What to do Next

[asken]

Hi, name's Asken, new to this forum. ^_^

Ok, i want to lose weight...duh. But I dont even know where to begin doing this, other than it somehow should incorporate playing DDR. I'm 18, and weight about 284lbs. I have no set weight i want to lose...i Just want to lose weight. Simple as that. But, again, i dont know how to go about starting my diet, or what foods to eat. Basically, i have nothing. -_-

I guess I should tell you the kinds of stuff that i eat, maybe give you a better idea of...something..^_^'' ummmm, the past week ive been eating eggs and bacon with black coffee for breakfast. After that, for like lunch and dinner and stuff, its a variety of things. Mostly tuna sandwiches(as in tuna, a tablesp oon of mayo, and some mustard...i know i know...its weird...^_^'') and meat and salad, but thats suddenly stopped happening. Either one of those things or the occasional bowl of corn flakes. Havent had sugar all week, exept once at a friends house where i was duped into drinkin Jack and Sprite. Took me about 5 minutes to realize there was sprite in there, and sprite has sugar. I play DDR about half an hour every other day and have started lifting weights to kinda build up the upper body i guess. Oh and i smoke, so that could be an issue...or something...ANYhow, i could really REALLY use some help, or tips, or guidance, or...something...to help me along my way. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks all.

Asken

[abrannan]

First things first. You're 18 and shouldn't be drinking Jack. Second, Jack has sugar too, if you're avoiding sugar, you should avoid alcohol as well. Third, stop smoking. Ok, now I'll stop sounding like your mother.

As far as diet goes, it's not so much the things you eat as how much of then you do eat. Carbs, fats, and everything else aside, it all comes down to calories *first*. All of the other diets do their comparisons on people eating the same number of calories. That said, keep a journal of exactly how much you eat of what and how you're feeling at the time. Get a food counts book or find a food counts website, and record how many calories you're eating every day. I like to use caloriesperhour.com to find your BMR. BMR is Base Metabolic Rate, and indicates how many calories your body will burn per day just existing. If you eat that many calories and don't exercise, your weight will stay the same. To lose weight, the number of calories you eat, minus the number of calories you burn through exercise must be lower than your BMR. How much weight you lose, and how fast you lose it will be determined by how far under your BMR you go. 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories. The only caveat is that you don't want to eat too few calories, or your body will go into a starvation made where it will lower your metabolism in order to preserve your fat reserves. I wouldn't drop below about 1200 calories/day.

Weight lifting is good, jsut make sure to get enough protein to support muscle building. 1 pound of muscle burns 50 calories per day. To figure proper protein levels, figure about 1 gram per pound of body weight (a little less if you're overweight)

I'll let you absorb all of that, and let you ask any questions you have,

[asken]

kay then that helps alot...^^

mkay, so like, what kinds of foods should i be eating? or am i ok with what im currently doing? thanks

Asken

[abrannan]

Asken said:

kay then that helps alot...^^

mkay, so like, what kinds of foods should i be eating? or am i ok with what im currently doing? thanks

Asken

Well, the real question is how many calories are you currently eating? If it's below your BMR, you're probably okay. If not, then you need to find some substitutes for things you're already eating to help you still feel full, while at the same time eating fewer calories. You already know what healthy foods are (Fruits and Veggies, chicken, fish, whole grain breads, etc) and what non-healthy foods are (high fat, high sugar foods, like fries, coke, candy, etc)