Dieting

[Hazir]

2 weeks ago I went back to an old habit; I started walking to and from work. Regardless of weather conditions I walked 5 days a week for the last two weeks. That adds up to somewhere between 35 and 40km.

I put a little bit of thought into my diet, like upping the fruit and vegetable content a bit, but also replacing 'light' products with the real thing (think real butter, real sugar) in moderate quantities and insisting on having deserts.

In the two weeks I did this, my weight went down almost 6 kg (that would be 13lbs or so).

PS. I did discover the pommegranate as a nice snack in the evening. It's a bit of work to get the seeds out, but very satisfying once the job is done.

[Lebanese Dragon]

PS. I did discover the pommegranate as a nice snack in the evening. It's a bit of work to get the seeds out, but very satisfying once the job is done

Nice job on the weight loss, just swallow the seeds on the pommegranate.

[RandBlade]

So perhaps unsurprisingly, I got bored of the bananas after a few days (the potassium remarks did get me concerned). 5 months on, weigh about the same as I did at the start of the thread. Just to clear something up, I do not want to lose weight for my wedding - I want to lose weight because I do. It'd be nice to be done for then, which is coincendenta
ly 1 year this week, but that's not the reason, just motivation.

So decided to try some more exercise. Not rejoining a gym (too expensive, no time) besides the only thing I ever used in the gym was the treadmill. So instead we've bought a decent treadmill. Expensive in one go, but far, far cheaper than gym membership ultimately - the thing cost equivalent of our joint membership for 4 months but we can keep it for good.

Just spent an hour on it walking at a fast pace while watching the cricket, beats sitting on the couch watching it.

[Loki]

My friend has gone on a diet about half a year ago and lost a third of his body weight. He eats about 1250 calories per day and works out for at least an hour a day (high-intensity cardio and some weight-lifting). The treadmill is one of the least efficient ways to lose weight by the way (only a stationary bike is worse).

[RandBlade]

My friend has gone on a diet about half a year ago and lost a third of his body weight. He eats about 1250 calories per day and works out for at least an hour a day (high-intensity cardio and some weight-lifting). The treadmill is one of the least efficient ways to lose weight by the way (only a stationary bike is worse).

As far as I knew cardio is one of the most efficient, and a treadmill has all the advantages of running but with a softer landing for your feet less risk of ankle/knee damage?

What makes you say otherwise?

No way I could do 1250 kcals per day.

[Loki]

As far as I knew cardio is one of the most efficient, and a treadmill has all the advantages of running but with a softer landing for your feet less risk of ankle/knee damage?

What makes you say otherwise?

No way I could do 1250 kcals per day.

It's an objective fact. Do an hour of medium-intensity exercise on a bike, treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, and stair machine. The calories burned will be vastly different. You'd be hard-pressed to burn more than 500-600 calories with a treadmill, while you can burn at least 50% more with the last three machines.

Yeah, the 1250 calories isn't sustainable, but the point is to reduce and stabilize calorie intake at some level below 2500 (assuming you work out regularly); below 2000 otherwise.

[RandBlade]

It's an objective fact. Do an hour of medium-intensity exercise on a bike, treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, and stair machine. The calories burned will be vastly different. You'd be hard-pressed to burn more than 500-600 calories with a treadmill, while you can burn at least 50% more with the last three machines.

Yeah, the 1250 calories isn't sustainable, but the point is to reduce and stabilize calorie intake at some level below 2500 (assuming you work out regularly); below 2000 otherwise.

How about comparing a treadmill to non-gym equipment? You didn't say it wasn't the most effective, you said its "one of the worst". I've never seen any training program at a gym that doesn't involve the use of a treadmill.

According to this list running beats almost every other form of exercise, including most sports: http://www.nutristrategy.com/caloriesburned.htm - running 7mph (which I can't do yet) burns twice as much kcal/hour as even vigorous weightlifting.

[Steely Glint]

It's an objective fact. Do an hour of medium-intensity exercise on a bike, treadmill, elliptical, rowing machine, and stair machine.

Do 20 reps on bench press with 50kg and and then 20 at 100kg - you'll get twice as strong with the second one!

[Loki]

Do 20 reps on bench press with 50kg and and then 20 at 100kg - you'll get twice as strong with the second one!

Assuming you're capable of lifting the 100kg, it would help you more to do the 100kg set...The point, in case you missed it, is that Rand has a limited amount of time. You can burn more calories in the same amount of time on the other machines.

[Steely Glint]

Assuming you're capable of lifting the 100kg, it would help you more to do the 100kg set... The point, in case you missed it, is that Rand has a limited amount of time. You can burn more calories in the same amount of time on the other machines.

By working approximately twice as hard, yes. The method for achieving this while running is called - jargon alert, here - "going faster".

[Loki]

By working approximately twice as hard, yes. The method for achieving this while running is called - jargon alert, here - "going faster".

Running requires the use of fewer muscle groups than the other exercises. You get tired faster from it.

[Steely Glint]

Citation needed.

[Loki]

http://www.livestrong.com/article/53...the-treadmill/

So treadmill is better if you sprint for the entire hour.

[Steely Glint]

8mph isn't sprinting, bro. All that article says is that the stairmaster is better than walking or light jogging, but not as good as going faster on the treadmill. Unless, you decide to go faster on the stairmaster (those things do have speed controls, right? I have never used one) I guess. Turns out, the harder you work the more calories you burn? Who knew.

[Loki]

And the point is that if you don't go all out on either machine, you'll burn far more calories with the stair machine. And let's be honest, someone who's out of shape and overweight isn't going to go all out even if they wanted to.

[Steely Glint]

You'll burn more calories on the stair machine because the stair machine is harder work. It's a stair machine. It is designed to simulate going up stairs. This is harder than walking on a flat surface. If you need something harder one the treadmill then just go faster than you would on a stair machine. Going 8mph on a stair machine would burn more calories than going 8mph on a tradmill. You work harder, you burn calories. You worker harder, you burn more.

[RandBlade]

Its worth noting that a treadmill does of course have incline settings too. The higher the incline setting, the more calories you burn even at the same speed.

If I had a stair machine I wouldn't use it. I tried it in the gym, I hated it. If I bought a stair machine I'd be burning zero calories per hour from it.

I can keep going on my first day of using it for 1 hour on the treadmill in my spare room while watching the cricket. How many ordinairy overweight people do you expect can keep going for an hour on the stair machine the first time they use that? Or in general? You work longer, you burn more too.

You said that the treadmill was "one of the worst" forms of exercise, not being the best [now you and Steely are arguing it might be] is not the same as worst.

[Loki]

Well, I hope you're really motivated. I know two people who bought a treadmill and neither was using it within a month.

[RandBlade]

Well, I hope you're really motivated. I know two people who bought a treadmill and neither was using it within a month.

Same as gym membership. Still, 12 month gym contract is far more expensive.

[LittleFuzzy]

I did not reach the weight goal I wanted before I picked up my tux for my cousin's wedding the other week. I plateaued about four pounds above it. I did manage to drop those four pounds dealing with the stomach bug I picked up three days later.

[Loki]

Same as gym membership. Still, 12 month gym contract is far more expensive.

There are gyms that let you sign up for a month.

I did not reach the weight goal I wanted before I picked up my tux for my cousin's wedding the other week. I plateaued about four pounds above it. I did manage to drop those four pounds dealing with the stomach bug I picked up three days later.

You should start your own stomach bug diet. Market it to Hollywood.

[Flixy]

Parasites to drop weight is só last century

[Dreadnaught]

I've never had a weight goal, but cutting dairy entirely from my diet lead to me losing eight pounds (3.6 kilograms/.57 "stone") in about three months.

Seriously, dairy is everywhere and (by design) actually contains a lot of fats.

Parasites are also good, but the kinds of bugs available online just don't do justice to what you can get from a trip to the Global South. Agreed with Flixy, they are really passe. But maybe they can come back? Like sort of a retro fad?

[RandBlade]

I've never had a weight goal, but cutting dairy entirely from my diet lead to me losing eight pounds (3.6 kilograms/.57 "stone") in about three months.

Seriously, dairy is everywhere and (by design) actually contains a lot of fats.

Parasites are also good, but the kinds of bugs available online just don't do justice to what you can get from a trip to the Global South. Agreed with Flixy, they are really passe. But maybe they can come back? Like sort of a retro fad?

Isn't dairy kind of necessary for your bones? What's the point in losing weight and gaining osteoporosis?

[Khendraja'aro]

Isn't dairy kind of necessary for your bones? What's the point in losing weight and gaining osteoporosis?

You mean potassium? You'll get that from all other kinds of stuff.

You usually only run into problems with nutrition if you either exclude whole food groups or if you have a genetic disorder.

I mean, lots of people in Finland get by without milk because they're lactose intolerant and it's a bit of a hassle otherwise.

[RandBlade]

You mean potassium? You'll get that from all other kinds of stuff.

You usually only run into problems with nutrition if you either exclude whole food groups or if you have a genetic disorder.

I mean, lots of people in Finland get by without milk because they're lactose intolerant and it's a bit of a hassle otherwise.

I was actually thinking of calcium.

You can of course exclude whole food groups, but then need to be quite careful to get your nutrition from other sources which are not always mainstays in people's normal eating habits. So you don't just need to cut out one thing, you then need to make sure to add something else to make up for it.

Overall I don't see any problems with having a balanced diet.

[Khendraja'aro]

Yes. But you don't need milk. That's why lactose intolerance exists.

And I thank you for repeating what I just said. Seems to be a disease around here.

[GGT]

Everyone would benefit from learning their own unique metabolism and body characteristics. Dread lost weight because he was trying to find relief from GI disturbances. Loki's friend lost weight because he took radical approaches. Fuzzy lost some belly weight after a stomach virus.

The key is in sustainability, thinking in health terms, and taking a holistic approach to weight. Plenty of people think they're "chubby", but their lifestyle is quite healthy, even healthier than their "skinny" peers. It's hard to figure out what expectations are based on health, or culture, and put it into proper context. Ageing is one of the more complicated components.....

Very few adults can wear the same jeans they wore in high school. It might even be unrealistic -- and stupid -- to have that expectation. Bodies change over time, even if weight remains constant. It's not a "failure" when bodies lose turgor or muscle mass, or things shift around over time.

Strive for moderation in all things, and don't do anything drastic: eat a balanced diet and stop counting calories; move more than you sit and stop weighing yourself on the scale; consider your BP and resting HR more important than what you look like in a full length mirror.

This advice is always easier to give than it is to follow. I fully admit that my exercise bike became a clothes hanger, the barbells became door weights, the swim goggles became kiddie bathtub toys, and the gym membership turned into using their sauna and whirlpool more than anything else.

[Flixy]

Parasites are also good, but the kinds of bugs available online just don't do justice to what you can get from a trip to the Global South. Agreed with Flixy, they are really passe. But maybe they can come back? Like sort of a retro fad?

We're back to about the fifties now, with hipsters looking like the beatniks, right? So probably a few more decades until it's fashionable again!