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How long and often should I exercise to lose weight..breakfast ideas..Help! I'm bored with Oatmeal
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Anonymous
| My new years resolution is to lose weight. I have like 60 pounds to lose. I've read other posts and topics and you guys seem to know what you are doing with respect to eating healthy and staying in shape. I would like your advice about how long I should exercise and how often. Right now I am doing 3 x per week for an hour on the eliptical and or treadmill. And I would like advice on what I should be eating for breakfast....I'm bored with oatmeal. Just wanted to know some suggestions. Thanks. |
Anonymous
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Please don't blame the messenger. The Department of Health and Human Services guidelines state that to lose weight, you should do 60-90 minutes of moderate-vigorous exercise per day.
It gets down to 30 mins every day to maintain. In addition to healthy eating habits. |
Anonymous
| oh okay...I will bump it up to everyday for at least and hour. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| sparkpeople.com |
Anonymous
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First, I would check in with your doctor to make sure there are no medical issues that factor in to what diet you do or don't do, assuming there is some particular diet you want to try.
Lowfat cottage cheese is good for breakfast because it has plenty of protein and few carbs compared to the usual english muffin, piece of toast, cereal, etc. I also like raisin bran, even though it is high in carbs, because you also need fiber. Wouldn't it be nice if somebody actually put together a diet that took into account ALL of your nutritional needs??? They tend to focus on one goal or another, but if you have competing goals (in my case, low calories, overall health and building muscle), you end up more confused than helped by a lot of them. There is a lot of information on line, but your doctor's guidance, or a nutritionist's guidance, might help you figure out the best approach for you. One example of a very goal oriented diet that makes no sense unless your goal is to build muscle mass at all cost is the GOMAD diet - a gallon of whole milk a day. That's 5,000 calories just in the milk. Great if you are a serious weightlifter and that's all you care about, but not so good for mere mortals like me. Second, it is not just what you eat, but how much, so start a food log and count calories. There are some on line - fitday is one. I prefer myfooddiary.com, even though it isn't free, because it has more of the foods I eat on it so I don't have to enter or look up anything. Third, in terms of exercise, it depends on what your goal is. Is it just to lose weight? Overall strength? Is there a particular area you want to pay more attention to? If you just want to lose weight, you need to burn the highest number of calories possible. If you want to build strength and overall fitness, there are programs for that. There is a strongly held view in the overall fitness community that repetitive activities, even if done for long periods and with high frequency (like running), are inferior to workouts that include metabolic conditioning, strength training and a range of activities (it's the be ready for anything not just good at runnning mentality). There are lots and lots of opinions on this, so you need to figure out what your overall goal is before picking an activity. I'm in the overall fitness/strength training camp, but I do not exercise for weight loss. I am worried about loss of strength as I age, and now work out relatively intensely to build strength. A wake up call for me was when I was struggling to get my carry on in the overhead bin and when carrying my kids too much gave me back aches. I do watch my caloric intake pretty closely. Good luck OP and don't lose hope! |
Anonymous
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Most recent medical evidence indicates you need to focus more on nutrition than on exercise to lose weight. People often underestimate how much they are truly eating, so even exercising an hour a day isn't going to do much for fat loss if you are eating 3,000 calories a day. What is your goal weight? If it's 120, multiply that by 10 for your calorie count if you do no exericise, so 1,200 a day. Multipy it by 12 if you are active, so 1,440 a day. If it's 150, then you have to eat more -- 1,500 or 1,800 a day depending on activity level.
Try 1/2 hour a day of walking if you are currently sedentary. You reap cardio benefits no matter what, but don't focus on exercise alone for weight loss. Best wishes for great success. 
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Anonymous
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I think you are getting plenty of exercise. I would throw in one or two days to do some light weight lifting to build up muscle. You don't need much - maybe 1/2 hour a couple times a week.
As for breakfast ideas- eggs, cereal with lowfat milk, fruit, fruit smoothie, english muffin with egg and light cheese on top, pancake with lite syrup-no butter. |
Anonymous
| Thanks, I have no medical issues and my doctor said I need to lose weight before I get any. I am not on any particular diet...I was thinking about Weight Watchers. But mainly I know I need to watch my calories and portion control. I love sugar and sweets and carbohydrates. So I have cut out the sugar, sweets (desserts) and I am monitoring the carbohydrates to reasonable portions. Thanks for all the advice....I'm printing these responses out. I have been a fast food junkie because it is fast and easy and my body is now showing it. I really appreciate the feedback. |
Anonymous
| I am trying to loose weight too, and what I've been doing is a low carb - low calories plan. this is my first week and I've lost two pounds. For breakfast I had 1 serving of scramble eggs made with fat free egg substitute and a pinch of low fat shredded cheese, two morningstar sausage links(1 serving) and half a grapefruit and black coffee. snack: 1 serving of almonds. Lunch: 1 serving of brown rice, 1 serving of black beans and 1 serving of sauted spinach. snack 1 serving of cherries. dinner: 1 serving of baked tilapia and sauted asparragus. I only have two serving of carbs per day and make sure they are in the morning or at lunch. No carbs in the afternoon or at dinner. I think if you plan your meals ahead you can do it. I've also been runnin 3.5 miles 3-4 times a week. I feel a lot lighter and happier. |
Anonymous
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PP....EXCELLENT..Thanks!!
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Anonymous
| Is Starbucks bad for the diet? What about their apple bran muffin? |
Anonymous
Black coffee, black ice tea and black hot tea have ZERO calories. It's the mocha lattes with the extra syrup and whole milk or the frappucinos that pack the calories. Some people recommend drinking lots of one of these when you are first cutting back. One thing that helps me a lot (I tend to buy breakfast and lunch from au bon pain every day because it's right next to my office) is I make choices like a bran muffin over the much yummier-looking chocolate one, or the lowest calorie sandwich they have over that one with all the melted cheese and sauce, and then when I get it back to my desk I throw half of it out before i ever start eating it. if i don't throw it out first, I often eat the whole thing. |
Anonymous
| wow. you don't even eat a whole low-fat sandwich? dang. |
Anonymous
WW is excellent and healthy. Try CORE. It will bust the sugar habit and you'll lose weight very quickly. IT gets old fast, though, so you might switch to their points system. |
Anonymous
It's the Supersize Me phenomenon (some people call it portion inflation). The low fat sandwich still has 600 calories. If your target is 1200 a day, you've just eaten half your calories for the entire day in one sitting if you eat the whole thing. The bran muffin is over 400. It's not as crazy as it sounds. Most people have no idea how many calories they eat. |