In the past my g/f and I have been trying to lose some weight. We would go to the gym and run for about 15-30 min for about a week, but we did not see any results so we just stop. Now that my dad told us that he lost 15 lbs in a month but cutting back some of the food he eat and eating different, and also walking about 2-3 miles per day. We thought we would give a shot. In the past 3-4 years my g/f and I have been together, we would ALWAYS eat fast food. about 5-6 times per week. I think that's probably why we gained a lot of weight. So here's our new approch to losing weight. first by not eating fast food. we try to limit our food intake to about 1500 - 1600 calories per day. Like an apple for breakfast, a turkey sandwich with more fruit for lunch, and some pasta with a roll for dinner and drinking water all day only. If I get hungry during the day, I would eat an apple or some other kind of fruit. In the past it would be a candy bar. We also excerise about 30 min each day, by running, which burn about 200-260 cal. for the excercise. We like to lose about 20 - 30 pounds before July which is when our wedding is. How does this sound so far? any other tips that might help?
White bread, white rice, pasta ect...espically at night! Regular pasta is one of the worst things you can eat. Try and limit all your grains (brown stuff) to the morning or early afternoon so you can burn it off though out the day.
Oatmeal is awesome to have in the morning because it sticks to you and keeps you satisfied longer. (stay away for the sugary stuff...sugar brakes down and turns to fat)
You want to eat 5-6 small meals a day about every 2-3 hrs or so (this keeps your metabolism going so your body doesnt go into starvation mood and start storing fat). Make sure each one contains a small amount of lean protein (I like about 2 slices of chicken deli meat, or turkey) and veggies, or fruit. You do have to be careful with certain fruits though, some contain more sugar then others...such as apples, or apple sauce. They contain a lot of sugar and you def. dont want to be eating those everyday. Berries are a very good fruit to eat, blue, rass, straw, black...they are all great.
Dont be afraid of nuts...yes they might be high in fat, but they are GOOD fats that your body needs...so a handful of nuts aint a bad thing for a snack
Cardio..if you want to lose it you have to move it (that sounded DUMB lol) anyway, make sure you are doing At least 30mins of cardio 5x's a week...switch it up so your body doesnt get bored...also light weight training is VERY helpful. Muscle helps burn the fat faster, so the more you have, the faster it will burn.
I hope this helped, if you have anymore questions just let us know...GOOD LUCK!!!
Last edited by ShoelessEX : 03-16-2006 at 06:51 AM.
^ Pretty good advice so far, so without giving a full diet plan, I'll give some tips...
Don't hesitate to have some coffee in the morning. Caffeine will up your metabolism for a bit.
Don't cut out sweets completely! You'll get burnt out. The reason many people fail in their diets is because they try to be all gung-ho about it and that lasts for... maybe a week. Do things gradually. Maybe have fast food once a week as your cheat meal. Maybe cut back to just one soda a day. After this, you can get as strict as you like, but if you try to make a 100% overnight change, this isn't going to be a life change.
Don't be afraid of those crazy guys in the weight room. Go lift with them. Go do some squats, some curls, some bench presses, some shoulder presses, etc. Building muscle takes calories and a lot of them. More muscle = higher metabolism.
If your girlfriend is worried about getting muscular or bulky, tell her white2K2EX from 7thgen said not to worry. She simply doesn't have the genetics to get big.
Get whole grains. If you're gonna eat pasta, have it for lunch and make sure it's whole grain pasta - the brown stuff. Make sure your rice and your bread is brown, too. Have the steak or the chicken breasts for dinner. Don't have carbs past 8 or 9 pm (in general, a few hours before bed.)
Have some lean protein and some carbs after you work out.
Park far away. Not only does it save you from door dings, you have to walk further - burning calories!
Work out in the evening. Studies have shown that it's better for reducing fat because you spike your metabolism when it's starting to slow down.
I used to be like you. When my wife and I moved in together, we would hit the fast food joints, order pizza and wings, etc... I gained 20lbs since I got out of college 3 yrs ago.
I started dieting and exercising since the first of the year. I cut out fast food, sweets, soda, potato chips, french fries, cookies, etc... I drink lots of water and eat every 3 hrs with smaller portions.
In 7 weeks, I lost 15lbs and feel great. It definitely isn't easy but is well worth it. You can exercise all you want, but the bottom line is, your diet is the key to losing weight.
i wont go into specifics but just some general basics on losing weight.
limiting your calories (you started on this already). a general rule of thumb i go by is that you take your bodyweight and times it by 10. that will be the grand total amount of calories you should aim for throughout the day. 40% of those cals should come from protein, 30% fat and other 30% toward carbs.
as shoelessex mentioned, i highly recommend that you consider weight training into your fitness shedule as well...even just a basic 30min session before your 30min of cardio.
heres a link to a list of great healthy foods: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/stella9a.htm
hopefully more can help you on your weight loss issue, im not too big on dieting and weight loss as im more of a person about lifting heavy weight lol. if you consider weight lifting into your shedule, i can help you plently on that one and incorperate you and your gf a basic routine.
So far it's been about a week, since we have started eating differently Neither one of us skipped a meal we just eat smaller portions but more often in the day (every 3-4 hrs), we also cut out fast food and soft drinks, to my surprise, we didn't miss it at all. my g/f would average about 1400 calories a day and i average about 1600 a day. We both spend about 30 min each day on the elliptical machine for the last 7 days. Here's the results: She has lost 9 pounds and I have lost 7 in one week, this is lot more that what we expected.
Last edited by Silver02EX : 03-21-2006 at 05:06 PM.
So far it's been about a week, since we have started eating differently Neither one of us skipped a meal we just eat smaller portions but more often in the day (every 3-4 hrs), we also cut out fast food and soft drinks, to my surprise, we didn't miss it at all. my g/f would average about 1400 calories a day and i average about 1600 a day. We both spend about 30 min each day on the elliptical machine for the last 7 days. Here's the results: She has lost 9 pounds and I have lost 7 in one week, this is lot more that what we expected.
GOOD JOB!
Isn't it an awesome feeling to change your body? Cross-trainers rock, too. They're way better than treadmills, in my opinion. More exciting and then don't have the same chance of screwing up your legs.
I'll just add a caution about fruit. Fruit contains fructose, and your liver can store a maximum of 100 grams per day. If you take in beyond that amount, then the rest gets converted to bodyfat.
Fruit contains wonderful nutrients, but you simply have to take care in selecting the right ones, and the quantities.
Check this thread for a list of fruits and their fructose content:
