Help with losing weight

Ssreek said:
While some members here are suggesting gym, I doubt if it would be possible for everyone to go to gym.
Based on what I heard from several people, gym is a great and faster way to lose weight/fat and gain muscle and look/feel fitter. But it should mostly be a lifelong commitment. It's not like you lose weight, become fit and then quit gym. That would probably be a bigger mistake. For people who can commit to gym regularly, it's purposeful.
CMIIW.
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This is very important.

Going to the gym can become quite the time sink- from getting ready, reaching the gym, doing my routines and coming back usually took about 2.5-3 hours. Eventually I installed some equipment at home (calisthenics oriented). Over time I chose exercises that I considered vital and now my routine is 1.15 hours, 3 days a week.

But that's just my case, cause the gyms that I went to looked down at calisthenics, and didn't have the facilities as well. Regardless, it helped me make it a habit.
 
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This is on top of everything said by everyone.

It's hard to become overweight without having hormones out of whack. Check Thyroids, Testosteron, Cortisol and try to get them in an ideal range naturally.
 
I've been going to the gym on and off for 4 years and I want you to know that you shouldn't be disheartened. Being overweight is a great anabolic state to go to the gym with.

Keep in mind the following:
Move more, eat less - lose weight

Move more, eat less, lift weights - lose weight and tone muscles

Move more, eat less, lift weight, have protein - lose weight, build muscle.

All the very best in your fitness journey KING
 
lockhrt999 said:
This is on top of everything said by everyone.

It's hard to become overweight without having hormones out of whack. Check Thyroids, Testosteron, Cortisol and try to get them in an ideal range naturally.
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Eat cakes + lots of pizza with lots of cheese among other things in short time = weight gain. Happened to me.
 
Hello all. So, a bit of an update I suppose. I have been regularly going to the gym for the past 10 weeks, primarily focusing on muscle building with next-to-nothing cardio. My arms look good (not significantly but you can tell I've been working out) and all that. I am struggling with two things

- My face looks very puffy and full of fat.
- My chest is fine but when you go below that, I do hve a belly. I would like a flat stomach, not abs or anything (though having abs will be nice).

I am fixing my diet still (struggling with food proportions and some things, like sweet stuff, sadly I have a sweet tooth but sometimes, a lot of junk food) but it has been much better (best I'd say in recent years)

I know one way I can reduce my belly and face fat is my diet. I have too many chocolates at home. Other thing is, I usually make myself a sandwich of bread, egg and cheese, which, clearly, is quite unhealthy. I have it quite often as well. Snd of course, like I said, food portions. Mom makes some good food and I usually eat quite a bit, which is an issue. Protein intake has increased, so pros and cons.
 
FXGalvatron said:
- My face looks very puffy and full of fat.
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Puffy face after gym is common.
sportcoaching.co.nz

Face Swelling After Exercise: What's Behind It? - SportCoaching

Page ContentsFluid Retention and Blood FlowImpact of High-Intensity ExerciseInflammation and Muscle ActivationPost-Exercise Hydration and RecoveryTips to Reduce Facial SwellingWhen to Seek Medical AdviceFace Swelling After Exercise – The Conclusion Have you ever experienced facial swelling after...
sportcoaching.co.nz sportcoaching.co.nz

Now, if you are exercising too heavily, beware of baldness which is common too.
 
FXGalvatron said:
Hello all. So, a bit of an update I suppose. I have been regularly going to the gym for the past 10 weeks, primarily focusing on muscle building with next-to-nothing cardio. My arms look good (not significantly but you can tell I've been working out) and all that. I am struggling with two things

- My face looks very puffy and full of fat.
- My chest is fine but when you go below that, I do hve a belly. I would like a flat stomach, not abs or anything (though having abs will be nice).

I am fixing my diet still (struggling with food proportions and some things, like sweet stuff, sadly I have a sweet tooth but sometimes, a lot of junk food) but it has been much better (best I'd say in recent years)

I know one way I can reduce my belly and face fat is my diet. I have too many chocolates at home. Other thing is, I usually make myself a sandwich of bread, egg and cheese, which, clearly, is quite unhealthy. I have it quite often as well. Snd of course, like I said, food portions. Mom makes some good food and I usually eat quite a bit, which is an issue. Protein intake has increased, so pros and cons.
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The fact that you're regularly going is good progress in and of itself! Just a small suggestion from me though is to trust the process. Keep progressively overloading your weights. Focus on the key lifts, bench press, squats, overhead press and deadlifts.

And for what you've asked, that will basically have to do with your diet and imo eating cleaner and healthier food will improve how your face looks and feels (even if you haven't lost weight). If you haven't started measuring your food I suggest you to do so too. For example, the bread egg and cheese sandwich would amount close to 500 calories itself. Each bread slice is (looking at it from purely a caloric standpoint) 100 calories and carbs. so 2 slices of bread, 200 calories. Now an egg is good being roughly 65 calories and 6 grams of protein. Prioritise protein as much you can imo, keeps you filled up more too. However add chesse (slices?) and that's 100 calories per slice again, and it just isn't good unless there's 2. That is 465 calories. Another one of those and you're touching 1000 calories with only 20 grams of protein (if we ignore bread). A better alterative would be to get one of those ID ready to cook parathas which are roughly 250 calories per paratha and 6 grams of protein. Have 2 of those without cheese and an omelette eah and you have 24 grams of protein for half the calories!

To say the least you do have to look at alternate snacks/food but you don't have to torture yourself. You have to ensure that your diet is something that you can actually follow for the rest of your life. Crash diets to reach body goals work in the short term, not the long term.

For your sweet cravings, I won't suggest you to just ditch eating sweets (like I can't ditch eating masala dosa). But instead portion it out. If a chocolate bar usually lasts you 2 days, make it last 3 days equally, then gradually keep increasing it until it takes you more than a week to finish it. In the same manner, turn daily cravings into weekly cravings, and weekly cravings to bi-weekly cravings (yeah I can't eat biryani just once a month lol). Also increase your protein intake, I spent too much time of my first 2 years working out thinking I ate enough or I don't need to eat that many eggs or soya chunks. I did have to. and I wish I did earlier.

Personally I would like to see you increase your strength in lifts and strength in doing bodyweight exercises before you start to look towards having abs or a flat stomach, I personally have friends who have lost the plot in a chase to have abs (from starvation!). Remember that muscle is leaner than fat.
 
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FXGalvatron said:
- My face looks very puffy and full of fat.
- My chest is fine but when you go below that, I do hve a belly. I would like a flat stomach, not abs or anything (though having abs will be nice).
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Sadly there's no healthy shortcut, keep doing what you're doing consistently for an year and you'd see those face fat melt away. Fat melts away evenly throughout the body so it might take even longer for face and stomach to get to the level you need but just remember more than the looks, what you're doing is making you be more fitter, active and strong both physically and mentally.
FXGalvatron said:
I am fixing my diet still (struggling with food proportions and some things, like sweet stuff, sadly I have a sweet tooth but sometimes, a lot of junk food) but it has been much better (best I'd say in recent years)
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If your rice intake is very high I'd suggest cutting it back a little and replacing it with fresh vegetables and fruits.
 
You're doing a great Job! It's not easy.

As someone who's lost 45 kgs, incorporate some form of cardio (even if it's daily walking) into your routine, and stick to portion control. Those will make a huge difference.
 
mantheman said:
Do you feel hungry throughout the day? My Dr. friend told me feeling hungry (calorie deficit) is the best way, which means lower the intake for your breakfast, dinner, lunch and meal. Just feel hungry before your next flood intake.

70kg to 60kgs just by doing that in 4 months.
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Could you please explain how feeling hungry can be considered beneficial? It seems like constantly feeling hungry would lead to eating more throughout the day.
 
Ssreek said:
eating more throughout the day
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If you are always full and never hungry, you gain weight. You need to be calorie deficit,lets say you eat dinner at 9am so you should feel hungry by 12pm and then lunch at 1pm. It is very good in loosing weight.

Tldr; dont always feel full. Be hungry for 1-2 hours before your next meal, which means do not over eat on every meal.
 
mantheman said:
If you are always full and never hungry, you gain weight. You need to be calorie deficit,lets say you eat dinner at 9am so you should feel hungry by 12pm and then lunch at 1pm. It is very good in loosing weight.

Tldr; dont always feel full. Be hungry for 1-2 hours before your next meal, which means do not over eat on every meal.
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Correct me if I'm wrong:

My understanding is, that if you always feel full or almost full, you don't tend to eat much. You eat less and intake fewer calories than usual.
But if you are hungry for every 3 hours, you tend to eat more and more which leads to more intake of calories.
Besides always hungry means indirectly there is a possibility of frequent hikes in insulin/glucose levels.

Instead, I feel it depends more on what you eat, rather than how many times you eat.
One can eat foods with less calories (especially less carbs) but fill the stomach (certain fruits and vegetables), which actually helps to maintain calorie deficit.
Healthy fats if consumed, makes us feel fuller most of the time which also helps in eating less frequently than usual.
 
Ssreek said:
Correct me if I'm wrong:

My understanding is, that if you always feel full or almost full, you don't tend to eat much. You eat less and intake fewer calories than usual.
But if you are hungry for every 3 hours, you tend to eat more and more which leads to more intake of calories.
Besides always hungry means indirectly there is a possibility of frequent hikes in insulin/glucose levels.

Instead, I feel it depends more on what you eat, rather than how many times you eat.
One can eat foods with less calories (especially less carbs) but fill the stomach (certain fruits and vegetables), which actually helps to maintain calorie deficit.
Healthy fats if consumed, makes us feel fuller most of the time which also helps in eating less frequently than usual.
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I think its both.
Eat filling foods with fibre and protein, remove bad stuff, But also have potion control and maybe manage so that we are a bit hungry atleast for a while before eating. Could also drink water before eating.

I was doing that for a few years and unknowingly lost a decent bit of weight ( 85-90 to 70). Then i saw my weight, got happy and slowly got used to eating a bit more. I am eating healthy, but gained few kgs this way. I dont exercise yet so that's also a factor. Previously i used to do diet + lots of walking, get to ~73kg in summer and would gain back 15 kgs quickly in rains/winter when i took pause. So its much better vs that after removing artificial sugar completely + focus on healty oil + fiber/protein + fruits/nuts/seeds.
 
FXGalvatron said:
... next-to-nothing cardio.

- My chest is fine but when you go below that, I do hve a belly. I would like a flat stomach, not abs or anything (though having abs will be nice).
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And there is your problem. Incorporate at least 2 cardio days per week, or when you're doing leg day, go as hard as possible lol.

I've stopped going to gym again, but this time due to dislocated elbow. I'm still hovering around same weight (117) but at lowest I was close to 100 I guess, but I gained them back once I came back to India.
 
  1. Calculate your TDEE first: https://tdeecalculator.net/
  2. Start counting your calories. You can use something like Cronometer, or there are similar Indianized apps to count calories.
  3. Eat at a deficit. I can't tell you the exact percentage deficit to eat at; that is something you will have to figure out.
  4. Take a multivitamin to compensate for any nutritional deficiencies.
  5. Profit!
Don't bother with the gym or any exercise solely for weight loss. The fundamental issue is that you are not able to control your eating. Anything apart from a caloric deficit will be a waste of time and money. You might even eat more after going to the gym. Without counting calories, it's like shooting in the dark. Go to the gym only for resistance training.
Rezep said:
Each bread slice is (looking at it from purely a caloric standpoint) 100 calories
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This is the problem with not counting calories. An average bread packet in India is 400 grams, and one slice is approx 60 calories. Underestimating or overestimating calories can ruin any diet plan.
 
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If I work out I tend to eat responsibly. When the working out stops for a few days sloppy eating habits return. So for me, regular exercise is the key.
So do some, any, exercise regularly. Start with walking for 1 hour each morning.
 
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