Unusual challenge. Significant weight loss with diving as goal.

[Easdem]

LM:

Much respect for making a goal like this. I am the Executive Chef at a world class hospital system, my wife is a registered/licensed dietitian so I am intimately familiar with weight loss programs, diets, etc...

There are 1000's of diet/workout programs out there that will achieve results short term, what is hard is maintaining. It really is a simple formula... intake less than you burn and loose weight....period.... no gimmicks...

3500 calories burned=1lb. of lost weight. Cut out 500 calories a day (through exercise or diet) is 1 lb a week lost. To put it in perspective one 20oz bottle of coke has 240 calories and a big grab bag of lays chips has 320 calories....thats 560 calories for that mid afternoon snack...

Add up all the calories you consume per day for 3 days. Get the average. Determine how many calories you actually need to consume http://www.dietbites.com/Pyramid-Diet/calories-needs-entire-index.htm to maintain your goal weight.

Calculate what the caloric deficit is between the recommended and your actual... and there you go... here is an example to illustrate....

Dieter Diver adds up everything that he eats & drinks over a period of three days. He estimates his calorie totals as follows: 3,675 calories, 3,600 calories and 3,700 calories. Dieter Diver will use his lowest daily calorie intake of 3,600 to calculate calories for his diet plan.

How Many Daily Calories Will Diver Need?

Diver uses the link above and determines the recommended daily calorie intake for 175 pounds. Because Diver has a small frame size, he determines that he will require 2,275 calories per day to maintain a weight of 175 pounds.

Next, Diver weighs himself and determines that he is in need of losing 25 pounds. So how many daily calories will Diver need and how long will it take him to lose 25 pounds?

Dieter Diver subtracts the recommended 2,275 daily calories from 3,600 daily calories which he is currently consuming to equal a NEW daily total calorie intake difference of 1,325 calories. It will take Diver approximately 3 days to drop one pound OR about 1 week to drop 2 pounds.

One of the best methods of dropping pounds is to determine the daily calories needed to maintain an individual's recommended weight (or healthy goal weight) and to simply stick to consuming the recommended daily calories. A lot of dieters tend to get things backwards - picking a daily calorie total that is well below what they will need to consume once they achieve their weight loss goal. By consuming the recommended calories for the recommended weight, weight loss occurs naturally. Other perks include: the individual has no need to 'retrain' their eating habits because they have established such throughout the dieting process the body is less stressed throughout the weight loss process because nutrition needs can be easily met weight loss plateaus are kept at bay via gradual and natural weight reduction...

Add some workouts in the middle there and you will achieve maintainable results quickly and naturally...

 

[knowone]

Very excellent post dude.

 

[ta]

You might want to learn to dive sooner rather than later, since it will get you out and moving around more.

I agree fully with Flots here. I am a new diver also and it's definitely inspired me to get in better shape. Diving is pretty addictive - so if all the "live longer, be healthier" stuff hasn't been enough of a motivation, there's always hope for "I'll be able to dive longer if I'm in better shape and use less air" and "wow, look at all those too-small wetsuits on sale for next to nothing on the online sites!".

My goal- and reward to myself- is that by this time next year, I dive.LM

Believe me, you'll have plenty of stuff left to reward yourself. You can add your own gear as you reach certain fitness goals.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted on your progress.:cheerleader:

 

[--tom--]

Your idea of purchasing MF&S now is a good one also. It will easily tie into your fitness program, but more importantly, you will be more comfortable with wearing and using them. If you have a friend who dives, they should be able to show you the basics of kicking with fins as well as clearing a snorkel. This simply means that you will have less learning stress when it comes time to take your scuba class.

 

[terrylowe]

Congrats on picking challenging goal. The rewards are worth it. I see people who are working on weigh loss all the time. I see them burn out at 2-3 months into the program. Just wanted to encourage you...it is OK to get discouraged, but go into it with the idea that this will take time and requires an every day effort. It won't be fixed in 8 weeks. It IS fixable though and scuba is a BLAST!

 

[rk288]

Check out P90X...in your house, on your TV; just push "Play", do your best and forget the rest. They have an awesome nutrition program which is included (except for the supplements)...Bring It...

 

[LM]

Awesomeness

A+++ post!

Thank you sir!

 

[halocline]

Congratulations on your goals; although you'll find the physical requirements for diving are pretty lax. I realize that right now you have a lot of motivation based on diving, but you might want to expand your motivation for losing weight as you progress. Losing a huge amount of weight is a major lifestyle change, and I believe motivation for maintaining something like that must be more comprehensive than just based on a single activity that you wish to embark on. That can get you started for sure, but once you've achieved that....

One thing to really research is the very high percentage of weight losers who then gain it back vs those who maintain the lower weight. One thing I would imagine is associated with long term success is incorporating exercise that you really enjoy into your daily life. Good luck on your new pursuit!

 

[soltari675]

I had the same goals starting. I was going to lose weight to dive. And I did! I started going down, but I actually added diving into my exercise program. Here is what I did:

I restricted what foods I ate dramatically. No more fried food. I cut fat and calories. I reduced my portions to half of what I would normally eat. Not only did I lose, I felt better. You WILL be hungry for about a week until your body gets use to the new food habits and realizes you are not dying.

Three times a week I would go to an indoor pool. I joined one of those water fitness groups. Even if you don't have a group, you can do the exercises. Do in water jumping jacks, move like you are on snow skis, walk, try to run in the water. I would rotate like 10 minutes water aerobics, 10 min swimming, back and forth for an hour or hour and a half. I felt great after a week or so of doing this. Instead of driving to places nearby, I walked. I walked my dog further. Anything like that.

Every weekend, I went diving. I like to do about 3 dives a day when I go. Plus a night when someone else wants to come with me. From what I have heard that is a lot. 2 seems average? I don't know. But every chance I got I went. It was more exercise and I was doing what I love.

I am not at my ideal weight yet, but still working hard on it. I started this routine last August and I lost 35 lbs. Minus the long break for the holidays Man I love Christmas treats! And who eats healthy on Thanksgiving?!

 

[RJP]

BTW, in some of the literature I read in the past it is mentioned that swimming actually leads to either some weight gain or retention of weight since the body reacts to "cold" by retaining body fat to stay warm.

Yeah, when I think "swimmer's body" I just picture all of those bloated/overweight fatsos at the Olympics...