Losing weight.

[AEKDBet]

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I am more concerned with how I actually look than a specific weight amount.

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Ok, well that changes things. Obviously weight training is important if you want to improve your appearence, but just lifting weights won't get you very far, you will have to adjust your whole diet.

However, I am in no way qualified to explain how to do this, since I'm a scrawny little bitch. I just know a few things from my buddy, who is a very, very hardcore body builder.

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You should have titled your post losing fat, and although most of the time people understand what you mean by "losing weight", for someone to imply that lifting weights will not help you is idiotic.

-You will have marginal results with just cardio

-Great results with proper weight training + cardio.

And yes, diet is huge. The saying goes "abs are made in the kitchen, not in the gym"

[Guthrie]

The bagel exceeds your daily carbohydrate allowance. The wheat toast doubles it. The Lean Cuisine triples it. The banana quadruples it.

The American Heart Association finally ate crow after a few decades of stuffing Americans full of carbs. The federal government just recently admitted that the food pyramid is upside down.

[HopeydaFish]

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Building muscle does help you burn fat faster.

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I can attest to this fact. I was 190 (5'11") and decided to do something about it. I completely changed my diet and went to the gym 4 or 5 days a week. I only did weight training at the gym, though -- I hate aerobic exercise, I find it too boring. Within six months I was down to 170, but had also built up a bit of bulk. Without the extra muscle I would have been down to 160 or so, I'm guessing.

[Jeffage]

If, after 6 months or whatever, you're not down to the weight you want, you have to donate $500 to some kinda heart research type charity. Take out the $500, give it to a friend to hold. If you don't meet your goals, he will keep the cash and write a check for you.

But seriously...I've been on a low calorie (1300-1500) diet lately and it's working for me. My rules have been:

Breakfast: Granola bar and coffee.

Lunch: Small portions. Generally avoid: Cheese, fried items, lots of bread, mayonaise (mustard instead), high cal salad dressings, potato chips. Keep lunch to like 500 cals totally (many chain places have nutrition info on website).

Dinner: 500-700 calories. Chicken breasts, turkey burgers, lean ground beef (occasional), portabello mushrooms, small portions of pasta, some tv dinners, lighters soups, etc.

Also, drink nothing but water and obv avoid desserts.

My two cents,
Jeff

[TStoneMBD]

i think that this diet will work, but a major reason for why i am posting it is that i would like for someone with more knowledge to chime in and correct me if it will not.

wendys has some very healthy foods, caloric wise. if you avoid any caloric beverages, you should lose some significant weight by eating these 2 following foods:

Ultimate Chicken Grill Sandwich

Calories: 360
Total fat (G): 7
Cholesterol: 75
Protein: (G):31

Broccoli and Cheese Hot Stuffed Baked Potato

Calories: 440
Total fat (G): 15
Cholesterol: 10
Protein: (G):10

If you had 4 UltimateCG sandwiches and 2 broccoli potatoes per day, your caloric intake would be 2320.

If you dont care too much for the potatoes, you could replace them with more sandwiches and this would be an even more efficient diet.

The foods actually taste very good as well, which makes me think it would be a very satisfying diet.

[HopeydaFish]

Here's a question for people who people who are in the know:

A couple of years ago I cut out Regular Coke from my diet. I used to drink 3 or 4 cans a day. I still needed the caffeine, so I switched to Diet Coke. However, about a month ago I decided to kick the caffeine habit and stopped drinking Diet Coke as well. I had a couple of weeks of withdrawal, but I'm feeling much better now. I've substituted water for the diet Coke I was drinking. Other than having to pee every 30 minutes, I feel like a million bucks now.

Here's my question: Will cutting out the *diet* Coke affect my weight? I've heard that cutting out all softdrinks (diet or otherwise) is important for a healthy diet. However, I always thought of Diet Coke as simply being flavoured water mixed with caffeine (but without the calories that come from the sugar in regular Coke). Should I expect to lose some weight now that I've stopped drinking diet soft drinks?

[lu_hawk]

it's going to be almost impossible to lose weight and keep it off without exercising. besides the fact that if you try to lose weight quickly through dieting alone your bodyfat % will end up higher than before you started. if you don't want to exercise then you don't really want to lose weight very badly.

[beerbandit]

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Bagel w/ cream cheese for breakfast

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not as healthy as you think -- depends on the cream cheese though


cheers

[Hoopster81]

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but I am really bad at it and I don't really like it.

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You probably feel this way because you do not enjoy the Gold's Gym (etc) atmosphere. It makes you feel uncomfortable to be in a gym working out with other people that are clearly in better shape than yourself. You need to just say, "F them," and get your work in. And, once you get in better shape you will actually ENJOY going to work out, and it will become an ego-boosting experience.

[HopeydaFish]

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Bagel w/ cream cheese for breakfast

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not as healthy as you think -- depends on the cream cheese though


cheers

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When I was dieting I was advised to switch from bagel and cream cheese to an english muffin with jam. There's about 1/4 the calories in an english muffin with jam than there is in a bagel and cream cheese.