Work weight loss challenge
- Thread starter NYCFC_Dan
- Start date
Lol that didn't last. But this is a competition so I'm definitely very motivated. Drank my first gallon of water yesterday. Kept me really full all day. I just need to regiment my meals. Usually I eat lunch and a very late dinner after work. I think I need to start having a heavy breakfast and light lunch/dinner.I found this thread on some random internet forum that might have some useful info
http://nycfcforums.com/index.php?threads/healthy-eating.4474/
The water thing really can help.
This is correct. Looking at raw figures is exactly how you make calories seem small. In the article I read last week, they argued as follows. I don't remember the exact numbers they used but these are close enough. You burn about 1800 calories doing nothing. That's what it takes to keep you alive if all you do is sleep, and walk from the bed to the kitchen to eat and to the couch to watch TV and then back to bed. Digesting your food consumes another 200 calories. That's 2,000 calories to do nothing. Exercising hard for 40-45 minutes only gets you another 500 calories, which is 25% of what you use up sitting on your ass, so why bother?
The difference is those 500 calories are at the margin. Do nothing and consume 2200 cals and you gain weight. Eat those same 2200 and burn 500 with exercise and you are in deficit.
It's like what I learned about discounts in the law business. Assume a law office with all attorneys working full time. At proper billing rates, about 80% of what you take in pays rent, equipment leases, insurance, staff salaries, etc. The last 20% is profit. So if you give every client a 10% discount you're not cutting your profits by 10%, you're cutting them in half. Because you're profits are at the margin, above the monthly nut you can't really control. Exercise works the same way. Anything you can add to energy burned above your baseline is all profit, assuming you have the control not to eat more.
Over the past four years or so I've lost almost 30 pounds. Went from a high of 205 five years ago (I'm 5' 10") down to 178 last time I went to the doctors. I've more or less done two "normal" things. One is eating way less and the other is walking everywhere.
The eating way less part isn't any draconian diet, it's just eating now one burger instead of two for dinner, for example, or measuring portions to make sure they're normal sized rather than piling it on (and no seconds). Or things like getting a sandwich and a drink for lunch but not getting the bag of chips I used to always get to go with it.
The other part is walking. I used to take a bus to the subway to a bus to work. Now I try to walk both of those bus trips if possible (less so now that it's cold, but even so I still walk it pretty often). What started this was getting an Apple Watch maybe a year and a half ago. Couldn't bear to have my activity rings not being all the way filled in, and weirdly it's worked. I'm less hung up on having unbroken streaks of filled rings nowadays but I still do it pretty often and if I don't I'm at least pretty close.
So no extraordinary measures, just eating less and moving more. And I'm going to start running shortly if my #Team50 knees can take it. I want to go down another 10 pounds or so, but I also want to be in better shape so my heart can keep on going. I've gotten lighter, which has made things much better, but now that's no longer enough.
Don't want to be an old man when I get old, ya know?
The eating way less part isn't any draconian diet, it's just eating now one burger instead of two for dinner, for example, or measuring portions to make sure they're normal sized rather than piling it on (and no seconds). Or things like getting a sandwich and a drink for lunch but not getting the bag of chips I used to always get to go with it.
The other part is walking. I used to take a bus to the subway to a bus to work. Now I try to walk both of those bus trips if possible (less so now that it's cold, but even so I still walk it pretty often). What started this was getting an Apple Watch maybe a year and a half ago. Couldn't bear to have my activity rings not being all the way filled in, and weirdly it's worked. I'm less hung up on having unbroken streaks of filled rings nowadays but I still do it pretty often and if I don't I'm at least pretty close.
So no extraordinary measures, just eating less and moving more. And I'm going to start running shortly if my #Team50 knees can take it. I want to go down another 10 pounds or so, but I also want to be in better shape so my heart can keep on going. I've gotten lighter, which has made things much better, but now that's no longer enough.
Don't want to be an old man when I get old, ya know?
Nice job. It's really easy to fit in a little exercise if you try. Stairs instead of elevator if reasonable is another one alot of people can do. The walking idea is great too. I like to sometimes get off a stop early and walk the rest especially if its a neighborhood or area I don't visit often.
I really think that
)
There are a couple of excellent food documentaries out there but Fed Up, which was produced by Katie Couric, is my favorite. I think exercise is important but I think diet is way more important. The doc does a really good job of how the sugar industry has really changed the way that food is made. Its a must watch. If you can cut out added sugar, cook most of your meals yourself, have common sense portions, and have fruits and vegetables as much as possible you are going to see results.
I don't think there is a magic number in terms of drinking water. So much of our food also contains water that one gallon for most people is going to be excessive. Drink it when you are thirsty and before and after you work out. I think the important thing is that you drink water instead of the high sugar beverages like soda/juice/ice tea, etc. If you are a soda guy, seltzer is very clutch. I have a SodaStream at home and it definitely increases the amount of water I drink. From what I recall, the scientific evidence only points to drinking water before a meal reducing appetite for middle-age and elderly people. Cold water does burn more calories than warm water.
I think with water if you establish certain routines you should be fine. Cold water immediately after you wake up, with each meal, before and after you work out, and when you are thirsty should get you all of the water you need.
I think alot of people get too tied up in calorie counting. Not all calories are equal. The empty calories of something like soda is much worse for you than the same amount of calories in something like nuts. You don't want to drink your calories (and if you do it should be by drinking booze
)There are a couple of excellent food documentaries out there but Fed Up, which was produced by Katie Couric, is my favorite. I think exercise is important but I think diet is way more important. The doc does a really good job of how the sugar industry has really changed the way that food is made. Its a must watch. If you can cut out added sugar, cook most of your meals yourself, have common sense portions, and have fruits and vegetables as much as possible you are going to see results.
I don't think there is a magic number in terms of drinking water. So much of our food also contains water that one gallon for most people is going to be excessive. Drink it when you are thirsty and before and after you work out. I think the important thing is that you drink water instead of the high sugar beverages like soda/juice/ice tea, etc. If you are a soda guy, seltzer is very clutch. I have a SodaStream at home and it definitely increases the amount of water I drink. From what I recall, the scientific evidence only points to drinking water before a meal reducing appetite for middle-age and elderly people. Cold water does burn more calories than warm water.
I think with water if you establish certain routines you should be fine. Cold water immediately after you wake up, with each meal, before and after you work out, and when you are thirsty should get you all of the water you need.
I really think that
I think alot of people get too tied up in calorie counting. Not all calories are equal. The empty calories of something like soda is much worse for you than the same amount of calories in something like nuts. You don't want to drink your calories (and if you do it should be by drinking booze
There are a couple of excellent food documentaries out there but Fed Up, which was produced by Katie Couric, is my favorite. I think exercise is important but I think diet is way more important. The doc does a really good job of how the sugar industry has really changed the way that food is made. Its a must watch. If you can cut out added sugar, cook most of your meals yourself, have common sense portions, and have fruits and vegetables as much as possible you are going to see results.
I don't think there is a magic number in terms of drinking water. So much of our food also contains water that one gallon for most people is going to be excessive. Drink it when you are thirsty and before and after you work out. I think the important thing is that you drink water instead of the high sugar beverages like soda/juice/ice tea, etc. If you are a soda guy, seltzer is very clutch. I have a SodaStream at home and it definitely increases the amount of water I drink. From what I recall, the scientific evidence only points to drinking water before a meal reducing appetite for middle-age and elderly people. Cold water does burn more calories than warm water.
I think with water if you establish certain routines you should be fine. Cold water immediately after you wake up, with each meal, before and after you work out, and when you are thirsty should get you all of the water you need.
Great tips, thanks a lot. I'll look into it. Found out already that I'm probably drinking too much. I guess it's a good way to start to flush he body but I'll definitely back off a little bit. Especially with not including exercise right now. Don't think a gallon is necessary.
