I am a 24 old guy with a BMI of 36. I have had problems with my weight since I was a kid and always thought it is what it is and did nothing about it.
But after following this sub and watching people working hard for a better life, I have decided to start my journey.
But I am getting overwhelmed by the amount of information. For starters, I have implemented 16:8 IF for a week now and am feeling a bit light and active but I have no idea about workout and nutrition.
So just wanted to ask you all, where should a moderately obese guy start on nutrition and workout?
Keep it simple and don’t overthink it. In your eating window aim for your daily calorie goal. Probably going to be in the 1800-2000 range. You already know what to eat: meats, veggies, fruit, whole grains. You’re not trying to starve yourself. For exercise it doesn’t really matter what you do if the goal is just to lose weight. Walking around the neighborhood is fine. Whatever activity or sport you enjoy is fine. Ride a bike, hike, go to the gym, swim, run, anything. The idea is to eat the (healthy) foods you like, engage in the exercise you like, so that it’s easier to maintain the strategy going forward.
If you have access to healthcare I would strongly suggest checking in with a doctor. Get a work up, make sure the doctor is OK with whatever exercise plan you begin doing.
24 is so young! I’m really glad that you’ve decided to start doing this, and I think in a year you will look back and realize this is the single best decision you’ve ever made!
Keep things simple. If you’re going from little or no exercise dont jump head first into a heavy gym routine. You’ll end up hating it. Stupid exercise advice and crossed wires in regards dieting screwed me over mentally for years. I thought losing weight would be hard and exercising would be a pain, I’m down 32kg since Novemeber and now love going to the gym and its been easy enough.
30mins of cardio each day is a brilliant start if you wanna incorporate exercise and are starting from low exercise levels. Go slow, listen to your body, dont bog yourself down with info it makes things far more complex. Stick to the basics of IF (fasting window eating window) and just remember its not a diet, its a lifestyle. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip just learn from it and use it to improve your next day and so on.
Don’t think about it too much - you see there is a problem and you want to change, that’s a great start. Just stick to the eating window and don’t do anything extreme. Your body has a way of telling you if it’s okay with the schedule. Make sure you eat healthy food, but I personally am not a fan of completely switching the way I eat - it might be a shock for the body. So maybe just take it easy at first and don’t overthink.
Resistance training is where it’s at. You don’t want to do just cardio. Here’s a simple workout plan to start you off.
You will do this workout 2-3 times per week. It’s important you don’t over-do it. Recovery is just as important as the workout itself. This is a full body workout, meaning if you skip a day, you won’t be missing out on any particular muscle groups. And full body workouts mean you spend less time in the gym, for more gains! More muscle means, your body will burn more fat while at rest. And you’ll feel and look a whole lot better.
The Workout:
Perform each exercise for 3 sets, in the 8-12 rep range. This program will leave you lots of freedom to personalize the exercises to your liking. The important thing is to hit the movements. You can do these exercises with cables, or free weights. Start with atleast doing the main movements (legs, chest, back, shoulders), and add in arms and other accessories as your fitness progresses.
Core: One ab exercise of your choice. Simple sit-ups, or leg lifts work just fine. No need to spend too much time on your core.
Legs: Squats, forward lunges. If you don’t have access to a squat rack in your gym, pick another leg exercise. But I implore you to do atleast goblet squats (squats holding a dumbell in front of you). Nothing hits your legs like squats!
Chest: One bench press movement, one chest fly movement.
Back: One pulldown movement, one row movement.
Shoulders: Overhead press, lateral raises.
Arms: Bicep curl, tricep rope pushdown.
Cardio: 20-30 minutes on a machine of your choice.
And that’s it. If you have to, just end each session with 10 minutes of cardio at first. Work up to 30 minutes at the end of your workout, but never go over 30 minutes. It’s just not necessary. Good luck!
If you like podcasts, like I do, you might listen to Gin Stephens “Intermittent Fasting Stories”.
It is mostly women discussing their experience, but I’d recommend listening to episode 23 Graeme Currie or episode 92 John McDonnell.
Depends on what your goals are and what your relationship to sugar and starch is.
If you understand that you’re addicted to eating/drinking them, then the best long term solution would be to avoid them, because they’re causing you harm, and you’re deluding yourself if you think you can control how much you consume of it, for any length of time, anyway.
Otherwise, try and manage your intake and track stuff, if you think that’s enjoyable
First, You have to really want this.
A scale, a calendar, and a pen. Get in the habit of weighing yourself daily. But don’t obsess about the daily number. It will go up and down daily. Focus on Sunday. Lose 1 to 2 lbs week.
I do this because I use to think, “I ate bad this week, I will weigh myself next week” And of course I didn’t.
One for home and the other for work or where ever you hang out the most. You need to know what you are putting in your body. This is a long life habit, period.
Some of the skinnest people I know weigh their pasta before cooking it and DON’T complain about doing it.
You Need an app to track your calories. This app allows you to scan the bar code on the food package.
This will track steps and Calories and link to “Lose It” app. Don’t eat back the calories you burn. It is not always accurate.
You need to measure once a month your body. Write the results down on the calendar. This is solid proof you are losing weight even when the scale is wonky.
This will help stay motivated and see the progress when the scale is wonky.
No one is going to care about your weight lose more than YOU! 👊
Burn more calories than you consume daily, you will lose weight. It is a numbers game, period.
Read, “How not to Diet” by Dr. Greger. No BS, all scientifically based research. Believes in the power of eating plants to heal the body. Not a vegetarian myself but he is my go to for nutritional information. He is not out to get rich. His company is non-profit.
Here are some other books:
Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time
Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
But I Deserve This Chocolate!: The Fifty Most Common Diet-Derailing Excuses and How to Outwit Them
9. Weight loss done in a healthy way will take time. It will take me 24 months to lose ~60lbs. Losing about ~1lb a week.
Lastly, These skills have to be built-into your muscle memory. Life will throw all kind of stuff at you:Divorce
Death
Loss of job
Loss of housing
Birthday cake
Thanksgiving
Wedding cake
Vacations
Unplanned 4 dounuts at work
Covid-19
Surgery
Back pain
Knees pain
TGIF’s “I don’t give a f*ck”
Sunday night’s “I still don’t give a f*ck”
But you keep to your habits and you will maintain your weight loss.