Gettin in shape :(

[shadownynja]

Well i am currently a big fat guy but am interested in becoming a police officer. I am about 6'1" and 260. So i would say i've got about 60 pounds to lose. Everytime i begin to start i give up. I just get hungry :o So what would everyone recomend. Get me motivated. I've got a bench for benching and a barbell for the biceps. I can't really afford to go to a gym. so i was thinking about running everynight of the week and lifting every other night. And not completely dieting or anything drastic. Just eating allot less than i do. But i dont want to do anything stupid like atkins. ;) ;)

[MechMan]

All I can say is get out there and run. I run 3 times a week (lift 3 times a week also), and in 8 months I have gone from 205# to 180#. Also, cut back on your fat intake. I probably only consume 20 grams of fat a day. It really isn't that hard to do. It isn't easy at first but the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the more you'll want to do it.

MM

P.S. It's natural to be hungry, just eat until your satisfied, not until you can't walk.

[janda]

shadownynja,

mechman has some good advice. If you are going to begin a running program do not just start running everyday though. At your size you will be asking for an injury. I would start out 3 to 4 times a week with some low mileage runs (1-3 miles). Increase no more than 10 percent of your mileage a week. If you run 10 miles the first week only add 1 mile the next. At 260, your going to be pounding your knees, feet, and everything else. Lots of new runners get injured and then your sidelined waiting for you injury to heel. If you want, run one night and walk the next.

For nutrition, make sure you are eating breakfast. If you can, consume a majority of your daily calories in the AM. Taper off during the day and have a light dinner. Stay hydrated. Cut calories you wont miss, diet soda, sweet in low in the coffee, have healthy snack options available so you can grab an apple instead of heading for the snack machine. Lots of good info out there on this. Make lifestyle changes and they will last as opposed to radical diet or exercise routines.

Good luck

[ps312]

Shadownynja,
60 lbs! That a tall order. Slow and steady does the trick every time. You should really try running for time not distance initially. You can always try to speed up your time once you get in better shape. A good 45 min slow jog burns more calories than a fast 2 mile run.
Good luck,
Paul

PS: Atkins has worked for a lot of people, don't totally dismiss it.

[Diesel44]

I lost about 65 pounds in 5 months (from April to September of this year), following the basics of "calories in versus calories out".

I have friends/coworkers who have tried various "fad" diets that have worked (initially)...heck, my boss went on Atkins and lost like 40 pounds in 2 months or something insane - the pounds dropped FAST and the program worked....but then less than 1 year later, he stopped following it and he GAINED about 50 pounds. I researched several "diets" and it all comes down to one common-sense theme - caloric intake versus caloric expenditure. You don't have to eliminate foods.....just watch the portions. For me, the secret was to actually pay attention to nutrition labels and track my calories. I picked up my running program as well, which helped significantly.

Something to keep in mind is that although exercise is very important for a multitude of health reasons, and it absolutely contributes to weight loss without a doubt, the key is your eating habits. Example (assuming you're at a "constant weight" right now):

There are about 3500 calories in a pound. Let's use a "1 week" timeframe for the example of weight-loss. If you just cut-out about 500 calories a day from whatever your current eating habits are right now, without changing anything else in your routine, you will be reducing your intake by 3500 calories a week - aka 1 POUND a week. Cut out 1,000 calories a day of food intake, and there's 7000 calories a week - aka 2 POUNDS a week! That's 104 pounds a year! And, 1,000 calories a day isn't hard to cut out. Take a look at a Big Mac's nutrional info or whatever. Now, if you exercise, let's say jogging or something - you might burn about 300 calories a time, give or take. Let's say you do that 7 days a week...that's about 2100 calories, which isn't even 1 pound...........as you can see, the perfect scenario is cutting out the calories AND exercising.

I recognize my little example is simplified and everything, but my point is simply for straight weight-loss, watching what you consume is going to have a more immediate impact on dropping the pounds...and you don't have to do anything "drastic" - to start with, you could just "track" an entire week of your regular eating habits...count up the calories...and then look at how you could eliminate 500 a day...or 1,000 a day....and then start there.

And don't underestimate the power of water! I once read you should drink at least 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water (i.e. if you weigh 260 pounds, you should drink at least 130 ounces of water a day).

Like has been said, whatever method/program you choose, make it a "lifestyle change" for the long-term that you will be able to stick with, and not a "diet" for the short-term.

[shadownynja]

Thanks man! thats awesome advice... And right now i work at mcdonalds and eat a fucking shat load of fries and meat and soda. and ive been holding my weight steady. So if i go down to eating healthy ill bet i will drop weight fast!

[luckypenny30]

Ditto to what ps312 said. Don't dismiss the atkins diet. It works. if you want to lose weight, you will and much quicker than most convential diets. It has it down side of allowing you to eat lots of fats, but if you watch what you eat, it is not a bad diet at all. So far I have lost 30 lbs and have about 25 more to go. I am not saying that atkins is for everybody, but when you are in a crunch and need to lose weight in a hurry you will try anything. I have always learn that weightlifting is very good excercise, but the true fat burner is cardio excercise. Start of slow, go for time versus distance. Start out doing maybe 20 minutes of cardio and then start increasing the time was you see improvement. The idea is raise your heart rate and keep it raised for a period of time. Start of slow, keeping pushing yourself to improve and stay motivated and you will see improvements.

[janda]

weight training provides the biggest bang for the buck. Most importantly lower body exercises. Hit those big muscles in your legs and your metabolism will increase. Cardio is great as well but your metabolism remains high hours after you done lifting while it returns to normal sooner after a cardio exercise. I recommend a combination, and cardio will most likely come into play more on your PT Test than lifting.

[Sipowicz]

I feel the pain, too (literally). :(

I've never been a small boy, but I'm struggling getting started because I am trying to find ways to completely stretch my calves. When I run (well, try to run) I'm only good for about 2 laps (9 laps = 1 mile) before my calves, esp. my right on the outside, start screaming bloody murder. Even on the treadmill this happens. I went and purchased a pair of New Balance 716 running shoes especially for running.

This also happens on the stationary bike.

Strangely enough, it doesn't happen while I play basketball with good basketball shoes. For example, I was trying to bike & run the other day, and my calves started hurting (again, mainly the right) when I was 3 minutes in to an average pace of 4.5 mph. For P/T I have to be at a 7.5 mph pace!

After switching to the bike and dying there for 10 minutes with the pain, I had to give it up. I tried (again) to stretch my calves the best I knew how. I then saw a few people on the basketball court, and wound up playing 40 minutes of basketball (full court, 20 minute rest between games cuz my team lost) with a pair of Reebok basketball shoes. No pain from the calves at all.

:o

[maddog]

Hello,

Decrease the amount of fat. If I weigh 250lbs make sure you are eating 250lbs of protein. Eat small meals throughout the day.

Example

Meal 1
2 eggs scram.
Cottege cheese
Oatmeal

Meal 2
Myoplex meal suppl.

Meal 3
Turkey w/o cheese sandwich
and apple

Meal 4
Protein shake

Meal 5
2 chicken breast
Broc.
Rice

Meal 6
Yogurt


This will help you gain the muscle mass and maintain energy.

[Cam]

D I S C I P L I N E

[CaliYanksFan]

I just started doing Atkins again. The first time I did it, I did it for a few months and dropped almost 40 lbs. Since I knew that I had the ability to balloon up to 260 lbs again, even after I stopped Atkins, I watched what I ate and stayed at 220. I'm now trying to get to 200 lbs ...

I'm 6'1".

[gtrchk]

Atkins is amazing. I've been able to keep my weight down even during times when I can't work-out or follow the diet acurately.

I thought Dr. Atkins was COMPLETELY out of his mind when I first read the guidelines but watching several friends and co-workers shed huge amounts of weight made me a believer.

:eek:

[JonathanE]

I am a big believer in Atkins, however I have somewhat modified it for my lifestyle.

I do not believe all of that red meat is healthy for you and gear a lot of my meals around fish and skinless boneless chicken and such.

The thing that I didn't realize that I was going to miss the most was bread. I never realized how many things I ate with bread.

For me, the toughest thing was the induction phase. I would literally get carb cravings at night while working. Given the opportunity I could have ravaged a box of anything. Once I became accustomed to Atkins the cravings subsided, but for induction it was really rough for me.

Now, as I say, I somewhat modify the diet. I deviate a little bit, however I am running and hitting the gym 3x a week. In three months I have lost around 20 pounds or so and feel great.

When I cheat a little, I still get those carb cravings at night, but I would really recommend the Atkins diet.

Although I have never done the South Beach Diet, my wife bought the book because she could not stick with Atkins. She said that South Beach is based on the Atkins but not as radical.

Hope this helps and I simply wasn't rambling.

[Olay020]

The first thing I personally would do is find a friend that is looking to lose some weight too. Work out with each other and use each other as motivation. You will work out alot harder if you have someone there pushing you and making you do it. You always give up because you dont have anyone pushing you to do it. Find a friend and push each other.


Pray for the best, train for the worst
The more we sweat in training, the less we bleed on the streets

[CollegeBoy427]

There have been some good points. I have been running since I was 14 and im now 18. I have a really quick metabloism, so weight was never a real issue. I was always the other way around, I wanted to gain weight and muscle. I have been working out at college, while I was taking a break from running. In the first post, shadowninja said something about running every night of the week....bad idea. That will get you un-motivated and possibly hurt quicker than anything.

zach

[JonathanE]

Ahhh to be young again. Like you when I was younger, I could eat anything and not keep any of it. I used to dream of getting my weight up to 200 lbs.

Then something happened. My early to mid twenties. Things like getting a job, wife, kids etc all take time away from your excerise program. A lot of times I thought, my really quick metabolism will get me through.

Just a word of advice. It will slow down, however the pressures of life will increase and draw more and more of your free time away from you.

Stay with the program and good adivce about the running, but just remember a fast metabolism will not always be something you can count on.

[SWEED]

RUN: USE A SOLAR BELT CAN BE BOUGHT AT KMART.LIFT: HIGH REPS FEW DAYS AND DO PUSHUPS,CRUNCHES,DIPS,CHINS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN...EAT LOTS OF GRAPEFRUIT,,KEEPS HUNGER DOWN,,, DRINK LOTS OF WATER......SPEEDBAG IS FUN AND GOOD TOO,ONCE YOU GET IT DOWN,,MODELS,DICKS OR EVEN KMART MAY HAVE A MULTI CHIN/DIP/PULLUP STATION WHICH GOES FOR ABOUT $140:bounce:

[darrell]

I have worked out on and off for 2.5 years. I have gone from 300 to 209 in that time thats a loss of 91 pounds. My goal is to get down to 180-190 and I am 5'10". Running, doing lots of reps of light weight also helped.