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Advice for a fat guy


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Besides needing to get into shape for health reasons, I'd like what I'm doing to be supportive of this sport. I'm 37 years old, 5'11", 235 and built like a doughnut shop and the way I see it my ideal weight is probably around 175ish. Anyone want to chime in on what type of training regimen I should start? Obviously cardio will be huge for the weight loss and I'm thinking cardio coming from an eliptycal rather than running/walking. I'm not very familiar with what I should do for weight lifting in terms of what, how much, how long. Light weights/many reps or heavier weights/fewer reps & are you talking machines or free weights...etc Obviously the diet needs to change as well but I think I can manage that part. I'm also curious how long I should expect to take to lose the weight and start seeing benefits of the hard work.

Thanks for the advice/info.

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Diving into a huge workout program from nothing is a bit like trying to quit smoking cold turkey. It can be done, but I would recommend starting with something you can manage, and that won't cause you to give up after a week or a month.

I like to ride an exercise bike while reading. I've lost 70lbs over the last year and a half or so. Don't expect results right away, or for a little while really. I have a particularly low frustration threshold which was tough to deal with after not seeing immediate results, but I stuck with it and I made some real progress. I still have a few pounds to shed, but far less free time as I just switched majors to engineering unfortunately. Or maybe that is fortunate. Whatever.

Good luck!

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Once I set my mind on it, I lost 50 pounds in 5 months. I tracked what I ate on an IPhone app called Loose It, and tracked my exercise.

In retrospect it was very easy. It also, forever, changed my eating habits. Once I understood the caloric value of what I was shoving down my throat, it was simple to change the equation; burn more calories than what I ate.

I bought a Lemond Spinning bike and used that as my primary source of exercise. When I was too soremto ride, I would go out for a brisk hour and 15 minute walk. Using a heart monitor, I was able to accurately record my caloric burn. 10 pounds a week is a very doable goal.

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I think an elliptical is a great place to start, from one chubby guy to another. Work on the elliptical 3 times a week until you can get through a one hour per session. Keep that going for a month and then add weight training on the non-cardio days. Once you've progresses for a few months, trade off a cardio day for an extra weight training day.

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speaking from experience a couple of suggestions to start off with. first off is diet. start by eating breakfast, have something at both morning an afternoon coffee, lunch, maybe a snack before super and a bed time snack. control yourself to one serving at lunch and supper.

Next start out walking. half an hour three times a week is a good start 7 days is better. then look at the elliptical training.

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I went threw the same thing when I was in my 30s. I was making an office call and the secretary told me I was a handsome man but needed to loose some weight. I weight in at 335 at the time.

I went to Nutrisysstems and got down to 170. Looked good and felt much better. Now I'm and old man and trying to do it again with Weight Watchers. Since I'm Diabetic my doctor doesn't want me on NuriSystems but it sure works.

Good luck.

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1. Consult with your doctor.

2. If you can, consult with a nutritionist.

3. Find a gym (if there is a Y in your area, that's a good place to start) and let them set you up on a program.

4. Set moderate, long term, achievable goals.

5. Try and do things that you enjoy.

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Paleo and crossfit. I'm down 65 in 4 months.

Im down 20 lbs in about 3 months doing crossfit. Lost 10 of that the last 4 weeks after switching to Paleo for a little in-gym challenge we are doing.

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Besides needing to get into shape for health reasons, I'd like what I'm doing to be supportive of this sport. I'm 37 years old, 5'11", 235 and built like a doughnut shop and the way I see it my ideal weight is probably around 175ish. Anyone want to chime in on what type of training regimen I should start? Obviously cardio will be huge for the weight loss and I'm thinking cardio coming from an eliptycal rather than running/walking. I'm not very familiar with what I should do for weight lifting in terms of what, how much, how long. Light weights/many reps or heavier weights/fewer reps & are you talking machines or free weights...etc Obviously the diet needs to change as well but I think I can manage that part. I'm also curious how long I should expect to take to lose the weight and start seeing benefits of the hard work.

Thanks for the advice/info.

Here's my recovering IT/couch potato advice.

Reduce your carbs a lot. (read up on glycemic load dieting)

Reduce your caloric intake enough to lose weight.

Drink more water, eat more fiber.

Start a basic stretching routine. It helps get your slow twitch muscles in order, and and help with back pain.

For beginning activity, something with similar patterns of muscle use to hiking is a good start. Walking around the neighborhood is great if you have hills. If it is all flat, you will have to come up with something else. If you are doing the gym thing to get AC, stair climbers work great. but once again, hit the slow twich muscles and demand endurance from them. It'll help with insulin sensitivity, which in turn affects how much your body is working the "Store calories as fat" message.

For the upper body, some cheap weights that can go form 5-20lbs, and look up some basic upper body exercises. IMO if you have been sitting on your ass way too much at a computer, forearm exercises will help with RSI pain in the wrists, and working on the neck and shoulders with reasonably high-ish reps (5 sets of 15-20 approximately) will get you some tone and help with neck pain from crappy posture.

Throw in some pushups as you can probably add some muscle mass pretty easily form it if you work at it reasonably without going nuts.

With your height weight, assuming you are pretty sedentary, that should kick off some decent weight loss and prep you for harder workouts without kicking your butt too much or risking much in the way of injury.

I'm 6'7", and they tell me I should ideally be 197lbs ... my ass. starting form 272 at the same age as you, jsut the low glycemic load dieting got me down to 239.

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Paleo and crossfit. I'm down 65 in 4 months.

Im down 20 lbs in about 3 months doing crossfit. Lost 10 of that the last 4 weeks after switching to Paleo for a little in-gym challenge we are doing.

+100

Crossfit will make you do things you currently hate to do when working out.

If you are serious about changing, go find a box, do a week trial for free and see if the environment is for you.

If you are honest with yourself and stick with it, you will see the same results as these guys have posted here.

"You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable"

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90% is diet. 10% training.

You need to start eating clean, simple as that. Pre planning meals is crucial.

Also, do not waste your time doing arm curls in the gym. I see obese people who are aiming to lose weight do tons of exercises like that.

You want bang for your buck exercises: squats, dead lifts, cleans, etc. (Compound movements!)

Put your weight training before your cardio.

Instead of doing slow paced aerobic cardio, do some higher paced activities that will get your heart rate into the anaerobic levels (sprints, burpees, etc are good).

If you can read, watch a movie, etc while doing "cardio", you ain't workin' hard enough. Look into Tabata interval training.

This MUST be a lifestyle change, period! You can do it! :D

Edited by JaeOne3345
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Paleo and crossfit. I'm down 65 in 4 months.

Im down 20 lbs in about 3 months doing crossfit. Lost 10 of that the last 4 weeks after switching to Paleo for a little in-gym challenge we are doing.

+2 on paleo and crossfit, I went from 235 to 170 in about 4-5 months. It takes alot of dedication to want to improve, but stick with it you will get there. To me it wasnt all about the weight loss it was a comination of much healthier lifestyle, waking up refreshed every mourning with no pain, no sickness etc,etc... was my motivation.

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90% is diet. 10% training.

You need to start eating clean, simple as that. Pre planning meals is crucial.

Also, do not waste your time doing arm curls in the gym. I see obese people who are aiming to lose weight do tons of exercises like that.

You want bang for your buck exercises: squats, dead lifts, cleans, etc. (Compound movements!)

Put your weight training before your cardio.

Instead of doing slow paced aerobic cardio, do some higher paced activities that will get your heart rate into the anaerobic levels (sprints, burpees, etc are good).

If you can read, watch a movie, etc while doing "cardio", you ain't workin' hard enough. Look into Tabata interval training.

This MUST be a lifestyle change, period! You can do it! :D

DIDO

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It helps get your slow twitch muscles in order, and and help with back pain.

What are twitch muscles?

My wife and I do have a membership to the local Y and I've thought about doing some spinning classes and body sculpt type classes. I've heard great things about crossfit but another $100+/month isn't in the budget at the moment. Again, I appreciate all the advice you've given!

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It helps get your slow twitch muscles in order, and and help with back pain.

What are twitch muscles?

My wife and I do have a membership to the local Y and I've thought about doing some spinning classes and body sculpt type classes. I've heard great things about crossfit but another $100+/month isn't in the budget at the moment. Again, I appreciate all the advice you've given!

As long as you are safe and concentrate on technique, you should be able to do most of the crossfit main site workouts at your current gym.

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One of the guys who just finished in the top 5 at the crossfit games (reruns are on ESPN2 the last week or two) trains solely in his garage. Lots of self motivation needed for that, but its doable with minimal equipment needed.

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One of the guys who just finished in the top 5 at the crossfit games (reruns are on ESPN2 the last week or two) trains solely in his garage. Lots of self motivation needed for that, but its doable with minimal equipment needed.

That must be a lot of the draw too is minimal equipment needed. What are the favorite sites I can learn the crossfit activities?

Sent from my WP7 using Board Express

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90% is diet. 10% training.

You need to start eating clean, simple as that. Pre planning meals is crucial.

Also, do not waste your time doing arm curls in the gym. I see obese people who are aiming to lose weight do tons of exercises like that.

You want bang for your buck exercises: squats, dead lifts, cleans, etc. (Compound movements!)

Put your weight training before your cardio.

Instead of doing slow paced aerobic cardio, do some higher paced activities that will get your heart rate into the anaerobic levels (sprints, burpees, etc are good).

If you can read, watch a movie, etc while doing "cardio", you ain't workin' hard enough. Look into Tabata interval training.

This MUST be a lifestyle change, period! You can do it! :D

This right here. :cheers:

Don't eat like you are on a diet, eat in a way that you can maintain for the rest of your life.

Think of food as fuel and eat only what you need.

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diet and exercise go hand in hand for weight loss. for healthy weight loss you need to do both. cut out the fried foods, sweets, beer/alcohol etc and watch the overall intake. for exercise I suggest starting out with walking 4-5 days a week for 15-25 minutes then build up from there. I like to mix up my cardio work with both machines and roadwork. I'm another Crossfit convert. I get all my workouts right off the Crossfit website. They have scaling for those at different fitness levels. What I like the most about Crossfit as that its an efficient workout program that combines cardio and strength training in relatively short efficient workouts. In a short period of time you get a good workout, faster than when I used to do the old run/lift workout. The workouts work your entire body, including your core. If you stick with the program you'll definitely see results. Just be careful to use good form cause some of the exercises are complex and can cause injury.

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