Yeah, another obesity thread

[Illithar]

Drink. Water. Not. Soda.

One of the few helpful posts...

Most obese people don't even need to change what they eat. Just by stopping chugging down liters of high-sugar drinks, and drinking nice refreshing water instead, they'll start losing weight.

I stuff my face on chocolate chip cookies, pizza and other "bad" food on a regular basis. But I never drink soda, or beer(another high calorie beverage), or coffee full of sugar. Still as slim as when I was a teen.

that's what I did when I wanted to lose weight, though I didn't eat unhealthily my problem was soda. A few years ago, I might have drunk 5 or 6 cans of soda a day. I cut that out and drank water instead which really helped. Then I started drinking a big glass of water before each meal so I wouldn't eat so much and I lost a shit-ton of weight without really having to excercise.

[Illithar]

Do what I did to loose weight.
Eat one meal a day (some times less)and go to a two hour wrestling practice everyday.
For three months.

You will loose a lot of weight....

Except that's only temporary and you'll gain it back. Starvation diets are the most unhealthy thing you can undergo.

Look, the best way to lose way is to just count calories and eat things low in sodium and fat. I drink a lot of water, I excerise, and thats how I stay in shape. I gained 80 pounds my first year in college and lost it in about eleven months by drinking a ton of water, keeping my caloric intake around 1600-1700, and doing a healthy amount of excercising.

Since I'm assuming the OP is obese, sometimes starting off hard will get you hurt or bear you no results because you can't keep up with the expectations. The best course of action is to do WHAT YOU CAN and understand that it's a process, not an over night thing. I started by using a rowing machine and doing four 350 yard sets at a level 4 resistance to build up cardio strength, and alternating between that and running as much as I could (at first only a half mile) at about a ten minute mile pace. Was it impressive? No. Did it get me results? Definitely. One day do rowing machine or bike machine or something, next day run. And if you CAN implement a situp regimen. I started off doing four sets of fifteen. And every two weeks I increased it. I went from the four 350s to three five hundreds on the rowing machine, and I was able to increase to a mile, but if you can't then no worries! Its fine! Also, the third week should be taken off from running, strong risk of stress fractures in the legs. For situps I increased to four sets of twenty. Then as you get lighter and in better cardio shape introduce pushups, different kinds of sit ups, other excercises. You can do it! Just gotta want it.

If you've got any other questions just shoot me a TG.

This is helpful too.

[Lordieth]

You don't have to run or go to the gym to lose weight. Walk an hour every day, cut out unhealthy snacks, and drink a glass of water before every meal. Stop eating when you feel full, which can take 5-10 minutes to feel for some people so eat more slowly.

[Twisted twister]

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Then get natural spring water(bottled). Still a goddamn lot cheaper than soda, so you're not only losing weight but also saving money.

Better yet, just put a water filter on your faucet. That way you don't have to worry about the fluoride sapping your precious bodily fluids and it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than bottled water.

Are there filters that actually do that?

[Wanderjar]

Drink. Water. Not. Soda.

One of the few helpful posts...

Most obese people don't even need to change what they eat. Just by stopping chugging down liters of high-sugar drinks, and drinking nice refreshing water instead, they'll start losing weight.

I stuff my face on chocolate chip cookies, pizza and other "bad" food on a regular basis. But I never drink soda, or beer(another high calorie beverage), or coffee full of sugar. Still as slim as when I was a teen.

that's what I did when I wanted to lose weight, though I didn't eat unhealthily my problem was soda. A few years ago, I might have drunk 5 or 6 cans of soda a day. I cut that out and drank water instead which really helped. Then I started drinking a big glass of water before each meal so I wouldn't eat so much and I lost a shit-ton of weight without really having to excercise.

See that was my problem too. I was addicted to cokes man lol...I loooved them. I didn't eat an especially unhealthy diet, I mean it wasn't great but not bad either. I ate low portions though so it wasn't that big a deal. My issue was that I drank tons of cokes, like you said 5-6 a day, something I'd never done before. I also was a work out freak in highschool but in college I slacked off because I didn't know anyone in the gym, and it was awkward lol...but yeah. The condo I live in now has a private gym, pool, beach, everything so I had everything I needed to exercise without the embarrassment of being surrounded by ripped dudes the way I used to be, but by then I was flabby

[The Steel Fraternity]

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Then get natural spring water(bottled). Still a goddamn lot cheaper than soda, so you're not only losing weight but also saving money.

Better yet, just put a water filter on your faucet. That way you don't have to worry about the fluoride sapping your precious bodily fluids and it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than bottled water.

Are there filters that actually do that?

I'm no expert. I'd just expect that the filter will, you know, filter the water.

[Marshmellowstan]

EAt sea weed, it make the thyroid gland release more hormones, increasing metabolism. That will be $25 please.

You forgot about the $150 pills that do absolutley nothing!

[Grave_n_idle]

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Then get natural spring water(bottled). Still a goddamn lot cheaper than soda, so you're not only losing weight but also saving money.

You have to be careful what you're buying when you buy bottled waters - there have been several court cases in recent years of 'spring' water which turns out to be municipal water supply, bottled, and then marked-up by a fantastic margin.

If you look at the side of your bottle, and it says anything about being from a 'public water source' - it's almost certainly coming out of city or county water treatment, getting run through a carbon filter (just one - that's all that's required to legally declare it to have been treated), and then getting bottled and passed onto you for something like a 2000% mark-up.

[Grave_n_idle]

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Then get natural spring water(bottled). Still a goddamn lot cheaper than soda, so you're not only losing weight but also saving money.

Better yet, just put a water filter on your faucet. That way you don't have to worry about the fluoride sapping your precious bodily fluids and it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than bottled water.

Are there filters that actually do that?

I'm no expert. I'd just expect that the filter will, you know, filter the water.

Filtration doesn't remove fluoride from water.

[Grave_n_idle]

Drink. Water. Not. Soda.

One of the few helpful posts...

Most obese people don't even need to change what they eat. Just by stopping chugging down liters of high-sugar drinks, and drinking nice refreshing water instead, they'll start losing weight.

I stuff my face on chocolate chip cookies, pizza and other "bad" food on a regular basis. But I never drink soda, or beer(another high calorie beverage), or coffee full of sugar. Still as slim as when I was a teen.

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Nonsense.

There's a lot of post-use pharmaceuticals starting to appear in American drinking supplies, since the EPA currently has no real regulation requirements on them - but that doesn't mean the water is being 'drugged'.

[Miklesia]

It would be of enormous help if the (US) government stopped subsidizing fast-food corporations and started subsidizing healthy foods. Right now, it's cheaper and more convenient to buy a McDonald's burger than a salad, so that's why many people, especially the poor, do. If fruits and vegetables were dirt-cheap and junk food more expensive, perhaps people would eat healthier.

Gym courses need to be taught year-round at all public schools. And they need to be taught well, so that even the nerdier kids and those who don't like sports would get involved. Serving healthy and inexpensive school lunches would also help.

Businesses should start the day with exercises like they do in Japan. This would make workers think more clearly, work more efficiently, help wake them up, and build a sense of unity between them. If businesses started serving free and healthy lunches, they could further aid their employees and benefit their lower-class workers.

[Barringtonia]

I think one major aspect is time, give yourself time.

Don't associate losing weight with making yourself miserable, so give yourself plenty of time to gradually change any habits you should change.

[Qwcasd]

Do what I did to loose weight.
Eat one meal a day (some times less)and go to a two hour wrestling practice everyday.
For three months.

You will loose a lot of weight....

Except that's only temporary and you'll gain it back. Starvation diets are the most unhealthy thing you can undergo.

Wasn't for me. In fact, after I stopped doing that, I some how continued to loose weight. Lost about forty pounds in fact. Though I must say, they were the most unpleasant three months of my life... I wouldn't recommend doing it.

[Qwcasd]

Too bad much water in the U.S is drugged.

Then get natural spring water(bottled). Still a goddamn lot cheaper than soda, so you're not only losing weight but also saving money.

Better yet, just put a water filter on your faucet. That way you don't have to worry about the fluoride sapping your precious bodily fluids and it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than bottled water.

Are there filters that actually do that?

I'm no expert. I'd just expect that the filter will, you know, filter the water.

Filtration doesn't remove fluoride from water.

What is this, Dr. Strange Love?!?

[Iksandria]

No excuse for inaction, i love going to gym and keeping fit. Now i know not everyone enjoys excercise, but I feel some people are too self-conscious to go to gym, but it has a world of benefits if ya give it a go! Failing that, go jogging every morning and keep a balanced diet, it's not dificult and if you TRULY care about your weight the only reason not to start is laziness.

But that's just my opinion, and what the f*ck do i know, huh?

[Trollgaard]

Go get Lipo along with eating healthy and excercise more.

[The Steel Fraternity]

It would be of enormous help if the (US) government stopped subsidizing fast-food corporations and started subsidizing healthy foods. Right now, it's cheaper and more convenient to buy a McDonald's burger than a salad, so that's why many people, especially the poor, do. If fruits and vegetables were dirt-cheap and junk food more expensive, perhaps people would eat healthier.

Gym courses need to be taught year-round at all public schools. And they need to be taught well, so that even the nerdier kids and those who don't like sports would get involved. Serving healthy and inexpensive school lunches would also help.

Businesses should start the day with exercises like they do in Japan. This would make workers think more clearly, work more efficiently, help wake them up, and build a sense of unity between them. If businesses started serving free and healthy lunches, they could further aid their employees and benefit their lower-class workers.

1) Or people could be held responsible for their own damn health. The cheapest food is made from scratch, and there's no reason you can't do that healthily.

2) I don't know about anywhere else, but at my high school, they were. They were only required for two years, but plenty of people (myself included) took extra PE courses.

3) Or they could just, you know, start the day with work, and not waste company time and money on something the employees should be responsible for themselves.

[Andrioven]

The simplest way to go about losing weight is to eat less calories than you burn in a day. There are formulas you can use based on your current weight and the weight you want to reach to calculate how many calories you should eat in a day. If you want to get fit in addition to losing weight or if you want to lose weight more quickly, add exercise to your schedule, probably around 3 to 5 days a week. You will have to exercise longer or with more intensity the fewer times you do it a week, but this will help your health as well as your waistline. Cardio and lifting are the best, though really anything that gets you active is better than nothing. Also, make sure you find an activity you like--people are much less likely to stick to their exercise regime if they dislike the exercise they have chosen. Activity doesn't always mean the gym; you could go sailing, running, or even join a kickboxing class if you prefer. I personally enjoy martial arts and rock climbing much more than the stair machine.

While attempting to lose weight, your metabolism can either be your best friend or worst enemy. The worst thing you can do for your body is to start skipping meals or try to 'starve yourself thin'. This puts your body into famine mode, which means your metabolism hits the floor and your body holds on to fat to protect itself from starving. This also means that when you finally do decide to eat, you will be more likely to eat more to compensate.

Eating breakfast, even something as small as a banana or a glass of water with a slice of lemon in it, will help boost your metabolism and make you less likely to overeat at the next meal. Another good tip is to eat multiple small meals rather than several large ones over the course of the day. This helps keep you feeling satisfied and keeps your metabolism up.

Also, try to substitute foods. If you really crave sugary food, grab some grapes or your favourite fruit instead of a candy bar. If you want crunchy, get celery or some other tasty vegetable. Yes, fruits have sugar too, but they are certainly more healthy than a 300+ calorie candy bar. If you can 'reprogram' your cravings, you can fix a lot of what put on the pounds in the first place. The same goes for soda, except that soda has caffeine--an addictive drug--which makes you crave it. As the others have said, substitute water for the sugary drinks. If you don't like the taste of water, add a lemon slice and you've got sugar-less lemonade, which, as long as you don't add anything but the lemon, has a negligible amount of calories and tastes good to boot. It will be hard and will take a while (as in weeks) for the reprogramming to work, but if you've got the willpower and really want to lose the weight, it is doable. Keep in mind that if you are really addicted to sodas, you may go through caffeine withdrawal when you give them up. This may make you tired and cranky and give you headaches or cramps, but just try to muscle through it. The way soda made me feel when I didn't drink it is what made me give it up in the first place. That is not to say that you have to give up your favourite foods completely, however. In the end, moderation in everything is key.

Also: restaurants. They almost always give you waaaay more food than you actually need. Be very, very careful to watch your portion intake and what you are actually eating if you go out for food.

In short, eat less calories than you burn in a day, exercise if you want to get fit and/or lose weight more quickly, don't skip breakfast, eat multiple small meals in a day rather than a few big ones (but still watch your calories), drink water instead of sodas and find healthy alternatives for foods you crave, watch out for restaurant food, be willing to take the time to lose the weight (it usually takes months at the least) and do everything in moderation. That's my layman's opinion on the matter, anyway. I'm certainly no expert. But yeah, so pretty much what everyone else has already said.

[Andaluciae]

Sorry, I'm just a little obsessed with this problem right now. It's not a problem with easy solutions. And ridiculing and mocking obese people doesn't help them, it tends to make the problem worse.

I'm making my own personal effort to fight the problem - in my own life, but what would you do?

My weight has always been a problem, and keeping it under control has required some serious effort. Past couple of months have gone swimmingly (I've lost, oh, say, 45 pounds), but I really need to stop eating so much crappy food, in addition to my over-the-top exercise schedule. It's been a lot of work.

But, seriously, it feels really good. Not running out of breath after going up a couple of flights of stairs, not having my knee hurt so bad, and being able to run around the outfield without becoming virtually incapacitated is really, really fucking nice.

Oh, and the quality of girls who pay attention to me has gone up--that doesn't hurt at all

[Andaluciae]

No excuse for inaction, i love going to gym and keeping fit. ?

It's remarkable how much of a necessity the gym has become for me. I couldn't make it in this morning (I went this evening instead) and I spent all day in a crappy, sluggish haze. It's really drastic--I get more negative outcomes from not spending an hour on the elliptical than if I don't drink my ritual pot of coffee--and god knows I've got a chemical dependency on caffeine, I get the shakes when I don't drink it.

[Imsogone]

No excuse for inaction, i love going to gym and keeping fit. ?

It's remarkable how much of a necessity the gym has become for me. I couldn't make it in this morning (I went this evening instead) and I spent all day in a crappy, sluggish haze. It's really drastic--I get more negative outcomes from not spending an hour on the elliptical than if I don't drink my ritual pot of coffee--and god knows I've got a chemical dependency on caffeine, I get the shakes when I don't drink it.

Oh gods, I hate the damned elliptical - it should be illegal or it should replace waterboarding at Guantanamo. But I know what you mean - MWF - a mile and a half on the treadmill and TTh working with my trainer - I've only been doing it for five weeks, but I think that if I quit now, I'd sort of slip into a vegetative state and never come out.

[Miklesia]

1) Or people could be held responsible for their own damn health. The cheapest food is made from scratch, and there's no reason you can't do that healthily.

2) I don't know about anywhere else, but at my high school, they were. They were only required for two years, but plenty of people (myself included) took extra PE courses.

3) Or they could just, you know, start the day with work, and not waste company time and money on something the employees should be responsible for themselves.

Well, you seem pissed.

1)I'm not trying to legislate away obesity. I'm simply suggesting that the government make it more affordable to eat healthy.

2)Where I went, they were required for two semesters, and I was too busy to take extra courses.

3)Why wouldn't the company want its employees to be happier and more efficient? And simple calisthenics do not cost money or much time. They would more than pay for themselves through increased morale and efficiency.

[Andaluciae]

No excuse for inaction, i love going to gym and keeping fit. ?

It's remarkable how much of a necessity the gym has become for me. I couldn't make it in this morning (I went this evening instead) and I spent all day in a crappy, sluggish haze. It's really drastic--I get more negative outcomes from not spending an hour on the elliptical than if I don't drink my ritual pot of coffee--and god knows I've got a chemical dependency on caffeine, I get the shakes when I don't drink it.

Oh gods, I hate the damned elliptical - it should be illegal or it should replace waterboarding at Guantanamo. But I know what you mean - MWF - a mile and a half on the treadmill and TTh working with my trainer - I've only been doing it for five weeks, but I think that if I quit now, I'd sort of slip into a vegetative state and never come out.

Haha...yeah, elliptical time is tv/newspaper time for me, so I barely notice that I'm doing 190 strides per minute up an accelerating hill. I'd like to get on the treadmill because it would make reading a little easier, but that's still pretty rough on my knee (contemptible skiing accident). It's really remarkable though how this sort of thing just kind of catches on--I've been trying for years, and all of a sudden it clicked right after I finished my Master's thesis.

[Ryadn]

Well, bulimia worked pretty well for me for awhile...

[Ryadn]

No excuse for inaction, i love going to gym and keeping fit. ?

It's remarkable how much of a necessity the gym has become for me. I couldn't make it in this morning (I went this evening instead) and I spent all day in a crappy, sluggish haze. It's really drastic--I get more negative outcomes from not spending an hour on the elliptical than if I don't drink my ritual pot of coffee--and god knows I've got a chemical dependency on caffeine, I get the shakes when I don't drink it.

Oh gods, I hate the damned elliptical - it should be illegal or it should replace waterboarding at Guantanamo. But I know what you mean - MWF - a mile and a half on the treadmill and TTh working with my trainer - I've only been doing it for five weeks, but I think that if I quit now, I'd sort of slip into a vegetative state and never come out.

What?? The elliptical is the only piece of gym equipment I LIKE!