I weigh 178lbs and i'm 6'0"..not overweight, but what's the best way to shed some pounds?

[bmacd]

I don't consider myself overweight by any means, but i've got a little tummy starting. I have a 6 month membership to Powerhouse Gym that i won...what's should i focus on to buff up and shed that tummy? I don't have any equipment at home FWIW.

-=bmacd=-

 

[BooneRebel]

Go on a low-carb diet. You don't really have to change your eating habits much to notice a difference. Protein & fat are OK, just weed out the carbs & starch. Basically all sugary foods (sweets, fruits, etc.) and starchs (noodles, potatoes - most 'white' foods)

 

[BooneRebel]

Exercise isn't really going to shed pounds that much, unless you're doing high cardiovascular exercise like running or aerobics. You can strengthen your abs with situps, crunches, and focused weight training, but it's just going to tighten the muscle behind that chub on your tummy.

 

[Lola]

Originally posted by: bmacd
I don't consider myself overweight by any means, but i've got a little tummy starting. I have a 6 month membership to Powerhouse Gym that i won...what's should i focus on to buff up and shed that tummy? I don't have any equipment at home FWIW.

-=bmacd=-

Ummm.....ok. You don't need to lose weight! but, just stop drinking pop and eat in small portions. plus, workout a few times a week on the tredmill and do free weights...that should help

 

[Crimzon]

Abs

O

Steel

!!!

 

[yobarman]

6 months is enough time to put a lot of muscle on in the gym. Dieting will help because that's about 70% any workout regime. Working in diet with excersice will get you results much faster.

don't fotget t-mag.

 

[Czar]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Go on a low-carb diet. You don't really have to change your eating habits much to notice a difference. Protein & fat are OK, just weed out the carbs & starch. Basically all sugary foods (sweets, fruits, etc.) and starchs (noodles, potatoes - most 'white' foods)

so whats left?

 

[BooneRebel]

Meats, vegetables (broccoli, squash), eggs, cheese, all kinds of things. Just take a look at the nutritional information before gorging yourself. Try to find things that are naturally carb-free, and stay away from the high-carb stuff.

I don't want to promote a specific diet, but the Atkins plan is pretty solid. You can look over this site and get a good idea of what foods you need to eat without buying their branded meals or bars.

Start out with a low (40-50g/day) carb diet, shooting for a very low (<25g) intake. But you really have to look at everything you eat/drink in order to hit this. One can of Mountain Dew alone has 46g of carbs in it.

The way our family does it right now, we stick to a low intake for 6 days out of the week. On the 7th we have a 'splurge' day and take in the foods that we're absolutely craving. But even then, after sticking to it for a few weeks, you realize how 'blah' you feel if you gorge on day 7, so we eat in moderation even when we're eating the starchy foods.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Perhaps you ought to find out if you have weight you need to loose before you try. What is your percentage of body fat? If it is low, exercise is the key.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Go on a low-carb diet. You don't really have to change your eating habits much to notice a difference. Protein & fat are OK, just weed out the carbs & starch. Basically all sugary foods (sweets, fruits, etc.) and starchs (noodles, potatoes - most 'white' foods)

No fruit? That's absurd...

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Go on a low-carb diet. You don't really have to change your eating habits much to notice a difference. Protein & fat are OK, just weed out the carbs & starch. Basically all sugary foods (sweets, fruits, etc.) and starchs (noodles, potatoes - most 'white' foods)

No fruit? That's absurd...

Have you tried it, or researched it in any way? Or is this simply one of those uneducated negative posts so common in ATOT?

 

[mflacy]

Yep, Atkins is a great diet. Perhaps not the most healthy, but very effective.

When I came out of college, I weighed about 175 at 5' 11". I went on Atkins and shed 15-20 pounds in about a month. After you get in ketosis (sp?), the weight just falls off.

You could eat steak fat covered in mayonaise and lose the weight.

 

[Geekbabe]

Start by making simple changes,stop eating fast food,cut out extra snacks,excessive sugar and fat,if you drink a lot consider cutting down.

 

[BooneRebel]

To be specific, you should cut out *all* fruits when first starting out. Once you have gotten used to the diet change and are losing weight, you can reintroduce low-carb fruits (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums, nectarines, green apples, cherries, kiwi, etc.) in small amounts, but you have to closely monitor your weight to make sure that you're not putting on pounds.

 

[vi edit]

How bout just hit the weights for 45 minutes and then put yo ass on a treadmill/exercise bike/ellipse machine for 30 minutes three days a week.

Then just cut out empty calories like the others have said.

Your caloric needs are right around 2000 a day. Try and aim for around 1800 a day, which is actually quite a bit if you are intelligent about it. Throw in the exercise I mentioned above and you'll probably be loosing close to a pound every week to a week and a half.

It isn't difficult to loose weight. You just have to a) want to do it, and b) actually stay dedicated to something (very much related to a).

Hell, just doing the simple things I've listed above, I've shed off close to 20 pounds in 6 months.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
To be specific, you should cut out *all* fruits when first starting out. Once you have gotten used to the diet change and are losing weight, you can reintroduce low-carb fruits (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums, nectarines, green apples, cherries, kiwi, etc.) in small amounts, but you have to closely monitor your weight to make sure that you're not putting on pounds.

A diet program where you have to "closely monitor" anything will not work for most people. Geekbabe said it best. Make small changes to your diet and excersize or lift weights at least twice a week. Keep you regiment simple, or you'll never stick with it.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
How bout just hit the weights for 45 minutes and then put yo ass on a treadmill/exercise bike/ellipse machine for 30 minutes three days a week.

Then just cut out empty calories like the others have said.

Your caloric needs are right around 2000 a day. Try and aim for around 1800 a day, which is actually quite a bit if you are intelligent about it. Throw in the exercise I mentioned above and you'll probably be loosing close to a pound every week to a week and a half.

It isn't difficult to loose weight. You just have to a) want to do it, and b) actually stay dedicated to something (very much related to a).

Hell, just doing the simple things I've listed above, I've shed off close to 20 pounds in 6 months.

Simple changes are a lot more likely to stay with you over the long term as well.I dfrink a lot of coffee,I stopped using sugar in it(except for my infrequent Starbucks trips) just making that one little change helped me lose weight.I also stopped using Mayo,it's like 100 calories of almost per fat per serving,there's lots of other good things to use that aren't nearly as bad for you.Small changes,made over time rather than radical crash diet attempts are the best way imho

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: Crimzon
Abs

O

Steel

!!!

interesting..... I really dont like the sound of the atkins diet though

 

[Electric Amish]

If you start working out, at your weight you're more likely to gain weight in muscle.

amish

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
If you start working out, at your weight you're more likely to gain weight in muscle.

amish

Yes and no....if you've got a spare tire around your belly all you are going to do is burn that off. You can't "convert" a spare tire to muscle. Just doesn't work that way.

 

[BooneRebel]

Originally posted by: KnightBreed

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
To be specific, you should cut out *all* fruits when first starting out. Once you have gotten used to the diet change and are losing weight, you can reintroduce low-carb fruits (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, plums, nectarines, green apples, cherries, kiwi, etc.) in small amounts, but you have to closely monitor your weight to make sure that you're not putting on pounds.

A diet program where you have to "closely monitor" anything will not work for most people. Geekbabe said it best. Make small changes to your diet and excersize or lift weights at least twice a week. Keep you regiment simple, or you'll never stick with it.

You only have to weigh yourself once a week. In fact, it's not recommended that you weigh more often than that because your weight will fluctuate from day to day. All I mean is that if you're going to make a diet change, don't assume that you're going to continue to lose weight or maintain the weight you've previously established. Some people have a lower tolerance of carbs than others, so while one person eating a cup of berries a day might not notice a difference, someone else might get thrown out of whack completely and start gaining weight again.

If you do the legwork initially to figure out your current carb intake and what foods you need to cut out, it's really easy to maintain a low carb diet. Saying that you have to give up starch and sweets is an oversimplification, but it's enough to get the average person started. But if you're going to maintain a <20g carb diet and want to have a variety of foods to choose from, you are going to have to research it a little bit. It's really not that hard.

 

[slikmunks]

if you're going to do the atkins diet, i suggest switching gradually... if you cut carbs cold turkey, you might lose a lot of energy and feel tired at first... as for losing the weight, you've gotta do cardio... putting on some muscle will help too, more muscle + more cardio = MUCH higher metabolism... if you get bored of running (since you're at a gym.... i run at the beach... dry sand does wonders) try playing basketball, but high intensity... like pounding up and down the court, making everything a fast break...

 

[LeeTJ]

for me switching from regular drinks to diet drinks meant about a 10 lb difference.

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: LeeTJ
for me switching from regular drinks to diet drinks meant about a 10 lb difference.

Word, normal soda is horrible for you anyway, not to say that diet is great for you but weight wise it dose the trick. Just ride a stationary bike till you sweat like a hog bmacd, I'm 6'2" and whenever I hit 180 people bitch at me about being to skinny so I don't think your in need of weight loss, just a small change in bad eating habits is all it should take.

 

[PG]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: Electric Amish
If you start working out, at your weight you're more likely to gain weight in muscle.

amish

Yes and no....if you've got a spare tire around your belly all you are going to do is burn that off. You can't "convert" a spare tire to muscle. Just doesn't work that way.

No, fat won't change to muscle and muscle won't change to fat, but I understand what Amish is trying to say.
178 lbs. at 6' tall is relatively skinny. If he only judges progress by a scale he could easily be disapointed because he will probably pack on some extra muscle right away. He might think he's getting fatter and it wouldn't be the case at all.