Dieting.....?

Question

Ok..so I want to lose about 40 to 50 lbs. by august of this yr. 1st of all, is that too ambitious?? And 2nd, if it isn't, then what are some good ways to lose the weight safely but effectively?? Thank you for any help you can give!

Answer 1

Although losing 3 pounds a week is not impossible, for health reasons I would not reccommend it. I would venture to say cut it in half. so 1.5# per week. Diet and exercise.......lots of cardio. But you need to build muscle too. The muscle will help to burn calories even at rest. You NEED to count calories. Take your body weight multiply by 7 that is your required caloric intake. re calculate and adjust weekly. No processed foods!!!! Lots of water.

Answer 2

40 to 50 lbs can be done by August if you really work hard. IT's 5 months away at 2 to 4 lbs per week. But I would set yourself smaller goals first to aid in burn-out.
I am using weight watchers and it is very slow to take off weight but I do it a little more than they allow. I do more exercising and I don't use the 35 extra weekly points that they want you to use. I just do the 22 per day.

As far as work out goes, I do mostly cardio to get off the fat, but I will be moving to weights for changing body shape. Good luck, I know it's not easy!

Cindy Rousselle
http://www.atozpleasures.com

Answer 3

First, I'd cut out all fatty foods. Like mayo, dressings that are mayo based, and oils, and I'd stick more to "free" condoments, such as ketchup, mustard, vinager.

You might also want to cut down on carbohydrates, like breads and pasta.

Watch your calorie intake, it helps if you keep a journal. Depending on how old you are and how tall you are, calculate the maximum calorie intake that you should have. It helps if you keep a journal. But for some people, like me I can't keep a journal, because I keep forgetting about it, but if you can keep the journal it helps a lot.

Also, switch over to diet drinks, and unsweet tea. Add artifical sweetners to the tea, they have no calories.

When you go out to eat, before you start eating your dinner, determine what you're going to eat and what you're not, and physically divid it from what you are going to eat... like divid it down the middle, so you can see what you're suppose to eat, and what you're not. Ask for a box before you start eating, so you can put your food in there and won't be tempted to eat it.

I'm doing the same thing, trying to lose 40 pounds by Nov. actually. Once you do those simple changes, if you're eating a lot of it, you'll lose a lot of weight fast, because you're elimating all the bad stuff. Also, keep up excersize.

There's really no reason to join Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers or anything like that, those types are expensive. Put your money towards a gym, and you can do it all yourself. Just have to be determined.

Answer 4

Losing 3 lbs in a week is impossible. set a target that makes sense and then make sure u dont just diet . work out helps more .
good luck

Answer 5

Weight Watchers is the most affective

Answer 6

Weight Watchers... I do it, and I love it. It's easy to follow, and you can really make it work for you, even if you have to eat out. (Do I sound like a commercial? Maybe they should pay me for this)

Answer 7

Cardio. Count your calories. Burn off at least double what you eat, everyday.

Answer 8

First, I caution that fad/crash diets are usually short-term solutions to something that should be a life-long commitment toward health and fitness. Many are completely worthless and as you suggest, a waste of money/time/effort. Please don't take any advice that leads down these paths.

You've accomplished an important step in developing a fitness plan (again something that should be considered a life-long commitment). That step is identifying a quantifiable objective. In your case, you have chosen to lose 50 pounds. Before going into methodology, let's analyze your objective. I assume you intend to lose weight in body fat and not necessarily total body weight. If not, you should reassess your objective (which may mean you don't have to actually lose 50 pounds total). The reason is that as you commit to proper nutrition and exercise, you will begin to shed body fat and generate lean body mass (muscle tissue), which weighs more than fat. Furthermore, bone density and bone weight make a difference in your body mass index. In initial weeks, you may not recognize a significant change in your total body weight even as you are steadily and positively progressing towards a total transformation. It's important to remember that two people of the same age, gender, height and weight can be completely different in terms of health/fitness. It has to do with body fat percentage.

I recommend getting your body fat percentage professionally checked (doctor's, fitness trainer, etc). By getting a proper check (caliper method is great), you can more accurately measure your body fitness and the progress you make every 12 weeks (which is the proper time frame for measuring significant progress).

With this information you can have an even better method of goal-setting and progress measurement. The next step will be methodology to acheive your goals.

The secret is acknowledging the true purpose of food as fuel rather than entertainment. Focus on protein, fats, and carbohydrates and learn about each of them. A little bit of research online will teach you a lot. Remember, don't diet; change your eating lifestyle. Doing so will change your life for the better. For the exercise, consider it a priority to include it into your routine.

Anyway, if you want it simple, here it is in ten steps:
1. protein is good...eat plenty (about 30% of your caloric intake)
2. fats are good and bad...know the difference
3. saturated and trans fats are the bad ones - limit these
4. poly- and mono-unsaturated fats are good - don't be afraid of them
5. carbohydrates are good and bad...know the difference
6. fibers and complex carbs are the good ones - eat these (about 40% of your caloric intake)
7. sugars and simple carbs are the bad ones - limit these, particularly late in the day (stay away from sodas and chips!)
8. drink water - lots and lots and lots of water. It's the only drink you need. Anything else is either wasted or simply bad for you
9. Eat 4-6 "meals" a day to boost your metabolism.
10. A meal is defined as a portion of a low-fat, protein rich entree, a portion of veggies for vits/mins, and a portion of complex carbs. (You can get these combined as a health shake)

For exercise, it's even simpler:
1. 4-6 hours per week
2. 45-90 min each day you exercise
3. do aerobic exercise (20-40 min) every day you exercise
4. work abdominals every day you exercise (between sets makes it easy)
5. do chest and triceps exercises on one day
6. do back and biceps exercises on a different day
7. do legs and shoulder exercises on a different day
8. do your exercises in sets (i.e. 3 times with 6-12 repetitions each)
9. keep a record of what you do to measure progress.
10. when your progress stalls (called "plateau"), switch up your routine.

If you decide to stick with a 50lb of body fat loss as your objective, you can mathematically plan your journey. Generally one pound of body fat equates to 3500 excess calories to burn it off. So, that means that over a given period of time, you should plan to burn 175,000 excess calories. "Excess" means that after 'being you' - that is, eating, sleeping, breathing, walking, talking, sex, watching TV, and anything else you may do to burn calories without thinking about it - those calories are those you burn above and beyond through exercise. The way your body burns calories will depend on a multitude of variables, including your body type (look up endomorph vs. ectomorph vs. mesomorph), intensity of your exercise plan, and how well balanced your nutrition plan is. But, you can effectively burn 400-800 per exercise day (60 min) with the tips I wrote above. Let's just say the burn rate for you is 600/day and let's say you choose to exercise 5 times per week. So, that's 3000 excess calories burned per week. If this math is true, then you would expect to burn 50 pounds of body fat in about 58 weeks. Fortunately, this time frame is inaccurate because as you become more fit, your metabolism will change (for the better) and your ability to burn calories will increase. So the longer you commit, the shorter your goal will be. Your timeframe goal is19 weeks. While you may not lose 50 lbs of body fat in that short of time, I challenge that you will make extreme progress if you really take my suggestions to heart. My hope is that you will not step on a scale or worry about how much weight you have lost. Get that body fat percentage checked. Check it again in 6, 12, and 19 weeks. You will be impressed - trust me!!! And even better, you will have developed life-long healthy lifestyle habits that will boost your energy levels, self-esteem and confidence, and let you sleep better at night.

Remember, you need "fuel" to sustain your activity level so eat healthy choices and eat often as I suggest. Exercise smartly. YOU CAN DO IT!! YES, YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

Answer 9

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Answer 10

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