Hello!

R

richandy

New member
Hey, i'm Steven, and i'm new to this specific forum, but have used a weightloss forum in the past.

i'm 17 from the uk, i'm into online gaming at a decent competitive level for teamfortress2.

I've been overweight for most of my life, 3/4 months ago i decided i need to change. Since then i have been going to the gym 4 times a week, at the start i only did cardio workouts then eventually started to do more weight training than cardio. I also adjusted what i drink and eat, i VERY rarely drink fizzy drinks, maybe half a glass every few weeks,i mainly drink lots of water, if we have it in the house. I dont eat chocolate, crisps etc.

I currently weigh 129kg and i'm 6ft 4" with a broad build

On a side note; Is it better for me to do more Cardio workout for my weight loss, or to stick with lifting weights and some cardio?

also; the only weight loss i've seen on the scales is i've gone from 133kg to 129kg since i started exercising and eating differently...what am i doing wrong? :( i feel like i have no luck with weight loss.....I felt like this last month when i was still 133kg. :(


steven.
 
fortyfour said:
You must be a troll. This site is not for people like you.
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Sounds legit to me, better to just answer :)

As far as answering - thats easy. You are still eating too much. There is only one reason a person is over weight, and thats it in a nutshell. Whilst you might be eating healthy foods, you can still be eating too many.

Read the sticky threads for more information.
 
I agree with wishes, you are probably still eating to much but as far as the exercise goes, you should be doing both weight training and cardio but more of the cardio than weights.
 
fortyfour said:
You must be a troll. This site is not for people like you.
Click to expand...

sorry why must i be a troll?

and thanks for that guys, i'll do my best to change my eating habbits. I generally only eat cereal for breakfast a sandwhich for dinner and then whatever my parents cook for tea and i barely ever snack
 
Hey Steven, welcome to the forum!

I agree that it might be worthwhile to take a look at your overall diet to see if there is an area that could be improved upon. Have you ever tried recording everything you eat? I've found that this can be helpful in finding seemingly insignificant habits that are actually adding up and preventing you from losing weight. Most often, people realize that they are snacking a lot more than they thought ('just grabbing a small handful here and there), or they 'unconsciously' eat while watching tv or checking email, etc.

You should be doing both cardio and weight training for long term health and weight loss. Can you go into a few more details about how long, what intensity, etc. that you workout at?
 
No, i've not recoded what i eat before, it sounds very usefull though, thank you.

as for my exercise, i usually do 1hour 4/5times a week when i do weights i vary from doing my legs and upper body each time, and for cardio i do a X-trainer trying to keep my heart rate at 132+, for my cooldown i do 10 mins uphill walk on the treadmil.

As of today i've cut down my main meals of the day (lunch and dinner) and i'm going to remove toast for breakfast completely and just stick to a Special K, if thats not a 'bad' cereal for breakfast.
 
Hi, and welcome :)

I'd second the recommendations of tracking what you eat, and perhaps tracking your calories as they compare with your daily calorie needs (use a search engine, look for "BMR calculator" and use it, along with, for example, the Harris Benedict Formula, to work out your daily maintenance calorie requirements, then reduce that number to lose weight. I'd suggest going to your doctor and getting advice on how much to reduce by, rather than giving my normal recommendation, as you're probably still growing and you don't want to hamper your development). Also, are you getting proper nutrition? Not so important for weight loss, but very important for overall health. (The NHS has good guidance on what you should be eating: ) Too much salt (sodium) will also mean that you're likely to maintain water weight, as well as have other potential health problems.

For breakfast, I'd seriously recommend porridge. Way more filling than most cereals and you need less. Also, very cheap (99p for a kilo at Tesco, a serve is 40g). Add fruit and milk (not sugar, honey if you really have to) to add flavour and keep it low calorie.

I'm sure you'll get some good advice from people here if you post what kind of workouts you do.
 
Also just to add to this; my goal overall is to lose as much weight as i can by my birthday, which is august 6th. I know thats not a very long time but, i'd like to get some new decent looking clothes for then:), tired of just wearing what i can find that i dont like too much *_*
 
amy1985 said:
Hi, and welcome :)

I'd second the recommendations of tracking what you eat, and perhaps tracking your calories as they compare with your daily calorie needs (use a search engine, look for "BMR calculator" and use it, along with, for example, the Harris Benedict Formula, to work out your daily maintenance calorie requirements, then reduce that number to lose weight. I'd suggest going to your doctor and getting advice on how much to reduce by, rather than giving my normal recommendation, as you're probably still growing and you don't want to hamper your development). Also, are you getting proper nutrition? Not so important for weight loss, but very important for overall health. (The NHS has good guidance on what you should be eating: ) Too much salt (sodium) will also mean that you're likely to maintain water weight, as well as have other potential health problems.

For breakfast, I'd seriously recommend porridge. Way more filling than most cereals and you need less. Also, very cheap (99p for a kilo at Tesco, a serve is 40g). Add fruit and milk (not sugar, honey if you really have to) to add flavour and keep it low calorie.

I'm sure you'll get some good advice from people here if you post what kind of workouts you do.
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Yeah i've visited the doctors and said i should reduce my calorie intake to around 1800. visiting the doctors, in my opinion was a massive waste of time, since all they did was give me a pamphlet about weightloss, when i went asking if there was any diets to go on, not just 'hi, yeah, eat less'.
 
Well that gives you something to start with. And you may not like it, but the only way to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn. Your doctor's absolutely right. Any "diet" out there either doesn't work or is based on that principle. There's no magic bullet, and no "foods you must eat to reduce belly fat" or whatever. (I'm not an expert, but I'm a reformed long term failed dieter, and this approach has seen me go from "eating well"- not have any junk, try to be good, deprive myself, eat less, and still gain or fail to lose weight- to eating more food, enjoying my food more, not being hungry anymore, and being able to enjoy things I like from time to time. And I've lost nearly half a stone in three weeks)

To start with, I'd recommend calculating your BMR, as I said above. While your doctor has given you a number, that's the minimum for men so I'd recommend calculating your own BMR and reducing it by 500-1000 calories a day (as long as it's not under 1800- if you can't reduce by 500 and get below 1800, aim for 1800). That way you have a bit of wiggle room and don't risk eating too little and slowing your metabolism (that is a risk, although it's probably not one you need to worry about unless you try to starve yourself).

Next, get a calorie counting program. I use one called cron-o-meter, other ones people use around here are fitday and myfitnesspal (I know the first two are free). Then track how much you're eating (as precisely as you can- write down everything you eat and how much of it. Weighing is the best way to measure but if you can't then find another means- how many cups, the average size of certain things, guessing based on how much of the packet you've taken out, that sort of thing). Either start to make changes immediately (because you'll be surprised at how much things "cost" in terms of your calorie allowance- bread is about 100 calories per slice, for example, which is a lot if you've only got 1800 calories). If you see that you're consistently over, then you need to make some adjustments.

If you're looking for ideas of what to eat (or ideas of how to go about this, or even just inspiration), then check out the weight loss diary section here: Weight Loss Diary - Weight Loss Forum and see what other people are doing (I list the food I eat in detail, if you want to check out my diary. My "allowance" is just short of 1900 calories a day). Low fat cottage cheese is a good thing to get into- it's very filling, has lots of protein for muscle development (or at least prevent some of the muscle loss that might occur in a calorie deficit), and lots of fruit and veggies.

Also check out the "stickied" posts all around the forum for some very good information.
 
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Thank you for the brilliant reply, and to everyone else who has replied. This forum is evidently much better than the last one i visited when i had ONE reply after two months of being a member and trying to be active on other parts of the forum.

I'm still curious as to why i was called a troll...:(

oh well!

thank you again :)
 
Amy has given you some great tips so far! (Since this is a fitness.com site, you're more than welcome to post fitness.com's BMR calculator or daily calorie intake calculator: BMR Calculator and Calories Per Day :))

I don't really agree with doing all of these calculations right off the bat... I think they are more useful if you've tried adjusting your diet for a long time and you just are not seeing any results. In my opinion, the best approach is to record what you are currently eating for 3-7 days (before any dietary changes), take a careful look at your overall diet, and make healthy changes from there. You can do some research into the nutritional and caloric content of the foods you are eating, then find healthier options to replace the unhealthy foods that you eat. I always think it's best to know exactly where you're starting, otherwise you're kind of shooting in the dark.

As for the exercise, I think you should keep doing both weight training and cardio and if you do weight training on consecutive days, then alternate muscle groups like you're doing. Another option would be to alternate a 60 minute full-body workout with a 45-60 min cardio day. So one week, your workouts would be:

Mon: full body resistance workout
Tues: cardio
Wed: full body resistance workout
Thurs: cardio
Fri: full body resistance workout

and the next week would be:

Mon: cardio
Tues: full body resistance workout
Wed: cardio
Thurs: full body resistance workout
Fri: cardio

A third option would be to stick with the same routine that you're doing, but change up the cardio a bit. 2-3 days per week, you'd do interval-type cardio and the other days, you'd just do what you're currently doing. Do you know what interval training is?

I almost forgot to mention this, but no, Special-K is not a good cereal! Sorry. There is almost no nutritional value to it and it will likely not keep you full. I agree with Amy... oatmeal or porridge are much better options. (I disagree with the honey vs sugar thing though - your body deals with sugar the same way regardless of the source - honey, white sugar, brown sugar, 'natural' sugar... it's all the same - it's glucose). If you don't like plain oats, then adding some cinnamon or fresh or frozen fruit are good options. (Yes, the fruit would have sugar, but fruit has nutritional value such as vitamins and fiber, which the sugars listed above to not have). If you're going to stick to cereals, go for the ones with higher fiber and protein and lower sugars and sodium.

Special K (1 cup or 31 g):

Calories - 117
Fat - 0 g
Sodium - 223 mg
Fiber - 1 g
Sugar - 4 g
Protein - 7 g

Kashi Go Lean (1 cup or 52 g):

Calories - 148
Fat - 1 g
Sodium - 86 mg
Fiber - 10 g
Sugar - 6 g
Protein - 14 g

In my books, the Kashi is a much better choice. Yes, it has more calories, but you're getting almost double the grams in the same serving size which will keep you fuller for longer. The longer you're full, the less likely you'll be to snack unnecessarily or overeat at your next meal.

Sorry that was so long... I'll stop there :)
 
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