This is not a new years thread. This is a thread about my need to get healthy and stop gaining weight at an alarming rate as my wedding approaches. I do not work out, but yes I can find the time. I want to ease into it, but I want to focus in the beginning on getting rid of the beer gut, before moving on to l onger and more involved workouts. What is the minimum I can do? 1. Cardio (what time is best) 2. Weight (Training how much do I have to do?) 3. Diet - I can handle this no problem.
What time is best? Any time you can make work. I workout after work. It works best for me. I am currently training for a triathlon in March and those kinds of workouts take quite a bit of time so I fit them in later in the day. For what it's worth, go as hard and as long as you can for cardio. Biking burns out your hamstrings and running burns out your quads and calves. Mix them both in for a great leg workout. Weight training: Low weight and lots of reps. Posture and control is more important than how much weight you do. I see many guys put way too much weight on the bar and perform their task horribly. Others have done the right amount of weight along with the proper execution and they get to their goal of looking better much faster. Diet? No such thing. You cannot look at it as a temporary fix. You have to view it as a lifestyle change; one that you can manage in with your life. Wanna drink beer? Go ahead, nothing wrong in doing so and dropping the weight but you have to find a way to lose weight while drinking beer.
in my opinion, eating is the key. you can lose your gut by just eating right. you will speed up the process by building muscles and burning calories. 1. eat right. 2. eat right. 3. eat right. 3. work out at least 5 days a week. focus more on cardio. 3 days cardio, 2 days of weight workout. do all 4 and you'll lose your beer gut in no time.
You cant spot reduce you will lose weight where it is with men it us usally around the waist. But you knew this. Less calories and more exercise. There are no magic cures . Good luck I have to lose the 15 I gained between Thanksgiving and Christmas .
first on my list of things to do: eliminate snacks from the home, and drinks with too much sugar. My meals are almost always healthy... snacks kill.
For me a treadmill for 40 minutes 5 times a week works wonders. I mix it up each day. One day I try and run as many miles as I can (finally got to 5 miles last week!) in 40 minutes, the next time I'll do speed intervals, next time work on a steeper incline or work in steep incline intervals. Interestingly, when I do higher incline running I am totally ravenous and eating like a wildman by 10am. Another suggestion (again happens to work for me) are ThinkThin protein bars after the workout / for breakfast. They really dent my hunger and make it possible for me not be a nut when I order lunch after running in the morning. They don't taste that great, but have 20g of protein and are very low sugar content (two keys for hunger for me). I also go pretty light for dinner - bowl of cereal, small sandwich with turkey and do no snacks around the house. I used to hate to run and be unable to run more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Now, I love it. It is the best cardio for me. I used to lift weights much more frequently (and with heavy weights) than I do now, but my hunger would just be out of control for a long period after lifting. I just couldn't maintain a my ideal weight (I know I wasn't eating the right things / amounts which is always my struglle) while lifting intensely and being so competitive I have to be constantly pushing harder. This works pretty well for me. I agree with the above poster that I can't view it as a "diet". I have to view it as delayed gratification and rationing (I'll skip the garbage sweets laying around the office because I know I will have a fantastic dessert at some point later in the week). For me, I still eat many things I ideally wouldn't, but the running keeps those bad decisions from killing me.
Steady state cardio (plodding along on a treadmill) only does so much. You should incorporate a mix of weight training and interval training. For weight training, compound moves - think squats, bench press, deadlifts, overheard press, etc. - work multiple muscles and tax your body, burning lots of calories. For cardio, use interval training to really get a solid workout - high intensity interval training (HIIT - Google it) works really well. It kicks your *** and you can get a very strong cardio workout in much less time than you would sitting on a treadmill or EFX for an hour. And yes, change the way you eat - not a diet but a lifestyle change. "What is the minimum I can do? " There is no minimum if you really want to change . You've got to go all out... that's my opinion and that's how I dropped 30 lbs and 4" in my waist.
As already stated eating right definitely has to become your #1 priority, if you do this you will lose weight without even working out. Working out at anytime is better than not working out at all. That said, I think it is best to do cardio first thing in the morning if possible. This gets your metabolism going for the rest of the day and your body is solely gonna be burning weight off of your body as opposed to also burning what you eat during the course of the day if you did cardio later. It is also possible to not have to do any cardio with the right type of lifting program because you can burn as many calories in a lifting session. Some is better than none, work out at whatever time is realistic for you.
the diet/lifestyle change is easy. Its the motivation to get on the treadmill and into the gym that is hard. I know I CAN do it, but I need to get over the slight inconvenience.
Diet is key. Eating 5-6 times a day. Eat breakfast, that first meal has a huge impact on your matabolism for the rest of the day. Don't ignore the weights. Cardio is good and all, but too much and you're going to burn off your muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even at rest. Plus, I think lifting weights is more fun than cardio. Get a personal trainer if you can, or pair up with someone who is experienced in the gym. They can teach you the correct ways to lift. There is no magic fix. It takes a long time to get the body we all want. It takes discipline. I may even recommend drastically cutting down on drinking. Drinking does far more damage to your body than by just giving it extra, empty calories. A glass of wine is fine, but a sixpack is not. Sorry, that's the truth of it. Good luck.
Praise only eats once a day and sometimes forgets to do that. I'm not sure I would take any dieting advice from him.
Diet is definitely key. I generally skp lunch 2-3 times a week & will have a granola bar instead. Also, working out 5 times a week is optimal but ambitious. 3 solid 45 minute workouts (2 cardio/1 weight) is most likely sufficient to start losing weight. Over time, working out will become a part of your routine & you'll naturally want to go more often.
Your body is just like a machine that needs a certain amount of energy to run. If you are taking in less energy (calories) than your body needs, your body will burn fat stores and you will begin to lose weight. Do this long enough and you'll lose a lot of weight. It doesn't matter how you get there - to lose fat you have to burn it by running a calorie deficit. That means you're going to be hungry. If you want to create that deficit by working out more or eating less or a combination of both, it doesn't matter - you have to run a deficit over time to lose fat anywhere (your gut, your legs, wherever) on your body. This thread proves, people make weight loss WAY MORE complex than it needs to be. There is no mystery. It involves hunger and discipline. You can trick yourself a little bit on the fringes, but at the end of the day you probably just have to say no some times to food and work out to be successful over the long haul. Every one can give you tips on what works for them to achieve a calorie deficit to lose weight, but you have to find what is sustainable for you and makes the game tolerable.
Lower your sugars and carbs. If in Austin, go down to the hike and bike trail and walk/run for 3 or more miles. Watch the pretty girls running past and you'll have plenty of motivation to do this regularly.
I would say being hungry is a bad thing. People are fat because they eat the wrong kind of foods and dont stop when theyre satisfied. Just eat the right kinds of foods. Healthy meats, fruits, and vegetables. Don't drink your calories. Sodas are horrible.
Just know Ive never seen someone get fat because they eat too much fruit and vegetables. Eat the right kind of foods and youll be fine.
I am in the lose weight boat as well. I went out and bought new Nike shoes / Nike + Ipod / and a new ipod for running. I just began a MWF morning boot camp today. Have to be at town lake by 5:45am and workout with a trainer for a little over an hour. I also cleaned out my entire pantry / frig of junk and unhealthy food, then went to HEB and shopped healthy. I am taking everyone's advice to eat a little bit all day. Today: 7am - Fruit Smoothie 9am - Dried fruit medley package 11am - Half a light turkey sandwich 1pm - String Cheese / other half of sandwich 3pm - Apple 4:30pm - Granola Bar 6:30pm - Piece of grilled chicken / mixed veggies 9pm - Small bowl of light vanilla ice cream I am hoping this is the right track. I took 3 pictures of myself now and will be keeping up with the gradual changes of my body to keep me motivated. Does anyone have any ideas on what else I should do?
