Goldenboy219

People have basically summed it up.

But, hoodia is garbage imho. I really dont know you personally, but if you have NO heart problems, a supplement that has a stimulant based appetite suppresent such as ephedrine based with white willow bark and guanara (caffeine, ephedrine, aspirin aka (ECA stack)) is a good idea. These together form a serious thermogenic compound, yet the legality of them varies from state to state...

Of course, there are much lighter supplements, but cutting 40lbs in less then 6 months without something along the lines of Clenbuterol (i dont advise this at all) is kinda out of the question.

Not only is it unhealthy, you would have to go into full catabolism. It would be much more efficient to increase muscle mass as you drop weight. Although you wont see a lbs decrease as you would want, you will most surely notice it in the mirror.

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aps

Okay, here are my 2 cents (this has helped me stay slim).

Buy healthy snacks that you bring to work and eat throughout the day. Fruit, nuts, vegetables (I eat baby carrots), power bars (which fill me up and are low in saturated fat), shredded wheat (I actually eat this stuff without milk). Don't go out and buy stuff while you're at work. That's too tempting. Don't buy crap to have in your house. That's too tempting too.

DRINK LOTS OF WATER! You should be drinking, at a minimum, 64 oz. a day. Initially, you'll go to the bathroom a lot; however, once your body becomes accustomed to the increased water intake, you'll go less frequently, but have more volume. Water is a great way to prevent yourself from getting too hungry. Don't dehydrate yourself--that is terrible for your body.

Don't drink soda--even the diet crap. Just avoid it altogether.

If you can, exercise in the morning. It is supposed to speed up your metabolism throughout the day. Don't exercise before you go to bed--that's the worst time to do it.

Take a walk during the day while you're at work, if you can. Park farther away when you run errands, so you're forced to walk a farther distance. If you drive to work, you should park as far away from your buidling as possible. Take stairs instead of the elevator or an escalator, or walk while on an escalator (instead of standing). These small forms of exercise will help you burn calories.

If you can, maybe you could hire a personal trainer to help motivate you and teach you how best to lose weight.

new coup for you

the key is forcing yourself to exercise. i stopped buying transpasses, so every time I don't want to ride my bike it costs me money directly. as a consequence I bike like four times more then I used to. It's great exercise and I don't have to structure my schedule around it.

I still go to the gym once a week for weight training, but even that is augmented from the bike because I have to carry my bike up (a very heavy steel mid-70s schwinn) el platforms all the time.

don't try to make routines or plans. change your life fundamentally so you must exercise or your economic well being is threatened.

I don't think "hey I should go do cardio", I think "hey, if I don't bike to work in under 15 they might fire me".

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And why does your tone suggest that you do not care about children?

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

Tashah

Once you lose the excess poundage, you need some consistant form of excercise to maintain your weight ratio and improve your cardio. One of the best methods I use is dancing (Latin dances). Join a dance studio and after you develop a degree of competency, team up with a partner and choreograph increasingly difficult and strenuous routines.

Your balance, strength, dexterity, coordination, muscle tone, pulmonary and cardio response will all improve greatly, as will your BMI (Body Mass Index).

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rivrrat

I've recently started on a regimen of sorts to lose some weight too. Since I quit river guiding full time, I had slowly gained weight over the course of years, but then this last year it just really hit me. Big thing was that I had to pack up my bowflex when my BF moved in.

Well, he's in Iraq for a year now (not to mention I've recently moved) so now the Bowflex is back up.

I did some research myself recently. And, I used to think that cardio was the way to go if I just wanted to lose weight. However, after reading more about it, I see that actually building muscle is the way to go. You burn more calories longer after a weight lifting workout than you do after a cardio. And, muscle requires calories to maintain. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn doing nothing. (higher metabolism)

Cross training is actually THE most effective means of getting into shape. While I just can't discipline myself enough to do really good cross training, I am doing pilates and dance as well as the Bowflex workout. Dancing is an amazing workout. I do hula and bellydance myself, but obviously whatever works for you is best. I can't even finish the hula routine, it hurts too damn bad. I guess eventually I'll be able to though.

As for dieting... I can't do it personally. But this is what I *am* doing based off of things I've read:

1) Drinking whey protein smoothies for breakfast and before a weight lifting session. (Whey protein, low-fat yogurt, frozen berries, small amount of fruit juice... i use V-8 Berry blend or something like that) Blending up the yogurt makes it take up more space and actually does keep me fuller longer.

2) Drinking more water and eliminating soda (this is actually hard for me at the moment since I get all the free soda I want at work now... easy, free access means I gravitate to it and drink it more often)

3) More wheat, less white (this includes bread and pasta)

4) Smaller, more frequent meals

5) DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST

6) More fresh veggies

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WI Crippler

BMI is complete garbage. Unless you're 12 years old.

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"What Jesus fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem."- Reg

Tashah

It is certainly not the definitive metric. Unless one is conditioned on a par with the professional athlete however, it is a fairly reasonable and easy statistical guide for the general public.

Goldenboy219

I prefer the scale and mirror

1069

I'd recommend a vegan diet if you can handle it, vegetarian if you can't.
It's amazing, when you quit eating meat, how you can eat just about anything else- ice cream every day, if you feel like it- and still stay really thin.
And if you're a vegan, wow. You can eat until your stomach's ready to pop, and still be a toothpick.
You can eat rice, potatoes, legumes, bread, cereal, veggies, fruit, oils, sweets, meat substitutes like tofu and tvp, you name it.

It seems to me that meat slows one's metabolism down.
It's really bad for you. It causes colon cancer.
True, humans were intended to be omnivorous, but people also weren't intended to live to be 70 or 80 years old.
Our bodies can't handle daily exposure to the toxins produced by meat for that many years, which is why we start to get cancer and fall apart at around age 50.
If you want longevity and fitness, it's best not to consume meat at all.

I agree with whoever said oatmeal for breakfast... except who the hell has time to make oatmeal in the morning? And instant oatmeal is gross.
I like to have oatmeal for dinner, a huge pot of it with vanilla and cinnamon and brown sugar, mmmm.

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WI Crippler

I'm not on par with any professional athlete, and according to the BMI scale I am obese. However, in order to get to the "normal range" of the BMI scale, I would have to be a around -1% body fat.