Getting Fit!

[Nique]

Had a really good workout yesterday. Used the bike and treadmill for about 3 miles, told me I burned about 700 Calories total, plus a little weightlifting and a swim.

I'm still chunky as hell.

Whats a good way to drop like, 40-60 lbs quickly?

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Healthy, appropriate amount of eating (average Westerner consumes far more than needed) and regular excercise.
It's really the only way that works. Crashdiets and superworkouts will just mess you up.
It's a slow process but that is how the body works, it doesn't like fast change.

[Julford Hajime]

You could try not eating, chubby.

But in all seriousness, something at least moderately physically active (Walking is my favorite example) for a good 2-3 hours at a time, as well as a change in diet to more healthy choices, has made me lose around 50 pounds since September last year. I was at 240-250, now I'm around 200. I've never bothered remembering the exact numbers >.>

And it's something you have to do every (Or at least almost every) day to get results. A workout like in the first post once a week is less effective than a 2-hour walk every day, from my experience.

EDIT: Clarifying things. Also, ninja'd >.>

[pochercoaster]

Echoing BHS, I'd also like to stress that there's no "quick" way to lose 40-60 pounds, except for liposuction, dehydration, and starvation. Just get lots of cardio exercise on a regular basis and cut down on the junk food if you eat a lot of it (soda is a particularly nasty culprit).

[Nique]

You could try not eating, chubby.

:(

average Westerner consumes far more than needed

This is something I've been working on - It's pretty difficult to break up my meals but I've been having a lot lighter fair for dinner, although it seems like once I cut stuff out of my primary "at home' diet, its all super-busy-week and everyone wants to go out and have strudle or hotcakes or something. And when bacon is placed before me, well, I am but a man!

But in all seriousness, something at least moderately physically active (Walking is my favorite example) for a good 2-3 hours at a time, as well as a change in diet to more healthy choices, has made me lose around 50 pounds since September last year.

That's encouraging, although my schedule makes it pretty hard to do that everday. I might be able to pull off something pretty close to that...

[Lady Cygnet]

Whats a good way to drop like, 40-60 lbs quickly?

Cut off a leg. :p

Seriously, though, slow and steady is the best way to permanent weight loss. If you're hell-bent to lose fast, though, Adkins has been a proven winner in the short-term, but it's murder on your kidneys--just ask my mom.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

:(



This is something I've been working on - It's pretty difficult to break up my meals but I've been having a lot lighter fair for dinner, although it seems like once I cut stuff out of my primary "at home' diet, its all super-busy-week and everyone wants to go out and have strudle or hotcakes or something. And when bacon is placed before me, well, I am but a man!



What I do is busy myself around primary meal times. A lot of times we eat out of boredom more than need so if you can keep busy you won't notice it as much. I don't even eat dinner most days these days mostly because I work through it and don't get that hungry.

[Nique]

Also! Have heard tell and can personally confirm that eating while watching TV or whatever = bad. I mean, as a culture, we blow through a large popcorn within the first 15 minutes of the movie and aren't quite sure if we actually bought it in the first place or not.

[Specterbane]

As far as eating less, something that helps me when I do it is to put less portions on my plate and eat slower. Having less portions keeps you from that ingrained habit of cleaning your plate, and eating slower helps for you to stop when you're content. But that's just me.

Either way the only way to make things go a little quicker is to exercise regularly in a way that keeps your heart rate up for extended periods of time. Running is great, but it's also punishment for me; that's why I play Racquetball when I can. Find something you enjoy though, otherwise you won't stick with it.

Also if you're lifting you should probably check out a book on how to lift properly and a proper diet if you're trying to bulk up, there's a lot of info out there on that to help.

And just as one last side note, it's really hard to eat too many fruits and veggies. Replacing snack foods and pre-packaged things with Fresh fruit is a huge help for me...but oh how I miss Oreos (that's just cause I always ate way too many).

But yeah, best of luck. And have fun doing it.

[Mirai Gen]

Cut off a leg. :p
The most powerful of weight loss methods! (http://biggercheese.com/index.php?comic=537)

[Nique]

I did it! two days in a row! And I even ran a mile in under 9 min which i haven't been able to do in, I dunno, a while.

[RickZarber]

I'd exercise more if I weren't in constant pain already.

Anyone have any tips for someone who has a bum leg, which makes long walks / running / biking / other normal cardio activities extremely painful and therefore unhelpful?

[KnightOfRounds]

Anyone have any tips for someone who has a bum leg, which makes long walks / running / biking / other normal cardio activities extremely painful and therefore unhelpful?

Stretches! Laying/sitting on a pad and stretching is really awesome, especially if there are parts of your body you need to avoid using too vigorously. Good for warm-ups and if you're starting to increase activity, good for muscle control/flexibility, and also relaxing all at the same time. Also, there are lots of yoga and pilates exercises that let you sit/lay down and make you work muscles in other parts of the body without forcing you to put a lot of strain on your legs.

Do you have issues with swimming? Like in a fairly shallow (3 or 4ft-ish) pool and doing light aerobics there? (Not necessarily doing laps.) I have had lots of knee issues since I was a teenager, but I love swimming and I find it's a lot less straining on my knees/hips/back than most other forms of cardio. :)

[Azisien]

Try a sport too. Sports tend to be intense, varying degrees of cardio that you could play for hours on end and not really realize you just did several hours of cardio.

I dunno, exercise is how you get fit. Skinny people can be not fit, because they just sit around all day not eating delicious foods. Pump that iron!

[Nique]

Weight Lifting is good if you can't really involve your legs, but you'll want to do major balencing with some lower back excersises and any kind of cardio you can get without using legs too much.

As for me I always focus too much on my arms and neglect my lower back.

[Corel]

Some of my first ever posts were about similar subjects.

Lo and behold!

Corel's Guide to Weight Lifting! (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?p=862655#post862655)

Corel's Guide to Dieting! (http://forum.nuklearpower.com/showthread.php?p=880647#post880647)

Please send me $15.99 in the post.

[Nique]

Thats good advice, and pretty comprehensive. I'm curious about the debunked myth - apparently you can't build muscle and loose fat at the same time? I'm not sure how that works. Aren't you burning fat when you do resistence training? Aren't you also telling your muscles to grow? I assume if you aren't building mass you will at least be getting stronger and getting more defined ala loosing all the woobly fat?

[Corel]

It's because that to gain muscle mass you need an excess of calories to burn (Muscle building) and to lose fat you need an intake of less calories than you burn, forcing your body to convert fat reserves to energy.

Muscles can't grow unless they've got an ample supply of protein (Aided with a good, balanced diet) but you're correct about the strength thing; you can get rid of fat whilst getting stronger however your muscles can't get bigger.

You're ahead of quite a few people in knowing that Strength != how large your muscles are, as such things are dictated by your bodyweight.

[Pip Boy]

The most powerful of weight loss methods! (http://biggercheese.com/index.php?comic=537)

What you need is Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbxq0IDqD04).

It seems a lot like a Powerthirst ripoff, but it turns out that it has one clear advantage on powerthirst.

Powerthirst isn't real. (http://www.brawndo.com/)

[Magic_Marker]

A good idea is to do something fun that is also active.

Seriously, I go through a kind of weight cycle every two years and every time I have gotten skinner is due to playing a sport with my friends.

Granted that sport is boffing, which for the unlearned, involves hitting each other with form sword (the epitome of lameness I know). Having something to motivate me to do better gave me the will to change some things about my diet and my activity level. If you are going to lose weight, best to do it with others. Having people counting on you will keep you honest to your diet and keep you exercising on a regular basis.

Currently however I gots me lots of chub so I can't technically talk.

[BitVyper]

What you need is Brawndo: The Thirst Mutilator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbxq0IDqD04).

It seems a lot like a Powerthirst ripoff, but it turns out that it has one clear advantage on powerthirst.

Powerthirst isn't real. (http://www.brawndo.com/)

Possibly because the ad was made by the Powerthirst guys. The Powerthirst ad is about five hundred times cooler though.

[Krylo]

It's true. Dude's heart wasn't in it this time. Just his wallet.

They should have just paid him to use the name Powerthirst and to use his commercials.

"POWERTHIRST: NOW AN ACTUAL DRIIIIIIIINK!"

Easier and a hundred times more awesome.

[Sky]

Check out the Blood Type Diet (books "Eat Right for Your Type" and "Live Right for Your Type" in any major bookstore) by Dr. Peter D'Adamo http://www.dadamo.com .

[Pip Boy]

Good god! Its covered in maggots! Put it back under!