Diets that worked for you
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Should have had this information with your original post.dt61 said:
First off try walking, doesn't matter where just walk for around 30 min a day to build up your strength then try swimming. As for dieting try to have lots of fruit and veg (potato chips don't count) if the illness put you out for a long time go slow and consult a medical professional.
Weight training is not going to help you lose weight at first, but resistance training is absolutely essential in the long run. Cardio burns calories while you are performing the exercise, which is going to add an immediate benefit. Adding skeletal muscle, however, gives you a tissue that is always hungry for fatty acids to burn for energy. Fat doesn't become muscle; muscle preferentially burns fat.
Nutritionally, most gimmicky diets either really don't work or have side effects. A diet which is super, super high in protein only makes sense if you're doing serious weight training. Otherwise, the side effects of these diets are generally not worth it. If you see a nutritionist, they'll usually recommend something very simple; modest carbohydrates, lower fat, higher protein, but they'll usually stay away from an Atkins-style or other ketogenic style diet. If you can cover it under your nation's health system and your insurance, or just pay out of pocket, visit a nutritionist rather than listen to people on the internet. If you can also afford it, consider a personal trainer.
Pharmacological interventions can work, but they have side effects and can be a bit expensive. Orlistat is sold in many countries and works by blocking fat uptake in the intestines. (It basically stops the enzymes your pancreas uses to rip fat apart so you can digest it.) This has two weight loss benefits; first, you won't uptake all of the fat you eat, and second, since that fat has to go -somewhere-, you'll avoid fatty foods just to avoid buying new trousers. In the US, it's sold as Alli (over the counter) and Xenical (prescription), and sold in a ton of other countries. Check with your MD and read the information provided if you want to try that, as there are some drug interactions and so on you need to watch out for. And beware counterfeits sold outside pharmacies. And it's not a magic bullet; your body will happily convert excess carbohydrate or protein calories into fat if it gets them.
http://www.medicinenet.com/orlistat-oral/article.htm
Supplements are harder to verify the effects of, but carnitine has some promise if only because it's one of the few that makes sense. Carnitine is used by muscles to move fatty acids in place to burn them. The thinking is that more carnitine means more energy in the muscle which means more fat is able to burn faster which means a harder workout, less fatigue, and (finally) a better result. The jury's still out on it. The form your body uses is L-carnitine; do -not- take D-carnitine. For what it's worth, my personal experience is that carnitine seems to work, but I can't get too excited over my personal, subjective experience.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/carnitine-l-000291.htm
And, like I said, don't put too much credence in anything you read from some yutz on a forum; do a little research. Depending on what kind of background you have, you can find everything from the latest journal article to consumer-level info for free.
http://www.pubmed.org - From the US National Institute of Health. Go ahead. If you're American, it's your tax dollars. And if you're not, mooch off the Americans. It's win-win.
Good luck.
Nutritionally, most gimmicky diets either really don't work or have side effects. A diet which is super, super high in protein only makes sense if you're doing serious weight training. Otherwise, the side effects of these diets are generally not worth it. If you see a nutritionist, they'll usually recommend something very simple; modest carbohydrates, lower fat, higher protein, but they'll usually stay away from an Atkins-style or other ketogenic style diet. If you can cover it under your nation's health system and your insurance, or just pay out of pocket, visit a nutritionist rather than listen to people on the internet. If you can also afford it, consider a personal trainer.
Pharmacological interventions can work, but they have side effects and can be a bit expensive. Orlistat is sold in many countries and works by blocking fat uptake in the intestines. (It basically stops the enzymes your pancreas uses to rip fat apart so you can digest it.) This has two weight loss benefits; first, you won't uptake all of the fat you eat, and second, since that fat has to go -somewhere-, you'll avoid fatty foods just to avoid buying new trousers. In the US, it's sold as Alli (over the counter) and Xenical (prescription), and sold in a ton of other countries. Check with your MD and read the information provided if you want to try that, as there are some drug interactions and so on you need to watch out for. And beware counterfeits sold outside pharmacies. And it's not a magic bullet; your body will happily convert excess carbohydrate or protein calories into fat if it gets them.
http://www.medicinenet.com/orlistat-oral/article.htm
Supplements are harder to verify the effects of, but carnitine has some promise if only because it's one of the few that makes sense. Carnitine is used by muscles to move fatty acids in place to burn them. The thinking is that more carnitine means more energy in the muscle which means more fat is able to burn faster which means a harder workout, less fatigue, and (finally) a better result. The jury's still out on it. The form your body uses is L-carnitine; do -not- take D-carnitine. For what it's worth, my personal experience is that carnitine seems to work, but I can't get too excited over my personal, subjective experience.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/carnitine-l-000291.htm
And, like I said, don't put too much credence in anything you read from some yutz on a forum; do a little research. Depending on what kind of background you have, you can find everything from the latest journal article to consumer-level info for free.
http://www.pubmed.org - From the US National Institute of Health. Go ahead. If you're American, it's your tax dollars. And if you're not, mooch off the Americans. It's win-win.
Good luck.
None.
But I've been going to the gym 3 times a week for 3 months, and 4 times a week for 2 months. I didn't really lose weight, but I look much better. So that's my advice to you.
(actually, I'm still trying to lose some weight - what I do apart from gym is: eat less, with more protein, drink more water, and go for a run each day that consists of running for 50 meters, doing push-ups, running another 50 meters and doing sit-ups; this is done 25 times)
But I've been going to the gym 3 times a week for 3 months, and 4 times a week for 2 months. I didn't really lose weight, but I look much better. So that's my advice to you.
(actually, I'm still trying to lose some weight - what I do apart from gym is: eat less, with more protein, drink more water, and go for a run each day that consists of running for 50 meters, doing push-ups, running another 50 meters and doing sit-ups; this is done 25 times)
Weight Watchers worked wonders for me. It does cost money, yes, but it is a realistic and more permanent way to lose weight. They teach you how to use food correctly and control portions. They give you strategies for avoiding the munchies, healthy eating patterns, and alternatives for the foods you can't control yourself on.dt61 said:
And the best part is, they don't just teach you how to lose weight. Sure, eating only celery and cheese all day will probably get you to lose weight, but how long can you keep something like that up? Weight Watchers teaches you how to keep it off for good.
Also, exercise is important. If you're a woman, I've heard Curves is amazing, but I've never tried it. If not, just find something you enjoy, like walking or biking.
A combination of two things:
Regular gym sessions, preferably with a personal trainer if you can afford it, lots of cardio with toning work. Don't stress the heavy weight lifting etc. just a balanced work out.
Diet adjustment. Rather than eating less reevaluate what it is you are eating. If you are going to the gym 4 times a week you'll be hungry as hell the trick is to eat food that has a lot of proteins whilst avoiding stuff like McDonalds and other high salt/sugar/fat foods.
So, using myself as an example, I used to eat:
Toast with butter, fried egg
Large red rooster/burger kind/what ever equivalent
Steak, chips.
Probably some chocolate during the day.
Now I am going to the gym before work I eat:
3 poached eggs, wholegrain toast without butter, spinach
foot long wholemeal roll, chicken or ham (low fat meat) and vegetables (again no butter, no added salt)
Dinner varies but again, low fat meats, eating chicken you cut the fat away, lots of green vegetables. And it's good to remember if you have a good frying pan you don't need oil in it Pastas etc. but sans cheese.
I eat a hell of a lot more now than I used to yet I have drop 6.5 kilos since I started at the gym (10 weeks ago).
You don't need to starve yourself to lose weight, in fact cutting food from your regular diet can be the worst thing to do. Your body is used to you eating what ever it is you eat, if you take that away it freaks out and goes in to famine mode so when you do eat it stores all that fat away.
Gym is hard, it takes commitment. Changing your diet is hard, especially if you eat a lot of fast food, as your body does freak out a little at first. But pull it off and the rewards are so worth it. You'll:
feel better physically and mentally
sleep better
look better
live longer
be happier.
And leaving the gym after a hard session makes you feel great. Yay natural high.
Hope this was the sort of advice you were looking for and good luck, you can definitely acheve this no matter how you go about it.
NewUse
Regular gym sessions, preferably with a personal trainer if you can afford it, lots of cardio with toning work. Don't stress the heavy weight lifting etc. just a balanced work out.
Diet adjustment. Rather than eating less reevaluate what it is you are eating. If you are going to the gym 4 times a week you'll be hungry as hell the trick is to eat food that has a lot of proteins whilst avoiding stuff like McDonalds and other high salt/sugar/fat foods.
So, using myself as an example, I used to eat:
Toast with butter, fried egg
Large red rooster/burger kind/what ever equivalent
Steak, chips.
Probably some chocolate during the day.
Now I am going to the gym before work I eat:
3 poached eggs, wholegrain toast without butter, spinach
foot long wholemeal roll, chicken or ham (low fat meat) and vegetables (again no butter, no added salt)
Dinner varies but again, low fat meats, eating chicken you cut the fat away, lots of green vegetables. And it's good to remember if you have a good frying pan you don't need oil in it Pastas etc. but sans cheese.
I eat a hell of a lot more now than I used to yet I have drop 6.5 kilos since I started at the gym (10 weeks ago).
You don't need to starve yourself to lose weight, in fact cutting food from your regular diet can be the worst thing to do. Your body is used to you eating what ever it is you eat, if you take that away it freaks out and goes in to famine mode so when you do eat it stores all that fat away.
Gym is hard, it takes commitment. Changing your diet is hard, especially if you eat a lot of fast food, as your body does freak out a little at first. But pull it off and the rewards are so worth it. You'll:
feel better physically and mentally
sleep better
look better
live longer
be happier.
And leaving the gym after a hard session makes you feel great. Yay natural high.
Hope this was the sort of advice you were looking for and good luck, you can definitely acheve this no matter how you go about it.
NewUse
Okay, i'm getting annoyed at overweight people being advised stupid things. It doesn't matter how much/little you eat. You need to go out and excerise. You could eat nothing but a piece of pasta, but if you do nothing to use that energy, then it will just get turned into a stored form. This is fat. Just work out, even if it's a tiny bit, and you can keep your diet the same.
I know this because my dad was obese and he lost loads due to excersice and he eats exactly the same crap as he use to.
Same as me, i easily go through at least 3 times my calories a day. I weigh 9.5 stone (thats british). Because i work it off.
Diet can be important, but no matter what, if you keep shovelling it in and don't work it off nothing will happen.
On the food subject, try Tuna and rice, it's surprisingly delicious and amazingly healthy.
I know this because my dad was obese and he lost loads due to excersice and he eats exactly the same crap as he use to.
Same as me, i easily go through at least 3 times my calories a day. I weigh 9.5 stone (thats british). Because i work it off.
Diet can be important, but no matter what, if you keep shovelling it in and don't work it off nothing will happen.
On the food subject, try Tuna and rice, it's surprisingly delicious and amazingly healthy.
Lost 30 pounds by going to the gym and eating right. No diet, but of course I'm a teen so its easier for me.
There's a really good book by Michael Pollan called Food Rules: An Eater's Guide. He contends that traditional diets were rules on eating codified over thousands of years, and that they are much healthier for us. Considering it from an evolutionary sense, what he's saying is that the cultures that ate these diets did better in a Darwinian sense, and those that ate other diets did worse.
He suggests a lot of simple rules that you could implement, but the core of what he has to say (though he elaborates on it a lot) is
Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not Too Much.
To expand on that a bit, Pollan contends that most of the processed foods we eat (everything from McDonalds to Twinkies) are not foods so much as they are edible food like substances. So when he says "eat food" what he's really saying is eat things that your evolutionary ancestors would have considered food, because 100 years ago, no one would have stumbled upon high fructose corn syrup (even if it had existed then) and thought it was food. If you look at the ingredients on a food product, and there are ingredients that you wouldn't find in any kitchen in the entire universe, then you might want to think twice about eating it. Our bodies evolved to eat an omnivorous diet, and so when you eat processed foods which are made mostly from corn and corn fed animals (as well as some entirely synthetic chemicals that our bodies haven't had time to adapt to in an evolutionary sense) you're really not giving your body the variety of nutrients it needs to be healthy, and so it's not healthy. Switching to a diet consisting of a variety of foods from your local farmer's market, and preparing any meals that you can yourself, will make a tremendous difference. I lost about fifteen pounds eating this way over a period of a couple months, and even though I've gotten too lazy to keep up with it (a problem made worse by the fact that by not eating this healthy diet, I then have even less energy), and I kick myself every day for not having taken the effort to get back to it yet.
He suggests a lot of simple rules that you could implement, but the core of what he has to say (though he elaborates on it a lot) is
Eat Food, Mostly Plants, Not Too Much.
To expand on that a bit, Pollan contends that most of the processed foods we eat (everything from McDonalds to Twinkies) are not foods so much as they are edible food like substances. So when he says "eat food" what he's really saying is eat things that your evolutionary ancestors would have considered food, because 100 years ago, no one would have stumbled upon high fructose corn syrup (even if it had existed then) and thought it was food. If you look at the ingredients on a food product, and there are ingredients that you wouldn't find in any kitchen in the entire universe, then you might want to think twice about eating it. Our bodies evolved to eat an omnivorous diet, and so when you eat processed foods which are made mostly from corn and corn fed animals (as well as some entirely synthetic chemicals that our bodies haven't had time to adapt to in an evolutionary sense) you're really not giving your body the variety of nutrients it needs to be healthy, and so it's not healthy. Switching to a diet consisting of a variety of foods from your local farmer's market, and preparing any meals that you can yourself, will make a tremendous difference. I lost about fifteen pounds eating this way over a period of a couple months, and even though I've gotten too lazy to keep up with it (a problem made worse by the fact that by not eating this healthy diet, I then have even less energy), and I kick myself every day for not having taken the effort to get back to it yet.
Just noticed this post so my advice up there probably isn't a surprise to you. So let me just say: Ease yourself back in to your old routine. Like you said "I was in great shape" so what ever you were doing worked. Just move back towards that.dt61 said:
If you can find it read a book called The New Psycho-Cybernetics. Set yourself a goal and go for it. You've been there before so you can do it again.
If what you've been doing isn't working, then you need to go all out, not give in to some lame diet. Clean up your entire diet, sticking mainly to lean meats, veggies, fruits, etc., drinking water, and eating 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 large ones. (in other words, snack throughout the day) Along with your workouts, you should include cardio, preferably HIIT. (back and forth between fast and slow, speeds up heart rate for rest of day; this could be sprinting for 30 seconds then resting for 30, or just fast walking to slow walking, depends on your level of fitness)dt61 said:
Overall though, I wouldn't recommend basing your entire weight loss based on some fad diet, because even if you lose it, you're likely to gain it right back once you drop the diet. If you're looking for continued weight loss, then you need lifestyle change, not just a short-term solution. Best of luck.
This, a thousand times. It works and it works well. Eat three meals a day (no junk food, small portions) and exercise.Cowabungaa said:
EDIT: Omitted the unnecessary details. I didn't notice additional details revealed by the OP later in the thread. Big whoopsy.
In spite of being 16, my metabolic rate is really slow. However, I'm still in not bad shape even though I do hardly any exercise (walking 4km to school and back and a 1 hour tennis lesson every week and cycling 1km to my piano lesson up a hill) and I definitely do't diet - my portions are rather hefty, but the food I eat is never fast food and always home-made with organic produce.
So my advice is... eat well but make sure it's healthy.
So my advice is... eat well but make sure it's healthy.
Pretty much like my case!Cowabungaa said:
the4 years ago I had stopped going to then gym for 5 years,started drinking everyday,smoking,doing other stuff and eating junk food all day, after 8 months of this I decided I was a fucking tragedy,so I got hardcore and imposed on myself to recover something of what I used to be.
Cardio everyday (running),at first I could barely do 5 minutes. & months afterwards I was running 30 min.A year afterwards I had lost all the 15 kg I had gained plus some.
A year ago I started jumping the rope again,last week I reached a record of 2 hours 10 minutes.
Now I'm doing more weights because my gym mates are worried I might dissapear or something.
Bottom line:
Eat well,eat in time,SWEAT, check calories fat and carbohydrates and sodium in the nutrition facts on food labels,rest at least once a week.
Oh and like Cowabungaa said, ADOPT IT AS A PERMANENT LIFESTYLE.
Sedentarism is as bad as (and often leads to) cancer