its time to lose some weight

[lasermp5]

cool thread. Like many have stated before, college sucks. Easily gained 35lbs over the first two years of college. I took about 20lbs off last summer over three months in Australia when I actually had the time and opportunity to eat right and exercise. Now that I've been home almost 9 months, I've put about 10lbs back on since returning to college. It sucks. Just have to get into a routine and stay with it. I'm right there with ya... not taking on a hard course load this summer so I'm planning to hit this with ya!

Current weight: ~ 220, BMI: idk but it can't be great lol
Goal weight: 185-190 lean lbs. This means I"m not so concerned with the actual weight as I am my BMI, or body mass index. Who cares if you're 200lbs vs. 185, if you're nice and toned with an attractive physique when that extra weight is muscle. Am I right?

I'll post my results or w/e in here also. And if I don't get off my lazy ass, I'll conveniently forget this thread exists.... lol j/k we can doooo eeeet!!!

 

[Hughes412]

There was. I started one last yr. I lost 30lbs in about 3 months. I've kept it off for over a yr now.

Use this
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

If you haven't heard of it, it's a BMR calculator. It will show you how many calories your body burns in a day with out doing anything. As long as you eat the right foods and eat less then the cals it posts you will lose weight. And if you do exercise then that will just double the amount of weight lost. The thing to remember is anyone can lose weight, but if you don't do it the right way it can be very bad for you. As for cardio, man I can't say it enough. Get a stairstepper. Those things will work you ass off! That was my main exercise and it worked.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123659588&page=3

 

[RacerXGirl]

www.sparkpeople.com is a good site to use if you're looking to track calories, fat, carbs, etc. so you truly know what you're taking in. There's also a place to input any exercise and other goals you have, as well as boards/forums for different interests. Yeah, it's most a chick place, but there are some guys on there. They've got some great tools on there.

 

[blake_peanut]

cool thread. Like many have stated before, college sucks. Easily gained 35lbs over the first two years of college. I took about 20lbs off last summer over three months in Australia when I actually had the time and opportunity to eat right and exercise. Now that I've been home almost 9 months, I've put about 10lbs back on since returning to college. It sucks. Just have to get into a routine and stay with it. I'm right there with ya... not taking on a hard course load this summer so I'm planning to hit this with ya!

Current weight: ~ 220, BMI: idk but it can't be great lol
Goal weight: 185-190 lean lbs. This means I"m not so concerned with the actual weight as I am my BMI, or body mass index. Who cares if you're 200lbs vs. 185, if you're nice and toned with an attractive physique when that extra weight is muscle. Am I right?

I'll post my results or w/e in here also. And if I don't get off my lazy ass, I'll conveniently forget this thread exists.... lol j/k we can doooo eeeet!!!

Good points! IMO there is to much hype on the scale and lbs lost, I made this mistake and still fall victim to it from time to time. I see the scale going up and get worried, but then ppl say wow your getting big. This is why concentrating on measurements, overall changes to your body and day to day living are what you need to use to see/gauge results. When I was 335lbs tying up my shoe laces not only left me out of breath but I could barely get down there to do it. One day I just through my shoes on tied 'em up and I was out the door - said to myself s***! These changes may seem small and kinda oh...stupid but use them.

I agree that the step master/stepmill is a great cardiovasucalr tool. IMO the eleptical and machines like it aren't great, they do in fact burn calories but if you think about it most of these movements are not "natural" body movements. Thus being harder on the joints and tend to build unpurportioned muscles/strength. As I understand it you do not go to the gym, a GREAT $5-$10 tool for cardio is skipping rope. This burns the upmost calories and is practically free and can be done anywhere. You may suck at it first but just keep trying and soon you will like Balboa haha! You can do things like skip rope for 10 mins, then do 20 body weight squats, skip for two minutes, 20 body weight squats...x4. Add in exercises like this to creat a circuit type workout, these being great for keeping the body guessing and burning fat. Throw in push ups (all different kinds), crunches, bulgarian hack squats, lunges etc. CORE workouts are essential for overall body strength and will up the amount of weight you lift in every exercise, planks, side planks etc.

 

[Hughes412]

Well I kinda have to disagree. I said stair but meant elliptical. While jump ropes are ok, you would have to work out for hours to burn off the same cal. that you can on a good elliptical machines. One it's way more better on your joints. For people that are out of shape and 20 or more pounds over weight jogging, running or jumping rope and cause problems. That's why a lot of trainers start you out on weight loss then body toning. With a good ellipitical you can work our both upper and lower body parts with out building muscle. The key is heart rate. Which so far you all know that. So IMO the best thing to do is find a way (machine or not) that you can get your heart rate up and keep it there with the least amount of stress on the body.

 

[blake_peanut]

Well I kinda have to disagree. I said stair but meant elliptical. While jump ropes are ok, you would have to work out for hours to burn off the same cal. that you can on a good elliptical machines. One it's way more better on your joints. For people that are out of shape and 20 or more pounds over weight jogging, running or jumping rope and cause problems. That's why a lot of trainers start you out on weight loss then body toning. With a good ellipitical you can work our both upper and lower body parts with out building muscle. The key is heart rate. Which so far you all know that. So IMO the best thing to do is find a way (machine or not) that you can get your heart rate up and keep it there with the least amount of stress on the body.

Jumping rope burns 3 times the calories as jogging/elliptical (unless HIGH intensity), this is a fact. Not to mention using coordination and balance. The elliptical is a decent machine, I have used it in the past but just wasn't for me. 20 lbs is nothing IMO, I started running outside at 335lbs, mind you I could only run 1/4 block and then would have to walk then jog again. I agree it is all about heart rate and like you said by getting it up however so done = burning calories. Maybe the elliptical and other similar machines hurt my joints/felt akward because they are made for average size ppl, I am 6'4 right now at 245lbs sitting once at all time low of 218lbs.

 

[livelyjay]

I've lost 23 pounds since December, when my ACL recovery kicked into high gear and I could start jogging. I haven't jogged much until recently, but a few factors I believe have really helped me drop weight:

1) Working out every day during lunch for 40 minutes. Not every one has the luxury of working flex time, or has an affordable gym 5 minutes from where they work. I have both.
2) Eating "right". That's in quotes because I still don't eat right all the time. In the morning I have cereal or an egg sandwich. Around 10-10:30 in the morning I eat a Clif bar to fill me up and for an energy boost before lunch workout. When I get back from the gym I have a frozen entre (Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, SmartOnes, etc). When I get home I have a light dinner. Very rarely do I have dessert. I was having ice cream every night for a while but decided that probably wasn't a good idea.
3) NO-VERY LIMITED beer consumption. My buddy and I didn't drink beer from 12/4 till St. Patties Day. I think that helped out BIG TIME. I still drank scotch and vodka rocks a few times a week, so alcohol was not cut out entirely.
4) Limited going out to dinner. When we do, I eat half my food and take the rest home. Attempted to stay away from pizza, wings, fried foods etc, but sometimes that's just not possible.

The eating thing has really helped me keep my portion sizes smaller. I still had garbage food in there every so often, but not all the time. I'm now down to running 5ks at 8 min mile pace, which I could never do before.

 

[NCZ13]

well im still trying to adjust to this all.

ive really cut down on what i eat. and i try not to eat to late at night.
i know i should probably cut the carbs a bit as well.

this morning i started the day with a blueberry muffin. had several glasses of water throughout the day. had some reduced fat popcorn in the afternoon, and had foccacia bread thing along witha salad for dinner.

today so far ive had 2 cinnamon muffins. not the big costco size ones... the just regular muffin pan sized ones.

i used taht calculator thing. that can be very useful because it will help me watch how much calories i should eat.

i think i should really start cutting down on the carbs, because i think thats whats really hurting me.

 

[livelyjay]

i think i should really start cutting down on the carbs, because i think thats whats really hurting me.

Cut back on the bad carbs. Those muffins are terrible for you because they are loaded with carbs and fat. Stick to wheat and whole grain breads. Also, you're not getting enough protein. Protein keeps you full and will help prevent snacking. Peanut butter isn't as evil as people make it out to be and is a great source of protein in moderation. The local store has a reduced fat peanut butter spread that's pretty good as long as it's fresh (the oils tend to separate out and the peanut butter solidifies). Tuna is also cheap if you like it. I used to just crack open a can (tuna in water, NOT oil), sprinkle on salt and pepper, spread on some honey mustard and eat it right out of the can.

 

[NCZ13]

i actually really like fish. so tuna isnt a problem.

the thing is i prefer my fish raw then cooked lol. so ill see what recipes i can get.

and i figured the muffins wouldnt be the healthiest choice.

im not obese or anything. im about 5'9 but i grew a small gut in the past year, and i dont want it to get out of hand.

thanks for all the advice and encouragement. =)

 

[ivyfoxy5]

or he could not do this and be an intelligent person.

I was being sarcastic when I said for him to do that! I was talking about how I wish I could gain weight.

 

[Shane5425]

gl with it, i think i need to gain wait, 125lbs and 5'10"... i eat eat and eat, no exercise, but still cant gain wait.......

 

[NCZ13]

current weight is 196.1

 

[NCZ13]

so ive been staying on task, and regulating my eating times (which really was where the problem was)

ive been eating breakfast, and eating alot of fish as well.

i started doing basic arm curls on my spare time. low weight, high repition using a 15lb weight.

theres no doubt that ive lost weight since ive started my thread. my current weight as it is is 194.3

so even if some of that is just water weight, its about a 7lb difference when i weighed myself last week and decided to do something about it. so obviously im losing something. the scale is reading lower and lower each day... so im sure im doing something right.

 

[RacerXGirl]

Good job! Guys are lucky, they have more muscle mass and testosterone in their favor, so if you keep at it, you'll see results quickly!

 

[NCZ13]

thank you =)

i think it was knox joe who posted the bmr calculator as well as the person who posted all those other links on the first page were a good help.

the BMR calculator helps me make sure i stay under that number.

 

[TreFlip999]

Damn man...I was 228 LBS. last may when we first got here in the big ol' desert, just from the 125* heat and sweatin my ass of a year later im 173 LBS and ive been the same for about 7 months now....stay focused man...Dont starve yourself, when i was working out I allowed myself a cheat day every sunday and id eat them in the morn ing to help burn off all the goodies i ate through the day

 

[NCZ13]

current weight 185

 

[RacerXGirl]

wooohooo!

Guys definitely have the edge on the weight loss thing, the testosterone makes a big difference, plus the fact that y'all normally have more muscle mass than us. Keep up the great work!

 

[NCZ13]

thank you. the late night eating, and having a square diet helped