Looking to drop some weight

[GeneralXanatos]

I am twenty three years old, six foot even, and three-hundred and forty pounds. Yes, I am a fat fuck.

Over the last few weeks I've made some changes to my diet, mainly cutting out a lot of junk food and including more fish and fruit in it, and have been trying out a basic exercise routine to try and drop some pounds. I haven't seen any positive results yet, besides maybe some lessened pain in my knees. So I'm basically going to post my exercise routine, and I'm looking for suggestions on what to potentially add to it to maybe get some better results. Keep in mind, I'm just starting out.

Morning Routine:

Some basic stretches to try and increase flexibility and get the blood flowing.

A one mile walk with the last five minutes taken at a brisk jog.

More stretches.

Three sets of ten sit ups.

Three sets of ten push ups.

Three sets of ten jumping jacks.

Three sets of ten weighted squats.

One set of ten curls with twenty-five pound weights.

Increase all exercises by half a set each day.

Night routine:

Same as the morning routine, just cut out the walk.

So what would you guys recommend I do to refine this?

 

[Megaolix]

So what would you guys recommend I do to refine this?

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Well, keep in mind I'm no expert here. But from what I see here... You probably want more walking than the rest if the goal is to burn fat. Something over a longer period of time (swimming would work too). The other type more to build up muscle than lose fat, I believe. It's not wrong, but it's not exactly what you aim for here, from what you said.

And while I think about it... That distance. How long do you need to walk a mile? It's a bit more about time than distance here. Or the effort. If you don't feel the least bit tired before you run a bit, walk longer or faster to start with.

 

[GeneralXanatos]

Well, keep in mind I'm no expert here. But from what I see here... You probably want more walking than the rest if the goal is to burn fat. Something over a longer period of time (swimming would work too). The other type more to build up muscle than lose fat, I believe. It's not wrong, but it's not exactly what you aim for here, from what you said.

And while I think about it... That distance. How long do you need to walk a mile? It's a bit more about time than distance here. Or the effort. If you don't feel the least bit tired before you run a bit, walk longer or faster to start with.

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I can usually walk it in about forty minutes, give or take five minutes.

So maybe pick up some form of cardio class or dvd instead? I'm wanting to burn through fat before I start focusing on muscle building. Maybe start swimming in the local community pool in the early morning or late night?

 

[Megaolix]

I can usually walk it in about forty minutes, give or take five minutes.

So maybe pick up some form of cardio class or dvd instead. I'm wanting to burn through fat before I start focusing on muscle building. Maybe start swimming in the local community pool in the early morning or late night?

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Time looks good. Swimming is not wrong either. Change to diet is good as well and if you can, eating a bit less (not outright diet, just cut out snacks if you have a habit to do so).

Keep in mind that it takes time, no matter what. What you see on those TV shows? Remember those guys are dedicated all day to losing weights. What the show doesn't show you after is that they tend to regain weight after because they train less and start working again. They can't just train all the time like they did there.

It WILL be a slow burn, but you're already started to take the right steps. Now you just need to keep at it.

 

[seeing_octarine]

So what would you guys recommend I do to refine this?

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General order of importance for health and fitness is first diet, then sleep, then exercise.

You've got the right idea with cutting out junk food. Make sure you're getting a decent amount of protein, fibre, and micronutrients from meat and veges, but cut down on carbs. In particular, cut out any fruit juice, soft drink, or any other beverage that has significant calories to it. That should help to reduce any hunger issues. A goal of losing around 2lbs per week is usually recommended, so slowly reduce and adjust your diet to target that. Check your weight once every 1-2 weeks to see that you're keeping on track. Yes, this means it will take a year or more to get down to a reasonable weight. If you're having trouble being consistent, consider tracking calories.

Make sure you're getting a good amount of sleep at regular hours. Lots of people on the internet are bad at this.

For exercise the most important thing to focus on is probably a moderate amount of low impact cardio. So things like walking and swimming. I wouldn't recommend much running at your weight. Situps, jumping jacks, and curls are all overrated. Pushups are okay if you don't have access to any gym equipment. Squats are good though. Stretches are best done after exercise to minimise risk of injury. After you get down to around 250lbs bodyweight, consider learning compound barbell exercises (squats, bench, rows, standing press, deadlifts) at a local gym.

Fun facts:
- Exercise is for health and fitness. Diet is for weight loss. It's vastly easier to eat a little bit less than it is to do an equivalent amount of extra cardio. If you're having trouble losing weight, the problem is almost always with your diet.
- The order of most to least satiating macronutrients goes fibre, protein, fat, starch, sugar, with sugar actually making you hungry again sooner.
- The only issue with dietary fat is that it has more calories to it. It's no worse for your heart than carbs.

 

[Valor]

I bought an used spinning cycle some months past. Do cardio for ca 45 minutes on it each day and its doing me real good.

It's an up-front investment, but well worth it in my opinion.

 

[bacmet]

I'm a bean pole that has more issue keeping weight ON, but I can say that if you want to lose some weight fast, there is an...unorthodox method I know of. But it is only legal in some states.

Basically, smoke a crap ton of weed, take some B vitamins, and drink only water for a bit.

Normally weed leads to munchies, but after a certain threshold, it actually SUPPRESSES appetite. This I know from experience. The B vitamins will speed up you metabolism, and the water will help you feel full without needing much real food.

Now, this is only works if you are in a state that has legalized, but I can personally guarantee you will drop weight. I once dropped like 20 pounds in a couple months on accident when I discovered this...method.

 

[JoshieWoshie]

So what would you guys recommend I do to refine this?

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Okay, you've got some stuff down. And some of the stuff I'm about to say has been said by other posters but fuck it, it bears repeating.

*Drill sergeant mode activate*

Sleep at least 7 hours a night. This is very important for recovery and fat loss.

Cut out any drink that is sweet or alcoholic. The only things you can drink from now on are unsweetened coffee, tea and water. Obviously, once in a while isn't going to kill you, but for the duration of your fat loss efforts refrain.

Fish and fruit is good, but really any food is fine as long as you get your necessary protein and its not cooked in a way that adds on a whole load of calories. So yes, deep frying is out. Do not cut carbs, you will lose a lot of fat, but you'll feel like killing yourself.

Brisk walks are good for someone of your weight. But I want you to try walking for time instead of distance. And, if you have access to a treadmill, try incorporating incline walks(walking uphill) to your workout. Swimming and biking/spinning are also good cardio alternatives.

Now for your resistance training. You actually want to do this before your cardio, in my opinion, because you'll be too tired to really put in your 110% after cardio. Pushups are good, squats are gr8, but there are a lack of pulling motions. Try to incorporate some sort of row or a pullup variation. You don't need to incorporate core work yet, if your doing your exercises correctly you'll get all the work you'll need.

I reccomend a gym membership, any cheap one will do as long as you get access to better equipment. Like a squat rack, and lat pulldowns, and a deadlift platform.

Whew, that should be it from me. Come on, its ez right?

Keep at it man, and one day you too will be as buff as Dragon man.

 

[seeing_octarine]

Do not cut carbs, you will lose a lot of fat, but you'll feel like killing yourself.

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That's only if carbs are low enough that combined with exercise it results in ketosis. Going into that is not fun at all. But just reducing carb intake a bit (and especially reducing sugar intake a lot) to control hunger is fine.

So what would you guys recommend I do to refine this?

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I alluded to this but kinda forgot to mention it directly earlier: When it comes to weight control, the single biggest factor is how many calories you eat. Your body needs a daily intake that is mostly determined by current bodyweight, plus any nontrivial cardio activities. Eat more than that, you gain weight. Eat less than that, you lose weight. Everything else being said in this thread is either advice to make diet control easier or advice to improve general health and fitness aside from weight control.

 

[Selias]

I've lost over forty pounds since October 22nd of last year, and I literally just sit around in front of my computer, all day. I even go out to dinner and eat an entire large pepperoni pizza, once a week (sometimes I get Chinese takeout, instead). Honestly, just go to MyFitnessPal, set up a free account, and start counting calories. Under the daily food diary, it'll have a recommended number of calories for your age, height, and weight. Just stay below that (try for 500-1000 calories under), and you'll be fine.

EDIT: To be fair, dieting and eating healthier food would help, but personally, I get bored of my exercise routines and quit, after a week or two. If that's the case with you, as well, the above advice might help.

Also, here's a great fat-loss article. The Best Fat Loss Article on the Motherfuckin' Internet

EDIT 2: If you're having cravings, allow yourself a little bit of junk food, so long as you don't go crazy. I have a Walmart Mini Brownie Bite (80 calories) after dinner and an individually wrapped Reese's Cup (105 calories) every night, for example. A serving of chips (usually around 150-160 calories) also isn't bad, as long as you stick to the actual serving size. Just remember to factor it in to your calorie total for the day, so you don't go over.

EDIT 3: When you weigh yourself, make sure to always do it at the same time. I usually do it right after I wake up and use the bathroom. Your weight can change over the day. For example, 15.34 ounces (around the volume of a solo cup) of water weighs a pound, apparently.

 

[JoshieWoshie]

That's only if carbs are low enough that combined with exercise it results in ketosis. Going into that is not fun at all. But just reducing carb intake a bit (and especially reducing sugar intake a lot) to control hunger is fine.

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Yeah, I meant cutting carbs entirely. Probably should have been clearer lol.

Also, here's a great fat-loss article. The Best Fat Loss Article on the Motherfuckin' Internet

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Its weird to see it all just laid out in one place. But is good article.

 

[doomlord9]

Not a functional diet suggestion, but on a psychological level my personal suggestion is to remove the scale from your house.

Never check you weight on a regular basis, there are so many factors involved your weight can fluctuate several pounds in a day. On a longer term, you have to build up muscle first, which will be done under the fat and will increase your weight in the beginning and mid-term, then as the muscles need more energy than your calorie intake is providing, they'll begin to consume the fat while building more and since muscle weighs much more than fat, it appears like nothing is happening. This is the most common reason weight loss attempts fail, being discouraged by a lack of progress on the scale.

Gauge your progress on your literal progress. When you walk three blocks, note how much easier it is on the 3rd week compared to the 1st and the overall time it takes. When you lift weights, how many reps can you do until you feel that specific burn in your muscles.

Noting these over scale numbers gives you a much more accurate view of your progress and keeps you from being discouraged. Depending on the specific exercise, you might even see noticeable advancement within the same week, like only needing 2 minutes of recovery from your jog before you can breathe easy instead of 3 minutes on Friday compared to Monday.

Most of all, just keep at it. Control your diet, specifically cutting your sugar intake above everything else, keep the routine going, and just do not even look in the general direction of a scale.

 

[Evillevi]

Over the last few weeks I've made some changes to my diet, mainly cutting out a lot of junk food and including more fish and fruit in it, and have been trying out a basic exercise routine to try and drop some pounds. I haven't seen any positive results yet, besides maybe some lessened pain in my knees. So I'm basically going to post my exercise routine, and I'm looking for suggestions on what to potentially add to it to maybe get some better results. Keep in mind, I'm just starting out.

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There is one simple way to lose fat.

Namely cutting sugars and excessive carbs.

A big problem with current foods is that excessive carbs and sugars (both artificial and natural) in general have the side effect otf making you hungry. Changing your diet to reduce sugars to as close to 0 as is possible and carbs to at about a third of your diet is the general first step since it will over time bring your hunger back to normalish levels.

this means about 1 fruit a day, no fruit juice, use smaller plates, minimise the amount of pasta/ rice/ potatoes that you eat, avoid mixing fat and sugars together, avoid sugar in general, eating mroe vegetable and protein will generally be mroe consistent than raw excercise.

 

[seeing_octarine]

Not a functional diet suggestion, but on a psychological level my personal suggestion is to remove the scale from your house.

Never check you weight on a regular basis, there are so many factors involved your weight can fluctuate several pounds in a day. On a longer term, you have to build up muscle first, which will be done under the fat and will increase your weight in the beginning and mid-term, then as the muscles need more energy than your calorie intake is providing, they'll begin to consume the fat while building more and since muscle weighs much more than fat, it appears like nothing is happening. This is the most common reason weight loss attempts fail, being discouraged by a lack of progress on the scale.

Gauge your progress on your literal progress. When you walk three blocks, note how much easier it is on the 3rd week compared to the 1st and the overall time it takes. When you lift weights, how many reps can you do until you feel that specific burn in your muscles.

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That would be a very imprecise, yet kinda workable strategy for someone already in the ballpark of healthy weight. But we're talking 6ft, 340lbs here. Morbidly obese. Reducing weight ASAP is the better course of action. Also, muscle proportion has nothing to do with weight loss. It's all calories.

Only thing I really agree with you here is that checking bodyweight too often is a bad idea. Once every 1-2 weeks is plenty.

 

[Selias]

That would be a very imprecise, yet kinda workable strategy for someone already in the ballpark of healthy weight. But we're talking 6ft, 340lbs here. Morbidly obese. Reducing weight ASAP is the better course of action. Also, muscle proportion has nothing to do with weight loss. It's all calories.

Only thing I really agree with you here is that checking bodyweight too often is a bad idea. Once every 1-2 weeks is plenty.

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Really? I find it motivating. Keeps it fresh in my mind, if one of the first things I do, every morning, is weigh myself.

 

[molemole]

Speaking from a place that does not have all that many cheap gyms, one thing to do is to try to set a goal for a walk. Like, for me the library is 6km away. So I walk there and get myself some nice books after. Rewards are nice as long as not food.

 

[Nicodemus]

Good stuff has already been said, but I'll stress the need for Cardio.

cardio sucks donkey balls. But it's the fastest way to lose weight when coupled with a proper diet.

When eating only eat enough to where you are full, not stuffed. Too many people do not know the difference.

 

[ANGRY PUFFBALL]

You've hit upon the basics of "eat less move more". Keep an eye on portion sizes too.

It doesn't matter what you eat if it's still, say, 3500 calories a day after all.

 

[Nerx]

Cutting on carbs and sugars help, also if you like to swim that helps cut off punds as well.

 

[doomlord9]

Cutting on carbs and sugars help, also if you like to swim that helps cut off punds as well.

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Or if not, try to walk and exercise in the pool anyway. The water resistance multiplies the exercise you get from it, but the bouncy of your body actually reduces the impact on your frame, meaning you can go for longer and burn more before the impact pains you get from jogging set in.

 

[Skadi]

A lot of people absolutely hate it, but both my husband and I have had a lot of success with a ketogenic diet. He's lost 60 pounds and I've lost 40. Once your body has had a while to get used to ketosis it isn't at all unpleasant, aside from a few days of what they call keto-flu. You lose weight faster on ketosis than just about any other diet method and with minimal carbohydrate consumption you don't feel nearly as hungry as with other calorie restricting diets. Exercise is good, but diet is far more important for fat burning.

What is the ketogenic diet? Basically it's cutting out almost all carbs (I try to stay under 20 grams a day) and making your diet mostly fat. I must admit, such a diet does get old after a while, but so does any diet honestly and the weight loss is faster and your feeling of hunger reduced. It's worked for a lot of people that I know when other methods have not.

 

[daimahou]

A lot of people absolutely hate it, but both my husband and I have had a lot of success with a ketogenic diet. He's lost 60 pounds and I've lost 40. Once your body has had a while to get used to ketosis it isn't at all unpleasant, aside from a few days of what they call keto-flu. You lose weight faster on ketosis than just about any other diet method and with minimal carbohydrate consumption you don't feel nearly as hungry as with other calorie restricting diets. Exercise is good, but diet is far more important for fat burning.

What is the ketogenic diet? Basically it's cutting out almost all carbs (I try to stay under 20 grams a day) and making your diet mostly fat. I must admit, such a diet does get old after a while, but so does any diet honestly and the weight loss is faster and your feeling of hunger reduced. It's worked for a lot of people that I know when other methods have not.

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ahem





Also maybe try looking up recipes on the internet? for example this site https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/recipes

 

[Fenrisfir]

One major thing of advice I can give you since I've been trying to lose weight as well, is to cut out Sugar as much as you can. I have went from 350lbs to about 320lbs in the last couple of years just by cutting back on the sugar intake without adding in more exercise also not changing my diet. Another trick is if you live in the States I've found the have almost double the amount of sugars added to the drinks than Canada and even here in Canada it is to much. So one thing I do like with an apple juice or orange juice is I water it down.

One other trick I have found that helps me drink more water is once every day in about 710ml of water add 1/8 of a tsp of sea salt, Not regular salt that is too purified from processing you need to have the minerals in the salt.

 

[Endless Sorcerer]

I managed to lose 40 pounds over ~3 months without really changing my (rather sedentary) routine. Snacks were the main offender in my case. Reducing their frequency, portion sizes (i.e. using smaller bowls so I'm not tempted to fill them) and cutting out pop were all it really took to lose a decent amount of weight.

I'd recommend focusing on walking/swimming to burn calories rather than pushups/pull-ups/squats/lifts. Not to say that they aren't beneficial but muscle-building is a secondary concern if you are trying to lose weight.

However, I would suggest rewarding yourself in moderation. The occasional treat or reward are rather important to maintain morale and your mental health.

 

[doomlord9]

One major thing of advice I can give you since I've been trying to lose weight as well, is to cut out Sugar as much as you can. I have went from 350lbs to about 320lbs in the last couple of years just by cutting back on the sugar intake without adding in more exercise also not changing my diet. Another trick is if you live in the States I've found the have almost double the amount of sugars added to the drinks than Canada and even here in Canada it is to much. So one thing I do like with an apple juice or orange juice is I water it down.

One other trick I have found that helps me drink more water is once every day in about 710ml of water add 1/8 of a tsp of sea salt, Not regular salt that is too purified from processing you need to have the minerals in the salt.

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An addendum to this, if you're in the US this becomes rather difficult.

We're fat less because of fast food and more because sugar is added to EVERYTHING. Yeah companies are required to label all the ingredients, but they just use words other than 'sugar' to keep it from always being the top ingredient on all the lists. HERE is a good list of words to looks for if you're trying to sugar watch.

Adding onto that, don't even bother with "Diet Fat Free" foods. Removing the fat content makes the food taste like cardboard, so they add sugars to compensate for the bland taste. Yeah, it's an outright scam you can't even call them on because they are indeed fat free....it's just that the fat content isn't the problem.

Overall, I'd suggest as much fresh whole foods as you can. If you can avoid anything processed as much as possible, it becomes far easier to avoid added sugars you don't notice.

 

[Fenrisfir]

Another thing that had worked with my Dad is he lost about 30-40lbs While working a stressful job is his exercise routine by Never doing the same type of exercise for more than a week. He alternated a Cardiovascular workout for 1 day then a weight Training Exercise with a day off. So He would go for a walk on Monday, Upper body workout Tuesday, a Run on Wednesday, Lower body on Thursday, a Combo off walking and running on Friday, and then a Combo of Lower and upper body on Saturday. He always took a day off from exercising usually Sunday.
Now that isn't the Exact routine because He Never did the same exercises the same way for more than a week so his body did not get used to it to lower the amount of diminishing returns he got. The other thing is If you do the same exercises is to make sure you change it up like doing 15 squats one day and then doing 15 squats with 5lbs of weight another day or adding more reps like say doing 20 squats.

 

[Psyckosama]

I'd suggest picking up the book convict conditioning.