Weight Loss

lol_jk_lmfao

Hey, have my graduation from college in less than a month and i was just wondering what are the best home exercises you can do at home to lose weight? I have cut down on what i am eating but eating healthy at the same time. I have no gym equipment at home and cant afford membership at the moment. Anyone have any tips?

Seraphina

Honestly? (mods I apologise if this seems unhelpful)

Plan further in advance, make a lifestyle change. Don't try yo-yo diet at the last minute for a big event. Your weight will only go up even more afterwards, and in the long run these kinds of short-term semi starvation diets only do your body more harm than good.

Forget about your graduation. Go over to the fitness forum and get some advice on how to live a healthier lifestyle so when the next big event comes up, you don't even need to think about losing weight for it because you're already happy with your fit, healthy physique.

sillyruby

why not try download the couch to 5k program i got it as an app for my phone was only around 1.50 its really structured and helpful

username123

sillyruby wrote: »

why not try download the couch to 5k program i got it as an app for my phone was only around 1.50 its really structured and helpful

I got it for free (I dont have a smart phone, I got the podcasts online).

I found it pretty hardcore, I had to stretch it so took me months to get to a reasonable amount of running, BUT - no reason you couldnt add 30 mins walking to either side of it for the next few weeks plus a walk on the days off it?

Dravokivich

The walking won't help as much with weight loss, it's generally to ease people into cardio who are unfit.

You'll get better advice in the Health and Fitness forum from people who are actively involved in working as Fitness Instructors and Personal Trainers. Think there's a few gym owners there who offer the odd bit of advice as well.

But I'll re-iterate what Seraphina said above, a month is not enough time to do anything. Its a very short target.

LegacyUser

Go for long walks twice a day 30mins +. (Keep the pace brisk)
Go to www.myfitnesspal.com and make a diary of everything you eat for the next month.
You will see exactly where the calories are coming from.

username123

Dravokivich wrote: »

Its a very short target.

It is a very short target but Ive successfully dropped 10 lb in 4 weeks in the past, usually at the beginning of making efforts the weight loss is faster. Im sure the OP would like to get even 10 lb off, better off than on.

Dravokivich

username123 wrote: »

It is a very short target but Ive successfully dropped 10 lb in 4 weeks in the past, usually at the beginning of making efforts the weight loss is faster. Im sure the OP would like to get even 10 lb off, better off than on.

When people give themselves short targets, it's counter productive because a lot of the time they get upset when they don't achieve anything. Weight loss should be about long term input. It's not a quick fix.

Taltos

OP - I have moved your thread from PI to Health & Fitness, as per some of the earlier posters this forum is better suited to help you.

Thanks
Taltos

lol_jk_lmfao

Thanks everyone, your comments are very useful! I was more thinking of exercises eg. push ups, the plank etc that can be done at home.

Hailhail1967

lol_jk_lmfao wrote: »

Thanks everyone, your comments are very useful! I was more thinking of exercises eg. push ups, the plank etc that can be done at home.

Push ups and such are great exercises and there are plenty of body weight exercises that you can do at home and these exercises will benefit you in many ways, including improving your muscle mass and ultimately helping you loose and keep off weight in the future. However with that all said, the main 2 components of loosing weight are diet and cardio.

Depending on your level of fitness, I would suggest at least 1 hour of structured activity a day. If possible include some interval type work in this, so maybe find a park and run for 100m, walk for 100m, and repeat for a number of sets. Include some body weight exercises in this if you are able, so, press ups, air squats, sit ups, back extensions. Use some water bottles as weights to do some basic dumbbell exercises.

Before any1 jumps down my neck, the research points to over an hour of Cardio a day being needed to loose weight, so unfortunately its not easy.

I would agree with previous comments, you need to decide that it will be for life and not just for your grad. When you start exercising and keep at it, you will look and feel better, don't loose that feeling by stopping and starting for every major event in your life.

Antisocialiser

Hailhail1967 wrote: »

Before any1 jumps down my neck, the research points to over an hour of Cardio a day being needed to loose weight, so unfortunately its not easy.

No it's not. Losing weight is predominantly about the diet. It is good for everyone to be active and I think exercise generally increases diet adherence, but an hour of cardio is not needed.

In fact an hour of cardio is more likely to make an uneducated "dieter" binge 1000 calories after burning 300 calories jogging in order to reward him/herself. And the notion of "nothing works for me" / "it's my metabolism" is indoctrinated to that individual further.

Read the stickies OP.

nice_guy80

an hour of cardio?
I'm fecked so.

However, I do go to the gym and put in an hour of weight mini circuits, which has me panting far more than most cardio would.

buy a med ball - 3kg.

push ups
pull ups
planks
side planks
bridging
russian ball twists
med ball push ups
med ball chop
med ball squat
med ball lunge and overhead press

Hailhail1967

Antisocialiser wrote: »

No it's not. Losing weight is predominantly about the diet. It is good for everyone to be active and I think exercise generally increases diet adherence, but an hour of cardio is not needed.

In fact an hour of cardio is more likely to make an uneducated "dieter" binge 1000 calories after burning 300 calories jogging in order to reward him/herself. And the notion of "nothing works for me" / "it's my metabolism" is indoctrinated to that individual further.

Read the stickies OP.

The research points very clearly at how to loose weight. Yes diet is the key, but it is almost impossible to keep it off without exercise. That exercise needs to be an hour on most days of the week in order to have an effect on the actual weight loss. Why the hell would you try to encourage someone not to go for an hours walk or get involved in an hours exercise.

An hour of walking gives far more benefits than just a few calories burned. According to your logic, you shouldn't exercise at all. You shouldn't assume to understand any ones psychological profile and how they will react to exercise, from a few lines on a forum.

Also you should see I said an hour of structured activity, not an hour of "cardio"

Hailhail1967

nice_guy80 wrote: »

an hour of cardio?
I'm fecked so.

However, I do go to the gym and put in an hour of weight mini circuits, which has me panting far more than most cardio would.

buy a med ball - 3kg.

push ups
pull ups
planks
side planks
bridging
russian ball twists
med ball push ups
med ball chop
med ball squat
med ball lunge and overhead press

Nothing wrong with that at all, especially if you can work in very fast rounds.

Antisocialiser

Hailhail1967 wrote: »

The research points very clearly at how to loose weight. Yes diet is the key, but it is almost impossible to keep it off without exercise. That exercise needs to be an hour on most days of the week in order to have an effect on the actual weight loss. Why the hell would you try to encourage someone not to go for an hours walk or get involved in an hours exercise.

Sigh. What research exactly are you talking about?

To lose weight you must take in less calories than you are using; nothing more. People can run a deficit without exercising. Also it's not impossible to "keep it off" without exercise; you simply eat at maintenance.

Did I encourage the OP not to exercise? This is what i said "It is good for everyone to be active and I think exercise generally increases diet adherence, but an hour of cardio is not needed."

An hour of walking gives far more benefits than just a few calories burned. According to your logic, you shouldn't exercise at all. You shouldn't assume to understand any ones psychological profile and how they will react to exercise, from a few lines on a forum.

I think you'll find I alluded to diet adherence and the benefits of exercise.

Also you should see I said an hour of structured activity, not an hour of "cardio"

Here is what you said:

The research points to over an hour of Cardio a day being needed to loose weight, so unfortunately its not easy.

You are strongly suggesting to the OP that an hour of cardio a day is needed to lose weight. This is incorrect. The OP's diet will be the reason she loses weight / bodyfat.

ebixa82

lol_jk_lmfao wrote: »

Hey, have my graduation from college in less than a month and i was just wondering what are the best home exercises you can do at home to lose weight? I have cut down on what i am eating but eating healthy at the same time. I have no gym equipment at home and cant afford membership at the moment. Anyone have any tips?

It's strange that they only tell you less than a month before your grad of the actual date.

If they had given you a rough estimate six months ago..as in "your graduation will take place sometime in Sept." it would have given you the opportunity to focus on weight loss over an extended period, instead of leaving you looking for a way to lose weight rapidly.

Hanley

ebixa82 wrote: »

It's strange that they only tell you less than a month before your grad of the actual date.

If they had given you a rough estimate six months ago..as in "your graduation will take place sometime in Sept." it would have given you the opportunity to focus on weight loss over an extended period, instead of leaving you looking for a way to lose weight rapidly.

Oh, yes, scolding someone who's already probably pretty insecure about their weight and being made feel even worse is an EXCELLENT way to tackle this issue. Seriously like. What's done is done. I bet they know they've left it last minute and dont need you pointing that out from the high horse.

As for te rest of this thread, f*cking hell. An hour of cardio NEEDED?!!??

No, calorie deficit needed. Add in some mixed modality training and you're set. Simple, not easy.

Hailhail1967

Antisocialiser wrote: »

Sigh. What research exactly are you talking about?

To lose weight you must take in less calories than you are using; nothing more. People can run a deficit without exercising. Also it's not impossible to "keep it off" without exercise; you simply eat at maintenance.

Did I encourage the OP not to exercise? This is what i said "It is good for everyone to be active and I think exercise generally increases diet adherence, but an hour of cardio is not needed."



I think you'll find I alluded to diet adherence and the benefits of exercise.



Here is what you said:



You are strongly suggesting to the OP that an hour of cardio a day is needed to lose weight. This is incorrect. The OP's diet will be the reason she loses weight / bodyfat.

I suggested thats what the research said, I then went on to state that depending on the OP's fitness levels. I would recommend an hour of structured activity.

What qualifications have you got to suggest you know any different?

I wrote my thesis on the subject, yes diet is the key, but 5 hours of activity a week will create a substantial kcal defecit to compliment ones diet.

Here are some points from the ACSM's position stand on weight loss, like the ACSM or not they compile the largest amounts of research in the area to come up with their position stands and recommendations. I dont pretend to know more than the industry leaders. I read research and believe what it finds until otherwise proven.

Greater amounts of physical activity are likely to be needed to achieve weight loss and prevent weight regain in adults.

Prevent weight gain -- 150-250 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity is associated with prevention of weight gain. More than 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity is associated with modest weight loss.

For weight maintenance after weight loss -- There is some evidence that >250 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity will prevent weight re-gain.

Weight loss -- 150-250 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity provides only modest weight loss. Greater amounts (ie. >250) provide clinically significant weight loss.

Energy/diet restriction combined with physical activity will increase weight loss as compared to diet alone.

These points are part of their position stand after a substantial review of all the relevant research in the area. If they say you can loose more weight by doing more exercise, i'm sure the OP would be interested.

Antisocialiser

Hailhail1967 wrote: »

I suggested thats what the research said, I then went on to state that depending on the OP's fitness levels. I would recommend an hour of structured activity.

If you don't think that an hour of cardio a day is needed to lose weight then it was misleading to suggest it. I simply posted because I know it's most likely conducive to the OP's goal.

What qualifications have you got to suggest you know any different?

None whatsoever. I do have the ability to read, learn and think critically though.

I wrote my thesis on the subject, yes diet is the key, but 5 hours of activity a week will create a substantial kcal defecit to compliment ones diet.

But do you need to do an hour of cardio a day to lose weight. The answer is simply no as alluded to by Hanley^ above.

Greater amounts of physical activity are likely to be needed to achieve weight loss and prevent weight regain in adults.

You took "likely to be needed" and told the OP it was needed; misleading and incorrect. I would contend that "are likely to be needed" should be replaced with "may (probably will) help".

Energy/diet restriction combined with physical activity will increase weight loss as compared to diet alone.

You could exercise for 3 hours everyday but if you eat more calories than you are burning you will put on weight. Do you disagree with this?

These points are part of their position stand after a substantial review of all the relevant research in the area. If they say you can loose more weight by doing more exercise, i'm sure the OP would be interested.

Don't be so precious about someone else's "research". That paragraph in bold basically says a whole heap of nothing. The relevant OK magazine section is more committal on it's views on diet and training.

Hailhail1967

Ok I absolutely should not have indicated that an hour of cardio was NEEDED. I can take that point.

And you are quite correct that you do not NEED an hour of cardio a day to loose weight, however, if you have decided you want to loose weight, for whatever reason, then exercise is a key part of it and yes an hour of activity a day is recommended, for most this will be of an aerobic nature and for many will be walking, its very possible to start and maintain and if it helps, which it does then why not?

I also agree that if you eat more kcals than you burn you will not loose weight. While energy balance is obviously the key, it is a dynamic scale and the kcals your body is burning at rest is also significant. To this end, exercise is very important.

While the points I posted were from the media release of an article from the ACSM and may well have been published in Ok magazine for all I know. The position stand is the industry standard and I scrutinised all the original research articles that were used to come to the conclusions and stand the ACSM made. It certainly does not "say nothing". The stand is very clear in saying that exercise can have a significant impact on weight loss and that exercise and diet together is more effective than diet alone, in both loosing and maintaining weight loss. The guidelines may appear very broad, but are very specific in their original form.

Hanley

I think this quote sums up the thread:

"'Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."

Antisocialiser

Hanley wrote: »

I think this quote sums up the thread:

"'Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."

I thought it might be useful to the OP for me to clarify what she does or doesn't need to do to lose weight. It isn't prudent to assume that a beginner slimmer will have any knowledge at all as almost all fitness do's and don't's are compounded in a series of myths and bs.

Picture the OP hypothetically; 14 stone 5'5 female wants to lose weight. Proceeds to run for an hour everyday straight off the bat. It ends with injury and probably weight gain.

In summary exercise, depending on various factors (height, weight, training history, type of exercise), will most likely be conducive to your goal of weight loss. But you simply must be running a calorie deficit.

Hailhail1967

Hailhail1967 wrote: »

Depending on your level of fitness, I would suggest at least 1 hour of structured activity a day. If possible include some interval type work in this, so maybe find a park and run for 100m, walk for 100m, and repeat for a number of sets. Include some body weight exercises in this if you are able, so, press ups, air squats, sit ups, back extensions. Use some water bottles as weights to do some basic dumbbell exercises.

Now that I read back over the thread, I firmly stand behind what I suggested in this original paragraph. The OP asked about doing exercises at home. What I suggested was very safe for a beginner and no equipment needed.

To clarify EXACTLY what I meant and put it into theory.

1km walk to a local park
3 x 100m jogs followed by active rest (walking) of 100m
1km walk home.

1 set x Press ups, sit ups, air squats, back extensions, shoulder press.

Total time 1 hour.

I mentioned "depending on your level of fitness" and I said use body-weight exercises "if you were able"

No one can give 100% accurate guidance without meeting the person involved.

To the OP, I am sorry for taking over your thread, I have allot of experience in the fitness industry, I am a fully qualified and insured personal trainer and I gave my opinion and advice based on everything I have experience at and have previously studied in.

Hanley

Antisocialiser wrote: »

I thought it might be useful to the OP for me to clarify what she does or doesn't need to do to lose weight. It isn't prudent to assume that a beginner slimmer will have any knowledge at all as almost all fitness do's and don't's are compounded in a series of myths and bs.

Picture the OP hypothetically; 14 stone 5'5 female wants to lose weight. Proceeds to run for an hour everyday straight off the bat. It ends with injury and probably weight gain.

In summary exercise, depending on various factors (height, weight, training history, type of exercise), will most likely be conducive to your goal of weight loss. But you simply must be running a calorie deficit.

I'd agree with that

MaceFace

There is a good bit of health snobbery in this thread which I find unusual for this forum.
Much of the feedback is irrelevant to the OPs question which is how to lose a bit of weight and generally look better within the next month.


OP: I think realistically, if you are talking about 4 weeks, then 8 lbs is very achievable, and if you are just starting a diet, then you could lose a lot more (maybe 12). I say this because I have done it in the past.

I have gone on two major diets in my life, both resulting in over 20lbs of weight loss (the latest loss being done the "proper" way - exercise and change of diet but not starving myself - it is a diet I want to follow long term).

What I have learned from the endless reading and listening to various people is that 80-90% of your weight loss will be due to your diet.

To me, exercise helps, but think of it this way - if you were to run 6mph for an hour, you will spend about 750 calories. That is a big ask for someone who doesn't run often.
Even a high intensity cardio class in a gym will lose less than that.
If you do this every day, that will be 1 lb in a week you will lose because of your exercise.
Would it be serious to expect someone starting out to do this? I don't think it is achievable.

(I actually went from couch to full marathon in 8 months without losing any weight)

So, what I advise is:
Change your diet completely until the grad - no more sugar at all. No more crisps, cakes, bread (of any kind), rice, breakfast cereal (porridge is your man), No minerals, no alcohol. Basically, nothing that is bad for you.
Instead, live on chicken, salads, veggies (broccoli, cauliflower etc), cottage cheese.
High protein foods will keep you full for longer.

Instead of eating 3 meals a day, eat 5-6 but much smaller.

Don't starve yourself as you will fail.

As for the exercise, I advise running.
Do what I used to do - go to a quiet spot where there are unlikely to be many people and start running. Try to go for as long as you can. Walk for a while and do it again.

What I also learned while doing the marathon is there is no dignity in many types of sports - you will look a state with a big red face and huff along with your hair all over the place (I often had bleeding nipples so blood stains on my shirt).
You know what - I didn't care because the only people likely to stare are the fat and the lazy. Other runners understand the pain.
Besides this, and this may be the most important thing - it gave me a tremendous rush when I was finished my run (wanting to go out again) and great confidence. So even though I didn't lose any weight running (cause I ate like a horse), I felt better about myself because I could finally run.


So, look in the stickies, find out how many calories you should be taking to diet (I would even suggest creating a deficit more than suggested), stick to it (high protein, low GI foods will make it easier to stick to), and run - not just to lose any weight, but to improve how you feel about yourself.