Beginner losing weight. Am I doing this right?

[fiveshot_leo]

Hi,

I got laid of from work, and have all time at home and nothing to do.. so I decided to lose weight. I have lost 11 lbs in 25 days. I was not satisfied of the result so I started to workout more. It resulted in me losing 15 lbs in 15 days. I have some concerns and questions about this. Questions at bottom.

ABOUT ME:
- I was a heavy smoker for 12 years. I quit smoking and started exercising & dieting 40 days ago.
- Used to weigh 210 lbs, now I weigh 184 lbs
- Prior to 40 days ago, I had never "intentionally" exercised for 12 years. Only "unintentional" exercises, of walking to bathroom, walking to my car, etc... I was also a computer graphics artist. I worked sitting down moving only eyeballs and fingers.
- 40 days ago, I tested myself jogging. After 42 seconds, I was completely out of breath, collapsed on ground, then vomited.

DIET:
- There is NO set diet. I only cut out junk food & fast food. I only eat when I start to feel hungry. I stop in middle of a meal, if I feel full. I never stay hungry more than 3 minutes. It seems I eat about 6-8 times a day, little portions since I stop right away when I start to feel full. I'm not sure if this is actually helping me or not. I just read that eating little portions often is better than big portions not so frequent. I just try to keep my self from being hungry or full... just right in the middle at all times.

SUPPLEMENT PILLS:
- Multi-Vitamins (once a day)
- Omega-3 Fish Oil (1000 mg / 1 time a day)
- Ephedrine (25 mg / 3 times a day)
- Caffeine (200 mg / 2 times a day)
- Fiber (8000 mg / 2 times a day)

DAILY EXERCISES =

- 9 Min. Total Exercise = 12 x ( High-intensity cardio 30 sec + Low intensity 15 sec ). I do not do any weight lifting...

- I do this HIIT cardio workout, about 5 to 7 per day, depending on amount of chores I need to do.

- I mix up what part of muscles are used. For example, if I do 30 seconds of fastest running I can do, then 15 seconds of slow jog.. do this 12 times. An hour later, I would do something like "girl-push up" as fast as I could, 30 sec.. then 15 sec resting. Yes.. i can do regular push up, but my heart-rate doesn't go through the roof since I can't do regular push-ups really fast. I alternate upper / lower body.


QUESTIONS =
1) Is taking Ephedrine and caffeine, and doing 5 to 7 of HITT too much? or too little? or just about right? I like the result about 1 lbs per day, but maybe it can be more.. or maybe it is bad for me.

2) I am still not fully used to doing cardio workout since it has been only 15 days of working out harder. So while doing cardio, I do not sweat much... but right after.. I sweat like crazy. So I end up drinking about 3.5 - 4 gallons of water daily. Can this be harmful? Sweating so much and drinking water so much?

3) How can I make sure that my weight is being lost mostly from body fat? I do not think I am losing water weight, since I am drinking so much damn water... I do not really care if I am losing some weight from muscle, but I do want my weight-loss to come majorly from body fat. How do i insure this?

4) I realized, my weight goes up & down during the day due to water weight. So now I weight myself about 10 times a day, then average it out. Is this an accurate way to tell weight? Are there any other methods?

5) I noticed that for some reason, my depression is almost gone. Getting laid off hit me big and I was pretty miserable. And people do say working out gets your mood to be better. Does anyone know what causes this?

Thank you!

 

[fiveshot_leo]

Btw.. I used to suffer from insomnia before... probably because i was eating a lot, but never exercising. Now I get full 8-9 hours of sleep. This has to be the most satisfying and pleasurable benefit I am getting, other than food being so tasty after quitting smoking.

But one thing odd is that.. after 3 or 4 of those HITT workouts. I am sooo sleepy that I have to take a 30 minute nap... After that, I can continue on. Even though they are only 9 min workouts.. I am gasping like a beached whale on the floor after each workout. That gasping, tired "omg, i think i used every ounce of energy in my body" feeling is normal, since I am doing cardio work that is highest intensity possible for myself... but sleepiness does not seem normal, as I am taking caffeine and ephedrine pills.

 

[Tamago]

Your routine is pretty much suck, you are killing yourself slowly. I'm not even sure if this post is for real or not.

Now that that's out of the way, some constructive advice:

-The faster you lose weight, depending on your bodyfat percentage, the more likely you are to lose muscles as well. If you really want to make sure you are burning mostly bodyfat, you need to be lifting weights. HIIT does not count. Healthy weight loss is usually something like 1% of your body weight per week, so if you are 150lbs it would be 1.5lbs..If you are 300lbs it would be 3lbs (heavy people can realistically lose more than that a week without many problems, leaner people can't).

-Speaking of which, no, HIIT 5-7 days is not a smart idea, professional athletes don't even do it 5-7 times a week, why do you need to? Stick to working on steady state cardio and building your ability in that up. What matters in trying to lose weight and keep it off is finding a groove that you can yourself doing the rest of your life. Do you really picture yourself doing these HIIT exercises everyday the rest of your life? Or do you think walking or jogging an hour a day around your neighborhood would be a bit more realistic?

-The reason you are feeling happy may be the exercise, but more likely it's the caffeine and ephedrine.

-The fish oil and the multivitamin was a good choice. You don't really need that much fiber from supplements, you can get as much as you need from eating vegetables which should be a regular part of your diet.

-If you drink that much water and feel fine more power to you, but I know 300lb power lifters who don't drink near that much water on competition day.

-A better way to tell weight is to weigh yourself once every day. An even better way is to weigh yourself once a week, several times during that one day, so you can see the trend over the long-term.

 

[Jynus]

Your routine is pretty much suck, you are killing yourself slowly. I'm not even sure if this post is for real or not.

Now that that's out of the way, some constructive advice:

-The faster you lose weight, depending on your bodyfat percentage, the more likely you are to lose muscles as well. If you really want to make sure you are burning mostly bodyfat, you need to be lifting weights. HIIT does not count. Healthy weight loss is usually something like 1% of your body weight per week, so if you are 150lbs it would be 1.5lbs..If you are 300lbs it would be 3lbs (heavy people can realistically lose more than that a week without many problems, leaner people can't).

-Speaking of which, no, HIIT 5-7 days is not a smart idea, professional athletes don't even do it 5-7 times a week, why do you need to? Stick to working on steady state cardio and building your ability in that up. What matters in trying to lose weight and keep it off is finding a groove that you can yourself doing the rest of your life. Do you really picture yourself doing these HIIT exercises everyday the rest of your life? Or do you think walking or jogging an hour a day around your neighborhood would be a bit more realistic?

-The reason you are feeling happy may be the exercise, but more likely it's the caffeine and ephedrine.

-The fish oil and the multivitamin was a good choice. You don't really need that much fiber from supplements, you can get as much as you need from eating vegetables which should be a regular part of your diet.

-If you drink that much water and feel fine more power to you, but I know 300lb power lifters who don't drink near that much water on competition day.

-A better way to tell weight is to weigh yourself once every day. An even better way is to weigh yourself once a week, several times during that one day, so you can see the trend over the long-term.

just wow.... to the OP, please ignore everything this person has said. Pretty much nothying is even remotely corrent. When I get more time I'll break it down further, but ya there isn't a shred of value in anything posted above...

 

[Jericho]

Actually, there are several good items in there but I'll like to see you 'break it down'.

 

[Jynus]

-The faster you lose weight, depending on your bodyfat percentage, the more likely you are to lose muscles as well. If you really want to make sure you are burning mostly bodyfat, you need to be lifting weights. HIIT does not count. Healthy weight loss is usually something like 1% of your body weight per week, so if you are 150lbs it would be 1.5lbs..If you are 300lbs it would be 3lbs (heavy people can realistically lose more than that a week without many problems, leaner people can't).

Please explain to me the muscle group types and energy systems used in HIIT, and how they differ from the muscle group types and energy systems in resistance training. Pro hint: there is no difference. Bother use type 2a&b fibres and the anearobic ATP-CP energy systems. Which is the key for fat loss, to hit these systems. HIIT is perfectly valid as a fat loss training system..

-Speaking of which, no, HIIT 5-7 days is not a smart idea, professional athletes don't even do it 5-7 times a week, why do you need to? Stick to working on steady state cardio and building your ability in that up. What matters in trying to lose weight and keep it off is finding a groove that you can yourself doing the rest of your life. Do you really picture yourself doing these HIIT exercises everyday the rest of your life? Or do you think walking or jogging an hour a day around your neighborhood would be a bit more realistic?

While I agree with you that doing it every day of the week is unrealistic, the OP is NOT doing HIIT. 30seconds on and 15 rest is not the ATP-CP threshhold to hit those energy systems. Not to mention he is rather out of shape to begin with. Were you to watch, I'm positive he would be just doing mildly intense interval cardio. Which is PERFECTLY FINE to do every day if he so desires.

As for the last point, strawman argument. Not much more to say about that. I can't fathom how you're unable to understand the difference between someone working towards a goal, and then changing their routine to maintain once they reach their goal....

-The reason you are feeling happy may be the exercise, but more likely it's the caffeine and ephedrine.

Exercise effects hormone levels in the body. This is nothing new. Runners high a perfect example of this due to seratonin levels increasing as you run. It's not the drugs dude, it's a natural release of mood altering hormones like seratonin and endorphins.. This reaction is quite common to most anyone starting exercising, mood improvements is one of the most frequent things reported.

-The fish oil and the multivitamin was a good choice. You don't really need that much fiber from supplements, you can get as much as you need from eating vegetables which should be a regular part of your diet.

agree

-If you drink that much water and feel fine more power to you, but I know 300lb power lifters who don't drink near that much water on competition day.

also agree, that much water jawdrops me though. OP, you do realize you're drinking 35lbs in water a day right? Is it possible you've overestimated how much you're drinking?

-A better way to tell weight is to weigh yourself once every day. An even better way is to weigh yourself once a week, several times during that one day, so you can see the trend over the long-term.

Don't even bother, Ditch the lame ass scale, just look in a mirror or use a measuring tape... Weight is meaningless, I look better at 220lbs than vast majority of people do at any weight below me. Use a tape measure and the mirror, it does more for you than any scale can possibly hope to do.

 

[Tamago]

Please explain to me the muscle group types and energy systems used in HIIT, and how they differ from the muscle group types and energy systems in resistance training. Pro hint: there is no difference. Bother use type 2a&b fibres and the anearobic ATP-CP energy systems. Which is the key for fat loss, to hit these systems. HIIT is perfectly valid as a fat loss training system..

I meant that HIIT overall does not count as weight training, since the OP talks about hitting muscle groups and alternating upper and lower body I just wanted to make that point very clear. To a certain point yes it will act as resistance training, but once the OP has adapted to throwing their own body weight around (which will happen rather fast) then they will need weights for a progressive overload. HIIT if done right is perfectly valid for fat loss I agree, but not for maintaining (or building) muscle.

While I agree with you that doing it every day of the week is unrealistic, the OP is NOT doing HIIT. 30seconds on and 15 rest is not the ATP-CP threshhold to hit those energy systems. Not to mention he is rather out of shape to begin with. Were you to watch, I'm positive he would be just doing mildly intense interval cardio. Which is PERFECTLY FINE to do every day if he so desires.

Yes. Regular cardio with some mild intensity is fine done regularly. I was clearly referring to HIIT. Were I to watch, perhaps I would see him doing regular interval cardio..but until that happens, I can only go by what he writes.

As for the last point, strawman argument. Not much more to say about that. I can't fathom how you're unable to understand the difference between someone working towards a goal, and then changing their routine to maintain once they reach their goal....

My point was more that at this rate he won't even get anywhere near reaching his goal in the first place because he will most likely crash and burn. The OP needs something sustainable, not a head over heels race to the finish line. Changing one's routine to maintenance once they reach their goal isn't as easy as it sounds. I hate to use this as an example but it's the primary reason why contestants on the Biggest Loser gain all their weight back after the show; they are put in an unrealistic environment where they have all day to half kill themselves busting their asses off with a whole gym full of fancy equipment, then they come back to the real world and don't know how to apply anything they've learned to keep the weight off over the long-term. Anyways sorry but I rarely take anything as granted when it comes to weight loss now, especially one's ability to change their long held routines.

Exercise effects hormone levels in the body. This is nothing new. Runners high a perfect example of this due to seratonin levels increasing as you run. It's not the drugs dude, it's a natural release of mood altering hormones like seratonin and endorphins.. This reaction is quite common to most anyone starting exercising, mood improvements is one of the most frequent things reported.

Ok fair enough.

 

[ForRealThisTime]

-The reason you are feeling happy may be the exercise, but more likely it's the caffeine and ephedrine.

caffeine and ephedrine are stimulants, they have never made me feel "happy". If anything they make one feel twitchy and paranoid.

To the OP - your napping may be related to coming down from the ephedrine and or caffeine. Also I am happy to hear you are getting a good nights sleep, if I take that combination I usually struggle to get a good nights sleep.

 

[Carlos5]

Hey,

It's nice to hear you trying so hard to lose weight and I want to help you to full advantage of that

Your a beginner still so you're still going to get great results fast but I you said you use weights.

If I were you, I would designate 3 days to do full body resistance workouts using compound exercises done at max speed. Like the pushups you do but with other exercises like prisoner squats, reverse lunges, pull ups, and exercises like them.

Eventually you will stop losing as much weight but also check on your body composition because you yor going to end up losing fat mass and start building muscle mass, which will lead to no actuall weight loss but get you looking so much better.

Hoped I helped

 

[biggestloser105]

Since you're experiencing a lot of health benefits, I'd say your workout program is great.

Only why are you taking ephedrine and caffeine, that's the only thing I would change about your program. Especially the ephedrine, it just doesn't sound healthy to be taking that.

You also might want to rethink losing weight as fast as you're losing because it can increase your risk of loose skin.

 

[Jynus]

Since you're experiencing a lot of health benefits, I'd say your workout program is great.

Only why are you taking ephedrine and caffeine, that's the only thing I would change about your program. Especially the ephedrine, it just doesn't sound healthy to be taking that.

You also might want to rethink losing weight as fast as you're losing because it can increase your risk of loose skin.

Ephedrine's main side effects are increased heart rate, and increase in blood pressure. In addition there may be other reactions for a minority of the population. However, generally if you're not suffering from heart issues and hypertension it's a safe stimulant to take. Thats the condition though, since if you're trying to lose weight, and since overweight people generally have clogged arteries and hypertension, it can be dangerous. But thats where common sense and knowing your body and it's limitations come into play. hell, it is available over the counter at any drug store, so it's not restricted in any way..

 

[leaner]

fiveshot_leo,

Good job dropping 26 lbs.!
I would just say that you should not push yourself too hard at first. Make sure that you are being safe.

I am also a graphic artist who was laid off in January. This was my motivation to get in shape as well. I have all the time in the world to lift weights, walk, run and ride my bike, so I have NO EXCUSES!

I was also close to your starting weight (216 lbs.) My current weight is similar as well. 187 lbs. It took me about 7 months to lose that much.

My goal is 165 lbs. What is your goal?

Good luck with your weight loss and job hunting as well.