Weightloss ideas

[Symphony-x]

Well, I'm currently overweight at the age of 18 and about 19 stone {I hate telling my weight, dnt make fun ^^]. I'm 6 ft 1 and a half and i'm trying to drop about 3 stone.

I started boxing and karate and kickboxing in an aim to help loss weight aswell as learning. I kinda of went off course with eating too much when depressed [long story] and im now back to trying to lose weight again.

Current excersize/training [i cant spell ] is

Tuesday 8 til 9 kickboxing/karate [depends]

Wednesday half 7 til 8: cardio. 8 til 9 Boxing

Thursday 8 til 9 kickboxing/karate [depends]

Friday 8 til 9 kickboxing/karate [depends]

Sunday Half 11 til 12 cardio. 12 til 1 Boxing

I have wednesday and friday off from college + the weekends. Any ideas what to do which is best for weight loss.

Also getting a punch bag 4 xmas

Thanks for the help in advance

[chillindan]

hiya

For weight loss you can't beat cardiovascular exercise i.e. running, cycling, swimming etc. If your body is up to it running will see the most dramatic improvement. Try jogging 3 times a week for at least 20 - 30 minutes. If you have to do run/walk/run/walk then that is fine to begin try

1 min running, 1 min walking, 1 min running, 1 min walking etc. Gradually reduce the walking and increase the running, so 1 1/2 mins running to 30 secs walking. Continue this until you are running for the whole exercise.

Running burns the most calories of all cardiovascular exercise. If you combine it with your martial arts and also with a healthy diet you will soon shed the excess pounds. Try to avoid chocolate, cakes, crisps (anything high in saturated fat). Also if you drink moderate your alcohol intake and try to have at least 4 or 5 alcohol free nights a week.

Hope this helps.

[bushido_man96]

It looks like you have a good workout schedule, now the other big thing is to focus on your diet. Try to lose some of the caloric intake, so that your body begins to burn off excess fat.

[Symphony-x]

Yeah, I do have stamina strangely and can run for a long time. Also... I do enjoy cycling, any ideas how long should do that for, and how much a week?

[lordtariel]

Loosing weight in theory is a fairly simple thing to do. Just make sure you intake fewer calories than you burn. I say this in theory. It seems like you have a fairly good exercise routine so I would recommend looking to you diet.

Take a note pad with you and write down everything you eat in a week, then see what can be modified. Try to avoid things like refined sugars, saturated and trans fats. Don't eliminate everything at once, try changing a little bit at a time. Substitute a vegetarian meal from time to time, trade the soda for flavored water. For kicks, here's the mathematical proof that cutting soda out of your diet can be a good thing... I used to drink 2-3 cans a day. I dropped almost 20 pounds by reducing the soda intake.

---

If you consume 1 can of regular soda a day, how many pounds would you lose if you eliminate that?

1 can of regular soda contains about 150 calories. Giving up 1 can a day is equivalent to giving up 150 x 365 = 54,750 calories a year.

For every 1000 calories burnt you lose 110 grams of fat, or about 1/4 pound.

Therefore, giving 1 can of soda a day equals not putting on 54,750 / 1000 x 110 = 6022 grams, or about 13 pounds.

You can be 6 kg or 13 lb a year lighter by giving up that 1 regular can of soda a day.

Edited November 27, 2006 by lordtariel

[chillindan]

With any cardiovascular exercise it is best to build it up. I tend to find that in order to see the same benefit from cycling as running i have to do twice as much. So if I run for an hour, I will cycle for 2. When you are doing your cv exercise though, dont over exert yourself. You need to keep your heart in the 'fat burning zone' approx 60-70% of your max heart rate.

If you can have a conversation while you are doing your training then you are training at the about the right intensity (don't run too slow though) ;o)

As bushido_man96 says it looks like you are getting plenty of exercise though so maybe just try to cut back on the calories?

[Symphony-x]

well, i usually on drink water, smoothys or milk at the moment anyway.

Usual meal as part of my diet: Muller light strawberry yogurt with milk for breakfast, banana or fruit and nut mix at a snack, sandwich for lunch, usually chicken or tuna with a smoothy. main meal is usually pasta, like pasta and meatballs, or lasanga etc. and sometimes toast with no added sugar strawberry jam...

thats my diet plan anyways monday to friday.

Also, will try doing more cycling or running again on my days off

[lordtariel]

You are also going to gain weight from the exercise. I remember when I started karate I lost an inch and a half from my waistline and didn't drop a single pound.

[chillindan]

lordtariel makes a very good point that many people often forget. Muscle is denser than fat so whilst you may not actually lose any weight you may lose quite a lot in inches around the waist.

Dont forget when you exercise you are actually working the muscles, this causes them to degenerate over the period of the exercise. When you stop and rest the muscles regenerate themselves and become stronger, i.e. building more muscle tissue.

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that fat 'turns into' muscle, this is a common misconception. Fat is one type of tissue, muscle is another. What you are actually doing is burning fat as a fuel for your exercise, when you rest you grow muscle.

Also try to eat your meal within 2 hours of finishing your exercise as your metabolism is at its most efficient then and you will digest the food better.

Hope this helps.

[AT]

wot the heck... you and I are almost the exact same size lol