Okay I am sick of this I want to lose weight

[Lukiedukie]

I use to be in great shape and I am sick of not being in shape. So now I am getting ready to get myself back in shape. My work out partners are my three dogs. A 11 year old lab a 1.5 year old rot/shepard mix and a 5 month old lab. I am going to start to walk them daily. We are going to start off slowly as the older lab and the rot mix are not in shape either. On top of that I am going to start including simple clasentics to my morning. The area I am lost on is diet. I can set up a diet for adding muscle mass but I am nto sure how much I can cut out to lose weight. I am not going to be lifting and free weights at first as my biggest concern is getting my healthy.

Any one willing to give me a hand or at least point me in the right direction?

 

[Footslogger]

I've lost 15 lbs since January and still losing. What I did was to focus on portion size and fat content. That sounds pretty profound but it works. My wife has been on Weight Watchers for a long time but she cheats a lot. I looked over that program and made a list of the foods that WW'ers assigns low points to ...like fruits and "light" beverages. For snacks I eat carrots or those flavored rice cakes (in moderation). I began a workout program that consists of about 30 minutes every morning before work. It's about 20 minutes of aerobics and 10 - 15 mins of resistance work (Total Gym and light dumbells).

The key I found is to keep good things around so that when you're hungry you don't end up sabotaging yourself.

Oh yeah ...and if you like beer you don't have to give it up completely. Just switch to something like Aspen Edge and limit your consumption a bit.

'Slogger

 

[Lukiedukie]

That is the great thing. I do not drink beer very often maybe one or two a month. My problem is Coke!!!! If possible I will fire 2-3 back in a day at least. When I was in shape before I did not allow any Cole Pepsi Dr Pepper in my house. If I tried that now there would be a mutiny the my 14 year old leading the charge. I have to start substituting water for Coke. If I can do that I bet I will drop 10lbs just from the drop in daily caloric intake. I figure my dog walking will be around 30-45 mintues of activity that I did not have before. I am thinking if I do that for a month then I should be able to add some more intense activitys (Jogging, Wind sprints, Shadow boxing,)

 

[fairybasslet]

I'll give you my teenage son. I lost 2 lbs this weekend because I was so stressed over something he got into. I'll take him back when he's a productive member of society.

 

[Footslogger]

That is the great thing. I do not drink beer very often maybe one or two a month. My problem is Coke!!!! If possible I will fire 2-3 back in a day at least.
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We replaced all the soda in our house with the Minute Made "Light" drinks. There are about 5 - 6 varieties and they taste great. Made with real juice but really low calorie. No doubt ...Coke is a killer. There's enough sugar in Coke to eat rust off a car bumper. If I were you that's where I would start.

As far as the exercise goes ...I knew going in that at my age if the program was too intense I'd never stick to it. That's why I limit the time to around 30 mins a day. We have a small area in the basement set aside for exercise and I mounted a TV on the wall. We can watch a news channel or a movie while we're exercising and that makes time fly. For example ...this morning I watched CNN while I worked out and got my entire mornings dose of news. Then it's off to the shower and on to work.

Whatever you do I'd suggest that it NOT be too heavy or you will most likely loose interest. Also ...don't look for the weight to drop over night. After about 2 weeks was when I first noticed the difference and then just by staying with my program I was able to progress at around 4 - 5 lbs per week. That included several nice meals on the grill. We grill a lot and like to eat salmon and steak. We just buy the lean cuts and about half as much as we used to. Lots of steamed veggies make a great side dish.

Best of luck to you ...

'Slogger

'Slogger

 

[Scuba65]

I'm in the same boat.....i started 3 weeks ago this coming Fri. I've lost 4 lbs. I walk between 2-3 miles a day, and i workout at home also in the evenings. it's very hard...I have given up coke also and now i just drink water or Crystal Light if i want the flovor of something. I watch the calories i intake and fat content in foods. i'm intaking in about 1000 cal. a day if so. Try the Special K Bars/or Snack Bites they are good for a snack...same with fruits and veggies. try not to eat when you're bored which is the problem alot of people have. and yes, walking is great. good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Lukiedukie]

I am an ex power lifter/bodybuilder so I know that my weight will nto drop off in the blink of an eye but if I can see changes in six weeks then I will try to step it up another notch. I figure in six weeks I can get the dogs and myself back in shape or at least in starting to get there and then I can add to this. I will have to walk each of them seperate at first as they are still in need of leash training. I figure that I can walk each one of them for 15-30 mintues and just swap them out and keep going.

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

Hi, Luke. Since you've been a weightlifter, you know that perhaps even more than cardio, lifting regularly and eating six small meals a day, (low fat stuff like chicken breasts, tuna, turkey, etc.) will really start boosting your metabolism. "Body For Life" is a good, basic program, if you're trying to get back into good physical shape, in 12 weeks or less. Good luck!

 

[fairybasslet]

one of the trainers in the gym told me this when I was down there on my lunch hour. She said that when I hit a plateau, I should warm up for about 10 minutes, do 3 minutes of cardio really fast, then do 20 reps of whatever machine or free weight exercise I want, then go back and do another 3 minutes of fast cardio, then do 20 reps of something else. She said it will really trick your body into burning up fat. I haven't tried this yet because she just told me today. But I think I will one day. BTW, she said just to do this 1 day a week.

 

[lowwall]

Theoretically the quickest way to lose weight is by totally revamping your diet, but in reality very few people manage to keep this up successfully. Anyway, the latest medical evidence suggests that within reasonable limits, diet really isn't that big of a factor in our long term health. On the other hand, exercising improves just about every aspect of health and has absolutely no drawbacks.

So I say exercise and do the easy stuff with your diet. It takes around 3500 calories above or below what your body needs to gain or lose a pound of fat. So definitely get rid of the Cokes, switching to water or diet drinks will save you 2 or 3 pounds a month. Look for other things you can switch or leave out with minimal pain, like no-fat milk in your coffee or on your cereal and skipping the cheese on your burger.

Given your background, I think you'll quickly come to a point where you start wanting to do more and you'll probably have the willpower to do it. The key is really to start out easy enough both on diet and exercise that you don't just give up on the whole thing.

FWIW, if you've got the space, at some point you might want to look into a concept2 rower (http://www.concept2.com). The workout is non-impact (knees are a real weak point for heavyweights, making jogging a real risk) and there is a whole on-line community, including competitions, built around indoor rowing which helps keep you motivated. I was once interviewed for a newspaper article on the rower, let's see if it's still around somewhere (googles). OK, http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/health/story/55029p-51553c.html

Alex