im over weight and ive seen the light...what food is not good for you

darkest star2379

hey lads/lassies ....
im a 32 year old guy @ 5,11 and i weigh 112 kgs ..which is roughly 17.8 stones or thereabouts .....which makes me morbidly obese ....but i get away with because my shoulders are big....
but ive really seen the light lately and im starting to feel like dog-chit because of way i look ....as ive never been as heavy as this so when i return to college next week im gonna go all out with a fitness programme to get into shape..

so my questions to you guys are....what exercises really cut out stomach flab??? ....and what foods should i REALLY stay from....

cheers guys
32 western guy suffering from deep depression
darkest star

AmeliaPond

If you tend to put on most of your weight around your middle, a low carb diet might work for you. They get quick results too, which is nice and encouraging.


I personally don't want to do low carb though so I'm just "eating sensibly" - doing what I know I should do anyway but usually fall off the wagon.


As for exercises - cardio is what burns fat (walking, running, cycling, swimming etc... anything that gets your heart going) BUT weight training helps to build muscle and muscle BURNS fat just by existing. Which is pretty fabulous :P

Frogdog

OP, in reply to your two questions:

1. There is no such thing as an exercise that can cut out stomach flab. Your body is designed to burn fat from all over your body, not just one specific part. You'll often hear on this forum; "You can't spot-reduce fat from a specific bodypart".

So for example, say you cycle. Cycling won't mean you will get skinny legs and your upper body will remain unchanged. That's an example using a cardio exercise. An example using a resistance exercise would be if you did a load of sit-ups. A lot of people out there mistakenly believe doing a load of sit ups will help them get a six pack or lose fat around their stomach. It won't. Sit ups strengthen the muscle underneath the layer of fat on your stomach. The fat will remain on the stomach. So if someone wants to see their abdominal muscles they have to burn the fat hiding them.

The answer you're looking for would be this - to remove the stomach flab you will have to do a few things. The most important is to clean up your diet. That's about 70-80% of the answer. And the 20-30% will come from exercise. There are two forms of exercise, the first being cardio (running, cycling, swimming etc) and the second being resistance (lifting heavy weights - and I emphasise that they have to be heavy). In my opinion, and I'm the same height as you and have previously lost 3 and a half stone, lifting weights are vital. You will build muscle and this muscle in turn burns fat. The more muscle you build the more fat you burn. But in your case you will need a combination of cardio and resistance exercise.

2. As for foods you really should stay away from, well how long have I got to type this reply??? I'd guess there are hundreds, if not thousands, of types of food that we shouldn't eat.

A better way of getting information on this might be for you to list everything you eat on an average day. Then we can critique your diet, suggest improvements and tell you what to cut out of your diet etc. And once again, I emphasise everything. So tell us what you have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks.

A general rule that you'll see here often goes something like this; "If it wasn't available as food when your great grandparents were kids, then don't eat it".

I hope I've answered your questions! If you have any other concerns/questions throw them up!

I'd also highly recommend reading the stickies here on the Nutrition & Diet forum and on the Fitness forum - some great information there!

Carra23

Don't mean to be rude Hijacking the thread but would seem pointless starting a new one ! I have to say I am not as heavy as the op and I am a little younger , 27 and weight 12/13stone height 5 11.

I have a terrible big belly and man boobs that I would like to get rid of. I would like for once to be able to look down without holding in my stomach !

I understand that no amount of exercises will fix such a problem unless you fix your diet 1st, so here goes

Breakfast: Cereal , toast, tea , banana (maybe twice or 3 times a week it would be a fry:2 rashers,2sausages 1 pudding, 1 fryed egg, 1toast and tea )

11:00 : tea scone or snickers

Lunch 12:30 : Sandwich ham cheese or tuna cheese or chicken cheese with crisps and tea

Dinner : chicken or fish with mash and veg or chips

snacks : Biscuits probably about 10 , another packet of crisps and maybe another bar of chocolate. I probably drink around 4 litres of diet coke a week and an average of 6 beers. Dinner can be take away on average 2 nights a week and would be either chinese or chipper , sometimes subway.

I have a fair idea which of those foods need culling from my diet but doing it is easier said than done. Any tips would be greatly appreaciated along with some reassurance of which foods are really bad and really need to go. Sorry again OP for butting in

gagonmine

Hey Darkstar you are about the same stats as me and I too am carring weight around my mid-section. I went to a weight motivation clinic and they cave me a diet for the first month, which i have been on for 4 days so far. If you want I can send you on the diet and you can try it out.

EileenG

A few studies have found that if you put most of your weight on round the middle (apple shape) than a low carb diet will work best for you. If you are pear shaped, then any low calorie diet will work.

There are advantages and disadvantages to all diets.

Just counting calories means you can eat a bit of whatever you want, but you have to be careful about doing the maths, and you need to be sure about the amount you are eating. That means buying a scales and a calorie counter and using them.

Going low fat is popular, your doctor may well recommend it, and there's a lot of low fat food out there, but it doesn't hold up well in practice. People eating low fat often just eat more sugar and calories.

Low carb is simple, there is a list of things you can eat, a list you can't touch, and a list where you have to watch amounts. It tends to give fast results (but some of that is water) and will often get you lectures about your unhealthy diet. The main disadvantage is that you can't eat much ready food or buy suitable snacks. The majority of low carb food needs to be cooked at home.

When it comes to losing fat, diet is key. Yes, exercise is essential and will keep you fit and make you look good naked, but it's next to impossible to exercise yourself thin. You have to combine it with a suitable diet.

Join a gym and lift weights. Concentrate on heavy compound lifts like squad, bench press and deadlift. On your bike, cycle hard. You need to pant and sweat to burn significant calories. Occasionally do HIIT training, where you do flat out sprints.

Oh, and turn off the television and go to bed on time. This is a major factor in losing weight.

hucklebuck

Carra23 wrote: »

Don't mean to be rude Hijacking the thread but would seem pointless starting a new one ! I have to say I am not as heavy as the op and I am a little younger , 27 and weight 12/13stone height 5 11.

I have a terrible big belly and man boobs that I would like to get rid of. I would like for once to be able to look down without holding in my stomach !

I understand that no amount of exercises will fix such a problem unless you fix your diet 1st, so here goes

Breakfast: Cereal , toast, tea , banana (maybe twice or 3 times a week it would be a fry:2 rashers,2sausages 1 pudding, 1 fryed egg, 1toast and tea )

11:00 : tea scone or snickers

Lunch 12:30 : Sandwich ham cheese or tuna cheese or chicken cheese with crisps and tea

Dinner : chicken or fish with mash and veg or chips

snacks : Biscuits probably about 10 , another packet of crisps and maybe another bar of chocolate. I probably drink around 4 litres of diet coke a week and an average of 6 beers. Dinner can be take away on average 2 nights a week and would be either chinese or chipper , sometimes subway.

I have a fair idea which of those foods need culling from my diet but doing it is easier said than done. Any tips would be greatly appreaciated along with some reassurance of which foods are really bad and really need to go. Sorry again OP for butting in

Sorry if I am stating the obvious but you would need to cut out the frys, chips, chocolate, crisps, chipper and beer(each pint is around 270 calories and 3,500 calories is 1lb of fat). Diets are hard to stick to so you should give yourself a day off.

You have the right method in place as in the regular eating, smaller portions and more protein (chicken, fish, eggs) and less saturated/ trans fats. There are a few good calculators on this site http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools, it can tell you the amount of fat, carbs and protein in almost any food you can think of and it also has some great calculators.

I am 6ft 15 1/2 stone, carrying quite a bit of weight and I have cut my calories back quite a bit but the weight isn't shifting. To maintain my weight I should take in 2,900 calories a day so I am aiming at 2,300 and exercise. Does anyone know the minimum to take in before your body goes into "famine mode" and stores more fat?

Ta.

rocky

'Starvation mode' doesn't really exist, i.e. a person will not gain fat on a diet of 900 kcals a day. One explanation found below is variation in weight due to water retention:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/permanent-metabolic-damage-qa.html

The bottom line is that no study I’ve ever seen has suggested that total daily energy expenditure could be reduced to the levels that are implied by ‘gaining fat rapidly at 700-900 calories/day’.

...

Between glycogen storage and simple cortisol mediated water retention, I can’t see any other reason to explain the observation. Even one day of overeating carbs can cause massive water retention (for example, shifts in water weight of 7-10 pounds over a day or two are not uncommon on cyclical diets) and I suspect that’s what is being observed.

Which is all a long way of saying the following: certainly there is evidence of metabolic derangement when you diet people down to low levels of body fat, this can probably be made worse if you undergo the normal severe overtraining cycle that most dieters go through at that point. But I don’t see any physiological way that true rapid FAT gain can occur at such low calorie levels. I’d suspect that water retention (and a bit of neurosis equating water weight gain with true fat gain) is the primary culprit here.

If you eat low cals for extended periods of time, there will be a reduction in BMR, due to the loss of muscle mass. But, as long as you keep eating at a deficit, you'll lose weight.

A person who dieted down to a given body composition/weight will have a reduced metabolism when compared to a person with the same weight, but non-dieted:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/lean-body-mass-maintenance-and-metabolic-rate-slowdown-qa.html

In some studies of the post-obese (folks who have been dieted down and maintained at that weight) show a relatively modest 5% or so reduction in RMR. The effect exists but is not massive; it’s also highly variable, with people showing relatively more or less of an effect.

EileenG

Thank you. I'm so sick of the "Don't diet or you'll go into starvation mode and be unable to lose fat ever again" thing.

In general, I reckon that simple hunger will stop people dieting too hard. You need to be locked up with insufficient food, have a will of solid titanium or be taking major amounts of illegal supplements to ignore the hunger when you eat too long for a long period.

The key word in Starvation mode is "Starvation". If you are not starving, if you are not obsessed with what and when you are going to eat again, if you are not kept awake by hunger at night, if hunger does not affect your lifestyle, then you don't need to worry about it.

hucklebuck

Thanks Rocky and Eileen, I am doing weights three times a week, I think half of my problem is lack of sleep I am so stressed I am only getting about 5 1/2 hours a night as I keep wasking up thinking of work.

Time to get some sleeping tablets!!

SanoVitae

hucklebuck wrote: »

Time to get some sleeping tablets!!

Taking sleeping tablets to get more sleep would be the same as taking appetite suppressant tablets to stop you from eating. It's not the solution.

I suggest you first treat the cause (your work-related stress) of your poor sleeping habits rather than the symptoms it is producing. You might not be able to change the stress itself, but it's very likely you can change the way you deal with the stress.

Improvements in your nutrition and exercise habits are a great start so you're definitely on the right track.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

EileenG

Try magnesium before bedtime, it's known to be calming. It won't put you to sleep, but should help you relax so you do sleep better.

And just spend more time in bed. There's nothing like going to bed late, and then realising that you've only got five hours before the alarm goes off, and you've got to get to sleep, damn it, to make it impossible to sleep.

El_Dangeroso

Y'know what is really good for stress? Mackerel.

It's a great source of Phosphatidylserine (Do NOT ask me how that's pronounced ) which is a type of phospholipid which reduces the natural response to stress (esp. emotional stress)

Other good sources include cow brain (good luck finding anyone who will sell that to you, it's easier to buy crack-cocaine ) and herring.

If you don't like mackerel (I'm not a massive fan either) cover it in a tomato-based sauce.

menoscemo

Agree R.E. "starvation mode". To think you could eat so little you would get fat
Has anyone ever seen any people who are actually dying from starvation? Real Fatties aren't they :rolleyes:;)

Rylan

Now that you mention it, Yes, they do look fat.

darkest star2379

guys..sorry i havent been able to reply quick enough..
right first of all thanks a million for your replys......some great peices of advice there.....
first off....i should have probably stated that due to years of soccer , football and rugby ...i am very well built...as in wide shouldered ..and massive calfs and thighs so i suppose saying im an all out fat arse is jumping it a little bit.........but i have this massive gut ......and its time to go.
as for my diet..i dont really have one....ive tried cutting out late night eating ....and fast food ive cut down..but i am an absolute sucker for

-rolls from the spar
-white bread and ham ......
-SOFT DRINKS ...IM A SUCKER FOR THOSE PEPSI €1.50 BOTTLES .(you know the ones )
and when im out ...i can put away a hefty amount of pints.....
-pot noodles at night time .....(and the other boil of the bag noodles)
- but i cant give coffee up ..id go mad

was out on the mountain bike today and my brother blitzed me round the forest.....did about 4 km's but was beat after (had footie training last season so was wrecked)

what are the low carb foods ??
have a holiday in a week or so before college so after then its a lifestyle change for me .......

gagomine....my email is [EMAIL="puccka@hotmail.com..can"]puccka@hotmail.com..can[/EMAIL] ya send me that for the gesh anyway

ps. cheers guys.....ill keep ye updated from time to time

hucklebuck

Hey darkest star it's no so much low carbs you should be eating but low Gi foods. Low GI foods are slow release carbs that help keep your blood sugar levels constant, you will find a list of them here and the lower number the better:

http://www.the-gi-diet.org/lowgifoods/

In contrast High GI foods are generally white carbs and result in a sugar spike, as in you eat them they give you and sugar rush and then you are hungry quicker, whereas with the Low GI foods they give a slow constant release of energy making you feel fuller for longer.

Protein is also good for helping to keep you feeling full so it would do you no harm to increase your protein intake and your body has to work 10% harder to process protein.

Once I shake this cold and chest infection I will keep a food diary and post it weekly along with my weight, BMI and body fat so you can see what is/ isn't working for me. Like I said I am 6ft 15 1/2 stone and have big muscles in my legs, arms and shoulders and my chest is 42" so I reckon if I get to 14 stone I won't be too far off a six pack(well I am hoping )

EileenG

darkest star2379 wrote: »

e sucker for

-rolls from the spar
-white bread and ham ......
-SOFT DRINKS ...IM A SUCKER FOR THOSE PEPSI €1.50 BOTTLES .(you know the ones )
and when im out ...i can put away a hefty amount of pints.....
-pot noodles at night time .....(and the other boil of the bag noodles)
- but i cant give coffee up ..id go mad

what are the low carb foods ??

All the things you like eating. Except for coffee, that's fine. But the rolls, white bread, soft drinks, pot noodle, pints, boil in the bag noodles - they're all very high carb (and high GI)

When you are looking at foods, unless you are diabetic, look at total carbs. There are some foods, like Snickers, which are low GI even though they are high carb, and they are not part of a healthy diet.

Also, some vegetables like carrots, are high gi, but relatively low carb for the amount you'd eat, so are a much better choice.