QUESTION: Diet & Exercise - What do you do?

SELF | 8/12/08 | Bear_Slayer

[Bear_Slayer]

I want to lose some weight and have been working-out on an "Elliptical" trainer (I think it is called) for a couple months. I do 3.5 miles in 30 minutes per day, and I work up a good sweat. I burn 300 - 350 calories.

My diet is crappy. I eat when I can and when I reduce intake I feel nutrionally starved. I then go for fats and carbs.

Thus the following questions to those that are willing to answer:

How much do you exercise per day (or week)?

What type of diet (eating style, foods, calorie intake) do you eat?

Are you over-weight?

Were you once over-weight and how much weight did you lose?

In what time frame did it take you?

What do you do for self-discipline (motivation)?

[wastedyears]

Uh... you mean 8000 to 10,000 calories a day?

[Maverick68]

not enough...

[apocalypto]

I cut down TV watching and read instead, started having dinner earlier, and avoided late evening snacks. And I lost some weight. Might be a coincidence. However, I tried it twice and it worked both times while my general diet and amount of exercise remained the same.

[mountainbunny]

I want to lose some weight and have been working-out on an "Elliptical" trainer (I think it is called) for a couple months. I do 3.5 miles in 30 minutes per day, and I work up a good sweat. I burn 300 - 350 calories.

Good for you.

My diet is crappy. I eat when I can and when I reduce intake I feel nutritionally starved. I then go for fats and carbs.

You might consider a nutritionist. Insurance often will pay for the visit or two that it takes to get you on track.

Thus the following questions to those that are willing to answer:

How much do you exercise per day (or week)?

Six days a week. Sundays off. 45 minutes/day minimum.

What type of diet (eating style, foods, calorie intake) do you eat?

Low carb, no wheat/barley/rye. Organics where we can. Low sugar. Calories... about 1500 a day.

Are you over-weight?

In spite of the above, yes. But much less so that before. My goal is to be slightly underweight.

Were you once over-weight and how much weight did you lose?

I lost 60 pounds after a pregnancy.

In what time frame did it take you?

8 months.

What do you do for self-discipline (motivation)?

The thought of being sick from being overweight. The thought of having diabetes, heart disease, losing eye sight, etc.

Good luck on your quest!

[steveo]

I do a lot of 12 oz. curls... ;)

But series, I avoid as much as I can anything with corn syrup or simple carbs. No snacks in the house, chips ice cream cookies or the like. Almost anything advertised on television food wise is bad for you.

[aruanan]

Remember that body weight represents a relationship between energy intake and energy expenditure. Energy intake is what you eat. Energy expenditure is from basal metabolic rate (the metabolic engine of your body just ticking over) and voluntary energy expenditure (all physical activity that isn't autonomic). If your weight is staying constant this means that intake equals expenditure. If you are gaining weight (whether fat or muscle or both), your intake is exceeding your expenditure. If you are losing weight (whether fat or muscle or both), your expenditure is exceeding your intake.

Important things to remember:

1. Unless you suffer from an absorption disorder of the small intestine or are in constant training at an Olympic level, it's always easier to take more energy in than it is to expend it.

2. If you're not engaged in muscle-building activity, the excess energy intake will be stored as fat.

3. Your basic metabolic rate cannot be altered significantly enough to bother taking drugs (or herbal supplements) to try to boost it in order to lose fat. There are no magic drugs to increase your amount of brown fat that will burn energy in a futile cycle like mice do to keep warm.

4. Your body won't turn sugar into fat. Humans aren't built that way. De novo synthesis of fat in humans is very limited.

5. Your body cannot turn fat into sugar. Your body isn't built that way either. There is no drug that will enable you to do this.

6. You cannot flush fat from your system. If you had a drug that would suddenly release fat from fat stores, you'd be in serious trouble. Fatty acids are constantly being released and reabsorbed. If you could boost this beyond physiological levels, there's no way you could excrete it through the kidneys. They're not built that way.

7. Your only real choices in losing weight are energy intake restriction or increased energy expenditure through voluntary physical activity or a combination of both. Remember that one small plain cake donut (about 150 kCals) takes over an hour of really fast walking to expend. It's better to figure out your daily energy requirements and then arrange your eating to short you a few hundred calories.

8. Moderate exercise levels for 20 to 30 minutes a few times a week can help make the energy deprivation more bearable. Also, toning up your muscles and increasing muscle mass will increase energy expenditure a bit.

9. There are not many pounds of food wastes coating your colon walls like spackle. People who claim this are ignorant or frauds.

[Peace Is Coming]

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