New years resolution to lose weight and any help appreciated :)

Ramza

Hi all I currently weight about 240 (last time I weighed). Quite big, I know! I'm 20 male and I'm 6 foot, and quite a big frame as is (not trying to excuse my weight haha!). I think I would like to lose a stone by summer if I can, or even more. And continue to do so even after summer since the extra weight affects my confidence

My question is, is it basically just as simple as eating better and exercise? I'm in college till about 5 every day and the terrible weather puts me off doing cardio! If I miss out on exercise some days will I still lose weight? I did jogging before but found myself prone to injury when I jogged and usually got tired very quickly? It was never productive for me. What other cardio is good? I like to go for long walks, what's considered a good walk? I would like to take up swimming lessons once a week too to learn to swim and stay in shape

What shud I make for dinner and what should I avoid? I also have some dumbbell weights and is doing weights important as part of exercise and toning etc? Thanks

seamus

It's actually simpler than eating better and exercising. You will lose weight without exercising, if you improve your diet.

The number of calories burned through exercise can actually be quite small compared to the level of effort you put in. The best example that's usually given is that if you go for a 45 minute jog (think about how much effort that is), then you have "run off" the equivalent of a Big Mac. Just a Big Mac, not a big mac meal, or a pizza with wedges. Just a Big Mac.

The arguments for exercising though are many, not least that regular exercise increases your metabolic rate (so you burn more calories on a day-to-day basis), will improve your strength, muscle tone and so on and on. Exercise also releases endorphins, so it also just generally makes you feel better.

If you diet without exercise, you will lose weight and be slim, but you'll still be out of breath and sweating when you climb two flights of stairs.

For sorting out your diet, check out the Nutrition 101 sticky at the top of this forum. The basic idea is to watch how much you're eating. What you eat is less important than how much you eat. When people talk of "eating better" they usually think of swapping takeaways for home-cooked meals, but you can still overdo it on home-cooked stuff. How much you eat is the key factor.

In terms of exercise that's good, try a few different things and see what you like. Universally they're all difficult to begin with - you'll feel dead within a few minutes. It takes your body time to get used to it, so you have to push through that part and stick with it.
A long walk is as good as anything else, but only if you're sweating. IMO, if you're not sweating, you're not working. So you can walk as long and far as you like, but if you're not wet and breathing heavily at the end, you haven't pushed hard enough.