exercise junkies

Recently I gain alot of weight, and trying to lose it. I going to school and hopefully after I finish it, I can get a job. But before I start school I going try to lose how much pounds as I can. The question is how can I stay fit and have a desk job? I don't want to be one of those overweight IT people (no offense to all the overweight people) For all the IT professional who been in the field, do most company allow one of those desk where you can stand?

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DatabaseHead

I started on a Keto diet myself, so far so good. Wife has lost 8 lbs in 4 weeks, I'm about the same weight but clothes fit better. (Better indicator as far as I am concerned).

I do a anaerobic kettle bell workout twice a week. Usually once on the weekends and once during the week (Brutal). I also trail run once a week but starting walking with my wife on Friday mornings.

dontstop

Kinet1c wrote: »

Just another post to say that it's all about diet. I do ~10 hours of cycling a week but if I don't look after my diet, the weight can still creep up.

Exactly this ^

Like I said in my previous post. You cannot out-run, out-ride or out-lift a bad diet. It's like people who smash down McDonald's for dinner and think they can go for a quick jog to burn it off. The failure in thought is thinking that a calorie is a calorie.

MAC_Addy

^^ to the above post. Exactly right. Just because you workout a lot, doesn't give you an excuse to eat like crap.

JoJoCal19

dontstop wrote: »

Exactly this ^

Like I said in my previous post. You cannot out-run, out-ride or out-lift a bad diet. It's like people who smash down McDonald's for dinner and think they can go for a quick jog to burn it off. The failure in thought is thinking that a calorie is a calorie.

Michael Phelps would disagree lol. I remember during his record setting Olympics they did a little piece on his training and diet and he burns like 10,000 calories (can't remember each day or per workout) but he eats like stacks of pancakes and syrup, and ridiculous amounts of "bad food" that would make our waistline explode in a week. And he is ripped. It was crazy. I get what you're saying for us mere mortals though.

mzx380

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Yup, I used to do split routines back in the day when I was younger and worked out a ton and results seem to come so much slower for me than doing whole body now. Also yes, improper form during squats or deadlift can put someone in a bad way. Before I went back to doing them after years off I actually practiced my form at home for a while.

The wife and I both wanted P90X to work to save us the monthly gym expense and having to find time to go, but it just wasn't working for us midway through the 2nd phase. Since joining the gym we've both seen greater results in 6 weeks there than we did midway through P90X. For me actually moving iron seems to work better. But I've seen ridiculous results from others with P90X and it seems like a great program. I am using the Ab Ripper X for my ab workouts tho.

I think crossfit is awesome. There's one next door to my daughters dance class so I usually wander by and wish I could be in there. Stuff is $$$$ tho. It's basically a car payment every month. At least where I'm at it is, and theres boxes all over the place too. I'm probably going to join later this summer or early fall anyways.

Crossfit is expensive but figure it is still better to spend the money and go rather than to spend a fraction on a gym membership and not go. I'm holding my money hostage, but I do like the results I have seen so far. I'm looking to shed some extra weight in the next five months and will be training as well as keeping a healthy diet, so I'll keep you posted.

Remedymp

There is also Spartan, https://www.spartan.com/en/training/wods/spartan-wod?c3ch=Email&c3nid=WOD&utm_source=wod&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=wod_2017&wod=MON

DatabaseHead

@JOJO I remember that as well.

Back in the 90's similar story. There was a NBA player, 6 ft 7 200. He literally had to consume 15,000 a day or he would lose weight due his height and metabolism.

That would get insanely expensive to maintain that kind of diet.

JD20

I agree that your diet is the most important factor in weight management. Since I've switched to more healthy options (brown rice, whole wheat pasta/bread, veggies, lean meat), I've seen a drastic change in fat loss and muscle development. I also meal prep my lunches. I find that if I don't have a healthy meal ready I tend to go out and get some fast food.

I also try to go to the gym at least 4-5 times a week. You really don't need more than an hour. Personally, I'm into weightlifting. If you keep your heart rate up, weightlifting can burn as much fat as cardio does. Whatever you do just remember to stick with it. Don't give up.

chrisone

Excersize > certs
Excersize is tougher than certs.

MAC_Addy

chrisone wrote: »

Excersize > certs
Excersize is tougher than certs.

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

dontstop

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

Michael Phelps would disagree lol. I remember during his record setting Olympics they did a little piece on his training and diet and he burns like 10,000 calories (can't remember each day or per workout) but he eats like stacks of pancakes and syrup, and ridiculous amounts of "bad food" that would make our waistline explode in a week. And he is ripped. It was crazy. I get what you're saying for us mere mortals though.

Although that's true it still doesn't work for this case as he is a full time athlete and spends hours per a day in the pool and doing other forms of training. He's also in the 99th percentile of world class athletes of which they make up less than 1% of worldwide athletes.

Slowhand

There's a lot of different advice on this thread, most of us are telling you what worked for our situation. Here's my advice: like technology, learning how your body works and how it deals with food/exercise is daunting at first, but with a little bit of study and a lot of trial and error, it's easy enough to learn. The most important piece of advice I can give you, as a former personal trainer, is to figure out what works for you; that goes both for diet and for exercise.

Here are a couple of quick things that may help you out on your journey, but expect to be learning and trying for a while:

Carbs aren't bad, protein isn't magic, and fat isn't inherently bad either. They're different macronutrients (meaning they have caloric values,) and learning to balance them is key.
- Protein helps build and maintain soft tissue, (muscle and tendons.) 1 gram = 4 calories
- Carbohydrates are a primary source of efficient energy. 1 gram = 4 calories
- Fat is a secondary source of energy and helps regulate other nutrients in the body. 1 gram = 9 calories
- Having too many of any of these macronutrients, meaning more calories than you're burning, will result in storing those calories as fat, regardless of which macro you're overdoing
Tracking your food is a start, (check out MyFitnessPal if you need some help with tracking,) learning to plan out what you're eating is going to do wonders for losing weight and/or building muscle. Learning what your BMR (basal metabolic rate) and how many calories you should eat for your level of activity is also very important, regardless of what diet you go with.
Water is your friend. Being properly hydrated goes a long way to being fit and getting plenty of water helps control your appetite. Get yourself a reusable water bottle to have with you during the day, it's a life-saver.
Using cardiovascular exercise to lose fat is good. Building muscle through resistance training is good. Doing both is generally better since they build on each other, (muscle helps burn fat, good cadio conditioning makes it easier to build muscle.) Overdoing either (or both) is generally pretty bad.
It's much, MUCH easier to stick with something when you enjoy it. If you like hitting the treadmill, do that. If you like taking classes, do that. If you think it's easier and more enjoyable to work with a trainer every once in a while, do it. If you prefer swimming, dancing, yoga, etc., to traditional exercise then you should definitely look into what's available near you.
Don't hesitate to go on YouTube to see different fitness routines and meal plans in action, there are a TON of channels dedicated to education on fitness and nutrition. Read articles, watch videos, learn more.
And last, don't take any advice, arm-chair or professional, as gospel. What we're telling you in this thread, what someone might tell you in a video or on Bodybuilding.com, wherever, it's all advice that's most likely worked for them, but you're always going to be best off deciding for yourself what's right for you after you've done some research.

--chris--

Its hard to follow Slowhand with a post like that.

So with all the great advice given in this thread I will just say this:

DO SOMETHING NOW. DON'T WAIT.

Ismaeljrp

dontstop wrote: »

Personally I found that the more I exercised the more I ate. It wasn't until I cleaned up my diet and drastically reduced my sugar intake did my weight get under control.

This opened my eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM

This pretty much nailed it. It's all about the diet you actually don't need much excercise aside from regular daily activity. If you're sitting most of the time like most of us, then a deliberate 2 - 3 hours a week of excercise should be enough.

I'll give myself as an example. I've recently changed my diet and eating habits, in the last 7 days I've gone from 226.5 to 222.8 from having a good nutrition plan and I've only hit the gym twice. I'm looking and feeling better by the day.

I'll give you a detailed approach later today of what I've done.

OfWolfAndMan

Slowhand wrote: »

And last, don't take any advice, arm-chair or professional, as gospel. What we're telling you in this thread, what someone might tell you in a video or on Bodybuilding.com, wherever, it's all advice that's most likely worked for them, but you're always going to be best off deciding for yourself what's right for you after you've done some research.

This x100.

Remedymp

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/never-do-10-reps-anything-kevin-greif?trk=v-feed&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_search_srp_content%3BqNyro3pUIqag%2FsRwQzlVQg%3D%3D

OctalDump

Just to echo the very sensible words of Slowhand.

The biggest part of it is psychological. We all know that you should eat healthy and get exercise, and it doesn't take too much effort to figure out what healthy eating and exercise is, but you the trick is to be able to start and sustain the change, because for it to work it does mean a lifestyle change.

From the eating point of view, you don't want a fad or crash diet, you want to change your eating patterns so that you still enjoy eating but you aren't eating too many calories. The mediterranean diet works for a lot of people, intermittent fasting (5:2) works for a lot of people, increasing protein and decreasing carbs works for a lot of people (but can get too technical for many), even just avoiding processed foods or foods high in (added) sugar or saturated fat can make a big difference (a lot of foods high in one bad thing, tend to be bad in general). Just cooking all your own meals for yourself can make a big difference for many people. Personally, I like the mediterranean diet since it has a lot of variety and a lot of very filling options. Find something that you are happy to live with for the rest of your life.

From the exercise point of view, you want something that you enjoy, but also tricks like social support eg team sport, works well. If you are accountable to someone, or you are getting some other gain beyond exercise, it makes it easier to stick with. Also increasing the amount of incidental exercise can sneak in extra calorie burning, so take the stairs, use a standing desk, walk further to work or cycle (whatever works). But again, it's about finding something that you are happy doing several times a week for the rest of your life.

There are benefits from both exercise and diet beyond weight control, and they work well together, so ideally you do want to be doing both.

NOC-Ninja

I lift weights everyday. I used to do MMA on the weekends but that stopped due to CCIE and Masters. I can finally go back again!
Making time to exercise is easier than eating right.
Buying the right food, cooking, preparing,packing and eating it sucks.

Mike7

One reason to run

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/well/move/an-hour-of-running-may-add-seven-hours-to-your-life.html

Running may be the single most effective exercise to increase life expectancy, according to a new review and analysis of past research about exercise and premature death. The new study found that, compared to nonrunners, runners tended to live about three additional years, even if they run slowly or sporadically and smoke, drink or are overweight. No other form of exercise that researchers looked at showed comparable impacts on life span.

Danielh22185

Finding your niche for losing weight is going to be about exploring what you enjoy. Dieting along with exercise will obviously speed up the process. As said before sugar is a huge inhibitor to weight loss.

I myself have worked desk jobs in IT for 7 years now. I haven't gained any weight because I eat in moderation (I do have the occasional splurge) but I don't over eat. I stay away from fast food, and my wife and I cook healthy meals at home. I pair that with exercise I enjoy doing (running). I run between 25-30 miles a month.

Exercise is great for the mind too. It's a great stress relief and with continued routine exercise you will find your body getting stronger (those pains being relieved from sitting at your desk job for long periods), your sleep will be better, and you will be more mentally focused because of that.