Lazy Motabalism

[Joe Baker]

I dont really know whats up with my motabalism, this whole summer ive been working out constantly, running a mile a day, and exercises in between. Ive have been in constant motion, sweating profusly, and today I ran a mile, and rode my bike non-stop for about 3 hours. The problem I have is that I have not seen much weight loss at all. Its like I have no metabolism. I dont know what to do, cause im sick and tired of being (excuse my language) the "fatass" in the neighborhood. If anyone knows GOOD ways of boosting metabolism, I would really and greatly aprecieate it. Thank you

-tubachris

The best exercise for weight loss is walking; but take it from a guy who spent way more than your lifetime trying to exercise weight off: it just can't be done without diet changes. This year I've not exercised that much but I've lost 35 pounds just by eating right.

So what do you eat?
____________________________
Joe Baker, who suggests lots of fruits and vegetables, only whole grains, fruits and vegetables, no corn or potatos, fruits and vegetables, NO SUGAR, fruits and vegetables, 8-12 oz. per day of VERY LEAN meat or fish, fruits and vegetables, non-fat, sugar-free yogurt (splenda-sweetened flavors are surprisingly good!) and lots and lots of fruits and vegetables.

[Joe Baker]

Mostly protein? Bad move, based upon what I've been learning this year about nutrition. You may need more than 8-12 oz. of meat a day, but probably not more than 16 oz, and you want to be sure that whatever meat you eat is LEAN. No McDonald's or Burger King or Taco Bell. Your body has to get calories to run itself somewhere, and that should be coming from whole grains or fruits & veggies.

I used to go lift weights, do dozens of crunches, run laps, maybe swim laps. Then I'd go to taco bell or burger king and eat a gut-buster of a meal -- after all, I'd just worked out, right? The problem is that it was the wrong stuff. My body could digest all that stuff in no time (except the protein, which puts a greater demand on your body for water, to the point that your body can even BREAK DOWN muscle in order to provide the water necessary to digest all that meat). Anyway, the carbs (white bread, corn tortillas, potatos of one sort or another) would all be sugar in my bloodstream before I left the restaurant, and by the time I got home my body was pumping insulin like crazy -- causing my blood sugar to fall again, making me hungry again (stop me if any of this sounds familiar; it's the typical American overweight male story) so I'd eat some more. My weight climbed higher and higher, and I tried to convince myself that I was building muscle; but I knew better. I was just getting fatter and I didn't understand why. It was the food. It's almost always the food.
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Joe Baker, who has about 25 years of experience being the fata## in the neighborhood, but is finally taking it off -- with relative ease!

[Kevin Miller]

Training with weights is the type of exercise that will jump start the metabolism. Alernating between weight training and aerobic will get you the sweat factor and boost the metabolism.

[Chuck(G)]

Get a cheap pedometer and make sure you really are walking 10,000 steps per day (Joe, that's what my doctor says, not 5,000).

Running has no particular caloric loss advantage over walking and it's harder on your joints.

Eat only when you're hungry, eat slowly, chew your food well and stop eating when you no longer feel hungry (not when you feel "full"). In spite of what our parents told us, belonging to the "clean plate club" is not a good idea. Most restaurants serve far too much food for a meal--learn to know when you're not hungry and either leave the excess at the table or take it home and save it for another meal.

Food is just food; it's not security, love or sex. Learn to recognize it for what it is and don't get emotionally involved in eating.

When you're thirsty, drink water, not soda, coffee, tea or milk, all of which have caloric content, which is silly because you're thristy, not hungry.

Develop this into a habit, not a "diet". You'll be fine.

[Matt G]

This is a decent answer:



This is a lifestyle change. As others have posted:

Start your intake early - Always eat breakfast.

Always eat a balanced diet. Too much of anything (protein, carbs, twinkies) is bad. Intake should be close to 40-30-30 (carbs-protiens-fats).

Exercise should be done with effeciency. Too much of anything is detrimental. Walking is excellent, but cardio (truly excercising the heart by raising and lowering the heart rate) is the key to sustained health.

Weight training is also good for the body. Good resistance training strengthens joints and ligaments as well as helping to develop a better metabolism.

Possibly the best thing to do before any of this is to consult a few professionals, as opposed to the "Tubenet Freak Jury". Your physician, a nutritionalist, and a fitness trainer should be contacted, and most likely in that order. They have dealt with numerous people in your situation and might be able to pinpoint your problem, whether it be physical, physiological, nutritional, etc.

Invest some money in talking to people who are professionals in their respective field. When it comes to your health, how much is too much $$$ invested?

[Chuck(G)]

Two things I have not seen mentioned are first of all, eat breakfast. It literally is the most important part of the day because it not only provides your body with energy for the day, but it also jump starts your metabolism for the day. Also, it is better to eat more small meals than it is to eat less large meals. So 4 or 5 small meals would be better than 2 or 3 large meals with the same nutritional value.

Btw, weight is something that I need to begin to deal with, and I have a good grasp on the exercise part of it. I do not however know what to eat, if someone could chime in on what a diet (not the common usage but the real one) should look like.

Here's a rule of thumb: "refined" stuff--white bread, doughnuts, sugar, cake, etc. will be digested quickly and send your blood sugar up. When your pancreas kicks in the insulin to metabolize this, your blood sugar level will crash, leaving you hungry again.

Fats, protein, vegetables, raw grains take longer to digest and so you feel less hungry longer. Bacon and eggs is not a bad idea for breakfast, just leave out the hash-browns and toast. This assumes that you don't have any medical problems that would prohibit this, BTW.

My breakfast day after day is a bowl of oatmeal with a dollop of yogurt on it with fresh fruit or juice and coffee. The oatmeal is a good idea for me because I've got several first-order instances of colo-rectal cancer in my family history. It's also a good idea because it takes forever to digest--I'm rarely hungry by noon.

[windshieldbug]

If anyone knows GOOD ways of boosting metabolism, I would really and greatly aprecieate it.

From what I hear, smoking crack will shed those unwanted pounds in a "flash"...

[funkcicle]

If anyone knows GOOD ways of boosting metabolism, I would really and greatly aprecieate it.

From what I hear, smoking crack will shed those unwanted pounds in a "flash"...

You beat me to it!

Around 2001 or so I weighed in at about 235 lbs, which was a bit much for my 5'11" posture. I never "looked" obese but I certainly wasn't healthy. Having a very busy lifestyle and never having been great at planning and sticking with complex plans, I took 2 simple steps:

1)I stopped drinking soft drinks. COMPLETELY. No more. This includes gimmick juices, gimmick teas, gimmick flavoured waters, and all those other drinks that have 40+ grams of sugar(more than a can of pop).

2)I severely limited my fast food intake. I'm on the road a lot so this was tough to do..I bought into the Subway fad and for a year or two it was the ONLY place I ate if I HAD to eat out.

Another thing to be aware of is serving size. You don't NEED giant servings. I now occassionally patronize fast food establishments, and when I do I'm happy and satisfied with a kids meal or less.

Anyways, with #s 1 and 2 up there it took about 6 months for my weight to drop below 200lbs. This was with absolutely NO effort.. no excercise, no meal planning.. just omission of soft/junk drinks and 99% of fast food. ymmv etc, but that's what worked for me. Good luck to you!

[Chuck(G)]

The problem with any sort of weight-training or gym-type exercise as I see it, is that it's viewed as something that will be done until a certain result is achieved (say, being able to bench-press 175 pounds), and then stopped, mission accomplished.

Life doesn't work that way. You've got to get some sort of activity that you can and will do every day for the rest of your life, regardless of circumstances. Barring ill health of course, you need to do it rain or shine, snow or heat.

Walking is great for this reason. Even better, get a dog and make a committment to give it a nice long walk every single day no matter what. Both you and the dog will benefit.

Health has to be a second-nature habit, not something we do to "fix" a problem.

Weight training, swimming, running or bicycling are great activities, but can you commit to doing it for the rest of your life, no matter what?

The same goes for diet. That's "small d" diet--what you eat every day of your life. No sense in trying the "big D" diets (Atkins, South Beach, Pritikin, whatever) unless you'll commit to eating like that for the rest of your life.

Weight Watchers has helped a lot of people lose weight, but it's not for everyone. You have to put up with a sort of program that reminds me more of an AA meeting than changing your lifestyle. They do what they do through peer pressure and support groups. It works for some, but what happens when you quit attending their meetings? WIll you have the strength to maintain the lifestyle?

[Chuck(G)]

Even better, get a dog and make a committment to give it a nice long walk every single day no matter what. Both you and the dog will benefit.

Whatcher address, Chuck? When I git me a dawg, I can **** 'im in yer yard.

Why not? It takes a lot of that stuff to cover 30 acres...and it'll do the trees good.