File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Sup, /fit/. I'm overweight and recently, it has become necessary for me to become fit. There's a job opening that I need to take a medical examination for in early March '09 and I need to be in the best physical condition possible.
So I consulted a friend, who claims to be knowledgeable about exercise and weight control and here's what he told me to do.
First of all, change my diet:
1) Oatmeal for breakfast instead of bitter tea and some kind of biscuit.
2) A protein-rich snack around noon - he recommended two bananas and a cup of milk.
3) Some proteins right after exercising (more on that later) - I usually go with a hardboiled egg.
4) A dinner of meat and rice (or some other cereal, but he said rice was best because of its low calories).

Exercise:
I start out with stretching, then go on to squats, push-ups and crunches. Do each three times, lowering the number of actions each time.

Now, I have two questions for you, /fit/:
Question 1: When should I exercise? I usually do it around 9 PM (because I get home from college around 7 and am too tired to exercise right away), but my friend says that kills the effectiveness.
Question 2: After 2 weeks of doing this, I feel stronger (I can do more push-ups and more crunches than I used to), but I also feel... fatter. While I don't have a scale to confirm it, I do seem to be eating more than I used to. Is it supposed to be that way?

picture not related
>> Anonymous
Being more active will increase your appetite. After you've gotten good at crunches switch over to bicycle crunches, they are far more intense. You should add in lunges, pullups, and maybe do pushups with weight on your back. Doing it with only your bodyweight limits the amount of gains you can make. You won't get stronger, because you will be lifting the same weight YOUR bodyweight over and over. Exactly how many pushups can you do OP?
>> Anonymous
>>317034

Um, when I say I can do more push-ups and crunches it means I went up from 3 to 6 for the former and from 0 to 2 for the latter.
Also, I was told that additional weight is added when the exercise's goal is to increase muscle weight, while weight loss exercise is most effective when working with just your own weight.

Also, I'm not REALLY living a more active lifestyle, other than the daily exercise bit. I don't even walk that much.
>> Picture related. Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>317045
>Um, when I say I can do more push-ups and crunches it means I went up from 3 to 6 for the former and from 0 to 2 for the latter.
Oh. Well keep doing the bodyweight crunches until you can do like.... 15-20 of them. Then switch over to bicycle crunches and you'll be working out more of your abs, and it will be a lot harder. Which means you will have more gain. FORM is very important though, you can do a lot more of them if you don't have proper form (slow and steady).
For the pushups keep doing them until you can do like... 25, then add weight on your back.

>Also, I was told that additional weight is added when the exercise's goal is to increase muscle weight, while weight loss exercise is most effective when working with just your own weight.
Yes that is true to a certain extent. If you want the scale to say "YOU LOST WEIGHT YAY!" then you don't want to build muscle mass. It's an illusion though. You could be losing your body fat, and gaining muscle mass (which would make anyone look better) which would cancel each other out on the scale.
>Also, I'm not REALLY living a more active lifestyle, other than the daily exercise bit. I don't even walk that much.
Well add in more walking into your routine. Maybe you're just fooling yourself that you have a bigger appetite. Or it could be that you're not eating as much as you used to, so your body is like "FUCK. I NEED MORE CALORIES. EAT EAT EAT EAT EAT."
>> Anonymous
1. Exercise whenever is best for you. For fat loss purposes earliest in the day is best, but it really doesn't matter that much when you exercise. Just doing it is much better than not.

2. Eating more is common. Your appetite will go up. Don't be afraid to eat more food though, as long as it's good, quality food. If you were eating like shit before while not exercising, and you switch over to eating clean while exercising, you'll lose fat even if you eat a lot. Starving yourself is never the way to go.
>> Anonymous
>>Yes that is true to a certain extent. If you want the scale to say "YOU LOST WEIGHT YAY!" then you don't want to build muscle mass. It's an illusion though. You could be losing your body fat, and gaining muscle mass (which would make anyone look better) which would cancel each other out on the scale.

Well, I understand that, but right now I'm like 105 kilograms of fat with almost no muscle.

>>Well add in more walking into your routine.

That's just the thing. I have class from 9 AM to 7 PM - I just don't have the time for long walks and on weekends I'm just too exhausted to go anywhere.

>>Maybe you're just fooling yourself that you have a bigger appetite.

Oh, you misunderstood me here. When I said that I seem to be eating more, I meant that the diet my friend gave me has me seemingly eating more than I used to. Before that my diet was something like this:
1) Strong black tea and a biscuit for breakfast. Often just black tea.
2) NO FOOD ALL DAY. Except, maybe, a chocolate bar or glass of juice in the university cafeteria, when I can afford it.
3) Cheap junkfood or snacks when I get home from class around 7 PM.
4) Dinner at around 11 PM. Usually meat with some kind of cereal or, more often, pasta.

Now I've reduced snacking to a minimum, but instead I eat myself full three times a day and seem to be gaining both muscle AND fat.

>>earliest in the day is best

How do people do this? I mean, what about work, school?
>> Anonymous
>>317099

Okay, maybe I haven't exactly reduced snacking to a minimum, it's just that whenever I feel like getting a snack now I get an apple instead of cookies or chips or whatever. I usually eat like three apples a day.
>> Anonymous
>>317099
Well first of all congrats on changing the foods you eat. That's going a long way. Maybe you should keep a food diary.

>That's just the thing. I have class from 9 AM to 7 PM - I just don't have the time for long walks and on weekends I'm just too exhausted to go anywhere.
Do it anyway if you really want to get into good shape. Start with 30 minutes a day or 30 minutes when you do go walking.
>1) Strong black tea and a biscuit for breakfast. Often just black tea.
>2) NO FOOD ALL DAY. Except, maybe, a chocolate bar or glass of juice in the university cafeteria, when I can afford it.
>3) Cheap junkfood or snacks when I get home from class around 7 PM.
>4) Dinner at around 11 PM. Usually meat with some kind of cereal or, more often, pasta.
That's a pretty bad diet. You're starving yourself at certain parts of the day which is hard on your body, mind, and slows down your metabolism to conserve energy. Then eating a bunch of bad food when you get home after slowing down your metabolism like that...
>How do people do this? I mean, what about work, school?
People just do it. They schedule it in, make themselves get up, and do it.
>> Anonymous
>>4) A dinner of meat and rice (or some other cereal, but he said rice was best because of its low calories).

If you're going to be eating a dinner of just meat and rice, make sure you get a healthy kind of rice.

Nonetheless, good luck. You didn't specify which things you will be tested on. If it's the same tests I've gone through, simply changing to a government recommended diet and exercise routine should be enough.
>> Anonymous
>>317174

Well, I usually add some fresh vegetables (love tomatoes) or throw together some kind of salad.
What kind of rice is healthy rice though?

>>You didn't specify which things you will be tested on.

They didn't specify anything themselves. What I know is that the job involves frequent business trips to Asia and the applicant must be able to adapt to hot humid climates of countries like Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan.
>> Anonymous
>>317181
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060902163714AAmJ1B2
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060820181947AAy9MW1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basmati_rice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_rice

That's what I got off of google. No idea if it's accurate.
>> Anonymous
>>317186

Thanks anon!
What about pasta? I find it kind of weird that my friend would recommend it along with cereal.
>> ANONYMOUS THIS GUY NEEDS NUTRITION/FOOD ADVICE! Anonymous
>>317187
http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/22522.html

Yeah. I don't see why you should be eating that. I'm not sure about nutrition though. Could another anonymous please help this guy with critiquing his change in eating habits?
>> Anonymous
>>317181

It's good to know you're not neglecting vegetables.

I used to live in a very humid place while being out of shape. It is hell on the body in those conditions. Most of the problems I've had dealing with humid conditions went away when I started looking after my diet. You should be fine considering. If you do notice anything, just lookup how food may be affecting you and change your diet accordingly.

>>What about pasta? I find it kind of weird that my friend would recommend it along with cereal.

As far as I have learnt, there's nothing wrong with pasta as long as you don't eat too much. Depending upon the type of pasta noodles, 3/4 of a cup is recommended.
>> Anonymous
>>317195

That's for pasta and tomato sauce.

A plain proper serving of pasta has almost no sodium, 1g of fat, and 30g of carbohydrates. There are many types of seasonings that can be added that are not unhealthy too.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>>317181
>vegetables (love tomatoes)
>vegetables
>tomatoes
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato
>> Anonymous
After consulting a bunch of weight loss sites, I arrived at the following conclusion: I need to keep to my current diet, exercise and try not to go overboard with calorie intake (going to calculate my diet's calorie intake after I post this so I can know what else I can eat and how much) and I will lose weight.

I actually expect to lose weight quickly, judging from my previous experience. My college has a compulsory PA course for freshmen and sophomores and the course I picked was hiking. Basically, three hours in the woods once a week. Exhausting as hell, but also fun. I went in at 120 kilos and a month later I had to buy new pants because my old ones were literally too big for me. By the end of my first sophomore semester (when I had to quit PA, sadly), I weighed ~85 kilos.

Then there the friend I've been mentioning. Poor guy is like the exact opposite of me - he can't GAIN weight. He started reading magazines like Men's Health and tried to consume as much calories as he could while sticking to a healthy diet and doing mucle-building exercises. Gained 10 kilos in one year, stopped exercising and became a little less zealous about his eating habits and a year later he's almost as skinny as when he started.
>> Anonymous
>>317203
>>317204

Tomato is a vegetable for culinary purposes and a fruit for botanical purposes. Case closed.
>> Theodore Roosevelt
Tomatoes are the gayest fruit ever.
>> Theodore Roosevelt
>>317209

>Men's Health

lol.
>> Anonymous
>>317212

Theodore Roosevelt is the gayest president ever
>> Anonymous
>>316996

>2) A protein-rich snack around noon - he recommended two bananas and a cup of milk.

well your friends dumb, bannanas are fattning as shit because they are full of sugar. Eat grapefruit bro
>> Anonymous
>1) Oatmeal for breakfast instead of bitter tea and >some kind of biscuit.
>>2) A protein-rich snack around noon - he >>recommended two bananas and a cup of milk.
>3) Some proteins right after exercising (more on that >later) - I usually go with a hardboiled egg.
>4) A dinner of meat and rice (or some other cereal, but he said rice was best because of its low calories).

This is an incredibly unhealthy diet.
Go see an R.D. It will be the best thing you ever do.