I'm a contest bodybuilder and no one on this earth knows more about getting lean than a bodybuilder.

It's great advise to get checked out first. After getting the go ahead, start walking at first, at least a mile per day at a quick pace. Then you can get into moderate strength training. Muscle burns more fat by itself than any amount of aerobic activity.

At the same time as you start to increase your activity level, change your eating habits (also known as a diet). No, I don't mean to diet in the sense that you eat a certain way until your goals a reached. I mean to change your diet to a healthy way of eating that you stick to for LIFE!!

Avoid all processed foods - too many empty calories not to mention other nasty stuff. In other words, stay away from fast food!!

Eat more protein than carbs. Increase your intake of the "good" fats, ie. mono and polyunsaturated fats. By substituting carbs in your diet with the "good" fats, it will convince your body to burn stored fat reserves as fuel for energy rather than it's prefered fuel of carbs. This is called a ketogenic state. Once your body enters this state, extra stored fat literally will melt away.

If you must snack, eat peanuts (if you aren't allergic). They are the world's most perfect food. Cashews are the best in terms of protein and good fat content. No sugar or carbs in any nuts.

Get a good Glycemic Index chart and live by it. GI charts will tell how quickly foods will turn to glucose in your bloodstream. GI charts will rate foods on a scale 1-100 with 100 being table sugar. White bread is rated 70. Eat foods that are 50 or below. Too much glucose is bad. It triggers insulin secretion which stops all fat burning. Whatever glucose isn't burned as energy is later stored as fat.

Good sources of protein are lean beef, chicken, turkey, fish, lean pork.

Lastly, don't forget to get enough water. Drink the minimum RDA of 64 ounces. (Beer doesn't count) If you get hunger pains, try drinking a glass of water first. Hunger pains are caused by an empty stomach. Water will temporarily satisfy it's requirement. Pure water will NEVER make you fat.

 

All good advice! rob_nc, excellent advice. i have been trying to lean down for awhile but for some reason i havent been able to. I know that i'm sabotageing myself somewhere, just have to figure out where. have to learn to eat more meals thru the day i guess.

 

That's another very good point I forgot to mention. It is best to eat frequent smaller meals than to eat few large meals. The old routine of breakfast. lunch, and dinner should be forgotten. Try to eat 5-6 smaller meals thoughout the day. This will keep your body satisified without overloading it.

For someone trying to lose weight, it is good to determine what your resting matabolic rate is. Once this is known, try backing off the total calorie count by 500 cals. This is a good place to start. Everyone's body if different and each will need to experiment to find out what works best.

 

Get exercise and eat more healthful foods. I used to struggle with weight gain when I would eat pizza, burritos, and other popular fast foods frequently. Now my wife cooks very healthful (and tasty) meals and I don't ever struggle with weight. About the only time we eat restaurant food is pizza once a week, but with very light cheese--probably 1/3 top 1/2 the normal amount, and only vegetable toppings. We eat no more than one pound (each) of meat per week, and likely far less. Saturdays is spaghetti dinner, but no meat in it. Exercise helps too as it helps raise your metabolism to burn off more calories.

I was once up to 235 pounds when I was 19. I lost 60 pounds in two months. Not recommended as it can kill you (talk to your doctor), but I ran 4 miles a day 5 days a week and my typical daily food intake was a can of green beans, an egg, and a beef jerkey. On top of that I was drinking 7 cups of coffee and smoking two packs of cigarettes. It's a wonder I didn't kill myself.

Also drink a lot of water. It's good for your general health.

 

I didn't read the replies but if you're overweight and need to loose weight you have a couple options:

#1. Listen to Dennis, I didn't read the list that Dennis wrote but I'd do some research and set yourself on a good diet. DONT DO A NO CARB DIET or any of those styled diets as they have side effects if your not careful. Just make sure you eat a little of everything and careful how you eat it. For example ditch mayonaise (sp?) as it's horrid for you. When you eat subs don't eat assorted eat something like a club (much healthier) and get it on a whole wheat bun. White bread isn't bad for you, but it isn't good for you its like eating air except your body has to work. Eat those weird breads like poppy seed, whole wheat etc;


#2. If you want to loose the weight quicker, decide how much time you have a week to work on this and post it. I used to race mountain bikes and atm I am getting back into it a little by little (I have no one to ride with, my competitive friends are too fast my other friends are too slow so its taking longer then I like and I dont have enough free time) If you can spare some time ever week cycling is a GREAT way to stay in shape, running will work as well but it's a high impact sport and does more damage to your knees/shin's/feet then cycling. And cycling is SO much more fun. And scenery is great around here (I live right on the Niagara escartment)

#3 If you have LOTS of time you can join a local house league team (ball hockey or something) do the ol' crunches/pushups every morning and night before you goto bed), follow the diet, and for good measure cycle (can you tell I love cycling)



Oh, and I'm 20 165LBS 6'3 and in perfect health.


Chad

 

Not to sound mean, but at 6'3", 163 is a bit "scrawny" IMHO. I'm currently 6'2" and 201 at 7%BF. In the off season, I hover around 225.

You are right about the "no carb" diets. Your brain needs a certain amount to function properly. Controlling carbs is a better alternative, especially controlling which ones you eat as they relate to the glycemic index.

 

I have a very lean upper body, I don't do any upper body building I focus all on my legs. I have no need to carry excess weight up a hill thanks

I'm viewed as lean when seen in person, never gotten scrawny.

Also, since I'm still "getting" back into it I'm not up to full leg muscle anyway.


But thanks for adding to my carb comment, I am not fully educated on it I am just aware that exempting them does more harm then good.

Chado

 

I'm 38 and I've been trying to lose weight since I was 26. I've tried every diet there is, even diet pills. I recently found something that works, and I'm actually dropping pants sizes, something I've never done.

What do I do? Walk. Three times a week, I walk to and from work, which for me is four miles each way. So, that's 24 miles a week, and wow, what a difference. I got the idea from a lady I work with who suddenly started losing weight and bought herself a whole new wardrobe.

Stay away from jogging -- it's way too hard on the knees, especially when you're a few pounds overweight.

 

So far there's a lot of good suggestions. I'll add a few...

Take the stairs instead of elevator or escalator. If you're shopping, park at the back of the lot and do a lap or two around the inside of the mall/store.

Park further away at work. If possible, bike or walk instead of drive.

See if your boss will let you go outside for a 15-20 minute walk once or twice a day. The exercise will refresh you and you're taking no more time than ppl who take smoke breaks.

Like everyone else said, change your diet and plan on it being a permanent change.

I'd also suggest getting your blood pressure checked. If you're lucky like me you can get it done at work for free. Or you can buy a home monitor for a reasonable price.

 

Stairs? I do.

Park further away? Of course, I hate door dings.

Walks at work? We get plenty of those.

Blood pressure? Fine-diddely-ine.

 

This is a link to a cycling forum I frequent, rather I frequent the whole site but this is to the training and nutrition section. If your going to do any routine these people may be of help


*Just dont mention you drive a big truck...they prefer to ride there bike to work as they like to stay in shape


http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...s=&forumid=148

 

If you can bike to work (or school) every day, that's a good woy to make regular exercise part of your routine. Make sure your bike fits you and dress appropriately: no sense making it any harder than it has to be. I dropped about 20 pounds once I started riding to work (just 7 miles each way).

 

I lost 40 lbs in less then 2 months but I don't recommand my way to anyone. Have someone break your heart and you don't want to eat sleep or do anything. I basicly went on a liquid diet those 2 months and scared just about everyone that knows me to death. Lost the weight but just about died in the process.
The best advice I can give you is change how and when you eat. and try to stay active. Don't eat as much and don't eat before you go to bed.
Good luck on loosing the weight.

 

I saw the Atkin's TV show tonight, phone number was 800-421-4886. They had a TV offer on for 29.95....two videos, some kind of manual, and a tester thing. 90 day money back guarantee.