Losing Weight

[MasonAsher2014]

Hey guys thanks for all of your input. I think I am going to take some advice and no eating after 8 p.m., only water occasional tea and morning coffee. Stay away from sweets, load up on veggies and the big thing is I think I am going to start P90X back up. Thanks for all your tips! This is a great thread for anyone who is looking to just watch their weight!

[Patch]

The math is pretty simple. 3500 calories equal 1 pound. In other words you need to burn 3500+ calories to lose 1 pound. 

Here's the deal.  If you eat 1000 calories, per day,  to lose one pound, you need to burn 4500 calories per day. Eat 2000 calories per day, you need to burn 5500 calories per day, just to lose 1 pound. Eat an 18" ,meat lovers, thick crust pizza, while chugging down a large pitcher of budweiser, just forget it. Start you weight loss plan a day or two later. 

Above are just the basics. Not everyone has the same metabolism.

One thing to remember should you start an exercise/diet plan. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

Me, I hike alot. I ride a bike just to main my weight. If I just changed my eating habits I could lose 20lbs. I am that pizza and beer guy above. 

Edited March 24, 2016 by Patch

[saevel25]

59 minutes ago, Patch said:

Here's the deal.  If you eat 1000 calories, per day,  to lose one pound, you need to burn 4500 calories per day. Eat 2000 calories per day, you need to burn 5500 calories per day, just to lose 1 pound. Eat an 18" ,meat lovers, thick crust pizza, while chugging down a large pitcher of budweiser, just forget it. Start you weight loss plan a day or two later. 

I would not recommend the 1 lb fat loss per day situation. ;) 

1-2 lbs a week is pretty good for someone who wants to lose weight at a safe pace. 

[Patch]

13 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I would not recommend the 1 lb fat loss per day situation. ;) 

1-2 lbs a week is pretty good for someone who wants to lose weight at a safe pace. 

I wouldn't recommend a pound a day either. Didn't really mean it that way. Just as an example. Too rapid of weight loss will cause other physical problems due some soft tissues being involved. 

[Big Lex]

Buy a fitness tracker like Fitbit. They give you daily, immediate feedback and stimulate you to keep moving. If your goal is 10,000 steps daily, and it's 8 PM and you only have 8000, you will want to go for a walk.

What everyone says about calorie counting is spot on. It helps to know how many calories are in various foods, but also how many calories you burn just keeping yourself alive (basal metabolic requirements) as well as how many calories you burn with various activities.

Avoid "diets" and don't listen to gimmicky things like giving up all carbs or giving up sugar or going high protein or whatever. All of them have *some* truth to them but NONE of them work unless you take in fewer calories than you burn.

Unless you like working out, don't sweat that either. Just be a little more active. Walk more. Take stairs instead of an elevator. When you have a food craving, leave your dorm room and walk around the campus for 20 minutes instead...replace one habit with a better one. If you drive places, park far away from the door so you get more steps walking in. If you take a bus or something, get off one stop early and walk part way. Find easy ways to burn calories that don't require a "lifestyle change".

[MasonAsher2014]

Thanks guys! Already putting some into practice!

Only water.

No candy.

No food after 8.

Making sure I get my 10,000 steps in.

[pumaAttack]

On 3/24/2016 at 5:53 PM, Patch said:

The math is pretty simple. 3500 calories equal 1 pound. In other words you need to burn 3500+ calories to lose 1 pound. 

Here's the deal.  If you eat 1000 calories, per day,  to lose one pound, you need to burn 4500 calories per day. Eat 2000 calories per day, you need to burn 5500 calories per day, just to lose 1 pound. Eat an 18" ,meat lovers, thick crust pizza, while chugging down a large pitcher of budweiser, just forget it. Start you weight loss plan a day or two later. 

Above are just the basics. Not everyone has the same metabolism.

One thing to remember should you start an exercise/diet plan. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.

Me, I hike alot. I ride a bike just to main my weight. If I just changed my eating habits I could lose 20lbs. I am that pizza and beer guy above. 

Your math is wrong...

You have him burning 7 pounds of fat a week.

[Yukari]

One thing I would caution is to not to look at weight but look at how your body changes. As you increase muscle mass, you may actually gain weight. It's how your clothes fits that should be indicative of your change. 

[J M Brown]

I've started drinking water only not necessarily to lose weight but to try to get healthier overall.  I find it most difficult to order water when going out to eat.  I've also got a major sweet tooth so cutting/limiting sugar is tough.  

[baller7345]

8 minutes ago, J M Brown said:

I've started drinking water only not necessarily to lose weight but to try to get healthier overall.  I find it most difficult to order water when going out to eat.  I've also got a major sweet tooth so cutting/limiting sugar is tough.  

I got to the point where I could actually stomach artificial sweeteners.  I know some of them are arguably worse for you than sugar, but its nice to be able to have a cut of sweet tea that doesn't come with all the calories from time to time.

[MasonAsher2014]

I still drink sweet tea from time to time, but usually I always would get water when I went out to eat anyway.

[J M Brown]

6 minutes ago, baller7345 said:

I got to the point where I could actually stomach artificial sweeteners.  I know some of them are arguably worse for you than sugar, but its nice to be able to have a cut of sweet tea that doesn't come with all the calories from time to time.

Artificial sweeteners give me a headache for some reason.  I like unsweet tea but trying to limit myself to water, fresh veggies, fresh fruit and lean meat.  I will splurge from time to time to have a bowl of ice cream.

[vangator]

I was a rassler in HS and was always working on keeping my weight down.  You need to exercise and do weight training.  Without weight training, you're wasting your time.  Just 2 to 3 times per week for less than an hour per session is all you need.  Having muscle mass will burn calories by itself.  I usually work my muscles to complete failure.  Get yourself some good whey protein for recovery.  I like Muscle Milk.

One of the things that really helped me was beef jerky.  Really.  My brother had a dehydrator and some really great recipes for some kick ass jerky.  We mixed it up.  I love it.  When you get cravings, and you will, an ounce of beef jerky will completely satisfy you for only about 60 calories and almost pure protein.  Throw in a few carrots for some sweetness and you'll drop the weight.

Also, don't skip breakfast.  I find scrambled eggs with mostly egg whites are great.  Six eggs with 2 yolks.  Egg yolks aren't real bad for you, but they do contain most of the calories of the egg.  Albumen (egg protein) is a tougher protein to break down than whey (very easy).  It will stay with you longer.  Meat protein is also tougher to break down and will satiate your hunger.  That's why I love beef jerky.

Also, you should supplement.  If you're reducing your food intake, you'll more than likely not get everything you need.  To save money, I buy expired vitamins and minerals.  Nothing wrong with them at all.  If they're not decomposing, they're fine.

[pumaAttack]

One thing I would add to this:  Realize it will take time, a long time.

You didn't gain the weight over night so you aren't gonna lose it over night.   It won't take a day, a week, a month or even two months.  It will take 6 plus months to see that real change you want.  Just have to stick with it and not get discouraged if you don't lose weight one weekend.

The goal should be longterm and not day by day.

[No Mulligans]

The best exercise is the exercise you want to do...

Play a lot of rounds of golf, always walk when playing.