Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Jughead is correct, strength training is important for long-term weight management, and reduces injuries and aches&pains if you are older.
The best way to lose (and keep it off) is a long-term lifestyle plan which is SUSTAINANBLE. More than one way to go about it, but these are the basics...
Reasonable cardio 30-60 min 4-6 times/week
Strength training, enough to build some muscle mass
High protein diet with fruits, veggies, fewer carbs, and less fat/dairy. Quality carbs only...oatmeal, whole grain, etc. Don't eliminate dairy & fat, but do cut back if you are currently overboard with it.
Probably most important: eliminate all crap processed food and I pretty much mean all. Don't eat anything which can be found in a mini-mart or the ATL airport...think whole foods or the budget equivalent. OK I eat a bag of peanut M&M's occasionally but that's it (and I do serious cardio)
Ease into it somewhat gradually, the exercise will feel good before long and you'll crave it. If you are not used to much exercise, ramp up slowly for 2-3 weeks then take one week off (this is VERY important, otherwise injuries are guaranteed unless you are very young). Your food cravings will diminish as your body adapts to the exercise (unless you are doing extreme endurance training). Even the fruits and vegies will taste pretty good after a while.
Once you get some muscle tone and body fat under 20% then look at PX90 or other extreme fitness systems if you feel the need. Otherwise you'll probably hurt yourself.
This is one of the most correct and concise posts on the subject. I lost about 60lbs in the last 2 years (but more like 40-50lbs in 6mo) and this was it. Change your perception about portions and what you "should eat". I do a pb&j for lunch much of the time, and I don't eat it all at once. Same thing if I sub in "fiber bars" for lunch. I cut out the beers I was having every week and scaled it back to specail occasions. It's challenging at first, but then you get used to it. I see guys that literally eat all day long, and it shows. I literally do the exact exercise above. Run one day, do upper/mid body the next, and repeat all week long. Get up a little early to get it in. Some days it just doesn't work out, but I find myself making the time because it's my health. The days it doesn't work out as well, I'll do a "half" workout and another "half" the next day. You simply have to get your metabolism up. In the worst case scenario, I just go on a walk, and they've found that you burn about the same calories walking a certain distance compared to running it (just that running is much quicker). The biggest tennent of this is REGULAR exercise, and it doesn't have to be extremely strenious, it wasn't for me during my biggest weight loss.
I highly agree with cutting out the processed foods. Those are just trouble any way you look at it. There are some "processed" things I invetivtably end up eating, but I keep it to a minium and I'm avoiding the things like frozen dinners, hambuger helper, spaghetti and chilli in a can, and so on. Make it fresh, then freeze some of it for dinner later in the week. On the road, go simple. Fiber is one of the most important things and you'll notice a huge change in your diet when you're eating it, so wheat bread for your PB&J. I don't eat very much meat, almost none during the weekdays. Not saying I'm vegitarian, but you simply don't need all of that meat and the bad that comes with it outweighs any benefit of "having it for every meal". Salt is also your enemy, some things just have outragous amounts of salt, and you go back to "processed foods" and realize that salt is one of the most common "preservatives", but then to avoid excessive salty foods they have to balance it out with a crapload of corn syrup, but then you get used to that huge salt and sugar intake and it just wrecks your body. Think about cumulative salt intake (foods made with salt and the additional salt we add to them). Soda is a primary violator of this.
People that know me ask me all the time "how did you do it?", and it's hard to nail down any one thing, it's a lot of small changes that added up make a huge difference. It's easy to fall in "traps" and not be aware of what you are doing, but now I feel like I'm "on top" of it and I have a much greater awareness of these things. That makes it overall easier, not to mention training your body to accept the lesser portions and foods without feeling crazy hungry.
Lastly, DRINK WATER..sounds dumb, but it keeps you feeling "full" better than almost anything- and forget about "diet foods". Make targeted decisions based on sugar, calories, saturated fat, sodium or something like this, but don't buy into "diet foods" like diet TV dinners, diet soda, diet shakes, etc. It doesn't work and it's a sham. Eating healty means natural/simple foods.