Weight loss exercises?

[OilSheikh]

If you want to do stuff at home buy a cheap xtrainer, stick it infront of the TV and your away, failing that put a keyboard/trackpad combo on the front of it and surf the net while you go for a run

[Theo]

I didn't receive a thanks for my advice. Was it not constructive ?

[[GSV]Trig]

Shush moanin' I got a slap ffs...

[Flash477]

The diet really isn't the issue. Current diet isn't making me fat IMO. I have been having chkn curry ( the mild homememade type , not your buttered oily one from Indian restaurants ) for dinner and Kelogggs corn flakes for breakfast for 20 yrs. he biscuits I eat are the bland types , no sugared or chocolated ones.

You may have been having the same breakfast for 20 years, but 20 years ago you were also probably running around most of the day burning off that energy. Now you're probably behind a desk most of the day. It may not be making you fat, but it is stopping you from losing weight with your current level of exercise.

Building up muscle is nice, but if you really want to lose weight then you need cardo exercise to burn off the fat. I used to think that I didn't have the time to do it, but it isn't every day and can be done in 45 mins (about 15mins of weights and 30mins running is what I currently do). It is also best to do the exercises when you are hungry, ie. in the evening before you have dinner, as that way it will cause your body to use up fat stores, rather than the food you've recently eaten.

I actually have a cross trainer that I do my exercises on, as I'm quite big and proper running would put a lot of stress on my legs due to my weight, whereas the cross trainer doesn't have that impact. And for the £20-30 I spent on it it's a great tool - you could even watch TV whilst running if you wanted to take your mind off it.

I'm using the following programme at the moment:

http://www.bupa.co.uk/running/traini.../beginner-5km/

I've only been doing it a few weeks, but already lost a stone with it. The first barrier is always motivation, but once you start to see the effect and start feeling the effects it becomes a lot easier.

[[GSV]Trig]

I actually have a cross trainer that I do my exercises on, as I'm quite big and proper running would put a lot of stress on my legs due to my weight, whereas the cross trainer doesn't have that impact. And for the £20-30 I spent on it it's a great tool - you could even watch TV whilst running if you wanted to take your mind off it.

[HSK]

I didn't receive a thanks for my advice. Was it not constructive ?

lol, you get a thanks for speaking out about not getting a thanks.

[OilSheikh]

ok, ok ... giving Thanks to everyone now.

What you said Flash477 makes sense. I might try something like 2 x Rusk biscuits.

I am going to do weights and some sort of excercises for 30 mins. daily from now on, like the ... chest downs ?

[Paul_tech]

Hope fitness and healthy food will helpful for you.

[Tractor]

I belive the best ways to lose weight are free, just go for a walk for 15 mins extra a day.

p.s. it's supprising how much sugar is in corn flakes O.o

[Kumagoro]

How about taking up a martial art of some kind. That way you will be doing something where you
are not actually thinking of it as exercise and as a chore.

When I wanted to slim down i found that if I didnt have a normal dinner in the evening every coulple
or few days my weight would gradually come down.

[Lucio]

Just as a follow up, I'm eating the following on a typical day

1 x cereal bar (approx 150 kcal)
1 x sandwich (approx 450 kcal)
1 x microwave meal, usually with addded cheese (approx 700 kcal)

My drinks are usually water, black coffee, redbush tea or diet cola. At least 2 litres or more. On some days I'll eat more by adding something like beer or having a bag of crisps instead of the cereal bar. I sometimes feel hungry but often I find having a drink stops that.

The biggest difference is definitely the exercise as my muscles are firming up, particularly my legs and arse.

[Macman]

Run everywhere? Tis what I do.

Kept really fit, even ran 4 miles from Work to my house even in my work shoes in 40 mins when we had the crazy snow.

[Ciber]

Just as a follow up, I'm eating the following on a typical day

1 x cereal bar (approx 150 kcal)
1 x sandwich (approx 450 kcal)
1 x microwave meal, usually with addded cheese (approx 700 kcal)

My drinks are usually water, black coffee, redbush tea or diet cola. At least 2 litres or more. On some days I'll eat more by adding something like beer or having a bag of crisps instead of the cereal bar. I sometimes feel hungry but often I find having a drink stops that.

The biggest difference is definitely the exercise as my muscles are firming up, particularly my legs and arse.

That's not enough calories! An adult male needs more than 1300 each day. Aim for more like 2000. Have an egg for breakfast as well. It will help you feel less hungry as well as help wake you up.

[Lucio]

Oops double post

[Lucio]

That's not enough calories! An adult male needs more than 1300 each day. Aim for more like 2000. Have an egg for breakfast as well. It will help you feel less hungry as well as help wake you up.

I'm not a breakfast person, I can barely stomach the cereal bar in the morning as it is. It's certainly helped me loose weight sticking to that, 4 stone down in 6 months, approx 23% of my starting weight gone and that's only a baseline, I tend to top up a couple of times a week anyway.

[Mutley]

You may have been having the same breakfast for 20 years, but 20 years ago you were also probably running around most of the day burning off that energy. Now you're probably behind a desk most of the day. It may not be making you fat, but it is stopping you from losing weight with your current level of exercise.

^This.

Its a hard thing to accept, but as you get older, your body does not require the same calorie intake as when you were young. If you were to consume the same diet for your whole life, and expend the same amount of energy each each day, you would get fatter.

It all comes down to a very simple formula at the end of the day:

To lose weight, calories eaten < calories burned. Or another way, you must burn more calories than you are eating.

Of course, it gets a little more complex in application. Everyone is different; your metabolism may be different to mine, but the same rules apply. Typically as a rule of thumb, you need to be looking to burn 200 calories a day more than you eat to start making a difference, to get your body to burn your energy reserves (fat)...or eat 200 calories a day less than you burn.

Exersise alone will NOT lose you weight....unless you do an awful lot of it. One pound (1lb) of fat contains 3500 calories. An 'average' person will burn about 300 calories in 30 minutes of running. So to burn off 3500 calories (ie. 1lb of fat), you would need to run for almost 6 hours...
But that is also very simplistic.

Bottom line is this - to lose weight, you need to two things:
1. Reduce your calorie intake (safely)
2. Increase your exersise, especially low cardio (e.g. long slow runs, instead of short fast runs).

Building muscle or at least sustaining it is also important as you get older; muscle will use more calories (but also add more weight don't forget - muscle is denser than fat).

A few things about your diet; avoid processed food as much as you can. Eat lots of fruit and veg. Reduce your process sugar and salt intake. Drink plenty of water. Don't be fooled into thinking its just about not eating chocolates, sweets, cakes etc. All food contains calories, always take a close look at what you are consuming. I'd also say, don't completely cut out food you love. That is just a way of making the whole weight loss experience terrible, and good way of making your fail. Have some of those nice extras, but keep them as treats.

Hope this helps.