SUMMER - Getting back into the gym

x00065954

Hi everyone,

Since it is summer now as everyone, I assume, will try and get back into the gym to shed a few pounds and tone up. Just that I am not sure on what to be doing ie, within the gym & outside gym.

I am a typical guy with a few loose ends hanging from here and there but all I read is how important diet is instead of actually working out? So what types of food is good then to shed a few pounds but not lose any muscle but fat instead? Can someone please explain to me in simple terms and not in "technical" way so I can actually understand. And what type of exercise is the best to shed some weight and tone up the body??

Deeply Appreciated

ScissorPaperRock

x00065954 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Since it is summer now as everyone, I assume, will try and get back into the gym to shed a few pounds and tone up. Just that I am not sure on what to be doing ie, within the gym & outside gym.

I am a typical guy with a few loose ends hanging from here and there but all I read is how important diet is instead of actually working out? So what types of food is good then to shed a few pounds but not lose any muscle but fat instead? Can someone please explain to me in simple terms and not in "technical" way so I can actually understand. And what type of exercise is the best to shed some weight and tone up the body??

Deeply Appreciated

In the simplest terms, consume less calories each day than you burn in order to lose weight. There are various websites that allow you to calculate the amount of calories you need to maintain your weight. Reduce the amount you consume to a few hunded below your maintenance requirement and you should start to lose weight. Use myfitnesspal.com to track your calorie intake each day.

Keep your diet high in protein in order to minimise muscle loss, 1 gram per pound of body weight is a rule of thumb.

Also, read the stickies. Everything you need to know is there.

marathonic

Diet is the most important but, regarding excercise, just do whatever you enjoy rather than trying to do whatever you think will have the most impact on weight loss.

Sure some excercises burn fat quicker than others but the most effective form of excercise is the one you stick at - like the start of January, we are now coming into the season where a lot of people join gyms (most of whom only last a couple of weeks).

shootermacg

marathonic wrote: »

Diet is the most important but, regarding excercise, just do whatever you enjoy rather than trying to do whatever you think will have the most impact on weight loss.

Sure some excercises burn fat quicker than others but the most effective form of excercise is the one you stick at - like the start of January, we are now coming into the season where a lot of people join gyms (most of whom only last a couple of weeks).

I think a lot of people have no idea about what to do in a gym, so they go and lift as heavy as possible. Then a week later when the muscle pain has eased, they find it hard to go through it again.
The best approach is definitely to keep it light and easy for a week or two, you'll still get soreness, just not crippling soreness ^ ^.

A lot of things like exercise bikes tell you what calories you are burning, try to find out what the calories are in each item of food you eat.
The thing that stops me from over eating is thinking of the pain I just went through exercising for 45 mnutes, is about the equivalent of a medium bag of crisps.

Hailhail1967

Eat fresh fruit and veg, as much veg as possible and vary it, eat good quality protein (not fat), cut back on highly processed breads/pasta/rice, at worst eat wholegrain pasta and rice. Eat small regular meals, don't snack on sweets and drink plenty of water.

Exercise every day if possible, you seem to just want too be healthy, so dont concern yourself at this stage with the kind of exercise. Run/cycle/row/climb as much as you feel comfortable with. Ask someone to show you a number of multi -joint compound exercises to work your entire body. (bench press, squat, deadlift, shoulder press, pull up).

Then when you feel yourself comfortable and want to get fitter, ask soeone for a more specific program.

If you eat reasonably healthy and exercise on most days, you will be just fine and feel much better for it.

Doc Daneeka

Eat plenty of protein, particularly at the start of the day and cut the simple carbs (bread, pasta, rice) and the weight will fall off. It's pretty easy really with a bit of discipline.

x00065954

Doc Daneeka wrote: »

Eat plenty of protein, particularly at the start of the day and cut the simple carbs (bread, pasta, rice) and the weight will fall off. It's pretty easy really with a bit of discipline.

Ok but my life literally depends on rice, bread and pasta . Is there any other substitutes for them??

x00065954

Oh and sorry I tend to cook a lot for myself at home so is there a way to count the calories from that??

huskerdu

x00065954 wrote: »

Oh and sorry I tend to cook a lot for myself at home so is there a way to count the calories from that??

If you are unsure of where you are overeating, or where to cut your portion size and calorie intake, you need to keep a food diary, where you write doen everything you eat.

Also you should start weighing your food. Not forever, but just for a while to go a feel for a correct portion size.

You can get calorie content of basic foods on the web very easily.

Here is an example.

http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-barilla-penne-i110487

If you eat lots of empty carbs ( white bread, pasta, rice), and cook a lot, just reduce the amount of rice/pasta in the meal, and increase the amount of veg.

Home cooking makes it all much easier

shootermacg

Mashed Coliflower is a great substitute for rice and spuds.
If you're tanking on the pasta, eating half a loaf of bread then good luck with the weight gain.

If you truly want to lose weight, you will have to make sacrifices, there are a lot of sites that will explain clearly what you need to be eating and how much. It takes about 5 minutes of work on you own to find this information. if you can't do that much, good luck with the weight gain.

Losing weight is about changing habits, and making sacrifices, if you can't do that then, good luck with the weight gain.

x00065954

Cheers guys thanks for all the feedback. All great help