Big guy losing weight

coxmattycox · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:29

Hi all,

I'm 21, weight about 16.5 stone (38 waist) and recently joined the gym to help me loose weight. Just need to cut out the fast foods but thats another story!

Now, I like the gym so I have no issues with going 5 times a week.

My question is, should I stick to just exercise equipment? such as exercise bikes, rowing machines, treadmills etc or is it good to do a small amount of muscle equipment also? I'm talking like an hour or so on exercise equipment with a quick round on the muscle equipment at the end.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Morba · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:40

Hit the weights, both machine and free weights, and then some cardio after.

Take a look at the sticky at top of forum

oddjob62 · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:41

coxmattycox said:
Just need to cut out the fast foods but thats another story!

I think that needs to be a big part of the story. As a very big guy turned big guy, the main change i had to make to lose weight was to sort my diet out. I'm currently around 16st down from over 20. about 6 months ago i started feeling reasonably happy with my weight, and more to the point wanted to bring back more of the foods i love and i have not lost any more weight since, even though i cycle about 20miles/day and am in the gym 3 nights a week. If i wanted to drop further i know i'd have to start being strict about what i eat again.

dante6491 · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:42

I'm not sure if it is more beneficial but it is certainly more satisfying for me since I hate doing cardio. Nothing like doing some butterflys and feeling your pecs ache.

coxmattycox · 28 Mar 2010 at 23:57

oddjob62 said:
I think that needs to be a big part of the story. As a very big guy turned big guy, the main change i had to make to lose weight was to sort my diet out. I'm currently around 16st down from over 20. about 6 months ago i started feeling reasonably happy with my weight, and more to the point wanted to bring back more of the foods i love and i have not lost any more weight since, even though i cycle about 20miles/day and am in the gym 3 nights a week. If i wanted to drop further i know i'd have to start being strict about what i eat again.

I totally agree with you on that one, I've lost around 3 stone just cutting out the junk etc before christmas, but since christmas and a bit of binging I've found it very hard to cut it out again. Has been more emotional eating lately though. I'm hoping to rectify that starting today

Raymond Lin · 29 Mar 2010 at 00:46

Just eat a carrot when you are hungry.

It's really as easy as that, will power is everything. I find it easier not to eat junk than to run on a treadmill for an hour to burn it off.

oddjob62 · 29 Mar 2010 at 08:01

coxmattycox said:
Has been more emotional eating lately though. I'm hoping to rectify that starting today

Snap to both. Gd luck.

Chris1712 · 29 Mar 2010 at 12:31

Weights weights weights, and some more weights. I've lost 1.5 stone since christmas doing weight training 3x a week, and sorting my diet out (ish, still have 1 or 2 cheat meals a week :/). Most of that 1.5 stone will be fat too, my strength has improved about 50% across the board and its not as brain numbingly boring as cardio.

- Workout with weights about 3 times a week.
- Eat at least 1g protein / lb of lean body mass a day.
- Eat some fruit, veggies/salad, and some essential fatty acids (EFAs) every day.
- Above that eat whatever you want, preferably a wide variety of foods.
- Adjust your food intake so that the desired rate of weight loss is maintained.

RaohNS · 29 Mar 2010 at 13:30

If you are looking at dropping weight fairly quickly i'd sort your diet out and also take up jogging.

Rowing machines are also fantastic for cardio and endurance and will help you loose weight at a reasonable speed.

Few rules: don't eat any form of pastry, no chocolate or crisps. Train hard. So hard it makes your ears bleed.

PeterNem · 29 Mar 2010 at 21:22

Having lost 3 stone over the last year or so (with varying periods of more and less exercise, better then worse diet) I can tell you that eating well is easily 80% of the battle. I can eat well and not exercise for weeks and the pounds keep coming off, but as soon as I start to eat less well my weight won't budge.

Ideally you need a balance of both, but don;t underestimate the difference the diet makes. Burning off the calories from a big mac meal really does take an exponential amount of effort compared with just not eating it in the first place!