Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Hey all.
I'm once again trying to lose weight. I do it, feel better, then slip off the tracks and gain weight again. I was doing well this time, but my elliptical machine broke.
So I'm trying to figure out what the best course of action is. I could get it repaired, which would likely be hundreds of dollars (I can't repair it myself, I tried) or I could get a new machine which definitely be hundreds of dollars. I was thinking of a stair stepper.
Yes, a gym would be better, but I wouldn't do it. I like to work out at 9pm or so, and I like to watch TV while I do it. I'd hit the gym three or four times and then I'd stop. Same for running around the neighborhood.
I was also considering a kayak, but that is a lot of work to maintain, and if I don't like it, I'd be out quite a bit of money.
Unfortunately I have a horrible metabolism, make poor dietary choices, and tend to just forget to workout (amongst other things).
So, what would you do?
The thing that I've found helps the most in being consistent is having a
clear, specific, detailed plan. So far, you've said the following:
"I'm once again trying to lose weight"
"trying to figure out what the best course of action is"
"I have a horrible metabolism"
"make poor dietary choices"
"tend to just forget to workout"
So, the problem is that
you have a vague, fuzzy notion of what you want. The trick is simple: clearly define what your goals are. Exercise is more of a mind game than anything...anyone can stand on an elliptical for 30 minutes a day, but not everyone does that every day, day after day. It's really easy to quit, especially if you don't really know what you're working towards. You need a clear goal. So here's a few questions to start you off with:
1. What do you weigh now?
2. What would you like your weight to be?
3. How much weight do you need to lose? (Formula: Current Weight - Desired Weight = How much weight to lose)
So now you know exactly what your goal is. Let's say it's 30 pounds. The healthy way to lose weight is to do no more than 2 pounds a week, so if we calculate that out, 30 pounds divided by 2 pounds a week equals 15 weeks, or about 4 months. Great, now you have the basics of a plan - you need to spend 4 months paying attention to losing fat to achieve your target weight. That may seem like a long time, but just to put it in perspective, your choices are: (1), you can spend those 4 months getting fatter, (2) staying at the same weight, or (3) losing weight to meet your goal.
One important thing to realize is that diet counts for 80% of your bodyfat, whereas exercise only accounts for 20%. So
if you really want to lose weight, you simply need to get serious about your diet. And by diet I don't mean a short-term diet, I simply mean a healthy meal plan. Here's a copy of my old menu to get you started:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6001510/14-Day-Menu
I have literally lost weight by doing nothing more than eating healthy. Having small meals throughout the day changes your metabolism into a fat-burning machine. Eating healthy foods burns off the fat automatically. This was a big discovery for me - I always thought you had to do a ton of exercise to get skinny, but really it's all about what you eat. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. Literally.
So anyway,
once you've achieved your goal (target weight), you need to keep yourself at that weight. The easiest solution is simply to keep up a good menu. I quit exercising for over a year and maintained my target weight simply by eating healthy food. Now, I'm not advocating
not exercising, but it just goes to show that food is the default controller of your weight. If you want to burn off the fat, just change your diet and it will happen like magic!
As for myself, when I was working on losing weight, I changed my diet and I exercised for 15 minutes a day. That's it. Worked wonders. I highly recommend doing your 15 minutes in the MORNING, not at night, because it's easy to get distracted and exhausted by the time the evening rolls around, and those are strong deterrants to actually doing your exercise for the day. So I recommend waking up 15 minutes earlier and just doing it ASAP, then making your healthy meals for the day. Pretty simple. I don't even think about it now, I just do it on autopilot haha.
So to review:
1. Food = 80% of fat, Exercise = 20% (you can lose fat simply by eating right)
2. Figured out how much weight you want to lose, then make a simple plan (X number of months, what you're going to eat, and which exercise you'll do & when)
3. Change your diet and throw in a bit of exercise, and follow a simple plan to achieve that goal
4. Once you've achieved your goal, make the diet & exercise stuff a habit so that you keep your desired weight.
Or, you can get really excited about a piece of exercise equipment, spend a lot of money on it, use it for 2 weeks, then have it sit there and collect dust. Everyone I know has a Bowflex or Exercise Bike sitting in their house, acting as a clothes hanger
HTH, sorry to be so long-winded
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