Prince

Well, I really want to make a change...and make it happen this time. The trouble is, I don't know how, precisely, to do it.

Getting straight to the point: I'm 6'2" and weigh around 260 lbs. I could easily afford to lose quite a bit. Essentially, I want to accomplish three things: 1) lose weight, 2) lose manboobs, and 3) gain better stamina for all things physical. I've heard a lot about doing "cardio", but I don't know what that means, really. There are no gyms or anything around here, and I don't have any exercise equipment at home, except for an old treadmill, which does show my heart rate etc as I walk on it.

So far my only real ways of trying to lose weight have been eating less, and walking more. There are two things wrong with this: by eating less I end up being hungrier and therefore more susceptible to ending up on a binge, and by using walking as my main exercise, I am boring myself to death. Because walking is, quite frankly, boring as hell. Especially since I do so much of it at work.

I'm pretty out of shape, I've to admit it. My job is pretty demanding physically (nursing assistant), lots of lifting and stuff. The muscles on my arms are stronger than they used to be, that's for sure. But my gut and chest need more work, and I am not getting enough of a workout for them at work. But without equipment, I don't know how to work those parts of my body out.

Other considerations: my blood pressure is on the higher end of the normal scale. I work nights, and sometimes need caffeine to keep awake. One night at work after lots of caffeine and stress (=headache) I took my BP and it was around 150/100. Obviously too high, and another reason I need to get in shape and lose the extra baggage.

Essentially, I want to do this, but not take it too slowly, and not take it too rough, and not cause myself to die or end up with severe injuries.

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wheeler

I've heard that eating small healthy meals all day helps speed up your metabolism better than just 3 square meals aday.
Also you should find an activity that you enjoy and can get excited about. Walking is boring. I found mountain biking. There is lots of cool places to go and people to meet plus it is very exciting watching your skills develop.

Rodney

Eat a decent meal _before_ your exercise or before your shift, then eat more lightly later. It'll keep you from binging afterwards. Believe it or not, prolonged light- to medium-duty cardio exercise like walking actually decreases the amount of food you want to eat afterward, _if_ you were well-nourished to start with.

Especially don't binge or eat right before bed, something that I know a lot of night-workers are tempted to do. The food is much more likely to be stored as fat.

As for other cardio things to do besides walking or running (cardio exercises being ones that get your heart rate up for a sustained period), I can only suggest bicycling or inline skating, or perhaps aerobics classes. There are other fun things you can do for cardio, but they involve paying money, and also involve having the right kind of facilities available. Some people I know get cardio from playing movement sports like basketball or soccer in community leagues (these leagues are usually labeled by ability, so you can find one with players at your own skill level), and so on.

As for working on your chest, you'd probably need weights for that; weight lifting is not a cardio exercise, as it involves short, heavy bursts of effort rather than medium effort sustained for long periods. But you can start working on that at home with a simple, cheap weight set, even just a pair of dumbbells. I think there's another recent thread on this board that talks about the different kinds of exercises you can do with just that simple equipment; dozens, maybe hundreds,

Willravel

Hahahaha manboobs. Sorry.
Check out Locke23's post from
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=67477
or just burn more calories than you eat. No need to go Zone or Atkins or whatever diet. You know what healthy food is. You know what exercise is. As for you bp, you might ask your doc for some atenelol. It's not healthy.

Seaver

All these people are right, and it's been covered in previous threads.

1) Eat lots of small meals, I carry around nectarines/bananas while in class and munch constantly
2) Give up cokes for water, you'll be freaking amazed what a difference it does (personal experience).
3) Walk/Run/Swim, do as much active stuff as you can. Running a mile burns the same calories as walking one, just doesnt work your body in the same way.
4) If you dont have a gym and want to work out your body do pushups/situps/6-inch leg raises/ or any number of excersises. Just make sure you dont do 10 and give up, if you cant do more than 10 at a time do 3-4 sets of them as long as you can.

Willravel

This really has been done into the ground. 99% of people who post questions like this already have all the tools to get the job done. They just can't do it because of willpower. The reason they keep asking is because it feels good to act like your finally taking action against your problems. You arn't.
You are a nursing assistant, and yet you go on a forum online asking about health qustions. Don't you find it odd? You can ask most of the people you work with, and get much more dependable information. Also, they can help you through it.
BREAK THE CYCLE. ACTUALLY GO ON A DIET AND STAY ON IT. You have the willpower. You CAN do it. Go skate or swim or play basketball. NOW! Don't put it off.
It took me almost 4 fat years of being stuck in the same cycle to realize that I was getting nowhere, despite the fact that I was an encyclopedia for fat loss. If I can do it, then you can do it. I went from 240 down to 195. I've never felt better.

Cowman

I'll give you a few simple tips:

A) break up your food into more frequent eating, but less. Your stomach will shrink quickly which will help you fill up on less food..of course you'll be eating more often, but this will help you speed up your metabolism.

B) eat high FIBER and PROTEIN foods. These foods are VERY filling. A gram of protein or fiber is much more filling then a gram of fat or carbs.

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