need some serious advice , am 40ish. stuck in a white collar hell and want to be fit and lose about 40 pounds. am sick of diets and fads, want to know from some of you who have been there and done that.
need some serious advice , am 40ish. stuck in a white collar hell and want to be fit and lose about 40 pounds. am sick of diets and fads, want to know from some of you who have been there and done that.
Cut out beer and soda. Drink mostly water. Cut out fast food. Learn to cook at home. In the morning or evening, hike two to four miles a day with weights, every day, kicked off with 125 to 175 situps. I like doing them with the same 20lb. of weights I hike with, held on my upper chest. This has been my regimen for the last twelve to eighteen months.
I would just use the wages from that white-collar hell job to hire a trainer and have him put you through your paces! It sometimes helps to have someone standing over you and pushing you a little, especially if you haven't been active for a while and are scared to get started. Cut out ALL shitty food and beverages. My stomach is back to being basically flat ever since I cut out Pepsi Throwback (mmmmm, pure sugar!!). The abs became visible after various core exercises including slow hanging leg lifts, weighted situps, and big muscle group lifts like clean and presses. Start slow and build up flexibility so you don't get hurt as you start lifting more weight. Don't forget cardio also - gotta support that heart muscle.
how do I do it?.....vanity helps......I spend about 10 hours a day in a rage in my blue collar hell....
However I did check out the P90x videos...very interesting exercises he's put together.....if you follow that you will look and feel good after a few months...
weight loss is for losers.
I agree that P90X is great, but if you'd like to start out with something a little less hardcore you'll find anything you might need on Teambeachbody.com including meal tips, networking (for more suggestions if you like) and a complete catalogue of exercise programs that you might enjoy. I like 10 minute trainer- it has been great for my very full schedule. I also highly recommend Shakeology as an addition to your diet. These are things I know create results and work for anyone who will stick to the program.
Ok, I think I'm done being a Beachbody advertisement for now. One more suggestion- be sure you are drinking enough water. Upping your water intake could help ease the weight loss process and of course flush out some of the other toxins we tend to put in our bodies.
The main thing is having a routine.
Rules.
Write them down, and stick with them.
Specific meal sizes, calories, and a specific exercise plan.
If you throw out general guidelines like:
"Work out more" or "Eat better" it won't work.
You have to have clear rules like "No pizza" and "Exercise one hour every single day."
I dont drink beer or soda, I avoid foods with high fructose corn syrup and any hydrogenated oils. I don't eat white flour except for maybe once a month. I don't do white sugar, or too many potatoes. I don't eat white rice, and stick to whole grains for bread and rice. I am going to try quinoa this week. I eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies, and lean protien. my breakfast consists of a rice mix of brown rice wild rice, rye berries, and barley. I like to have it with fruit: usually pineapple or mango, and I also like to have a hard boiled egg or some yogurt. sometimes both. It's a huge load of fuel that gets me going and starts my day. the rest of my day consists of several small meals of protien and fresh fruit or vegetables. I do not consume any carbs whatsoever after 9pm. period.
I am losing my weight slowly, but I am losing it due to some really good advice from my old doctor. The important things are, in no particular order.
- Pay attention to what you eat. Write it down if you have to. It will show you some of your worst habits.
- Find things you can stick to and a little is better than none. Sure exercising 40 minutes a day is ideal, but if 10 push ups a day is more than you do now then it is improvement and 10 push-ups every day is better than a full work out that you only do every other week if you remember. Small improvements add up.
- Eat breakfast every day. This one is surprisingly hard.
- Eat more vegetables and fruits. Even before you worry about what you need to cut out of your diet, make sure you get enough fruits and veggies. A nice side effect is if you are eating more fruits and veggies, you usually eat less of the bad stuff anyway.
- Try to eat throughout the day. A lite, healthy snack every two hours keeps the motor running.
- Don't give up if you break your rules. You didn't put on the weight cause you messed up one day, one day won't kill your diet. This also means you need to reexamine your rules once in a while and make sure they are rules you can stick to. After a lot of tries I decided I enjoy both soda and beer a lot, so instead of cutting them out entirely I had to decide when and where I could have them, that way I can stick to it.
I am not losing weight fast, but I am losing steadily. It will take me near a year to drop those 40lbs, maybe longer, but each thing I do tends to snowball into improvement. Little things. Originally I said I would only eat fast food every other day (it was one of my bad habits) now I only eat fast food when I really want it, which is less than once a week.
I am not as lean and sexy as Volt or Forrest, but I am moving in the right direction.
Ah! One other thing...
Give yourself a "cheat" meal once a week.
If you find a diet is hard, or harsh, and you find yourself
craving certain things, go ahead and have them. But only
for one meal. Then stick to the diet religiously the rest of
the week. Having that one bad meal to look forward to
lets you stick to the harsh diet the rest of the time...
And as CPM mentioned, that one bad meal won't ruin the diet.
I cant cheat. sugar and white flour make me feel like complete shit the next day.
I don't think of it as a "cheat", just give yourself some leeway. Losing weight is going to take work, but if the diet makes you miserable, you won't stick to it. I just have to ask myself every time, "do I really want to eat at jack in the box, or am i just being lazy". But some people enjoy the elicit thrill of a "cheat" so that helps motivate them, so find what works for you. But the point is, if you don't ever flex, you break.
Of course, getting sugar hangovers probably makes it a little easier to stick to the diet, but a lifetime of questionable eating habits has made my body pretty forgiving in that regard. It's just switching to a desk job and a general slowing of the metabolism has made me change my ways.
That and a fear of diabetes.
And green tea helps a lot, but that might just be cause it means I am not drinking soda.
Thanks for all the lovely responses. I should add, I am vegan and already watch what I eat, just not getting enough exercise. cant get my ass of the chair and I hate gyms.
Start small. Do 5 push ups, but do them every day. Once you are up and moving it will be easier to add more.
VoltaireBlue (06-26-2011)
throw twenty pounds into a backpack and carry it around wherever you go
Walking, I swear to christ really works. Leave the car at home, go for walks after dinner. Make it fun though, get a dog or take pictures or something.
So one nice thing about this thread. I have been slacking off on my good habits. I haven't gone full eating deep fried cheesecake in the middle of the night, just skipping the good things a little more. Writing them out here reminded me, hey, I haven't done that in a while, or I skipped breakfast a lot this week.
So thanks for the reminder, time for tea.
I took up hunting.
Gained about 45lb again, so I started yomping through the backcountry with a lead-filled 30-06, or a hunting bow. That with a pack and through underbrush with snake boots on is a real workout, covering acres at a time.
Depends on your self control, time to spare, budget, health...Get rid of the junk food (candy bars, chips, high calorie snacks, sodas), and pre-cut and configure healthy snacks and meals. Don't do anything else while you're eating, because then it becomes more of a habit instead of hunger. Eat raw as much as possible, watch the toppings, stay away from fried foods. If you can, eat a bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast. Lowers cholesterol, fills you up, good for you. If you get hungry between feedings, drink water. often, dehydration/thirst is mistaken for hunger. Eat slowly, and take smaller portions. Allow yourself to have a favorite snack occasionally. total denial just leads to binging. If you like spicy food, good, it helps. Stay busy. If you don't like to walk to work out alone, get a friend, borrow a neighbor's dog, or go volunteer somewhere (cleaning up a park, dancing with the old folks, whatever). Just getting out of a rut helps.
My mother modelled. She still hates food, and I will always see myself as fat (even at my lowest -88lbs), so I know all the good AND bad ways to diet.
if all that crap is too much for you, you could always go make friends with the neighborhood crack dealer.
There's no magic weight loss trick and nothing works for everyone. As everyone else said, diet and exercise. I haven't known many vegans, but the ones I do know are very unhealthy. Make sure you are getting enough protein in your diet, even if that means going to GNC or bodybuilding.com or something to get protein supplements. It may sound weird since most people intake large amounts of protein to gain muscle mass, but it does help lose weight when mixed with exercise. The shakes also help with meal replacements, or at least snack replacements. Since I got out of the military, my main source of exercise has been walking and playing with my dog and I'm still slowly losing more weight. Any other active hobby helps too.
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