Anyone here trying to lose weight?
I am I would like to loose about 10 to 15lbs although the men in my life are protesting. I am cutting my calories an jogging and walking. I’ve lost 12lbs so far.
What are you doing to loose and what has worked for you in the past?
LOSE, not loose, sweetie!
Well, after trying tons of different things I’ve discovered some theory that said that some people kinda overreact to carbohydrates. So if you tend to become sleepy after a heavy carbs meal this may be for you also - becoming sleepy is a sign that your body produced too much insulin for the amount of carbs that you’ve eating so your blood sugar drops after a relatively short time below the level it was before the meal. Personally I became extremely sleepy of carb meals - often so that I needed an hour sleep after lunch on the weekends - and even my mood dropped significantly after such a meal.
So I started some diet that was very low in carbs, not too much fat and lots of protein (lots of protein works good for keeping the muscle loss low). I’ve lost 19 lbs since August 1st - that’s a great result for me!!
From my own experience, i would say that cutting calories to lose weight isnt really the right way to go about it because as you reduce calories, your body’s metabolism slows down and it becomes harder and harder to lose weight as time passes. Imo, the best way to lose weight would be to keep your calories constant and just increase your physical activity. This way you wont be playing havoc with your m3tabolism and it is a much healthier way to lose weight.
Charlie does wonders for me :o
K
Mainly just cook at home and not eat processed food often. Low carb works for me but may not be for all.
Also find out why you eat. If it is stress or boredom find other ways to alleviate those.
Lot of great stuff already mentioned. One thing that I’m finding is that I can stick to my diet better if I really work to include a wider variety of minimally processed oils, virgin coconut, red palm, ev olive oil, and foods high in omega -3s walnuts, sardines, salmon ect (all also high in protein). Careful though they still contain just as many calories as any other oil and I try to keep all fats under 30% of calories.
A protein/enzyme blend called Zoetein as a meal replacement for one or two meals a day + exercise. 10 - 15lbs. should be no problem at all.
I actually find that when I eat a lot of these and no grain or sugar, I can eat as much as I want and still lose weight. Coconut oil actually makes me lose my appetite.
I personally believe that the statement that you must eat lesser fats to reduce body fat is a mistake. I decided to test this out and had gone through a practically 80% fat diet for a month or so. The first couple of weeks felt like crap because your body is still adapting to the change in diet, but then you start losing weight without even making an effort. It is simply because fats fill you up and you just dont feel like eating anymore. However, my metabolism had slowed down quite a bit and so i reverted back to my original ways beause i dont believe in following diets that slow down your metabolism because that has adverse long term effects. I still have a pretty high % of fats in my diet (about 30-50%) but had gone through the extreme only temporarily to test it out for myself. However, the study of nutrition is still a very gray area and there are people who lose weight on high carb, high protein and even high fat diets. So i believe you should just find out what works for you and follow it.
An even better method is to eliminate all kinds of junk from the house and eat only when you are hungry. I believe that our bodies have been created in such a way that when they are hungry they tell our mind that its time to feed. The only difference is made with what you eat when you are hungry. Eat healthy foods whenever you are hungry and you shall lose weight. Eat crap and then starve yourself and you will find it difficult to lose weight and damage your body.
Sorry for the long a preachy post.
If you want to lose weight the best way to do it is to boost your metabolism and the best way to do that is by lifting weights. What then happens is 2 things - you burn calories when you lift the weights and also you burn calories when in rest mode as your newly built muscles will demand that energy is spent feeding them with blood circulation. This works out at an extra 50 cals per hour per pound of new muscle. BTW the weights don’t have to be super-heavy or anything like that - in fact the more reps you can manage with medium heavy weights the better. Remember to never exercise the same muscles 2 days running so do arms and chest one day and legs the next. My routine is to exercise my whole body every second day. Do this for 3 months and you’ll see great results. Hope this helps.
For what it’s worth… here are my .02
Weight loss boils down to one simple ideal…
When you burn more calories than you eat… you lose weight. With that said… I can go in more detail on my thoughts on weightloss.
what you eat certainly matters. My personal feelings are that keeping your cabs low is a great start. Lowering caloric intake is not necessarily bad… if you are eating six meals a day you shouldn’t have a problem with your metabolism slowing down too much. Eating proper portions is very important… everything in moderation.
I saw a post on carbs/insulin/ and getting tired earlier in this thread… one thing you can do to help reduce this is to eat carbs that breakdown slower in your body… thus reducing insulin spikes. the best carbs are brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potato’s. Try eating the bulk of your carbs for breakfast and lunch while minimizing the ammount of carbs you eat after 3pm.
Another GREAT piece of advice is to do 45+ minutes of cardio FIRST THING in the morning… before you eat. I believe it takes roughly 20 minutes of cardio to effectively start burning fat… so 45+ minutes would be excellent. Doing cardio on an empty stomach will force your body to burn fat for energy rather than use the food in your stomach.
The last thing I will say is to not eat fats with carbs in the same meal. Each meal should be carbs & protein or fats & protein. As said above… carbohydrates can spike your insulin levels. Picture your insulin like a shuttle bus… when you eat carbs and fats together - your body will use the carbs for energy. Your insulin will spike and that “shuttle” bus will carry the fat to an unwanted area in the body - it stores the fat for “just incase” scenarios.
To understan why the body uses carbs for insulin rather than fat for the energy ask yourself this question…
“Would i rather drink an energy drink and finish this workout or go kill a cow, skin it, butcher it, cook it, eat it, and then wait for it to digest…?” Carbs are an easy energy boost and a BIG let down. ESPECIALLY bagles, white bread, white rice…
any other questions - don’t hesitate to ask.
~Haz~
Great post Hazard!
Here is a link for some natural weight loss elements slash healthy supplement
Top 10 Natural Weightloss Aids - The List Universe
thanks mockingbird
Also, stimulants can be very effective. the #1 stimulant is obviously caffeine!
I understand a lot of people hate feeling jittery and many people are dead set against using stimulants - my personal beliefs are these…
Any stimulant should never be used by an unhealthy, obese, or inactive human being. Using it while overweight is fine… IMO. As long as your not classified as “obese” and you excercise daily… AND YOUR OTHERWISE HEALTHY - you should be fine
stimulants are an excellent way to get ready for a workout and they help your “intensity level” while working out.
stimulants CAN be used safely and effectively!
stimulants deserve respect and should never be abused or used for the wrong purposes.
With all that said… did you know 1 cup of black coffee (No milk or sugar) can burn an extra 50 calories?
I certainly DON’T want to convince anyone to use caffeine - all im saying is it can be effective if used properly and it certainly can be used safely.
~Haz~
I’ve found no universal solution. What works for one won’t work for another (just like pheromones). You may just have to try a variety of things till you find what works for you.
Personally I’ve found what was called Volumetrics the best of the bunch (there is a book by that name). Aim for “heavy” “wet” foods (like soups) that will fill you up. Still boils down primarily to lowered calorie intake, but the point is not to go too low or it won’t work. Just cutting 50 to 100 calories a day may be enough to start.
Walking has been best excercise for me and it’s free! You do need to boost metabolism as well and just small increases in activities can do that. I personally shy away from suppliments or other “magic” pills/techniques. I have tried some but none ever did a thing (over just regular healthy eating and moderate excercise). Best to aim for long term changes and expect slow, long term weight adjustments. Also less stressful on body.
well said… another favorite quote of mine “You didn’t gain all that weight overnight… don’t expect to lose it overnight either”
~Haz~
Stimulants are great if your nervous system can handle the stimulation. Some people out there can’t deal with it. I can’t. At all. Not one casual slurp of coffee. I couldn’t even weather the side-effects of whatever’s in those transdermal fat-burning gels (which are supposed to be crap anyway). So, in my own case… I had to seek out other means.
But, if you can handle the rush, then stimulant-rich thermogenics are probably more convenient and certainly more affordable.
Exactly - they definately aren’t for everyone. There are a million different ideals on weightloss… fact of the matter is, as stated earlier in this thread, everyone is different and what works for one - may not work for another.
~Haz~
My problem is keeping the weight off once I lose it. I lost 15 pounds in 2 months and then gained it all back in 2 weeks. It sucked. So now I’m back on my program again to trying to lose the pounds.
I’m thinking of enrolling in some martial arts to help me keep the weight off.