Confused about "cardio" exercise and losing fat. Also many other general questions.

[ibex333]

I'm trying to lose my belly and get a flat stomach. A 6 pack is not required, although that would certainly be a pig plus.

First a little intro:

I am a 26 year old male in poor health. By poor health I don't mean any particular serious problem. I'm just generally frail with many other health "issues". (oh and yes I seen many doctors they are no help) So no "I think you should see someone" comments please)
Over the years of dwelling in my misery I got a belly, and become extremely weak. I could lift more weight when I was 14 with NO training than I can lift now. All I do in my free time is play games on my computer till I feel sick to my stomach. Games offer instant gratification unlike real life, where success seems out of reach. As such games have a lot in common with drugs - at least in my case. When I'm playing a game I'm not really "here" therefore during this time I forget about all the problems that need taking care of - that feels good, even if it is an illusion.

Anyway. I decided to get up an do something to change my life around - however "late" it may be.
I've been waking up every morning at 7am and going for a brisk walk - no matter the weather.
After I do some walking for about 40min, I do some pushups at the park (can only do 3 sets of 10 before I feel like I'm going to die lol) And some stomach crunches on the bench.
I've been doing this for about two months now almost every single day.

Unfortunately, I don't see any positive results at all, aside from the fact that it is somewhat easier to wake up early in the morning now, and I feel a little more motivated. (In the beginning it was pure hell, and I had no desire to do anything whatsoever)

I've been doing around 3 sets of 10 crunches for the midsection, and the same amount for obliques, plus same number of leg lifts for the low section.(I do this about 3 days a week)
My stomach doesn't look any better than it did 2 months ago.

I heard that one must burn more than one eats... I cant see how I can possibly do more exercise, since what I'm doing now is pretty darn hard as is. As for diet.. Well, I don't take much fat in.. I think.
I don't like sweets aside from ice cream that I have only like once in a month, and candy that I might have once in a great while. I don't eat much meat - I'm not a vegetarian, but I cant stand "bird meat" so I only have fish, eggs, and beef for my protein intake.

My food mostly consists of potatoes(boiled, fried, baked), pasta, salads, and occasional meat every now and then.

I am assuming there's too much carbs in my diet, but if I stop eating potatoes and pasta, I'll be pretty miserable as these are the core of my diet and I've eaten them all my life.

Now concerning cardio. I read a lot of info that points to how cardio is more important than crunches when it comes to belly fat - so far the only cardio I can do is brisk walking. When I try running or the jump rope, I feel like I'm going to die only after like 3-5 minutes of activity. I start gasping air like a beached fish, my heart is racing like crazy and it takes me a very long time to recover. I checked my heart with a doc and according to him everything is normal. I tried going up the stairs up and down but that has same effect as running. A bicycle I cannot afford. Is there any other forms of cardio, or would you say I simply need to keep trying and train my heart?

Any advice on a diet? Any general advice concerning anything I said above? Thank you in advance.

Oh forgot to mention that I am 5'9", and I weigh 170 lbs.

PS: Please no advice concerning things I have to pay for. I'm broke as a joke. The only thing I can afford is food, books, and cheap exercise equipment. Everything else is outside of my reach.

 

[crt1530]

It sounds like you're making some progress. That being said, I'm going to go ahead and guess that you never played competitive sports when you were younger. That "I am going to die" feeling is part of exercise. If you stay within your comfort zone, your results will be mediocre. You have to learn to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of. There is physical and mental discomfort involved with increasing your physical fitness.

 

[Maleficus]

Please spell lose correctly

Please don't be a jerk in this forum!

Anandtech Senior Moderator
Red Dawn

I think I did him a favor, and I did it nicely. 99 freaking percent of people think lose is spelled loose.

keep your panties on.

13) Baiting moderators will not be tolerated. Any action that reasonably can be considered baiting a moderator, or multiple consecutive actions that heavily push the boundaries of any of these guidelines will result in an instant short term vacation. Repeated violation of this rule may result in a permaban.

1 week time out for the panties remark, as that is mod baiting. Please use the opportunity to read the guidelines.-DAPUNISHER

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: crt1530
It sounds like you're making some progress. That being said, I'm going to go ahead and guess that you never played competitive sports when you were younger. That "I am going to die" feeling is part of exercise. If you stay within your comfort zone, your results will be mediocre. You have to learn to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of. There is physical and mental discomfort involved with increasing your physical fitness.

Thank you. I agree, but I'm also concerned about pushing too hard. After all I've been very inactive for many years, and that took it's toll. Any tips on how to be "smart" and not overtrain?

PS: Actually I played basketball from about 11 to 15. I sort of abandoned it because all my friends either moved to different schools, or their parents moved to another state. In between that and many other "personal" issues, I broke down.

Originally posted by: Maleficus
Please spell lose correctly

Please don't be a jerk in this forum!

Anandtech Senior Moderator
Red Dawn

I think I did him a favor, and I did it nicely. 99 freaking percent of people think lose is spelled loose.

keep your panties on.

Maybe so, but last time I checked this was a health and fitness forum - not "teach a guy how to spell" forum? Sure, it's not good when people don't know how to spell, but how does your remark REALLY help me in the grand scheme of things when you didn't even offer any insight on the MAIN topic?

I'd probably get a chance to see my mistake sooner or later anyway, but you really passed as somewhat rude. you gotta admit you could have PM'd me and notify me of my ignorance that way. That would already be much wiser of you.

 

[AdvancedRobotics]

.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: ibex333

Originally posted by: crt1530
It sounds like you're making some progress. That being said, I'm going to go ahead and guess that you never played competitive sports when you were younger. That "I am going to die" feeling is part of exercise. If you stay within your comfort zone, your results will be mediocre. You have to learn to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of. There is physical and mental discomfort involved with increasing your physical fitness.

Thank you. I agree, but I'm also concerned about pushing too hard. After all I've been very inactive for many years, and that took it's toll. Any tips on how to be "smart" and not overtrain?

take a week off every 8-12 weeks. also, running just 5 days/week is enough.

i glanced over your OP, didn't read the whole thing, but you might want to invest in a heart-rate monitor if you are concerned about overtraining.

your 26 so your max is probably somewhere around 190 i'd guess, but it changes for the individual. when you train you'll want to keep it around 150>170

 

[crt1530]

You're 26 and weigh 170lbs. You are not going to die of a heart attack. I seriously doubt that you are as fragile (physically) as you seem to believe.
Try this: http://www.runnersworld.com/cd...-238-277-278-0,00.html

 

[Liberator21]

First, check this guy out : http://www.mensworkoutguide.co...sworkoutguideteam.html

If that's real (I'm using that program) that's pretty awesome. Check out the entire site.
Also, I know what it's like to 'not' make progress. I'm 6'0 220 pounds. 240 not too long ago, and it took FOREVER before I started seeing results. The walking, pushups, and crunches are great. Right now that's all you really need. Look into the different kinds of crunches, there are many and they each have different benefits. After a while, invest in some resistance bands and sneak in some standing or seated curls at work or wherever. Just my 2c.

After a few months of not really seeing results, one month (after adding resistance bands), I lost 5 pounds in fat and gained 5 pounds in muscle. Then I really started seeing results. I still have about 20 lbs to go, and it's going really slow. But it's worth it because I'm gaining alot in muscle mass.

I'm seeing a nutritionist, she's really into the carb-balancing thing. But only in later stages. Right now for me it's all about restricting calories and trying to obtain nutritionally valuable foods, be it meat, pasta, potatoes, veggies, etc. In fact she showed me what the optimal amount of protein/carb ratio should be, and (for active individuals) your diet should consist of 66% carbs!

Anyhow, enough going on, it all comes down to one thing : Output has to be more than intake. Period.

 

[SVT Cobra]

marked...I will respond tomorrow when I have more time, but it sounds like exercise is exactly what you need...endorphins FTW!

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I would also suggest a heart monitor. Aside from the fact of burning more calories then you intake, you must keep your heart rate at an ideal level. I think it goes the higher you keep it the more your cardio will build and the lower is more weight loss. Correct me if I'm wrong. But yeah do any activity each day that keeps your heart rate between 150 to 170 for 30 minutes. That is the important thing. Brisk walks are good, but they also might not even get your heart going at what you need/want it to be.

Also the feeling of imminent death is normal. Try this, before you start your routine eat a big spoonful of peanut butter as it's easy to digest and contains great levels of energy. Also incorporate more meat like chicken into your diet, or some sort of high protein feed. And keep at what you are doing. Push yourself beyond the imminent death mark and you will get better. But most likely the imminent death aspect is because of low blood sugar. Like a said a spoonful of peanut butter will give you an extra kick.

 

[JAG87]

I feel compelled to help you OP. First of all, get off the computer right away. In your free time, the first things you should be considering are physical activities, then whatever time is left, you can go on the computer.


Sleeping:
You have already made most of the effort by changing your sleep routine. If you are getting up at 7am make sure you are getting enough sleep, and for a person your age that means you shouldn't be going to bed past 12. You need at least 7 hours.


Activity:
Forget cardio for now, pick up weights. You need to strengthen your body, both bones and muscles. After you have done about 2-3 months of weights, you can start doing cardio, by that time you should be feeling much better in terms of energy levels. Please, eat at appropriate times, I cant stress this enough. You eat just before going to the gym or to long before, and you might as well not go at all, because you are going to be so weak that you will be wasting your time.


Diet:
You need to change your eating habits. People dont realize that peak energy is achieved not by what you eat, but WHEN you eat. Digestion is the biological process that requires the most energy of all things. In your life you will waste more energy digesting than anything else. Here is a general breakdown of how long things take to digest:

Starches (pasta, potatoes, bread): 3-4 hours
Protein (meat, fish): 2-3 hours
Mix the two: 8-9 hours

The message I am trying to give you here, is that while you are digesting you will have the least amount of energy available to you. You need to minimize the digestion periods as much as a possible. Hence never mix protein with starches. You also need to regulate your body cycles. Do not to eat protein or starches for at least 2-3 hours after you wake up, as your body is still undergoing the elimination cycle and energy needs to be dedicated to that. Stick to fruits and vegetables and juices in the early morning hours. Do not to eat anything 2-3 hours prior to going to bed because thats when your body begins the assimilation cycle, and energy needs to be dedicated to that. You want to do physical activity when you are not digesting, so plan your meals. If you are hitting the gym at 3pm, make sure you eat 3-4 hours prior if you are having starches, or 2-3 hours prior if you are having protein. Also please start drinking TONS of juice, especially orange juice. You need Vitamin C, potassium, and sodium like MAD. On of the best things you can do for yourself is a banana/orange juice smoothie. Eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible, your shopping list should have oranges, berries, bananas, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and every other deep colored fruit and vegetable you can think of.


Give it a try, you will see the changes right away, you energy levels will boost in a matter of 8-10 days. If you need more assistance, give me a PM, I will be glad to help. I've been where you are man, I know how it feels, and I have changed my life.

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: crt1530
You're 26 and weigh 170lbs. You are not going to die of a heart attack. I seriously doubt that you are as fragile (physically) as you seem to believe.
Try this: http://www.runnersworld.com/cd...-238-277-278-0,00.html

That's an interesting read. Already printed it out.

Originally posted by: Liberator21
First, check this guy out : http://www.mensworkoutguide.co...sworkoutguideteam.html

Thanx. Started reading...
Your little story is definitely a good example for me.

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
I would also suggest a heart monitor. Aside from the fact of burning more calories then you intake, you must keep your heart rate at an ideal level. I think it goes the higher you keep it the more your cardio will build and the lower is more weight loss. Correct me if I'm wrong. But yeah do any activity each day that keeps your heart rate between 150 to 170 for 30 minutes. That is the important thing. Brisk walks are good, but they also might not even get your heart going at what you need/want it to be.

Also the feeling of imminent death is normal. Try this, before you start your routine eat a big spoonful of peanut butter as it's easy to digest and contains great levels of energy. Also incorporate more meat like chicken into your diet, or some sort of high protein feed. And keep at what you are doing. Push yourself beyond the imminent death mark and you will get better. But most likely the imminent death aspect is because of low blood sugar. Like a said a spoonful of peanut butter will give you an extra kick.

Hmmm... I can definitely try that. Eating anything at 7am is difficult to say the least, but one spoon couldn't hurt I guess. lol

Now.. concerning the heart rate monitor... I was actually thinking about that, but I wonder if a cheapo $40 device is enough for me or I need the "bells and whistles" of the more expencive ones?
I did some research and it looks like the cheap ones only show the heart rate, while the expencive ones allow you to plan workouts, make logs, and get "notified" when the HR is too much or too little. However convenient these features may be, I wonder... How necessary are they? Off course I can only afford a monitor that costs well below $100, but I'd still like to know if I should save up for an expencive one.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: ibex333
Now.. concerning the heart rate monitor... I was actually thinking about that, but I wonder if a cheapo $40 device is enough for me or I need the "bells and whistles" of the more expencive ones?
I did some research and it looks like the cheap ones only show the heart rate, while the expencive ones allow you to plan workouts, make logs, and get "notified" when the HR is too much or too little. However convenient these features may be, I wonder... How necessary are they? Off course I can only afford a monitor that costs well below $100, but I'd still like to know if I should save up for an expencive one.

i got one from L.L.Bean for like $40 i think. it tells me my heart rate, good enough for me :thumbsup:

 

[onlyCOpunk]

All you need is one to tell you your heart rate to make sure you are keeping it up. The rest, well you can keep track of that yourself. You can make your own workout and keep track of your heart rate throughout. Plus for someone starting out all of the bells and whistles will be irrelevant as your first goal should basically be to maintain the desired rate.

As far as eating right when you get up, I know it can be a chore, but if you can train yourself to wake up at 7 every day then you can train yourself to eat. Start small. Maybe a protein shake in the morning. A cup of yogurt with muesli or granola, porridge or oats on colder days. And my personal favorite, a couple of scrambled eggs. You basically want something that will stick around for your workout.

Also you could try taking a protein bar with you. When you start to feel that terrible death feeling all you need is one big bite off the bar and you will be refueled again. But like I said I've found a big spoonful of peanut butter before my workouts really helps with the death feeling.

Hope this all helps as food is the source of your energy.

P.S. I was discussing with a Dr. friend of mine sort of this exact thing. He was saying that 1lb is equal to 3500 calories. If you want to lose weight it would be wise to evaluate your diet and count calories. As he stated one of the easiest ways to help lose weight is to cut 1700 of calories a week which can easily be done. Maybe you are drinking a couple beers a week, or sodas. Point being most people can easily find 1700 calories a week to cut. And I know it might cost a little money but a consultation with a nutritionist might help you a lot as there are tests that can tell you all sorts of statistics about your body. One being your daily calorie burn.

Losing weight is a tough thing for most people, and many times it is hard for people to do it on their own as if they fail to see immediate results they quit. But if you are serious finding out as much as you can about your body is the first step as there are many healthy ways to lose weight, but there are also many bad ways to lose weight. Your basic goal is to maintain the muscle you have while you eliminate your fat which is a tough balance for us beginners. I'm still learning.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Also, I don't know if it has been said in any of the posts I didn't read, but you also have to change your diet if you want to lose weight. If you're walking and just eating the extra calories in the day back into your system, you're not going to lose any weight. You should visit SparkPeople.com which has a LOT of good information and tools on how you can lose weight and become healthier. I use it solely for the nutrition tool so I can make sure I'm getting what I need, but I've read around and there's awesome stuff on there. Check it out. Good luck, by the way. If you have some specific questions about aerobics or diet, send a PM my way.

 

[skace]

First, stop comparing computers to drugs. That is just an easy way to shift the blame away from yourself and right now that's not what you need (realizing you're at fault is the best way to improve). Computers were simply your outlet and escape goat to let you forget about your problems, if not them it would have been tv, collecting stamps or building model airplanes. Does not matter. And not all physical activities help you maintain a perfect figure either, as evidence by the average golf player. So let's get this out of the way and realize that unless your regular day to day activities include the normal workout routine for a professional athlete, then there is probably something you will need to add regardless. Also, don't try to cut out computers all together as someone else suggested, you need to find a balance between enjoyment and life. If you try to cut everything you enjoy out of your life you are setting yourself up for failure.

Next off, never say you can't possibly see how you could do more exercise. That's faulty logic as you will learn as you continue to workout. You've been working out for 2 months? And expect to be able to visibly see a difference in your stomach? Here is a reality check for you, I started casually dieting (eating healthier than you are right now) 6 years ago. 2 years ago, I started running, 1 year ago I started lifting. And I still have a visible stomach. Try not to put too much stock into what you weigh and what you look like when you start out. In fact, don't worry about visible gains at all, worry about how far you can run and how much you can lift. One day you will wake up and your pants won't fit or your belt will be out of notches. That is one of the victory days, where you will realize you must be doing something right. But being able to look yourself in the mirror and not see a gut is basically one of the last achievements you will get, because your body burns fat from there last. And since you need muscle, you most likely won't be burning up all your fat any time soon. This may sound really sucky, but don't worry, if you are doing things right you won't be worried about that last bit of fat anytime soon, and you will probably still look good with it.

Now, let's talk about what you eat. A lot of people here will oversimplify this to calories in < calories out. Although this equation is right and is the root of how to lose weight, it is a terrible thing to use as a suggestion. 1200 calories of twinkies is not as useful as 1200 calories of lean meat. Learning what your body needs, or more importantly, the flaws in your current diet is a necessary avenue of improvement. From what I've read of your diet, it looks like you have a pretty big reliance on white starches right now. Look into replacing potatoes with green beans, white pasta with whole wheat pasta, etc. If you really don't like veggies, try boiling them in water until soft, it makes them a lot more edible. Also, you really need to start liking "bird meat" unless you love salmon way more than any one person could.

How many crunches and pushups you can do is unimportant to me. What is far more important is whether your form is correct and whether you are going to failure or stopping before it. Do yourself a favor, one day try and do 8 sets of crunches or pushups. You will learn a lot more about your limits that way and whether you are pushing yourself sufficiently. Speaking of which, you seem to be worried about over training, don't be. As long as you give yourself a rest day in between your biggest lifting days you are fine. People who start out worrying about over training do themselves a disservice. There is only one way to learn your limits and it's by hitting them. Also, that "going to die" feeling you mentioned? Yea that's most likely your target heart rate. Get used to it because it's where you want to be. It's especially bad right now because your body simply isn't used to being elevated to that level, but you will become more used to it in time. Remember this though, your heart rate is what dictates whether your workout is even doing anything, so while that may not feel good, it's actually telling you "hey, whatever you're doing is working".

You've started with crunches, pushups and leg lifts. Good starting point, add air squats, lunges, dips, boards (ab exercise, look it up). Keep the focus on proper form and post workout stretching. This will allow you to build into a proper routine. After this you may want to purchase some dumbbells and you can move directly into a real workout. I'd suggest this even if you plan to start going to the gym, since it benefits you to have some weights at home incase you are stuck there.

 

[GoatMonkey]

What game are you addicted to? I did 5 years of EQ and 2 years of WoW.

 

[kotss]

One of the more important factors to consider also is how much fat intake you have. A low fat diet in conjunction with stomach exercises is what will help to eliminate the belly. You still need fat in your diet. Just do not overdo the fat. Most of the comments about nutrition are valuable depending on your goal. Eating properly and getting proper amounts of rest are just as crucial as the exercise. Also be ready to push yourself, not to excess but be willing to go past the I cannot do one more stage. You must test your mental/physical limits in order keep gaining results. Some days will be better than others emoitionally.
You must be willing to exercise even when your mood sucks. In just over 75 days of running consistently I have lost around 10 pounds and I have noticed my pants fit better/looser. I was not inactive prior to this though. I was exercising regularly for at least 40 minutes a day. But I really got serious about running and then things really started happening. I am not the type who will go to lift weights, it is just not me. I am not a weakling but I have no desire at this point to lift. When I run 6.5 miles at a pace close to max race pace, I can lose up to 4 pounds during the run. As long as my diet is in deficiency for caloric intake I will keep some of that weight off. I do not worry about daily losses though I look no closer than weekly. Daily is too much, I weight myself daily and I have thresholds for not weighing more that a certain amount the whole week. Then I look at my average weekly weight. That has been going down regularly.

Keep it up, YOU need to be in control of your life and do not make excuses for yourself.

 

[d33pblue]

So many misconceptions here.

From a weightloss point of view, the most efficient way to lose weight is to change your lifestyle so that you permanently increase your metabolism while at the same time eating foods which are most efficient in building/maintaining your ideal physique.

Here is the lowdown on the tried and true methods.
Your diet should consist of:
1. Proteins (high)
2. Fat (moderate)
3. Carbs (lowish)

Diet tips:

- Carbohydrates, especially the simple, high glycemic load kind, are the single biggest enemy to fat loss that I can think of. KEEP THEM LOW.
- Get most, if not all of your carbs from carb-light veggies (this does not include potatos - ditch them until you get closer to your ideal bodyweight), and *whole grains*. Don't eat any grain/bread product that isnt either brown or crunchy.
- Ditch all sugary drinks. This includes ALL soda (even the calorie free kind - Yes, NO diet soda either). Ditch fruit juice, its nothing but flavored sugar water.
- Drink more water.
- Start drinking green tea - and drink lots of it.
- Consume most of your calories earlier in the day, start reducing your caloric consumption at night. You can completely cut off carbs about 6 or 7pm (depending on your bedtime), or a little later if you exercise in the evening.
- Start drinking protein shakes to suppliment your regular diet. Casien protein is an excellent choice. Whey is a popular choice, but not necessarily the best one - as it is very thin and clears out of the stomach in a hurry. Whey will leave you feeling hungry again a lot sooner than Casien. Use Whey after exercising, and Casien every other time. Try www.proteinfactory.com for Casien. www.trueprotein.com is also good.
- Start taking fish oil. Its cheap and does the body wonders. Take about 6grams (6 gels) per day.
- Always eat breakfast.
- Try not to skip meals. This leads to overeating, and excessive fat storage at the next meal. Try to eat smaller, more frequent meals.

And remember, ___Diet is the single most important factor in losing weight____ You absolutely CANNOT out train a bad diet.

 

[d33pblue]

Exercise

First of all, the effectiveness of training on your overall fatloss scheme depends on the amount of calories you burn around the clock, not just the amount of calories you burn during workout.

It is for this reason, that weightlifting is better time spend for losing weight than "cardio" is. Cardio burns more calories during the exercise session, but weightlifting burns more calories in the 48 hours after an exercise session - due to increased metabolic stress and recovery demands. Only examining calories burned during the exercise session is misleading.

Exercise tips:
1. When in the gym, always lift weights before you do cardio. Muscle glycogen is rapidly burned by weight lifting. Your muscles NEED this fuel to perform. If you burn up all of you glycogen by doing cardio first, your weight session will suck. On the other hand, its relatively easy to burn fat instead of glycogen while doing extended cardio.
2. Concentrate on compound movements that work large portions of the body. These include almost all bar presses, squats, rows, pull ups, etc. As a general rule of thumb, the more weight youre moving, the more muscle you are working and the more muscle you are building.
3. Because of #2, stick to exercising you can lift a lot of weight in at first.
4. It is imperitive to practice correct form. Do not fall into the trap of getting sloppy with the weight in order to lift more weight. In the end this is counter productive and you risk getting hurt.
5. DO NOT WORKOUT 7 DAYS a week. Take breaks. I recommend intense training no more than 4 days a week. If you are able to train 7 days a week then you arent working hard enough. Work out hard, push yourself, then rest and recover.
6. Use your "off" days for general purpose activity exercising that arent overly stressful. Walking around the neighborhood is good, maybe even riding a bike.
7. Cycle your exercising routine. DO NOT do the same thing every single time you go into the gym. Your body will adapt and you will stop making progress. As a general rule of thumb, when you see your progress slowing to an unacceptable rate (or stopping), change your routine and do something else.
8. Changing your routine can mean doing a new exercise (highly recommended), taking more/less rest between sets, doing more/less reps, lifting more/less weight. Changing the order in which you do your exercising. So many things can break you out of a rutt, just dont do the same thing all the time.
9. Set goals, then pursue them. Constantly push yourself.
10. Get inspiration from your peers. Find a workout partner, someone passionate about working out and will encourage you to keep at it.

I could go on and on, but hopefully i hit the most important points.

 

[d33pblue]

One more thing.

It is absolutely 100% impossible to spot reduce body fat from exercise. To someone who is very out of shape, working obliques and abdominals in isolation (crunches, twists) is a waste of time. It will not get rid of belly fat. The very best it will do is develop the muscles underneath the fat, which give the illusion of less fat. To someone who is relatively lean this will make a slight difference appearance. To someone who is very out of shape, it will make no difference at all - as you have found out. This goes largely against popular train of thought, but its true.

Performing heavy, compound movements will utilize your trunk stabilizers to a large extend. This will develop your obliques and abdominals as much as they need developed at this point. Save your time, energy, and effort for exercises that will make the most difference.

 

[The Stigenator]

keep at it. Your stamina will slowly come back. I know i was like you. I am so much better now than when i started in july with my treadmill runs. I walk on the treadmill but walking in a park will help too. Also do short bursts of running. 10-20 seconds.. walk 2 minutes, repeat. But you are definately doing good.

As for carbs, yeha you can cut it, i have cut teh carbs, its not hard.. chew gum when you feel hungry.. you wont lose weight immediately, but you will notice that you can push yourself harder.. and work harder. I found cutting out carbs helped me lose weight fast.. if you want carbs, eat a little bit, carbs make you feel full, but you can get the same thing by making lifestyle changes like fruits instead of carbs.. i've done it.. you can too

 

[ibex333]

Originally posted by: skace
First, stop comparing computers to drugs. That is just an easy way to shift the blame away from yourself and right now that's not what you need (realizing you're at fault is the best way to improve). Computers were simply your outlet and escape goat to let you forget about your problems, if not them it would have been tv, collecting stamps or building model airplanes.

First of all thanx, for replying. You gave me lots of interesting and useful advice. I appreciate it.

As for what you said concerning computers, I don't agree at all. Some might say that drugs, and cigarettes are simply an outlet and escape goat that let people forget about their problems, but it doesn't make all of the above any less harmful or addictive, does it?

I actually do collect stamps, and I used to build model airplanes but none of these "hobbies" were ever as harmful and degrading to me as video games. On average, people don't have to deal with screen flickering, prolonged wrong posture, sleepless nights, anxiety, frustration and anger when collecting stamps or building model airplanes. Also I cant see how the word "addiction" can possibly apply to above hobbies. At least not in "full" sense.
So, even though I agree with you, when you say I should look within myself for where the BULK of the problem lies, I still think video games contribute to creating a lot more people like me, than there was in the past.

That being said, I love computers and video games. I like gaming so much, I don't think I'll ever stop, although I will cut down off course. I'm not trying to advocate eliminating video games or anything like that. That would be crazy.

I don't want to start a flame war or a heated discussion here on the topic of video games, so I wont respond to posts talking about this stuff. However if anyone wants to discuss this, feel free to PM me. I enjoy long arguments and discussions especially when I learn something new in the process, which I usually do.
Let's stay on the topic please.


Yet again, thanx everyone, who posted. Now when I have so much info, I just cannot allow myself to fail !

I actually have some good news today. This morning, I did 10 more pushups than I did before for a total of 40. This is definitely something I couldn't do when I started as I remember myself collapsing after just 5-10.

 

[Cstefan]

To the person who said forget cardio, I couldn't agree more. Emphasis on the weights!