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

[bmacd]

i drink water all day long...on occasion, i'll have a glass of milk. I haven't had any pop for about 2 months...i went through my usual three day withdrawl symptoms, then it was fine, but those three days were hell! I do a lot of fast paced walking around the store, but as soon as i get home, i'm jumping into a bag of doritos and lopping in front of the computer. Maybe i should get one of those elliptical bikes...any recommendations?

-=bmacd=-

 

[KokomoGST]

Originally posted by: 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.

Exactly... I wouldn't be worried about weight so much as the way you look. Getting rid of the spare tire and looking more fit and sculpted helps. Some weight training along with good doses of fat-burning cardio (has to be at least over 20min to start fat burning)... the combo will have better results than just the cardio by itself... especially for good muscle definition.

You might even find yourself eating MORE to meet your increased metabolism's nutritional needs. I'd stay away from the Atkins diet for someone like you. Plus, Atkins is bad for your health in the long-term anyways.

 

[SludgeFactory]

Originally posted by: bmacd
i drink water all day long...on occasion, i'll have a glass of milk. I haven't had any pop for about 2 months...i went through my usual three day withdrawl symptoms, then it was fine, but those three days were hell! I do a lot of fast paced walking around the store, but as soon as i get home, i'm jumping into a bag of doritos and lopping in front of the computer. Maybe i should get one of those elliptical bikes...any recommendations?

-=bmacd=-

Just go to the gym. Lift weights 3X a week, do cardio 3 or 4X a week. Work your way up to doing sprints (interval training) for your cardio. Keep your calories slightly below maintainence and eat clean.

As far as Atkins goes, it works miracles in some people because it controls their appetite so well. There's nothing magic about it being more efficient than any other diet in terms of fat loss. All diets, including Atkins, have to incorporate a caloric deficit for you to lose weight (something Atkins NEVER mentions when he goes on TV to promote himself). Another thing to consider is that being in a state of ketosis will have negative consequences on the intensity of your workouts.

That's not to say you shouldn't cut back on carbs, especially simple sugars. Lose the Doritos. That's part of eating clean.

 

[Rudee]

Ignore those who insist you should be weighing yourself on a weekly basis. Scale weight is meaningless. It doesn't tell you the most important measurement, and that is body composition. A lot of people use the term "weightloss" when the focus should be "fat loss". The scale doesn't tell you this... The mirror does. Losing 10 pounds of water in one week is not a big achievement. Losing 10 pounds of fat is.

 

[BooneRebel]

Scale weight is meaningless? Have you ever met a 400lb healthy person?

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Scale weight is meaningless? Have you ever met a 400lb healthy person?

He's not 400 pounds now is he?. Not even close to it.

Bottom line is, it's body fat percentage and how much more loose your "fatass pants" are fitting.

 

[codeyf]

Bah! I wish I was 6 foot and 178....

 

[Amused]

bmacd,

Ignore the fad diets.

I just did what you're doing, but I was a little more out of shape. In the past year I went from 210 lbs to 180. My waist went from 35" to 31." My body fat % was seriously reduced and the trainer at the gyms guesses that I lost around 50lbs of fat. I'm much more vascular and muscular now, and you can see the majority of my abs (with the exception of right below my belly button... but I'm old).

This is what I did:

I followed the "couch to 5K" program at coolrunning.com. It's very easy, is only 20 minutes, three days a week, and it gets you into shape fast. Just 9 weeks. The fat just melts away.

On top of that, I worked out at the gym 4 days a week to gain muscle mass.

I used a "push/pull" program that works the chest, triceps and quads one day, back, biceps, hams and calves the next with wed, sat and sun off. My workouts at the gym lasted between 1 and 1 1/2 hours.

My diet change was far from drastic. I already was a water drinker and shunned sodas. All I did was stop munching on chips, bread and crackers and started using apples and banannas as munchies. After the first month, I had to actually increase my calorie intake (eat more) because I was running out of energy in my workouts. Even now, after doubling my calorie intake, I'm STILL shedding fat and gaining muscle.

I also cut fried foods (fries mostly) out of my diet, but that was because my father's side of the family has a history of heart problems and stroke. I'm getting old and cautious.

I've even shortened the frequency, length and intensity of my cardio workouts recently so I can gain more muscle mass. And even with that, I'm not gaining any fat, I'm still losing a bit.

 

[Deeko]

Run.

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Run.

How dare you sum up my long-ass post with one word! :|

 

[Rudee]

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Scale weight is meaningless? Have you ever met a 400lb healthy person?

Yes, scale weight is meaningless. Two people the who weight the exact same can lose the same amount of weight and have completely different body composition ratio's. People need to think in terms of fatloss, not weightloss. The scale doesn't tell you how much fat you have compared to lean muscle. If you're bodyfat is at 30% and you lose 10 pounds of water by restricting your carbs, your bodyfat is stil at 30% despite the weightloss. i.e you're still a slob!

 

[BaseballSTUD]

Go to gym and discipline yourself to go...if you want to lose some weight try doing some running after your workout...just remembr start off easy and work into things or you will hurt yourself

 

[Amused]

Originally posted by: Rudee

Originally posted by: BooneRebel
Scale weight is meaningless? Have you ever met a 400lb healthy person?

Yes, scale weight is meaningless. Two people the who weight the exact same can lose the same amount of weight and have completely different body composition ratio's. People need to think in terms of fatloss, not weightloss. The scale doesn't tell you how much fat you have compared to lean muscle. If you're bodyfat is at 30% and you lose 10 pounds of water by restricting your carbs, your bodyfat is stil at 30% despite the weightloss. i.e you're still a slob!

I agree. I rarely watched the scale when I was losing weight, and focused instead on INCHES and body proportions to judge my progress. I do still look at my weight, but it's still not what I judge my progress on.

Only fad dieters focus solely on weight. Doing so can mean many things. Did you lose two lbs of fat this week, or two lbs of muscle? A scale will not tell you, but measurements will.