Help me lose weight

You're thinking that a gaming board is not the best place to ask for slimming tips but a couple of posters on the thread about gamer stereotypes mentioned they'd lost weight. So here goes...

I'm trying to lose just over 2 stone (30 lbs, 14kg). So far I've taken the following steps:
- No more chocolate, other sweets, ice-cream, cake, cookies, crisps, chips, pizza or pasta
- No more butter
- Almost no sugar
- Fewer calories
- More vegetables
- More fruit
- More fibre
- More fish (mostly tuna and salmon)
- Fried food only once a week using a small quantity of olive oil
- Red meat only once a week
- Two hours of strenuous exercise (martial arts) per week (don't have time for more)

I don't drink soda or alcoholic beverages anyway. Also, I walk about 3 to 4 miles a week.

Any other advice?

Drink LOTS of water during the day, more than you think you can stand.

Stick with it. Most people can't lose weight and keep it off, unless they continue to exercise and eat healthy.

Good luck on meeting your goal.

Going on a diet is fine, watch your caloric intake and exercise. Those are the two cardinal rules to losing weight. Don't give yourself such a strict dieting regimen. If you want pizza, only have a slice or two. Don't forbid yourself any foods. That is the first step to not losing weight. If you have a craving for something, don't completely give in, but have just a little bit.

If you like having desert, try Weight Watchers deserts, a heck of a lot less calories and its not like it tastes terrible.

Eat a bigger salad a call that one of your meals, mix in those vegetables you want to eat with it. Also if you want a lighter breakfast try having a yogurt. Yogurt is good for you as it has the good bacteria your body needs. If anybody in your family (parents or grandparents) has a high cholestrol count, it might be hereditary. To bring it down eat a bowl of oatmeal eveyday, fill it with raisins and bananas and peaches, and use just a little bit of milk in it.

Two other things: One, make sure you drink plenty of water (keep yourself hydrated throughout the day and when you are exercising) and 2) don't overdo it when exercising (take 5 after 15 minutes of exercising).

Also, check out the following website on trans-fatty acids:
Trans Fatty Acids 101 - what and where?
The Myth of Cholesterol - Seafood?

Zander said:

Any other advice?

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Simply put, the ONLY way to lose weight is to eat less, exercise more, or both.

You don't necessarily need to cut out any food, but get used to eating smaller portions. Confine your eating to meal times only. If you must snack, try to stick to fresh raw fruits and vegetables.

Exercising can be tough to get into. At first its tiring, painful and uncomfortable. Stick it through, and it gets easier. Find exercise that you enjoy to do. Exercise is easier to do and stick with, if it accomplises something at the same time... Walk or bicycle to work, classes, the library or other around town errands, if possible. Climb the stairs instead of riding the elevator or escalator. Yard work and gardening.

Last year I started riding my bicycle to work every day (10 miles round trip). I've lost about 10 pounds, reduced my resting heart rate and blood pressure by about 15 points each, and saved enough money in gasoline to buy a new bicycle this spring. I plan on training up to take a week long cycle tour across Iowa next year.

Water and Milk, drink lots of it.

Balance your meals; breakfast, lunch and dinner. Find out when you get hungry and adjust your meals to that time. People will get hungry and snack, then eat lunch and dinner just a hour later.

Walking or an outside hobby.

Also, if you enjoy coffee, drink decaf instead of caffinated. Try not to drink more than two cups a day.

Just make sure that you don't get on a "diet", but rather have a permanent lifestyle change.

The problem with diets is that most people (that I've seen) who have them assume that after they reach their ideal weight they can go back to living the way they did before. And then end up being larger than they ever were.

Frukathka said:

Also, if you enjoy coffee, drink decaf instead of caffinated. Try not to drink more than two cups a day.

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Actually, caffeine and many other stimulants decrease hunger. That's why many doctors during the 50s and 60s often recommended taking up smoking to housewives who had just given birth... The nicotine suppresses hunger and makes it very easy to lose weight.

Caffein can, on the other hand, increase insulin levels, reducing blood sugar levels, thereby increasing hunger... It depends on the person, and how much you drink.

Sticking to two 2-3 cups a day, as Frukatha said, is probably a good idea either way.

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far.

Keep it coming!

Lhorgrim said:

Drink LOTS of water...

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That's a good tip. I was aware that I wasn't taking enough fluids and started drinking more water but I probably don't have enough even now.