[Broken Parachute]

Alright, now first off..I am not tremendously fat. I'm overweight. Based on my height/age chart, I should be around 160-175 or so. I'm about 225-230. I need to lose weight and gain muscle, I wanna do it seriously.

Has anyone ever lost a lot of weight without actually dieting, but just working out? What are the best excercise to do?

I wanna get in shape without having to go on a diet. I wanna just gain muscle and condition myself better.

[FondestMemory]

you have to diet to some extent. you don't have to kill yourself with it, but you gotta be somewhat smart aobut it.

do conditioning every day, but don't overwork your muscles with the lifting. and don't do the common mistake of only doing upper body, or only doing your arms. a good lifting program should be relatively easy to find online. and mix up your cardio. run, bike, stairs, rowing, just constantly rotating so that your entire body gets a workout.

[Broken Parachute]

Originally Posted by FondestMemory

you have to diet to some extent. you don't have to kill yourself with it, but you gotta be somewhat smart aobut it.

do conditioning every day, but don't overwork your muscles with the lifting. and don't do the common mistake of only doing upper body, or only doing your arms. a good lifting program should be relatively easy to find online. and mix up your cardio. run, bike, stairs, rowing, just constantly rotating so that your entire body gets a workout.

Last year I went to the YMCA everyday for a while. Basically what I did was some ordinary machine workouts, some bike, some running, situps, pushups, and leg weights. I don't know why I ever stopped. I should have kept going.

What about the dieting? Every time I go on a diet I do well with it but I get lazy. I hate doing that.

[marrost]

You gotta do everything if you want big results, otherwise it will seem like you're just wasting your time when they come slowly.

[Juliana101]

For every lb of muscle, you burn another 100 calories/day.

Try to get some cardio and calesthetics too, they'll burn calories as well.


Don't overdo it, take it easy and get into a routine.

[Broken Parachute]

Originally Posted by marrost

You gotta do everything if you want big results, otherwise it will seem like you're just wasting your time when they come slowly.

That's what happened to me before. Like I said I would work out everyday, and nothing would really happen.

Originally Posted by Juliana101

For every lb of muscle, you burn another 100 calories/day.

Try to get some cardio and calesthetics too, they'll burn calories as well.


Don't overdo it, take it easy and get into a routine.

What sounds like a reasonable number..100 sit-ups/push-ups a day? I wanna start out simple.

[gonz]

Jumprope and swimming are both excellent exercise.

[CROMagnon]

a few years ago i did pretty much what you want to do
i went from 205 to about 160 in 2 1/2 months

like these other posters are saying, you gotta do everything: cardio everyday, lifting AT LEAST every other day, on a rotation (one day chest and shoulders, next day arms, next day back/legs/stomach, something to that effect)
plus, you have to change what you eat and how often you eat
everywhere online they'll tell you the same thing: eat frequently, like 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, and replace heavier foods with lighter ones, like eat more chicken breast and other lean meats and eat less beef (which tends to be on the fatty side)
you're not eliminating anything, you're just shifting the focus
plus, drink a lot of water, it cuts down on your hunger...and peanut butter is an excellent thing to eat; if you're not eating peanut butter, start

[FondestMemory]

Originally Posted by Broken Parachute

Last year I went to the YMCA everyday for a while. Basically what I did was some ordinary machine workouts, some bike, some running, situps, pushups, and leg weights. I don't know why I ever stopped. I should have kept going.

What about the dieting? Every time I go on a diet I do well with it but I get lazy. I hate doing that.

there's a bunch of different ways to go about dieting. you can count carbs and calories and do that by the book shit, or you can find something that works for you.

i've never been a calorie counter. but when i diet, i do one of two things. if you want an extreme diet that worked wonders for me in the past, limit yourself to 30 fat grams a day. with no more than 10 of them being saturated fat. if you don't want that extreme, you can go up it to like 50, but still wanna keep your saturated low.

or, occasionally i go without meat. just wipe meat completely out of my diet. you can substitute it with stuff. this will 1) help out because chances are whatever you're replacing the meat with is going to be better for you and less fattening and 2) will shrink your appetite after about a week. your meals will be smaller than they are with meat, and your body will adapt. you won't be hungry as much. and even when you decide to go back to meat, you'll be so used to the substitutes you found that you may still eat them also sometimes.

the key is just finding what works for you. and the number one problem with any diet is getting lazy with it. so if you want it, you have to work for it.

[FondestMemory]

Originally Posted by Broken Parachute

What sounds like a reasonable number..100 sit-ups/push-ups a day? I wanna start out simple.

start off doing what you can. if you can do 100 of each, great. if not, find your limit. but don't get lazy. don't set your max where you're still able to do more after but just don't feel like it. if you can only do 58, set your max at 60 and push for it.

but once your max is set, do it first thing in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before you go to bed. then slowly raise your max as you feel comfortable.

but try to do your max twice a day. that'll help a lot more than you think.

[Broken Parachute]

Originally Posted by gonz

Jumprope and swimming are both excellent exercise.

I think I'll start jumproping using my sister's pink Barbie one, it's all I got haha

Originally Posted by CROMagnon

a few years ago i did pretty much what you want to do
i went from 205 to about 160 in 2 1/2 months

like these other posters are saying, you gotta do everything: cardio everyday, lifting AT LEAST every other day, on a rotation (one day chest and shoulders, next day arms, next day back/legs/stomach, something to that effect)
plus, you have to change what you eat and how often you eat
everywhere online they'll tell you the same thing: eat frequently, like 5 or 6 smaller meals a day, and replace heavier foods with lighter ones, like eat more chicken breast and other lean meats and eat less beef (which tends to be on the fatty side)
you're not eliminating anything, you're just shifting the focus
plus, drink a lot of water, it cuts down on your hunger...and peanut butter is an excellent thing to eat; if you're not eating peanut butter, start

I love Peanut Butter haha I think I'll bring it for lunch everyday at school. My problem has to do with soda I think. I drink a lot of soda. I don't drink nearly enough water. I have to start, though. I'm gonna start with situps/pushups and then eventually when I get my YMCA pass renewed I'm gonna start going back.

[CROMagnon]

Originally Posted by FondestMemory

i've never been a calorie counter. but when i diet, i do one of two things. if you want an extreme diet that worked wonders for me in the past, limit yourself to 30 fat grams a day. with no more than 10 of them being saturated fat. if you don't want that extreme, you can go up it to like 50, but still wanna keep your saturated low.

this is great advice, exactly what i do

[marrost]

The first time you get into lifting is when you see the biggest results. Eat more protein, cut back on the carbs and work out 3 or 4 times a week. My bench went up 60 pounds this summer, just by doing that and cutting back on the junk food a little. It's not as hard as you think, you just have to keep in mind that you are unhappy with your appearance. That's all the motivation you need.

[Broken Parachute]

Originally Posted by FondestMemory

there's a bunch of different ways to go about dieting. you can count carbs and calories and do that by the book shit, or you can find something that works for you.

i've never been a calorie counter. but when i diet, i do one of two things. if you want an extreme diet that worked wonders for me in the past, limit yourself to 30 fat grams a day. with no more than 10 of them being saturated fat. if you don't want that extreme, you can go up it to like 50, but still wanna keep your saturated low.

or, occasionally i go without meat. just wipe meat completely out of my diet. you can substitute it with stuff. this will 1) help out because chances are whatever you're replacing the meat with is going to be better for you and less fattening and 2) will shrink your appetite after about a week. your meals will be smaller than they are with meat, and your body will adapt. you won't be hungry as much. and even when you decide to go back to meat, you'll be so used to the substitutes you found that you may still eat them also sometimes.

the key is just finding what works for you. and the number one problem with any diet is getting lazy with it. so if you want it, you have to work for it.

Originally Posted by FondestMemory

start off doing what you can. if you can do 100 of each, great. if not, find your limit. but don't get lazy. don't set your max where you're still able to do more after but just don't feel like it. if you can only do 58, set your max at 60 and push for it.

but once your max is set, do it first thing in the morning when you wake up, and again at night before you go to bed. then slowly raise your max as you feel comfortable.

but try to do your max twice a day. that'll help a lot more than you think.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll keep that all in mind.

[Broken Parachute]

Originally Posted by marrost

The first time you get into lifting is when you see the biggest results. Eat more protein, cut back on the carbs and work out 3 or 4 times a week. My bench went up 60 pounds this summer, just by doing that and cutting back on the junk food a little. It's not as hard as you think, you just have to keep in mind that you are unhappy with your appearance. That's all the motivation you need.

That's the exact reason why I'm doing this. This summer I packed on a lot of pounds. Everyone noticed. My friends never called me fat or anything, but they basically told me I put on noticeable weight. That's when I was basically motivated to lose some of the weight. It sucks even more because I had lost about 25 pounds two summers ago and felt so good, then I gained it all back plus more.