losing weight

[ktmkid358]

i know this sounds like alot but could any of you guys out there good at losing weight or tleast now how to di it properly.. like what i should eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.. i dont care if it is the ame thing eveyrday as long as ill shed the pounds lol .. and maybe like a workout ruitine

[icantslowdown]

breakfast:
1 cup oatmeal (quaker old-fashioned ,not the 1 minute crap or the sugar stuff). you can sweeten it with splenda or sweet'n'low if you like, or add flaxseed oil to it to give it a nutty flavor

mid-morning: low-carb protein shake

lunch: chicken breast & veggies

mid-afternoon: low carb protein shake or bar

dinner: chicken breast or lean meat, veggies

before bed: cottage cheese. casien protein breaks down slower and gives you a longer time release of the protein while you're sleeping.

this is just a start - you have to learn what works for your body.

[HeavyD]

Great menu, Icantslowdown. I feel it's important to emphasize how he eats several small meals instead of 2 or 3 big ones.

When you eat a lot at one sitting remember; what your body doesn't use it stores, as fat.

[icantslowdown]

Probably the easiest thing to do is to cook up a lot and then carry what you need with you in a little igloo cooler. when i'm working at a client they look at me weird when i bust out the cooler, but they look at me weirder when they watch me eat. try to drink 1.5-2.0 gallons of water a day too, or non-caffienated diet soda. caffiene is a diuretic and so for every 12 ounces of caffienated soda you drink, you need to drink 12 ounces of water extra to compensate (consider it negative water). the only time i'm a big caffiene fan is pre-workout with some aspirin and ephedra (yeah it's banned but it's still available out there). i havent' found anything else that gives you quite the grunt energy of this combination, if you don't mind a bit of the shakes.

[liv2ride]

Originally Posted by ktmkid358

well yesterday i ate only about 3 grams of sugar and about 700 calories which is less then half i should.. and i rode my stationary bike for 7 miles, im going to try to do that everday

sound good?

Absolutely not, there are many things wrong with this regement.

If you plan on excersicing daily on your bike as much as you said, you need calories, only consuming 700 calories will do harm to your body if you kept up a 7 mile bike excersice (You actually need over 2000 calories if you're serious about riding 7 miles a day). Also 60% of your caloric intake to be carbohydrates. No Atkins for you. Low carb is an option for couch potatoes, not for active lifestyles. And when I say carbs I mean good carbs, whole grain options, fiber, no candy (google for good carb options, there are many).

HeavyD is right you will be better off with low intensity excersise to burn those pounds. Too strenuous a workout, and your body not only burn muscle instead of fat, it will also lower your metabolic rate, thus making it even harder to shed those pounds.

You don't have to believe my advice, but I tell you I went from a flabby 260 pounds to a lean muscular 225 in about 7 months. I did it by running 3 miles a day and I ate as I stated above.

[Aus_Rider_22]

There is some great info in here!

I have read it all and hope to take it all on board! I want to loose some weight, just so I look better and perform better at cricket and riding my bike.

Originally Posted by icantslowdown

The problem with drastically cutting calories is that your body senses that you're in starvation mode, and holds onto the fat stores and burns muscle - exactly what we DON'T want.

JJ

This sounds right, but wouldn't your body start to use up the fat when you not eat?
I know your not supposed to not eat, but say if you went without a few meals and fatty snack, your body would use up stored fat as you are not taking any in?

I am probably wrong/way off, but just though I could put this out there.

[Blitz393]

i'm on the wrestling team in high school, and all the references to losing weight related to competing in this sport are very true. i went from 150 to a lean 140 in 5 days of practice and i noticed a jump in my energy levels. (some time after that first week ) i don't know if your school has a team or anything but it really really helped me.

otherwise, as far as eating goes, simply cut down on the "CP" food (couch potato) bug your mom to buy granola bars- most people cringe at the sound of that word, but if you get the chewy ones they aren't that bad. instead of buying lunch at school, eat a granola and a milk, or water. the thing is to NOT jump into the losing weight scene too fast, your body will think you are starving and conserve rather than burn fat.

Rob

[icantslowdown]

Unfortunately due to our body's survival instinct, we would burn the muscle and keep the fat stores (better fuel store for long-term starvation).

Blitz is right on about the couch potato food - anytime you grab food out of convenience, it's not going to be healthy...

[rm toofitty]

run!!

[RobertK]

A lot of the replies here are on the money - but the most basic thing you need to do is modify your lifestyle.

By that I mean restructuring your day to include multiple small meals of solid nutritional value, and incorporating some exercise into your daily routine. IMHO, most people who try to lose weight fail because they do not understand this fundamental part. Fad diets, extreme low calorie diets, extreme exercise routines - simply cannot be maintained over the long term, and often result in regaining the lost weight when your body decides it is in starvation mode (or you get burned out).

Find some exercises you enjoy - but don't get extreme. Vary the routine to prevent boredom and adaptation - mix in some weight training (moderate weight training will build muscles which will burn calories all day long - not just when you are exercising).

For a frame of reference when eating, choose portions about the size of those they (used to) serve on airlines. A small piece of fish or chicken, some fresh veggies and plenty of water for your main meals, and a healthy snack in between meals (fruit, a handful of nuts, a protein shake or a balance-type bar).

If you can change your lifestyle, and not just your diet, you will find yourself much healthier in the years to come, with increased energy and an optimistic view on life (well, maybe not that last part - YMMV).

[Windy]

If calories in > calories out = fat

If calories in < calories out = slim (sort of)

There are various ways of loosing weight. If you starve youself your body effectivley goes into shock and stores fat, because it doesn't know when its next meal will come, so you could end up losing weight from muscle. (BTW earlier somebody said that they drank loads of water and felt full. Anorexic people often eat ice because it feels like eating, and the water fills then up. Need I say more). If you exercise hard, ie running, you get very efficient heart and lungs, the muscles used around your limbs will tone, and you will burn loads of calories, but if you are still taking on lots of calories you will remain tubby. The best way to lose weight is to eat sensibly, no special diets, just small amounts of meat, fruit, veg, that sort of stuff, eaten throughout the day. Avoid "low fat" foods, as these tend to be high in sugars. And finally, walk (at least 45 mins). Walking is the best fat burning exercise going, it elevates you pulse rate just enough to burn calories but not so much that you are working muscle groups. So in summary, a combination of excersise and a good diet is the answer.

[Supermoto]

amen....nice post!

[schwen_108]

Work out and eat nutritious foods is what I used to do. Now i'm a little bit chubbier than I was last summer, but I just have to work it off. lol

[FoxRocket]

Lots of good info here guys!

[Windy]

Originally Posted by Supermoto

amen....nice post!

Thank you, all stuff I have learnt over the years. However, do as I say not as I do . Especially when you consider that I cannot squeeze my expanding belly into the leathers I was racing in a few years back!!






Note to self: Start going to the gym again, and eat less crap

[mtk]

I somehow got a subscription to a cycling magazine last year and in it they detailed a thing called "bonk" training.

The gist of it is this: in the morning, before you eat anything, have a couple cups of coffee and then ride (your bicycle, but I imagine any form of aerobic exercise would work) for 30 minutes or so. Since your body has no food to process and the body's glycogen stores are all but depleted first thing in the morning, your body has no choice but to fire up the fat-burning metabolism to power you through this workout. The caffiene is also supposed to help in this regard, not to mention get you out of bed and working out to begin with. But the best part is that once this metabolic reaction is up and running, it stays running all day long, so that helps you metabolize the extra "insulation."

No, I can't comment on how it works personally because I can't seem to drag myself out of bed at 5am and hit the treadmill. I'm lucky I can crawl to the shower.

Also, drinking lots of water flushes the excess acid from the stomach. The presence of this acid is what makes you feel hungry. It's also just good for you in general. Most people are dehydrated to some extent so drinking lots of water can only help. Note that I said water; anything else is interpreted as "food" and triggers acid production, defeating the purpose.

On the "calories in vs. calories out" thing, this isn't necessarily true. First, it assumes that every calorie that enters your body is 100% metabolized. That isn't necessarily the case. One aspect of Dr. Atkin's diet plan is that your body excretes certain calories unprocessed in solid and liquid waste. So to accurately study this process, you need to not only measure intake and what is burned by the body, but also study what's sent down the toilet bowl (how would you like to work in that lab? ) This is part of the basis for his diet plan, along with Benign Dietary Ketosis, which is the metabolic process for metabolizing protiens and fat. Dr. Atkin's contention is that the body won't "self-distruct" and metabolize muscle tissue when it has perfectly good fat stores to work on. On it's face, that seems to be a reasonable contention since self-distructing like that is hardly an acceptable evolutionary feature to help prolong the species. We wouldn't have survived too long if our bodies digested themselves at the first sign of famine. At any rate, I'd suggest picking up one of his books and reading it. If nothing else, I found it to be interesting in that he had some pretty good scientific explanations of what he was trying to accomplish with his diet plan. Much better than some formerly-fat British Royal trying to make a buck selling a book.

But he lost me when he said beer has carbs in it.

[Windy]

Originally Posted by mtk

Much better than some formerly-fat British Royal trying to make a buck selling a book.

Or every actor/actress, singer, anybody who has been in the public eye. Every New Year some minor celebrity comes out of the woodwork selling a video on "How I lost 19 stone in a week!"

I have to say that I don't agree with the Atkins diet. I still think a good balanced diet is the best, and most healthy way forward. Everything in moderation, and a little excercise.

[Red Rider 943]

Eat slower !!! I can't stress it. I'm a very fast eater, and usually I eat to much because the body can't react fast enough. Take you're time and you'll eat less.

[idohcvtecexi]

i would go out and buy some boneless chicken breasts at the grocery store, usually around 7-10 bucks, for like 8 of them, thats what i do , along with some fruit and salad, and run or use the cross trainer machine(where your pulling and pushing with your arms and your legs are moving bicycle like) for i'd start out with 3 miles. I usually eat 6 meals a day , which usually consist of like fajita meat cut in strips with white rice, then a piece of fruit, then a palm size boneless chicken breast with a moderate portion of salad with lemon juice as the dressing, then another piece of fruit,then another meal with the chicken breast and salad , then i go workout and finish my 6th with a protein shake. But i wouldnt drink too much protein shakes a day being as they have alot of sodium which makes you retain water. I read that in Flex magazine. I am in the Marine Corps and we run alot so i try to use the cross trainer rather than treadmill or pavement because my knees are going very bad. But i do 4 to 6 miles a day and I have been losing weight and kept all of my muscle, from all the chicken breast. But try not to only eat salad and water like someone said, they did this to us by running the crap out of us and pt-ing us out of our minds in boot camp and lots of water and little food, and it does work because i lost 50lbs in boot camp in 3 months , but you become very de-hydrated and WILL gain it back. Trust me everyone that comes out of boot camp usually gains alittle bit of lbs. back because they only lost by being de-hydrated.

[icantslowdown]

stay away from white rice, white flour, or other processed foods. google 'glycemic index'.