Weight loss aids

Well, one thing, nicotine doesn't boost your metabolism it only decreases appetite I believe. And then you end up with a bigger problem of nicotine addiction. >_>

That's weird you've only lost 3 pounds I wonder what you are doing wrong.

---------- Post added 15th May 2011 at 10:31 AM ----------

Btw you look pretty good in your pictures are you sure you have any weight to lose?

 

I'm no expert but.......

If you get under 1300-1400 your body goes into starvation mode and stores everything. The minimum you should get for weight loss is probably 1300 or 1400 because you need to get enough nutrients and your body needs to know that it's not actually starving so it's alright for it to burn up the stores of fat Since you are being very active, I would even recommend increasing your caloric intake. For example, most food labels are based on 2000 calorie diets and seeing as you are pretty active that could be a good amount to aim for each day. Men also need more calories naturally per day than women, and since you are 22 you are still in the age range where you need more calories than you ever did or ever will need. Here is a reference to a caloric intake chart http://www.positivehealthsteps.com/calories/daily-required.shtml

Another reason your weight loss has been slow may be because your metabolism isn't speeding up. To speed up your metabolism you need to eat many small meals throughout the day, drink plenty of water and exercise. I think metabolic rate is also partly genetic so if you can't seem to adjust your metabolism, don't feel too bad.

You may also be gaining muscle and that weighs more than fat. A more accurate measure of weight loss would be waist size or percent body fat.

As for smoking, when you quit smoking you may gain your weight back. Besides, losing weight should be about achieving better health and smoking negates that...

Also, even though the Body Mass Index is a bit inaccurate, your sex, age, weight, and height indicate that your BMI is 21.9 in the normal range with 78% of people weighing more than you compared to Americans' weight (according to this site Advanced bmi calculator of Body Mass Index)

Your next step might be to visit a personal trainer at the gym or a dietitian for advice on your weight loss and diet program, and if you find that you are obsessing about losing weight to the point where you have a negative body image and/or restrict yourself or overexert yourself I would recommend therapy for eating disorders or to prevent an eating disorder. You could take a self assessment online for signs of disordered eating or poor body image and see what it would recommend based on your answers.

 

The things that you are doing are sending the wrong messages to your body.

Our bodies have adapted to periods of starvation over the centuries. When we are not receiving adequate calories, we adapt by lowering metabolism and storing fat. As counter-intuitive as it seems, if you consume 1000 kcals for a period of time, you will have trouble losing fat. And when you begin eating a normal diet, your body will be more inclined to store more fat.

If you want to trim fat, you need to work muscles - muscle consumes more calories as you get more fit and you need to eat a healthy diet with enough kcals to allow your body to maintain normal function and build muscle (adding muscle is not the same as "bulking up").

Nicotine is a stimulant and has appetite supressant effects. The same is true of other stimulants like cocaine, meth and caffeine. Each of these has both positive and negative effects. However, I wouldn't recommend any of them for weight loss. The effect lasts only as long as you take them and of the 4 substances, nicotine is considered the most addictive.

For some reason, our culture always looks for easy ways and short cuts to lose weight and get in shape. There are no shortcuts. If you want to look healthy- in clothes and out of clothes, the only way to do it is to exercise. Exericse lifts mood. It makes you feel better about yourself. And it will accomplish what you're trying to do.

 

Something I have found that many people have a problem with when losing weight is simply their attitude. Don't make it a negative thing, but do it positively. Also simply eating less isn't as good as eating the right foods. You can find a million different diets and food ideas but for me to keep a healthy weight is I cook (grill) different types of fish and cut vegetables in olive oil (very simple, get a pan and plop them on). There's enough variety and different types to keep it interesting but the healthy amino acids and good fats are great.

 

I'll be blunt, you probably don't need to loose weight and that would be why youre not. Our bodies don't want to be underweight natrually and when you start getting there they stop letting you loose weight easily. You probably just want to tone your core. I can't help much that considering thats not where my goals lie, but it's a thought.

 

if you want to loose weight then you need to eat. Your brain has 2 modes feast and famine.
If you eat 3 meals a day and 2 lite snacks, your brain will kick into feast mode, which means it understands that food is readily available, so won't try to store up fat.

When you don't eat your brain goes into famine mode, which means it will try to store extra calories and fats because it doesn't know when its next meal will come.

Think of your metabolism as a coal engine, if it cools off its hard to get it going again, but if you keep throwing coals in the fire you keep it going strong.

Keep working out and kep eatting right. Eatting some extra fruit or veggies is not going to make you gain weight. In fact eatting veggies and help you burn a few extra calories.

I see you said you weigh 149 and are 5'9" that should be a good weight your height, and your body needs a little fat for insulation.

 

Well, what everyone said is probably right. But to answer your question about vitamins and calories being what your body keeps track of... there's lots more things in foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc that we don't completely understand - all the antioxidants. They don't provide major functions I'm guessing, but it's a good idea to get those. Supplements can't give you the thousands you get from eating healthy foods. Not even a lot are known. But, I will assume it is calorie intake that your body judges, just my guess. Since, if you are getting all your vitamins from foods, you are eating maybe 1700 calories for people on a 2000 calorie diet. I find it hard to believe you are surviving on 1000 calories and functioning and exercising.... Maybe you're anorexic. You're likely building lean tissue from the working out... Which weighs more than fat.

 

Be careful with cutting down on fat and carbs. Carbs is an important energy source when you exercise a lot. Choose the good kind of both. Eating to little of one nutrient will slow down the weight loss.

 

Shouldn't you be carb loading if you're running marathons and things? Energy doesn't pop out of thin air. D; You have to eat if you want to be able to run... You should load up your glycogen stores! D; I'm 150 and I'm 5'11" not that much taller than you and I'm skinny... I put on 10 pounds in I think muscle that is hardly noticeable (maybe im just being over critical)... You're probably gaining leg muscle if you're running all the time. Maybe you can upload a picture to your album of why you think you need to lose weight...

 

oh I forgot my sugar is the devil speech.

So, sugar its the devil unless it comes from a piece of fruit its bad for you. White processed sugar is the worst, but you also find it in juice drinks.

If it sayd from concentrate thats tons of sugar in it. Sugar free only means they put that fake sugar in it, while not AS bad its still bad.

no sugar if you wanna loose weight

 

Sugar is not the devil, at least not for athletes. Since you're going to be running a half-marathon, Dr. Acula, I would strongly suggest that you read the following article:

Phys Ed: How Sugar Affects the Body in Motion - NYTimes.com

 

You are allowed to post body shots in your profile. The general rule is no nudity (frontal or rear), no bulgy undies, no pubes or suggestive poses. There's plenty of shirtless pics in the galleries- especially of the camera-in-the-mirror variety.

 

I'm under the impression you're simply not eating enough.

You NEED fat in your diet in order to lose weight, just as your body NEEDS fat in it in order to function.

If you're under the impression that you can get rid of all the fat between your skin and muscles, you're wrong.

If I were you, I would eat more and make it something with a few lipids in it, otherwise your weight loss is going to be slow and very damaging.

Avoid the weight loss aids in your situation, simply because the reality is that when you approach weight loss with aids in mind, you either have to continue to use them for the rest of your life or put weight back on.

In many cases, such as the 'model' type bodies you frequently see, maintaining such a look is MORE work than reaching it.

 

i take omega 3s because they aid in the body's metabolism. of course, i also exercise. omega 3 is just a supplement but it helps a lot.