Help! 12-step process for weight ?

[3nipples]

I don't know about 12 steps, but the first thing you should do is cut out alcohol and sugars (including the artificial no calorie ones).

Then it's diet and exercise...

 

[Nephelauxetic]

Start a food diary. Write doen what you eat - and post it here.
I'm pretty sure there are many little things you should change.

 

[Seasoned]

I wish you every bit of good luck in your weight/exercise/food program. I am also in a similar place.

My advice is to use porn as a means of getting off, but realize that not all guys are perfect. Perfect porn specimens can go a long way to create poor self image for those of us not perfect in that sense.

Check out websites that feature some normal looking guys to get some perspective.

Being a well groomed personable guy in properly fitted clothing will also go a long way with regard to self image. Remember you are on a journey and will get to your goal, but not over night. Weight Watchers may be an answer.

Develop a reasonable program for yourself with spelled out, measurable and achievable goals.

I wish you a positive outlook and outcome.

 

[KaraBulut]

There are shortcuts to losing weight. Unfortunately, the minute you stop using the shortcut, the weight comes back (and usually with more weight than you lost to begin with).

Ephedra is one of those shortcuts. It increases your calorie burn rate and suppresses the appetite. But the minute you stop taking it, everything returns to the way it was before.

There are two ways to lose weight safely and permanently:

1. Burn more calories with exercise than you eat.
2. Change your lifestyle.

To begin, you need to get a physical and make sure that you're in good health.

Your next step is to start doing small amounts of cardio/aerobic exericse to get your cardiovascular system back into shape. This is going to be where you see the most results.

As you get back into shape, you can begin adding core strength training to get the stablizing muscles around your spine and in your abdominals back into shape.

You can then begin adding weight training.

Joining a gym and setting up a few sessions with a trainer will help you get back into the swing of things.

I'm not a big believer in diets. Most of what you can accomplish with a diet can be accomplished with portion control and by eliminating fast food and junk food from the diet. There are people who are really challenged by a torturous relationship with food. If you're one of those people, consider working with a nutritionist or getting into a structured program like Weight Watchers to develop meal plans.

 

[3nipples]

Diet means you control portions and content of your meals. How you diet, depends a lot on your age and the amount of weight you are hoping to lose.

In your twenties, cutting out junk food and increasing your exercise is usually enough. If you are older, then the amount of food that you can eat is reduced, but in that reduced amount, you still need to get all the nutrients that your body needs, so you have to start factoring in the nutritional content of what you eat.

As a rule of thumb, you should select foods that move in to your bloodstream more slowly, so you have a steady release of energy in beween meals rather than a peak. That means whole wheat instead of white flour, an orange instead of orange juice, fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned.

You should avoid overly processed foods or overcooking your meals. Whole wheat pasta may be better than normal pasta, but not if if you overcook it; it may even be worse than normal pasta that is cooked al dente. Steamed vegetables that still have a bit of crunch are better than boiled vegeables that are all soft. Avoid anything in a can.

Another thing to consider is the frequency of your meals. Is it better to eat 6 smaller meals throughout the day or 3 larger ones? I think for most people, the answer is 3 meals. If you're training for a marathons or triathalon, then the better answer may be 6 meals.

One theory I read (and believe) is that after you have eaten, you should have a period of digestion where you don't put anything in your mouth except water or black coffee or tea. Not even zero calorie chewing gum. The thinking behind this, is that when you put something in your mouth that your body interprets as food, it starts to store the undigested portion in anticipation of a new meal. I have heard different time periods between 3 and 5 hours in between meals; I usually try for 5 hours myself.

When you are eat something sweet, be it a fruit or a dessert or sugar in your coffee or something alcoholic, then it should be as part of one of your meals and not an in-between snack. You want to avoid producing an insulin peak when there isn't enough in there for the insulin to break down, which leaves you craving more foods.

Aspertame and other no calorie sweeteners can also cause your body to produce insulin, but with no sugars to break down, you end up with a craving for more.

To varying degrees, many people as they get past 30, will start to lose the ability to break down certain foods that they were ok with before. Milk and wheat are typical examples. It's not always an obvious thing, like breaking out in a rash. If you think you are eating ok, but are still having trouble with your weight, then consider reducing or altogether eliminating them from your diet. You can try rye bread instead of wheat (much better for you anyways) and hard cheeses in place of liquid milk.

 

[KaraBulut]

Diet means you control portions and content of your meals. How you diet, depends a lot on your age and the amount of weight you are hoping to lose.

Just to clarify because there's a cultural difference in the way the word "diet" is used.

In the US, we've got a problem with "diets". Every month, there's a new fad diet- The Atkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, The Grapefruit Diet, The Banana Diet, The Lemon Juice and Pepper Diet....

The diets that do work aren't really diets. They're structured meal plans. That's what programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers do. Instead of focusing on self-denial or deprivation, they focus on nutritional balanced meals in reasonable portions. Any by introducing balanced menus, they stop the American tendency to not plan meals, to hit the fast food drive-through line and to "supersize it".

 

[samuelcain]

Little off-topic: Why reducing carb intake isn't considered a lifestyle change? Just asking why for example vegetarism is not a diet, but a lifestyle, where as Atkins is just a diet? If you would read at least one Atkins book, you'd find out that they put emphase on the fact that you have to change your lifestyle forever, or else you will just return back to former self.

Back to topic: Personally I don't believe that human body work like basic 1+1 math. What I mean is that there are several more factors to be considered to the equation. For fat storaging, body needs insulin. If you control factors that contribute to insulin production, you can control how much energy is storaged to your body (carbs = glucose = sugar = high blood sugar = need insulin to decrease the blood's sugar-levels = excess glugoce on blood storages as fat).

Other thing is hunger control. Bouncing blood sugar causes hunger spikes. So keeping your blood sugar level as stable as possible by eating low-carb (low blood sugar raising) or whole grained food controls your hunger. A very huge advantage to one who wishes to loose weight.

Oh and sugar addiction is reality! I include fast absorbed carbs to the defintion 'sugar'. I had withdrawl symptoms of sugar when I first stopped using it. I stopped drinking soda, eating white bread, rice, potatoes and basicly anyting that contained sugar or high ammount of carbs. I had headaches, insomnia and massive cravings for sweets. But after couple of weeks I got out of it and I never get that sort of cravings anymore.

When I was heavy, I tried all sorts of diets. And also portion controlling etc traditional ways. I found out that reducing carb is the way to go for me. My digestion works way better than before. But really, making the change is hard, no matter is it carb controlling or portion controlling. And the best thing is to find out what works best for you. Testing diets is not bad, I think, because one should really find out the most comfortable way for oneself to loose weight. For me, that was the only way of being able to change my whole lifestyle.

So basicly I nowadays eat like this: My plate is half on vegetables, half on meat/fish/protein/fat-source. If I eat snacks or something like that it's nuts (love those macademias!). If I fry on pan, I use butter. For meat cuts, I choose normal fat cuts, not too trimmed. I eat dairy products that doesn't have added sugar (milk, cheese, cream, yoghurt etc). And also choose the dairy products as normal fat%, never low-fats. I also eat berries (Finland is a berry country! ), but not fruits. I use olive oil without a worry as dressing etc. Berries, nuts and some vegetables give me plenty of fibers also.

But as former food addict, I must admit that every now and then I still eat a pizza, junk food, good food high in carbs and consume alcohol every now and then. I know these are bad, but I enjoy them so much that I wouldn't call it life without them . It's all about living your life the way you are comfortable.