This is going to be fun or hell...

[MalcolmOwen]

Good Afternoon (or whatever time it is where you are).

I'm new and I have an admission to make: I'm overweight.

Sure, it sounds like a normal thing that people say when they want to lose weight when joining a forum, but that's the simple wimpy version. Reality is a bit worse than that.

I'm a 29 year old chunky guy whom on my 29th (last) birthday weighed roughly 28 and a half stone. On a weighbridge. On My Dad's farm. I have a 160cm waist, and I've been like this most of my life. This depresses me. I did admittedly celebrate the measurement at the time as for the last X amount of years my weight in stones has always been higher than my age in years. Add in the fact that both my Dad and Mum are diabetic and I'm not, and it makes things worse.

My initial aim was to weigh myself on my 30th birthday (Boxing day) and have a weight in stones less than my age, but that's effectively continuing what I've been doing for the last few years (i.e. nothing) and propel myself towards an early death. It's also relatively simple, but not something really "good". My new vaguely realistic aim is to lose 30lb by my 30th birthday. I'd say that's doable.

My ultimate aim lose enough weight that I can buy a straitjacket for myself (interests include magic, sorry in advance) and look badass whilst wearing it.

My plan of attack? Since I'm now temporarily living with my mother, I can copy her diet. She's also got both a Wii (with Wii Fit) and a Kinect, but I know full well that the Wii Fit has a weight limit. ruling that out. I'm going to try and play stuff on the Kinect, as it's a drastic change from my constantly relaxed and unenthusiastic lifestyle.

How am I going to measure the changes? Since I won't have access to the weighbridge all the time, I'll be measuring my waist weekly, as I'd guess that the gut will go eventually.

Now. Off to Dance Central 2 I go...

[Guest guest4729]

Might I suggest doing something besides just video games? Why not invest in some weights and learn how to properly weight lift. It isn't JUST about losing weight, it's about getting fit in the process. Gaining strength (and muscles) is such a satisfying thing. You can see the changes from weight loss but you can really see muscles as well. It's a great feeling to lose weight and get yourself some newly found strength while you're at it.

On that note, I wish you the best of luck with losing weight. Clean up your diet and be more active and you're on the right track.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Completely doable my friend. I'm sure ETF will stop by to say hello. He lost something like 100 lb in a year or something. He's nuts, but will probably have some good advise for you.

Don't apologize for you nerdy interests. We celebrate them here. I'm a former MMO and magic the gathering addict, starwars and fantasy novel lover, and DnD player.

The diet thing is probably your best bet. You'll find that diet is 80% of weight loss with working out the other 20%.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Sorry for the double post, but awsd is right in that once you are able, try something other than video games. As a bigger dude (i've been up to 265), I highly recommend weight lifting once you're comfortable doing it. There's this thing I like to call fat guy strength (edit: zengwen originated this one) where heavier people are so used to carrying out so much extra weight that they can work their way up to lifting an absolute ton more quickly than others. I have a mild case of it and it's quickly leading me into a love affair with lifting heavy shit.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Welcome Malcolm,

I had to do some ciphering to get American measurements. 413# & 63" waist? There are quite a few people here who have been in a similar situation, so you should get some good info. and support here.

Making exercise a daily habit is crucial - you need to raise your metabolism and burn calories - if you can dance in front of the TV every day than go for it. If it were me, I'd start with walking. Just carrying around 400# is a large workload. Once you've built your ability to work, I'd move into something you enjoy more.

You might want to research metabolic conditioning workouts, circuit training and such. It builds strength, raises your metabolism, and burns calories. I really like kettlebell and sledgehammer workouts.

Have fun dancing.