Trying to lose weight and putting it in numbers is demoralizing. I’ve started riding a stationary bike for 5 miles and then doing minor weight lifting after and I maaaaybe lose 200 or so calories. Is that not a good exercise? I’ve been doing this almost everyday starting 2 weeks ago. But it’s starting to feel useless if it’s such a minor amount of calories burnt. Is this a good trend to continue? What am I missing?
Edit: everyone here has been incredibly helpful, and surprisingly consistent with one another. I feel much more confident about what I’m doing and what I need to do. Seriously, thank you all.
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1) To lose weight you have to start with your diet first. Really easy things to do: 1. Cut out soda, beer, wine, chocolate, chips, and snack foods. Moderately easy things to do: 2. Increase your intake of vegetables (not corn, not potato, not the good veggies), I’m talking spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, choy, cucumber, tomato, bell peppers, zucchini. 3. Difficult things to do that will have a huge impact: cut dumb carbs. If it comes in a packet, bread, etc. cut it. You’ll need carbs to feel satisfied but you can find a lot of good subs like sweet potatoes, vermicelli, etc.
2) Exercise in ways you LIKE. Take a break at lunch and go for a long walk. Swim. Ride a bike. Just get your body moving. Now there are going to be two issues with this: 1) building muscles adds weight, but it’s good weight. Your enemy is body fat, not just a number on the scale. If you drop five pounds but its because you lost 10 of fat and gained five of muscle then you’re laughing. The key with exercise though is that you stick with it.
3) Target a 300 calorie a day deficit. Never run more than a 500 calorie deficit. Your body can only metabilize so much fat (500 calories a day) and after that you’re burning lean mass that you want to keep.
4) Start snacking healthy. An apple is a great snack, oranges are great snacks, carrot sticks are great snacks. If you just can’t hold back from eating then eat healthy at least. Find snacks you like, personally I’ve become an apple snob, it’s all about the Ambrosia’s baby. But a bowl of apples on the coffee table is going to save you from bags of chips and over-eating in other areas.
5) Develop healthy habits. A quarter cup of mixed nuts a day is a great snack, it’s also in the 250 calorie range so it needs to be a planned snack, but you’ll live longer because of it and its satisfying as hell. Flossing every day is going to do wonders for you overall. vitamin D supplements are going to do great things for you if you don’t get much sun.
6) Buckle up for the long term. You need to keep weight off for a full year in order for your body to adjust to the change and accept the new you as normal. You have to think of this as a long term thing. Exercise has to be fun. Your diet can’t be crushing and you have to FIND those veggies you enjoy eating. You have to understand that your old lifestyle got you into trouble and if you go back to it you’ll just end up in the same boat.
7) There will be some surprises. You’ll find over 3-6 months your tastes start to shift a bit. Fruits and veggies will become more satisfying and tastier. Garbage food will start to loose some of its appeal. I think it has to do with your gut biome shifting as your diet does.
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