Weight loss advice please gents!

Chris1712

Chris1712

Chris1712

Soldato
Joined
29 Jul 2004
Posts
9,711
Location
Bristol
Afternoon everyone. I figure its about time I sorted myself out and lost some weight.

As it stands, I'm 21 years old and have been fat all my life. Currently I guesstimate my weight to be ~18-19 stone @ ~5'10". I'll get some real numbers together shortly.I'm currently at Broadcom doing a year internship, so I feel for the first time in ~5 years I've actually got the routine and time to change my lifestyle.

I'm going to the gym after work today to sign up, its only about 15 mins walk from me and I have a couple good friends that already go there. I do feel plenty committed enough to the exercise side of weight loss. Growing up I was always involved in sports playing footy at school and did a lot of cycling aswell, but as I say I was always a big kid. I'm quite looking forward to getting more active to be honest, especially weight training.


Anyway, I think I'll need a lot more advice/encouragement on the diet side. I eat a crap typical student/gamer diet and always have done. My problem is I absolutely hate cooking/preparing food. I'm really not one of these people that can spend half an hour in the kitchen farting around with herbs and spices. My personal feeling is food should be a quick fix :p. I.E. 'I'm hungry, eat, done.'

My typical food daily consists of the following.....

1000 Arrive at work, banana time.
1130 Little pot of grapes and apple slices (This is when the caterers turn up with sandwiches etc. so I grab a snack then)
1230 Lunch. Chicken Mayo Salad Baguette, bag of walkers and a kit kat.
1630-1730 Another snack, usually a breakfast bar type thing, nutri grain tracker whatever.
1830-1930 Get home from work. Tea time. Varies A LOT. Usually one of the following....

  • Chicken Curry
  • Chicken Breasts + Chips
  • Chicken Jambalaya
  • Cod & Chips
  • Gammon, egg & chips
  • Once a week will end up down the pub for a burger and chips
  • Junk food once a week normally aswell, midnight maccy d's is kind of a tradition in my social circle on saturday nights.

As you can tell, all pretty much stuff which involves taking it out of the fridge/freezer whacking it in the oven for 20 minutes and consuming.
The curry/jambalaya is nearly always pre packaged ready meal style. Occasionally will do a curry properly. Chicken breasts tend to end up with melted cheese and lashing of BBQ sauce, or nando's/reggae reggae + spicy rice. nom nom nom.

Now I know what I need to get rid of/cut down on, but what to replace it with is what I struggle with. Chips and crisps are gonna be first to go, I'm thinking rice instead of chips but not sure what to have at lunch that will actually fill me up until I get home. The Lunch can be basically anything, we can order stuff the day before which they'll prepare and bring in. Sandwiches/baguettes/salads and even hot food like chilli and pasta bakes, so any suggestions for a nice baguette would be apprecieated. All I read about is Tune and Pasta, please bare in mind I despise both of those items with a passion so I'm looking for alternatives!
I'm generally starving by the time I get home at 1900 ish. I'm guessing once I start going to the gym, I'm going to need something afterwards aswell. I won't typically be able to go until ~9pm, so will be after tea. Is this where supplements can come in? Protein shakes and the like? Could they also potentially function as a meal replacement type thing during the day? While we're at it are fat-burners/appetite suppressors worth looking into also? I'm absolutely willing to take any help modern science can throw my way :p.

Provided I get some decent replies, I will be needing advice on workouts etc. aswell. I plan on going 3-4 times a week, probably all but fri/sat/mon. Personally, I'm more inclined to a resistive workout than an aerobic one. I would rather be a muscular ~14 stone than a standard ~13 stone. I just plucked those figures out of thin air btw :p.

Errrm so yeah, first things first diet advice please gents!
 
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Well, the first thing I'd say is that if you want to lose a lot of weight/fat then you must incorporate a lot of aerobic work into your programme.
 
Start basic mate, rapid, drastic diet adjustment just doesn't work.

You can cook and prepare a chicken stir fry in around 20 minutes, so why not try that instead of one of your meals.

Work towards reducing your portion sizes. Weigh your food, and reduce by 10g or so (on each food group) over the coming weeks. Aim to eat more vegetables, and less chips. Drink more water.

Likewise, the maccy Ds is really, really not good. Try to make small adjustments, go for diet, and choose a small meal option, and select a slightly smaller burger :)

Ant :cool:
 
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As for training, well:

If you were my client, we'd work towards a cyclical, periodised training routine. First, would be basic condition, so let's start with that.

You need to start by assessing your fitness capabilities and working to small goals. Get on a peice of CV equipment of your choice, set a level that's appropriate and go for it. Establish how far, fast, long you can go for, and make a note, over the coming weeks, work towards improving that. Feel free to try this on several different machines. Aim for sessions of at least 20 minutes initially. Take a rest (up to 5 minutes) and go again.

For resistance, create a balanced routine, depending on your gym it would look something like this:

2 sets of 15 on each of the following, 45 seconds rest:

Chest Press
Seated Row
Shoulder Press
Lat Pull Down
Squat
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Calf Press

Note down weights and perceived difficulty and work on improving them.

Aim for two CV sessions and two Resistance sessions a week for the moment. ALWAYS work to intensity, get hot, get sweaty go for it. Focus on really enjoying your training by remembering your goals and thinking about how great it will be to meet them.

Take a picture now, of you with your tshirt off from the front, and from the side. Put it in a draw for 8-12 weeks and take a look after that. Once you see an improvement, keep the original photo around to remind you what you never want to go back to, and keep taking new photos (and labelling them!) every 8-12 weeks.

Good luck bud,
Ant :cool:
 
Some solutions for food:
Breakfast (You should have this!)-microwave porridge is quick and will fill you up
Dinner- Steak is quick to cook and add some boiled potatoes/salad and job don
Lunch-Eat wholemeal bread sources and some good protein eg chicken/tuna/sardines etc.
 
WantoN said:
As for training, well:

If you were my client, we'd work towards a cyclical, periodised training routine. First, would be basic condition, so let's start with that.

You need to start by assessing your fitness capabilities and working to small goals. Get on a peice of CV equipment of your choice, set a level that's appropriate and go for it. Establish how far, fast, long you can go for, and make a note, over the coming weeks, work towards improving that. Feel free to try this on several different machines. Aim for sessions of at least 20 minutes initially. Take a rest (up to 5 minutes) and go again.

For resistance, create a balanced routine, depending on your gym it would look something like this:

2 sets of 15 on each of the following, 45 seconds rest:

Chest Press
Seated Row
Shoulder Press
Lat Pull Down
Squat
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Calf Press

Note down weights and perceived difficulty and work on improving them.

Aim for two CV sessions and two Resistance sessions a week for the moment. ALWAYS work to intensity, get hot, get sweaty go for it. Focus on really enjoying your training by remembering your goals and thinking about how great it will be to meet them.

Take a picture now, of you with your tshirt off from the front, and from the side. Put it in a draw for 8-12 weeks and take a look after that. Once you see an improvement, keep the original photo around to remind you what you never want to go back to, and keep taking new photos (and labelling them!) every 8-12 weeks.

Good luck bud,
Ant :cool:
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The Craig said:
Some solutions for food:
Breakfast (You should have this!)-microwave porridge is quick and will fill you up
Dinner- Steak is quick to cook and add some boiled potatoes/salad and job don
Lunch-Eat wholemeal bread sources and some good protein eg chicken/tuna/sardines etc.
Click to expand...

WantoN said:
Start basic mate, rapid, drastic diet adjustment just doesn't work.

You can cook and prepare a chicken stir fry in around 20 minutes, so why not try that instead of one of your meals.

Work towards reducing your portion sizes. Weigh your food, and reduce by 10g or so (on each food group) over the coming weeks. Aim to eat more vegetables, and less chips. Drink more water.

Likewise, the maccy Ds is really, really not good. Try to make small adjustments, go for diet, and choose a small meal option, and select a slightly smaller burger :)

Ant :cool:
Click to expand...


Cheers guys :).

Some great info for me. Signed up last night and have my induction on wednesday. From my chat with the receptionist the induction basically consisted of a CV calibration type thing, to get me something to aim for. And the same thing for weight training.

In regards to resistance/aerobic split. Am I better literally one day focusing on weights, next day just cardio and so on? Or should I be doing cardio & weights every session? Is one hour a realistic time span for either? They close at 10 you see, probably aiming to get there 2030-2100 4 times a week.
 
Chris1712 said:
Cheers guys :).

Some great info for me. Signed up last night and have my induction on wednesday. From my chat with the receptionist the induction basically consisted of a CV calibration type thing, to get me something to aim for. And the same thing for weight training.

In regards to resistance/aerobic split. Am I better literally one day focusing on weights, next day just cardio and so on? Or should I be doing cardio & weights every session? Is one hour a realistic time span for either? They close at 10 you see, probably aiming to get there 2030-2100 4 times a week.
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It depends how you're training fella. If you work hard in your weight training session, then you should get a very decent sweat on. You aren't going to get the full benefit of either if you don't give them your full focus in a session, but if you arne't lifting with intensity then its best to them both in a day.

One to one and a half hours is good :)

Ant :cool:
 
TBH if you are willing to put all that time into exercise then you need to put a little time into getting some healthier food inside you. If that means some time in the kitchen that's what you have to do. You can't really do one without the other in my experience. In all fairness most cooking is quite easy and you also never know when those skills may be useful in social situations. Most meals use from a basic set of say 10 spices eg paprika, cumin etc. All of which can be obtained in large bags at low price from any decent ethnic supermarket.

As for the exercise part - slow and steady with realistic goals. Aim for gradual and achievable progress so you can pat yourself on the back knowing you are on track rather than feeling argh I have done 2 months and I am only 10% of the way to my overall target weight. That is just disheartening. I would suggest trying a more energetic martial art. I find that more focused than just going to the gym and will give you a pretty good workout.
 
Ditch all the crap carbs, replace with decent carbs, ditch all the sugar, weight will drop off like no tomorrow.

Baguette's, assuming its white bread which it almost all is, is basically the single worst carb there is with a ridiculous glycemic index.

Its simple high GI carbs spike insulin high, tell your body to store what you're eating as fat and tells your body not to burn fat. Insulin is the BIGGEST enemy to losing weight, ultra low GI carbs control insulin far far better and so your body isn't constantly storing food as fat and telling your body not to burn fat.

Thats the majority of what you need to know to lose weight, add good cards to a reduced calorie intake and you're onto a winner.

Longterm, even when you've lost the weight you want to stick with low GI carbs.

THe other thing being high GI carbs spike the insulin, which crashes your blood sugar, which makes you starving, so high carbs store energy, tell your body not to burn fat then very quickly tell you to eat again.

So chips, crisps, anything crappy carby replace with decent wholemeal rices/pasta's and the odd potato(Sweet are slightly lower GI than normal and taste better IMHO), bread is generally just crap but if you have to have some, brown, wholemeal, least refined the better basically.

Curry sauces don't have to be, but are very often utterly loaded with sugar to flavour it, so stick with things that don't have a ridiculous sugar content if you're having curries which will include most microwave pre packaged curries.
 
First thing you need to do is get on the scale and find out how heavy you actually are and not just guess it, then realise that its taken you years to get to the weight you are at and its not going to come off over night.

From what you said above, its your life style that needs changing as well as your diet.
 
Personally, unless you're looking to increase performance in a sport that requiries cardiovascular fitness, I would start by cleaning up the diet and lifting lots of weights, pretty much forgetting cardio.

I have found a greater and more rapid change in my body shape just through diet and weights than I ever found when I was plodding away on the treadmill with the same diet and neglecting weights. Also, as mentioned above, a decent weights workout is a cardio exercise in itself. That said a better level of CV fitness should aid you in doing lifts like the deadlift.

But that's just my take on things i.e. that cardiovascular fitness should come second to weight lifting unless you are targetting a specific sport.
 
After giving up running and boxing when I was younger i started working in the city. Boozy lunches and hard nights out took there toll in just a short space of time. When I turned 30, I weighed in at around 17 stone. I took me just under a year to loose most of my weight. Infact i lost so much i got to the point of that i needed to put back some on. Most of my weight loss seemed to slip off quickly once I got into a habit of my new healthy life style change.. Which is what this is about. Changing your bad habits for better new ones. Also, it helps having a genuine reason for loosing weight. NY resolutions and holidays don't tend to be the ideal motivation. Find something that really gives you a reason for change and let that drive you. For me, having an overweight father who just had a triple bypass operation with complications was enough for me and I've never looked back since.

Some chap I work with is quite obese and has just joined my gym. He's always moaning that it doesn't appear to be working but then every night he's down the pub so what does he expect. Changing your life style does mean making a few sacrifices but it doesn't mean you have to be an outcast and not drink or eat, you just have to regulate it so it becomes more of a treat and you'll find you'll enjoy it more.

Any change is change, even if it means just cutting back on a few bad foods and visiting the gym 2 times a week is better than no change at all. i.e. don't make it too hard for yourself from the start otherwise you'll loose heart too quickly.
 
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run run run. also, instead of eating kit kats or crisps, drink ice cold water and eat fruit. Cold water takes energy to drink it apparently. Do lots of smaller weights instead of really heavy ones. Itll be a lot harder to shift weight if you put muscle on first (as i found out the hard way) Now all i do is run, skipping, situps, pressups and small weights.

My weight changes all the time but im usually around 11.5 stone, 5' 10. Skipping is fantastic cardio, is fun and best of all is free (well £5 for a speed rope)
 
Guest2 said:
Do lots of smaller weights instead of really heavy ones. Itll be a lot harder to shift weight if you put muscle on first (as i found out the hard way)
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Hmm that pretty much goes against everything I've ever been told about fitness and weight lifting.

Guest2 said:
Now all i do is run, skipping, situps, pressups and small weights.
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Do you also wear leotards when you're working out :p?
 
Wow a whole load of replies today!

Cheers peeps I will take all your suggestion into consideration. At the moment I'm still trying to muddle my way through the diet portion.

I have my 'induction' at the Gym tonight so will see how that goes. I feel like I'm more likely to push myself on a weights oriented routine than cardio. But we'll see once I actually start how much of this enthusiasm drains away and gets replaced with contempt :p. Jokes.

A few things i've picked up which i'm gonna introduce soon include chicken breast pieces in wholemeal pitta and oatcakes with peanut butter. The former as a meal probably with some rice and the latter as a hunger pang quencher! As for dinners I'm quite happy to eat mainly grilled chicken (with rice and steamed veg) as I love the stuff, its just trying to vary it a bit. Looking into stir fry's next!

Will try an update this thread after tonight depending how it goes :p.
 
Guest2 said:
run run run. also, instead of eating kit kats or crisps, drink ice cold water and eat fruit. Cold water takes energy to drink it apparently. Do lots of smaller weights instead of really heavy ones. Itll be a lot harder to shift weight if you put muscle on first (as i found out the hard way) Now all i do is run, skipping, situps, pressups and small weights.

My weight changes all the time but im usually around 11.5 stone, 5' 10. Skipping is fantastic cardio, is fun and best of all is free (well £5 for a speed rope)
Click to expand...

You seriously expect a 30 year old who has been very overweight their entire life to skip intensly as their cardio? I can't think of a better way to get a knee injury faster than that :P

Start out slow and change your diet first and foremost before you do any exercise, just a diet change will drop the lbs and once you are comfortable with it then incorperate light/moderate exercise and go from there.

Don't listen to people who tell you go jump straight in and go flat out at the gym, you will injure yourself for sure and then all your motivation will go out the window!
 
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