Weight-Loss tips

[JayCutlersCig]

Hey, folks. I was wondering if you could help me out with something.

I’m in my first year of “actual” college (transferred from a CC) and I put myself on a fairly strict diet in August: salads and (considerably) lean protein. It’s a small campus so I was walking a lot, too, and that seemed to make all the difference. I didn’t have a scale or anything but I could definitely tell I was losing weight.

Had a rough winter break, but I got back on my diet in January and started working out 5 days a week. Cardio MWF, Weights T-Th, and off-days/cheat days on Saturday (I’ve kept at it for 3 months) I thought I could really tell the difference, but...

I went and got a sports physical for Track and Field the other day and found that my weight was more than what I came to college with (>350). I’m a naturally stocky dude, but I was pretty bummed and discouraged.

So, do you guys have any tips? My goal weight is 225 and I’d really like to hit that by December.

[3304Life]

Weight-Loss tips

This doesn’t work for everybody but it has worked for me in the past. I’m not a big guy, size-wise, but I did have a few pounds I needed to shift.

Generally what I do is almost all cardio work with some push/pull weight work. Honestly if you have the space and resources I’d look into going with callisthenics rather than weight lifting.

In terms of my diet, I probably split it about 50/20/30 protein/fat/carbs and I do intermittent fasting. No food between 8pm and 12pm, only black coffee, water and green tea in those hours and keep away from refined sugar and things like that. Cheat days have to sort of go until you’re making solid progress, which I learned the hard way. Salads are great but I just recommend them as a side. Try to get a large amount of protein and complex carbs in each meal, they’re more filling and will stave off hunger for longer.

Eat at a deficit too, which fasting will definitely help with over time. UA has an app, MyFitnessPal, which you can use to track calories and your macronutrients which comes in really handy. When you first use it it will ask for your age and weight, activity level etc and then ask for your goal weigh and time frame, and then recommend a daily calorie intake based on that info. I use it now still even though I’m not cutting my weight just because it’s such a good tool to have in maintaining my current weight.

For reference I’m around 6’3 and 183 pounds. I was 206 when I decided to change things up in February last year. So I think you can have better results than I did with the dedication and time.

You say your goal weight is 225 by December and you’re currently above 350? It’s manageable, but I’d also say look long term and think about thr potential damage you could do losing a third of your body weight in such a short space of time. A more gradual weight loss will mean you don’t end up with as much excess skin too so you’ll be happier with your final result.

[pietasterp]

Re: Weight-Loss tips

Pretty thorough post from 3304 above, the only other thing I'd say is that on a college campus, there are usually a lot of resources available to students that they may or may not take advantage of. If you have a student health center (which I'm sure you do), you might try to make an appointment with someone there or swing by and ask if they have dieticians or nutritionists for consultation, or other weight loss resources.

It also couldn't hurt to make an appointment with an actual doc (or see your own doc if you have a relationship with one already) just before you embark on a serious weight-loss effort. And they may be able to refer you to other resources as well.

Good luck!

[JayCutlersCig]

Re: Weight-Loss tips

Thank you guys both. I actually hit a pretty big milestone tonight--my fraternity had a formal event and, for the first time in years, I was able to button my suit across my shirt. Progress!

[mkharsh33]

Re: Weight-Loss tips

3 years ago I got up to 310. I'm 6-3, so I've never been small. In high school I was a very good athlete - but then I just let myself go. Following the death of our teenage son, I decided things needed to change. He was a great athlete - distance runner, track, cross country - as a soph. in HS he was the first ever varsity runner for the cross country team. Then was killed in a car accident just shy of his 16th birthday.

The point of all that - I had a HUGE REASON to get off my arse and dedicate my life to his passion. I started walking. The first couple weeks I just did 2 miles. I gradually got up to 5-6 per day. My goal was 30 miles per week. I totally changed my eating habits - not just what, but WHEN - stopped eating late at night. I would suck on candy instead of having late night snacks (which was in essence an additional meal for me).

I just cut my portions down. More fluids. I drink diet pop. I don't eat red meat anymore, but love chicken and fish. I started jogging once I dropped the weight. It took a year but I lost over 90 pounds. I'm at 215 (and fluctuate between 215 and 220). In my best shape in high school I weighed 235 - but was more muscular. I'm 46, so it's not easy to take and keep it off. I ran a bit the other night and my legs are killing me, so I'm learning the older I get this isn't easy.

I let myself enjoy an occasional "blow it out of the water" meal - but not as much as I used to. I track my weight so I keep it under control. I went from a size 46 waist down to a 38 - which is where I was in high school. So that's my story - and it really came down to dedicating myself to honor our son.

[Smallville102001]

Re: Weight-Loss tips

Only thing I would say is dont worry to much about trying to lose weight really fast has you are saying you want to lose like 125 lbs by December to lose 125 in just like 8-9 months is nuts. I would say try for like 1lbs a week if you can. I am not has big has you but I want to lose weight but no joke if I went a whole day with eating nothing I would maybe lose 1lbs. So yeah its not easy to lose weight and the lower you get the harder it also gets to lose weight and something I didn't known un till not long ago is that the bigger you are the more cal you burn when you exercise. So if you 300 and like run hard for like 10 minutes for example you will burn more cal than if you did that but was 200. So its like a double thing if you weigh more its easier to lose weight at first has 1 you are going to have to like eat more to maintain your weight and 2 you burn more cal. Also ever one is different when it comes to trying to lose weight I am about 212 for my height I should not be over like 180 and I have been like 210-215 range for a while now. I started trying to work out because just eating good was not enough. I dont snack much I only eat when I am truly hungry, but I am not the kind of person that can skip meals if I do I binge big time, and I tend to always be the most hungry at dinner time. For example with like lunch if I eat pizza I am good with like 3 peaces dinner though I need like 5. When I was not working out in like a full month if I eat like no ice cream, cookies, fastfood, pizza I would maybe lose 1lbs so yeah just eating good was not enough. I am not sure with how working out like how much I can lose even though I started working out because I am still eating like ice cream, cookies etc to much because of the stress I fell from work and also I am having a issue with some of my equipment I got for the cardio work out part so lately its been like weight workout and not much cardio.

[AUChase]

Re: Weight-Loss tips

Cut Sugar.

Calisthenics

Cardio.

The (3) C's that have worked for me in the past. You would be surprised how much of a workout just doing basic calisthenics can be if you make it into somewhat of a circuit workout or set a time limit and try to achieve as much as you can in that window.

Lunges, jumping jacks, squats, bicycles, leg raises, pillar bridges, mountain climbers, etc. It keeps you from having to focus on form as much because they are easy to do and they are great for elevating your heart rate and getting used to working out before trying to go lift or something.

There's no real perfect solution, but IMO if you just cut out sugar from your diet and start moving at all 30-45 mins a day with some sort of workout you will start seeing some sort of results over time.