Need to lose weight—if you could make it your job

[Anonymous]

I went from FT to PT, and although I’m working during my new free hours (a little freelance, and setting up for the next step).

I have so much free time. I shouldn’t say free time, but flexible time.

I also realize I want to use time to work on my body. Age 36. I’ve lost 10-15 lb on improved eating. Need 25 lb further, more or less. I’d love to feel 7 years younger, wouldn’t we all.

How would you approach a body transformation like it’s your semi-part-time job?

How do you convert time into fat loss, etc.?

[Anonymous]

I don't have an answer, but I would like to know this, too! I suppose finding a good trainer would be the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Op here! Of course, also keeping in mind I don’t want to go wrecking my body/knees. That’s a given.

[Anonymous]

What are you eating now?

[Anonymous]

Use some of the time to shop for and cook healthy foods. This will be the most important part.

Weights in the morning. Some kind of cardio doing a lunch break.

[Anonymous]

I would be less interested in losing and more interested in acquiring a sustainable exercise routine (and diet) for long term. For exercise, I’m more motivated in group situations so I would join classes for my physically active hobbies (in my case mostly pole dancing and yoga) on a set schedule and work toward physical goals (eg, do a pull-up, etc). When I’ve had time and energy to do this I’ve found myself doing the boring conditioning things as a byproduct of the skills I’m aiming for and likewise seen weight loss as a byproduct of regular training.

[Anonymous]

Dedicate 1-2 hours per day to exercising. Marry cardio with strength training. Run, swim, elliptical, lookup exercises with weights you can do, do floor exercises for abs and glutes.

Do it every day and watch what happens!

(I did this for 6 months recently and I got so fit.)

[Anonymous]

I got a trainer. Like 2x a week. She makes me work out and then will give me exercises to do when I’m on my own (spoiler alert - I’m too lazy to do them). This is the happiest I’ve been with my body in a long time. It’s the first time in decades that I’ve been able to look at vacation photos without cringing. My weight is still not awesome, but at least my muffin top is reduced and firmed up.

[Anonymous]

Walking with most of that free time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dedicate 1-2 hours per day to exercising. Marry cardio with strength training. Run, swim, elliptical, lookup exercises with weights you can do, do floor exercises for abs and glutes.

Do it every day and watch what happens!

(I did this for 6 months recently and I got so fit.)

Yes, especially if you are currently doing shorter workouts like 30 minutes or so, work your way up to longer workouts of 45-60 minutes minimum and add in other movement in your day to get about two hours of activity.

Examples:
Monday
morning: upper body strength training for 30-45 minutes followed immediately by 15-30 minutes of some type cardio or HIIT
mid day: walk after lunch for 30-45 minutes at a good pace
before dinner: pilates or other core workout
evening/after dinner: short walk at a leisurely pace

Tuesday
rest day but still do mid day and evening walks

Wednesday
same as Monday but do lower body strength and switch up the cardio/HIIT as desired

continue rotating days

Your goal is to be as active as possible, doing things you enjoy but not to the point of overdoing it, which can be a fine line. Gardening, yard work, housework, etc. counts if you are actively moving.

Focus on eating whole, unprocessed foods: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Extra time in your day will allow you time to shop, prepare, and eat. (It takes me longer to eat a big salad with a healthy protein than to eat processed foods but maybe that's just me?)

Finish eating for the day by around 7:30 when possible and try to get eight hours sleep.

[Anonymous]

Heavy weights and meal prep

[Anonymous]

As already suggested, I would try to walk as much as possible. Also introduce a lifting routine and dedicate time to shopping for and preparing quality food. Food is ultimately what will make the most difference for fat loss.

[Anonymous]

+1 to walking. Take a long walk, with hills, in the morning. Prepare healthy foods. Take another walk (45 minutes min) after your last meal.

[Anonymous]

Strength train likes its your job.

[Anonymous]

I spend *a lot* of time on my fitness, here is what I do:

- workout every day... I alternate running 3-5 miles on my own and an intense class (yoga or weights) with other people (pushes your harder) for 6 days/week. On the 7th day I hike, take a long walk, or swim.

- spend your extra time on food, on prep, cooking, and tracking. I cook almost every single thing I eat from scratch, so every day I devote some time to prep and cooking so I always have healthy, homemade meals on hand. I make bread, yogurt, kombucha, energy bars, granola, etc.

My four food rules:
* Try to get one smoothie in per day, include protein, greens, fruit...
* Make one meal a day a big salad with protein and not a lot of added junk.
* Eliminate as much added sugar as possible.
* Eliminate all super processed foods, and lower your intake of processed grains - switch from white rice from brown, etc.

I find it really useful to track all my intake in a macro app so I can see what I am eating in terms of macros and nutrients.