How to Lose Weight?

[GGG]

In the past several years I have gained 15-20 pounds. I knew that it was happening but never got to taking care of this issue - no exercise is mostly the cause of it, I think. Now I am at the highest weight I've ever been. I look worse and feel worse. I have never had a weight problem so this is new for me. How do people lose weight? I signed up for a gym membership. My diet is not that bad, but I guess I will be trying to stay away from processed foods like hot dogs. Does anyone have advice on what is most effective?  I am not sure of what to do.

Edited June 4, 2021 by GGG

[Danioover9000]

@GGG

11 minutes ago, GGG said:

In the past several years I have gained 15-20 pounds. I knew that it was happening but never got to taking care of this issue - no exercise is mostly the cause of it, I think. Now I am at the highest weight I've ever been. I look worse and feel worse. I have never had a weight problem so this is new for me. How do people lose weight? I signed up for a gym membership. My diet is not that bad, but I guess I will be trying to stay away from processed foods like hot dogs. Does anyone have advice on what is most effective?  I am not sure of what to do.

   I used to weigh about 145 to 150 pounds (65-70 kilos) ten years ago. I've worked on my self image, and did daily affirmations and visualizations specifically on fitness and health, and gradually did exercises and changed my diet slowly. Now I weigh around 57 kilos (125 pounds) from having oatmeal as my breakfast, and exercise everyday like fighters do, shadow boxing and heavy lifts. I'm comfortable now, compared to 5-10 years ago, as all the work helped fused my identity to the activities I want to do and who I want to be.

   Probably a good start is to believe you can change yourself, and do the activities, no matter how small they are each day. It really snow balls. Also, go and look at actualized blueprints to personal development and choose which to work on.

 

[Snader]

23 minutes ago, GGG said:

but I guess I will be trying to stay away from processed foods like hot dogs.

Start with making a commitment to stay away from those.

Exercise is important, but your diet is the foundation you start building strong habits and practices on.

If you want your body to work correctly and play in your favor for you to lose weight, then you need to start paying careful attention to your diet to make it cleaner. Processed food is poison to your body and will basically make your body work against your well-being.

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, GGG said:

no exercise is mostly the cause of it, I think.

This is false.

Exercise is not issue, diet is.

It's all about the junk you eat. If you ate healthy you would keep a slim weight effortlessly and naturally.

Cut out all refined carbs, sugars, junk food, and grains.

[GGG]

@Snader @Leo Gura Are white rice, pasta and potatoes unhealthy? Should I switch to gross brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole wheat pasta?

Edited June 4, 2021 by GGG

[GGG]

https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/list-of-refined-carbs/

[GGG]

 

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, GGG said:

@Snader @Leo Gura Are white rice, pasta and potatoes unhealthy? Should I switch to gross brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole wheat pasta?

If you want to lose weight, cut out carbs entirely.

No pasta, no bread, no rice, no potatoes, no cereals, no pastries, no sweets, no sweetened drinks, no juice. << THIS is what makes you fat. Not lack of exercise.

[Osaid]

low carb + fasting

[Anon212]

Lol, diet is such a controversial area. You don't necessarily have to cut out carbs. In fact, if you want to lose weight you should combine diet and exercise and though a lot of people argue with this, carbs are amazing for exercise. The evidence for high fat diets boosting athletic performance/exercise is not great. I think you should eat healthy carbs for sure. Maintain a nitrogen surplus (eat high quality protein) and be in a caloric deficit (lose weight). You can eat shit and still lose weight if you're in a caloric deficit. The rule is simple. You must take in less than what your body uses up. Then you can lose weight. Of course this is not a good idea. I won't go into detail but I think you should aim for body recomposition especially if you are young and detrained. For this, it's best to do a combination of HIIT training and moderate intensity resistance training. Again, nitrogen surplus (muscle growth) and caloric deficit (fat loss) should be present. Don't ignore putting on muscle. A certain amount of muscle is good for you. It will increase you self-esteem, strengthen bones, improve the immune response. In fact the benefits are endless. HIIT will significantly improve your cardiorespiratory fitness and your day to day tasks will become a lot easier. This may sound hard but it's quite easy. You can train 2-3 days a week, fix your diet and get excellent results.  

[Snader]

49 minutes ago, Anon212 said:

You can eat shit and still lose weight

That's the little devil on your shoulder whispering to your ear.

 

52 minutes ago, Anon212 said:

The rule is simple. You must take in less than what your body uses up.

That's a a common rule of thumb, but a naive one. You should also not forget the damage you create in the long run by eating shit. Figuratively, every hot dog and cheese burger will add to your toxicity container, and when your container can't take anymore, it will explode and result in different health problems, such as auto-immune diseases, which will cause you even more problems.

[Snader]

8 hours ago, GGG said:

 

That's a good video to start with! It gives you nice frames to start working on your diet. Also, do your own research and keep trying different options and see how your body reacts.

[Anon212]

@Snader I don't recommend doing that but it is just the truth. Of course you shouldn't eat cheeseburgers and hotdogs but you can still lose weight if your caloric intake is low enough. Again don't recommend it...

Yes, the rule applies to most people. To lose weight you need to consume less than your body uses up. Of course, I have heard of yogis who develop tremendous abilities to manipulate their metabolism but they are not most people.

24 minutes ago, Snader said:

That's the little devil on your shoulder whispering to your ear.

 

That's a a common rule of thumb, but a naive one. You should also not forget the damage you create in the long run by eating shit. Figuratively, every hot dog and cheese burger will add to your toxicity container, and when your container can't take anymore, it will explode and result in different health problems, such as auto-immune diseases, which will cause you even more problems.

 

[Charlotte]

This seems like such am easy question but it's so much more complex that initially meets the eye. 

If you haven't already, evaluate your relationship, beliefs, value in relation to your health, and the energy source you are using to fuel it (food). W

With years of dieting and cutting this and that out I finally found a way (for me) to lose weight, but most importantly, to lose weight healthily and well. You wanna lose weight but lose it smartly, and most importantly with a unified holistic approach. 

It isn't about shifting the weight asap but slow, adaptable  lifestyle (and belief level) changes, changing your body composition and also changing what your gut bacteria is asking for! 

Shifting weight too fast will inevitably lead to putting it back on and so begins the life of the unhappy unhealthy yo-yo dieter.

I disagree with Leo about cutting carbs entirely, I think there are certain unrefined carbs which are very good for you and will aid you in your fitness journey. I think that's a reductionist 'fast track' way to losing weight which unfortunately may lead to weight gain. Furthermore, our brains run on carbs, it's a no brainer (pun intended)  ??‍♀️

Do you have goals in mind? If so wrote them down, bring them to life (try and keep them realistic, achievable (smart goals I am sure you have heard of).

Go to macro nutrient calculator and find out the calorie deficit you need to achieve weight loss. 

What's your weight now? As this is very important for the type of exercise you can currently do. 

???️‍♂️

[Godhead]

8 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

No pasta, no bread, no rice, no potatoes, no cereals, no pastries, no sweets, no sweetened drinks, no juice. << THIS is what makes you fat. Not lack of exercise.

@GGG While Leo might be right to an extent, take sustainability into account. If you cut out 90% of your diet and it gets too uncomfortable to stick to, you won't.

I'd advise you to download myfitnesspal, track everything you eat and eat clean 70-80% of the time. Have some junk once in a while if it helps you sustain your diet and stick to your caloric goal. And don't make such a big deal out of it if you eat some "bad" stuff. 

Do some squats and pushups at the end of the day. Dieting is really not that big of a struggle as most people make it out to be. You just have to be consistent and accept that you'll be hungry here and there. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Godhead

[Leo Gura]

4 hours ago, Anon212 said:

You can eat shit and still lose weight if you're in a caloric deficit.

You certainly can. I lost 65 pounds while eating shit simply by cutting back volume.

But it won't be sustainable. It's too easy to over consume calories on junk food. Eventually you will become fat.

It's much easier by just cutting out carbs and cleaning up your diet.

[Village]

Carbs make your body produce insulin which essentially opens the gates for macronutrients into your cells. In the old times, people would fatten for the winter up by eating berries or whatever fruit was available at summer, and then slowly lose that weight during the winter when they had to eat a ketogenic diet because there was pretty much nothing but meat.

This is not to say that carbs are evil as some people here understood it, it's just that the easiest way to lose weight is a ketogenic diet where you don't have all that insulin promoting growth all the time.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Village

[Snader]

2 hours ago, Anon212 said:

@Snader I don't recommend doing that but it is just the truth. Of course you shouldn't eat cheeseburgers and hotdogs but you can still lose weight if your caloric intake is low enough. Again don't recommend it...

Not arguing against that. I just don't find it wise to include that ''truth'' when giving advice on how to lose weight, especially for someone who's been struggling with junk food. It's too easy to misinterpret.

But I do agree with the point of eating healthy carbs for performance (when exercising hard and frequently).

[Eren Eeager]

I lost about 8 kg in a month by eating a carnivore diet and doing one meal per day only. It wasn't hard at all.

[Michael569]

@GGG what do you eat at the moment? breakfast, lunch dinner,. Also, what do you drink besides water?