2011 Weight Loss Thread!

Muzza1875 said:
Just got in from a 2 hour long run, i cant walk anywhere without looking like i've been raped by king kong!
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I would never train for that long cardiowise unless I was preparing for a marathon or similar. Personally I find cardio (particularly running) for that long is a really good way to get an injury if you aren't careful. Furthermore, you will probably burn so many calories that you will have to eat quite a bit to make sure you aren't in too much of a deficit.

On my cardio days I usually do an hour of off road mountain biking of 40 minutes of fast paced activity in the gym. Much more and I'd just waste away.
 
Muzza1875 said:
Keep up the great work, Best of luck with your run
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thanks very much indeed - its been a long hard road

some people seem to think its been easy - but it hasn't - I was therein the gym at the start - feeling self concious on the running machine bouncing around (literally all over) - but you get there in the end

re longer cardio - I have to admit I'm not enjoying my 10 mile runs atm - and only doing them to train for this race coming up, I find unlike 10k'ers I need an extra rest day before I can properly run again - so have to have 2 days off - then I'm just about fit for running again - mostly my hamstrings which are just sooo tight
 
ic1male said:
What happens in the case of "too much of a deficit" then?
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Well, as far as I understand, you will lose a greater amount of weight, but the proportion of fat to lean mass you will lose will slant more towards losing a relatively higher proportion of lean mass.

When you want to lose 'weight', most people mean they want to lose fat. But losing weight loses fat and lean mass (muscle). Thus by losing weight at a slower weight, you will (generally speaking) retain your lean mass more efficiently.

Of course, your efficiency of retaining lean mass will depend massively on your diet as well as your exercise.
 
I hate to go into too much detail as this isn't really the thread for it but I'm fascinated with the body. Why does it lose muscle when there are plenty of fat reserves for it to tuck into?
 
ic1male said:
I hate to go into too much detail as this isn't really the thread for it but I'm fascinated with the body. Why does it lose muscle when there are plenty of fat reserves for it to tuck into?
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Because, in short, that's just how the body works sadly! I wish it were not the case. Likewise, when you gain weight, it doesn't all just get put on as muscle - you will gain fat.

So, the idea is when losing weight to lose maximum fat and lose minimum muscle. When you gain weight, to gain maximum muscle and gain minimum fat.

I've had a fairly slow weight / fat loss since christmas, but I've generally managed to maintain my strength. Sadly, I'm just about starting to innevitably lose it as demonstrated by my rubbish benching on my last few attempts, noooo :p
 
Im at 18 and a half now, really need to get my ass into gear. always been big but think ive enjoyed the beer a little two much over the last couple of years,

stupid thing is i have a free membership to a really good gym. so today been out and brought some gym gear, shorts and t-shirts. Looking at reading this thread to get some advice and hopfully in a couple of months can report back with how i am getting on.
 
It's been interesting reading this thread!

I've just turned 22 and I'm almost 5ft 9. My weight has been at it's worst for the past 18 months or so now, which in that time I have spent that much on lots of junk food (no end of chocolate, chrisps, coke, deserty treats i.e. donuts) and I never drank water much at all which I have ultimately payed the price for. I've been trying to loose weight since Feb and I ultimately stopped all of the junk food and cut down on the coke I drink and I drink only diet now and I also have at least 3 pints of water a day and in early March I joined up at a gym which is 4 doors up from where I work, I go 3 times a week for 2 hour sessions. I weighed myself for the first time in a couple of years 2 weeks ago and I weight 14st 12 - bearing in mind I had already been going to the gym for a couple of weeks and I have no idea what I weighed before then but I bet I was easily 15st which was a shock!

I weighed myself again this week and I am now down to 14st 4, which I am happy about but I've still got a long way to go yet! Various people have been saying to me that they have noticed the weight loss on me already but I'm not entirely sure to be honest but the one thing I have noticed is that I have gone from a size 38 waist down to a 36 as recently I have had to have a belt on my 38 waist trousers, yesterday I got myself a pair of size 36 jeans which fitted me perfectly.

At the gym I spend 90 minutes working on the bikes, treadmill and cross trainer which is my favourite. I then spend the last half an hour weight training but my main goal is just to loose weight.

Thinking back now I remember how I used to feel before when I was eating all that junk food and being generally lazy - it used to make me feel like totally un-motivated and tired a lot of the time. Now since cutting all of it out and going to the gym, I feel a hell of a lot better and I feel motivated all the time now and even more happy in general!

Maybe some of you could give me any extra advice to which I could take on board?

Thanks for the thread all :) Liam
 
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Looking for some advice here! I'm 24 now and I'm heavier than I've ever been. Junk food diet for the last year basically with an utter addiction to Red Bull on top of that. I'm basically having one last night of junkfood tonight then tomorrow I'm going totally cold turkey, I'm sooo determined to sort myself out.

I want to do this at a minimal cost so I'm looking for ideas, I'm thinking jogging + skipping and some other things I can do at home, any other ideas?
 
I really enjoyed bouncing on a mini trampoline at my last attempt several years ago. It was only a cheapish thing from Argos but I bounced along whilst watching TV in the evening.
 
Those looking for advice would probably be best talking to one of the guys at the gym (as many here seem to have a membership), they can probably give you more solid/personal advice on what to focus on.

In general though just cut out the bad food, but don't starve yourself, put in more cardio time (running, cycling... even walking can work well if you're really out of shape - rowing was my favourite, low-impact and will get you in shape in no time), and don't be afraid of strength training - it will actually help you lose fat. Ease into things gently if you're not already reasonably fit. Drink lots of water.

Be patient, major body changes take time. Keep at it and good luck. :)
 
RKO said:
I must be more out of shape than most. A run for me is like 15mins long before my calves give in.
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Sustaining cardio exercise is one of the biggest problems for me, as I suffer from Shinsplints, and my knees aren't great either.

About 4 minutes of running and the shinsplints kick in making it absolutely intolerable to keep moving. Thus, the treadmill is an absolute no-go.

Cycling, takes about 7 minutes for the knees to start hurting incredibly badly. I can push on for up to 30 minutes or so, but it's pushing through a wall of pain. I'm in agony far, far before the actual cardiovascular system starts being put through its paces.
 
Pestilence said:
Sustaining cardio exercise is one of the biggest problems for me, as I suffer from Shinsplints, and my knees aren't great either.

About 4 minutes of running and the shinsplints kick in making it absolutely intolerable to keep moving. Thus, the treadmill is an absolute no-go.

Cycling, takes about 7 minutes for the knees to start hurting incredibly badly. I can push on for up to 30 minutes or so, but it's pushing through a wall of pain. I'm in agony far, far before the actual cardiovascular system starts being put through its paces.
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Have you tried a rowing machine? That's a great form of (low-impact) cardio to get into, though you still have to bend your knees repeatedly which may still be a problem. How about swimming?
 
deleted said:
Looking for some advice here! I'm 24 now and I'm heavier than I've ever been. Junk food diet for the last year basically with an utter addiction to Red Bull on top of that. I'm basically having one last night of junkfood tonight then tomorrow I'm going totally cold turkey, I'm sooo determined to sort myself out.

I want to do this at a minimal cost so I'm looking for ideas, I'm thinking jogging + skipping and some other things I can do at home, any other ideas?
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Push ups, sit ups, squats, burpees, and yea skipping is a really good workout.
Start off going for long walks and slowly build up to jogging and eventually running.
 
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