Losing Weight Help!

LegacyUser

I'm 17 years old,
height about 5 foot six and 15 and a half stone. I'm haven't got much muscle.

Has anyone got advice on how to lose weight (without medication)?

and am I dangerously overweight at the moment?

Also, anyone got ideas on proper weight shedding exercises?

Thanks for any help.

r3nu4l

At 5 foot 6 inches and 15.5 stone then yes, according to BMI charts. Here is a very good website for you to calculate your BMI and get some tips on a healthy lifestyle.

Be very honest here, is this extra weight due to eating all the wrong sorts of food (fizzy drinks, chocolate, cakes, crisps, take-aways etc) or do you think there is a medical condition involved? Just answer yourself honestly even if you don't answer here.

Have you been to a doctor? If not then do go and have a chat with him/her. S/he will probably want to rule out any underlying medical reasons for your weight gain.

If there is no medical reason for it and it's just down to diet and exercise then there are two absolutely excellent forums on boards.ie that can help you.

Nutrition & Diet

Fitness

This is probably the best thread you can read on boards.ie, study it well and then ask questions in those two forums.

Best of luck in losing the weight, you'll really feel so much better when you do. It is important to lose the weight as obesity is a huge risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Start off slowly by making a few changes to your diet and maybe walking 3 times a week for 30 minutes (or twice a day for 15 minutes).

Whatever you do, talk to your doctor first as they can rule out any medical reasons for the weight gain. Go for it and you'll be happier in the long run

Condo131

r3nu4l wrote: »

If there is no medical reason for it and it's just down to diet and exercise

100% agree but want to emphasise "diet AND exercise". Little point in doing one without the other.

Exercise is going to be hard starting off, but remember you don't have to power exercise. For losing weight, time is more important than speed, ie go longer rather than faster. When you feel hungry (between meals) take a glass of water, or some fruit - some low calorie item - instead of, say a bar of chocolate/whatever.

Chong

Completely down to Diet and Excercise oh and moitvation to lose the weight.

Motivation is what its completely down to imo.

r3nu4l

Chong wrote: »

Motivation is what its completely down to imo.

Yup, motivation is what fuels us to keep going and that's often the hardest thing to keep

Original poster, have a read of this post by one of the Fitness mods if you're looking for inspiration.

Dragan openly admits that at one time he was a physical wreck, on the heart attack express and he turned it all around and lost over 100 lb of fat!!! That's awesome and shows a real-life example of the fact that it can be done once you really give it an honest go.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like here, even if it's only for support in getting things moving for yourself

Before beginning an exercise programme I do encourage you to go to your doctor as doing the wrong type of exercise could cause you injuries or starting out doing too much too soon could also cause problems.

Remember too that if you have a bad day or two where you missed out on your walks and had a pizza and can of coke for dinner, don't quit! Just admit that you had a bad couple of days, go for a walk and drink water to keep yourself hydrated. Never quit, never give in, never return to the bad old days. Start today, there's nothing stopping you only yourself!

dungeon

If you really have the willpower and it's something you are determined to do, through exercise and a good diet, you WILL succeed.

Handsome Bob

I've shed four stone so I think I can give you a decent insight. The most important thing is that you are doing it for yourself. Not for your Family. Not to impress your Friends. Not for some bloke. For you. If you are doing it for other people you might last a week or maybe two. However you will inevitably become pissed off at some stage when you are starving and feeling like you are not losing anything. You'll resent the people you are trying to lose the weight for and you will buckle. So it is really important that you have the desire and determination to do it for yourself. This way if you hit a brick wall you will be able to motivate yourself with the thought that you are not doing justice to yourself if you throw the good work you've already done out the window.

I'd also suggest taking regular photos to record your progress. Sometimes you'll feel disillusioned because you might think that you are not getting the results you deserve. However if you take regular photos you will be amazed at the progress you've made and that will give you back the desire to keep going.

Finally I'd suggest surrounding yourself with positive people. Sometimes self-absorbed people can be so wrapped up with themselves they can make hurtful throwaway comments that will knock your confidence. Stay away from these people, you have no idea how many times my "freight train" has been derailed because of idiots making thoughtless comments.

That's the best advice I can give you, I'm sure other posters can give you much better advice in regards to diet and what to eat. Good luck OP.

Bottle_of_Smoke

I'd say do weights in a gym. If you know any lads that already do they'll probably be very helpful. If not, perhaps a personal trainer to start with.
Once you build muscle your body will burn off calories whilst you're doing nothing and even sleeping at a much higher rate as lean tissue requires more energy to run on.

I'd also give atkins diet a go. You don't lose muscle from it, just fat; so you don't get the yo-yo dieting problems you would with the likes of weight watchers.

C.Rizzle

You dont need a gym for loosing weight dont waste your money!!
look i was 15 stone before an its coz i ate to much and got proper lazy,
no diet tablets work there all a hoax. The best thing of all to loose weight is eat healthy and run everymorning. Even start the first few days by walking and getting use to the idea of gettin up early, then bit by bit run more and more. Also wear a Blackbag underneath your t-shirt as this is great for sppeding up the processes. Drink only water and it will clear out your whole system. If you stick to running for 30mins every morning, with the blackbag eating well and drinking the water you should loose a stone in you first two weeks mate i did it i no. muscle would then start to show up as you loose weight because ya'l have it behind the fat. stay away from All fizzy drinks, crisps, bars, fast food, white bread, rolls, cheese. Just go for it your confidence will go sky high.

Ruu_Old

Although I have never had a problem with weight issues, you can get by with just having to eat properly and do a little exercise. Portions are a problem with a lot of people and unnecessary snacking. If you want to snack, eat some nuts or fruit. Eat a nice big salad for dinner, high in volume and low in calories.

Try multi grain bread, drink lots of water when you work out and cut out the caffeine. It will take a while to see results but persistence is the key, good luck! If you feel like it, post here to let us know how you are getting on. There is a wealth of information in the other forums mentioned above.

DM_7

I know others have talked down the gym but the right gym could really help.

The staff there can assess exactly what you need to do. The BMI table isn't an accurate reflection of what you need to do as it doesn't calculate your body fat%.

The Staff in the gym can calculate this for you and give you a programme to help get you within the right parameters. Over time they will also give you a new programme to suit your new needs. Having a contact (The Gym staff) that will keep an eye on your progress can give you extra confidence and reassurance you are doing well. The best thing about the gym is they can give you a safe programme to do.

I'm not saying you must join a gym but don't rule it out either.

No matter what road you take well done on looking for help and good luck.

Mr Benevolent

I'm 5'6 and was 13st 4lbs. Decided enough was enough with a BMI of 29.9 and started cutting down on the food (biscuits, fatty crap and beer) and walked an average of 35 miles per week. Two months down the line I'm 1st 1lb lighter and am already feeling and looking much better. It needed much less willpower than I imagined, but I did have motivation - I'm off to Australia soon for a while. Getting rid of the beer was a factor too - I gained 1/2lb this week as I had 7 beers in 1 night!

Take it one day at a time and get walking.

I'm 5'10" and Hovering in and around the 18stone mark.

I have no willpower, a crap diet and rarely ever did any exercise (none, really).

I joined a gym there about amonth ago and have been going for about two hours per day mon-fri since joining (well, in truth I only spend approx. 1hr in the gym, and then 1hr in sauna/swimming pool, etc.).


I know some people have slated the gym above, but I really do recommend it. It's pure hell walking in the first time, but once you get used to it, being surrounded by other people who are working out really motivates you, i find. One thing i was really worried about was the thoughts of walking my fat ass into a gym and being laughed out of the building. I was terrified of people giving me quare looks and so forth, and i can honestly say, no one gives a f*ck that i'm there. It's great. Everyone seems to just stick to themselves and mind their own business. I've only spoke to two people in the gym (very briefly) and both were very positive and encouraging people).

I don't really think I've lose much weight at all, but I definitely feel better.

I'm sure a good diet and knowledge of nutrition will definitely do you favours in the long run, but Im just speaking from my own personal experience.


I will say though, the thoughts that were in my head regarding exercise personally, were very negative. I hated the thoughts of busting my ass and killing myself each day, but when you get the routine/hang of it, it's not really hard. Cardio is exhausting (threadmills, bikes, that kinda thing), expecially the first time round, but you feel much better after it.


I could run on a threadmill in the gym for 20 minutes, but I couldn't run around the neighbourhood for 30 seconds. Maybe im just very self-conscious or something, but the gym i've been going to just has a generally happy, upbeat atmosphere to it, so its good by me.


Again, speaking from completely my own personal experience. you may hate a gym altogether, but i'd recommend giving it a shot.

LegacyUser

Hi.
Sorry to hear u feel that way. A very good weightwatchers class takes place in the Bridge Centre Thomas Street every Tues morning and evening Eileen is the lady in charge and she gives great encouragement to anyone trying to loose weight.U should give it a try

amacachi

Obviously for optimal results you need a plan for diet and exercise etc. but the no.1 bit of advice I'd give is do something. At your weight walking would probably be very beneficial and when it comes to diet there's a simple trick I have, if you can't see the actual food you're buying, don't buy it. More specifically on diet what you have to do is cut out any white, processed food. Eat loads of vegetables, some fruit and unprocessed meat. After a while worry about a full exercise plan and diet.
As said above, do it for yourself, not for anyone else or any other reason.

tbh

SallyR: Sally, I'm in good form today, so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. Even tho you only have two posts, and both of them are reccomending products, they are both different products and both rec's are relevant to the thread. However, if you continue in this way, you'll be marked a spammer and banned from the site.

If you are a spammer, you don't care, but if you're genuine, this is just a heads up.