Not the most exciting topic in the world, but following previous fitness threads from this site has gotten me good results so far - figured it's as good a place as any to send up an SOS.

Like, apparently, a good chunk (no pun) of society, I realized what a big, fat, pig I'd been letting myself turn into. Working in IT doesn't help, it seems. Luckily, I got laid off in the last quarter of '01 and found myself with time on my hands and enough peace and quiet for honest self-analysis. I'm only 32 and was getting way out of shape. I found some threads here with really useful tips and decided to get off my rear and *do* something.

I've cut out all crap food. I rarely drank soda to begin with, but went cold-turkey on that, too. I've cut out beer, but will indulge with wine once in awhile (and nip into the Balvenie 15-year single-barrel every now & then). I rarely eat breads, go light on rice, avoid all fast food (except the occasional Quizno's) and stick to mostly lean meats, fresh veggies and fruits for snacks. I'm walking/jogging/running between 2.5 and 5 miles every day. I joined a local dojo (Shaolin Kung Fu) and train about 2-4 days during the week (some group, some private). I do some freeweights, but mostly just pound the hell out of myself with crunches, chins and elevated pushups. I've done pretty well for myself so far - lost 13 pounds in the past two months & wear my 32 jeans comfortably again. Whew. I'm starting to see a 4-pack (not as good as an 8-pack, better than the pony keg I was heading towards).

The problem: I'm frikkin' impatient! I feel better, I look better & I'm enjoying the workouts - but I've still got a damn case of the jiggles!! My personal test - lose the shirt, jump up and down once or twice and count how long it takes for your gut to quit rippling like open sea in high wind. The goal is no higher than the "whu" in "one". [:D] Right now, I'm pushing "thr". [:)]

I think those "ab belts" are full of crap and pills scare the bejabbers out of me. Half of them are mostly caffeine, anyway, and I tend to go through more coffee than a narcoleptic air-traffic controller as it is. Can't imagine it would help me much. So? Any honest-to-God fat burners or techniques that will help or do I just suck it up & keep doing what I'm doing?

I mostly lurk here, but you guys have been a big help already. Thanks alot - hopefully "in advance", too.

Much obliged,
Keith C.

I'm in pretty pitiful shape myself.  I almost entirely quit drinking caffeinated soda (12 cans a day or more) before Christmas, and did NOT start exercising or doing anything.  If I had gone back to drinking water (3-4 qts a day) , I would probably have been fine, but I drink decaf diet soda instead.  I actually gained weight.  

I'm about the same age my Father was when he started to lose weight and get in much better shape.  He got on a fitness kick a little over a year ago, and has done some triathlons and long bike races.  He's in phenomenal shape for someone a little shy of 60.  

My plan--go back to drinking Water or Black coffee.  Low-fat meats (Chicken Breast), vegi's, cut out the starches.  Exercise as much as possible with my schedule (even if it's just sit-ups while I watch TV).  

First and foremost, I think the drinking water will help.  I used to have 2 or 3 One liter plastic saline bottles (wide mouth, easy to carry) in the refrigerator.  I would pull one out, finish it, and re-fill it.  That way I would always have cold water to drink.  Did the same at work.  

Good luck!!

AFARR

I'll add my $0.02

The best way to loose weight is to keep doing what you are doing, but replace all of that coffee you drink with water.  You'll see better results if you consume A LOT of water every day.

If you want to speed up the process a bit, try stacking Xenadrine RFA-1 and Cytoplex (vanilla taste better IMO).  You'll be amazed at how well these two supplements work.  My favorite place to order from is here:

[url]http://op1.prosourceonline.com/index.asp[/url]

Good luck.

I've been telling my soon to be wife that I'm going to get into shape. For the past 3 years!

I just started working out, and for me at least, aerobic exercise seems to be working best. I've mixed in some dumbbell exercises to build strength, but I realy just want to loose the gut.

I'm going to try to do this for 6 weeks and then see where I'm at. My biggest problem so far is cutting back on food. I love to eat, and I'm used to snaking all day long. Mix in high stress and a sedimentary lifestyle, and the pounds went on.

Hopefully I'll be a lot fitter but the time I get married (Oct).

Av.

In studies, it seems MOST people perceive that  exercises are harder to do in proportion to the actual amount of calories burned. There is one major exception, and THAT exercise burns MORE calories proportional to the perceived effort than any other, and virtually everybody has the necessary skills and equipment.

Walk. Park the car WAY out at the end of the parking lot. Walk to the mailbox. When you get home, take a 30 minute walk instead of watching TV and snacking.

Also, there are some foods that have very low calories for the volume they occupy.  This allows you to eat a substantial amount, fill yourself full, and eat low calorie anyway.

Number one on the list is broccoli. A serving of carbs is about 15 grams.  That's 4 CUPS of broccoli.  So who wants to eat a lot of broccoli? Hang on, I'll get to that.

The next problem is, that most diets contain way too much meat, and not enough healthier fruits, nuts, grains. A serving of meat ought to be about 3 ounces, which, lets face it, ain't much.

So, what sort of foods give you lots of healthy foods, like broccoli, and very little meat?

Can you say stir-fry, boys and girls? I knew you could! A little bit of meat, a LOT of veggies, a bit of sauce for flavor, and cooked from scratch in a few minutes.

If you want to learn more, go and find a book for dieters and diabetics that gives the calories, fat, carbs, protein content of the meals (magic words: carb counting, exchange diet). The American Diabetes association and the American Diabetic Association BOTH suggest the same approach. They will suggest the number number of grams you should eat of each everyday. Try it.

Shopping will take forever, until you learn what to eat, what to avoid, how to get the most of your precious grams of fat, carbs, protein. Find a list of "free foods", and buy these for snacks if you need them.

I lost 60 pounds in one year, and had to convince my new doctor I was in fact a diabetic. My blood glucose put me square in the middle of normal for the whole population, NOT just "good for a diabetic".

Keith,
Keep it up bro!!! You are pretty close to a normal  safe weight loss plan which is 1 - 2 pounds per week, give it time!!! My suggestion to you, increase the duration of your cardio routine and get yourself a heart rate monitor. The HR monitor can help you make sure that you are training in the appropriate HR range for maximum effectiveness for fat loss. I like to pyramid my cardio routines  and do multiple exercises so that my body doesn't adapt to the higher stresses and plateau. Here is an example... M-45min. T-60min W-60min. T-90min. F-45min. S-60min S-rest. Forget about the mileage think time. If you can run 2.5 miles in 20mins. that's great but it is not long enough! Remember this Frequency, Duration, and Effort (HR) and you will be just fine.

Good Luck

I remember when I hit the treadmill at the gym....I'd do about 50 minutes at 4.5 miles an hour....and starting at the half-hour mark each five minutes I'd bump up the incline by .5%. One time I bothered to program my stats into the calorie meter, and after the workout was done (I think I went a bit over time then), it showed that I burned a little over 500 calories. I still don't believe it. Putting just that little bit of incline really kicks it.

Argh...you had to bring up broccoli. Nasty stuff. Generally, I have a hate-hate relationship with most vegetables. I string beans if they're steamed and crunch, and peas in moderation. Like carrots, and some beans.

In about 7 months or so, just doing the walking three days a week and about an hour of liften another three days a week, I went from being 340lbs and a size 52 waist to a little over 300 and being between a 46 and 48" waist. My goal is to hit around 220......but it's damn hard. Work long hours, have about an hour commute each way, and I'm still very uncomfortable going into a gym by myself (used to team up/spot with a guy from work, he transferred out)......need to work on that.

Ab-rollers work faster than crunches, Drink water not coffee. Breads will help you maintain energy so eat some more breads instead of drinking caffiene! other than that keep doing what you are doing, I am going to start the slimfast plan b/c I need to drop 20 lbs myself, get back to a healthy 195 or so!
-Chuck

Pretty much what everybody has been saying.  Cardio is the key... and burning calories.  Lots of people trying to get rid of a gut focus too much on crunches, ab-shocking devices and the like.  That'll just build up abs under the fat.  The only way to burn the fat is to burn the calories.

Another tricky way to burn calories is to increase your body's maintenance requirements.  How?  Muscles.  Strength training burns calories, and builds muscles that require upkeep.

Sounds like a pretty good program so far... good job!

Viper Out

I don't know if you're married/living with someone or not, but the best damn weight loss plan I've ever found was getting a divorce. (no, this isn't that old joke)

In between the stress, and having to cook for myself, I've gone from 250 to 230 in about a month and a half.  I'm too lazy to make cookies/brownies/cakes/fudge.  I've quit eating fast food, haven't had a candy bar or any sweets in a month, given up soda, and I only drink water now.  When I met my wife 5 years ago, I weighed 190.  In a 5 year span I went to 250.  She liked to cook, and when I can get sweets on command, I do.

Look out ladies, here I come.

Wan't to loose 30 lbs of fat real quick?
Cut off your head!!!! [bounce]

I heard that a couple months of chemotherapy is good for losing weight.

I feel for ya, when I went from a physical factory job where I was in great shape to a sitdown office job I put on 40lbs in 1 year!

Delete all soda AND alcohol, all of it! Combine exercise with an enjoyable routine that wont seem like excercise such as hiking with web-gear and your favorate 10lb rifle. You'll be sweating while getting a full body workout while enjoying nature. I do it and it works.
BrenLover

Steelviper hit on a good point. To increase your metabolism increase your muscle mass. Hit the steel! One problem many people face when losing weight is they don't eat enough so they loose muscle as well as fat, which slows down their metabolism, which means they need even fewer calories. Muscle tissue burns calories even when not in use, fat just sits there. It sounds like you have a good program for yourself, be patient, you did'nt put on the flab overnight and won't lose it overnight.

I tried Hydroxycut and Xenadrine-- both had ZERO effect and were a waste of money.

In the past year, I lost 45+ lbs!

Mainly, I eat less, and eat less carbs. I also drink a lot of water and tea. Instead of ordering fajitas and steaks all the time, and stuffing myself at buffets since I get more for my money that way, I eat smaller portions, or add vegetables instead of rice or potato. I cut down on carbs, and increased my protein intake-- your basic low-carb diet. My favorite lunch is 1 or 2 5-piece nuggets and 1 or 2 side-caesar salads at Wendy's-- that's less than $4 for lunch, then add water, tea, or diet drink. Try to stay away from the nugget sauce though-- just use enough to get a taste...

Usually I will try to do basic exercises when I get up in the morning-- to get the blood flowing and the metabolism kicking. (i.e. push ups, crunches/situps on a roman chair, basic dumbell exercises, and squats.) I bought a pair of push-up bars, for about $10, so I can do various arm, shoulder, and chest exercises, without having to walk to the gym at my complex. Believe me, for beginers, this is enough to get started.

"They" also say the key to losing weight is maintaining your muscle mass, and working out your large muscle areas, like your legs, will get your matabolism going... and it doesn't take much.