Tired of being overweight.

[AdrianCC100]

Last week I decided to see how much I weighed. I learned that I was 319 pounds. I really thought that I was under the 300 mark, but turns out that I was totally wrong. It also doesn't help that I have been out of work, which is why I gained so much weight. When I had my job, I was down in the 250s, because the job was very physical and I walked a lot during work.

Over time, I got lazy and just sat on the PC. I have thrown in hundreds of applications for jobs and I get no calls, or if I call in I am told they are not interested in hiring me. So I figured with all this free time I had, why not try and exercise to lose that weight?

So I went through my mothers DVD collection and found that she had a biggest loser DVD. I started to work out with it using the "Low cardio workout" on the DVD. This section lasted about 25 minutes, including the 5 minute warmup. So in total, I have been working out for 30 minutes for about 10 days now. I started to mix up the workouts with their "Fast Cardio workout" and tomorrow I will be doing their strength conditioning workout.

I checked my progress on the scale today, and it looks like I am still at 319. It really sucks and is very discouraging to see all that work I have done and little to no results. The only improvements I have really noticed is that my stamina is slightly higher. The first three days, I could hardly finish the 30 minute workout, but now I can finish it no problem. I also then play some drums after for about an hour..

I try to eat better. I eat healthy cereal like Cheerios with no sugar. For lunch I may have some eggs with toast. And for dinner, whatever mom cooks up, but I don't take a huge serving like I used to. I am guessing that I put about 2,000 calories inside me a day.. Maybe less..

Anyway... I am looking for some tips to make working out fun and interesting. Also, any ideas why I am not seeing any improvements? Or will it be a little more before I see anything? Pretty much any tips in general that would help me lose weight. My ultimate goal is to reach around 200 pounds.

 

[CobaltSSGuy]

Here are my recommendations, but I am, my no means, a physical trainer or nutritionist lol. I'm just sharing what worked for me

I would stop eating cereal. I usually eat eggs. Normally, 3 eggs (1 full egg, 2 just the whites) with some fruit and/or veggies. I love throwing some fresh baby spinach and onion in my eggs, but thats just me lol. If you can, I'd focus more on whole/fresh foods. Wheat/multi-grain bread, lean meats, chicken breast is your best friend (non-breaded ) One thing I had to learn was to not eat what my mom cooked when I lived at home. I would eat it every once in a while, but I would usually cook something a little healthier.

Losing weight isn't easy, but the formula to do it is relatively simple. Count your calories and exercise, and you can change your lifestyle. However, just remember, motivation is what gets you started on your journey to success, creating a habit is what changes your lifestyle. Whatever you do, don't starve yourself, or you won't lose weight. Eat healthy and eat the proper amount of calories.

You should be pushing yourself for a workout longer than 30 minutes. I workout for 1.5-2 hours. 30-45 mins of cardio, and then I hit the weights (usually takes about 1 hour) If you can't get some weight lifting in, do pushups, situps, dips and go for a long walk or bike ride. But in order to lose weight, you need to get your heart rate up for a longer period of time, at a higher rate so you can burn more fat. You should atleast dedicate an hour of cardio and bodyweight exercises combined.

Helpful links on the site:

Nutrition 101: This will teach you how to calculate daily calorie intakes and give you some very helpful information. http://training.fitness.com/nutrition/nutrition-101-a-32846.html

Here is a good food list: http://training.fitness.com/nutrition/lvs-grocery-list-19098.html

Fat-Loss troubleshooting guide: http://training.fitness.com/weight-loss/fat-loss-troubleshoot-guide-19721.html

Hopefully that helped.

 

[*Dim*]

I too am no expert, but here are my tips:

for breakfast, drop cherios and other cereals with sugar ... have some cooked oats poridge instead ... healthier and will keep you sustained for longer ...

don't drink coffee and cut out sugar ... one cup or rooibos tea a day and 1 cup of green tea before you go to bed are fine ... reduce your salt intake

don't drink too much milk (it's bad for you) ... if you do have milk, have organic skimmed .... reduce eggs to 2 max per week

at about 10am, have some fresh fruit and if you are still hungry, have some nuts (unsalted)

for lunch, have a sandwich made while wholegrain brown bread,... put some skinned chicken or turkey breast etc, some salad leaves etc and dont use dressing such as mayonaise .... tinned tuna in sunflower oil is also good, but drain the oil and have somemore fruit with your sandwich (but restrict bananas to 1 per day)

plain greek yoghjurt is also ok once in a while but make sure its the proper stuff made with sheep or goats milk

if you feel peckish before dinner, eat more fruit or nuts

for dinner, make a fresh salad with ripe tomato, cucumber, celery, spinach etc and use extra virgin olive oil as a dressing.... have some lean meat such as chicken or fresh fish or lean steak, and have 1/2 a boiled sweet potato or brown rice ... I am having a chicken wrap tonight with fresh salad in the wrap ... don't eat more than 1 sweet poatao a week and no more than 1 avocadopear per week ... (so in a nutshell, for dinner you need fresh fruit/veg, protein and carbohydrates)

before bed, have a cup of green tea (no milk or sugar)

also cut out cheese, alcohol, chocloate etc ....

get yourself a juicer and juice some fresh fruit/veg daily ... take a good multivitamin daily and drink lots of water... 2litres min per day (mineral water if you can afford .... I have never been a fan of flouride )

like I said, I'm no expert, but this works for me and I am never hungry (I have lost 10kg in 6 weeks so far eating this way, and going to gym 5 times a week)

once you have lost some weight, have 1 cheat day a week .... eat what you want and drink if you wish

 

[Trek]

Just to keep it real, the most up to date studies show that:
There is nothing unhealthy about drinking coffee.
Milk is not bad as Dim suggests but i agree that skim is better.
Eggs are very nutritional and you can consume 2 a day

good luck

 

[*Dim*]

Just to keep it real, the most up to date studies show that:
There is nothing unhealthy about drinking coffee.
Milk is not bad as Dim suggests but i agree that skim is better.
Eggs are very nutritional and you can consume 2 a day

good luck

I always keep it real ....

lots of myths and conspiarcy as regards milk ... google is your friend ... a quick search brings up several reports, and this one is very interesting:

snip:



You may not want to hear this but what you've been told all your life about milk is an outright lie. Your glass of milk, even low fat, is awash in fat (the equivalent of three slices of bacon), cholesterol, antibiotics, bacteria, and--the most distasteful ingredient--pus.


I suspected that milk was a health disaster back in the Spring of '94. At that time, while researching an article for Health & Healing, a newsletter with a half million subscribers, I learned that the Food & Drug Administration had approved the use of a genetically engineered hormone called "recombinant bovine growth hormone" (rBGH). The alleged purpose of the hormone, a $500 million investment on the part of the Monsanto Company, is to increase a cow's milk output. Considering the glut of milk for the past decade, economic justification for using rBGH remains a mystery.


Injecting hapless cows with a growth hormone raised a red flag for me. In my 20 plus years of health reporting, I've found that when a company interferes with Mother Nature, this cold-blooded exploitation, invariably for economic gain, brings suffering and disease.


This was clearly the case with the bovine growth hormone. I knew that, over the years, pasteurization and homogenization had destroyed most of the natural goodness of milk. The growth hormone was the supreme insult. As dairymen reported, this hormone made our cows sick, namely developing mastitis, thus requiring enormous doses of antibiotics. For this reason, 95 percent of dairy farmers initially refused to inject their cows with rBGH; later, many caved in under pressure.


A more disturbing consequence of the bovine growth hormone is that it increases levels of a powerful growth hormone, IGF-I. IGF-I is a key factor in the growth and proliferation of cancer.


Despite the health threats posed by the bovine growth hormone, I was one of the few health writers taking a critical view of the situation. Starting in 1994, the media assured us that milk from treated and untreated cows is virtually the same. Here they were dutifully quoting the FDA, the American Medical Association, and the World Health Organization. Few bothered to investigate why a growing number of dairy farmers and environmental watchdogs were bitterly opposed to its use.


I wasn't impressed by these scientific assurances from on high. From reporting on alternative medicine, I knew too well how the medical establishment can lie through its teeth. Mainstream doctors continue to label chelation therapy, a life-saving treatment for heart disease, as "quackery," despite its over 30 year track record as a safe and effective treatment.


What was needed to bring the deleterious effects of rBGH to the fore was an intrepid scientist who could confront scientists from these prestigious organizations, speak their language, interpret scientific data, and reveal the facts about the true nature of the bovine growth hormone.

as for eggs, probably also myth, but recall reading a scientific report stating that 2 eggs per week per adult is fine ... more than that raises your cholesterol levels, and modern eggs contain loads of anibiotics etc that are given to the chickens

I do drink milk (1/2 a cup of organic skimmed milk with my cereal, and I have 2 hardboiled or poached organic free range eggs per week)

as for coffee, I read on this site that it conflicts with your metabolism???

suppose each to themselves, and as the saying goes: everything in moderation