losing a stone?

Question

i am hoping to lose a stone, and i am going to the gym 3 times a week for around 2 hours. i eat healthily and sensibily. how long do u think this will take to achieve?

i weigh 12 stone, trying to get to 11

Answer 1

You're not saying how tall you are. 12 stone on some who's 5'10" is a bit different to 12 stone on someone who's 5'4".

You also fail to mention what you intend to do at the gym for two hours. I see people spend hours at the gym but effectively just pottering around... A bit of cross trainer... oh I'm bored now... a bit of walking on the treadmill.. etc... None of which will make great inroads with the good old fat burning.

There are 3500 calories per pound of body fat. So if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories you would lose approximately one pound per week: (500 x 7 = 3,500) A calorie deficit of 1000 calories would therefore mean that you'd lose approximately two pounds per week. Two pounds a week is commonly accepted as the maximum rate of weight loss that is healthy. There are 14 pounds in a stone so it'll take you approximately 7 weeks to lose the weight (if you lose 2lb per week).

Exercising at a low level of intensity uses fat as the primary fuel source and oxygen as a catalyst. Indeed, the very term 'aerobic' means 'with oxygen'. By definition, these activities are less taxing and can be sustained for longer, almost indefinite periods of time.

But there is a danger in this!!! The longer we engage in higher-level aerobic activities, such as those typically included in a workout, the more we secrete a nasty little group of hormones called 'glucocorticoids', with the stress hormone 'cortisol' chief amongst them. One of the lesser-known qualities of cortisol is that it is catabolic in nature, meaning that it breaks down muscle tissue along with fat in order to metabolise this stored energy for immediate fuel.

Why is this bad? Well, it's our muscles that give shape and definition to our bodies. IF WE LOSE MUSCLE FASTER THAN WE LOSE FAT, AND MUSCLE IS HEAVIER THAN FAT, THEN PROPORTIONATELY WE'RE FATTER, EVEN IF THE SCALES TELL US WE'RE SEVERAL POUNDS LIGHTER!!!!

TOTAL WEIGHT IS NO INDICATOR OF HOW FAT YOU ARE, it is merely a measurement of total mass, regardless of what that mass is made from.

Another point to bear in mind is that any loss of muscle tissue means that our metabolism will slow down - the exact opposite of what we need if we're trying to lose body fat!

So what's the answer? I strongly recommend 'ANAEROBICS' activities, that are carried out 'without oxygen' and involve higher-intensity, shorter-duration bursts of activity to produce the training effect.

The benefits of this type of training include: Burning more calories; Increased metabolism; Shorter, more effective workouts; The exercise is anabolic in nature, meaning that it promotes lean tissue

Instead of 15 minutes of steady-paced (and mind-numbing) aerobic work, try the following:
Five bursts of high-level activity (80% or more of your top effort) for two to three minutes' duration. Rest completely between each effort.
40/20 splits. Go all out for 20 seconds and then recover for 40 seconds. Repeat five times.
Sprints. Go as far and as fast as you can for one minute. Rest totally in between sets and then repeat sprints five times.

As you can see, anaerobic training is characterised by a high intensity of effort. If you can hold a conversation during or immediately after the activity, then you didn't come out of your aerobic zone and may need to put in a little more effort!!!!!!

There you have it. Probably the most effective, yet least utilised fat-loss method there is. Give anaerobics a try - I mean a fair try - and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve in a relatively short period of time. The results of training this way can be quite spectacular. You're probably thinking it sounds hard, and, well, it is. I never said it'd be easy, but if you want the results...

Answer 2

God some of the answers you have had so far are crap! I think a good diet and regular exercise really helps. Why dont you write a food diary for one week, and you must write everything down from a bag of crisps to a pint of lager. Then at the end of that week look at what eat & what times you eat (eating after 6pm is bad for dieting), then you will see what you are doing wrong with your diet. You can then begin to change your diet and life style by monitoring what you eat and how you can adapt & change it for healthier options & times. Tip: snack be4 bed has to be less than 100cals & 1 hour before you sleep! You could also do a diary of how much exercise you do, as above do week where you monitor if you walked or used transport, if you did any activity that involved excercising, like gym or aerobics. Then see if you can walk or cyle to where ever you used transport. & increase your exercise by getting a fitness dvd, join a gym/class or run (its free!). First few pound are easy to get off, it the rest thats hard and you need your body to adapt morefor you 2 loose more pounds. Hope this helps, good luck x

Answer 3

To start with you wont notice a drastic different
you need to do a lot of cardio to work off the weight so rather than lift weights you need to focus on things like the treadmill and steppers.
Because muscle is heavier than stone. The other thing that works well is taking classes rather than gym, somthing like boxersize or something aerobic will really burn the calories and you can tone up by doing something gentle but powerful like yoga.
Depending on metabolism it could take you 6 months, but the longer it takes to come off the longer it stays off if you crash diet and it comes off in a month you'll put it back on plus more!- but everyone is different keep going!

Answer 4

i was eleven stones five pounds last may. my bf and i decided to join the gym and change the way we eat. i lost a stone in about seven weeks he lost one and ahalf stone in the same time. we still watch what we eat and still go to the gym although i only go once or twice a week my bf goes three or five times. by the way i weigh ten stones now so i lost about nineteen pounds in total, my bf has lost three stone. we went on a low fat diet we eat loads of food and if we want a treat we do its great. hope you get to your goal good luck.

Answer 5

I did that, lost 8lbs in 2 weeks then the rest took a few more weeks. Keep at it.

Answer 6

I would say around 6 weeks if you continue as you are. Good luck!

Answer 7

i'm not an exspert but 3 years at a guess

Answer 8

6 weeks. but muscle is heavier than fat so be careful

Answer 9

depends how much you have to lose, but I would say about three weeks.