Best way to get in shape?

[AtomicBono]

OK, maybe this should go in LS, idk. But I'm annoyed. During the school year despite terrible eating habits (I'd eat a candy bar for breakfast and drink two energy drinks a day...terrible I know) and no exercise (besides walking around campus), I was losing weight. Don't ask me how. Yet during the summer, I guess from doing nothing (despite kicking the energy drink habit/not having candy for breakfast ), I've gained a considerable amount of weight. Like, 10 or more lbs. so I was wondering what the best way to go about losing it would be ... if I did 30 minutes of cardio every day would that be enough? I'm all for going to the gym, but only if it will actually make a difference ... when I was most in shape I was going to the gym in the morning before class and running on the treadmill, so I'm thinking that might help? what about weights? should I start dieting? does sleeping in contribute to weight gain? I know I could search the internet for this stuff, but there's so much fitness info out there it's kinda overwhelming, and not all of it is consistent. hard to know what to trust, yknow? so any advice would be appreciated ... I'm looking for some sort of routine I can stick to.

 

[redhotswami]

School sucks because despite us having a schedule, our days are quite varied, and it can be difficult to get into a routine. Here are my suggestions:

Diet
- try to start eating smaller meals throughout the day, as opposed to just 3 meals a day
- eat your "fuller" meal during the day instead of at night. at night our body will begin to settle, it doesn't make sense for us to eat the heaviest at this time and give our body more food to digest. eat the larger meal during the day when your body is metabolizing and burning calories more actively. so, for one of your "smaller meals" during the day you can have that small bowl of spaghetti, and for your meal at night, you can have a sandwich. see what i mean?
- try to rid of processed foods. incorporate more raw fruits and veggies into your diet. for example, instead of crisps or something, eat carrot sticks.
- make sure you are getting enough protein during the day as well. healthy sources of protein are beans, nuts, grains, etc. i carry around a small bag of almonds for a protein snack. you can also put almond butter on carrots or celery or something.
- that reminds me, peanut butter sucks. it is super fattening. try a healthy alternative like almond butter.
- if you cook, try cooking with coconut oil instead of veggie or canola oil. it's much healthier!
- cut out fast food and fizzy drinks. def stay away from diet drinks. aspartame is an asshole.
- try to cut down on portions. when i remember, i try to have fist-size portions of whatever i'm eating, and i limit it to 3 fists.
- definitely drink more water! when i'm on a health/diet kick, i usually carry a sports bottle of water with me everywhere i go. most of us are dehydrated anyway, so that helps. but being full on more water also helps fight cravings, and we will eat less.
- take a multivitamin to ensure you are getting as much of the nutrition recommendations as possible.

exercise
- try to come up with a routine, but maintain some sort of variation. ie, treadmill one day, weights another, swim another, etc.
- last year i was pretty fit, and worked out for 45 minutes 2x a day. i had to work my way up to that, though. i started just working out 1 time a day, 3 times a week, and built up from there.
- when running on a treadmill, try to vary the workout. i found doing intervals was pretty effective. running at a fast pace for 3 minutes, then walk fast for 3 minutes, and back and forth like that.
- don't work out on an empty stomach, you'll only burn protein. if you're going to the gym in the morning, try eating a banana before you work out. then follow up your workout with a protein source, like hardboiled eggs or something.

sleeping doesn't necessarily help lose or gain weight, but a regular sleeping schedule is important for maintaining balance and energy levels. definitely don't eat past 10pm, that way your body can work on detoxing, etc instead of having to digest more stuff.

thanks so much for posting this. i have been meaning to lose weight all freaking summer. i get into a routine, then i'm slammed with a week of exams or something, and i gain everything i lost. it's really hard. but your post has motivated me to try again. i hope this helps! we should like, keep each other on tabs or something. i used to have friends text me and tell me to "get you ass to the gym!" as a reminder. that helped a lot, especially when i was lying in bed making excuses not to go. i always find it helps me to maintain my routine when someone else is on one too.

good luck!

 

[AtomicBono]

wow unico, thanks so much for such an in-depth post! exactly the kinda stuff i was looking for

yeah, as it is now I often eat just 2 big meals a day with one or two snacks in between, so I'll try to space it out more with smaller meals.

I'm thinking I should at least make myself work out in the morning, because that's a constant. Things can always come up in the evening that could interfere with a workout plan, but I can guarantee there is nothing that will ever happen at 7am, besides me sleeping

I'd like to do weights but I don't really know how. I used to do weights at home but they're just 8 lbs and I read that if you're not constantly pushing yourself, they won't do any good, that you're supposed to work your way up or something. so I need to look more into that. but I like the treadmill and the elliptical is cool too, and I can do crunches and other ab exercises.

yes we should keep up with each other, good idea. I could use all the motivation I can get good luck to you too!

 

[redhotswami]

Does your school have an exercise science or kinesiology program? If so, there are probably students trying to get internship experience working at your school gym. They sometimes offer personal training sessions at a discount price. If your school has this service, you can definitely get weight training advice from someone there.

I tend to use the weight machines, myself. I hear free weights are better, but I'm not all that experienced enough to know wtf I'm doing. With the machines, you can control how much weight you use during your reps. I usually do 3 sets of about 10 or 15 reps, and on the 3rd set I increase the weight.

My dad occasionally gives me articles of exercise routines he finds in his sports and fitness magazines. After finals week is over, I'll try looking around and see if I can find any. I can scan it for you if you're interested.

I hear ya on the motivation!! I'm have goals, but I'm also a lazy ass.

 

[zuropa_fit]

unico (Mia, right?) gave you some great advice.

I'll just reiterate a couple things she said.

Cardio workouts? I started with 6 days a week right away, 45 min, then up to 60 each time but I started out slow/easy and got faster or started using more resistance as my stamina improved.

Strength training? Machines are easy, they have diagrams on them that show you what to do and which muscles you're working. Just don't work the same muscle group two days in a row. I found the quickest way to see results was to do 3-5 sets that go something like this:

1st set - 6 reps at the heaviest weight you can lift that many times
2nd (and 3rd?) set - 10 reps and a slightly lighter weight
3rd (or 4th and 5th) set - 12 reps of a light weight, so that it's easy on the muscle.
Following this plan, I noticed a big difference in tone in about 4 weeks.

And eating?
- small portions spread out throughout the day.
- Bring to work snack sized baggies of veggies, fruit, baked crackers, nuts, anything you LIKE. That's important.
- Don't try to get yourself to eat what you don't like otherwise you'll just end up bingeing on ice cream/cookies/chips/your vice of choice. And I never actually cut anything out of my diet - cheese? low fat and once a week. chips? baked and every couple weeks. Okay, I did cut out bakery items.
- eat a healthy breakfast. It'll get you off to a good start and be easier to eat healthy all day if you know you started out right.

Hope it helps and good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[redhotswami]

unico (Mia, right?) gave you some great advice.

I'll just reiterate a couple things she said.

Cardio workouts? I started with 6 days a week right away, 45 min, then up to 60 each time but I started out slow/easy and got faster or started using more resistance as my stamina improved.

Strength training? Machines are easy, they have diagrams on them that show you what to do and which muscles you're working. Just don't work the same muscle group two days in a row. I found the quickest way to see results was to do 3-5 sets that go something like this:

1st set - 6 reps at the heaviest weight you can lift that many times
2nd (and 3rd?) set - 10 reps and a slightly lighter weight
3rd (or 4th and 5th) set - 12 reps of a light weight, so that it's easy on the muscle.
Following this plan, I noticed a big difference in tone in about 4 weeks.

Thanks so much for this! I don't know jack about exercising. And I never read the stuff my dad gives me. I'm totally going to try this routine!!!

 

[anitram]

- cut out fast food and fizzy drinks. def stay away from diet drinks. aspartame is an asshole.

First of all, if you are a big pop drinker, the easiest way to cut out those calories is to switch to diet pop. I lost about 20 lbs last year and did this as part of my change of diet. Second, pretty much most of the aspartame fearmongering out there is basically scientific bunk but nobody goes and bothers to look at the studies.

Otherwise, really good list.

 

[anitram]

Regarding weight training, new research seems to suggest that the optimal time between working out the same muscle groups is actually 5-7 days, and not the 2-3 days that were previously thought and that most people stick with. The hypothesis is that the muscle will be fully healed in about 5-7 days and that groups that followed this routine experienced statistically significant increases in muscle mass compared to control groups. So that may be something to think about. I believe that the same studies indicate that 10 days in between is going too long.

If you don't know what you're doing with weights, stick with the machines. They will also ensure proper posture and minimize the chance of injury. When you get more comfortable, I would definitely suggest free weights over the machines, as well as using your own body (things like dips, push ups, etc).

Good luck!

 

[AtomicBono]

I hear ya on the motivation!! I'm have goals, but I'm also a lazy ass.

yes, that's exactly my issue... I had very ambitious goals for this summer, but ended up not really doing any of them oh well, never too late to start

unico (Mia, right?) gave you some great advice.

I'll just reiterate a couple things she said.

Cardio workouts? I started with 6 days a week right away, 45 min, then up to 60 each time but I started out slow/easy and got faster or started using more resistance as my stamina improved.

Strength training? Machines are easy, they have diagrams on them that show you what to do and which muscles you're working. Just don't work the same muscle group two days in a row. I found the quickest way to see results was to do 3-5 sets that go something like this:

1st set - 6 reps at the heaviest weight you can lift that many times
2nd (and 3rd?) set - 10 reps and a slightly lighter weight
3rd (or 4th and 5th) set - 12 reps of a light weight, so that it's easy on the muscle.
Following this plan, I noticed a big difference in tone in about 4 weeks.

And eating?
- small portions spread out throughout the day.
- Bring to work snack sized baggies of veggies, fruit, baked crackers, nuts, anything you LIKE. That's important.
- Don't try to get yourself to eat what you don't like otherwise you'll just end up bingeing on ice cream/cookies/chips/your vice of choice. And I never actually cut anything out of my diet - cheese? low fat and once a week. chips? baked and every couple weeks. Okay, I did cut out bakery items.
- eat a healthy breakfast. It'll get you off to a good start and be easier to eat healthy all day if you know you started out right.

Hope it helps and good luck! Keep us posted.

thanks for the great advice. I'll have to try the weight machines. 45 min of cardio could be tough for me at first but I'll do my best. I usually use the treadmill but a lot of my friends use the elliptical; are they basically the same, or is one more effective than the other?

 

[AtomicBono]

First of all, if you are a big pop drinker, the easiest way to cut out those calories is to switch to diet pop. I lost about 20 lbs last year and did this as part of my change of diet. Second, pretty much most of the aspartame fearmongering out there is basically scientific bunk but nobody goes and bothers to look at the studies.

The thing is I don't really like diet pop. It doesn't taste good to me. I think I'll try to just drink water instead... but I know I would benefit from cutting soda out.

 

[redhotswami]

First of all, if you are a big pop drinker, the easiest way to cut out those calories is to switch to diet pop. I lost about 20 lbs last year and did this as part of my change of diet. Second, pretty much most of the aspartame fearmongering out there is basically scientific bunk but nobody goes and bothers to look at the studies.

Otherwise, really good list.

It's true, I'm rather ignorant of the studies out there to aspartame in particular. I know I said aspartame, but I just said that because (I think!) it is the more popular of them. Anyway, I'll just say that personally, I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners in general.

 

[redhotswami]

thanks for the great advice. I'll have to try the weight machines. 45 min of cardio could be tough for me at first but I'll do my best. I usually use the treadmill but a lot of my friends use the elliptical; are they basically the same, or is one more effective than the other?

I've noticed that I burn less calories on an elliptical, but afterwards I feel like someone just whooped my ass in an alley. I'm not nearly as beat after a treadmill. For what it's worth...

 

[AtomicBono]

I've noticed that I burn less calories on an elliptical, but afterwards I feel like someone just whooped my ass in an alley. I'm not nearly as beat after a treadmill. For what it's worth...

I did the elliptical once and I burned roughly the same amount of calories, I think. it probably depends on resistance and stuff. I don't know which one was more tiring.

the problem I have with running is sometimes I get really bad pain in my ankles. If that happens, is it safe to keep going, or am I in danger of really injuring some muscle? I usually stop because I don't want to not be able to run at all, but it can be frustrating.

 

[Angela Harlem]

The thing is I don't really like diet pop. It doesn't taste good to me. I think I'll try to just drink water instead... but I know I would benefit from cutting soda out.

What about diet mineral waters? I don't like plain mineral water unless it's made with 60/40 cranberry juice or something. Personally, I'm addicted to pepsi max, but found waterfords diet mineral waters are a godsend. Maybe try experimenting with some 100% juices and plain mineral water? Or just plain old tap water if you're happy to!

 

[Laura M]

What about diet mineral waters? I don't like plain mineral water unless it's made with 60/40 cranberry juice or something. Personally, I'm addicted to pepsi max, but found waterfords diet mineral waters are a godsend. Maybe try experimenting with some 100% juices and plain mineral water? Or just plain old tap water if you're happy to!

I don't like the tap water here as I think it has a strange taste. I also love Diet Coke. I know it's really not a good thing, especially guzzling it at the rate I was. We bought a huge jug and fill it with sugarfree orange squash and drink from that during the evening. I'm also trying to drink small glasses of water during the day and some cups of tea. I have really cut back the amount of Diet Coke I'm drinking and some days I have none. I think that's the hardest thing for me about trying to be more healthy

I'm seriously trying to lose weight right now. I don't even want to think about how much weight I have gained. It's depressing. I have lost 11lbs in the last 12 weeks. It's getting easier every week to not feel like pigging out on junk food and incorporate another healthy eating habit like drink more water, eat more fruit, etc. Also helps that I'm off work and not feeling stressed about anything.

Here are some of the things that are helping us:

- Always cooking at home.
- Plan meals in advance and always write a shopping list. I now go shopping every afternoon and only buy food we need until the next afternoon. It means we're saving a lot too.
- Eat small piece of dark chocolate if we feel like something sweet.
- Exercise, exercise, exercise. I'm moving a bit more each week. Every day I cycle and this week we've also started having a 20-30 minute walk in the evenings.
- Weigh-in day. Saturday is weigh-in day in our house. It makes me feel more motivated.
- Lose weight with a friend, partner or maybe even join a weight loss forum? It's really good to have support and encouragement.

I've also started calorie counting and it's quite interesting because I was actually eating a lot less than I could some days. Whenever I lose weight I always eat a lot more, of the right foods, than I normally would.

 

[gvox]

Not an expert by any means but in the spring started getting (back) into shape and so have done a fair amount of research as at my age I wanted to make sure I got off on the right foot.

Getting in shape depends on your current body type and metabolic rate. So its a fairly simple equation: If you want to gain muscle mass you want to consume more (of the right calories) than you expend and when you do expend you want to be doing it with heavy weights with adequate rest periods and don't overdo the cardio. If you want to lose weight, you need to expend more calories than you consume and exercise often with lots of cardio and lift light and often.

Cardio's great for this, moreso than weightlifting even. If you want to build muscle mass you'll need to lift however keep in mind that weightlifting doesn't burn fat in the same way cardio does and also you can actually gain mass/weight by bulking up with weightlifting and proper resting. Anitram's point about the rest period is somewhat true if you are bodybuilding but for someone who is trying to lose weight, they'd want to use lighter weights just for toning and only a day or two rest period. And daily cardio is perfectly fine. That days of rest period rule doesn't apply to cardio especially if the goal is weight loss.

Diet - drink 1 cup of coffee per day, max. Cut out carbonated sodas, diet included, completely. No beer, either. Drink cranberry juice. Lots of water. Whole wheat instead of white. Less fried foods, if any. Protein instead of carbs. Lots of fruit and vegatables. Important: in the hour after your workout, your body is screaming for nutrients and the absorption is at it's peak during this period. What you eat in this hour is KEY. No junk foods, no fats, no carbs. Pure protein ie chicken breast, fish or even a bit of peanut butter with a slice of whole wheat.

One more thing: something I've noticed about travelling and seeing other cultures...there always seems to be a lower percentage of unfit people in other countries (than North America). And working out at a gym is not something they have time to do especially in the poorer countries, but they're still fit. I trace it to eating more natural foods, and what I like to call 'random exercise'. Small things...like, if going to the corner store, do I really need to drive? Could I walk or bike instead? Could I take the stairs to the 4th floor instead of the elevator? Take two stairs at a time? Maybe walk a bit more briskly when I do? And, above all: play a sport. Tennis, soccer, basketball, football, frisbee, anything where you have to run a bit (so, sorry that sortof rules out golf and baseball ). Sports force you to do quick burn moments more frequently than simply running on a treadmill or whatever.

 

[kafrun]

Pole. It's addictive and you'll never have to drag yourself to a class.

 

[bigjohn2441]

pushups & sit ups every night, i cant go to the gym cause i work everyday, so i got one of those pull-up bars that fits in the door frame.

i'd say the quickest way to lose fat is HIIT. tried it while i was OJT and it kicked my ass.

 

[BoMac]

Sexercise.

 

[zuropa_fit]

i'd say the quickest way to lose fat is HIIT. tried it while i was OJT and it kicked my ass.

 

[Bonoa]

Sexercise.

Did you know that 15 minutes of sex is equivalent to 45 minutes on the treadmill?

I read that in Quest Magazine! My boyfriend and me love to go to the gym together!

 

[AtomicBono]

No beer, either.

yeah, I discovered today that step one to getting in shape is probably not being too hungover to get out of bed and go to the gym in the morning the problem is, I have this friend I play guitars with, and he comes over and we drink a lot of beer...it has become somewhat of a ritual. it's just once or twice a week and will probably be less frequent during the school year, but I don't want to give that up entirely... maybe switching to light beer when I do this?

definitely need to go grocery shopping, but I'm waiting til my roommate gets paid on Friday so we can go together. But that'll make eating healthy a lot easier, so I won't go for fast food and such.

very good point about other cultures. I think part of the reason I was losing weight during the school year is because I was walking a lot more. and I'm going to Greece second semester hopefully so I don't want to be a stereotypical fat American

Sexercise.

well see, I need to lose the weight so I can GET the sexercise ...

thanks for all the help everyone

 

[Liesje]

What works for me....

- get enough sleep
- plan meals ahead
- snacking/eating smaller meals than big ones
- doing intense cardio, like burning 600-700cals each work out. I know it's not necessary, but the way I see it, if I'm changing my clothes and going to get gnarly and sweaty than I'm going to work my ass off and make it worth it. If I'm not dripping sweat from every pore and my legs don't feel like jello, then I don't feel like the workout was worth it
- I also do a program with free weights and conditioning exercises for toning and strength
- quit soda (I hate diet pop and any drink besides Coke, Dew, lemonade, or water. Since lemonade has as much cals and sugar as Dew, that means water)
- soup, bananas, and yogurt helped me a lot b/c they are filling but very few calories
- competition or a partner to hold you accountable
- at first I had a food journal and counted calories. This was mainly to learn more about portions and how much I was really eating. Now that I know better, I don't need it any more. For many people this is not necessary, but I never learned to eat right and didn't have a lot of impulse control so I needed it.

There's a gazillion ways to do it an one dr. or trainer might tell you something different from another, but above is what worked for me. I wasn't overweight (size 8) but I felt like a slug and wasn't sleeping well anymore. I went to a size 2/4 (or 26/27 for my jeans) and feel better, sleep a lot better.

 

[bigjohn2441]

High-intensity interval training - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[gvox]

maybe switching to light beer when I do this?

The issue with light beer is that it's still carbonated. Like diet soda. If you really must drink beer, have you seen those Molson Canadian Cold Shots? Quick n dirty and less volume (they are 250 ml and 6% or so). Like the Red Bull of beer I guess

I'm not saying give up alcohol, although your point about being too hungover to work out the next day is definitely an excellent one.

Since I like cranberry juice, I've been doing vodka. I also like gin and lime. And OJ goes great with both

 

[UberBeaver]

Did you know that 15 minutes of sex is equivalent to 45 minutes on the treadmill?

15 minutes? Please, that would take me, like, a month.

My fitness regiment:

1.) Find an ass.
2.) Kick it.
3.) Repeat.

 

[Illumination70]

Check with your cable company because they might offer a channel called "On Demand" where you can can chose from a variety of workouts when and where you want.

 

[AtomicBono]

I wasn't overweight (size 8) but I felt like a slug and wasn't sleeping well anymore. I went to a size 2/4 (or 26/27 for my jeans) and feel better, sleep a lot better.

wow, that's awesome! I'm a size 7 right now (barely, it's harder to fit in my jeans now ) and would be very pleased with being a size 5! lol.

The issue with light beer is that it's still carbonated. Like diet soda. If you really must drink beer, have you seen those Molson Canadian Cold Shots? Quick n dirty and less volume (they are 250 ml and 6% or so). Like the Red Bull of beer I guess

I'm not saying give up alcohol, although your point about being too hungover to work out the next day is definitely an excellent one.

Since I like cranberry juice, I've been doing vodka. I also like gin and lime. And OJ goes great with both

Never had the Molson Canadian Cold Shots ... if I really wanna get drunk quick I drink 2 Steel Reserves, that'll do it. But when we're playing guitars (and today we got an absolutely amazing drummer ) we don't want to get super drunk fast, just kinda keep a constant buzz.

I guess the thing about this summer is my schedule is kinda sporadic, I wasn't planning on drinking last night, but my friend called and I figured, why not. It's not something I do every day, but I think I'll try to limit it to once a week.

 

[gvox]

Check with your cable company because they might offer a channel called "On Demand" where you can can chose from a variety of workouts when and where you want.

or...was that meant as humour

 

[anitram]

Cardio's great for this, moreso than weightlifting even. If you want to build muscle mass you'll need to lift however keep in mind that weightlifting doesn't burn fat in the same way cardio does and also you can actually gain mass/weight by bulking up with weightlifting and proper resting. Anitram's point about the rest period is somewhat true if you are bodybuilding but for someone who is trying to lose weight, they'd want to use lighter weights just for toning and only a day or two rest period.

I think the problem with "toning" is that you end up going to the gym and seeing 80% of women in there lifting 2 lb. and 5 lb. dumbbells because they are "toning" and don't want to bulk up. This is really just a lot of nonsense, and you do need to lift heavier weights even if you want to tone. Now you don't have to follow the "few reps @ very heavy weights" obviously like you would if you were body building, but you really do need to put some elbow grease into it.

Even with light weights, I would never have only a 24 hour rest period. It's totally impossible for muscle to repair itself in that short of a time, and you're not really doing anything constructive then. I actually probably wouldn't do anything inside of 72 hours.