New Member - - looking to lose weight, looking for advice.

G

Go Time

New member
Hello everyone! Great to become a part of this forum and I look forward to chatting with you all. I am about 6'6'', former basketball player and weight about 275 right now. When I played hoops in school I was right around 220. Is it impossible to get back to those days? I don't think so...well I hope not I should say. In addition I am just 21 years old.

One of my very FIRST and more IMPORTANT questions is...are these weight loss PILLS for real? Are they worth a try? If so, which ones are worthy of results? I've always been a bit skeptical due to price, results, side-effects, and most importantly...the health of my body. Any information or insight on pills would be great.

Secondly, diet. My diet has been attrocious these past few years, but I'm making huge strides to changing that. I've cut down on meals a ton, and stayed completely away from the carbs, sugar, etc. Is NOT EATING at all (by that, I mean like a granola bar and an apple a day) very unhealthy for you? I know it will bring results, but I don't want to kill myself losing weight.

Thirdly, exercise isn't a huge issue. I still play basketball AT LEAST four or five times a week, and I play it competitively. I need to get back to weight lifting though.

Overall...here is the deal. I am not obese or overweight or anything like that, and I know there are people out there that are...and I'm starting to feel for ya. I'm just looking to trim back down to where I use to be. I don't need the rock hard six-pack abs or the size 30 jeans, because that is not what I want and it will probably never happen. I'm just looking for a little guidance with all of this. I've got an exotic vacation planned and I want to be in tip-top shape for it...starting today (since it is my first coming to this board). Anyone who helps me with this (I'll track my progress) will be greatly rewarded by me, I promise!

It will be great getting to know everyone and as always, thanks for taking the time to listen!
 
Welcome.

Firstly...forget pills. They don't work!

O K now that this is out of the way.

You say you are staying away from carbs...why? Carbs aren't evil, the type of carbs you eat are. Brown rice and other whole grains are very good for you. They contain fiber and vits and help keep you from being hungry and also keep your blood sugar level, longer.

Yes eating just a granola bar and an apple a day is bad for you. Not only are you starving yourself and putting your body in starvation mode which makes it harder to lose weight, you are now removing the necessary nutrients your body needs. Throw the granola bar out of the window. Keep the apple though.

You are a big guy so you need quite a few calories a day just to get through a normal day, let alone play ball or workout.

Someone like Steve can better tell you about that.
 
Just a side note: I'm an admin for another forum and (assuming the rules are the same/similar) double/triple+ posting is frowned upon, just use the edit button (y).

Now on to diet and exercise:

I too am trying to lose weight, and just like you, I tried starving myself. It's great in the beginning, but all that weight you're losing isn't fat, it's just water weight and (possibly) muscle mass. If you aren't getting the right amount of muscular exercise, your body will start using up your muscle mass for energy, which is the exact opposite of what you want to do.

Quoting Maleficient:

You want to make lifestyle changes, not just short term "diets." I used to eat roughly 800-1,000 calories a day, and changed that before I started doing some real damage to my body.

As mentioned above, you're a big guy, and you need the right amount of calories. Consuming too low calories can be potentially harmful- just don't go there, you'll end up plateau-ing like a bitch and not losing weight for ages (not to mention lack of energy and loss of muscle mass, again).

So basically, just cut out fast foods, high-fat foods, fizzy drinks, chocolate/candy, and crisps (chips). Try doing that one step at a time- don't rush things, your body needs time to adjust. Once that's done, start focusing on eating your RDA of fruits, veggies, carbs, proteins, sugars, vitamins, minerals e.t.c. Try buying whole-wheat stuff instead of regular brand, try reduced-calorie snacks or vegetables to snack on when you get hungry in between meals.

I would definitely start counting your calories as well, there's lots of helpful stickies around here that will help you determine the right amount of calories for your size and weight (but I'm new-ish here, so I can't really link you), and try to follow those guidelines.

In short: Up the exercise, up the calories to the right amount and try eating more healthy items, and check out the nutrition stickies, they helped me a lot!

;-)
 
Matt said:
Just a side note: I'm an admin for another forum and (assuming the rules are the same/similar) double/triple+ posting is frowned upon, just use the edit button (y).

Now on to diet and exercise:

I too am trying to lose weight, and just like you, I tried starving myself. It's great in the beginning, but all that weight you're losing isn't fat, it's just water weight and (possibly) muscle mass. If you aren't getting the right amount of muscular exercise, your body will start using up your muscle mass for energy, which is the exact opposite of what you want to do.

Quoting Maleficient:

You want to make lifestyle changes, not just short term "diets." I used to eat roughly 800-1,000 calories a day, and changed that before I started doing some real damage to my body.

As mentioned above, you're a big guy, and you need the right amount of calories. Consuming too low calories can be potentially harmful- just don't go there, you'll end up plateau-ing like a bitch and not losing weight for ages (not to mention lack of energy and loss of muscle mass, again).

So basically, just cut out fast foods, high-fat foods, fizzy drinks, chocolate/candy, and crisps (chips). Try doing that one step at a time- don't rush things, your body needs time to adjust. Once that's done, start focusing on eating your RDA of fruits, veggies, carbs, proteins, sugars, vitamins, minerals e.t.c. Try buying whole-wheat stuff instead of regular brand, try reduced-calorie snacks or vegetables to snack on when you get hungry in between meals.

I would definitely start counting your calories as well, there's lots of helpful stickies around here that will help you determine the right amount of calories for your size and weight (but I'm new-ish here, so I can't really link you), and try to follow those guidelines.

In short: Up the exercise, up the calories to the right amount and try eating more healthy items, and check out the nutrition stickies, they helped me a lot!

;-)
Click to expand...


Thanks a ton for the info, I really appreciate it.

PS - Not sure what you mean by your first line. "Double/triple spacing is frowned upon..." What do you mean by this?
 
Go Time said:
Thanks a ton for the info, I really appreciate it.

PS - Not sure what you mean by your first line. "Double/triple spacing is frowned upon..." What do you mean by this?
Click to expand...

It's just a common forum rule to help reduce the load on the servers, no idea if this forum implements that rules. But basically, instead of posting two posts in a row, just edit the first one with the info you wanted.

Again, I may be wrong but it's always good practice. :)

Glad the info helped!
 
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