I've posted one of these before but I think it was about a year ago and a lot has changed since then. As many of you know I'm living on campus now, and being a lot more physically active than I have ever done before. I am selling my car because I don't need it right now. I bought a bike to get around campus on. I feel like I've gotten used to the level of physical activity in the last 3-4 weeks, so I want to start going to the on campus gym, which is almost a mile away. I don't know that I've lost any weight yet because I've also been eating really poorly. I weigh between 375 and 399. Leaving it vague for my own personal feel good. To lose weight, what should I eat, how much should I eat, how much should I go to the gym, and what kind of exercises should I do? The first thing I'm changing is replacing soda with tea and water, starting first thing tomorrow. I don't know where to go from here, so please direct me.
Tea and water is much better for health in general, let alone weight. Its fine to drink juices, sodas, etc, just make sure that your water intake greatly overpowers it. One important factor, especially if you are planning on losing a lot of weight, is too not get to caught up in a strict regime. You won't be dieting forever, and if your eating habits feels like a strict regime, you will fall right back off the wagon when you stop your diet. As long as you are eating healthily you should eat whenever you are hungry. Notice, I did not say eat whenever you want. Weight gain is most commonly caused by over-eating. You just have to continue to remind yourself that their will always be more food; it isn't going anyway. Yes, the enjoyment of eating comes from the taste of the food, and there are times when we desire certain tastes even when our bodies aren't in need, but all it takes is waiting a few hours until your body is actually hungry. Many times 'snacks' and consumption between meals are for pleasure rather than physical need, so its just important to monitor how many of them you are indulging in daily. This shouldn't be an immediate change in any way. Eating responsibly isn't about picking your own poison; its about finding health alternatives to work into your diet. Every time you go to buy food, try something new. You don't have to make that many conscious decisions to eat healthily when you have found some foods in which you love, that are also very nutritious as well. Likewise, with eating out. You can have your night with that pizza and extra large drink, but next time go for the sub. Its all about moderation.
My advice is resort to as basic foods as possible...meaning...eggs...vegetables...whole wheat breads...whatever just avoid all these fancy stuff (mac and cheese etc)...anything that you can't dissect what exactly is in it. Cause they are always so easy to go overboard..trust me its hard to go overboard if you are not eating 'natural stuff'...and be very careful about drinks...get used to water...the amount of calories in most drinks is rediculous. But most importantly don't cut all of a sudden! work your diet gradually cause unless you get used to the new stuff its too depressing, and don't overstress yourself one step at a time...takes a lot of time to learn how to lose weight and keep it off...don't resort to fast approaches cause then you can't maintain it (imo). Exercises anything like jogging or the cycling or the aerobic machine..is great..but walking actually is perfect as well..don't overstress your self start slow but steady...even if just 5 minutes a day. Keep your eyes on the prize don't be discouraged when you see people at the gym or whatever..you'll get there! Just keep focused you can get there patiently..and learn it patiently don't overstress yourself. Seriously this is really important...don't overstress your self or else you snap back and forth. Good luck!
First of all, you should not drink soda, frankly ever. It is completely and utterly the biggest waste of calories. I would completely stop that as soon as possible, as you said, tomorrow. If you drink two pops a day, just by stopping that in 10 weeks you will have lost around 8 pounds without doing a single other thing. You will get used to not drinking it and you want crave it anymore. To start, i would try to get to the gym two/times a week. And you need to lift weights to boost your metabolism. Don't just go and do twenty minutes on a treadmill or elliptical. Lift weights. You are going to be sore so give yourself a day or two to rest in the initial period. As for eating, well, you need to eat frequent, small healthy meals. There are tons of great sites on the internet for diet and weightloss. I also suggest tracking what you eat via a nutrition calculator. If you want to lose weight, it is going to take a lot of commitment, so I suggest you do copious amounts of research, there is way more info out there than I can type out here.
