Dieting again.

[Triforcer]

Bleh.  Getting into the workplace for the first time brought me from 175 to almost 190.  I'm down to 178 now, mostly because I was annoyed about developing neck fat. 

[DarkSign]

I'm interested in losing weight myself and have excitedly skimmed through this threat.
I'll me pming you about it if you dont mind Schild.

Right now I'm somewhere between 190-200. I say somewhere because I've had a hard time with scales.
I've got 3 and they all say different things. One works on electric current and some days tells me 183 and some days 198.6
I've got another one that's brand new with an analog dial that tells me I'm 200 lbs but I know I should be less than that because I lost 14 lbs from when I was 207 - and that wasn't a long time ago.  I brought my dad's old scale out of the top floor bathroom and it tells me I'm 191.

I'm 6'3/6'4" without shoes and I'd really like to be 185 or 180. I dont have a lot of visible body fat (thin face and limbs) just pudge around the middle that I hide with suits.

So what I've read of this diet sounds great. I might have as much as 20 lbs to lose and would love to lose it fast. Then I'll work on my abs :)
Suggestions requested ;)

[schild]

6'3" and 190-200?

You don't need to diet.

[stray]

I'd agree, but numbers can be deceiving. There's a good kind of distribution of weight and a bad one, no matter how low the number seems to be. A person could fit within suggested BMI parameters, but in reality, have a body that's puny and under a lot of soft, excess fat. That's not really that much better off than full blown obesity.

Anyhow.. My suggestion to DarkSign is to just sweat that off. Drink a lot of water too. Not only will this help keep your appetite down, but you won't be dehydrated either (and in turn, your body won't try to hold on to every bit of excess water and fat). You sure as hell don't need a crazy diet to cut down 10-20 lbs.

I'm sure that sounds too simple... And it is. None of this is rocket science. Fitness is just basic science. Work, work, work. Our bodies were meant for it.

[schild]

I'm sure that sounds too simple... And it is. None of this is rocket science. Fitness is just basic science. Work, work, work. Our bodies were meant for it.

No, Stray, it's not simple.

You want it to sound simple, maybe to motivate yourself.

Exercise is hard for the lazy and terribly boring to people who like games.

Basically, what I'm saying, is that your solution sucks balls.

[stray]

My solution is basically what nature has ordained. Take it up with her! 

Seriously, our bodies (or every animal body, for that matter) are these amazing machines that were built for action.. If were born as limbless, sedentary blobs, I'd understand. But we weren't. We have to use and take advantage of what's given to us. Or we'll die early. That's all there is to it.

[schild]

When you tell me what Nature has ordained, you're just preaching.

Also, if I wanted to make a thread about losing weight through exercise, I don't think I would've chosen the word title "dieting again."

[Samwise]

I'm down to 178 now, mostly because I was annoyed about developing neck fat. 

Neck/chin fat is the best motivator in the world to eat right, because you see it every day whether you want to or not.  Unless you have a beard that hides it.  Part of why I shaved my beard off.   

[MrHat]

haha. I have my beard because without it I look like 

I made a new goal for myself.  I want to be able to do 3 chin ups.  That would be up from none.

[Signe]

Samwise is wise.  This is me before growing a beard:



Just a couple of weeks later, after growing a beard and dying my head hair: 



It is amazing, innit?

[DarkSign]

I think where Samwise was going was "It's simple to know what to do but hard to want to do it" amirite?

I'm not fat by any stretch it's just this annoying middlesection...that I guess I just need to do situps till I bleed.
I was hoping that I could get semi-crazy thin to the point of seeing my abs then work my muscle up, kind of a perverted version of Schild's plan.

Are traditional sit-ups or those plastic-ball crunches (you know the ones you balance on) the best way to get 6-pack abs?

I hear the guys on the cover of Men's Health have only 7% body fat. That's insane.

[K9]

Are traditional sit-ups or those plastic-ball crunches (you know the ones you balance on) the best way to get 6-pack abs?

Ball crunches are better than traditional crunches in my experience as they require a lot more coordinated muscle control; although I prefer hanging crunches as I feel they work me harder. Unless you're doing hundreds of crunches though you might want to consider some running or time on a rowing machine to burn off excess gut. You can have incredibly strong abs and still not have a six pack if there's a nice layer of meat and gravy hiding them. Also you want to mix up the exercises, so do stuff like leg-raises, planks (front and side) and twists as well as crunches/situps.

[DarkSign]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the advice. I played soccer in college, but havent exercised since :(
The leg raises bring back old memories. It's a shame how much I dont know any more.

Running, crunches, leg-lifts and hanging crunches for me. I'll try 100 of each + 45 mins running and see how that feels.

[stray]

When you tell me what Nature has ordained, you're just preaching.

Also, if I wanted to make a thread about losing weight through exercise, I don't think I would've chosen the word title "dieting again."

I'm not preaching... I'm just trying to say that there is no sensible way to "hack" the machine, if you will. There will always be repercussions that way. Some hacks are worse than others, but it just isn't good generally speaking. We're better off just operating according to the manual -- trying to at least. Not everything is known about that "manual", about how our bodies work, but some guidelines are indisputable: Exercise is one of them. Moving your body is your natural imperative. It's the reason why there's even food and fuel to begin with.

I'm down to 178 now, mostly because I was annoyed about developing neck fat. 

Neck/chin fat is the best motivator in the world to eat right, because you see it every day whether you want to or not.  Unless you have a beard that hides it.  Part of why I shaved my beard off.   

The good thing about that is that it's the first to go if you exercise more. Face/neck/chin fat I mean.

[schild]

Actually, you're preaching a different way of doing something that has the same end result.

Unfortunately, your way _sucks_. I'm not saying it's not healthier - it is healthier. Or less sensible - it isn't, it's more sensible. No one is disagreeing with you.

But your way still sucks. Results are slow. It requires about 900x more work than losing all the weight and putting muscle back on. And finally, requires motivation. Fuck motivation and fuck effort. I've learned how to hack the machine - without some disorder like bulimia or anorexia. Just because you haven't doesn't mean ways don't exist.

[stray]

Well... I disagree. It doesn't suck. I think your psyching yourself out a bit on the suck factor of exercise. ;)

That being said, I think it's cool that you even give a shit at all. I happen to live in the second fattest city in the world. All kinds of people dragging themselves along here who don't care about appearances, let alone health.

[schild]

Well... I disagree. It doesn't suck.

Well, GOOD FOR YOU.

That being said, I think it's cool that you even give a shit at all. I happen to live in the second fattest city in the world. All kinds of people dragging themselves along here who don't care about appearances, let alone health.

You know why they don't care? Exercise sucks. And it requires motivation and effort.

[Dash]

I think where Samwise was going was "It's simple to know what to do but hard to want to do it" amirite?

I'm not fat by any stretch it's just this annoying middlesection...that I guess I just need to do situps till I bleed.
I was hoping that I could get semi-crazy thin to the point of seeing my abs then work my muscle up, kind of a perverted version of Schild's plan.

Are traditional sit-ups or those plastic-ball crunches (you know the ones you balance on) the best way to get 6-pack abs?

I hear the guys on the cover of Men's Health have only 7% body fat. That's insane.

You cant spot reduce fat.  Can do all the sit ups in the world and if you dont expend more calories than you take in you wont lose.  Visible abs come from low body fat, about 14% or lower to start to see them, 10% or less to really show em. 

If your goal is to look good, dial in what you eat to be good food, not too much, and exercise.  If your goal is simply to lose weight fast as possible (i.e. muscle,  fat, whatever just weight) then you can just crash diet and it'll work til you plateau but you wont look as good as the first way and will likely gain it back.

Difference between a girl asking you if you lost weight or something and saying "Wow you look great, what have you been doing?"   

[K9]

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the advice. I played soccer in college, but havent exercised since :(
The leg raises bring back old memories. It's a shame how much I dont know any more.

Running, crunches, leg-lifts and hanging crunches for me. I'll try 100 of each + 45 mins running and see how that feels.

If your main goal is to look cut, then your priority should be to burn fat, so mid-high intensity cardiovascular exercise will help. The hard thing is going to be balancing out  fat loss in other parts of your body if you keep up a strict regime. If you reckon you're up to 100 of each exercise then good on you, just try not to fall into the usual gym trap of setting overly-high targets then burning out.

Also, a good diet will help a lot. Good luck with your endeavours :)

[Yegolev]

I eat what I want, but do lots of cock pushups.

[stray]

You know why they don't care? Exercise sucks. And it requires motivation and effort.

Yes, motivation and effort are key, but to start out with, it's not as daunting a task as you think. This is what I mean by people psyching themselves out of exercise... They think they need to start some actual training regimen or something, and I can see how that can be a downer... But all they should focus on at first is moving a little more. Literally behaving like a normal human again. Y'know, like, walking or riding a bike to the local convenience store instead of driving all the time. Shit like that. It's not only good for some basic fat burning, but their joints have been out of commission for so long that they need to improve on that too. That'll still pose a problem even if they lose a lot of weight through dieting.

People should find little excuses to move their asses more often in every day circumstances. Then build from there. Later, you can start walking/running/cycling/swimming just for the hell of it. Or something! And like I said earlier, bring a friend along to pass the time. Bullshit yourself into thinking you're just out talking with a friend, instead of focusing on the fact that you're "exercising". Do it enough times, and you'll start enjoying the exercise too.

It's very pathetic if someone can't bring themselves to that. One of my friends is 7 months pregnant. She works, juggles other family stuff, and she still gets on a treadmill every day. She's as hot as she was before, even with a bun in the oven. And if a busy pregnant woman can find the energy to make a commitment to exercise, then anyone should.

[MrHat]

I eat what I want, but do lots of cock pushups.

How many can you do?

[schild]

You know why they don't care? Exercise sucks. And it requires motivation and effort.

Yes, motivation and effort are key, but to start out with, it's not as daunting a task as you think. This is what I mean by people psyching themselves out of exercise... They think they need to start some actual training regimen or something, and I can see how that can be a downer... But all they should focus on at first is moving a little more. Literally behaving like a normal human again. Y'know, like, walking or riding a bike to the local convenience store instead of driving all the time. Shit like that. It's not only good for some basic fat burning, but their joints have been out of commission for so long that they need to improve on that too. That'll still pose a problem even if they lose a lot of weight through dieting.

People should find little excuses to move their asses more often in every day circumstances. Then build from there. Later, you can start walking/running/cycling/swimming just for the hell of it. Or something! And like I said earlier, bring a friend along to pass the time. Bullshit yourself into thinking you're just out talking with a friend, instead of focusing on the fact that you're "exercising". Do it enough times, and you'll start enjoying the exercise too.

It's very pathetic if someone can't bring themselves to that. One of my friends is 7 months pregnant. She works, juggles other family stuff, and she still gets on a treadmill every day. She's as hot as she was before, even with a bun in the oven. And if a busy pregnant woman can find the energy to make a commitment to exercise, then anyone should.

I can see you're not "getting it."

So we're done here.

[Yegolev]

I eat what I want, but do lots of cock pushups.

How many can you do?

About one every six hours.

[schild]

I eat what I want, but do lots of cock pushups.

How many can you do?

About one every six hours.

ZZzzzzzt.

Correct answer was. "Well, One."

One?

"Yea, that's all you need."

[MrHat]

 

[Yegolev]

I didn't know there was going to be a test.  Didn't you kids play MadLibs?

[lamaros]

I will be interested to hear if you're ever able to keep your weight off and put on muscle as you plan to schild. I'm with Stray on this one. You might have a great way to lose weight with a stupid unhealthy diet, but fucked if I know how that's going to help you eat reasonably and stay that thin if exercise and thinking carefully about your body is such hard and boring work that you refuse to do it.

You might think others don't "get it", but there is nothing to "get" here. You want a result that is not obtainable without effort, and you have said you're unwilling to put in that efort.

[stray]

I can see you're not "getting it."

So we're done here.

Get what? I'm supposed to understand how you can't find the "motivation" to do some basic cardio? No, you're right. I don't get that. That's staggeringly ridiculous to me. Motivation to build yourself to look like a bone-fide athlete? Yeah, that's one thing. Motivation to rehabilitate from a pair of crushed legs? For damn sure. Motivation to just simply walk around the neighborhood? Gimme a break! Or maybe you don't think I understand that people want an easy route to weight loss? I do understand though.... Which is why I basically suggest to people that they should just walk more. Nothing's easier than...walking.

[Dash]

You want a result that is not obtainable without effort, and you have said you're unwilling to put in that efort.

Are you telling me the Ab Roller 8000 people lied to me?   

FUCK!

[Margalis]

The key to abs (remember I have them) is just cardio and diet. Nothing else. Doing stomach stuff without the cardio will just make you look fatter as the muscle pushes your belly out. Look at powerlifters for example, they have huge abs but most of them appear to be chubsters.

It's basically impossible to have abs so small and weak that they won't show at all once you lose the fat.

[stray]

Still a good idea to do crunches if you're doing cardio as well, of course. Since the results will be that much better after the fat is gone. 

Also, leg lifts for your lower back. Anything to gradually build up your core. It'll make everything easier later.

[Calantus]

I'm sure that sounds too simple... And it is. None of this is rocket science. Fitness is just basic science. Work, work, work. Our bodies were meant for it.

No, Stray, it's not simple.

You want it to sound simple, maybe to motivate yourself.

Exercise is hard for the lazy and terribly boring to people who like games.

Basically, what I'm saying, is that your solution sucks balls.

I exercise because I enjoy it.

I hate high school for making me think I hated exercise. I used to be slightly chubby (very slightly) until I hit that magical place and time. Who knew that making exercise a chore and a torment would make it harder for the fat kids to lose weight? I was fat from the second year of high school until a couple years after it, then I finally get off my ass to walk for 10 minutes a day because my doctor gives me the "you will die if you don't lose wieght" speech and after 3 days I'm feeling heaps better and kinda liking it. Within 2 weeks I was walking for an hour and only stopping because I was bored. Once I got light enough to jog without killing my legs I was doing 2 hours just because it was fun. Between work and exercise I've actually cut deeply into my gaming and internet time so that I can jog. The mind boggles, I've got the second best ingrained ability to stay thin (those guys who can eat anything and never gain win it) and yet I was fat for so many years. Fuck high school. In the ass.

[schild]

Eh?

I was starting varsity in soccer for all 4 years. I practiced 4 hours a day. I was in shape and built, until I got hurt.

In other words, I have no aversion to exercise other than it sucks time out of my day and I'm too lazy to be more efficient in order to exercise. Also, I fully know that I can stay in shape. Stray is just making stupid assumptions. Over and Over. Also, he seems to be under the impression that the diet I'm on doesn't work. Which is uhhh, I don't know, a little too goddamn presumptive. And silly. Let's not forget silly.

[Nebu]

The key to abs (remember I have them) is just cardio and diet. Nothing else.

Learned this one in med school in gross human anatomy.  When you peel away the fat, everyone has a 6-pack.  Though doing high weight, low rep crunches can build abdomenal muscle bulk such that you don't need to be nearly as lean to see definition.  Not that anyone really wanted to know any of this.