Are you over weight? Solution here.

[lord_emperor]

How much weight have you lost with this method, Moonbogg?

 

[96Firebird]

I lost 15lbs in 2 weeks due to being very hungover 2 weekends in a row and not eating right. I skipped the gym those 2 weeks too. It sucked, and I felt like shit, but I lost 15lbs because I ate much less than I normally would. I felt hungry, but had no appetite.

So diet > exercise. Now, what I did wasn't healthy, and I'm gaining the weight back now. But I lost weight, and it wasn't hard.

 

[rga]

Two years ago I went from 250 lbs. down to 165 lbs. I did it by tracking what I eat, doing pushups, and starting a new physically demanding job. Walking a mile everyday is only 20% of the equation; the other 80% is what so many others in this thread have already mentioned: you need to keep track of what you eat and make sure the calories you consume is less than the calories you burn on a daily basis. It's misleading to tell somebody that weight loss is possible by walking a mile a day without mentioning anything about cleaning up their diet.

I think this thread belongs in H&F.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Failing to understand something? My college was literally built on a hill :biggrin:

Not the brightest idea... I can't say I know why they chose it, but holy crap there is a shitload of stairs to get to and from each building.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Hmmm....walking, didn't think of that. Can I do that sitting down?

 

[Rakehellion]

They'll stop at a Burger King along the way

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Moonbogg does have a point. It's not that hard to see what he means.

This.

Walking a mile for a fat person burns many more calories than a healthy person. This is incredibly noticeable when someone very large starts jogging. Some larger people have lost 50 pounds of pure fat in just a couple months by just walking solid distances (it all has to do with keeping the heart rate up) and making healthier living choices, including diet.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Sorry, I'll whore the benefits of exercise until the cows come home, but managing food intake is critical.

Burning calories is a lot harder than not eating them.

 

[brainhulk]

I eat zero carbs after lunch and eat a normal breakfast and lunch. I also wake up and get on my excercise bike for 45 min 3x week. I do a full on 3+ hr bike ride on sundays. Works pretty well

 

[MrDudeMan]

Moonbogg is right imo. People overcomplicate the shit out of this. I lost 80 pounds and kept most of it off by doing almost exactly what he said. I was in extremely good shape all throughout high school, so when I tried to workout again I got burned out because I was starting from a very fat condition instead of how I envisioned myself to be in high school. It just doesn't work. You have to do something really stupid and trivial over and over and over before you develop a habit, which is really the key.

Diet is clearly important, but exercise is the key to changing your lifestyle. Eating better food is much easier to will yourself to do when you're exercising because now it means something. Walking a mile is a trivial amount of calories, but if you're faced with a 12 oz. coke after doing it, you are more likely to not drink it because it will undue the mile you just walked. Now you've lost 2x.

People sit on their ass more these days than ever before. You should eat better and you should also get off your ass and go exercise. Starting with a slow walk is infinitely better than trying a stupidly complex exercise routine that won't last or pretending like you can cut out certain foods cold turkey. Giving yourself a reason to eat healthier food is the right way to do it and for most people a little bit of exercise is a great introductory reason.

 

[Childs]

I lost 70lbs in 7 - 8 months by simply cutting carbs. Then I stopped for a few months and gained 20lbs, but I was eating like I did in my 20s. Now I still low carb, but I'll make some real pancakes on the weekend and eat carby side dishes if I'm at a BBQ or something. And I did it all without exercising, although towards the end I felt a little thin and susceptible to getting my ass kicked, so I started body weight exercises. Reduced that to just chest exercises, cause looking the part is deterrent enough. But exercise is kinda overrated for weight loss. You're still gonna need to diet, as exercising alone to burn fat requires serious effort.

 

[JEDI]

Failing to understand something? My college was literally built on a hill :biggrin:

Not the brightest idea... I can't say I know why they chose it, but holy crap there is a shitload of stairs to get to and from each building.

you stated that it WASNT exercise as the reason why u lost weight.
yet walking up a hill to your campus and lots of stairs daily = what the OP stated? Start walking?

 

[Markbnj]

After reading this post, you will go outside and walk 1 mile. Find a track or don't. Just walk a mile. Jog a little if you can. Go easy. If it hurts, its bad because you won't do something that hurts.

It's true, and it works. I walk two miles a night and I've lost over 40 pounds in 18 months. I did cut sugar out of my daily five or six cups of coffee, but otherwise I am not particularly careful about what I eat. I don't snack at night, but that was always true even when I was heavier. It was the daily activity that did it, not any eating pattern.

 

[McLovin]

exercise? aint nbody got time for that, Judge Judy is on.

Lmao! You have the best, sig worthy quotes!

Gender Studies, taking you from "would you like fries with that?" to "would you like fries with that, ma'am?" hahahaha

 

[Puppies04]

Completely agree with moonbogg, nobody ever got down to a healthy weight by dieting alone. It isn't as simple as "just walk a mile" but that is where it starts.

As he said walk a mile today and keep doing it until you can go faster, then start jogging one day you will be able to run a mile. All the time you are getting fitter and next time someone asks you to do something like play frisbee in the park you will participate instead of sitting on the sidelines on your fat ass eating icecream. You won't get out of breath doing simple shit like gardening anymore so you will do more of that, as you get fitter you will start to see what progress you have made and the momentum will keep you going.

Nobody is saying diet isn't important but exercise is crucial, thats the reason diet companies like weight watchers are worths millions. They don't tell you to exercise because then you will actually keep the weight off and not need them any more, all they want you to do is subscribe to their shitty "low calorie" food because they know your fat ass is going to cave and eat some cake when nobody is watching. 6 months down the line you are back on weight watchers again and bank rolling the board of directors new super yacht.

You can argue calories in calories out all day long but if that actually worked 90% of fat people would be a healthy weight. Most fat people know they need to eat less and they don't do it. Gaining some rudimentary fitness is the catalyst that starts any healthy weight loss, sure you can eat dry crackers 3 times a day and nothing else but 99% of people that do these fad diets end up back at the exact same weight.

 

[darkswordsman17]

D:

Body Mass Index basis is bullshit.

You might have gotten over being fat, but you seem to still be monumentally stupid. Instead of taking a walk take a few laps around a science book once in a while. Maybe you'll learn something.

This is really simple, even to someone as idiotic and angry as you. If you consume more calories than you burn off you gain weight. If you burn more than you eat you lose weight. Please pull your head out of your ass for a couple of seconds and point out the word there that you don't understand. Taking a walk is BULLSHIT. It burns almost NOTHING and unless your calorie input/output levels are pretty much even to begin with that tiny caloric outlay will not make a dent. And if your intake/output are already even you won't be fat. Dumbass.

No it's not. There's a lot of people that a simple walk will actually make them winded. It's a starting point. Much like how it's completely fucking stupid to try and overhaul your entire diet immediately, you should start with small changes, and once your body has some conditioning then you can start to push it.

Acting like people need to just cut their intake (which I don't think is a great idea if you're advocating substantial exercise changes) and bust their ass working out is shortsighted as that's a great way to cause injuries (especially since many people don't know how to work out properly).

Now maybe you'd agree with that but you don't have to be so fucking hostile about it. You have to realize a lot of people are starting as such a low base level.

 

[squarecut1]

It's true, and it works. I walk two miles a night and I've lost over 40 pounds in 18 months.

Yup, that according to stats I believe, is more exercise than what 97 to 98 percent of Americans do. It's a lot. Two miles

 

[squarecut1]

Why is there is more fatness in the south? Fried food? Worse habits?

 

[thescreensavers]

you can exercise all you want, if your still eating like shit your not going to loose that much weight if any.

 

[schmuckley]

Walk a mile? You're outta your ever-loving mind.
I'd run it b4 I walked it.

 

[Markbnj]

Sorry, I'll whore the benefits of exercise until the cows come home, but managing food intake is critical.

Burning calories is a lot harder than not eating them.

But at the same time his point about tackling what you can change is a good one. There are a lot of people out there who are overweight not necessarily because they have a really horrible diet, but because they get no sustained physical activity at all.

Walking is a painless activity that gets you out and gets your heart rate up and gets you moving, and only on Anandtech could a bunch of trolls jump the poor bastard who suggested people should try it. . I'm not lumping dave_the_nerd in with that group, btw. Just happen to be replying to his message.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I lost 70lbs in 7 - 8 months by simply cutting carbs. Then I stopped for a few months and gained 20lbs, but I was eating like I did in my 20s. Now I still low carb, but I'll make some real pancakes on the weekend and eat carby side dishes if I'm at a BBQ or something. And I did it all without exercising, although towards the end I felt a little thin and susceptible to getting my ass kicked, so I started body weight exercises. Reduced that to just chest exercises, cause looking the part is deterrent enough. But exercise is kinda overrated for weight loss. You're still gonna need to diet, as exercising alone to burn fat requires serious effort.

Exercise is important for overall health (strength does matter, you don't have to be bodybuilding, but building muscle is important and can straight up save your life). You might have lost weight, that doesn't mean you absolutely improved your health or are healthy (although I'd say you did a good job in your instance, but just focusing on weight can be damaging). There's a lot of people that actually hurt their long term health by focusing on just losing weight.

That's why weight focused "health" indicators are bullshit, they don't actually do jack shit to indicate real overall health. It can give you an idea, but it's a lot more complex than just weight.

People shouldn't be "dieting" they should be making long term changes that they can maintain. Now if you're seriously unhealthy a major change might be necessary (although it should be limited to cutting out wholly unhealthy foods like high sugar stuff, etc), but gradual changes to your diet are easier to keep and that will be better for long term health.

A lot of people get stuck in yo-yoing in weight because they diet and then stop which functions like binging. This is actually an established phenomenon, although I can't recall what term they call it now, but a lot of people trying to lose weight end up like that and then give up because they struggle to keep the changes or they focus on dieting in the spring for summer, and then resort to poor eating habits in the fall/winter.

 

[squarecut1]

From what I've seen, I find it hard to believe that "only" 29% of people in Texas are obese. I swear it's like an epidemic there.

 

[Markbnj]

A lot of people get stuck in yo-yoing in weight because they diet and then stop which functions like binging. This is actually an established phenomenon, although I can't recall what term they call it now, but a lot of people trying to lose weight end up like that and then give up because they struggle to keep the changes or they focus on dieting in the spring for summer, and then resort to poor eating habits in the fall/winter.

There is also some evidence that yoyo'ing like that is actually worse for long term health than just settling at a heavier weight.

 

[Mixolydian]

Stick your finger down your throat like a normal person.