I'm fat

yeah, so the chapter in health class that me and my partner were supposed to study was the chapter on like weight loss and stuff. yeah, so according to this chart that they had in there, 19% to 25% body fat is healthy, 26% to 30% is overweight, and >30% is obese. I land at 27%.. so, I've decided I want to lose like 20 lbs. of body fat. any ideas on the best way to go about this? diets, or excercise programs, or any combonation of the two.

Do you want to lose weight the healthy way or do you want to try something a little more effective?

Don't try dieting. Pretty much every popular diet in America is worthless.

Man, in the photos I've seen of you, you don't look remotely fat... but if you want to lose weight, highly specialised diets are probably a bad idea at your age. I'd suggest something more general: eat lots of complex carbohydrates to fill you up, and you'll find that you won't feel like snacking on junk food anymore. And if you're not already in a sport, get into one. But I wouldn't be too worried about your weight, seriously - I don't think you're going to have a cardiac arrest anytime soon...

hehe...Fatty!

well, the weight I want to lose is not only for health reasons, but cosmetic reasons too. I don't want to do anything too drastic, like the atkins diet, or anything like that. I'm 5' 8" and 176 lbs. it's not severly overweight, but I've got a kind of a pudge belly, y'know? I would like to get down to 150-ish. which is like 22% or 23% body fat.

I've tried to "eat healthy" before. but I find that fruits and vegetables only keep me full for a few hours before I'm starving again. this is kinda bad when I have to go in to work at 10 am, and don't get a lunch break until 2 pm, and all I've eaten is an apple or a banana, and when noon rolls around I'm starving.

that being said, I'm going to bed, and for my midnight snack, I'm going to substitute my usual bowl of ice cream with an apple or two.

Fruit and veg alone doesn't do the trick for everybody. You've probably heard this a million times already :o , but you need complex carbohydrates. Bread, cereals, pasta - and rice, lots of rice. Supplement these with your fruit and vegetables, with 2-3 servings of protein per day, and 1 or 2 of fats/oils. And exercise, of course. Don't go making it into a big deal, though - just watch what you eat for a little while, and the "pudgy belly" will be gone before you know it.

hmm..come to think of it... i dont recall ever seeing a pic of u... did u post anything in whos behind the pc thread?

I wrote a Hypercard program for Macs on this subject about 10 years ago.

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/Nutrimaster.sit

Losing weight is all mathematics.
Calculate how many calories your body uses up in 24 hours.
Calculate how many calories you eat.
If you eat more calories than you burn up, you'll gain weight.
If you want to lose weight, eat less calories or exercise more to burn more calories.

ie, there's about 3500 calories in one pound of fat. (one pound = 9.74351079 times 10 to the power of 15 calories)
You probably burn up about 100 calories per hour just sitting around doing nothing.
So if you want to maintain your current weight, eat exactly 2400 calories per day and sit around doing nothing.
If you eat only 1400 calories per day, it'll take you 3.5 days to lose 1 pound.
If you burn an extra 1400 calories per day, you'll lose the same amount.

Well I don't know if you are fat, or not, or what, but if I wanted to lose fat here's what I would do. First of all, don't starve yourself. You should never feel really hungry. To accomplish yourself, you should eat smaller meals throughout the day, with the added benefit that you're body can digest food much more effectively this way than three large meals, and you will get more of the nutrients from food and less will turn into fat. Also pay attention to what you are eating in these meals. An apple or carrot is not a meal. You should have some protein in all these meals, be it meat, cheese, whatever you want, just look for low-fat sources. This will aid muscle growth, and the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn during any activity, including rest. Also, eat carbs in these meals, which will give you energy and make you feel full so you aren't tempted by junk. Also, try to cut out sugar as much as possible, it really isn't doing anything helpful.
Remember it is a combination of what you eat, and how much, not just one or the other.
Also, nutrition is only one side of it. You need to be doing excercise to burn those calories. For fat loss, cardio would be the best kind of excercise. However I recommend you try some resistance training too, because as I mentioned, muscle burns more fat.
Hope this helps! Good luck, and post some pics of your transformation if it turns out more dramatic than you anticipated ;)

Oh yeah, I forgot. Aside from being a fat loss agent, muscle looks good too. Now I'm off to eat another steak. Gotta love those 3:00am meals!

go for a run every morning, helps burn fat
get active when your playin your axe jump up n down on your bed a bit just dont go jumping out the window lol

Originally Posted by: acapella rapemeHope this helps! Good luck, and post some pics of your transformation if it turns out more dramatic than you anticipated ;)

did Acapella just ask 6strngs for pictures of his hot new body? I think so...

Careful Nathan, he this could be more than it appears at first...

I'm not the most physically inactive person in the world or anything. for work I go out and gather carts from the parking lot for hours at a time. not only am I walking, but pushing a bunch of carts, and once you get pushing 7 or 8 at a time, they tend to get pretty heavy (and hard to steer)

I just eat way too much junk. probably over 3000 calories a day, but I don't know, I don't keep track.

I'll try cutting out as much sugar and junk food as possible, and try jogging/running for half hour per day, with weight lifting as often as I have time (yes, I do have a gym membership, but I rarely ever go). we'll see how far that carries me. but good ideas guys, keep em coming.

Try calorie counting. Stop snacking. only eat 3 meals a day. And running is the best thing out there for ya. Run - a lot!

Originally Posted by: Homebrew1709only eat 3 meals a day.

I always heard it's better to have 5-6 small meals. That way you're not stuffing yourself when you do eat, and you're less likely to start snacking in between meals.

here's what I just learned in the last few days: i like jamba juice more than i like starbucks. that should help me out some right there!

Originally Posted by: acapella rapemeYou should have some protein in all these meals...Also, eat carbs in these meals, which will give you energy and make you feel full so you aren't tempted by junk. Also, try to cut out sugar as much as possible, it really isn't doing anything helpful.

alright, I've found the perfect meal that includes complex carbs, protein, vegetables, and dairy... a sandwich.. with wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes, turkey, cheese, etc. I'm eating one right now infact :p

I do 300 to 400 situps a day and avoid eating sugary fatty snacks. Seems to do the trick for me. Oh, push-ups are good too, not for weight loss, but for being, you know, attractive for the ladies.

They say if you wanna lose weight and have a lot of money, coccaine is the way to go. But doing so would make you a looser, lose your friends, and leave you with an addiction. But on a serious note, jam along with some cd's for 2 hours and go crazy....jump around like a madman, just don't do it on your bed near an open window.

I'm not necessarily extremely obese or anything. but if one of my pics had me without a shirt on, then you'd see. it's just an extra 20-25 lbs. of fat I'd like to rid myself of.

on the note of muscle to fat being a difference in weight. yeah, that could account for some of the weight. I'm not trying to brag, but I'm not exactly scrawny. my years of skateboarding gave me some good leg muscles, working construction for my parents and uncle have helped me in upper body strength, I go rock climbing at least once a week which builds alot of muscles in the forearms and back, and I've pretty much been doing weight training "on again, off again" for 2-3 years so I've got some muscle, but I still have a good handful of pure fat on my tummy.. no me gusta..

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsI'm not necessarily extremely obese or anything. but if one of my pics had me without a shirt on, then you'd see. it's just an extra 20-25 lbs. of fat I'd like to rid myself of.

on the note of muscle to fat being a difference in weight. yeah, that could account for some of the weight. I'm not trying to brag, but I'm not exactly scrawny. my years of skateboarding gave me some good leg muscles, working construction for my parents and uncle have helped me in upper body strength, I go rock climbing at least once a week which builds alot of muscles in the forearms and back, and I've pretty much been doing weight training "on again, off again" for 2-3 years so I've got some muscle, but I still have a good handful of pure fat on my tummy.. no me gusta..

Yeah man, I'm in more or less the same situation (I even do construction work for my Dad sometimes! :eek: ). I've got some flab on my belly that I've never managed to shake, but I've resigned myself to its continued presence *sigh*. Besides, some girls seem to think that fat is cute... :confused:
Anyway, good luck with your diet/exercise regime thingy.