Need some advicew for losing weight, or staying motivated!

[Jared]

Well, After trying (and failing) to keep my calories under 1,000 a day (which somehow my older cousin was able to do, in addition to jogging every day), I've decided 1,500 is a lot more feasible. Now granted, most of what I eat isn't exactly "healthy", as a lot of it is microwavable stuff, but given that I'm currently looking for work, it seems about the only thing I'm able to afford, outside of lettuce for a salad every day.

The biggest problem I have, I think, is a complete lack of exercise. When I was a kid, I stayed in great shape simply because I played outside a lot, but I never grew up realizing you're *supposed* to exercise, and now I find myself completely clueless at the gym. I've never had any success at a gym, but given that I live in town now (a small town, at that), about the only option I'm comfortable with is visiting the gym late at night. I'm really heavy, almost 280 lbs, and I'm just way too self-conscious to work-out in front of other people.

Luckily, there's also a track outside the gym, which I've been using on-again-off-again. I've always been terrible at jogging, even as a kid, and I find I get really easily discouraged when I can only jog like a quarter-mile before either running out of breath, or just feeling sore in my legs. That, in turn, causes me to just lose faith in the dieting too, which means quite a lot of yo-yo dieting.

I really want to beat this weight issue, and I've even started writing down everything I eat. Plus, I've cut sodas out of my diet almost completely (usually let myself have one soda, usually diet, a week), and I've been drinking a ton of water. But I know that, to really lose weight (I'd really like to drop like 20 lbs before I turn 24 at the end of February), I'm going to need to incorporate exercise. That thought kind of scares me, as I'm worried I'm just going to get discouraged again, and everything will fall apart, just like it has in the past.

Do any of you have any advice for losing weight, or more importantly, staying motivated even when that voice in your head is telling you it's all pointless?

[Loren Wade]

3 Steps.

1) Find an exercise you enjoy and do it.

2) Almost all of your weightloss success will be diet. Eat clean.

3) Post your updates in the NF Blog. Community is huge and will keep you motivated.

[Waldo]

One issue with exercise that a lot of people have at first is they go too hard. Unless you are trying to lose that last 10 lbs to have rock hard abs, you really don't need to do anything more than walk. You can burn A TON of calories walking, especially when you are heavy. What walking has on everything else is that it is low impact, you don't need to be in great shape to do a lot of it, and you can do it all the time since recovery is so fast. But it also helps to improve the shape you are in so that you can move on to more intense workouts that burn more calories in the same amount of time.

Diet is much more important than exercise. 1,000 calories a day intake is too low to be sustained over any length of time as it is unhealthy low. Any decent calorie based diet advice will tell you specifically not to go under 1,200 calories a day for women and 1,500 calories a day for men intake. It isn't terrible to have a day here and there below that, but you should not try to sustain a number that low over time. For losing a lot at first target a net of 1000 calories (2 lb/wk) below your sedentary base calorie rate (any calorie counter online or app will find this number for you, you can find formulas to estimate it (for a more advanced look at calorie counting, you can calculate it yourself from your data over time)). As long as you have a calorie deficit, you don't actually have to work out at all. But exercise helps because by doing work, it creates a desire to stick to the plan diet wise, and you burn calories which allows you to eat at a higher rate making the diet less restrictive.

Microwavable stuff cheap? Any food assembled by others will always be more expensive than if you assembled it yourself. Pork and Chicken are generally the cheapest meats. Eggs are dirt cheap. Potatoes and Rice cost next to nothing. Every grocery store has sales.

If you wish to jog, which has an extremely high calorie burn rate, take a look at a couch to 5k type program that progresses through jogging and walking intervals over time to have you jogging continuously in a few months. I made my own program that worked for me by looking at other plans out there. When I first started fast walking would get me winded, and I was almost falling over tired after jogging 1/8th of a mile. It took me 2 1/2 months to work up to being able to jog 3 miles continuously, now I'm working on speed. General idea is to mix jogging and walking, over time increasing the jog lengths and decreasing the walk lengths until you don't need to walk anymore. Any of those programs though start out with walking in the first week.

[Jonnyffc]

Hi Jared,

A few years ago I had a similar problem, I knew I was overweight but didn't have the motivation or confidence to do much about it. But then I woke up one morning and thought, I'm through with living like this. I put on my trainers, started eating healthily and radically improved my life. Here were some tips that helped me.

1) You still have to eat.

1000 calories is nowhere near enough energy for your body to work with. Even many celebrity 'fad diets' will not go much lower than 1200. In order to change your entire life you need to make sustainable changes, and take it in baby steps. Maybe aim to get 2000 calories per day (something I aimed for) and if you're currently eating a lot more than that, don't do it in one hit. If you're on, let's say 3000 at the moment, a sudden drop of 1000 calories a day is going to leave your body in shock and before you know it you'll be raiding the fridge. Maybe drop it 200 a week so that in 5 weeks you'll be hitting your target and minimizing the chance of relapse.

2) Eat things which make you full (and keep you there!)

This sounds like a pretty obvious thing, but so many people don't think about this when trying to lose weight. Refined sugars (and sweeteners in fact!) and poor carbohydrates are going to leave you craving food again in a couple of hours. Try to replace these with more filling options. Have an apple or some almonds instead of sweets or crisps; a sweet potato instead of bread; use honey instead of sugar. Eating brown rice and pasta instead of their white counterparts will enable your mind to stop thinking about when you're going to get your next meal and leave you free to enjoy life. Eat lots of protein. Drink plenty of water.

3) Raise your metabolism

If you can do this, your body will burn off excess weight faster even when you're relaxing!

Ingredients such as water mustard, ginger, chillis, cinnamon, green tea, cayenne pepper and blueberries will start you off strong whilst exercise is the best way to do this in the long run. Even a few sit ups before breakfast will make a difference over time!

4) Liquid calories add up.

This may be too extreme for what you have planned, but whilst I was losing weight I only drank water, green tea or black coffee. It's amazing how many calories you can save yourself by doing this. Although diet drinks have zero-to-low calories the sweeteners in them will cause you to become hungry pretty soon afterwards leading to all sorts of unwanted cravings.

5) Use every opportunity for exercise.

Although I did hit the gym a lot whilst I was doing this, you don't have to. But you do have to make some lifestyle changes. If I had to be somewhere and it was less than 5 miles away, I walk. If it was less than 10, I'd cycle. Obviously you have to manage your time well, but the countless calories (and money saved on petrol) I burned from cycling the 10 mile round trip to work everyday was well worth it!

6) Eat slowly

After 30 minutes spent eating a sandwich, you soon get bored and go for a walk.

7) You don't have to cut out food you love

In fact, don't. Just eat less of it if it's bad for you. Or have a cheat day once a week where you can eat whatever you want (just try to stay within your calorie budget). his way you'll be less likely to give up your goals. And if you do succumb to temptation, don't worry about it, just get yourself straight back onto your plan.

8) Motivation

I put up a photo of myself in my underwear in my room which made me think twice when I was about to dig in to a pie. I told my friends what I was doing so that they would support me and keep me in line when I wanted to jump ship. I set myself short term and long term goals and gave myself rewards for reaching them (I bought myself a new guitar after I'd lost 40 lbs).

These are just a few of the things that helped me, my friend. Pick and choose which ones you think will work for you and implement them now. I wish you the best of luck and if you have any questions or need some support just send me a message!

Jon

[67alecto]

First off - 1000 calories is too low. You'll be miserable, starving, and after a pretty short period of time, have no energy.

If you are just starting out, then the only thing you need to do is to be more active. I took the stairs, instead of the elevator. I walked to the mailbox instead of driving up to it.. When I went to the store, I parked in the first spot I found instead of circling the aisles looking for one near the door. I started walking around the neighborhood at night. As I got more comfortable walking distances greater than a mile, I started hiking 2-5 miles on the weekend. I would shoot baskets on the basketball court, work in the yard, and generally shoot for at least 30 minutes of some sort of activity a day.

As soon as you can, start doing strength training. I began with a $10 resistance band I ordered from Amazon before graduating to the bodyweight workouts posted on the Nerd Fitness blogs.

[cianalas]

Well, After trying (and failing) to keep my calories under 1,000 a day (which somehow my older cousin was able to do, in addition to jogging every day), I've decided 1,500 is a lot more feasible. Now granted, most of what I eat isn't exactly "healthy", as a lot of it is microwavable stuff, but given that I'm currently looking for work, it seems about the only thing I'm able to afford, outside of lettuce for a salad every day.

First, let me address this a bit more to expand upon what Waldo said. When you're eating that low (below 1200-1500 Calories/day), You're body thinks you're going through a famine and drastically cuts metabolism to try and preserve itself. And since what you're trying to do to lose weight is to eat less than your metabolism can burn, this is extremely counter-productive. I'm not sure what your cousin was doing, but I would either guess he/she was either underestimating how much he/she ate, or was dropping calories to an extremely unhealthy level.

The biggest problem I have, I think, is a complete lack of exercise. When I was a kid, I stayed in great shape simply because I played outside a lot, but I never grew up realizing you're *supposed* to exercise, and now I find myself completely clueless at the gym. I've never had any success at a gym, but given that I live in town now (a small town, at that), about the only option I'm comfortable with is visiting the gym late at night. I'm really heavy, almost 280 lbs, and I'm just way too self-conscious to work-out in front of other people.

Luckily, there's also a track outside the gym, which I've been using on-again-off-again. I've always been terrible at jogging, even as a kid, and I find I get really easily discouraged when I can only jog like a quarter-mile before either running out of breath, or just feeling sore in my legs. That, in turn, causes me to just lose faith in the dieting too, which means quite a lot of yo-yo dieting.

I really want to beat this weight issue, and I've even started writing down everything I eat. Plus, I've cut sodas out of my diet almost completely (usually let myself have one soda, usually diet, a week), and I've been drinking a ton of water. But I know that, to really lose weight (I'd really like to drop like 20 lbs before I turn 24 at the end of February), I'm going to need to incorporate exercise. That thought kind of scares me, as I'm worried I'm just going to get discouraged again, and everything will fall apart, just like it has in the past.

Do any of you have any advice for losing weight, or more importantly, staying motivated even when that voice in your head is telling you it's all pointless?

My advice is to find something active you like doing, no matter what it is. Better yet, find someone who is in somewhat similar shape (i.e. not too far ahead to discourage you and not two far behind to make it too easy) that also likes this activity and create a competition to see who can do more of the activity in a month or two.

This, along with Fitocracy has been what I've been using. Fitocracy also has the bonus of letting you compete with people who may not be interested in the same activity as you. For example, I am partial to Martial Arts and Bodyweight conditioning, but I am currently in a "leveling up" competition with someone who favors running and softball. We can't really compare who can do more of what faster, but we can see who levels up the fastest.

Other options you can do are to:

- Keep all your stats (taken once a week or so) in excel and graph the differences over time (I used to do this option, but the ability to compete in fitocracy made me switch over)

- Post on the blogs here. It helps motivate some people, especially with all the positive response you'll get.

- Take a picture now and take another one every few weeks. If you ever get the feeling that it's not working, compare a current picture to one of where you started.

-Try and find one (or more) articles on the main site that get you motivated. There's quite a lot of motivational/inspirational material there. Every time you need it, just refer back to those articles.

Edit: Apparently I need to type faster next time

[batty1of3]

Great advice so far hers my bit i started at 297 myself no escesize and using my athsma as an excuse

but i started riding my bike partway to work every day i used the freeway for the majority then 5 miles on the surface streets after parking at the park and ride it really is motivating to get back so i can go home after about a month of that i hate days where i dont get to ride my bike

also trythe beginnner body weight training on the NF website http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

i started doing that 3 days a week in the morning no stupid gym rats no intimidation just me moring mebbe some music and i'm done in like 30 mins and can get ready beforewife and kid wake up

[afflictionreckoning]

I don't like to repeat the advice already given to you but because it's really important: eat more than 1000 calories. If you're completely miserable you will continue with yo-yo dieting. Evaluate your diet and decide what you want to get rid of then slowly remove things one at a time. When you feel confident in eliminating one thing, then you can eliminate another. I'm sure you will start to notice a different in your weight soon after making these small changes. By dropping soda and drinking more water, you're already on the way to amazing changes.

The next most important thing is to find something you enjoy doing, also advice already listed but still very important. Try a lot of different things and there will be something you find that you just love and want to do better at. That's what you should do. I used to run, and while I did love it, it always ended in injury and pain. Then I found rowing. I can't explain it but I want to do it. I want to be better at it. It even encourages me to do other activities to get better. And more likely than not, you'll eventually find more than one activity that you love. Don't do something that you hate because it'll be hard to stick with.

Now, write why you want to change your diet and exercise and keep it with you at all times. Every time you think of straying from your diet or skipping a gym date, pull it out and take a look at it. The only one who can really keep you motivated is you. You've already taken the right steps and you can totally do this. Good luck!

[Grosby]

Hey Jared

You have got some great information up there from everyone. I'll reiterate that 1000 is really low. We (the royal we) are always told that the best way to lose weight is to eat less (1200 calories is the baseline generally) and move more - bang. But that's not sustainable. I've been on a calorie restrictive diet for the last 3 months before finding Nerd Fitness and while I can celebrate some successes, I've also been utterly lethargic, snappy at my kids, not improving as much as I'd like to, my mood has been down. IN the last month I've really looked at my food intake, I've started looking not for low-cal foods but foods with protein in them as they keep me fuller, they're normally tasty (mmm meat and eggs) and something I should know more about with muscle growth (muscle burns fat). I've tried to keep my net above 1200 calories, and am trying to now increase that to 1500.. it's a hard road, however, when you've been told that you should eat less. Very hard.

Onto exercise - don't do stuff you hate. I love running. I started at 202lb (or something like that, I'm a metric kinda gal) and I ran a lot. It made my legs look good but not much more It made me really tired too. I still run, because I can and, as i said, I love it.. but I wouldn't do it if I hated it, that's the most demotivational piece of torture I can do.. something I hate. Again, since finding NF I've upped my weight training.. I now lift (and working on beginning to lift heavy... one day) more days than I run. On days i don't lift I might run or - like today - I plan on doing body-weight exercises. In the last month I've lost more weight with doing weights than I have in the month before it when I was almost exclusively doing cardio. That said, if you have a cardio exercise you enjoy - do it! But don't torture yourself with running if you hate it.

Motivation needs to come from within. You can always borrow a 5 year old child though - mine has no problem motivating me with such gems as "Mum, can fat people hop? Well how about you show me?" or "So you've been going to the gym? Well you're still fat you know." he's a real treasure that kid. Oh! And I was trying to do a handstand against the wall when I hear "Mum, why can't you just do a handstand, is it because you're fat?" 5 year olds are *awesome* motivators.

But no, really. I spend a lot of my time pissing around finding FITNESS motivations - google imaging etc.. bit dorky but it helps me that i have a folder full of them in My Pics and I'll flip through them, or post them on my facebook to give myself a boost. I also have signed up with a team to do an extreme obstacle course in 2013 - the Tough Mudder - so I HAVE to make sure i keep it up so I'm in great shape for that event.

Of course this motivation comes from me - and generally I'm not a very motivated person. I also get bored easily so switching up my exercise/routines really helps. I'm doing a 12 week program which is the same exercises for 12 weeks *snore* so I'm on week 5 or 6 and changing to a different one next week.

Best of luck, Jared. Please keep coming back to NF, the men and women in here are just absolute fonts of knowledge, and not only that but they're good, friendly people! Welcome aboard!

[Jared]

Well, I think 1,500 calories seems as good a goal as any. Honestly, though, the only exercise I don't absolutely hate is lifting a pair of 20-lb dumbbells when I'm watching TV. I like walking, but tend to get sidetracked listening to music and go at a pretty slow pace, lol.

It sounds like eating right is gonna be a lot of the battle, though, and even though I'm keeping my calories down, I know that I'm not really eating *right*. I guess part of the problem I've always had, though, is I'm a pretty picky eater, coupled with being a complete klutz in the kitchen, plus trying to maintain as low a budget as I can. What kinds of things would you recommend trying? I just got a bunch of Green Tea packets this week and have been drinking that exclusively, which I don't know if that's good or too much. It's "Lavender Green Tea" and tastes horrible, so I figure it must be good for you, right?

I really appreciate you guys/gals taking the time to reply so quickly, too!

[GoToTheGround]

Everyone above has given you some great advice.

Clean diet is utterly key. I used to work out 3 hours a day and I got stuck after 50 lbs of loss, sorted the diet, ate low carb paleo and bang, another 60 lbs loss almost instantly (compared to the timeframe for the first 50). 1500 is a good calorie goal though TBH I'm not a fan of counting calories (I never have). The trick is that your diet is a way of eating that you do not feel is restrictive. Don't eat in any fashion that you don't feel you could apply for the rest of your life, otherwise it's a false economy.

Walking, no matter what pace, is a great first addition to the diet. Then when you feel full of energy, which you will soon enough, start trying to find a sport that suits you. If your exercise is your play and social life, once you get going it's so hard to turn it off. Beats the hell out of running on a treadmill!

Proper loose leaf green tea is awesome but you know what the best miracle drink is? Water! 4-6L a day...starting now: Go Go Go!

Good luck! Ossssssss!

[cianalas]

Honestly, though, the only exercise I don't absolutely hate is lifting a pair of 20-lb dumbbells when I'm watching TV. I like walking, but tend to get sidetracked listening to music and go at a pretty slow pace, lol.

Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. No one can just get off the couch one day and decide they're going to run a marathon or hike the Appalachian Trail without doing any training or planning. Walking at any pace is good for you, it doesn't have to be powerwalking for you to get a good workout. If you feel you're not getting a workout walking, either try increasing the distance, or try a hiking trail. Also optional is carrying some weight in a backpack on your walks/hikes. It doesn't have to be a whole lot. An extra 10 lbs over a couple miles, especially with elevation change makes a huge difference in how much energy you have to use.

As for the dumbells, There's plenty of exercises you can do with those. I'm not sure what you're already doing, but the Rebel Strength Guide has a good section for beginner workouts. Here's also a list of dumbell exercises you can try through and see what you like. You can also adapt some kettlebell exercises to use with a dumbell if you like any of those (You'll see that there's already quite a bit of crossover). As a bonus, kettlebell exercises aren't meant to be done with extremely heavy weights, so using your 20 lb. dumbells can get you a better workout than you'd think.

It sounds like eating right is gonna be a lot of the battle, though, and even though I'm keeping my calories down, I know that I'm not really eating *right*. I guess part of the problem I've always had, though, is I'm a pretty picky eater, coupled with being a complete klutz in the kitchen, plus trying to maintain as low a budget as I can. What kinds of things would you recommend trying?

Recipes I generally do are things like:

"coat chicken breast(s) with olive oil/lemon juice and [insert spices/herbs you like], bake at 350 *F for about 40 minutes"

"coat fish fillet(s) (getting them frozen is usually the cheapest way, at least for me) with olive oil/lemon juice and [insert spices/herbs you like], pan fry/saute until you can flake the layers with a fork"

(see a trend here?)

Mix these with some frozen veggies you like and you've got a good meal.

Also, if you've got a grill of some sort, it's fairly easy to cook delicious meals. Marinate chicken the same way as above, and slap on lit grill, rotating every 5 minutes or so until done. For fish, just wrap them in tin-foil or throw a baking sheet onto the grill and let them sit on there until you can flake it apart. For beef (not anything ground), just throw it in a marinade and stick it in the fridge for a few hours (or the day before), and throw on the grill, flipping it every now and then until it's done to the level you like.