Any good way to lose weight?

[anda]

New year is coming, and I'd like to lose weight, but I don't want to do exercise, because I have no time and no energy to do that after work.
any suggestions, girls? thanks in advance.

 

[crt1530]

Eat less food. Don't drink calories.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

New year is coming, and I'd like to lose weight, but I don't want to do exercise, because I have no time and no energy to do that after work.
any suggestions, girls? thanks in advance.

You don't have to exercise to lose weight. You do, however, have to exercise to be healthy. To lose weight, you need to eat under your caloric maintenance. Refer to the fat loss sticky (http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=162171) for more information.

Also, I'm gonna call you out on this: time isn't something everybody has. In fact, most people who exercise really don't have time for it. However, they MAKE time for it to prolong their life and increase its quality. If you are overweight, you are overweight for your lack of desire to take action (in this case). If you're so unwilling to exercise, what makes you think you'll have the drive to limit your food intake? To be perfectly honest, exercise is both easier and less time consuming than watching your diet. Have you made this new year's goal to lose weight before? Think about it. Do you really want to have to set this goal each and every year? No? Then dedicate a little bit of your life to becoming healthy - clean up your diet, eat fewer calories, and go exercise whether you like it or not.

 

[mchammer187]

Fitday I've found helps keep you motivated to watch what you eat. It really gives you a good grasp of how many and what kinds calories you are actually taking in and how much you need to lose weight.

Also if your energy level is a problem your diet and sleep is likely the problem. That is something the fat loss sticky neglects to mention (how important getting enough sleep is).

Getting adequate amounts of sleep (8+ hours for me) helps keep you feeling much better let alone lets not depend on caffeine (alot of calories for lots of people) let alone just the quality of life improvement. When I started working right out of I literally went to work on 4-5 hours of sleep 5 days a week would catch up on weekends. I did this for about 4 years that is just a horrible life (I am saying this as I am pulling an all nighter trying to finish some stuff I need to get done before christmas )

 

[IceBergSLiM]

put down the diet coke and get on the coke diet.

 

[Titan]

Sounds like you are stressed out. Do you feel like you need caffeine or energy drinks in the morning? Do you need a crane to get you out of bed? Changing diet and learning how to manage stress is a huge factor.

Unless you commute 3 hours a day and work a 10 hour a day job, you have time. You can cut out some unnecessary things, or just not be exhausted by getting on the right track. Post you current diet pattern and hourly schedule for a typical day and we'll tear it apart.

Doing the things I would suggest are hard, some would say quite extreme especially if you're a lazy SOB. But they pay off. I haven't used my alarm clock for more than once a month since this summer when I made my lifestyle changes.

Also you have the completely wrong mindset. Don't obsess about the weight. "You don't lose weight to get healthy. You get healthy to lose weight." Once you know the symptoms of health and well being, you will get to your correct weight.

 

[Kaido]

New year is coming, and I'd like to lose weight, but I don't want to do exercise, because I have no time and no energy to do that after work.

SociallyChallenged pretty much summed it all up.

If your goal is to lose weight and you don't want to exercise, all you have to do is change your diet. That's it. There are basically 2 paths to losing weight:

1. Eat right
2. Exercise a lot

You can eat right and not exercise and lose weight. You can also exercise a ton (like 2 hours a day) and eat whatever you want and lose weight. Or you could do a balanced approach of eating right most of the time and throwing in some exercise. If you want to lose weight and you don't want to exercise, then you'll need to be strict about what you eat. I know plenty of people who never exercise, but because they eat healthy, they are skinny.

The best way I've found to do that is to create a meal plan that contains 5 to 7 small, healthy meals, where you eat every 2 to 3 hours (like half a sandwich or a protein shake). Eating small, healthy meals that often turns your metabolism into a fat-burning machine, so you lose weight without exercising. Although I'd still recommend at least 10 minutes of walking or something every day to at least stay in some kind of shape. Also, it's easier to fight cravings because you're always full, instead of getting hungry between 3 big meals during the day like normal.

The key to this is the words "meal plan", not "diet". Diet is a short-term thing, which means that when you go off it, your weight will come back. Diets don't work because they are short-term: they are designed to make you fat again when you finish. A meal plan, on the other hand, is something that you can easily follow for the rest of your life. The easiest way to create a meal plan is to design a 4-day rotating menu, where you don't eat the same foods for 4 days in a row. I'd recommend 7 or even 14 (I do 14) days for great variety. Then creating a shopping list and make sure you keep all of the foods in stock. There's a great thread that lists pretty much all of the good stuff to eat here:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=162171

I currently have a 14-day rotating menu with 7 meals a day, with a shopping list and what I call "daily meal plans", which tells me what to cook every morning for that particular day. I don't have to think about food, like, ever. I've also figured out how to make really delicious meals from healthy foods. Healthy foods are only gross if you don't put any effort into it (i.e. googling), so you can eat awesome-tasting meals all day if you figure out what you want to eat and then go shopping for it and make it every day. I do all my cooking in the morning so that I don't have to worry about it the rest of the day (takes 20 or 30 minutes, tops).

The healthiest amount to lose is 2 pounds per week, at most. I think most people recommend about 1.5 pounds. If you lose weight too fast, you'll get that excess skin that looks like flubber. The best way to motivate yourself is to create a plan and then document it every day. So first, figure out what your ideal healthy weight should be. Here's a pretty good calculator:

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

Then subtract that from your current weight to figure out how much weight you need to lose. So if you weigh 220 pounds right now and you want to be 180 pounds, then 220 - 180 = 40 pounds. Next, assuming you lose about 2 pounds a week, then 40 pounds divided by 2 pounds a week is 40/2 = 20 weeks, or about 5 months. So now you can easily see that by simply changing your diet, in 5 months you will be at your target weight without exercising (but I do recommend exercising! lol).

It also helps to keep track of your results. I don't weigh myself daily, but I do weigh myself once a week. Even weekly tracking isn't really that accurate, since your first week or two or three is just waterweight that you're losing, so it comes off fast at first, and then really slooooow as you get towards your ideal bodyweight. Even so, just get a calendar, tape it to your fridge, and keep track. Find something to write down every day, like what you ate that day. Out of sight, out of mind - make sure it's visible every day and that you write something down to track every day. I don't recommend writing your weight down every day because it's like micromanaging yourself, when the results don't come that quickly (it took you years to put that weight on, remember? ).

HTH.

 

[XZeroII]

Stop shoveling food into your hole.

Have you ever seen a fat starving african? Guess why.

 

[RKS]

Everyone is busy. I know it cliche but you have to make time for what you deem important. Lazy people are lazy.

 

[darkxshade]

Surefire way to lose weight quick: Amputate a limb... how badly do you need your left arm?

 

[Deeko]

Eat less food. Don't drink calories.

The simplest - and best - advice in this thread.

 

[zebano]

SociallyChallenged pretty much summed it all up.

If your goal is to lose weight and you don't want to exercise, all you have to do is change your diet. That's it. There are basically 2 paths to losing weight:

1. Eat right
2. Exercise a lot

I've got to say your wrong. Only number 1 really works. I personally exercise a lot (~9 hours per week) and I don't lose weight. To be fair when I was way overweight it worked but now I'm about 15 pounds overweight (male, 5'10", 185lbs) and I'm stuck there. If I could commit to eating better I'm sure I could lose the weight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

I've got to say your wrong. Only number 1 really works. I personally exercise a lot (~9 hours per week) and I don't lose weight. To be fair when I was way overweight it worked but now I'm about 15 pounds overweight (male, 5'10", 185lbs) and I'm stuck there. If I could commit to eating better I'm sure I could lose the weight.

Huh? So you disagree and then say it works when you're more overweight? Really though, both do contribute. Eating fewer calories is the most important part though, I will say. Exercise is more important in weight maintenance than overall weight loss.

 

[nuweigh]

To resist temptation, you must stay away from it. If food is your greatest temptation, don't expose yourself to it. To lose weight effectively you should eat proper diet, exercise, and the most important is the DISCIPLINE. With the 3 factor my weight loss program help me to achieve my ideal body.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

To resist temptation, you must stay away from it. If food is your greatest temptation, don't expose yourself to it. To lose weight effectively you should eat proper diet, exercise, and the most important is the DISCIPLINE. With the 3 factor my weight loss program help me to achieve my ideal body.

Spam, spam, spammy, spam, spam. This is all posted in the fat loss sticky. You have to expose yourself to food. There are going to be temptations. Moderation is key. You don't have to refrain. You just have to be sensible.

 

[zebano]

Huh? So you disagree and then say it works when you're more overweight? Really though, both do contribute. Eating fewer calories is the most important part though, I will say. Exercise is more important in weight maintenance than overall weight loss.

SC, I know this was posted months ago but I just noticed your reply. It clearly works when you're more overweight because ... the amount of calories your need to sustain your weight is higher.

Simple example (all numbers made up).
Assume weight of 250, 2500 Cal / day maintenance and your eat 2700 Cal/day and exercise for an hour a day, burning roughly 300 calories.
2700- 300 = 2400 below your break even point. Ergo, you will lose weight until you hit the weight where maintenance is at 2400 calories / day (or you change something).

In my case, I weighed over 200 lbs, I now weight 185 and my level of activity and diet have not change. I have stopped losing weight.

 

[purbeast0]

SC, I know this was posted months ago but I just noticed your reply. It clearly works when you're more overweight because ... the amount of calories your need to sustain your weight is higher.

Simple example (all numbers made up).
Assume weight of 250, 2500 Cal / day maintenance and your eat 2700 Cal/day and exercise for an hour a day, burning roughly 300 calories.
2700- 300 = 2400 below your break even point. Ergo, you will lose weight until you hit the weight where maintenance is at 2400 calories / day (or you change something).

In my case, I weighed over 200 lbs, I now weight 185 and my level of activity and diet have not change. I have stopped losing weight.

he never said it didn't work when you are more overweight, he was pointing out that the other guy said it doesn't work, then gave an example of when it worked for him personally, which was when he was more overweight.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

SC, I know this was posted months ago but I just noticed your reply. It clearly works when you're more overweight because ... the amount of calories your need to sustain your weight is higher.

Simple example (all numbers made up).
Assume weight of 250, 2500 Cal / day maintenance and your eat 2700 Cal/day and exercise for an hour a day, burning roughly 300 calories.
2700- 300 = 2400 below your break even point. Ergo, you will lose weight until you hit the weight where maintenance is at 2400 calories / day (or you change something).

In my case, I weighed over 200 lbs, I now weight 185 and my level of activity and diet have not change. I have stopped losing weight.

I understand the concept of greater mass = greater metabolism. Really, the main thing I'm saying in my thread is as follows: nutrition is the primary variable. If you caloric intake is too high (no matter what), you won't lose weight. Exercise is a means to modify that intake, but if you increase your caloric intake to account for exercise (as MOST people do), then it won't do anything productive. Exercise is 100% secondary to nutrition. Nutrition is the variable acted upon BY exercise. You can destroy all gains by modifying nutrition. It is the end all, be all of weight loss. My argument stands and has basis in both research and science. You should read some of the numbers on people who exercise and don't modify diet. Nearly no one loses significant weight.

 

[alkemyst]

Running is probably the best method.

You want to find some comfortable clothes. Try different fabrics and 'lengths' on the shorts. If it's cool/cold in your area longer pants are better. I like cotton, some like dryweave/coolmax stuff.

Then shoes, shoes are important. There are a lot of shops now that do free fitting...I recommend doing this on your first pair. You will find often that you have one pair of shoe that you never want to change.

Get stretched...there are a lot of websites and books that show you the basic stretches.

You want to pick the right meal. A nice juicy T-bone is a great choice...cook to your liking and pack it in a suitable carrier. You will want to eat this right before your workout.

Now hunt down the meanest dog in your neighborhood. Don't be afraid to travel outside it if needed. You want to warm that dog up as well. I recommend a spray bottle of water. It's important to warmup your newly found canine workout buddy. Rake a stick across his fence and growl at him a bit...it helps boost iGH production.

Sit down and show your steak to this now fueled beast. Eat it in front of him...it's a great bonding exercise.

Check your laces one last time and now open that gate.

You will be skinny in no time.

 

[thescreensavers]

Hiit?

 

[Alone]

Pretty sure this was a troll thread...

 

[Zebo]

I understand the concept of greater mass = greater metabolism. Really, the main thing I'm saying in my thread is as follows: nutrition is the primary variable. If you caloric intake is too high (no matter what), you won't lose weight. Exercise is a means to modify that intake, but if you increase your caloric intake to account for exercise (as MOST people do), then it won't do anything productive. Exercise is 100% secondary to nutrition. Nutrition is the variable acted upon BY exercise. You can destroy all gains by modifying nutrition. It is the end all, be all of weight loss. My argument stands and has basis in both research and science. You should read some of the numbers on people who exercise and don't modify diet. Nearly no one loses significant weight.

I'd like to see that science and their regime, not everyone has the same definition of exercise like the fat housewives I see everyday with their water-bottles walking around thinking they are doing something. I eat what I want ribs, fried chicken, all the good stuff like I'm 18 still playing football and don't have a belly. Went from 320 to 240 all from running. HR 85 to 41 all from running. I have a book by an MD I read years ago and will find it tomorrow for you that says exact opposite of what you're saying.