losing weight how?

Headshot

first time posting here


iv been putting on weight for good bit now

im finally going to do somthing about it

i never had a six back, always a beer belly

iv conviced myself to get fit

im laying of the beer now

and signed up to the local gym

what should i work on to improve my body and arm strenght

im very unfit too

burnedfaceman

im a reformed lardy, first step i took was to quit the booze as i found it was the main reason behind my weight gain, i have rarely drank in last 18 months and watch what i eat try to eat 5/6 times a day in small portions, key to losing weight is doing cardio and nutrition would get a weights programme too but would focus on dropping weight before trying to build muscle. good luck

Hanley

Things to do...

Stop the booze
No chocolate
No fizzy drinks (diet versions are ok,ish)
Stop eating fast food
Small meals 4-6 times a day

You say you've joined a gym, ANY activity you do now at this stage is probably gonna help. In time you'll need to do stuff more suited to your needs, but right now anything's gonna help.

Good luck, and be patient. It took along time to accumulate the belly, it's not gonna go away in half the time!

Headshot

thanks burnedface


im also having trouble with the sweets

iv a sweet tooth

i feel im never full?

i eat my dinner and there maybe a bit left and im stuffed so i through it away and few minutes later then i get some jelly and ice cream?

burnedfaceman

i have found best way to get around this is to stick to my meals and do not snack at all, i reward myself once a week and have a meal where i eat what i want helps to keep motivated. trying drinking lots of water i drink about four litres a day now and helps to avoid snacking. will take your body time to get used to water intake but its def worth it in long run as you will feel better and fuller

Hanley

Good point aobut the water, when I'm dieting I always keep a bottle of water handy and sip on it if I'm feeling hungry.

hunnymonster

I'm also finding drinking lots of tea helpful. It's much more satisfying to sit with a cup of tea in my hands than a bottle of water. By the time I've gotten up, made the tea and drunken it I'm usually not craving chocolate any more.

Boru.

I'd recommend that you read the stickies to get your nutrition (not diet - that's seen as temporary - make permanent changes for success) sorted. Then sprint, skip, squat or cycle at high intensity (just short of all out effort) for one minute (you should be panting). Then rest for one minute (you can still move of course, slow walking or slow cycling is fine). That's one set. Do 5 in a row.

In 10 minutes your workout will be over. Do this every 2nd day for 2 weeks. If you can succeed in doing just 10 minutes interval work every 2nd day, and get your nutrition right then you can look to develop a full training program.

Of course if you are over 65 and have a history of heart problems with either yourself or in your family get your primary health physicians permission first and invest in a heart rate monitor.

Owen

hunnymonster wrote:

I'm also finding drinking lots of tea helpful. It's much more satisfying to sit with a cup of tea in my hands than a bottle of water. By the time I've gotten up, made the tea and drunken it I'm usually not craving chocolate any more.

I'm the same! I'm drinking tea with candarel now for the last 4 weeks, and it's kept me off all rubbish I used to eat/drink, and I'm actually down about 6lbs from that alone. Down to 14st now, hoping for 12.5!

Headshot

thanks boru im 20

wasabi

Have a read of the diet and nutrition sticky.

Basically re the sweet tooth you will have to wean yourself off all simple carbs. They cause your blood sugar to spike very high, which causes your body to produce insulin to deal with it, which then plunges your blood sugar very low and makes you hungry right away. It's a vicious circle.

Simple carbs include all sweets/desserts, most breakfast cereals, white rice, pasta, bread that isn't wholemeal.

You want all of these out of your diet to be replaced by plenty of veg/salad
lots of protein foods (meat, dairy, eggs)
good fats (olive oil, nuts, avocados).

Eat carbs like fruit, oats, wholemeal bread and pasta and brown rice when you need them, i.e. in the morning for your brekkie and before and after your workouts.

This will be tough enough initially because you're used to the sugar but you'll soon find your hunger and energy levels will smooth out nicely and you'll be feeling great.

Again, see the diet and nutrition sticky for more info.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

jester77

What Boru mentioned is HIIT training and it's an excellent way to knock off the weight. Just make sure you have had something to eat about an hour before you do it and don't do it on an empty stomach!

rubadub

Learn how to count calories to eat correct portion sizes. Caloire counting also leads to you making better food choices, e.g. will I have a single chocolate bar? or 2 spicy chicken breasts with sauce?

I did not give up anything I like, just reduced it. I still drink at least twice a week, and get to the same level of drunkeness but I drink less. This is because if you have less food in your stomach you will get drunk more, also since I lost weight I need less to get drunk too. I still eat some junk food but much less. I still eat chocolate but usually before weight training so at least some of that immediate sugar energy is going to some use!

Lift heavy weights in the gym and do it before cardio. Building muscle will help shift lots of fat, and once you have some muscle and continue with weights you can get away with eating more since the food is feeding your new muscle, and a lot of the excess food goes to building even more.

Portion control and 6 evenly spaced, evenly sized meals a day will have dramatic effects on your snacking & metabolism.

Headshot

rubadub wrote:

Learn how to count calories to eat correct portion sizes. Caloire counting also leads to you making better food choices, e.g. will I have a single chocolate bar? or 2 spicy chicken breasts with sauce?

I did not give up anything I like, just reduced it. I still drink at least twice a week, and get to the same level of drunkeness but I drink less. This is because if you have less food in your stomach you will get drunk more, also since I lost weight I need less to get drunk too. I still eat some junk food but much less. I still eat chocolate but usually before weight training so at least some of that immediate sugar energy is going to some use!

Lift heavy weights in the gym and do it before cardio. Building muscle will help shift lots of fat, and once you have some muscle and continue with weights you can get away with eating more since the food is feeding your new muscle, and a lot of the excess food goes to building even more.

Portion control and 6 evenly spaced, evenly sized meals a day will have dramatic effects on your snacking & metabolism.

thats sound good

what ill probly do

rubyred

In relation to your sweet tooth - get a few packets of sugar free jelly from the supermarket. You can keep a bowl in the fridge 24/7 and when you crave something sweet stuff your face with the stuff. There's no calories or fat in it!!!! It's also really nice if you make it up and chill it, then mix in a tub of low fat yogurt just before it is totally set.

lizzyvera

If you force yourself to eat less for a while your appetite reduces naturally.
I don't know if it's healthy. I get pains when I eat meals like I used to.

jimi_t

Boru. wrote:

Then sprint, skip, squat or cycle at high intensity (just short of all out effort) for one minute (you should be panting). Then rest for one minute (you can still move of course, slow walking or slow cycling is fine). That's one set. Do 5 in a row.

In 10 minutes your workout will be over. Do this every 2nd day for 2 weeks.

Sorry to butt in, by I'm in the exact same situtation as the OP - albeit a couple of months younger. Does doing 10 minutes a day, every second day, of this interval training actually lead to noticable results - or is it just a way of easing yourself into a regime?

Also does varying the type of exercise at each interval (i.e. Skipping, to bike, to treadmill) make any difference to doing the same thing every interval?

Hanley

Boru has some pretty radical ideas when it comes to the amount of work you do. It's not the main stream thinking yet, but I know he has research to back it up so wait and see what he has to say.

I'm a big fan of doing 6-10 30-40m sprints where you walk back to the starting after each successive sprint, if you do it slowly it'll give you roughly a minutes rest so the whole work out takes undre about 15 mins.

jimi_t

Hanley wrote:

Boru has some pretty radical ideas when it comes to the amount of work you do. It's not the main stream thinking yet, but I know he has research to back it up so wait and see what he has to say.

Well I know feck all about fitness, but is it basically the application of "the heart is a muscle like everything else, so do sets" mantra? I'm just curious as it's always the whole 45mins a week, 3x a week minimum that's been impounded onto me

I'm a big fan of doing 6-10 30-40m sprints where you walk back to the starting after each successive sprint, if you do it slowly it'll give you roughly a minutes rest so the whole work out takes undre about 15 mins.

Sounds good. I remember doing something similar years ago, but we had to lie down on our stomaches to start... Damnit, I used to be fit(ish) once!

Headshot

what about eating pop corn instead of sweets