Weight Loss

[thehelios]

In the past 2 1/2 months, I've lost about 30 pounds and have immensely increased my stamina and strength. Few tips I live by right now:

1. (As everyone else says:) Water, water, water. Soda, diet soda, juices, etc. are heavily processed liquids which make it harder for your body to keep the water in which makes you require more, etc., not a good thing. I broke my soda habit when I had a free soda machine across from me at work. If water is really killing it for you, make sure it's ice cold and you might want to invest in some sort of flavoring system.

2. You need to work out, period. You can diet which will help prevent weight gain but you need a different system to lose weight which is working out. For me, running a mile a day before a work out helps raise my cardio and increase stamina. It doesn't matter how long it takes you to run a mile; just doing it every day will increase your stamina and you will be able to do it faster. For me 3 months ago, a mile took me 8:30. Now I have it down to 6 minutes. Those are my fastest mile speeds at the time but for working out, I run at 6-7 mph for 10 minutes which goes a little over a mile.

[gaia.plateau]

A lot of people have been putting forth, "don't drink anything but water". It should be noted that coffee and especially tea are both fine to drink - no cream or sugar, mind you. A bit of honey in tea is fine.

I keep a pitcher or two of cold red tea with honey in my fridge at all times. As a bonus to the deliciousness, the caffeine stimulates your metabolism and helps you burn fat. A red bull a day keeps the love handles away.

[Bulldog_916]

A lot of people have been putting forth, "don't drink anything but water". It should be noted that coffee and especially tea are both fine to drink - no cream or sugar, mind you. A bit of honey in tea is fine.

I keep a pitcher or two of cold red tea with honey in my fridge at all times. As a bonus to the deliciousness, the caffeine stimulates your metabolism and helps you burn fat. A red bull a day keeps the love handles away.

And a Red Bull a day gives you kidney stones. I have a friend that works with physicians and has seen a huge spike in kidney stones for those under 30 in the past 4 years (about the amount of time energy drinks have been very popular). Studies are being done at the moment to see how prevalent they really are in people who consume several drinks a week.

[avtomat]

Im 6`7 and was 320 (dont look it either) but It also occured to me that i really need to lose weight. So on Oct 1st. I joined a gym and started my diet. I eat 6 times a day, 3 snacks and 3 main meals (consisting of Chicken/Pork/6oz piece of steak... rice and a veggie *not canned and i try to stay away from frozen*. I dont snack during the day other than my 3 snack times ( i time my food every 3 hours.. 7am main meal 10 snack 1 main meal etc... (times varie but i adjust). I cut out all the bad stuff (fast food soda candy... to much to list). I try to hit the gym 5 days a week doing 30-40 minutes on weights (im trying to bulk up at the same time) followed by 30 mins MIN! of cardio. Im also experimenting with hydroxicut. After 1 full month im down to 293-295, and its still dropping. No pasta, any type of bread/starch product i keep it to wheat.


with the diet tho i do cheat once a week to help prevent myself from cheating and that time is at night usually on a fri or sat for dinner ONLY. Focuses me on my diet as well as giving me something to look forward to.

Just thought Id throw that out there.

(all fat free, salt free, sugar free seasoning but hotsauce lol) Edited November 7, 2008 by avtomat

[avtomat]

oh, morning meal usually is eggs for the protein and non flavored oatmeal (sucks ;/)
snacks : I work out between 9-11 so my snack falls in right after my workout so i consume a 60g protein shake, others are normally fruit of some sort (gotta be careful tho do to the natural sugar in most)

Cucumbers/celery ar good "free" foods.

[Rayneuki]

No soda. Go with water (as everyone has been saying), Tea (Cold or hot, Spearmint/mint tea is really nice because it's naturaly sweetened), Coffee sometimes ( I try to skimp on the coffee, it gets me hooked back into cokes usually).

Eat some cellary! (or however you spell it!) It's a great snack (with some peanut butter) and it burns more callories than it gives you.

Webmd has a free diet program where it builds you a diet and stuff... I've played with it a bit, not fond of it actualy.

Do you like video games? WiiFit! I know people who have a wiifit and they are CONSTANTLY loosing weight. It's a nice balance... And if you're cheap you can do what I did, DDR. Got a PS2, DDR pad, and the game... I lost weight fast... It's even got a calorie burning program.

Smoke what you crave.

Switch bread on sandwiches to lettus. It's actualy quite good, lettus wraps are really cool and soothing... Yummy too.

And Yummy stuff: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/get-slim-at-lunch

[Hookah_510]

Do you have AIM? I can help ya out

I went from 211lb to 196lb in a month. I still continued smoking hookah 3x per week, maintain my strength, and I have no problem running 4 miles on my cardio days (which I do 3x per week). PM me your AIM sn along with answers to these questions and we'll go from there.

1) Do you have access to a gym or fitness center? Do you currently hit the gym? If so, what is your weekly routine like?
2) What is your daily calorie intake? What type of foods do you usually eat?
3) Are you dedicated?

[akkonja]

Dring 3 gallons of water a day, always run before you eat breakfast or else you will lose your muscle, and go for 1300 calories a day, 1500 if your gonna do some decent exercising. Don't eat ANY high frutose corn syrup i rather have u eat a 1000 calorie back of chips then 50 calories of something with high frutose corn syrup in it.

[gaia.plateau]

Avtomat, it sounds like you're combining calorie types in your meals... You might consider switching them up, which will speed up your metabolism tremendously.

Simply make sure that your body is deriving different types of calories in every meal, and never have the same type of calories twice in any set of 3 meals. Eg, calories from green veggies, calories from meat, calories from carbs, calories from fruit, calories from carrots, calories from nuts, etc.

It's basically like putting a teaspoon of nitroglycerin in your metabolism every time you eat.

[Hookah_510]

Dring 3 gallons of water a day, always run before you eat breakfast or else you will lose your muscle, and go for 1300 calories a day, 1500 if your gonna do some decent exercising. Don't eat ANY high frutose corn syrup i rather have u eat a 1000 calorie back of chips then 50 calories of something with high frutose corn syrup in it.

at 350lb...1500 calories isn't even near his maintain calorie amount. A good start is to multiply your body weight by 10 = your daily calorie intake for weight loss. I do agree running before breakfast works best (not because of losing muscle, but do drink a good amount of water to keep yourself hydrated) and avoid high corn fructose syrup foods (soda = pure junk) in general.

OP: whole grain foods, oatmeal, egg whites, high protein foods, fruits/veggies, and lean meat should be a staple on your grocery list. A good start is to replace white bread with 100% wheat, soda with water/juice/low calorie gatorade/sports drink, brown rice instead of white, yams/sweet potatoes for carbs, lean cut steaks, chicken breast, tuna and the list goes on. shoot me a PM and I can give you the full details.

[HookahCutie831]

I'm 5'3 and was 256lbs. I had gastric bypass 2 years ago. I lost 120lbs, best choice of my life. Don't know if you ever considered something that extreme, but thought I would throw it out there....

[Hippo_Master]

Swimming, which may seem ridiculous, is one of the absolute bast ways to lose weight, tone you muscles, and get in some aerobic activity! I mean laps, many many laps. I would highly recommend getting with a personal trainer whom which would be best able to consult you in terms of diet and exercise.

And honestly, my main diet consists of at least one bowl of White Rice a day, and at least 4 sets of push-ups, crunches, pull-ups and one-legged squats. I rarely EVER use weight, and this Bruce Lee diet and exercise has worked for me for quite a while. All of these exercises take a minimal amount of time which i know you are looking for, as you are a very busy man. These will also relieve the stress you feel, clearing your mind and easing your feeling of depression.

You most definitely want to start out slow, but should also be working yourself to a sweat.

This may sound ridiculous as well, but meditation is also key to a sound mind. A sound mind leads to a healthy body. Try meditating, either on your back flat lying down, or in the seated cross-legged position. I can recommend you my favorite book on meditating if you choose this could be a legitimate path for you to take. This can be done just minutes before bed, taking no time at all, and leaving you able to sleep much more peacefully after those long days and hard nights.

I would honestly stay away form white bread and stick to Wheat bread, white bread has too many unhealthy chemicals. When making food at home, stay away from white flour, use only wheat flower, which is a pretty good way to get in your fiber and protein. Carbs are great, but only if they aren't mixed with something unwholesome. Wheat Thins are a great snack if you are hungry. I would also very highly recommend Cranberry Juice, or even Prune Juice in place of any form of Soda. Not only is soda full of sugar which leads directly to the creation of fatty buildup, but it plays with your digestive system and stomach, making you think you are driking something that your body can take form, but in fact no part of soda has any worth to your body, not even quenching your thirst.

I would say start out walking or jogging, do crunches or push-ups when you can, eat more rice a day then you can fit into a 10 gallon hat, eat lote of wheat and healthy foods, and stay the HELL away from any white sugar!

I wish you the best of luck!!!

[gaia.plateau]

I was PM'd to elaborate about calorie variation... so I thought I'd post it here in case it can be helpful to anyone else. Bear in mind that I am drunk as all fuck right now, but fortunately I tend to puke and pass out before I start making spelling and grammar mistakes so it shouldn't pose too much of a problem.

This is the original post.

Avtomat, it sounds like you're combining calorie types in your meals... You might consider switching them up, which will speed up your metabolism tremendously.

Simply make sure that your body is deriving different types of calories in every meal, and never have the same type of calories twice in any set of 3 meals. Eg, calories from green veggies, calories from meat, calories from carbs, calories from fruit, calories from carrots, calories from nuts, etc.

It's basically like putting a teaspoon of nitroglycerin in your metabolism every time you eat.

I'm going to start with some fundamental basics.

My personal theory on practical and effective nutrition, is to look to history. An intellectual approach, if you will. There are hundreds of accounts of early human history, by which I mean Cro Magnus history over the past 100,000 years, but my personal favourite is Jared Diamond's in Guns, Germs and Steel.

One thing that should be immediately apparent to someone comparing the average Western diet today, and that of our ancient ancestors, is that until about 10,000 years ago with the agricultural revolution, no one consumed dairy after infancy. So for over 90,000 years our bodies evolved without dairy protein, and the vast majority of human populations didn't start intaking significant dairy protein until about 100 years ago. So a basic and fundamental reality of effective nutrition is to cut dairy the fuck out. Now, that said, whey protein (a dairy derivitive) can be extremely helpful in muscle growth, which will increase passive calorie use, so if you're doing significant resistance-based exercises it's a good idea to use that. Furthermore, on a personal note, I can't live without cheese, it's probably my worst dietary vice - but I try to limit myself to one slice of emmantal or a small piece of gouda every couple of days.

Now we didn't start sitting down to a "balanced" breakfast, if you will, that is to say combining lots of different foods in one meal, until the 20th century as well. Our bodies are designed, have evolved, to metabolize based on one type of calorie at a time. Ancient hunter gatherers would kill a buffalo, cook the buffalo, and feed the entire tribe. That was a meal. Then they'd eat some greens, or grains, or whatever, for the next meal. This, at any rate, is my understanding for why calorie variation works, but the only really important thing is that it does work.

Living in comfy modern lives, we like to have our bacon, eggs, toast, and orange juice all in one meal. This is incredibly ineffective for metabolization, which is what you want to happen for burning fat. We like to have sandwiches with meat, cheese, and veggies. This is wrong. If you want your body to metabolize to its maximum potential, you need to stop doing this. Limit yourself to a maximum of one combined-calorie meal per day, whether that's a bowl of cereal with milk or a bowl of rice and greens.

What you want to do is confuse your metabolism, which has become accustomed to slow down by consuming the same type of calories over and over.

As a basic rule of thumb, in no three meals should you be consuming the same type of calories. Here's a brief idea of where different calorie types come from.

- Calories from meat-derived protein
- Calories from carbs
- Calories from vegetables
- Calories from fructose (fruit)
- Calories from dairy-derived protein
- Calories from nuts

You should aim to have at least six small meals a day, I usually have seven. At 8:30 today I had a whey protein shake (dairy-derived protein). Walking in to class at 10:30 I had two omega-3 flax biscuits. At 12:30, home from school, I had a spinach salad with portabello mushrooms and very light mandarin orange dressing. At 3:00 I had an apple. At 5:30 I had a small grilled round steak with red wine marinade. At 8 I had a bran muffin. At 10:30, while at a concert, I drank 2 Guinness which contained about 400 calories from grains (not a great choice but what are you going to do), and when I got home, drunk as fuck, I munched down about 7 stalks of celery. With the exception of the beers this is basically perfect a day of perfect nutrition, and because I varied the calories I maximized my metabolization.

And that's all I can think of to add. Cheers.

[Stuie]

I'm 5'3 and was 256lbs. I had gastric bypass 2 years ago. I lost 120lbs, best choice of my life. Don't know if you ever considered something that extreme, but thought I would throw it out there....

I have thought of it and Lap Band. No offense to you or anyone that has done it, but it's not for me. I have had several friends that have done it and yielded similar results.

I feel that I need to do this without surgery. I need to do it for myself to build my up my discipline and self control. I think this is a better alternative to surgery, in my humble opinion. It may be harder, but I have to do it this way. Knowing you are about to have a kid kinda puts a fire under you, to prove to myself I can do it and have that strength and determination to pass on to my kids.

Plus it would take me years to work up the courage for surgery like that. I often wondered how much weight I would lose if I just followed the after diet plan for those surgeries.

Congrats on the weight loss, Hookah Cutie.

[Giant Ninja Robot]

Cool protien shake recipe I was shown - Chocolate whey powder, LF or NF vanilla yogurt. a banana, some natural peanut butter, and some milk, dairy or almond. Freakin great and if you are lifting while you look to lose weight, it's a great substitue for those sweets cravings, granted you shouldn't use protein powder unless you are actively working out.

Stuie, hummus is a great diet food. By nature because of the chickpeas it is primarily made of, it is a fantastic protein. If you eat hummus with a whole grain carb you will get all 10 essential amino acids (which the body does not biosynthesize) you need. These amino acids must be derived from our food and they are wonderful at converting protein and fats to energy.

It's a simple food to make also as long as you have a food processor. It's just chickpeas, olive oil, lemon juice, crushed garlic, tahini (sesame paste), a little salt for taste and traditionally you serve it with some olive oil on top and some paprika with a myriad of other variations possible, I like adding roasted pine nuts and olives. You can experiment and start making all different kinds of hummus dude it's great stuff, and you can dip ALL sorts of veggies and whole grains in it, even make tabboulli and baked fallafel for the worlds best sammich.

I'm kindof a hummus advocate.

[Heffalump]

I don't think I can really add to this thread as I'm currently trying to gain 28 pounds to get a bit healthier! But I think it all boils down to finding the correct kind of diet for the way your body works.

[Stuie]

hummus...interesting...never had it.

[gaia.plateau]

Posting my favourite quick and simple, ultra healthy and high protein recipe for 1. I call it...

Gaia's Tikka Masala Incest Spectacular

You will need.
- An oven
- A roasting pan
- Olive oil
- 1 chicken cutlet
- 1 hard boiled egg
- Tikka Masala sauce
- Masala spice
- Cumin
- Oregano

* Get your roasting pan out, and set your oven to 350 degrees.
* Throw some olive oil (about 4 tbsp) and water into the roasting pan. Add about 1 tbsp of masala spice and 1tbsp of cumin.
* Place chicken cutlet and egg into the pan, roll the egg around in the oil to get it nice and slippery.
* Using a spatula or some other implement, cover the chicken and egg in tikka masala sauce.
* Sprinkle oregano over them.
* Cover roasting pan, place in oven for about 45 minutes.
* Remove, serve, and enjoy!

Depending on size of chicken cutlet, this whole meal has about 250 calories from protein and lots of good omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturates. And it's delicious as all fuck. For a wine I'd recommend a nice Australian Sauvignon Blanc. Bon apetite. Edited November 14, 2008 by gaia.plateau

[yota8]

Get off your ass, go work on vehicles and when your busy, you dont eat as much,i eat when im bored...

BEFOORREEEE





AFTEEERRRRRR

[Giant Ninja Robot]

Nice job man congrats on the weight loss!

Update! I'm doing the biggest loser thing at work as you can read about

here > http://www.hookahforum.com/?showtopic=26138 < there

It's been one week and I've lost somewhere between 3 and 4 lbs which is a very good thing since I've been doing weights too. Means I'm losing a good ammount thus far per week and gaining muscle less it would be more like 4-6 lbs since I lose the first bit pretty fast from my prior experience.

Starting weight 305 lb

New weight 301-302 lb

eventually I want to get down to about 230, since I'm a big guy (6'3") with a large frame (think pro wrestler) this is pretty much the lowest I can be.

[Doubon]

Congrats GNR! I am down from 239 to 225 since the middle of october.

[Giant Ninja Robot]

Nice man keep it up! I soooo don't want to work out today but you inspired me too - gotta keep up with it right?

[shisha fan]

any tips on gaining weight? i`m 1.80m tall and i only weigh 135 pounds, so i should probably gain another 20. i don`t want to drink a gallon of cola a day or something lik that.

[gaia.plateau]

any tips on gaining weight? i`m 1.80m tall and i only weigh 135 pounds, so i should probably gain another 20. i don`t want to drink a gallon of cola a day or something lik that.

Peanut butter man, peanut butter.



Do shit tons of resistance training, very little cardio. Do two heavy days every week, 1 for upperbody 1 for lower, and two light days every week, 2 for upperbody 2 for lower. Give yourself one off day, and do abs every day.

On your off day eat nothing but green veggies. On your heavy days intake at least 500 more calories than you burn, and make sure at least 15% of your diet is protein. On light days just eat regularly.

[gaia.plateau]

*Edit: typo, four light days every week.