Help Please??? Re: Exercise and Weight Loss

Joncol

Hi everyone.

I'm 26 yr old male, weight 18 stone and am 6foot2, yes I'm an overweight pig I know, but I week and a half ago I started my new diet and exercise regeime as follows;

Daily Calorie intake: 1500
Interval jogging on treadmill 60 mins / 800 cals / 6miles per day.

I've stook to this for the past 9 days and I haven't lost any weight whatsoever.

Am I doing something wrong? Like I'm eating 800 cals below by daily intake requirement and I'm burning 800 cals every day from jogging on treadmill everyday. If 1 pound = 3500 calories then these past 9 days I should of lost 4 pounds from my reduction in calorie intake and exercise??

Why am I not loosing weight? Seems very strange and I'm starting to think maybe just ditch the exercise, starting to think starving myself would be the best way to go.

Zamboni

Joncol wrote: »

Hi everyone.

I'm 26 yr old male, weight 18 stone and am 6foot2, yes I'm an overweight pig I know, but I week and a half ago I started my new diet and exercise regeime as follows;

Daily Calorie intake: 1500
Interval jogging on treadmill 60 mins / 800 cals / 6miles per day.

I've stook to this for the past 9 days and I haven't lost any weight whatsoever.

Am I doing something wrong? Like I'm eating 800 cals below by daily intake requirement and I'm burning 800 cals every day from jogging on treadmill everyday. If 1 pound = 3500 calories then these past 9 days I should of lost 4 pounds from my reduction in calorie intake and exercise??

Why am I not loosing weight? Seems very strange and I'm starting to think maybe just ditch the exercise, starting to think starving myself would be the best way to go.

Hey mate, don't lose faith after 9 days.
There are a number of reasons why you may not have lost weight.
Post up your diet.

daveyc21

There may be a number of reasons why you are not loosing 'scale weight' water retention muscle increase from what I assume was going from completely sedentary to active inaccurate scales etc. on six miles a day you are definitely loosing weight stick with it for four weeks and base your changes more on how you look in the mirror how clothes fit rather than what the scales say. 6 miles an hour is quite a leisurely pace on a treadmill as it is assisted running. Try getting to a field and running where there are changes in incline decline and its not as monotonous...

Dave

Joncol

For Breakfeast I'd usually have a bowl of Porridge and two slices of wholegrain toast.

For Lunch I juice carrots,apples, pineapple, celery,brocoli into a large juice drink.

Then I do my 60 mins on treadmill

Then for dinner I'd have maybe Noodles in Black Bean Sauce with Salmon / Sweet Potatoe and Salmon or mackrel / Cesar Salad with turkey rather than chicken. I'd usually mix dinner between one of those.

I just can't see where I'm going wrong.

papajimsmooth

You just need to be patient, you didnt put on all that weight in a few days so what makes you think you can loose it all in a few days? Your on the right track though.

Joncol

It's just very disheartening to be trying so hard and not loosing any weight and my clothes are still as tight as ever!!!

I know 6 miles isn't a huge amount in one hour but bear in mind I'm only starting off. I've read though that interval training is great for fat burning so that's what I do. i.e 4 mins at a decent enough pace, then 1 min as fast as I can possibly go, then repeat etc.

Obviously over the coming weeks/months etc I'm looking to increase the tempo but this was my starting point and to not loose anything is just a pain.

I know for a fact I could loose a stone in 10 days by fasting on barely any food, that's obviously the wrong way to loose weight but when you loose nothing from working hard with exercise everyday then it does start to look more appealing then what I'm trying/failing at right now.

Joncol

I don't think it's impatient to expect to loose 1 pound over 9 days of daily exercise and undereating on your daily intake requirement.

I need 2300 calories today at my current weight. If I reduce my intake as I'm doing and burn off 800 cals everyday I should be loosing weight... I thought that's how weight loss worked i.e daily exercise and healthy eating?

Joncol

"Try getting to a field and running where there are changes in incline decline and its not as monotonous..."

I might do that, but at the moment I do interval training on the treadmill to combat that exact problem i.e I increase the incline and speed every 4 mins and then revert back etc i.e get the heart rate up then down the up then down then up then down etc. Supposed to be the best way to burn fat?

TimeToShine

Physical activity causes water retention. You should be drinking at least a gallon of water a day if not more so your body knows it's getting a constant supply and stops retaining the water.

Joncol

Weighed myself today and actually gained two pounds.

Going to stop this exercise non sense and just fast for the week.

Will report back.

TimeToShine

What? Don't do that. Stick to your deficit and just be patient.

Reggy

TimeToShine wrote: »

What? Don't do that. Stick to your deficit and just be patient.

+1

Dude, listen to the people on the forum, they are not making this stuff up. You asked for advice, now heed it. When people try to loose weight through the 'conventional' methods (ie exercise and dieting) and it doesnt 'work' immediately, it does not mean that it is not the correct thing to do.

Exercise and dieting together works. There can be no argument against that.
You are pretty much no different to any other human being.
You are not resistant to the effects of exercise because of your body type or your genes.
There is no easy cure for overweight.
Have you ever thought that the extra weight gained may in fact be muscle?

When you weigh yourself are u being consistent? If not this might explain why you are getting differing readings on the scale. weigh yourself in the morning, before eating, after going to the toilet, in the nip and on the same scales! Keep it consistent! You'd be surprised how much your weight can fluctuate throughout the day!

Maybe it might be an idea to avoid using the scales entirely. You have invested far too much emotion in a very limited indicator of health and or fitness. How about taking girth measurements around your tummy? or even just see if a specific piece of clothing fits you better week after week!?

as regards exercise have you considered other types of training? Rowing/cross training or a combination of all throughout the week? in terms of intervals, as far as I know you burn fat during the slow phase, not the fast phase (somebody might correct me if I am wrong, cant remember where I read it), so maybe increasing the intensity of the slow phase might improve the amount of weight loss... STICK WITH IT!!!

yes I'm an overweight pig I know

I also suggest you cut out that sort of talk/thinking. You are doing yourself no favours by hating on yourself. There are lots of people on the forum who will give you advice and support but if you dont take stock of the advice from experts then what is the point in posting at all?

Transform

just go for a 40-60mins WALK not RUN daily and sort your diet out - at 18stone the weight should just fall off if you are eating half way right and not over doing the exercise especially the high intensity stuff (leave that till you are down 2-3 stone)

shadowcomplex

Transform wrote: »

just go for a 40-60mins WALK not RUN daily and sort your diet out - at 18stone the weight should just fall off if you are eating half way right and not over doing the exercise especially the high intensity stuff (leave that till you are down 2-3 stone)

Why is doing the high intensity stuff a negative for very over weight people?

y3llo_w

Try exercise in the morning when you first wake up and before breakfast. You'll burn alot more calories and curb your appetite for the rest of the day. It will be harder to exercise first thing in the morning but is so much more effective plus this way you can enjoy the rest of your day and not have to think about having to work out. And seriously DONT crash diet and starve yourself it really doesnt work in the long term.! You'll just put it all back on and more when you start to not starve yourself again.

Rovi

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Why is doing the high intensity stuff a negative for very over weight people?

It's tough on joints and weak/small muscles, and it's very easy to get injured and disheartened.
Lots of people jump from doing little or nothing straight into vigorous exercise, find themselves in a world of pain on day 2 or 3, and simply give up.

As advised above, for a person who is very overweight and sedentary, a bit of gentle exercise along with getting the diet right will yield terrific and sustainable results.
Leave the high intensity stuff for when the weight is gone down a good bit.

TimeToShine

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Why is doing the high intensity stuff a negative for very over weight people?

It's bad for their joints.

Joncol

I wouldn't consider my workout that intense.

My daily calorie intake has been 1500 per day and I'm burning 800 cals per day.

This will be my 12th day in a row doing it and I have not lost weight, I have put on two pounds....

I'm undereating and I'm exercising yet I'm putting weight.


"at 18stone the weight should just fall off if you are eating half way right and not over doing the exercise especially the high intensity stuff (leave that till you are down 2-3 stone) " 12 days and I've put on two pounds...

Joncol

There's no reason to keep up what I'm doing now. 12 days of 1 hour's exercise and 1500 cals intake each day. Sorry but clearly I need to fast for a while to kick start things and then slowly re introduce a stable diet along with exercise.

My joints by the way are fine, I don;t feel tired, I feel fine , I'm just not loosing weight.

shadowcomplex

Rovi wrote: »

It's tough on joints and weak/small muscles, and it's very easy to get injured and disheartened.
Lots of people jump from doing little or nothing straight into vigorous exercise, find themselves in a world of pain on day 2 or 3, and simply give up.

As advised above, for a person who is very overweight and sedentary, a bit of gentle exercise along with getting the diet right will yield terrific and sustainable results.
Leave the high intensity stuff for when the weight is gone down a good bit.

perhaps playing high intensity sports wouldnt be best for a very overweight person because your moving all over the place in any direction with sudden movement and the likely hood of injury is there but in a gym i dont think so because with good form and slow controlled weighttraining exercises can be intense without causing any injuries plus if you crank the treadmill up to 15 degrees you can get a pretty intense workout without running very fast

Joncol

Folks 12 days of under eating and exercising and I've put on two pounds.

I'd call that a complete waste of time.

If I had of fasted for those 12 days I'd be a stone lighter, that's what I'm going to do for the next 12 days....

shadowcomplex

Joncol wrote: »

There's no reason to keep up what I'm doing now. 12 days of 1 hour's exercise and 1500 cals intake each day. Sorry but clearly I need to fast for a while to kick start things and then slowly re introduce a stable diet along with exercise.

My joints by the way are fine, I don;t feel tired, I feel fine , I'm just not loosing weight.

I reckon your are overestimating your calorie burn and underestimating your calorie intake

Joncol

I reckon your are overestimating your calorie burn and underestimating your calorie intake

I take the reading from the treadmill and in terms of underestimating my calorie intake, not a chance, If anything I always add on 50 cals to what the label says to be sure.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

It might be worth getting a heart rate monitor watch. This will give you a better calorie use reading than the built in treadmill one.

Best of luck OP. Keep the head up and remember, every step you take, every exercise you do brings you to your goal.

Joncol

Maybe exercise is for toning up and not for weight loss.

Maybe the best thing for weight loss is just undereating.

Joncol

Right I've decided to fast on a water only diet(lots of it) for the next five days.

Let's see where that gets me. In previous experience it works really really really well.

I'd expect to loose 10/12 pounds in these 5 days. Maybe it's water retention, well obviously a lot of it is, but whatever the case I'm doing it for 5 days.

Will report back Friday

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Joncol wrote: »

Right I've decided to fast on a water only diet(lots of it) for the next five days.

Let's see where that gets me. In previous experience it works really really really well.

I'd expect to loose 10/12 pounds in these 5 days. Maybe it's water retention, well obviously a lot of it is, but whatever the case I'm doing it for 5 days.

Will report back Friday

Aww man I wouldnt be doing that. Im sure you will lose some weight but you would definately be going the wrong way about it. Stop focussing on short term weight loss and look at the long term big picture.

If you pursue your current "quick fix" ways of losing weight you will just "yo yo".

Why not take up Weight Watchers as a start. There are mens only classes if you would feel comfortable doing it. I tried it before when I was 15 stone. With healthy eating and exercising every day, I lost 7 lbs in a week. Now, that was mostly water retention but it gave me the motivation to lose weight properly instead of these quick fix ideas that dont last.

Joncol

I'm going to do the water fasting this week, I've done them before and actually enjoy them, I always feel energised at the end of them and they are great for cleaning the body.

I think this is something I just have to do before I resume exercise and healthy eating.

I'll post back here on Friday and let everyone know how I got on, I know some of you don't agree with it but many others do agree with fasting as a kick start to weight loss.

The most important thing is to re introduce food slowly into your lifestyle....

Right talk to everyone Friday

cc87

So you came onto a Health & Fitness forum asking for advice. You got advice. You ignored the advice.

Paully D

There's is absolutely no way you'll survive on just water until Friday. You'll end up eating more food by Wednesday than you'll have eaten in three weeks by sticking to the diet.

I didn't lose any weight for the first two weeks of my healthy eating and dieting phase, but I didn't get disheartened. I kept plugging away and realised that I didn't put much weight on from eating rubbish for two weeks so I'm not going to lose it that quickly either. I've still only lost a few pounds now (five weeks in, but have adjusted my diet healthy and significantly over the last week) as I've been out on the beer a couple of nights since but that's out from tomorrow (hopefully :pac:).

I posted up my diet on here before and people gave me advice. I stuck to that advice and feel a lot better about it all now.

Do what people on here have told you to do and stick at it for a month or two, you'll eventually get the results you desire. However, it sounds to me like you're just going to do your own thing regardless.......

Reggy

Joncol wrote: »

Let's see where that gets me. In previous experience it works really really really well.

I dont mean to be mean, but obviously not. You are still 18 stone. If it worked really really really well, you wouldnt be 18 stone.

Reggy

Joncol wrote: »

Maybe exercise is for toning up and not for weight loss.

Maybe the best thing for weight loss is just undereating.

The most important thing is to re introduce food slowly into your lifestyle....

I'd expect to loose 10/12 pounds in these 5 days. Maybe it's water retention, well obviously a lot of it is, but whatever the case I'm doing it for 5 days.

You are twelve days into your new regime. I know it sucks that you put on 2 pounds, but you are now just looking for a quick fix to loose weight. You need to be prepared to make a lifestyle change and implement exercise and a proper diet slowly. Starving yourself for a week on water is not going to change things.

Zamboni

Joncol wrote: »

I'm going to do the water fasting this week, I've done them before and actually enjoy them, I always feel energised at the end of them and they are great for cleaning the body.

I think this is something I just have to do before I resume exercise and healthy eating.

I'll post back here on Friday and let everyone know how I got on, I know some of you don't agree with it but many others do agree with fasting as a kick start to weight loss.

The most important thing is to re introduce food slowly into your lifestyle....

Right talk to everyone Friday

9-12 days and you're throwing in the towel.
Sure why not just get lipo?
Based on the given info, I can only guess that you''ve got your math wrong and/or your measurement of intake is incorrect.
Becoming savvy with your food intake and having a good grasp of the calorie and macro-nutrients breakdown takes longer than nine days in itself.

metamorphosis

The reading on cardio machines are easily out by 30% - never go by the reading. They will give you a much higher burn than you actually are.

Also, you're body easily fluctuates half a stone any given day depending on your hydrated state, undigested food etc. Right now i could go get a glass of water and drink it and show 2lbs up on the scales in a matter of seconds.

Hanley

1 litre of water is 1kg, that’s over 2lbs. If you’d had a couple of pints of water that could easily explain the increase. If you haven’t had a cr@p in the past 12 hours, that could explain it too. There’s a ton of things that could have made you appear to gain weight.

If you’re estimating your kcals correctly, 1,500 is way too low for an 18 stone dude and I’m not surprised that you’re not losing weight.

The kcal estimate off the treadmill is wrong too. They’re never right. It’s probably showing gross kcals too (ie if you were to sit around doing nothing you’d probably burn 400kcal, the treadmill says you’ve burned 800 in an hour, your net for that hour is 400 additional kcals).

How long has it taken you to gain that much weight? It’s not going to fall off overnight. And if you’ve genuinely been eating that much, and exercising that much, and have not lost weight, you need to go to a doctor and see if there’s a medical reason for it.

But tbh, I think you’re estimates are way off, and going on a water only diet is one of the worst things you could do.

EDIT: And you said you're basing your kcals off what's "on the packet" - there's two problems with that - most food that comes in packets is sh!t for weight loss, and you could be getting your sserving sizes wrong.

Brian?

Joncol wrote: »

Folks 12 days of under eating and exercising and I've put on two pounds.

I'm sorry to tell you but there is no way you can put on weight without eating a calorie surplus.

On top of this, trying something for 12 days and then giving up is nonsense. Losing weight and getting healthy is a long term lifestyle change not something you can do in 12 days.

Rovi

OP, by way of a bit of encouragement, here's the quick & dirty version of my story:
At the end of 2009, I was in a not dissimilar situation to your own (except that my numbers were if anything, slightly worse: 6 foot tall, 19 stone, 48 years old :eek:).
I'd spent the previous 4-5 years vaguely saying to myself that 'I should do something about this', but doing little or nothing, and all the while the weight crept inexorably upwards.
At Christmas 2009, I got the swift kick up the arse I needed to turn my life around; we refurbished the bathroom, including the fitting of 3 large mirrors. There was now no hiding from what I looked like!

I bought a good digital kitchen scales, and started keeping a scrupulously honest food diary. Every morsel that passed my lips was weighed and recorded. I found www.fitday.com fantastic for keeping track of this stuff.
I used the Activities section of Fitday to figure out my Baseline Metabolism (the number of calories I used simply by being alive), and recorded any additional activities to give me a 'total calories' for the day.
I then aimed to run a 4-500 calories/day deficit.
I didn't bother with (or know much about, to be honest) looking at fat/protein/carb ratios or anything like that, I just watched the calories.

Before I started, my 'normal' diet was in the region of 3000-4000 calories/day! :eek:
With a 'normal' daily maintenance requirement of around 2500 (for my size and activity levels at the time), it's no wonder I was the size I was!
By aiming to keep it down around the 2000/day mark, I lost weight steadily at a rate of 1-2lbs/week.
I got very good at substituting high-calorie foods for equally filling and satisfying but much lower calorie foods.
I cut waaaay back on bread, potatoes, pasta, and all that sort of stuff, substituting loads of fruit and vegetables.

I 'slipped' plenty of times (takeaways, packets of biscuits, cake, you name it), but didn't obsess about it or allow it become a reason to quit, I just got back on track straight away and carried on.

I weighed myself every day (something that is usually NOT recommended here, but I like the statistics ), but I made sure to be consistent in when and how I did it: first thing in the morning, post ablutions, same/similar clothing.
I got to be able to accurately predict the weight fluctuations my 'naughty' episodes would cause.

It took 2 or 3 weeks to get started at the beginning, but the weight steadily fell away over the following year and a half.

Once I was down around the 14-15 stone mark, I started into doing more that a bit of walking, easy jogging and gentle cycling.
I've been Crossfitting for about 8 months now, and do a good bit of running and cycling with my local triathlon club. I must emphasise though, that there's no way on earth that I'd have been able for this stuff without loosing a good bit of the weight and getting a bit of basic fitness first.


OP: I too suspect that there's something amiss in your calories in/out calculations.
Certainly, ignore what the gym machine is telling you, those things are notoriously inaccurate.


tl,dr:
Don't despair, it CAN and HAS been done!
I know this, because I've done it!

Michael 09

OP you've come on and asked for advice on weight loss and have received some solid advice from people who have the knowledge and experience to help you. You have now gone and completely ignored this advice to follow some silly water diet because you didn't get the results you wanted in TWELVE DAYS. weight loss is not easy, everyone knows that. Stop looking for a quick fix, take the advice and apply it for 4 weeks and report back then.

Oh and stop weighing yourself everyday! A watched pot and all that...

G86

Joncol wrote: »

Folks 12 days of under eating and exercising and I've put on two pounds.

I'd call that a complete waste of time.

If I had of fasted for those 12 days I'd be a stone lighter, that's what I'm going to do for the next 12 days....

I'd call posting about it here a complete waste of time too tbh, if you're not going to listen to the advice you're being given.

I do sympathise, I know it's a sh1t feeling when you feel like you've worked hard at your diet and haven't seen results, but you really do need to give it more time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your gut - so it's going to take a while to lose it.

Zamboni

Actually ignore all of us.
We are just idiots on t'internet.

Listen to your own advice.

Joncol wrote: »

If you even started walking 2 or 3 miles everyday for the month of January youd be amazed the difference it makes, obviously stick to healthy eating, not starvation, but plenty healthy food

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=69778714&postcount=26

Reggy

AHHHH! so he IS really an expert....

Rovi

I'm wondering if we're being trolled here...
:mad:

Spread

Rovi wrote: »

I'm wondering if we're being trolled here...
:mad:

How many hours on the treadmill did it take to realise? Either the cal count or the person using it is wrong. You use up more calories than you eat ......... it's a no brainer. Or perhaps he may have found a miracle cure for malnutrition