An interesting article in the newspaper today, about young men being overweight and not realizing it.
There was a catch in it: a lot of men feel like they need to lose weight, especially if they have girlfriends or meet their mother often. Women are good at accusing and nagging, but not really helpful. Everyone has been around long enough to know how to lose weight, it's not rocket science to most. Eat less, move more. But the thing is, that the pressure usually comes from around you as tips and suggestions on how to and why, when what men usually need is encouraging words and a way to work over it on themselves.
Now a lot of men spend a lot of time on the internet (this from the article on HS, biggest daily in Finland), and can find ways to cut back on carbs, maybe fat, what ever. A lot find it helpful to get encouragement from other people around the net, just by posting their figures and results, and getting feedback on it.
I totally get this. My girlfriend has made it obvious that I need to lose weight event hough I'm 174cm tall and 70kg, which means I have less fat in my body than she does. It's just, she feels like she needs to lose it, and I'm part of the family, so I'm suffering too, we've all seen these comics, I guess, since flintstones, and that was way back :D
Does this sound applicable to you? Or do you go to Zumba-classes? I read there's a website/forum in Finland, where people post images of their tummies. Apparently competition between men makes it easier to actually do something about it.
Just thought I'd share the joyous word of something.
I can relate to this. I pushed weights for a few months back in high school, and I was always in competition with my friend. He didn't know about it, but I always drove myself further just because I wanted to be better than him :D haha but yea I haven't picked up weights since then. These days I spend my time feeling inadequate about other things!
Best advice I can give anyone thinking of shedding a few pounds: give up soft drinks.
I did, and without changing the way I eat or exercising more, I dropped 35lbs within eight weeks.
Also I'd recommend choosing some sort of schedule that you'd then follow WHATEVER happens -- no excuse.
Something like "Tuesday is gym day". Tell your girlfriend. No excuse, seriously.
It's only a decision to make. Once you get the habit and the rythm, it becomes natural.
I'm 182cm and 120kg and want to lose weight...
But then I made this AWESOME mango-cheese-cake and I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! ;D
@WHAM: Something tells me you are my "Finnish twin".
Just as Ouxxey_games says, I think continuity is key. I lose weight as soon as I keep up exercise continually over time (not that I do that too often).
Quote from: WHAM on Mon 18/07/2011 17:48:05
I'm 182cm and 120kg and want to lose weight...
But then I made this AWESOME mango-cheese-cake and I COULDN'T BE HAPPIER! ;D
I got about 10cm more in height, but basically same problem.
I've be fat for the majority of my life, lost a lot weight 2 years ago but then gained it all back. Been excirsing almost every day this summer, but it's going very very slow.
How do you even bother making a mango-cake? I'm all fed up with cooking after I've heated up some pea-soup :D
Every saturday is cooking day. 6 days a week = cheap crap, such as pea soup, noodles and such. On saturdays, its two hours time for cooking and preparation only!
Since I got married nearly 4 years ago, I had gained 80 lbs. I am trying to lose it right now. This is what I have found successful:
1) Get yourself a Nintendo Wii and EA Active workout. I guarantee you will either start losing weight or die after a ten minute work out from a heartattack. No joke.
2) Avoid salty products as Salt retains water. Dont avoid it completely, but limit how much you have.
3) Avoid fast food.
4) Portion control. Sometimes we dont realize it, but our portions are really 2 or 3 servings. Read the labels.
5) Try to avoid accumulating more than 1800 calories a day.
6) Go for a half hour to an hour power walk a day.
7) Drink lots of water and sweat it out with the above mentioned work out options.
8) Make sure you have your daily serving of fiber. You really need it.
9) If all else fails, continue doing it and also join weight watchers.
http://www.amazon.com/FitDesk-Compact-healthy-computing-gaming/dp/B003JTLJFY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311063266&sr=8-2
I bought this sucker and intend to use it while watching podcasts/films or when I'm not working seriously on art. Seems like an ideal way to burn calories without even paying attention. I watched a video of it in action and the desk is more than stable enough to use a tablet or something if you don't want to just watch your monitor from a distance, and since I have a wireless keyboard and mouse it's practically a godsend for me as far as exercise equipment goes. You can also use it while reading comfortably with your elbows on the padded desk, plus it has pockets for drinks and pens and things.
I've already tried out something similar: http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Medical-Exerciser-Attractive-Silver/dp/B002VWK09Q/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1311063336&sr=8-4 but I don't have a good amount of room in my desk area to set this down and pedal from my chair (and it's harder to get a full leg motion).
I'll probably make a post on my website at www.pixelgeddon.com with a proper lowdown on the fitdesk once I've really tried it out, so if this looks like something you might be interested in, my review will give you a good idea whether or not it's worth the money since I'm determined to put this through the paces to make sure it's comfortable, durable, and USEFUL.
There are a lot of good tips here. Giving up soft drinks, eating less salt and more fiber, and the laptop recumbant bike idea have all worked for me.
Be sure to eat a generally balanced diet too. That means keeping fats and carbs in, but adjusting your intake to your activity level. If you live in the US like me, you are probably accustomed to eating way too much meat too. Protein is important to getting into shape, but one or two servings (3-6oz) of meat per meal is all you need, and making sure you take in protein from multiple sources (beans, nuts, fish, poultry, etc...) is really important for muscle growth. Also, eat a couple pieces of fruit daily, but don't gorge on it to make up for other treats. If you have to have a substitute, vegetables have less simple sugars and more fiber, so you can pretty much eat the hell out of them. For any meal, try to have 1 protein, one starch/carb, and a couple veggies. Finally, for long lasting results, it is always good to cut food with fake ingredients out of your diet completely. The two big ones for weight loss are monosodium glutamate which dehydrates your body and tricks it into feeling hungry, and hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils which really wreak havoc on your metabolism making it particularly difficult to get into a healthy lifestyle and stay there.
Ok, tirade on food aside, find something you genuinely enjoy doing on a regular basis. I have taken up carpentry, hiking, and hunting over the past two years, and having something strenuous to look forward to will make you want to get into shape even more to take advantage of whatever it is you enjoy. You can set up a work out regimen as well, but I find a pysical hobby gives you a more applicable reason to actually stick to the day to day exercise than just the goal of losing weight. And, if that's not motivation enough, when you start to really get into shape, sex is WAY better. Honestly, it's hard to even express how much better it is or in how many ways.
Anyhow, hope this post is helpful to someone. Goodluck