hello.. i am 17 years old and i weigh 340 pounds.. what would be the best workout/diet to lose weight?

Answer 1

Hi Donnie - This message is rather long, because I wanted to answer most of the basic questions you might have, based on what I've learned through trial and error. So you may want to print this for later reading, or read over the next few days.

First and foremost, Congratulations on making the decision to reclaim your health. You most certainly can lose the excess fat, and reach your goals without weight loss surgery or drugs. Losing a hundred pounds or more, uses the same principles as losing 10 lbs...it just takes more time.

However, you must do so with patience and balance!!

Remember you're making a lifestyle change, from the inside out, not just to trasform your outer appearance. Your mind, spirit, everything will become stronger. If you drop fat only to look good, without re-training your mind, you'll gain it back.

Good News: the more fat you have to burn initially, the faster the first 20-30 lbs will disappear the moment you increase your activity level. Most of that will be water weight, and excess toxins which have accumulated over the years, along with good old fashioned fat. You'll fill much better afterwards!

Also, when your fat percentage is high, you have a great deal of intramuscular fat. So although progress may seem slow on the outside by visible standards, your body is most likely burning fat between your muscles and cells first. This will help greatly when you start to reshape your muscles.

Have you ever seen marbelized whitish fat in between cuts of meat at the Grocers? Well, that's intramuscular fat. So be patient and give yourself at least 8-10 weeks to see visible outer changes. Most people usually give up right before the magic begins. Hang in there.

Now...to answer your question...

Note: Before beginning your fitness program, obtain a complete physical to make sure your heart, stress level, etc are stable enough to exercise, and take before pictures.

1. You MUST increase your metabolism, so your body will begin to burn fat all day. The first way to do this, is by increasing how often you eat. Each time you eat a meal, your metabolism must wake up and get to work.

Eating only one or two large meals a day, means your metabolism is working at the basic level, which causes lack of energy and weight gain, because it's lazy.

Try to eat every 2-3 hours, which averages 5-6 mini meals. Each meal should include a lean portion of meat, whole grain carb, and a serving of veggies with at least 3 meals.

Example: 4-5 ounces of chicken breast without skin, one cup of Brown Rice, and a cup of broccoli. Or 4-5 ounces of lean turkey, 1/2 cup of wheat pasta, and reduced calorie pasta sauce, with a salad. That's it. Small meals.

You could also have a protein shake with 25-30 grams of protein, and a serving of fruit for carbs if they're not included in the protein powder. I personally avoid protein bars, as the sugar content is usually too high.

2. You must exercise to really kick the metabolism in full gear. If you can exercise first thing in the morning, that would be excellent, because it creates a habit, and studies show it will help you burn more calories thoughout the day. I try to begin my workouts between 4:30-5:30 am. However, if early morning doesn't work for you, aim for the same time daily.

Exercise trains the brain to cease overeating!!!

Alternate with days of weight training for upper and lower body which builds lean muscle, along with cardio to increase your endurance level and burn more fat. Lean muscle is like a hot stove...and it burns fat sitting upon it hourly.

If you can't alternate your weight training and cardio days, and must do them both on the same day, NEVER, do Cardio before weight training. Doing so fatigues the muscles, and prevents you from maxing out with weights.

Also, don't focus on increasing time to burn more fat during your cardio sessions. You'll be in the gym forever, and lose lean muscle. Concentrate on increasing intensity instead.

For example: stick with 20-30 minutes of cardio, but increase levels on the elliptical or other cardio machine regularly as your endurance improves.

Have you noticed some people will go to the gym for years, and although they've increased how long their cardio sessions last, they barely burn fat, and are able to sit there having a full conversation? That's because they aren't really challenging themselves cardiowise.

I personally utilize High Intensity Interval Training, which is HIIT for short. I'm in and out of the gym in 20-30 minutes, and never increase the time, just my intensity levels. It burns more fat throughout the day, and is more efficient.

Read more about it here:

http://www.musclemedia.com/training/hiit.asp

3. Avoid all refined foods!! That includes most white foods such as white rice, white bread, table sugar, junk foods, fried foods, etc. These foods rise and drop your insulin levels, and cause your body to hang on to excess fat. Go for whole grain foods such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, etc. Also, avoid or greatly decrease, caffiene, table salt, and butter.

4. Last but not least, get plenty of sleep, because your muscles grow when they are NOT being trained, but during rest and sleep. Drink lots of water...8 glasses is recommended, but for your starting weight, I'd aim for one gallon a day. It will stabalize the chemicals in your body, release fat and toxins, and also help with your metabolism.
Regardless of my weight, I drink one gallon of water daily.

Other than that, you should only need a good multi-vitamin, and a daily serving of Essential Fatty Acids to prevent your body from holding on to the bad fat. Some examples are flaxseed oil or Udos Choice Oil Blend which is what I use.

Read about it here:

http://www.udoerasmus.com/products/oil_blend_en.htm

Other than that, I always recommend the Bodybuilding.com message board, because it's very active, has lots of motivation, tons of information, and plenty of success stories.

You can do it!! Remember, getting in shape physically, is literally 90% mental/spirit...the rest are just basic principles. By the way, there is a gentleman on the Bodybuilding message board, who started at your weight, and now competes in bodybuilding competitions.

The message board is not just for bodybuilders, but anyone who wants to get in shape, from the elderly, young, housewives, men, women, etc. Also, there are plenty of teens on the site as well. Be Well, Miji

Answer 2

Hey there,
First of all, when you weigh a lot, it's hard to start. If you push too hard, you can hurt your knees and back badly.

There are two major factors involved in losing weight. Diet, and excercise (yeah I hate those words too).

For diet, you should try seeing a nutrionist, it will help. No fast food. Even salads at the restaurant can be bad. Wendy's croutons have about 17 grams of fat and the cesar salad dressing can easily have 30 grams. To give you an idea, I'm 6"1' and my doctor told me to aim for 30 grams of fat a day and between 2000 & 2250 calories a day.

When cooking, don't use oil at all. I use pam to make sure things don't stick. Stir fries are wonderful, especially if you take the fat off of the chicken first. Salads are a must too. Fiber helps your body not absorb fats and calories. I also make wraps with just veggies, and mustard, and they're good. So is bbq. A small piece of salmon with some BBQ'd peppers and asparagus. Veggies are more expensive than fast food, but your health is more important. Also, once you're in the habit, it's easier to know where to shop, and comes out about the same.

Lastly, a quick trick, and not a solution. There was a diet done and the mayo clinic a while back called the apple diet. They asked the patients to eat an apple 20-30 minutes before dinner. The science behind it is that 20 minutes after you start eating, your brain gets the message that you've eaten and is no longer hungry. Like when you were a kid and your mom told you not to eat before dinner, it works the same way. Helps you portion control.

You should still see a nutrionist, they'll be able to help more. Also, since your 17 and living with your parents, you may want them to come too. It's a family thing. If you start carrying apples around to have as snacks, but there're 6 ice-creams in the freezer, it doesn't help.

As for the excercise, you should also see a personal trainer, they'll help you find something that's not too hard on the joints. My sister-in-law ruined her knees since she is heavy too.

Quick tips for excercise. Walking and swimming are great excercises, and not too hard on the body. Try going for walks during lunch. When you go to the mall, take a parking spot further from the mall. And get a buddy. It helps not to walk alone, and have someone to compare notes with.

Once you do start losing, it gets easier and easier. I personally hate the gym. I like playing games. Badmington, racketball, kendo... I also keep a soccer ball and a basketball at work. During lunch I go to the park and kick the ball around.

If you have the oppertunity, you should also take a tai-chi class. It tends to be easier on the joints, but still not easy. My sensei made us do excercises with our abs for Kiai which are essentially pushing and pulling them at once, at varying pressures. It's hard to explain, but it works out your abs really well, and makes it easier to catch your breath ^_^

Good luck. It's not an easy road to follow, but it won't be any easier 10 or 20 years from now. We all have to make our lives healthier at some point, you should be proud of yourself for doing it now.

Eric

Answer 3

I found the book to be very informative and easy to read.

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It clearly works and if I'd followed it exactly I think it would scare the living daylights out of me because of the amount that I'd lose. So thanks again for the information. I've never purchased anything like this before because they are usually full of trash, but 3WD has been a pleasant surprise.

Get started today!

Answer 4

340 Pounds

Answer 5

17 years weigh 340 pounds workoutdiet lose weight

Answer 6

Walking.

At your weight, any strenous exericise is going to be too much stress on your body, your heart and system. Walking is a great way to get the heart rate up, sweat a bit and not overstrain your body.

Get out of the house and walk as quickly as your body can take it for 15 min. Turn around and walk home. This is about a mile, by the averages of time. (Don't count stopping for lights, or waiting on traffic....)

As you begin to work out, don't judge yourself by your weight, but by the number of itmes a week you walk, or by the length you walk. Stop watching the numbers and y ou'll start to feel better about exercise and the weight will take care of itself.

Lastly, get a better diet. Cut back on fats, carbs and sugar.

Answer 7

I would talk to my doctor first...because I think that you may need a specialize diet for just you.

But you can start out by drinking more water it'll fill you up and help you not be as hungry though out the day. You'll be surprise at how much weight you can loose by just drinking the recommend amount of, 8 glasses, of water a day.

Answer 8

The best thing to do is put together a proper program. This program should take in consideration your stats and your abilities to come up with the best program. A person can not advise you on what to eat if they don't know what you are eating already. A person can not tell you what exercises to do unless they know what your limitations and abilities are. That is the biggest mistakes people make when giving out fitness advise. Everyone body is unique in some type of way. You have to find out about yours. At that point you can put together a program. Check out http://www.makeoverfitness.com and get a free fitness e-book email directly to you.

Answer 9

Go to weightmelter.net. Their weight loss programs and products are safe and natural. I've lost 30 pounds and millions of others have lost weight as well. I'll give them a try before considering anything else. Their stuff is great.

Answer 10

you are certainly over-weighted or bulky or fatty:
diet:
avoid fatty,oily,high-protein diet
avoid carbohydrate and suger as much as possible
eat adequate fibric,full of fibre diet like green leafy vegetables,salads,fruits with peels (fibres reduces fat absorbtion in entestines)
avoid drinking alchoholic drinks
exercise:
walking/jogging at speed of 3-4miles/hr. for atleast 45 mins a day in the early morning
practise some common free hand exercises
if those don help you to enlighten your body then consult a physician for sought out of any cause of your over-weight.

Answer 11

Start walking / sightseeing . . .
The walking will build up your stamina & soon you will be able to engage in sports like soccer or something fun.
The sight seeing will keep in interesting as the big draw back to gyms is that they get super boring very fast .
Just start walking and increase your distance each day .
You can succeed at this !