J Shuttlesworth
10-15-2014, 12:00 AM
I've seen a lot of discussion about weight loss on here. I've seen great advice, and terrible advice. I used to weigh 256 pounds at the end of high school, and when I was 19, my friend helped me with working out and dieting and I ended up getting to 170 pounds. At the lowest, I was 160 at 6'0. I'm currently at about 175 and working on building muscle mass... so yes, I'm trying to gain weight. Here are just some simple pointers I'd recommend for anyone trying to lose weight:
1.) Don't assume somebody's advice is right just because they lost weight in the past.
I could easily tell you guys all the wrong stuff right now and justify it by saying "I lost a ton of weight so it must be right". That's not true. There are certain things in my diet I wish I would have done better when losing weight. Follow the science. Follow advice that is backed up by scientific evidence. An obese person could give you good advice for losing weight if they have scientific evidence to back it up. I'm going to give you guys advice that is based on science, and I do have one piece of advice that is just my opinion i'll get to later.
2.) FIBER. FIBER. FIBER!
Fiber is a great thing. For one, Dietary fiber DOESN'T count towards your calories, and can be very filling. Fiber will help you feel full. Also, high fiber food is generally healthy. Examples of fibrous foods:
Oatmeal, Fruit (pears, prunes especially), Beans, Brown Rice, etc. Try to make these foods a staple of your diet
A couple of good protein/fiber options are Quest bars (20g protein, 17g fiber, only 170 calories), and Kashi Go Lean cereal (13 g protein, 11g fiber, 160 calories).
Another benefit of fiber is that you will take glorious shits. I'm talking incredibly good looking logs that come out with ease.
3.) Green Smoothies
Spinach/Kale/Flaxseeds/Chia seeds/Bananas/Strawberries/Blueberries with some unsweetened almond milk and you are in business. They taste great, and get so many nutrients you need out of the way in 1 quick meal. I have one of these every day, and they add up to be less than 100 calories generally.
4.) Lift Weights. Do you even lift, bro?
Lifting weights are GREAT for losing weight. Remember that your diet will control how many calories you're consuming. Lifting weights will help you burn more calories. Also, a good weight lifting session will make your body burn more calories throughout the rest of the day and even the next morning. Your body is using energy to repair your muscles, which results in more burned calories. If you want an extra boost with the calories, do high rep weight lifting. Don't do really heavy weights, but weight amounts that you can lift 20 times. Maybe try sets of 20-16-12. That will help get your heart rate up opposed to short sets of low reps. This will also help you retain your muscle while you are losing weight.
5.) HIIT
LOVE THIS! High intensity interval training! This is how you should do your cardio as it will help boost your metabolism. It's also much less time consuming than doing an hour of treadmill/elliptical. Go to a stationary bike, or an elliptical, or even do it on the streets by doing sprints.
Steps:
1. Put the resistance up on the machine (irrelevant if you're doing sprints on the street)
2. Put 100% effort into your workout for about 20 seconds (sprint on the machine and make sure the resistance is high enough to where you are really giving 100%)
3. Rest for 2 minutes
4. Repeat cycles of 20 seconds sprint, 2 minutes rest. Here's a video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3kiQ4lhD4g
A lot of people get caught up doing 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds jog... but if you do this, you won't be able to sprint at 100% and won't get he real metabolic benefits of HIIT
6.) Eat protein, and a lot of it
Protein will help you retain your muscle. It's very easy to lose body weight, but you only end up losing water weight and muscle instead of fat. This is what happens when you get sick w/ stomach flu and lose a bunch of weight. You don't end up losing fat, and you end up gaining the water weight back when you recover. Eat a good mount of meat, and protein rich foods. I had a protein shake every day after working out. Use unsweetened almond milk (only 30 calories) + scoop of protein (about 120 cals)
7.) Make sure your diet is one you can sustain for your WHOLE LIFE *opinion*
This one is my opinion. A lot of people may disagree. A lot of people like to go with quick fix diets like low carb, or medi-fast, and all that kind of stuff. Personally, I think these diets end up being too challenging (yes I tried a couple of them). The problem is that you have to come off a diet like this, which can be challenging, and very easy to pile the pounds back on. If you follow certain methods with scientific accuracy, it can be done, but I feel like it's unnecessary work.
Let's say you go on a low carb diet, and lose all the weight you need/want to. You can't just go back to your old diet before you lost weight, or you will end up gaining it all back as quickly as you lost it. It's okay to lose weight slowly. Try 1lb-2lb a week at most.
Once you're done losing weight, you should still eat healthy, and eat fiber/protein rich foods, as well as good fats, complex carbs, etc. In fact, your diet should be the same as when you lost weight, but with bigger portions/more calories. If you want to keep the weight off, it should be an overall lifestyle change, not some temporary diet. It's been about 9 years since I lost the weight and I'm currently sitting at about 175 at 6'1, which is a pretty average weight for my height, so I've managed to keep it off. Only have junk food occasionally. Definitely don't make junk food a staple of your diet. I've noticed that in general, I hardly eat any fast food anymore. The only fast food I eat is Chipotle (if you count that), a sub place by me (like Subway, but 10x better) and Panda Express (you can get brown rice, or mixed veggies, and get some grilled chicken, or beef w/ broccoli. Avoid high fat stuff like orange chicken)
Hope you enjoyed this rant! I feel like we haven't had a weight loss thread in a while, so let the arguments begin :rockon:
1.) Don't assume somebody's advice is right just because they lost weight in the past.
I could easily tell you guys all the wrong stuff right now and justify it by saying "I lost a ton of weight so it must be right". That's not true. There are certain things in my diet I wish I would have done better when losing weight. Follow the science. Follow advice that is backed up by scientific evidence. An obese person could give you good advice for losing weight if they have scientific evidence to back it up. I'm going to give you guys advice that is based on science, and I do have one piece of advice that is just my opinion i'll get to later.
2.) FIBER. FIBER. FIBER!
Fiber is a great thing. For one, Dietary fiber DOESN'T count towards your calories, and can be very filling. Fiber will help you feel full. Also, high fiber food is generally healthy. Examples of fibrous foods:
Oatmeal, Fruit (pears, prunes especially), Beans, Brown Rice, etc. Try to make these foods a staple of your diet
A couple of good protein/fiber options are Quest bars (20g protein, 17g fiber, only 170 calories), and Kashi Go Lean cereal (13 g protein, 11g fiber, 160 calories).
Another benefit of fiber is that you will take glorious shits. I'm talking incredibly good looking logs that come out with ease.
3.) Green Smoothies
Spinach/Kale/Flaxseeds/Chia seeds/Bananas/Strawberries/Blueberries with some unsweetened almond milk and you are in business. They taste great, and get so many nutrients you need out of the way in 1 quick meal. I have one of these every day, and they add up to be less than 100 calories generally.
4.) Lift Weights. Do you even lift, bro?
Lifting weights are GREAT for losing weight. Remember that your diet will control how many calories you're consuming. Lifting weights will help you burn more calories. Also, a good weight lifting session will make your body burn more calories throughout the rest of the day and even the next morning. Your body is using energy to repair your muscles, which results in more burned calories. If you want an extra boost with the calories, do high rep weight lifting. Don't do really heavy weights, but weight amounts that you can lift 20 times. Maybe try sets of 20-16-12. That will help get your heart rate up opposed to short sets of low reps. This will also help you retain your muscle while you are losing weight.
5.) HIIT
LOVE THIS! High intensity interval training! This is how you should do your cardio as it will help boost your metabolism. It's also much less time consuming than doing an hour of treadmill/elliptical. Go to a stationary bike, or an elliptical, or even do it on the streets by doing sprints.
Steps:
1. Put the resistance up on the machine (irrelevant if you're doing sprints on the street)
2. Put 100% effort into your workout for about 20 seconds (sprint on the machine and make sure the resistance is high enough to where you are really giving 100%)
3. Rest for 2 minutes
4. Repeat cycles of 20 seconds sprint, 2 minutes rest. Here's a video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3kiQ4lhD4g
A lot of people get caught up doing 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds jog... but if you do this, you won't be able to sprint at 100% and won't get he real metabolic benefits of HIIT
6.) Eat protein, and a lot of it
Protein will help you retain your muscle. It's very easy to lose body weight, but you only end up losing water weight and muscle instead of fat. This is what happens when you get sick w/ stomach flu and lose a bunch of weight. You don't end up losing fat, and you end up gaining the water weight back when you recover. Eat a good mount of meat, and protein rich foods. I had a protein shake every day after working out. Use unsweetened almond milk (only 30 calories) + scoop of protein (about 120 cals)
7.) Make sure your diet is one you can sustain for your WHOLE LIFE *opinion*
This one is my opinion. A lot of people may disagree. A lot of people like to go with quick fix diets like low carb, or medi-fast, and all that kind of stuff. Personally, I think these diets end up being too challenging (yes I tried a couple of them). The problem is that you have to come off a diet like this, which can be challenging, and very easy to pile the pounds back on. If you follow certain methods with scientific accuracy, it can be done, but I feel like it's unnecessary work.
Let's say you go on a low carb diet, and lose all the weight you need/want to. You can't just go back to your old diet before you lost weight, or you will end up gaining it all back as quickly as you lost it. It's okay to lose weight slowly. Try 1lb-2lb a week at most.
Once you're done losing weight, you should still eat healthy, and eat fiber/protein rich foods, as well as good fats, complex carbs, etc. In fact, your diet should be the same as when you lost weight, but with bigger portions/more calories. If you want to keep the weight off, it should be an overall lifestyle change, not some temporary diet. It's been about 9 years since I lost the weight and I'm currently sitting at about 175 at 6'1, which is a pretty average weight for my height, so I've managed to keep it off. Only have junk food occasionally. Definitely don't make junk food a staple of your diet. I've noticed that in general, I hardly eat any fast food anymore. The only fast food I eat is Chipotle (if you count that), a sub place by me (like Subway, but 10x better) and Panda Express (you can get brown rice, or mixed veggies, and get some grilled chicken, or beef w/ broccoli. Avoid high fat stuff like orange chicken)
Hope you enjoyed this rant! I feel like we haven't had a weight loss thread in a while, so let the arguments begin :rockon: