Want to lose weight - Need to do this properly

[RJ91]

Hi all. I'm 15, from the UK (Exeter) and really want/need to lose weight. Right now i'm about 6ft, 230lbs .

Now to begin with, here's equipment I have at home:
Excercise Bike
Treadmill
Rowing Machine
Elipptical Trainer

Which in your opinion is best for weight loss? I plan to do bike one half of week, Elipptical and Tread the other, due to family situation. Now to burn fat, do you need to burn calories? As i've been talking to a friend in NL and he told me calories is not fat, but to burn fat you need to excercise for over 20 minutes and hit 65% of your max heartrate (205). Right now i'm doing 20-30 minutes a day exercise, from previously little to no exercise atall hence the weight lol.

I'm also eating less now, i've cut back probably atleast by 500 a calories a day and more some days. I'm also drinking lots more water, and have stopped drinking diet cokes etc, I used to drink them alot.

Also, i'm thinking about buying a Polar F6, my NL Friend who is a fitness trainer said they're good. Does anyone have any opinions on them? Also is the calories burnt thing realistic on them? As I know from experience the calories burnt on most machines is complete BS as it doesnt account for age/height/weight etc.

So what are the best ways to burn fat healthily? Right now i'm exercising as i've said and eating less (cutting out crap foods like biscuits etc which are not needed.)

Also is it harder or easier to lose weight at this age opposed to 18+ or what not?

ALSO Anyone have any tips on passing time when excercising? I Get bored pretty quickly and it's so easy just to get off and stop exercising. Atm on my bike i'm watching TV whilst doing about 30 mins (500 calories APPARENTLY) a day. I find it harder to do 30 mins on the Tread/elliptical because there's no TV atm, so any tips? And right now i'm not using the rowing because of lack of space. BTW I think i'm eating around 1500-2000 (though probably not near 2000 really) Calories a day now.

And how much do you think I'd lose each month with my changes so far? I'd love to lose a stone in my first month, but I can appreciate this may be being over optimistic, though it'd definitely be a confidence boost.

If you have any advice/tips etc you think may help me or I may have forgot to ask for please say. Sorry for blabbing on lol.



Thanks!!
-RJ91

 

[miracle]

Hello and welcome

Try an ipod of mp3player on the treadmill. It's fun to walk/jog/run while listening A radio or computer is just as good.

 

[RJ91]

Hello and welcome

Try an ipod of mp3player on the treadmill. It's fun to walk/jog/run while listening A radio or computer is just as good.

Thanks for the response. I still havn't given music a fair trial, so I guess I should.

-RJ91

 

[ToothlessFerret]

Any of those machines are good for weight loss. Which are best is entirely up to you. If any of them particularly motivates you to become active, then that is a winner.

Why did you gain weight? You consumed more calories than you burnt over a long period. Ok, so you have decided to cut out junk food and exercise on cardio machines. But for how long? Most people go on a temporary slimming diet, and many hit the gym for a while. But once they have lost weight (if they get that far), they return to their old lifestyle, and end up putting it all back on - and some more.

At the age of 15, what you should be doing, is looking at the rest of your life. You've already found that these machines can be pretty boring. Will you be able to keep using them on a regular basis for the rest of your life? My recommendation is that you explore different activities, and find out which you enjoy. It may well be home gym, but alternatively, you might find that you enjoy cycling, running, martial arts, swimming, hiking, weight training, etc, etc. Its a lovely day today, it has been a great spring this year - why be stuck in a gym when you can become more active outside - and get the benefits of fresh air and sunshine.

A lot of people who start out much bigger than you have a lot of weight loss success with walking for exercise. This doesn't mean walking to the shops, but walking with more intensity. With time and improved fitness, walking often evolves into jogging, running, or sprinting. A cheap pedometer helps walking motivation, as you can use it to track your progress.

Now turning to the other end of the equation that made you overweight - food. There are a number of ways of tackling this. 1) eat a healthy, natural, balanced diet. Don't eat junk food, cut back on processed food, chuck the biscuits in the bin along with the crisps, chips, burgers, ice cream, and fried food, etc. Eat your five plus portions of fruit n' veg daily, eat your greens, drink water not fizzy junk, change white bread for wholemeal bread, cut back on red meat. 2) the next level, start counting your calories. Work out how many calories per day that your body needs to sustain itself, and cut back a little. I personally find cal counting a little fascist, but it is the most logical way of losing weight if you can discipline yourself to do it. 3) educate yourself about food, learn what the dangers are, and what the good stuff is. You really are what you consume. If you really cant be bothered to cal count, then at least develop a better awareness of food than the one that made you overweight.

Ok in summary, increase exercise and activity + cutting calories whilst still getting all of the nutrition that your body needs by eating good and healthy food = weight loss. Now you need to fit that into a new lifestyle that will keep you fit and healthy for a very long life.

Weightloss - a healthy rate is around two pounds per week. Much more than that on a regular basis (some people see a sharper drop in the first few weeks), might be too much. You could be losing as much lean body mass - such as muscle, as you lose body fat, and that isn't healthy.

Good luck - it really is a journey worth making, especially at your age, so that you enjoy all of those years ahead of you!

 

[RJ91]

Any of those machines are good for weight loss. Which are best is entirely up to you. If any of them particularly motivates you to become active, then that is a winner.

Why did you gain weight? You consumed more calories than you burnt over a long period. Ok, so you have decided to cut out junk food and exercise on cardio machines. But for how long? Most people go on a temporary slimming diet, and many hit the gym for a while. But once they have lost weight (if they get that far), they return to their old lifestyle, and end up putting it all back on - and some more.

At the age of 15, what you should be doing, is looking at the rest of your life. You've already found that these machines can be pretty boring. Will you be able to keep using them on a regular basis for the rest of your life? My recommendation is that you explore different activities, and find out which you enjoy. It may well be home gym, but alternatively, you might find that you enjoy cycling, running, martial arts, swimming, hiking, weight training, etc, etc. Its a lovely day today, it has been a great spring this year - why be stuck in a gym when you can become more active outside - and get the benefits of fresh air and sunshine.

A lot of people who start out much bigger than you have a lot of weight loss success with walking for exercise. This doesn't mean walking to the shops, but walking with more intensity. With time and improved fitness, walking often evolves into jogging, running, or sprinting. A cheap pedometer helps walking motivation, as you can use it to track your progress.

Now turning to the other end of the equation that made you overweight - food. There are a number of ways of tackling this. 1) eat a healthy, natural, balanced diet. Don't eat junk food, cut back on processed food, chuck the biscuits in the bin along with the crisps, chips, burgers, ice cream, and fried food, etc. Eat your five plus portions of fruit n' veg daily, eat your greens, drink water not fizzy junk, change white bread for wholemeal bread, cut back on red meat. 2) the next level, start counting your calories. Work out how many calories per day that your body needs to sustain itself, and cut back a little. I personally find cal counting a little fascist, but it is the most logical way of losing weight if you can discipline yourself to do it. 3) educate yourself about food, learn what the dangers are, and what the good stuff is. You really are what you consume. If you really cant be bothered to cal count, then at least develop a better awareness of food than the one that made you overweight.

Ok in summary, increase exercise and activity + cutting calories whilst still getting all of the nutrition that your body needs by eating good and healthy food = weight loss. Now you need to fit that into a new lifestyle that will keep you fit and healthy for a very long life.

Weightloss - a healthy rate is around two pounds per week. Much more than that on a regular basis (some people see a sharper drop in the first few weeks), might be too much. You could be losing as much lean body mass - such as muscle, as you lose body fat, and that isn't healthy.

Good luck - it really is a journey worth making, especially at your age, so that you enjoy all of those years ahead of you!

Thanks for the excellent reply! I can see you put some effort into that. My main reason for not excercising 'publicly' is because I find it embarrassing, I guess at this age it's just how ya feel lol. If I were to lose weight, i'd like to start playing basketball, as I love playing it. I do need to cut back on redmeat if it's critical, as I do eat alot of mince meat (even though it's the 'low fat' one) a few times a week (about 3 ) I think i'm definitely going to get the Polar F6, I know it's pretty expensive and kinda crazy to just say i'm going to get one after 10 minutes of talking about it, but It does look really good and after spending that money hopefully it'll be more of a motivation to keep going.

Thanks!!

-RJ91

 

[RJ91]

Update: Have just ordered a Polar F6! Hopefully this will aid me in weight loss. £60 so lets hope its worth it.

-RJ91

 

[RJ91]

According to my bike, both today and yesterday I burnt 1000 calories over 50 minutes each day. Is this good? Odd thing is I didn't feel really out of breath, which other machines seem to do more. Is it just an effect stationary bikes have?

Thanks

-RJ91

 

[RJ91]

Please keep the tips coming guys and gals! Need to know as much as I can (that I'll need to) and any weight loss tips are appreciated! Today I had 2 people say they thought i'd lost some weight so that was great

Thanks all!

+ I added a li'l' ticker to my sig for progress.

-RJ

 

[RJ91]

Today I bought some York Dumbells, to hopefully built up some upper body muscle aswell as fat loss.

Now I'm looking to buy a Jump rope as i've heard these are great. I hear that the weight of the rope is important though as heavier ones are the best.

Which of these would be a the best?

First = Digital, Reps count etc which is a + but will it be any good for fat loss?

Leather One:

Heavy - 0.50kg Rope

Light 0.25kg Rope


Which of them is the best? As I'm 230 lbs now, even if the heaviest is best would it be the best for me as I am unfit, would it be too hard? I am liking the digital one best, purely because of the rep counter, but if it's not going to help me lose weight I guess it's pointless.

Thanks!

-RJ

 

[(Silent)]

Today I bought some York Dumbells, to hopefully built up some upper body muscle aswell as fat loss.

Now I'm looking to buy a Jump rope as i've heard these are great. I hear that the weight of the rope is important though as heavier ones are the best.

Which of these would be a the best?

Which of them is the best? As I'm 230 lbs now, even if the heaviest is best would it be the best for me as I am unfit, would it be too hard? I am liking the digital one best, purely because of the rep counter, but if it's not going to help me lose weight I guess it's pointless.

Thanks!

-RJ

Stick with the lightest possible jump rope. The added weight will only place unneeded stress on your joints.

You got some dumbbells, thats good. how heavy are they and can their weight be modified?

 

[RJ91]

Stick with the lightest possible jump rope. The added weight will only place unneeded stress on your joints.

You got some dumbbells, thats good. how heavy are they and can their weight be modified?

These are the dumbells I bought:



Consists of 4 x 0.5kg, 4 x 1.25kg, 4 x 2.5kg discs.
And yes it's adjustable. Atm i'm doing 2.5kg on each arm (2x 1.25) which is light, and I think I could do the 2x2.5 on each arm but I don't want to start to heavily, as with lighter ones I can lift for longer but I don't feel a great stress on my muscles though after doing them my muscles feel GREAT! Feel like I can punch harder lol.

I just heard if the rope was too light it'd be useless and not burn many calories? Which of the ones I posted do you think is best?

 

[RJ91]

Also has anyone ever used one of these Power breathers:


It claims you use it twice a day 30 breaths each time, and it can improves lungs etc to help you exercise better. True or scam? If true, worth buying?

Also do fat loss supplements actually work? And how much of a difference to they make? Has anyone tried the ones below? Which is best?




Are they bad for your health a tall? I don't want to damage my health etc by taking in crappy chemicals etc.

Thanks!

-RJ

 

[(Silent)]

These are the dumbells I bought:



Consists of 4 x 0.5kg, 4 x 1.25kg, 4 x 2.5kg discs.
And yes it's adjustable. Atm i'm doing 2.5kg on each arm (2x 1.25) which is light, and I think I could do the 2x2.5 on each arm but I don't want to start to heavily, as with lighter ones I can lift for longer but I don't feel a great stress on my muscles though after doing them my muscles feel GREAT! Feel like I can punch harder lol.

I just heard if the rope was too light it'd be useless and not burn many calories? Which of the ones I posted do you think is best?

Whichever is the cheapest rope is the best. Holding them is not whats going to burn calories its the constant motion (Jumping) that will.
Even if you used the "heavier" ones the amount of calories burned would not be drastically different.

For the dumbbells start out with 8-10 reps in 3 sets. Use the maximum amount of weight possible for that rep range. Doing light weight-high reps will do nothing more then build endurance for that weight range. Not strength nor Size.

Now, what motions (Exercises) are you doing with these dumbbells?

 

[(Silent)]

Also has anyone ever used one of these Power breathers:


It claims you use it twice a day 30 breaths each time, and it can improves lungs etc to help you exercise better. True or scam? If true, worth buying?

Also do fat loss supplements actually work? And how much of a difference to they make? Has anyone tried the ones below? Which is best?




Are they bad for your health a tall? I don't want to damage my health etc by taking in crappy chemicals etc.

Thanks!

-RJ

You want better lung capacity? Then go do some type of Aerobic exercise. Such as running,biking,swimming and so forth.


I only recommend one weight loss supplement.
L-Carnitine
Carnitine is mainly used to transport Fatty acids into cells and the Mitochondria. and also (to some degree) increases the rate of which the liver "oxidizes" fats.
Among other things it has been shown (to one level or another) Raise HDL,Lower Blood Triglycerides. over all it is wise to use in when trying to loose weight.
Id suggest 2000MG split into two doses a day.



Do not waste your money on those products you listed. I have not looked at their ingredients but i bet if i did i would be holding those in the same regard i hold arsenic.

 

[RJ91]

Right now I am doing Walking/Jogging, Cycling and Elliptical on Gym Machines, but would the breath trainer not just increase on top of this? I don't plan to use it to replace them as they are vital for my weight loss.

I suppose I will not bother with any supplements then, but are multivitamins good/bad and do they help?

As for the rope, I think I'm going to go for the Reebok digital one.

Thanks!

-RJ

 

[(Silent)]

Right now I am doing Walking/Jogging, Cycling and Elliptical on Gym Machines, but would the breath trainer not just increase on top of this? I don't plan to use it to replace them as they are vital for my weight loss.

I suppose I will not bother with any supplements then, but are multivitamins good/bad and do they help?

As for the rope, I think I'm going to go for the Reebok digital one.

Thanks!

-RJ

You don't need breath trainer is simply a waste of money. So is the digital jump rope. All you need is a rope to go up and down in a circular fashion around you so that you may jump over repetitively.

Multies are great...IF...their not full of synthetic vitamins and ANY artificial ingredients.

Walking will not help with lung capacity, jogging will mildly help. If you really want to get in great shape then you need to go at it with some high intensity.

Also do not forget about the weight training. Stick to the set/rep scheme i gave you and if you want list your current workout with them and well see what we can do with it.

 

[RJ91]

With my weights, looking at my training chart I'm these:

Lateral Raises,
Bicep Curls,
Hammer Curls.

Is each type of lift a 'set'?
And I should do 10-12 reps of each? (10-12 each arm yes?)

And how many times a day should I do this?

Thanks for the help!

-RJ

 

[sirant]

Thanks for the excellent reply! I can see you put some effort into that. My main reason for not excercising 'publicly' is because I find it embarrassing, I guess at this age it's just how ya feel lol. If I were to lose weight, i'd like to start playing basketball, as I love playing it.

-RJ91

Sorry for the late response, but I feel your pain. I too was horrified to exercise outside, especially here in China. I get stared at all the time anyways, I always figured exercising would just draw a crowd. But, as I got into my exercising more, got a good MP3 player and basically learned to tune out everything but what was going on with me and my muscles. Now not only do I run outside in full view, but do my warm ups, cool downs, full stretching routines and sometimes even yoga and aerobic routines I have converted from DVD to MP3 so I can listen to the trainer guiding me. After doing a video long enough you dont REALLY need to see it anyways, but hearing it helps.

I found when people stopped to gawk I would either encourage them to join me or flirt with them while doing it, and they typically went away. And in a way I am glad I did get over that phobia of exercising in public, because now it is a constant sense of pride and overwhelming happiness when I run by people and they say "Wow! Look at that big dude running! He's so great!" as opposed to "Hey, look at that fat guy walking by!" Every time I hear a kind word I can turn it up a little more.
Personally I would think much more of a big person sweating their way through a tough exercise than one sitting on a stool in McD's. Plus it is sooo much nicer to workout outside in a park rather than in my small cramped little apartment. I can honestly say i don't think I will ever buy a treadmill or stair climber. Too many paths and hills out there calling my name!

But age is of course also a factor. At my age I could give a dingo's kidneys what some Joe Blow on the street thinks of my exercising. Sooner or later it is going to be his wife or girlfriend staring at me running by, and not because she thinks its funny....

Don't laugh, its happening already...... Good thing I am a runner now...

sirant

 

[(Silent)]

With my weights, looking at my training chart I'm these:

Lateral Raises,
Bicep Curls,
Hammer Curls.

Is each type of lift a 'set'?
And I should do 10-12 reps of each? (10-12 each arm yes?)

And how many times a day should I do this?

Thanks for the help!

-RJ

Alright, See when the body puts on extra weight "in this case fat" it builds muscle mass to accommodate the now heavier load. When you loose the weight the body will loose this extra muscle mass you have. Because the body no longer sees a use for this muscle at your "lesser" weight.
Weight training in this case convinces your body not rid itself of the muscle.

Alright, Now realize there is only so much we can do since with two dumbbells and some weight but its better then nothing at all.
You have about 45 pounds of weight if my conversion math is correct.

Reps are how many times you repeat the movement. Sets are how many times you do that rep range. For example 8reps means you do the movement 8 times without stop then when you hit eight reps you stop for about 30 seconds then do it again till finished you have completed your "Set range"

Now here is the overall program.
Dumbbell Laterals 8-10reps in 2-3 sets
Dumbbell Squats 10-12 reps in 2-3 sets
Dumbbell Lunges 10-12 reps in 2-3sets
Dumbbell Bent over rows 8-10reps in 2-3 sets
Chin ups do the maximum amount you can do in 3 sets.
Dips do the maximum you can in 3sets.
Remember to adjust the weight so you are using the maximum possible for each rep range.

Once you know what the maximum is you can do then post it back here.
If you do not know hot to do an exercise LOOK them up on Google.com. Find a video or good instruction on how to do them with proper form.

 

[Wrangell]

Alright, See when the body puts on extra weight "in this case fat" it builds muscle mass to accommodate the now heavier load. When you loose the weight the body will loose this extra muscle mass you have. Because the body no longer sees a use for this muscle at your "lesser" weight. Weight training in this case convinces your body not rid itself of the muscle.

Let me see if I understand you correctly ...adding fat...... builds muscle ?.

As an example, assume you are 165 lbs at 15% body fat, and your lean body mass is 140 lbs. If you add fat 25 lbs of fat to your body over a period of 6+ month to say 190 lbs., are you saying that your lean body mass will go up as well ?

By how much ? In other words, if you go up to 190 lbs in 4 months, what would you expect the new lean body mass to now be ?

And, does every muscle increase in mass - or only certain muscles ?