Losing weight

[Alistair]

ok basically I've got an e-mail from someone who want's to know about losing weight, but doesn't want to post on the boards, as they wish to remain anonoymous. So, I'll post it up here, for severall reasons, 1. it may provide information for others, and 2. Other people will have usefull thing to say:

----------
i am a pretty big girl! about 3 stone over weight but i am fairly tall! but still over weight, infact i can not believe i let myself get like this!
I am on a diet the weight watchers points one and so far doing quite well.
I have only been doing it for four days but i feel better anyway!

i do cycling in the gym for 30 mins and sit ups which i am increasing the number slowly.

But: i want to turn some of the fat i have into muscle.... i have rather large arse and thighs.
what is good for that? i will start to run soon but i need to lose a bit of weight first..... also i am very unfit as well!

so what are good things to do to tighten up my arms and legs and thighs,and bum as i would love to lose some weight...... and have some muscle!

sorry if this is an inconvience, you don't have to reply i was just interested as you appear to know so much about the subject.

[Alistair]

I am not too au fait with the exact details of the weight watchers plan - anyone care to elaborate - are fatty foods given more points than carbs?

For the time being until I know more about the weight watchers scheme I'll avoid nutrition.

Firstly, spot reduction of fat doesn't work - so you can do any exercise that burns fat, and you will lose weight evenly round the body, not just round the hips. Then, doing seperate exercises for the hips will help build muscle. Some good exercises for loosing fat are:
Cycling, jogging, swimming, walking, using steppers and so on.

And good exercises for bulding muscle in the hips and legs are:

Squats,

Calf raises,

Lunges - as described by USC Alex:
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
Take a big step forward (about a foot and a half, more if you're tall) and lower yourself until your other knee almost touches the ground. Push yourself up and repeat. You can hold dumbbells in your hands if you need extra resistance.

Leg raises - as mentioned by me in an earlier post:
Where you lie on your side and raise your upermost leg and hold it before bringing it down.

Depending on where you go to the gym you may come accros a hip Adductor/Abductor which runs on a similiar principle, except you stand up and use weights for resistance. It also adds resistance to the motion of closing legs aswell.

And aswell as situps for the stomch area there is this nice killer little exercise, curtesy of Alistair's mad fitness emporium <IMG SRC="wink.gif" border="0" ALT="icon"> and endorsed by Snow White!:

Another one if you want REALLY good abs is to sit on the floor with your knees bent and you feet on the floor. Now lean back keeping your back just of the floor and and your feet on the floor. (A partner to hold your feet down or a bar to hook your feet under may help) and the stretch your arms out behind you over your head. Hold this position for ten seconds then rest for ten seconds - you have just done one set. Do ten sets of this, if your stomach muscles are feeling pumped then you are doing it right. The difficulty can be modified by where you put your arms, and if you are finding it too easy then you can use something like a medicine ball in your hands to make it even harder.

Anyone else got anything to add?

[Alessandro]

Hey Alistair,

How are you?

Okay, regarding the post:

I would be careful about building muscle in the legs and bum if you are overweight because you could end up with stretch marks which are permanent. Do a lot of cardio, like walking, jogging, swimming (in my opinion one of the best) until you lose maybe 10-15 pounds.

It is a good idea to start on weight training because it does increase your metabolism. Start out slowly, trying to lift weights in sets of about 15-20 repetitions, and make sure that you do this with a friend that knows what he or she is doing or an expert.

Two other tricks for raising your metabolism and thus burning more calories are drinking lots of water and eating more small meals. Most people's metabolism is slowed because they don't have enough water in their body to allow it to run full speed. Drink lots of water, 10-12 glasses a day minimum, it also helps your kidneys out too.

If you eat 4 or 5 small meals spaced out evenly in the day, maybe 3 to 4 hours between each, it will work better than the typical three meals a day. This keeps your metabolism going at a constant rate rather than speeding up and down all day. A typical meal for me would be half a sandwich or maybe a whole one with a piece of fruit or maybe yogurt.

Good luck. It's hard to start out but it gets easier. <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

[Smash]

Weight Watchers points is basically an elaborate (or simpler, depending how you look at it) way of calorie counting.
You are given a specified number of points to eat each day, which lowers as you lose weight.
The points generally to refer to the calorie/fat content of the food, with vegetables being 'free' foods (no points value). A slice of bread may be 1 point, while a mars bar would be perhaps 5.
If your point limit was 20, you could just eat 4 mars bars a day. You would be taking in a relatively low amount of calories but huge amounts of fat.
I think they do advise you on the best meal plans to avoid hunger (they have recipes and cookbooks and the like) and some folk find going to weigh-watchers meetings are good for moral-support.
Like most 'diets' it works for some, not for others.
Though it is open to misinterpretation, if you follow the advice it can be the answer for some people.
You could just as easily count calories though.

[Tinkabee]

is it possible to lose weight without dieting? can it be done by exercise alone and eating a fairly normal diet but not cutting things out? Just curious!

[clara]

Originally posted by USC Alex:
<STRONG> Drink lots of water, 10-12 glasses a day minimum</STRONG>

i dont know about anyone else, but if i drink more than 2 or 3 glasses of water in a day, ill be running to the loo all day! <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon"> lol

[Alessandro]

Originally posted by Tinkabee:
<STRONG>is it possible to lose weight without dieting? can it be done by exercise alone and eating a fairly normal diet but not cutting things out? Just curious!</STRONG>

Yes. It won't work as quickly as dieting and exercise but you will lose weight as long as you don't eat more calories than you burn from exercise and general activity.

[Alistair]

Originally posted by clara:
<STRONG>

i dont know about anyone else, but if i drink more than 2 or 3 glasses of water in a day, ill be running to the loo all day! <IMG SRC="smile.gif" border="0" ALT="icon"> lol</STRONG>

Jesus - I drink upwards of 4 litres a day.

Originally posted by Tinkabee:
<STRONG>is it possible to lose weight without dieting? can it be done by exercise alone and eating a fairly normal diet but not cutting things out? Just curious!</STRONG>
Yes, you need to increase your exercise levels so that you output exceeds you imut which results in extra energy being taken from around your body - weight loss <IMG SRC="wink.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">
Although if you eat lot of unhealthy food, simply switching to a more helthy diet - not neccesarily a smaller one could help a lot.

[go_away]

Depending on where you go to the gym you may come accros a hip Adductor/Abductor aaaagh! Scary machines! *runs for cover* <IMG SRC="tongue.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

[NatiWati]

Originally posted by Tinkabee:
<STRONG>is it possible to lose weight without dieting? can it be done by exercise alone and eating a fairly normal diet but not cutting things out? Just curious!</STRONG>

I'd also like some help:
I'll be joining a gym at the end of the month, and I'm eating healthy i.e. lots of vegetables, salades, bread, rice/pasta! I love these kinds of food so i intend on carrying on eating this way but not as a diet coz i don't believe in them! Its actually a fact that if you have a craving for something, e.g. a bar of chocolate, its worse to keep the craving going on and on in your head, than just having a small piece, obviously in moderation!

Surely if i go to the gym on a regular basis, it should be an extra to loosing weight right? What do you think?

I keep trying to convince myself that the way i think is good, as i don't want to turn to my thought of drugs as i have had friends who have lost lots of weight and looked great in the end just by taking drugs! I know its not the right way to go about loosing weight, but it gets very fustrating when you try to eat well, do excersise, and still see youself not loosing the pounds !!!

Please Help ! I need advice/opinions !

<IMG SRC="frown.gif" border="0" ALT="icon">

[Alistair]

Yes going to a gym would be a good idea.

One quick hint: Start of small and work your way up. Most commercial gyms make HUGE amounts of money from people who join, and in the first week go really often for hours and hours, until they get sick of it and just don't turn up any more. So, take it easy at first, so it doesn't becom a chore.