Two Simple Questions For Anyone With Even Relative Knowledge of Weight-Loss

[JMav]

hey guys,

A little bit about me right now, I'm 18 years old, about 5'11 and weigh around 250 lbs. I'm trying to lose approximately 80 pounds and with school, a job, and other things going on I'm going to try my best. And despite it being the worst season (winter) I'm not going to procrastinate anymore and I need help with two things.

1) In terms of working out, I pretty much know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a lot of cardio (meaning a lot of running) and I'm going to push myself everyday, even if it's running in the snow. The question I have may sound sort of weird but through my accumulated weight I've managed to get a very round face, I guess it's typical of overweight people, but my question is how much fat on my face would be gone...will ANY of it stay?

I was born with a somewhat lean face, I could see it in my pictures as a kid, is it possible to get that back? Are there any exercises that could help burn that fat of the body off as it burns the fat everywhere else...is running the answer?


and my second question


2) I'm sort of sick of the diet fads and the confusing things regarding carbs, calories, fats. I'm also not the kind of person that's able to prepare my own meals, cooking them in certain oils, etc...I feel it's too much of a hassel.

And maybe someone here could help me, but I'm sort of looking for the 101 on what to eat and how much? I'm going to make a trip to the grocery store, help me out...what should I buy? What could I eat without gaining all the weight?

I mean, I know healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are good...but I can't just eat them all day, wouldn't that be unhealthy too? What kind of stuff should I look for when I buy? Should it be oatmeal for breakfast everyday or am I taking it too far?


Thanks a lot, I really appreciate all the replies

 

[midwest_mind]

Ok lets see here...where do I begin.

Well lets get something straight before I start BY NO MEANS DO I KNOW ANY REAL HEALTHY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT BUT I will tell you how I lose weight, when I am in the off season and was not pressured by time or my coach.

I know I am gonna get a lot of criticizm b/c of this but, here it goes.

You are very motivated this is great! But remember 80lbs is know small task. You must 1st be mentally strong and know that there WILL be ups and downs along your journey to success. Once you except this and have your goal set in stone and a WELL thought out plan you can begin. (which I know you will)

In my opinion I say start off slow, gradually building up as you go along this will lead to you, not getting frustrated and burned out and calling it quits. Once you start to see results within the first week you will definatley be motivated to continue.

Your body fat is probably pretty high I am assuming, so in the begining a simple start consistantly going to the gym for a half hour more a day will be good. While you are there maybe do some eliptical or walking maybe the bike and some light jogging will help. Next start cutting down on your meal portion size and not over eating and not eating late will help a lot!

Once you have done this and it gets easy and you start to plateau you might want to step it up a noch maybe extending your workout for an hour switching cardio machines throughout to not get burned out. Maybe add a little jump rope in between this helps and has been pretty good for me. Now for your diet you can make sure you are not over eating and are not eating late. I would not cut out your carbs but I wold say dont over eat on them this is my biggest down fall I love rice, bread, pasta. But if I were you I would eat fish tuna chicken steak whatever and a vegatable then a smaller amount of carbs.( You can get a better meal plan online prolly that will increase your metabolism and will let you eat throughout the day) (but I have trouble following those)

Next step increase the intensity of that hour push yourself to a new pain threshold jogging then running for min. bursts on the tred mill on the bike push yourself whenever you feel yourself want to stop thats when you want to keep going for another minute!!!! Then repeat. Increasing your intensity will help a lot. Continue increasing your intensity and watching what you eat will be able to help you the lbs should melt off.

Eventually you will hit plateaus and when you do look at your workout and fine tune it changing things up.

Sorry for rambling like always but I hope this helps a little.

 

[Tatyana]

hey guys,

A little bit about me right now, I'm 18 years old, about 5'11 and weigh around 250 lbs. I'm trying to lose approximately 80 pounds and with school, a job, and other things going on I'm going to try my best. And despite it being the worst season (winter) I'm not going to procrastinate anymore and I need help with two things.

1) In terms of working out, I pretty much know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a lot of cardio (meaning a lot of running) and I'm going to push myself everyday, even if it's running in the snow. The question I have may sound sort of weird but through my accumulated weight I've managed to get a very round face, I guess it's typical of overweight people, but my question is how much fat on my face would be gone...will ANY of it stay?

Some cardio is required, but I would recommend weight training. Otherwise you may just end up being smaller, but still fat.

Weight training (with intensity) also burns more calories after training, and more muscle = higher metabolic rate. Also as you weigh quite a bit, running is going to be really punishing on your joints. I would look for a lower impact alternative than running all the time.

I was born with a somewhat lean face, I could see it in my pictures as a kid, is it possible to get that back? Are there any exercises that could help burn that fat of the body off as it burns the fat everywhere else...is running the answer?

Fat comes off people in different ways, rule of thumb, the face does lose it quite quickly. Last place is usually the abdomen in men.

and my second question


2) I'm sort of sick of the diet fads and the confusing things regarding carbs, calories, fats. I'm also not the kind of person that's able to prepare my own meals, cooking them in certain oils, etc...I feel it's too much of a hassel.

Hence your weight. You are what you eat. If you want to REALLY sort out your diet for life, I would recommend that you start to learn more about what you are eating.

Don't follow any diet fads.



And maybe someone here could help me, but I'm sort of looking for the 101 on what to eat and how much? I'm going to make a trip to the grocery store, help me out...what should I buy? What could I eat without gaining all the weight?

This is the reason for the calorie thing, you can eat healthy and still gain weight. Trust me, I have done it,and I am sure a lot of others have as well.

I mean, I know healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are good...but I can't just eat them all day, wouldn't that be unhealthy too? What kind of stuff should I look for when I buy? Should it be oatmeal for breakfast everyday or am I taking it too far?

I eat oatmeal for breakfast most mornings.

What has you think fruits and vegetables are unhealthy?

Basics

1. Eat like a caveman, if it is man-made, don't eat it (except whey protein)

2. Eat what is in season, and as local to you as possible

3. Protein in every meal, lean sources most of the time, like chicken, tuna, turkey, cottage cheese


Thanks a lot, I really appreciate all the replies

There are some great threads with things about diet on this site, I will put up a few links.

If you are 18 and 250 and you haven't been training, and you are already overweight, statistics say you will remain overweight.

That is bad news.

The good news is if you do start to learn about a healthy diet and what works for you, you will be able to lose the weight and maintain it for life, and that you are starting NOW is an advantage.

You are going to have to put in some effort though and learn some things on your own.

Would you be so kind as to put up a typical day's diet, we can make some adjustments to it.

If you try to change your diet overnight, it is a good way to ensure failure.

I would recommend changing your diet in phases.

Same with training, please post up what you intend on doing.

 

[Tatyana]

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/steroids-discussion-forum/help-sort-out-your-diet-565562.html

 

[xrsist]

hey guys,

A little bit about me right now, I'm 18 years old, about 5'11 and weigh around 250 lbs. I'm trying to lose approximately 80 pounds and with school, a job, and other things going on I'm going to try my best. And despite it being the worst season (winter) I'm not going to procrastinate anymore and I need help with two things.

1) In terms of working out, I pretty much know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a lot of cardio (meaning a lot of running) and I'm going to push myself everyday, even if it's running in the snow. The question I have may sound sort of weird but through my accumulated weight I've managed to get a very round face, I guess it's typical of overweight people, but my question is how much fat on my face would be gone...will ANY of it stay?

I was born with a somewhat lean face, I could see it in my pictures as a kid, is it possible to get that back? Are there any exercises that could help burn that fat of the body off as it burns the fat everywhere else...is running the answer?


and my second question


2) I'm sort of sick of the diet fads and the confusing things regarding carbs, calories, fats. I'm also not the kind of person that's able to prepare my own meals, cooking them in certain oils, etc...I feel it's too much of a hassel.

And maybe someone here could help me, but I'm sort of looking for the 101 on what to eat and how much? I'm going to make a trip to the grocery store, help me out...what should I buy? What could I eat without gaining all the weight?

I mean, I know healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are good...but I can't just eat them all day, wouldn't that be unhealthy too? What kind of stuff should I look for when I buy? Should it be oatmeal for breakfast everyday or am I taking it too far?


Thanks a lot, I really appreciate all the replies

theres your problem there ^

 

[Tagio]

hey guys,

A little bit about me right now, I'm 18 years old, about 5'11 and weigh around 250 lbs. I'm trying to lose approximately 80 pounds and with school, a job, and other things going on I'm going to try my best. And despite it being the worst season (winter) I'm not going to procrastinate anymore and I need help with two things.

1) In terms of working out, I pretty much know what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a lot of cardio (meaning a lot of running) and I'm going to push myself everyday, even if it's running in the snow. The question I have may sound sort of weird but through my accumulated weight I've managed to get a very round face, I guess it's typical of overweight people, but my question is how much fat on my face would be gone...will ANY of it stay?

I was born with a somewhat lean face, I could see it in my pictures as a kid, is it possible to get that back? Are there any exercises that could help burn that fat of the body off as it burns the fat everywhere else...is running the answer?


and my second question


2) I'm sort of sick of the diet fads and the confusing things regarding carbs, calories, fats. I'm also not the kind of person that's able to prepare my own meals, cooking them in certain oils, etc...I feel it's too much of a hassel.

And maybe someone here could help me, but I'm sort of looking for the 101 on what to eat and how much? I'm going to make a trip to the grocery store, help me out...what should I buy? What could I eat without gaining all the weight?

I mean, I know healthy foods like fruits and vegetables are good...but I can't just eat them all day, wouldn't that be unhealthy too? What kind of stuff should I look for when I buy? Should it be oatmeal for breakfast everyday or am I taking it too far?


Thanks a lot, I really appreciate all the replies

hey man, i was in a similar situation, 5'10" at age 17, weighing about 240. I ran on a treadmill every day (the first day i ran 5 minutes and was too tired to continue, but i worked up to running about 2 miles 4-5 times a week) and kept eating my completely shitty diet, and lost 30 lbs. i maintained at that weight for about 9 months, then cleaned up the diet a bit and exercised even more which got me down to about 175 lbs.

let me just tell you a few things i learned from all this:

FIRST you need to do your research, read a lot about diet and exercise on the internet. this site is great, Testosterone magazine online has a lot of good articles, just search around. the more info you have about the mechanics of diet and exercise, the easier it is to stick to your program and have faith in it long enough to actually see results.

SECOND, cardio is a great idea for someone very overweight but you REALLY should add strength training to your routine at some point. I went from being a 240 lb fat but decently strong kid to a 175 lb kid with 11 inch arms, literally, who had trouble pulling open heavy doors because my upper body muscle had melted away right along with the 50+ lbs of fat. ONE weight workout per week with a couple sets of squats, rows, and bench or overhead press would have conserved probably 10+ lbs of muscle, which burns calories, makes you strong and gives your body an athletic shape. so definitely look into that.

Regarding diet: I recommend you do NOT go on a diet, but instead make incremental and permanent changes to your habits. an example would be eliminating candy from your diet. you realize that it's essentially poison and make the identity shift - say to yourself, i'm not a person that eats that kind of thing. once you're comfortable in this, you eliminate some other food you KNOW you shouldn't be eating - chips or soda or something. and as you do this, you start eating healthier alternatives - my basic rule is to try to eat things that occur in nature or are somewhat related to foods that occur in nature So i'll eat meat, cheese, nuts, veggies, fruit, and i don't count calories with these things. I eat other things in limited amounts: high fiber cereal, dried fruit (way more concentrated sugar), and 'normal' food like sandwiches or burritos - these things aren't bad for you but they will make me fat if i eat them all the time.

again don't change everything at once, change one thing at a time and try changing your food selection before you restrict calories - restricted calories should be a last resort tactic in my opinion.

good luck and stick with it man

 

[Tagio]

by the way I had a round face too at my starting weight and it got much leaner and more angular as i lost weight. there is no trace of the old roundness left

 

[JMav]

Thank you so much for the replies guys!

Just a question Tagio, regarding strength training...I've heard this a lot. What would you recommend to someone who doesnt have easy access to gym or weight? And you said one workout a week is enough, how about 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes...

is that enough to maintain my muscle?

 

[Sim882]

I agree with what people have written.

First, in the initial phase of your "food re-orientation", make a point of trying all healthy foods, and giving them a decent try. Make sure you sample all healthy starchy carbs (oats, barley, sweet potatoe, green peas, brown rice etc), fats (fish, flax, nuts, avocado, olive oil), and protein (poultry, lean beef, fish, wild game, non-fat cottage cheese, omega 3 eggs). You have at least 1 year of work ahead of you, and then a life commitment. So you need to like the food that you will now be married to!

Second, you are 18, so I must ask: how much do you drink? Luckily I wasn't overweight at 18, but i imagine that it would have been hard to lose weight with all the drinking. If you binge drink weekly, don't expect to lose weight. Honestly, I would drink only at special occasions if I was you (e.g., your birthday, new years, and maybe a couple other times). Alcohol for me ruins fat loss - it's the only time I crave Maccas. Before I came a health freak, sometimes I would have 15 beers, than have Maccas that night, then because I was hung over, Maccas in the morning. That is 5000 non-nutritive calories, almost 2 days of food! It's amazing I wasn't obese. I have a few friends whose obesity I attribute mainly to this behavior. Any party binges like this will ruin any good efforts in the week.

Third, eliminate all sugar. Sugar is the devil more than white bread or rice, because it does not fill you up at all. As Tat says, do not eat anything that looks man made. Trim all fat of meat (if you want fat, add it from approved fat source). For taste, your spices liberally, and depending your blood pressure, you can use salt. Your taste buds do adjust - apart from with creatine, I doubt I have consumed non nutritive sugar (i.e., sugar not natural in fruit, milk, or veggies) for 6 months. I do have the odd coke zero though

Fourth, is hunger your issue? If it is, lots of veggies will mitigate hunger issues. Also, oat bran with lots of water, microwave to make very large volume, is also a hunger buster. Calorific density is inversely correlated with satiety - so peanut butter is not going to fill you up like brocolli for e.g. per calorie.

Fifthly, start with a basic "balanced diet". "Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle" is a great e-book purchase, which recommends a controlled carb/calorie approach with exercise. Start with moderate carbs, and then if it fails start lowering them as suggested in this book. I'd consider carbs starting at least 40 (40/40/20) and see if this works.

6th, you say you have a fat face. The bad news is that when you lose weight, largely genetics determine its location. However, you have a lot of weight to lose - very few people at normal b.f. ranges (15-19) have fat faces, so the prescription is just lose the weight. Your face may look best at 8-12 b.f., (it can start looking gaunt to low), but it will not look fat at 15-19 in all probability.

In a couple of weeks, your taste buds should be reorientated. Start calorie counting in a couple of weeks.

Exercise Pro gramme:
- if possible join a gym
- if your at home, these are some "weights" exercises you could do (e.g., my routine when I travel. Given your weight, dips/chins are probably out of question but I have listed them anyway)
For Chest (hit chest also):
- push ups, dips with chairs, power push ups where you clap between the push up if regular are too easy.
For Triceps:
- push ups with close grip, and there are also specific triceps push ups you can do with your hands on a bench/chair.
For Legs:
- one legged squats; jump squats; slow squats where you hold isometrically positions until death; box jumps
For abs: sit ups.
For back:
- chins
- I realise this is out of question probably. Consider getting resistance band, and replicating lat pull down or rows with band. Otherwise, not sure what you can do. If you can do any back exercise involving rowing/pulling motion, biceps will be worked incidentally.

 

[Tagio]

Thank you so much for the replies guys!

Just a question Tagio, regarding strength training...I've heard this a lot. What would you recommend to someone who doesnt have easy access to gym or weight? And you said one workout a week is enough, how about 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes...

is that enough to maintain my muscle?

well it is more difficult, more work without weights. the exercises simm82 lists are all solid recommendations, but if you had access to a barbell you could do 3 exercises twice a week and probably have more benefit to your muscles (though the calisthenics will be better to improve your general fitness, but that's not your main goal right now)

I'd say some sprinting (near max effort running) up a hill twice a week would probably keep your legs muscular and maybe even make them grow depending how muscular they are already. up a hill is less impact and i find it makes me less sore. treat sprints like a set of reps on an exercise, and adjust the "weight" by adjusting how hard you try. running like there's an 800 pound tiger behind you is a max effort and you don't want to do that multiple times every workout. but you could do 3-5 85-90% effort sprints of like 30-80 meters twice a week and that would be great for your leg and ab muscles and also probably accelerate the fat loss a lot.

bodyweight squats and jumps onto a box or stair would be great additions especially as you lose weight, you'll really enjoy jumping as you get lighter, it feels awesome after being fat for years.

pushups and pullups (assisted by your legs if necessary) are great for the upper body but there are some muscles you miss, mainly your traps and spinal erectors and forearms. these are muscles that let you pick up and carry heavy things and are mainly worked by deadlifts and variations. the only thing that comes to mind as a substitute would be picking up a heavy sack (concrete mix or potatoes or something that weighs at least 40 lbs) from the ground, walking a set distance with it held against your chest (bearhug style) and putting it down. you could probably alternate this with sprinting, but you'd probably get so good at lifting the bag that you'd need something heavier after a few weeks.

anyhow sorry for the novel, i hope this helps. and yes the amount of time you mention is adequate for maintaining muscle, that is one of the best aspects of resistance or anaerobic training, the amount of time needed is pretty small