moonspeak said:
Sigh. Alright I hope this is the right place for this.
Gaf, I have to lose weight. I'm jobless, depressed, single, and pretty fat. I haven't really evaluated myself until recently and I really do need to get my weight off. I'm 5'6'' and currently around 208lbs. It hasn't really bothered me until recently.
I've started to better my diet lately. Quitting fast food, cutting down on how much I eat, cutting down on breads, replacing sodas and orange juice with water (trying to drink lots of it daily) and sometimes low-fat milk. I've also begun walking pretty much everyday. I've usually been doing a route that's roughly two miles, but recently I've been wanting to do that twice a day (in the morning and in the evening). Unfortunately, i'm also jobless and poor so I can't afford a gym membership and I don't have any weights to lift. What else can I do, Gaf? What are some good examples of exercises that I can do? I've been doing leg lifts and some stretching right before I go walk, but I'm clueless on what else I can do right now.
Thanks in advance!
You can do weight training without weights - just use your body weight. Just google or youtube search for "body weight exercises". They can range from beginner to advanced and can have aerobic elements in them. I'd suggest doing your weight training in the morning and walking in the evening, but do what your energy levels dictate. Either that or weight train one day, walk/cardio the next.
Weight training will encourage you to build lean body tissue (muscle), which makes you feel good about yourself, providing more motivation for you to lose weight. You'll also get stronger - it's nice to feel strong. Weight training also uses a fair amount of calories while you're doing it. It also requires your body to use more calories when it's at rest to maintain muscle, meaning you can eat more. Be careful though - don't be tempted to eat a shit load just because you're working out more. Eat plenty of protein for your body to repair itself.
Do one or two sets of the following exercises. Start slow if you're out of shape, because as you're strengthening your muscles, you're also strengthening your ligaments and tendons, and you don't want to strain anything by going nuts. Give it a week or two and then do at least one or two sets each of the following exercises until you physically can't do another rep.
Basic exercises - the following are good, basic exercises. They're mostly compound exercises too and will help you progress quicker and you'll also get a stronger, more stable core.
Lunges: Since you're starting out, your body weight is more than enough to give your legs a decent workout by doing alternating lunges or walking lunges. Works the thighs and buttocks.
Chin ups: A classic. You may only be able to do one or two when you start, but once you reach four or five you'll progress nicely. Vary it with pull ups to work different muscles. Works biceps, back, lats.
Dips: Good for your triceps. Can be done with one or two chairs.
Pushups: Another classic. Works the chest and triceps.
Hand stand pushups against a wall: Do a handstand against a wall and carefully lower and raise your body weight. Works shoulders and triceps.
Stomach exercises: Situps suck, so I don't do them. I use a stability balls similar to a lot of the exercises in this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNmuF7l0iuY&feature=fvwp&NR=1
I tend to avoid stomach exercises as much as possible. I often lift my knees up when doing chinups, which works the stomach.
I would suggest not getting obsessive about an exercise regimen. You want it to be easy to fit into your life instead of it controlling your life, unless you make it a hobby. You also don't want to get bored. Introduce new exercises, switch them around and change the order you do exercises in.
Jintor said:
Carbs in a McDonald's thickshake: 92g
son of a bitch
What did you expect? It's basically fat and sugar!
