Diet help

Working out with free weights or even universals at low reps with high weights will stack on some pounds. I definitely wouldn't try to pack on the pounds by saying what's up to the King or Roger McDonald.

 

Thought I'd offer my story because I've been down this road. I lost about 60 pounds over the course of about eight months. Here's how it happened:

1. Went to the doctor, had a physical, and once I was cleared of any significant medical problems, he gave me a three-month course of a drug called phentermine. It's an appetite suppressant that's been around since the 1950s. But the drug alone won't really help you.

2. Talked to a nutritionist (on staff at my doctor's office, so it was pretty convenient). She told me it wasn't so much what I was eating, but how much. Obviously, you have to lay off the sweets and junk food and eating more fruit and veggies helps a lot. But if you eat a balanced diet and stick somewhere around 1800 calories a day, you can pretty much eat what you want and lose weight. I had to be really mindful of calories. 2000 calories is a standard diet. If you can come in under that each day, it's a plus. One important thing here, I didn't have any sort of restricted diet because all of my bloodwork was good. Despite being significantly overweight, my cholesterol and other numbers weren't really too bad. Everyone is going to be different, so it's important to go to the doctor and get a lipid panel done so you know where you are.

3. Exercise. It's everything. Seriously. Cardio. Joined the gym and went three or four days a week and did nothing but cardio. No weights. Weights are for people looking to bulk up. Got on the exercise bike for 20 or 30 minutes, then did some situps, then hit the track and jogged a little. As someone else mentioned, you have to work up to it. When I first started I was a huge blob and about 15 minutes was all I could do on the bike, and then maybe some walking. I couldn't run. It took about three months before I could run/jog, and by three or four months I was able to work out for 45 minutes.

About nine months after I started all this, I had lost enough weight and gained enough stamina that I was able to join a rec soccer league and started playing a game I've loved since I was 8 for the first time since I finished high school. That did wonders mentally. Losing weight is tough, but it can be done if you commit to it. And it helps to have friends. I had two people I went to the gym with pretty regularly and it really helped knowing they were going to be there -- it was almost like I'd be letting them down or slacking off if I didn't show.

 

http://www.cbass.com/Laszlo'sLetter.htm

There's lots of good advice in this article, not so much about what to eat (or not eat) and how to train, but the importance of patience and finding a method that you can live with and does not involve suffering is to long-term success.

 

I'm in the same boat. I'm 6'3 and usually between 150 and 160. I'd really like to get up around 170 or 180 where I feel I'd be at my healthiest. Despite years of trying to gain weight nothing has worked for me.

 

I hate you. That is all.

I've lost about 60 pounds in the last two years, which helped me avoid gastric bypass. Now, I'm doing Weight Watchers to lose the last bit to get down to my goal weight, which I haven't seen since my freshman year of HS.

 

That's patently false. Building muscle helps with losing weight because muscle makes your body more efficient at burning calories. Every trainer will put someone who wants to lose weight on a cardio and weight-training regimen, not simply cardio alone. And not everyone who lifts is looking to bulk up, or will bulk up. Creating muscle tone is the goal for many.

 

That's what I was going to say.
However, if someone in need of a workout is going to the gym, I can't say I'm going to fault them if they only do cardio. At least they're doing something.

 

Seriously, dude, it probably won't have a huge impact on your health, bu if you've got the time, park further away from the stores your frequent. Little things like that don't hurt at all.

 

A little reference that helped me drop a few pounds a year ago, www.dietfacts.com. It's not the be-all end-all of calorie-counting references, but it worked.

 

I wish I could help but I haven't eaten a cheeseburger or drank a non-diet soda in the last month - and I still gained two pounds on a diet of tuna sandwiches and crystal light. Oh, and a couple of lean cuisines here and there. I guess it doesn't help to eat two Lean Cuisines at a time, huh?

 

I'm glad someone responded to that, because my head almost popped off when I read it. Cardio without weights is like getting a touchdown and missing the extra point.

Some benefits of weight-training:
-speeds up your metabolism
-burns up extra sugars
-muscle burns calories even while you're sitting on your ass
-muscle just looks good.

Just be aware that muscle weighs more than fat, so at some point you can actually gain weight while you lose fat and look better. The number on the scale doesn't matter as much as the way you feel in (and out of) your clothes.