diet as well, they work wonders! A couple of years ago I simply started eating less and eating healthy and lost about 40 pounds in 3-4 months. I didn't exercise or do anything athletic and still got down to 210 pounds in a few months.

Of course, I gained all of the weight back due to a taste/smell disorder I have (well, I also enjoy eating, so that didn't help).

I started a new diet this past semester. I was at 260 when I started the diet and got down to 235 in 3 months. All I did was eat healthy again. Eating healthy (and in much smaller quantities) works really well, but it all comes back if you breach the change. I got home to my job this summer and gained it all back from my job (I work in a kitchen). I weigh 250 now, but plan to go back on my diet this semester at college.

My point is: dieting will make you lose more than 10 pounds if you stick to it. Eat diet foods, eat less, and don't sway from the change. You WILL lose the weight!

-Lasereth

__________________
"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

apeman

true ... it usually comes down to a "cake or tuna" decision at some point ... keep the tuna in full view so you're more likely to eat it and not think about the cake

basically there's 2 parts to this
1) eat healthy
2) exercise

i do both the above and i sure drink enough on weekends so it works ... just need to keep your metabolism going fast

on that note, 26 is the ideal age to get the weight off before your metabolism slows down ...

__________________
pain is inevitable but misery is optional - stick a geranium in your hat and be happy

Stompy

There's a few things you can do to insure that you're eating properly.

One is to maintain a 40/40/20 ratio of protein, carbs, and fat. Eat a small meal every 2-3 hours. This will cause your metabolism to go high gear.

Protein should be from obvious foods like tuna, chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, shrimp, etc.

Carbs should be foods low on the <a href="http://www.lowglycemicdiet.com/gifoodlist.html">Glycemic Index</a>. Low GI foods promote burning fat as opposed to creating/storing fat like high GI foods (lipolysis vs. lipogenesis). Food in this category is: brown rice, 100% natural whole wheat (or might be whole grain.. can't remember) oatmeal, apples, whole wheat breads, etc..

Fats (good fats, or EFA's) should come from foods like peanuts and salmon.

You can also get supplements that will help balance out the ratio.

Another tip is: eat more. Basic metabolic rate is determined like so

(for men): 66 + (13.7 X weight in kgs) + (5 X height in cms) – (6.8 X age in yrs)

(for women): BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kgs) + (1.8 X height in cms) – (4.7 X age in years)

In your case, this works out to:

66 + (1739.9) + (876.3) - 176.8 = 2505.4 calories per day.

That's what your body burns just to operate throughout the day. To lose a healthy amount of weight, I'd say aim for a 500 calorie deficit per day, or simply 30-45 minutes of cardio/exercise a day. You can tweak the number of calories a bit by a few hundred, so if you're not losing at a good rate, drop it to 2300, but don't go much beyond that.

Likewise, if you plateau with 2500, raise it to 2700.

Weight lifting is also key. Muscle burns fat. While you're trying to LOSE fat (cutting), it's much harder to build muscle, but lifting weights will still have a tremendous impact. It's very difficult to lose fat and see results without lifting weights. It can be done, but just not as easily.

I've lost 40 lbs (to 215 from 255) since doing this, but have been off & on again, however, I never once gained any of the weight back. A lot of times my schedule gets so tight between work/school/homework that it's very hard to find time to make room for working out. I actually started off on low carb, which is a good way to initially lose a lot of fat, but it's by no means something that should be a permanent part of your lifestyle (there are arguments against this, of course).

Another thing, if you can go 6 days of eating healthy, on the 7th day you can eat whatever the hell you want, and as much of it as you want. So if you want (and can) eat 4 pizzas, have a blast. What that does is convinces your body it's not starving because of the change in diet. If you go into starvation mode, it's VERY difficult to lose fat since your body is so desperately holding onto it. The thing is: you HAVE to stick w/ the diet on the other 6 days or you'll just end up holding onto the weight.

I'm by no means an expert on nutrition, but I used to be SO confused with all the conflicting data (and there is no "right" way to do things), but I find that the above works for quite a lot of people. Of course, not everyone is the same, but that's just my input

Remember, eat more (healthy food), not less or you'll end up burning muscle instead of fat!

[edit]

A site I use to track how many calories and percentages of protein/carb/fat I've eaten during the day is http://www.fitday.com

__________________
I love lamp.

greyeyes

if you are really concerned about your weight you definately should go on a diet, not necessarily a fad diet (atkins) but an eat-food-that-is-healthy diet. This paired with the new Trimspa pill that doesent have any Ephedra (yeah I know it sucks having to take something that is endoursed by a stupid whore, but it really works). My advice would be to take this pill (according to the directions on the back) and have four really small, really healthy meals plus one good sized meal (in the middle of the day) which should still be healthy. The trimspa pretty much is only an appetite reducer so you will want to make yourself eat all of these meals whether you are hungry or not, because you dont want to deplet yourself of vital nutrients that your body needs. Also I would reccomend taking a multivitamen (which will help make up for some of the vitamens you will be lacking in your dieting) and most of all I would reccomend taking a dietary supplement called CLA (good stuff, helps increase burning of fat by increasing lean muscle production NATURALLY with NO side effects, more info here: http://www.wellnesspartners.com/tonalin/?s=g&p=cla) I've been taking this for a while and it's great stuff. Also, one more thing, if you can get or have access to a swimming pool you should try swimming laps. This exorsize is great for increasing your metabolism and is easy on your joints and ligaments. It's kinda hard starting out swimming laps so dont push yourself so much that you hate it, just make sure that your heart rate is up and rest when you have to. Eventually you will be looking forward to your daily swim because it makes you feel great physically and mentally. It would be good if you could do this Cardio exorsize in the morning so that your metabolism stays up all day, but if you cant make it to the pool till later dont freak out it's not that big a deal. And remember (I didn't state this before) you should reward yourself for working hard through the week by treating yourself to a good meal of your choice ONCE a week, this helps your body realize that it isn't starving and will keep it from going into "starvation mode" and is something to look forward to, dont over do it though (eight BigMacs is not one meal). This diet/exorsize/dietary supplement intake WILL give you results, and if you have any questions PM me.

__________________
I'm kind of jealous of the life I'm supposedly leading.
- Zach Braff

Tophat665

SF, man, I know right where you are. I am down from 290 to 260 right now. I have been hitting the gym 2 hours a day 4 or 5 days a week. The trick is to get an MP3 player and load that puppy up. I don't diet, but I do try and eat less. Just try to get a feel for it. You might have more trouble with the portion control than I have had, though, because you have all that fine English ale there for the slugging, but bear up. Try to stick to two pints most nights. Use saccharin instead of sugar in your tea (if you drink tea - if you drink to coffee, switch to tea after the first three cups), It seems to work in tea better than any other drink.

If you really really really want to do the hardcore, lose weight now thing, weight watchers works really really well, and they have a web based tracking system you can use for free. If you want to know more about that, PM me and I'll put you in touch with my wife. She's lost over 100 lbs on it while I have been losing 30 by my method.

__________________
Light a man a fire, and he will be warm while it burns.
Set a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life.

Cowman

Stompy: Keeping a 40/40/20 ratio is not neccesary for anyone who's not trying to build muscle mass. If you're trying to lose weight and gain a little muscle, a 45/30/25 split would work and be much easier to eat.

I try and keep around the 40/40/20 , but it really is hard. Another problem is that for women who would be eating lower calories, say 1500, having only 20 percent of their calories comes from fats is a pretty small amount. 33 grams of fat a day really isn't enough..

__________________
You don't like my point of view..but im insane

raeanna74

I noticed you say that you get depressed about your weight and turn to drinking. So often we turn to food and drink to sooth our souls when really what we need to do is find a friend to listen and talk with us or even a counselor. I know this may be going at it from another direction but have you considered speaking with a counselor. You turn to drink why? Because you are depressed. You are depressed why?? It may help you to get to the root of WHY you are driven to eat or drink more than you should even when you aren't "hungry" for it.

Just my 2 cents.

__________________
"Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama
My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

Adam_GTR

Some people have strong will power to succeed, and some dont...

__________________
Everybody wonna be a bodybuilder but nobody wonna lift no heavy ass weight!

MSD

The single biggest thing I've done to lose weight is to cut soda. After that, it's watching carbs and going for food with higher fiber content and lower sugar content, NOT by cutting carbs out. Last year, I cut out soda cold turkey, going from 6 20oz bottles per day to none, and I lost 15 pounds in a month.

zenmaster10665

I have created a caluclator which uses the H-B formula for BMR and macronutrient calculations. Click here: http://www.geocities.com/mwhalber1/Fitness.xls to download it.

If you are trying to lose weight, you might find that you will need to tweak the macronutrient numbers in the spreadsheet a little...i.e. lower fat % to about 10% and recalculate.

The other Macronutrient ratios in the spreadsheet are dependent on your Fat intake percentage and your BMR.

Please let me know if you like the application/spreadsheet! I hope it helps!


Furthermore, you can check out johnstonefitness.com and forums.johnstonefitness.com

Great stuff...lots of information and very motivating.

From that site, there are also some BMR calculators where you pop the numbers in and let it go....it will tell you (as long as you are honest with it) how many calories you should have in order to maintain (or lose) weight. Once you have done this, calculate your macronutrient levels and try very hard to keep to them. It is best to also add in at least 3 days of cardio while cutting weight as well.

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

zenmaster10665

Also....here is another spreadsheet. Probably a bit better than mine, but hey...equal opportunity

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/s...ead.php?t=5999

__________________
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before.
He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
-Kurt Vonnegut

Xiangsu

In the past couple years I have gone from 240 to 170-175. Lost the first thirty or so by not eating as much and than the rest with diet and excersize. I used slim fast for getting me to my current weight. I haven't gained it back and its worked out fine.

Lasereth

I stopped drinking softdrinks a few years ago for a month. I lost 10 pounds in the first week and a few more pounds after that. Soft drinks are basically rammed into your body as fat. It's pretty pathetic...*chugs a coke*

-Lasereth

__________________
"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

CanadianCommie

the last month I've been:

-replacing every coke with a diet coke, juice or water, except to reward myself
-working out almost everyday (taking periodic breaks to let my muscles recover of course)
- not eating junk food shit-stuff


so far I've lost 10 lbs., but that is actually a huge deal given that I went on vacation- I managed to stay on the positive side of weight loss even with two weeks of eating out and way too many oppurtunities to splurge. If I hadn't gone I probably would have made 15-20 lbs.

*went from 219 to 209 lbs, even with a moderate muscle mass building schedule thrown in with fat burning and cardio work, dropped a whole pant size too

giantpizzaman

nice to hear, keep up the good work

__________________
hang out with your wang out then rock up with your cock up

CanadianCommie

it's hard giantpizzaman, to balance between hockey workouts and weight loss, because one builds up a lot of muscle in key places, and the other eats at the extra layers. finding a balance between athem with my schedule has been tough, but rewarding. I've gained sigfnificant muscle definition in the upper body region, and as I mentioned, shaved a few layers in the midsection. leg work has been in the low end becuase they need specific cardio work that the gym simply can't provide (hockey needs skating).

I managed to alter my diet so that I intake one major meal a day (lunch), a mid-sized breakfast, and a powerbar thing at supper time.

oh, and that new coke C2 is your friend. it tastes like coke, and can be a good replacement to real coke if you aren't a real big diet coke fan

wheeler

Get a bike and use this guys as an inspirtation. He is young man who lost alot of weight trough a sudden lifestyle change. NO fad diet, no diet pills. Just excersize and proper eating.

http://bb.nsmb.com/newforum/showthre...threadid=41774

little_tippler

some good advice has been put forth here, and some not so great (personally I never advocate any easy and fast methods of weight loss, it's just not natural and it won't last).

But I think an essencial point ot make is that you have to change more than just your diet. Possibly your outlook on things is all wrong. You have to look at yourself and think whether you can make this change in yourself. It's very hard to suddenyl decide something like that. Some people can, others spend their whole lives trying. If you don't want to be that way forever, maybe you should think, it'll be tough, but if I get there, then I'll be a «insert number here» times happier! Mean it.

You need to find an activity (exercise) that works for you, individual, collective, whatever. Then do it as often as you can. 3-4 times a week, or more. And really go, don't just sit at home and say eeeh I don't feel lie it today. You're going to have to be mean to yourself at first. I can practically guarantee that within a month of keeping it up you'll feel better. Because your body will begin to start getting fitter. Your energy levels will go up. You'll feel in a better mood. You'll look better, your skin will start to glow healthily, etc. etc. Seriously.

As for food...there's no easy way either. Moderation someone's said before. Too right. Try and have smaller portions of what you like. Keep making them smaller. Start introducing foods that are GOOD for you (even though they suck lol). These foods will start to make you feel better and healthier too. That really is the best reward that a healthy lifestyle will give you. It really does change the way your body feels. You'll feel more confident too, and then you'll start getting compliments. "What have you been doing recently, you look well." Try and balance bad and good foods.

You will need to try hard but from my personal experience it wil make a huge difference to your life. Maybe if you visualise all the different stages of this process, and the final result, a healthier, happier, more confident, more energetic, more attractive you. But for good, so do it in a way that you feel is true to your needs. Otherwise you could revert back to your old habits and that will be even more depressing than the first time around.

Good luck with your change of lifestyle, may you be very successful and happy.

__________________
Whether we write or speak or do but look
We are ever unapparent. What we are
Cannot be transfused into word or book.
Our soul from us is infinitely far.
However much we give our thoughts the will
To be our soul and gesture it abroad,
Our hearts are incommunicable still.
In what we show ourselves we are ignored.
The abyss from soul to soul cannot be bridged
By any skill of thought or trick of seeming.
Unto our very selves we are abridged
When we would utter to our thought our being.
We are our dreams of ourselves, souls by gleams,
And each to each other dreams of others' dreams.

Fernando Pessoa, 1918