Weight Loss tips and techniques

[JohnChimpo]

On 5/8/2023 at 5:10 PM, MKnight82 said:

The no exercise required model doesn’t work when you get older. 

I’d say it depends. Exercise is certainly going to help, but you can lose weight without it at any age, depending upon how much weight you have to lose. If you are already at a low body fat level, it is going to be very difficult to lose weight without exercise, especially if you use the strict definition of “no exercise,” meaning you don’t even get out of bed. I’m sure we’re not talking about the strict definition though.

[Buc Ball]

Stay in a consistent calorie deficit, drink at least 2 litres of water per day and eat 400g of fruit and veg per day.

Your calorie target doesn’t need to be as low as you think it does - use an online calculator to work it out and even if you take the higher calorie number from the range it gives you, you’ll still see an effect with consistency.

I went from 220lbs to 180lbs in seven months and my calorie limit never dropped below 2,100. 

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

It’s simple tbh, but not easy.

1. You’ve gotta move.  Walk 10k steps, lift, play basketball, whatever, you have to get out and get regular physical activity. If you’re not tired at the end of the day you’re doing it wrong.

2. Eat good food.  CICO is a thing for weight loss, but not necessarily health. Focus on natural, “one ingredient” foods.  This really isn’t hard tbh, we all know what we should be eating and what we shouldn’t, we just make excuses.  
 

3. Alcohol is probably hurting more than you think. Empty calories, decreased inhibition leading to poor food choices during and after drinking as well as the next day. Usually excessive calories.  Hangovers or just malaise the next day.  I’m not going to say how much you should or shouldn’t drink, that’s your call, but literally any alcohol is a choice you’re making that’s doing nothing but making things harder for you.

4. weigh your food.  You aren’t good at guesstimating. 
 

5. learn that there’s a middle ground between hungry and full. We don’t have to eat until we’re full at every meal.

6. cheat meals are fine, cheat days/weekends/etc are excessive.  Wanna reward yourself on Saturday nights with a favorite meal and a scoop of ice cream or whatever?  Ok, cool.  Planning a 5k calorie meal or fixating on that cheat meal Sunday through the following Saturday?  Nah man. Again, you do you but this isn’t healthy or helpful.  This is a different form of unhealthy eating.

7. it’s not going to be easy.  You’re going to be hungry at times.  You’re not going to be able to eat whatever, wherever.  Some foods aren’t going to fit into your goals and are gonna have to be cheat meals or you’re gonna have to figure out how to make a lower calorie version of them. Not everything you eat is going to be delicious.  You’re eating to fuel activity, recovery, etc., not JUST for enjoyment.  Not saying it has to be miserable, but you’re gonna have to make concessions. 

8. learn to use seasonings, herbs, spices, etc as opposed to fats and sugars to add flavor to your food.

9. you need to be ok telling people no.  “Nah, not drinking now…. No, not interested in going out for pizza tonight… no thanks, trying to avoid sweets.”  
 

10. find what works for you.  Everyone is different, you may respond to different foods, exercise, eating schedules, macros, etc different than me.  You need to find what works for YOU.

11. Make adjustments as you go. How you feel, caloric needs, etc change over time based on lots of variables.  Evaluate and adjust.

12.  Drink water. Probably a gallon or so a day at least.

13. set reasonable goals. 1-2 pounds per week.

14. if you’re very overweight, you’re going to need to be ready for a long ride.  You didn’t get fat in a couple weeks or months, it’s not coming off in that time either. Mentally prepare for that.

15. if you do eff up it’s not the end of the world.  This isn’t an excuse to be a slackass, but don’t beat yourself up over one misstep.

16. losing weight gets harder as you get older.  It’s never going to be easier than it is right now.

 

[vike daddy]

20 minutes ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

You’re going to be hungry at times.  

guys should tell themselves that the sensation of hunger is the sensation of losing weight.

see it as a good thing.

[Tugboat]

It'd be nice if there was an easy answer...but for me at least, i dropped a bunch of bad weight by just cutting out alcohol and running or doing something sustained for an hour or so 3-4 days a week.  Basically...running every other day, swapping in rollerblading or something else when my shins needed a rest from the impact.  But definitely something i had to work up to and it falls off pretty quick too when weather or other factors get in the way for a while.  Splice in walking a significant distance every day in between to stay active which is easy for me and just sorta happens, plus trying to get in some hockey games once a week during the winter.

 

But cutting out alcohol is the biggest factor.  My diet is otherwise not too bad.  I don't eat many processed foods, i cook my own relatively health meals most of the time from scratch.  That kind of processed premade stuff will kill you.  But it's insane when you start adding up the calories just idly consumed in alcohol.    It can be a thousand+ calories easy without even really noticing.

 

I've found that when i'm sticking to activity regularly, i can sort of "break even".  But if i really want to make inroads, i basically have to replace every beer or margarita or glass of wine or whiskey with a glass of water.  Which kinda sucks.  I'm not very reliable in making that sacrifice.  Liquid calories are delicious and water is boring as heck.  But for me, that's absolutely where my personal battle is.

 

 

That's my biggest tip.  Not calorie counting per se.  But just be cognizant amount how many calories worth of alcohol you're drinking.  Very disappointing advice.  But when you can cut out thousands of calories without even really affecting your diet overall, or fasting or any of that other stuff, and you can do it in a way that gives you more energy as well...it's the obvious solution.  It's just not easy to do because it's not very enjoyable.

[kingseanjohn]

Anyone else walk down the chip or cookie aisle sometimes and just look at the bags? Me neither.

[JohnChimpo]

4 hours ago, Tugboat said:

That's my biggest tip.  Not calorie counting per se.  But just be cognizant amount how many calories worth of alcohol you're drinking.  Very disappointing advice.  But when you can cut out thousands of calories without even really affecting your diet overall, or fasting or any of that other stuff, and you can do it in a way that gives you more energy as well...it's the obvious solution.  It's just not easy to do because it's not very enjoyable.

I’m so glad I quit drinking. I used to drink to feel better, but I feel much better without it now. With that said, that’s a personal choice that I wouldn’t push on anyone else. It probably would be hard to quit if weight loss was someone’s only motivation for it.

As far as weight loss, I’ll say the biggest thing for me was just making up my mind about it. When I want it bad enough, all the other stuff tends to fall into place. I could say a lot more, but a lot of it has already been said.

[43M]

Protein, baby.  PROTEIN!!!

I dropped from 212 to 170 last year with fairly limited exercise.   I ate at a deficit and ate a ton of largely CLEAN, quality protein.   No, I did not cut out carbs, but I drastically cut them down and only ate/drank empty carbs (simple sugars) a little bit on weekends.    I do highly recommend adding a exercise regimen as it will boost results, but aside from walking alot and occasional light lifting and calisthenics, I didn't exercise that much and still lost 40 or so pounds in roughly 4 months.

The key is not to get stuck on a boring diet like I did years ago with chicken and broccoli and protein shakes almost every day.    Find your favorite meals and try to make lower calorie, high protein versions of them.

For instance...pizza.    To satisfy pizza cravings without killing my diet...Id buy lavish bread, bake it for 10 minutes, add pizza sauce (usually pretty low calorie), non fat mozzarella, turkey pepperoni and sometimes small pieces of chicken breast for added protein.   

Visit the YouTube channel Remington James.    He has a TON of great recipes for losing weight and gaining muscle.

Beyond protein, its good to find a foods with high water content like Watermelon, celery, cucumber, etc...and add it to your diet.   You can eat a good bit without racking up calories and the high water content leaves you feeling fuller longer.

And as far as the "no exercise doesn't work when your older" for losing weight....Im not saying I disagre, but Im not exactly young anymore, and my mom, who has really bad knees and struggles to walk, lost about 17 lbs with a similar approach.   She struggled at first, but as soon as I got her to increase her protein (she barely eats meat, so it was tough), she shed pounds pretty fast too, especially for her age.

[biggio7]

On my feet walking all day at work. Not like intense walking. I walk with the puppy about an hour a day, at least. We play chase a bit. I don't really work out or anything but I feel skinny fat. I should work out more, I just don't. Need some tips to keep it going and to eat better. I'm always hungry.

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

 

18 hours ago, biggio7 said:

I should work out more, I just don't.
 

you already know what to do as far as this goes.  There’s no tip or trick here, you either make the effort to do it or you don’t tbh. 

18 hours ago, biggio7 said:

Need some tips to keep it going and to eat better. I'm always hungry.

Eat clean, high volume low calorie foods.  This is just one example obv but I’ve yet to see anyone get or stay fat eating chicken breast and veggies.  It’s like, almost impossible to overeat unless you’re slathering them in dressings, sauces, etc.

Here’s a good start just for something to reference.

https://optimisingnutrition.com/satiety-index/

[rob_shadows]

Last week I weighed 285lbs, I stopped drinking pop and started doing 30 minutes of cardio a day... No other major changes and yesterday I weighed in at 277lbs.

Moral of the story... Don't drink pop.

[JohnChimpo]

36 minutes ago, rob_shadows said:

Last week I weighed 285lbs, I stopped drinking pop and started doing 30 minutes of cardio a day... No other major changes and yesterday I weighed in at 277lbs.

Moral of the story... Don't drink pop.

That’s a good one. I hardly ever drink them anymore because they’re full of sugar. The fake sugar in diet soda is even worse imo, and I can’t stand the taste. 

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

4 hours ago, JohnChimpo said:

The fake sugar in diet soda is even worse imo

I mean, unless there’s a study I’m unaware of this is entirely false unless you’re talking about purely taste.

Health wise they’re not even comparable.

[ramssuperbowl99]

6 hours ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

On 5/14/2023 at 6:45 PM, biggio7 said:

I should work out more, I just don't.
 

you already know what to do as far as this goes.  There’s no tip or trick here, you either make the effort to do it or you don’t tbh.

I get what you mean, there does come a point where we all have to suck it up and go, but disagree that there aren't tips and it's purely effort.

It's easier for people who go to the gym regularly and have an understanding of how profoundly working out changes how they feel, sleep, etc., because they know a dopamine hit is coming if they can just plop in the car and get going. For people who don't have that ingrained, "finding the willpower" is a lot harder.

But the sense of accomplishment can absolutely be developed. Take one exercise and do it every day, then see over a month how you can make it harder. If it's planking, first try holding for a minute, then after a while when that gets easy, try alternating one leg off the ground, then try doing it on a slight incline, then alternate legs off the ground on a slight incline, etc.

Edited May 16, 2023 by ramssuperbowl99

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

To add to the previous post, I think it’s important to call out the broscience and assumptions with stuff like this because soda is a real problem for an astronomical amount of people.

Personally I don’t drink a lot of soda of any kind, maybe a diet/zero sugar once every week or two, so I don’t really have any skin in this game, but they’re not the same.

The absolutely absurd amount of sugars in regular soda is an actual killer.  As in, contributes heavily to diabetes and obesity.

like, look at that **** lol

If a person who drinks a couple sodas or whatever a days does nothing else but switch from regular to diet they’ll be saving themselves hundreds of empty calories and likely hundreds of grams of refined sugar and could possibly see benefits from that alone when it comes to body weight.