Official Diet & Exercise Tips Thread

[GekiLPL]

It's hard to say. Everyone's a little bit different. However, if your diet consists of mostly junk food and you don't exercise much at the moment, the weight might come off pretty quickly after you switch to a healthier lifestyle. That's by no means a sure thing, mind you.

The two most important things are to (1) take it slowly, and (2) do not starve yourself. Keeping track of your calories will become important later on, but don't overwhelm yourself at the outset. If you're like me, you probably have a lifetime of bad habits you need to break, why stress out over tiny details? It takes time to right the ship.

For your diet, what I did (and what I think is easier to maintain) is I slowly started to phase in cleaner food. One month I stopped drinking sodas. The next month, I started eating wheat bread instead of white bread. The month after that, I began to eat leaner meats. I never made too many changes at once. I gave my body (and my palette) time to adjust. If you're used to eating Cheetos as a snack, vegetables won't be very tasty . . . at first. But if you give it time and experiment
with different types of fruits and vegetables (which are very important), you'll actually start to like them.

As far as exercising goes, like travz said, don't overdo it. You spoke about walking and jogging, and I think that's a simple enough place to start. Let your body get used to more physical activity. I can tell you from experience, trying to do too much too soon fucking hurts, haha. It sounds like you have the right idea, though.

Thank you for the advice. My whole life I have ate pretty much whatever I wanted and I don't exercise at all at the moment. I'm switching to water and diet soda's for now, and everytime I eat a meal, I am going to write it down and write down what it was that I ate. I'm going to eat healthy meals that I like. And I'm going to start exercising. Hopefully soon, improvement will show. I think cutting out high calorie drinks like shakes and energy drinks and regular soda will help a lot, and if I start maintaining what I eat, that will help too.

[Star Scream]

100 sit ups then a cup of milk thats my idea

worked for me

[Geki]

Anyone have any advice on how to quit drinking alcohol? I wake up and drink pretty much, I'm thinking that I may be borderline alcoholic at this point. I'm gaining a lot of weight from it and I feel achy and sick a lot from alcohol as well... Please help..

[travz21]

If you can't just quit doing it on the spot, you're an alcoholic. Going out and partying a lot and drinking a ton is one thing, but when you have drinks when you roll out of bed for no real reason, then it's clearly a problem if you can't stop.

[Geki]

If you can't just quit doing it on the spot, you're an alcoholic. Going out and partying a lot and drinking a ton is one thing, but when you have drinks when you roll out of bed for no real reason, then it's clearly a problem if you can't stop.

That's the real problem.. I wake up and want to drink. Like I go buy a bunch of beer or whiskey and drink by myself at home. I rarely ever drink with anyone and I never go to parties or bars. Alcoholism runs in my family. I don't think I have a serious problem yet, but I do this everyday and I want to stop it before it gets bad.

[Promofrog]

Eat lots of fruit, the water content is satisfying to your body.

That's the real problem.. I wake up and want to drink. Like I go buy a bunch of beer or whiskey and drink by myself at home. I rarely ever drink with anyone and I never go to parties or bars. Alcoholism runs in my family. I don't think I have a serious problem yet, but I do this everyday and I want to stop it before it gets bad.

I suggest doing something else instead of drinking, whenether you want a drink, eat a piece of fruit.
In the future of Earth, most people will not drink, they will realise that alcohol is bad for your internal organs, diminishes your sense of being and only serves a purpose as a tool for running away from "problems" which are only problems because you are not accepting situations which arise in your life, my dad and brother are alcoholics and can't accept this advice, I hope you take something away from it.

[Snail]

Guts & determination. Never give up folks.

[Luke]

DDP, what a legend.

[Geki]

I need so much help. I'm 6'1 and currently weigh 235 pounds. I need help quitting soda and energy drinks, and just high calorie beverages alltogether. I want to be able to just drink water, not diet soda. I feel I could lose a lot of weight by just cutting it out alone... What is an ideal weight for a 6'1 male?

[~xXmEt30R4_1Uv3r_03.23.03Xx~]

There's no way to "help" quit soda and energy drinks. Just stop. All the sugar and calories from those sodas are definitely not needed.

After a while, soda will be too sweet and water will be delicious.

[Geki]

There's no way to "help" quit soda and energy drinks. Just stop. All the sugar and calories from those sodas are definitely not needed.

After a while, soda will be too sweet and water will be delicious.

I'm going to try really hard, it's just sometimes hard for me. I feel like a damn drug addict or something, I can go a day or two without soda, and then I drink one and then I just start drinking it for a while and then quit again, etc.... It sucks...

[travz21]

The easiest way for people to lose weight is to quit drinking soda and to start drinking a gallon of water a day.

I workout very intensely with a buddy, and he's still not happy with his weight loss. He's still sucking down soda like it's nothing. I always tell him that what we're doing in the weight room is the hardest part by a huge margin. Changing your diet takes no sweat, pain, or tears. It's the most effortless way to lose weight, yet most people still won't do it. The worst part is that he has the will and determination inside of him to kill himself 6 days a week in the weight room, but he can't seem to simply stop drinking soda.

I constantly tell him, and he knows that he won't fully realize his goals until he changes his diet. But he has made a lot of changes to his body already, so he's still very happy. Maybe that's the problem. He's content with the progress he's made so far and might not feel the need to stop consuming something he loves.

[Slug Whore]

Sodas weren't super hard for me to quit drinking, but the best advice I can give is to take it slow. Don't quit cold turkey. Cut down to one or two sodas a day. Let your body get used to that for a couple of weeks, then try to go a day or two without sodas. And, like travz said, drink a lot of water, especially while you are eating. Food tastes so much better without a sugary drink, in my opinion.

[MaryMayhem]

It took years for me to finally be able to do it. I emotionally overate as a kid and reaped the results. I ended up my highest weight at 199 pounds at 14 years old. I stopped eat for a few days after that one because I refused to hit 200.

After several more years of seriously struggling with the weight and depression, I finally started to get myself going and losing weight... got down to about 148, and then my mom got sick. After she passed from cancer, I gained it all back. Didn't care about anything at that point.

About 2 years after I lost my mom I decided that the weight was only making my life worse. In 2008, I began changing my eating habits and slowly introducing exercising (I used to sit on the couch in my depression and do nothing.) I started with walking once a day for 30 minutes. Then I realized I enjoyed walking and listening to my music, so it turned into multiple times a day.

Today, I have gone from 199 pounds to 113. I (try) to eat as healthy as possible, but I don't kill myself over it if and when I slip up... I (try) to work out without missing a day, but I don't kill myself over it if I slip up. And that is VERY important... because the reason my past attempts failed, was due to the amount of times I slipped up and hated myself so much for it that I got discouraged and gave up. I maintain the weight with ease now, I can eat fatty foods and not work out and live through it, but I make sure this doesn't happen often...
th
I'm trying to lose at least 10 pounds more (i'm only 5'2 and i've spoken to my doctor. He said my weight now is perfect but if I feel like I NEED to, I can attempt it to lose more, but not 'too much'.) So i'm making a new work out routine and a new 'diet' (it's also important to not look at it as a diet, but a lifestyle change). I'm beginning training tomorrow for a Zombie race in November, so I think that'll be a good start.

But in short, my advice is to start out slow... go at your own pace... don't rush it and don't get discouraged.

Here's a before and after of myself... before from 2005, the after from last year i'll be taking more progress pics when the new progress begins! I hope I haven't bored you all too much with my babbling lol.



and a second 'after' for good measure.



(PS, i'm not a whore... I just like heeled boots... lol... we we're going to our friend's rock show at the local pub.)

[Snail]

That is an amazing journey MaryMayhem. Great results! And definitely lookin good.

[MaryMayhem]

That is an amazing journey MaryMayhem. Great results! And definitely lookin good.

Thank you Snail it's always nice to hear reinforcement that it's visibly paid off! Even though I know I look much different now, after so many years spent being overweight, it becomes difficult to not see yourself that way anymore. But i'm working on it

[Snail]

Flaunt it if you've got it. Reveal it, don't conceal it. But in all seriousness, be proud, and stay the course! Unless you're on vacation.

[MaryMayhem]

hahaha thank you! vacations are usually my 'safe' zone, I always dread the weigh in when I get back, though... lol.

[Derek]

That is an truly remarkable result and you should be very proud of yourself for what you've accomplished. 86 pounds (almost 90!!) is a huge journey and if you consider the fact that what you lost was about 40% of your total original body weight, that's a major deal. I'm down to 200 exactly. (from a starting weight of 232) and I'm looking to hopefully lose about another 20. Then I'll be happy. Naturally, after that I'll begin weight lifting which will probably bring me back over 200 with muscle weight eventually, but at least I'll be healthy right? .

[Zane]

That's amazing Mary! I can't help but tell you that you have had great success!

And just a quick note, but I have to say it, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE 5K Zombie Run is KICKASS. I really want to volunteer for it as a zombie next year!