Enough whining! Here I offer my personal tips and testimony for loosing weight

Why did you cut out fat from your milk and certain other foods? There is nothing wrong with fat. In fact your body will not store fat as fat. As funny as that sounds. It will use what it needs and flush the rest out of your system. The fat your body stores is actually carbohydrates, basically sugars. So fat is actually stored "sugar" which is full of energy.

I believe that whole fat foods are a lot more healthy for your diet than the low-fat or non-fat. And those just taste nasty anyway.

Losing weight is actually quite simple if you do like you stated though, change your patterns. It isn't a diet you are going on it is a change in life-style. Eat less, exercise more. And eat healthy. There is no need for pills and extreme diets etc.

I once, a few years ago, after I had gotten ill, gained about 50 lbs, and went from 150lbs to 200lbs in about 2 years. I decided to fix that and started weight lifting 40 minutes a day, followed by walking/jogging for 40 minutes. Which is about 1 1/2 of exercise a day. I had to work up to it gradually over a period of a couple of months. But your body gets used to it.

I started to eat 5 times a day, like you stated, more meals, smaller portions. I started that life-style adjustment in April, and by September of that year I weighed 142 lbs which is good for my size, I'm only 5'6". And I was a lot more muscular (not huge muscle, but still much more fit.

I have kept to that life-style adjustment. I don't work out as often anymore, and I tend to walk more than I jog, but I haven't really gained any weight since then.

And I believe you are wrong about the "never cheat."

Life is to be enjoyed. There is nothing wrong in eating cheat foods from time to time.

Change things up, enjoy a treat. What's the point of living if you aren't going to enjoy life?

I do realize there are different body types, and there are people who have to really struggle with it.

You have the high metabolism, thin people who can eat anything. Then you have the muscular people, who can eat anything, even ice cream, and their body converts it to muscle, and then you have the big body type, that just seems to convert anything and everything to fat. Most people are a mixture. For example I am the muscular/gain/lose weight easy type.

I can get muscle real easy, but if I eat too much I can get a big belly real fast as well. But if I work out like I have the past few years, it only takes a few months to lose that weight.

a reply to: frostie

What if you are 40#s overweight, active, healthy by means of no comorbidities, and are a loving, giving, happy person?

This is awesome, really awesome... you have covered very basic and best tips, which we have to follow in our regular life. Even I have changed my lifestyle last 6 months onwards, eating fruits & vegetables - cut all the fried items, oils, sodas, soft drinks etc... and I can feel that drastic change in my body from first week onwards.

And I have learned many other tips from from above threads. Looking forward for more.. love u guys.

And I strongly believe regular gym will give more confidence and healthy habit in our life.

a reply to: frostie

So how did you measure your body fat?

Tired of Control Freaks

originally posted by: frostie
a reply to: peter_kandra


Very nice!

Have you heard of super setting?

It is when you do not rest during your workouts. Instead, you switch between two different workouts to keep your heart rate up. In return this will burn more calories and act as cardio.

For example,

Do a set of bicep curls, then a set of tricep dips. (Repeat 3-6 times)

Do a set of concentrated preacher curls, then a set of tricep extensions. (Repeat 3-6 times)

Do a set of hammer curls, then a set of skullcrushers. (Repeat 3-6 times)

(This would be an example for arm day, but can be done with any two muscles)

This is all done with very little rest inbetween. This will be hard at first, but in the long run it will increase your muscle endurance and enable you to burn more calories.

I am slowly becoming a bodybuilder and this is one of the types of workouts I do.

Remember, you can transform any fat into muscle.

Not sure about supersets as a regular routine for mass building, can definitely see the advantage if you're trying to lose weight though you may just be better off doing more cardio or HIIT for that, they're also good if you hit a plateau and gains begin to slow down or drop off but I'd prefer to stick to splits I think. Have you noticed good results from it?

a reply to: LifeisGrand

Why did you cut out fat from your milk and certain other foods? There is nothing wrong with fat. In fact your body will not store fat as fat. As funny as that sounds. It will use what it needs and flush the rest out of your system. The fat your body stores is actually carbohydrates, basically sugars. So fat is actually stored "sugar" which is full of energy.

I cut fat from milk simply because fat free milk has less calories. If you want to loose weight, cut down your total calorie intake.

a reply to: NewzNose

What if you are 40#s overweight, active, healthy by means of no comorbidities, and are a loving, giving, happy person?

Then we want you to make it into your 60s,70s,80s,90s

Being overweight is one of the worst things for your body.

Making these few small changes, will be very rewarding.

Aside from the physical aspect, leading a healthier life will make you feel better and more energized.

Just make a few small changes at first.

a reply to: TiredofControlFreaks

There is a simple way of calculating, but requires a special tool. (I am not too familiar)

I would just look at pictures, and make your best guess.

Here are some pictures labeled with a persons body fat. See who you match up too!

www.builtlean.com...

a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Not sure about supersets as a regular routine for mass building, can definitely see the advantage if you're trying to lose weight though you may just be better off doing more cardio or HIIT for that, they're also good if you hit a plateau and gains begin to slow down or drop off but I'd prefer to stick to splits I think. Have you noticed good results from it?

Yes. I am building for mass, but not like others. I dont believe in the whole "cutting and bulking" nonsense.

My old trainer always stressed the ability to put on clean, cut mass. I do this by hitting 2000-2500 clean calories a day. I stay lean, but make sure my muscles have what they need to grow.

I implement super sets almost every day I workout. Just one or two sets. These make sure I burn more calories and give me the ability to put on cut muscle.

There are a few different types of supersets and this article talks about them

www.bodybuilding.com...

1. Pre-exhaustion is probably the most effective type of superset. A pre-exhaust superset is performing an isolation exercise first, followed by a compound movement. The idea behind pre-exhaustion is to take a muscle beyond its normal point of exhaustion, therefore stimulating more muscle fibers. The only real drawback with pre-exhaustion is you will only be able to use a fraction of your normal weight for the compound exercise.

2. Compound supersets can produce amazing muscle growth in a very short period of time since you are performing two compound exercises, one after another. This can be brutal on the nervous system and requires extra recovery time after a workout. The major disadvantage with compound supersets is that your form can get sloppy, increasing your chances of getting injured.

3. Isolation supersets are performed by supersetting two isolation exercises, such as rope press-downs and kickbacks. This becomes useful during pre contest or when you want to get ripped and defined. This is definitely not a method for gaining mass.

The majority of my supersets are Isolation sets. These are used to get well, "ripped and defined." Again, I stress my main goal is to put on clean mass, and I do not rely on Isolation supersets to do that. These sets are just a secondary means to keep myself lean and cut.

Hypertrophy is my main means of building.

originally posted by: sunithapu
This is awesome, really awesome... you have covered very basic and best tips, which we have to follow in our regular life. Even I have changed my lifestyle last 6 months onwards, eating fruits & vegetables - cut all the fried items, oils, sodas, soft drinks etc... and I can feel that drastic change in my body from first week onwards.

And I have learned many other tips from from above threads. Looking forward for more.. love u guys.

And I strongly believe regular gym will give more confidence and healthy habit in our life.

Im glad you enjoyed the read!

I do stress basic fundamentals and know a good solid foundation to start off is the key to long term success.

Nice job on cutting out the junk! I cant even eat fried food or drink soda anymore. Its been so long that my stomach cant handle such foreign food.

Why are you avoiding milk and dressings that contain fat? Fat is essential for your cardiovascular system and losing weight (surprisingly).

Anyway my advice, avoid sugar. I have been 'dieting' for 10 days by simply avoiding sugar wherever possible. Subsequently that means you're on a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. It's essentially like for like with your atkin-esque type diets albeit I'm not as restricted. The goal is to eliminate sugar.

I've lost an inch of the waist in 10 days.

I've had a couple of extremely late night cravings, quite bizarre wanting pizza at 10pm. I've battled these cravings by drinking water.

I've stopped eating breakfast as well.

I don't even feel like I'm starving myself I just feel better. Much better in fact.

originally posted by: frostie
a reply to: MagnaCarta2015

Not sure about supersets as a regular routine for mass building, can definitely see the advantage if you're trying to lose weight though you may just be better off doing more cardio or HIIT for that, they're also good if you hit a plateau and gains begin to slow down or drop off but I'd prefer to stick to splits I think. Have you noticed good results from it?

Yes. I am building for mass, but not like others. I dont believe in the whole "cutting and bulking" nonsense.

My old trainer always stressed the ability to put on clean, cut mass. I do this by hitting 2000-2500 clean calories a day. I stay lean, but make sure my muscles have what they need to grow.

I implement super sets almost every day I workout. Just one or two sets. These make sure I burn more calories and give me the ability to put on cut muscle.

There are a few different types of supersets and this article talks about them

www.bodybuilding.com...

1. Pre-exhaustion is probably the most effective type of superset. A pre-exhaust superset is performing an isolation exercise first, followed by a compound movement. The idea behind pre-exhaustion is to take a muscle beyond its normal point of exhaustion, therefore stimulating more muscle fibers. The only real drawback with pre-exhaustion is you will only be able to use a fraction of your normal weight for the compound exercise.

2. Compound supersets can produce amazing muscle growth in a very short period of time since you are performing two compound exercises, one after another. This can be brutal on the nervous system and requires extra recovery time after a workout. The major disadvantage with compound supersets is that your form can get sloppy, increasing your chances of getting injured.

3. Isolation supersets are performed by supersetting two isolation exercises, such as rope press-downs and kickbacks. This becomes useful during pre contest or when you want to get ripped and defined. This is definitely not a method for gaining mass.

The majority of my supersets are Isolation sets. These are used to get well, "ripped and defined." Again, I stress my main goal is to put on clean mass, and I do not rely on Isolation supersets to do that. These sets are just a secondary means to keep myself lean and cut.

Hypertrophy is my main means of building.

My advice on training as well, not that you asked ha, don't do it!

I trained hard a few years back. My aim was to grow. I worked out every day for at least 2 hours (area rotation obviously) and ate around 5,000 calories on a good day. I basically ate anything I wanted. Mixed in some cardio but it was 90% weight lifting. I didn't get fat, but I got huge. I simply went for ORM's on everything I worked on, every day.

Biggest mistake I ever made.

Naturally my life took a different path, job opportunities and 2 kids, I couldn't train anymore, not that I wanted to. I wanted to stay home with the kids and concentrate on my career. Trying to shift 3 stone of mass I gained during my time lifting is bloody hard. I still get aches where injuries occurred and I still have mass retention. I can seem to shift some of the mass from my chest and arms.

I want my old body back!

So yeah, unless you want to spend the rest of your life chasing muscles every single day, don't start!

a reply to: frostie

So Frostie,

Just out of curiousity, how long have you maintained this weight loss.

Tired of Control Freaks

originally posted by: frostie
a reply to: LifeisGrand

Why did you cut out fat from your milk and certain other foods? There is nothing wrong with fat. In fact your body will not store fat as fat. As funny as that sounds. It will use what it needs and flush the rest out of your system. The fat your body stores is actually carbohydrates, basically sugars. So fat is actually stored "sugar" which is full of energy.

I cut fat from milk simply because fat free milk has less calories. If you want to loose weight, cut down your total calorie intake.

The truth is, proteins and fat are much harder to digest than carbohydrates. In fact, if you have stored fat, your body would rather use the energy from it than to waste it storing energy from fat or proteins. Proteins are essential for muscle, and it would rather use it for muscle. Of course if you don't have any calories at all, your body will use what it will. That is why it is important to have a balanced diet. Composed of Protein (a fistful), carbohydrates, and fat (a teaspoon or so) a meal. And any and all greens you can eat. Your body burns more calories than are given my green vegetables, when it processes them, and they are full of vitamins and minerals.

If you have eaten some carbohydrates, your body would much rather use them, than protein or fat to burn as energy, or store as energy for that matter.

a reply to: TiredofControlFreaks

I have maintained it for about 7 months now, and will continue to loose weight until I plateau around 8-10% BF

Considering you have used the word "Maintain," I am assuming you are weary that all of this can be very easily gained back.

This weight loss method is very easily maintainable because it will become your lifestyle.

Also, this weight is not rapidly lost like with an extreme diet (more rapid the loss, the more rapid/easily it is to gain it back)

a reply to: frostie

I should say congratulations. And it is good to remind ourselves it is a life-style, not a diet.

If people realized how easy it is, not for everyone, but for the majority of them to lose weight and keep it off!

Eat a little less, exercise a little more. And avoid the junk foods, and eat right, and smart, eat healthy.

It is sad to see how overweight society has become. I am not making fun or name-calling. And realize that there are valid reasons for people to be overweight, because of say a hyper-active thyroid or what have you. Everyone is different.

Instead of blaming everyone, just know that you can lose weight and keep it off! It is easy for almost everyone.

It's easier for males than females, because we're more muscle mass by nature, and burn more calories, on average, than women. Women need to learn they can't eat as large portions as men and not gain weight. And men should learn to lower their portions if they are gaining weight, and everyone should work out.

Even if it is just walking. By losing your obesity, and daily exercise, you live a more healthy life, less diabetes, less high blood pressure, less heart disease, and you live longer. And life is more satisfying overall.

a reply to: frostie

My tip for losing weight...eat less. Stop putting as much food in your mouth as you normally do. It works.

a reply to: frostie

Wait...what? Bulking and cutting is nonsense? That's honestly a very immature approach considering you're a total beginner. You haven't actually done anything except lose easy fat and you've already had a negative opinion formed about what is considered common knowledge. That's not good man. It's the only known method of putting on muscle mass without the use of steroids. Listen brah. You need to spend more time talking to bodybuilders. There is no such thing as adding only clean mass. If someone told you it's possible then well...you're being given advice by someone who isn't being honest or is stupid. You have to eat at a calorie surplus to put on mass. Make sure your macros are in check and at the right ratios then you gotta put in time on a good program such as all pro. There's nothing else to it than that. You will gain fat when you put on muscle. It's normal. Then you cut brah. It's the only way to do it. You can't just put on muscle lol. It doesn't work like that. It takes years of lifting to get a nice body at 8%. You're talking about bodybuilder numbers and you're still trying to get your fat under control. Take a few steps back and be more realistic with your goals. Going from 12% to the 8% you want would probably take another two years of solid effort then you can switch to an intermediate lifting program and another year to get to an advanced workout. You do realize that you can't consider yourself anything more than a beginner until you can bench over twice your own weight? That's a lot and it sounds like you're not even remotely close to that.

I love when people exercise for a few months and think they're experts when there's weightlifters out there with amazing bodies and years of experience who all say the same things over and over. It takes years of effort just to get to the initial point of what you want in the mirror. Bodybuilding is a life long practice and it requires serious dedication. 3 times a week as a beginner, 2 times as an advanced lifter.

Don't mislead people with your 7 months of experience because it isn't a lot in reality. Lifters eat well their entire lives and youve only made it a few months. No offense but you have a long way to go. You're actually just starting.

a reply to: LifeisGrand

Theres so much misinformation in your post. I don't know where to begin.

I have seen a fantastic improvement by simply switching from beer to gin and walking to the liquor store rather than riding my bike.