Trying to lose weight with limitations to what can be done

[Kigan2006]

So, i'm around 6'0"-6'2", depending on what doctor is checking and what room i'm in, apparantly. I weight 238 pounds, giving me a small gut which I don't like. I didn't like the small gut I had before, and I just don't like this one.

I'm sure by now everyone is thinking to say "work out" and "eat certain ways" etc. I assure you, were it that easy I wouldn't be posting here.

You see, I gained my most recent 18 pounds while I was sick with mono. Currently, I'm over it but still fear going out alone. At times, when out at the store, I'll come close to passing out because I'm still regaining strength. With that happening, a gym is FAR out of the question. Besides, i'm flat broke and can't afford going to a gym.

So I'm limited to what I can do in my home. Being 19, I live at home where my mom does all the shopping and cooking (i can't cook worth crap). We do eat bad sometimes, but for the most part it is balanced with plenty of good food.

What I hace to work with at home in the way of equipment is only a semi-old exercise bike. I can drag it inside, I just haven't yet. I can't walk for the same reason I can't go to the gym: i'm afraid of passing out because I haven't recovered all of my strength. Not to mention it is summer and naturally it is hot. I've been through plenty of hotter summers, but that doesn't mean anything now. Not to mention it is raining a lot, another trademark of summer here. Pop-up storms are almost a guarantee.

So, the point is, I need help figuring out what I can do to lose weight. I want to be fine with taking my shirt off. I don't ever want to take it off, not even to sleep in my own bed.

How I eat:

Usually 2 meals a day. I'm never hungry in the morning for breakfast. If I am, its usually a bowl of cereal or a sandwich. At lunch I usually have some kind of snack. Then I eat a good dinner. That's eat. As for what I drink, I have milk every day, and I have one or two soft drinks at most. Sweets are fairly rare in my diet.

So, can anyone tell me what best I can do to lose weight? I can't leave the house and can't afford to buy anything. I'm very limited here. I'd like to be in good shape by November, since I'm going on a cruise. Naturally, I'd like to be better even before then, before it gets too cold to even go swimming. Of course, at this point I don't think THAT is possible with the limits I have.

So, can anyone give me tips? I really need help here.

 

[edgasm69]

First of all you need to work on your attitude. You're prolly just fine without a shirt on.You don't need to look like your starving yourself to be attractive.

Second. you should not push yourself if you aren't in a position to work out(wait till you get your energy back.) There is no need to put a strain on your body.

Third. you should stay away from the soft drinks. they are bad for you. try drinking fat free milk rather then 2%/1%. That could make a major difference. Drink a fair share of water every day. Maybe about 10glasses---10 8fl.oz
water flushes all the bad toxins out of your body. you can also try to warm the water up and sqeeze lemon in it, that could be good for you and taste great.

When you get enough strength back try walking. After you lose some weight you can try crunches.. you know work the stomache.

Finally. as I said first of all. work on your attitude. your prolly sexy even w/ a little gut. Who really cares. take your shirt off. after all you should just be yourself. But if you don't change your attitude you might just end up complaining about your situation and not actually work on it.

Hope things get better for you dude. and try to stay healthy.

<3

 

[luminum]

Cutting soda from your diet definitely will cause you to lose weight (it did for me...I think I lost 10 pounds when I was a kid).

Also, to keep your metabolism up, try dividing your meals into smaller portions more frequently throughout your day. Runners and other athletes do this because smaller portions throughout the day (3 meals over 12 hours becomes 6 smaller meals over 12 hours--"grazing") keeps the metabolism up.

All you really need, though, is a 3 hour workout each week (maybe one hour each day for three days, say, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) that gets you sweating. Since you're still getting your strength back, start out easy, but you basically want a cardio work out that gets you sweating. Hopefully you can do it doing something fun. For me, that's fencing. For others, it's jogging, aerobics on tape, aerobics at a gym, or even Dance Dance Revolution.

Given time, that should help you drop some weight and tone up a bit.

 

[Kigan2006]

I can handle things in the house. But, for instance, out and walking in the heat tires me out before I can even get up and down my street. Inside, with AC and a nearby place to crash if I get too tired, i'm okay to try and work out.

I'll work on kicking sodas. I don't get hungry until a couple hours after I wake up. Throughout the day, my lunch snack is usually like a banana.

Anything at a gym is basically out, since every gym I know of costs money and that is something I don't have. I just need help figuring out a routine that I can do in my home. It will take more work trying to figure how to do small meals throughout the day.

So, what sort of exercises should I do here in my house? Crunches and whatnot. And how many is good to start with and aim for. I really have no idea where to begin.

 

[rotary]

You said you have an old exercise bike, so bring it inside and start riding...

Eat smaller meals and drink lots of water.

Buy a pair of dumbbells to weight train.

When you build up endurance and are feeling less fatigued, start transitioning to the outdoors.

Refusing to go outside and not buying a gym membership leaves you with very few options, so hop on that bike.

 

[VoodooSmiles]

Here's some advice a friend once gave me (he's a sports dietician so knows his stuff). Look at what you can change in your normal eating patterns that you can maintain for the rest of your life, such as :

Switch to skimmed milk
Have a glass of water with every meal
Ditch the spreads in your sarnies
Ditch mayo, salad cream etc
Dump ready meal
Eat fruit every mid morning and mid afternoon
Always have a good breakfast (cereal, OJ and jam on toast)
Dump crisps
Leave the vending machines at work alone
Buy leaner meats (Turkey, chicken lean beaf)
Eat more omega 3 rich fish
Switch from white sauce to tomato based ones
Take the healthy options when eating out or getting a takeaway

And

Always allow yourself a little bit of what you fancy

I followed it to the letter - especially the last bit.

By the way, I used to weight 31 stone and trimmed down to 16 - admittedly towards the end I was doing a heck of a lot of exercise (running 2 half marathons). Just be sensible with it.

Good luck.

 

[edgasm69]

anything your comfortable with. don't push yourself. only do as many as you can.

the only thing i could think of doing in the house is prolly th crunches,sit-up(basicly useless) maybe try walking up and down the stairs(if you have any)
that'd be pretty damn good. umm....
you can try laying on your back and doing some bycycle kicks.. bleh... um..
maybe if stuff like that gets too easy and you feel better. go down to dicks sporting goods or something. and buy weighted clothes.(help build up muscle mass)and try doing stuff like that. <_<

 

[VoodooSmiles]

One other thing - I've got a Men's Health book somewhere that talks about weight training on a budget. It's called the Men's Health Home Workout Bible and has a whole section for people that can't afford to buy any gym-type equipment.

Look it up at your local library if you can't buy a copy.

Link to Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Home-Workout-Bible/dp/B000RGSUKE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-1967026-5030869?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185215462&sr=8-1

 

[ckMich]

Sorry to hear of your problem.
2 meals a day is not anywhere close to enough. You should be eating something at least every 2 or 3 hours, this will keep your metabolism on a much more even keel. Breakfast being the Most important meal don't skip it. Then again skipping any meal is no good. As for carbs or no carbs, by the way they are carbohydrates not carbs, your body needs them especially now that is trying to heal itself. The best thing you can do is eat a balanced diet, as the body builders say "eat the good stuff" - that is fruits and vegetables.

Jack

 

[Orlandude]

All good suggestions here. Understand that you have just come out of a period where you had mono. It was natural that you would gain weight because of inactivity, thus, the 18 pound gain. Allow yourself the time to slowly become active again, doing whatever you are able and can afford and eat sensibly per many of the suggestions here. It took some time to gain that 18 pounds and it will take some time to get rid of it and you will!

 

[Danno55]

I am in no position to give advice about losing weight or staying in shape, eating right and all that. But I know enough about medicine to tell you to be careful after mono! It's not a easy virus to beat, and if you over-do too soon you can have a relapse, which takes even longer to get over.
I know many people are weight obessed and gay men especially put so much stock in physical appearance, but you are only 19, plenty of time for undo paranoia as you get older and the body starts to sag.
But seriously, taking care of yourself is cool. But don't try and rush into anything after mono. If walking wipes you out, Don't walk so much, not yet, you'll get back to your old self ( endurance-wise) but it takes time, patience will serve you well as you recover! Also at 6 foot or more, you can easily carry a little weight and look great. Few people are attracted to a scarecrow, a little meat on your bones can look very nice, gives someone something to cuddle with. Ever see a skinny teddy bear? Nope we like to cuddle with something roundy and soft!
Take care! and take your time!

 

[Kigan2006]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm going to look into working on everything, starting with what I eat. First I gotta figure out what i'm going to start having as what I drink for dinner instead of a soda. Then I'm going to have to figure out how to make that thing about eating little meals through the day work. That is the easiest thing I can do right now.

Any specific advice on that?

 

[luminum]

It's simple. Just take a glass of water with your food. I don't know how, but I've become a total hydrophile (;P) with my meals.

 

[Newbie_69]

First, you need to find the reason of your goal."Do I want to lose weight?" and then ask,"Why?". List down all the reason you have. Make sure you have a clear purpose of starting something. Or else, you'll be wasting ur time and money. You simply can't get go after something that you don't know. Make sure you know what you want. If you go to the airport ticket counter and ask for a ticket, that guy will ask you,"To where?". Now, you wouldn't say"I don't know, I just want a ticket to go somewhere.". The guy will go "????..... ok, here's a ticket to Nowhere. Have a safe trip.'

You simply have to have a clear picture of what you want. Sacrifice is nothing when you have a reason. Spend time more on finding the reason than analizing the obsticles. Obsticle are everywhere, so, you don't have to worry that you can't find them. You will. But reasons are not always there. So, go and find them. Is loosing weight really important to you. What happens if you can't lose them?

There's a fine line between "doing your best to lose weight" and "doing whatever it takes to lose weight". Get that picture in mind on why you really need to lose weight. Get pictures of your dream or fear. There are 2 things that will move someone, the "pleasure of achieving something" or "the pain of loosing something".

If pleasure is your kind of person, look for pictures of what you want to get out of loosing weight. It could be pictures of fitness models or some hot guys/ girls(if you're straight).Or it could be you having a great body by the beach. It could be you have a brand new body and show off during family gatherings.

If you're the pain avoidence kind of person, look for what will happens if you do not lose weight. It could be you can't wear nice clothings. Or perhaps you'll die of Obesity. Or living in an uncomfortable life. Or anything that will make you feel painful/ hurt.

When you have those pictures, get a dream book and put them in. Look at it at leats twice a day. Once,when you wake up and when you feel unmotivated to work out or lack of eating dicipline and before sleep. Play a music of song that motivates you. As I said it takes time, but then again, would it be better for you to find your purpose for 1 month and get results in 6 months time? Or would you prefer to be inconsistent and get no results for 12 months and get depressed over it and watse money & time?

Be solution oriented all the time. Don't keep finding reasons not to do it. Find reasons why you must do it. Ask yourself all the time before starting something in your daily tasks, "Is this going to contribte to my goal?" "Will by eating this piece of candy bar help me to lose weight?" If not, forget about it. That's why I said earlier, get a clear goal and go get it. Forget about everything that will not contribute to your goal. Focus only on what you want.

Keep in mind that the most powerful thing a human has is his Subconcious mind. Decisions are made in the Subconcious mind. So, train your subconcious mind to believe that you have already lost weight. You have already achieved what you want. Have that happy feeling in you. When your Subconcious mind really believes you already have obtained it, whatever you do will be based on on your Subconcious mind's program. You'll automatically think that this and that is not your lifestyle(laying on couch or not being diciplined). This and that is what you usually do/eat(right eating habit or work out). Love yourself and believe in yourself. If you don't do it, no one will. You are what you eat. You are what you think. You are what you feel. You are what you say you are.

I recommend you get a book that I believe is one of the greatest books ever invented. Beyond Positive Thinking by Dr. Robert Anthony. Great people in the world has always been Readers. You decide who you want to be.