Getting in shape/help needed

[cpa]

About 2 months ago I decided I was going to get into shape for the snowmobile season like I do most years. This year I was serious though and dusted off the treadmill and comitted to run every or every other night until the first of the year. My goal was to lose 15 pounds (185-170) by the first of the year. Which seemed reasonable with nearly 4 months

I started running 2 miles in about 20-22 minutes. I know pretty pathetic but I hate running. After a couple of weeks I was really suprised how much my endurance was increasing. I started running 3 miles a night and can now run those 3 miles in 24.5 minutes if I push hard. The 3 miles didn't seem hard enough after a while so I started running further.

I now usually run between 3-5 miles nearly every night and on Sat or Sun when I have time I run for 8-10 miles.

So now my problem. After nearly 2 months and lots of miles I have not lost 1 single pound. Every moring I weigh 184.4

I can tell a big difference and have lost an inch or so off my waste but I really want to make my goal of 15 pounds. I stopped eating fast food when I started running and eat 3 good meals a day with lost of fruits and veggies. I don't smoke or drink. The one thing I could cut out is the can of Mt. Dew I have at lunch every day. That is just 1 regular can though. Am I just not being patient enough. How long realistically is it before you start losing weight? Or should I be doing exercising differently?

Thanks for any help

 

[brahm]

www.johnstonefitness.com

When I stuck with it i was dead on 2lbs (avg) a week of fat loss. (first couple weeks I lost 4lbs a week or so then it even'd out)

But basically,it all comes down to consistency and diet..

The jest of the program is 40% Protein, 40% Carbs (simple carbs), and 20% fat intake ratio @ about your weight in calories x10 (ie 185lbs 1850 calories a day)

Lift 3 times a week, cardio 4

 

[thebigtreeman]

You're replacing some of the fat with muscle. You should really measure your body fat, which will give you a better indication of your process. You're on a great start though!

If you want to burn fat, you need long periods of cardio where your heart rate is elevated.

In college I did one of those body challenges and I never lost weight. I actually gained a couple of pounds, however, I looked a helluva lot better! Congrats on your progress.

 

[ArcticBoy]

Sounds like muscle over fat. Great job with the workout.

 

[cpa]

After dropping the coin on a new sled I decided that I should at least be in as good of shape as possible. I'm in decent shape now just want to lose a few pounds.

How do you measure body fat? I had a coach in school that said the best way to do this is jump up and down and everything that giggles that shouldn't is fat. There must be a more scientific way.

 

[Freak]

you wanna lose weight and are over 30, you gotta starve your arse off plain and simple. take a day or two out of the week and eat almost nothing. i know they will tell you otherwise but its true. or you have to burn 9 million calories a day which is no fun either, you have to burn WAY more than you take in to lose significant weight. My wife is 118lbs and it blows my mind how much she runs on the treadmill and how little she eats. and yes you are gaining muscle mass as well so you should start dropping a little after a while if you are eating reasonably.

 

[dirtydodge]

most gyms will have someone around that know how to use calipers to measure BF%.

http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html
this is sort of accurate aswell.

everybody reacts different to different diets i personally do really well when i eat 50% protien 40% fat and 10% (complex)carbs broke up into 6 meals a day totalling around 2700 cals.

some people do better with higher carb lower fat but i find i crave and suffer to much and loose more muscle mass trying to maintain a caloric deficit when eating sugars.

when i do cardio i try and stay under 30 minutes post workout or first thing in the morning so i maintain as much muscle mass as possible. when i dieted before i used to swear by HIIT cardio but i am trying low intensity this time and haven't made up my mind which i find more effective yet.

 

[Gimpster]

Water diet. Maybe treat yourself to a taco bell's taco a day and have lots of sex

----- Gimpster -----

 

[dirtydodge]

you wanna lose weight and are over 30, you gotta starve your arse off plain and simple. take a day or two out of the week and eat almost nothing. i know they will tell you otherwise but its true. or you have to burn 9 million calories a day which is no fun either, you have to burn WAY more than you take in to lose significant weight. My wife is 118lbs and it blows my mind how much she runs on the treadmill and how little she eats. and yes you are gaining muscle mass as well so you should start dropping a little after a while if you are eating reasonably.

i wouldn't recommend starving yourself, you will loose muscle mass faster than bodyfat and mess up your metabolism so that when you do eat your body will be in starvation mode and will store fat more easily.

 

[modsledr]

you wanna lose weight and are over 30, you gotta starve your arse off plain and simple. take a day or two out of the week and eat almost nothing. i know they will tell you otherwise but its true. or you have to burn 9 million calories a day which is no fun either, you have to burn WAY more than you take in to lose significant weight. My wife is 118lbs and it blows my mind how much she runs on the treadmill and how little she eats. and yes you are gaining muscle mass as well so you should start dropping a little after a while if you are eating reasonably.

No offense Freak, but this is HORRIBLE advice. When you starve yourself, the initial weight (1st 48-72 hrs) is water weight and depletion of stored carbohydrates. It looks good on a scale, but as soon as you eat again you will regain this weight right away. Your bodies reaction to starvation is to hoard fat and.

However, your advice about burning more than you take in is right on the mark.

Unfortunately, running is not a high calorie energy expender over an extended period of time (however, DONT stop the running...it is excellent for your heart and lungs, and will give you more stamina when you ride...and other physical activities!! ). Since it sounds like running is new to you, you HAVE built some muscle density, which is why you haven't seen any weight loss (muscle weighs more than fat, so you have lost some fat, and gained some muscle). Dont get hung up on the scale...how are your clothes fitting? What do your eyes tell you?

The reason high protien/fat diets work is that they trick your body into burning fat for energy. Think of your body like a smart fuel tank. It burns for energy what is put in the tank (the problem with this is that most peoples diets consume more calories than they expend). Diets like the Zone diet eliminate ALL carbs from your diet, so that after a few days your body will have depleted all of its stored carbs and you metabolosm will switch to burning nothing but fat for energy.

The problem with this diet is that once the weight is off, its very difficult to keep the simple carbs to a minimum (all processed foods have simply carbs...ie...sugar).

The best advice I can give is to educate yourself about your diet. Look closely at the foods you eat. Eliminate as much processed food as you can. Eat more fruits and veggies. Drink more water. NO white bread. Keeps sugary deserts to a minimum...everything in moderation.

Once you make the change, you'll be surprised when you look back at how much cr@p you are eating.

 

[Ex-Member]

Change what you do during the day.... Get up, go for a walk during lunch. Take the stairs. Watch TV standing up. Take the dog for a walk.

I usually nuke a burrito around 10, eat microwave meals for lunch followed by a mountain dew or two, whatever i can scrounge up for dinner, snack till 2100 or so, and I have never "gone to the gym". I am up and down the stairs several times a day (Sometimes several times an hour, for 2-3 hours a day), can't sit at my desk for much more than an hour without needing to get up and walk around the building, and I usually have something to do at home after work (Today it was wrenching on the truck). I wouldn't say i'm fit for a swimsuit modeling competition, but I'm not "the fat kid" either.

Dunno.... I just see people during the day talking about how they want to lose weight or get in shape, yet they still take the elevator up two stories.

 

[MountainPowder]

Bottom line is you have to burn more calories in a day then you consume. You may be eating 3 good meals a day, but how many calories are you consuming? I would take a few days and keep track so you can see exactly what you are consuming. There are calorie calculators online that will tell you how many you should be consuming and what exercises will burn how many calories at what pace. I am sure you have gained muscle and lost fat, if you keep it up you will slow your muscle gain and continue your fat loss. I have been playing soccer twice a week, raquetball twice a week, and occasionally hit the elliptical an hour or two a week. I watch what I eat and have switched to diet soda. I have lost 30 pounds in the last year.

 

[Dogmeat]

About 2 months ago I decided I was going to get into shape for the snowmobile season like I do most years. This year I was serious though and dusted off the treadmill and comitted to run every or every other night until the first of the year. My goal was to lose 15 pounds (185-170) by the first of the year. Which seemed reasonable with nearly 4 months

I started running 2 miles in about 20-22 minutes. I know pretty pathetic but I hate running. After a couple of weeks I was really suprised how much my endurance was increasing. I started running 3 miles a night and can now run those 3 miles in 24.5 minutes if I push hard. The 3 miles didn't seem hard enough after a while so I started running further.

I now usually run between 3-5 miles nearly every night and on Sat or Sun when I have time I run for 8-10 miles.

So now my problem. After nearly 2 months and lots of miles I have not lost 1 single pound. Every moring I weigh 184.4

I can tell a big difference and have lost an inch or so off my waste but I really want to make my goal of 15 pounds. I stopped eating fast food when I started running and eat 3 good meals a day with lost of fruits and veggies. I don't smoke or drink. The one thing I could cut out is the can of Mt. Dew I have at lunch every day. That is just 1 regular can though. Am I just not being patient enough. How long realistically is it before you start losing weight? Or should I be doing exercising differently?

Thanks for any help

2 miles in 22 minutes isn't pathetic... or if it is, I'm just as pathetic, and I work out 4-5 days a week ... I dunno I hate running though haha, but that's usually what I do for cardio.

But, seriously, if you are running that much, why in the world are you worried about what you weigh? If you are doing that much cardio, you should start losing weight immediatley ... case in point, if I could even get myself to do half that much cardio I'd probably drop 10 pounds in a week.

I think what you otta do is hit the weights a little bit ... you'll start gaining weight, but feel really good about it, then you won't care that you haven't dropped weight ...

Seriously if I was able to run 8 miles at a time my weight is the last thing I'd be worried about.

If you wanna get in shape for snowmobiling season start doing squats and dead lifts and pullups

 

[TS Drag Racer]

I'll tell you what is really working for me. Bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, light lunch and I eat a hardy dinner. I work out four nights a week with weights and doing cardio, mainly working out on my heavy bag and jumping rope, for my cardio part of the workout. I don't eat anything after dinner, and by sticking with this routine, I've lost 10lbs in the last three weeks. Worst thing you can do is, eat three big meals a day and snack after dinner. Make's it very difficult to shed the weight, at least it was for me. Sounds like you're headed in the right direction, I still have a ways to go myself. Having the wife and my oldest daughter baking, setting boobie traps doesn't make it any easier either........

 

[Sturgis Sledder]

Get books body for life and the cookbook as well. BOTH of those will guide you pretty much from a - b. You can take their supplements but don't have to, so it's even fairly easy and cheap.

 

[cpa]

Thanks for the info guys. I have been counting calories and I eat less then 2000 a day so I really dont think my diet is a problem. I have also in the last 2 weeks started doing pushups.

I never thought that I would be able to run 8 miles either but I have found if you find a pace that works for you (10 minute mile for me) you can run forever. I never could understand how someone could run a marathon but I really think in another few months I could do it. The problem is that running for that long is just so boring. I wish there was enough snow to ride then I could at least have fun while I was getting a workout.

 

[sd900climber]

Wow, I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, or maybe they did and I just missed it.

One thing that you can do, and that I have done successfully is spread your food out over 5 or 6 "meals." Find a calorie calculator online as someone else suggested, figure out how many calories you burn and how many you consume. Spread out your optimal calories over 5 or 6 meals. For instance, eat a bowl of oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast. Then have a banana mid morning, then maybe a grilled chicken salad for lunch, then a protein bar mid afternoon and maybe a grilled chicken breast for dinner. That should run your around 2000 calories a day depending on portion. So say you burn 3000 calories a day, it will take you 3.5 days to lose a lb.

Another thing to consider, and maybe you already do this, but you can add weight lifting to your routine. Maybe do 3 days of running and two days of lifting. Building muslce mass is one of the best things you can do to lose weight because building muslce increases your metabolism which allows you to burn more calories even when you are not working out.

Another thing is you have to change up your regimine. Our bodies are able to adapt and get used to what were doing so you have to throw it off and do something else otherwise you wont realize the same games you were before.

Another thing you may want to try is interval training. Rather than just running at 6-7 mph hour for a half hour to an hour, incorporate some interval training. If you're not familiar with that, what you do is you go in "spurts." Get a good warm up in, say five minutes, then run at 7 mph for 2 minutes, then back down to 6 mph for 2 minutes, then back up to say 9 mph for 2 minutes, back down to 6 mph, then up to an all out sprint for 2 minutes, then back down. This is another thing that will help keep your body on it's toes. Also consider adding hills into your treadmill routine.

So, in conclusion, spread your food intake out over 5 or 6 "meals" and add weight lifting to your workout routine. I'd be willing to bet you will start to see results within a week or two.

 

[justadude]

While a tread mill is good, try running for real!!It is at least twice as hard.

 

[ruffryder]

Modsledr has great advice!

Very good info here! Best thing is the clothes fitting and the eyes... Working out takes time and every little bit helps. Eat better, run, lift weights, eat less.... it all helps and contributes to a much better physical condition.

Right on the squats and dead lifts for sledding... I should probably just go down to the sled and pick up the back end of my sled for a couple of sets... I could call it the yamy lift machine!

Best advice I can offer is to get into a routine. Once that is set, willing yourself to workout becomes much much easier.... Routines make it natural...

 

[kssnow987]

Just a thought, try eating 6 times a day but smaller meals. What you eat is as improtant as how much you work out. I have a friend that had a thyroid problem, made it hard to loose weight. When was your last physical? Just my .02