Losing weight around the stomach

I have 1/2 cup of vanilla almost every night for dessert.I don't see the need to eliminate unless you plan on eliminating it for the rest of your life; do you want to go 70 years without any ice cream? Your mileage may vary, however. I don't know anything about you other than what you stated above; but it's been my experience that people who suddenly go whole hog for a new program eventually go whole hog off of it.
 
I come from a long line of men with giant guts. I was 175'ish for a long time, but from age 29 to age 32 I went from 175 to a shameful high of 220. I am 6'1". I was only 32 but was a skinny guy with a huge, shameful gut. It feels unstoppable. Help!!!
 
1. Eat right
2. Exercise

It should become part of your daily routine. Fad/extreme diets are not the way to go. Do something you can stick with. It is the only way to have have continued success.

Having someone around you with a similar interest will help. I have found reading and participating on a message board related to exercise/nutrition has kept me motivated.
 
What is a realistic amount of weight to lose in 3 months.
My goal is to drop 15-20 pounds by mid March.
Is that even possible?
 
{quote]Its the motivation to get on the treadmill and into the gym that is hard. I know I CAN do it, but I need to get over the slight inconvenience.
 
Good article but my idea was to do a little of both.

Rigorous boot camp on MWF and light walk on TTH. Then mix it up on the weekends. Eating healthy and this routine should be a good start to a lifestyle change and losing weight.
 
Don't forget the weights, Ryan. Resistance training is integral to losing weight. Unless, of course, your boot camp thing does stuff like that. What do you do during the boot camp thing?
 
Well I have only gone for one day but in that day we stretched, did a warm up job. Did sprints up a hill and jog down (5-8) then push ups, jumping jacks, squats, some other excersises I don't know how to explain. Back pedal up a hill. Bear crawls up a hill. Jog back, stretches. I think that was all.

No weight training, but was thinking about doing that in my gym on T TH and weekends. Multiple reps with less weight.
Then sit ups for my stomach.
 
Ryan -- watch out with the fruit smoothies, dried fruit, and
granola bars. All three of these seem healthy and good for weight loss, but all can be high and sugar and calories.
 
I am loathe to offer advice on this, especially when I don't know the particulars of the individual, but one thing that can not possibly hurt and may defnitely benefit is: before starting a radical diet plan, track what you eat now. I mean honestly and precisely. UseThe Link or something similar. Pay particular attention to portion sizes, snacks, etc... Most serving sizes for which nutritional info is based upon is, e.g., 1/2 or 1/3 cup for cereal, yet most young men I know eat about two cups of cereal (and equivalent milk). Same with sandwiches; measure how much meat you're putting in there.

I would venture to guess most people who begin diet plans don't really know what or how much they're consuming before they start. Then, when they start the diet plan, no matter how whacked out it is, it works for a while because they are finally accurately monitoring what they eat. Then they get tired of the diet beccause it's not balanced, get discouraged, start eating comfort food and before you know it they're back where they started.

As far a region-specific loss, that's interesting. My textbook says men and women lose it at different rates in different areas. I don't think there's anything you can do about that; I don't have the reference handy. Personally, I lost 8 lbs of fat from the leg, and 9 from the torso, but % wise much higher from the legs.
 
Thanks Mack.

I tried to buy Granola Bar's that have little sugar and the dried fruit you are probably right about.

I drank a smoothie that was all natural so I think I am good there.
Plus my sister is a registered Dietician and had one with me, so I think those are ok.
 
Eh on South Beach. I was on it. Lost 20 lbs in about a month and a half but.... the moment I got off of it I gained 25 lbs. You say it is a life style change, and it should be BUT its really really expensive. When you're on South Beach you're eating better and NICER food and it just plain costs more.
 
Ryan - Dec 06 I weighed 220 (6' tall). Cut out all booze, started eating right, getting in the gym 3 times a week, or at least twice. Lost 15 lbs in about 6 weeks. Was down to 195 in another month. Held 195 really easily until I hit a lazy patch.

You are eating well, although I might up the protein and drop some of the sugars. You're eating good sugars though. And lots of small meals/snack is good too. Cut out that ice cream (I had a pint of Blue Bell before bed habit for 10 years), but I have a good suggestion for you - Scooby Doo rainbow sherbet push pops. 1g fat, 19g carbs, 16g sugar. One or two a week won't kill you.
 
Thanks JT.

I am 6'1 and was just the biggest I have ever been at 216.

I am looking at getting down to 180-185 at the best weight for me. That would be ideal.

Under 200 will be a big milestone for me, and according to what you did it seems like that goal could be attainable in 6 weeks or less. I am going to keep this up and really dont want to even drink alcohol for fear of adding on many unneccesary calories.
 
Let's all give Praise of Folly a prize for being able to live off of yogurt and an apple a day. For an average person that's the worst thing you can do. You never want to starve your body. Ask any nutritionist or trainer. Five to Six small healthy meals/snacks is the way to go. Don't do any fad diets that make you cut out anything completely, your destined to fail at those type of diets. If ice cream is your weakness you can still eat it but small occasional portions. If you deny yourself completely you'll have that one moment of weakness and eat an entire quart. You'll be surprised how little you'll crave the bad foods when you're eating right. You'll see your body becoming healthier and you won't want to put that stuff in it. Just educate yourself on the what are the goods foods and the portion control.
 
I am actually curious on what I have been eating for dinner and if it is a good choice.

I have been eating chicken breast and mixed veggies.
I put a little olive oil in a pan and make it really hot on the stove.
Then I add some Smart Balance Light butter to the pan and a small pinch of garlic, salt and pepper. I put the chicken in and cook it until done. I don't know if this is ok because it is tasty and a little greasy IMO.

The veggies are organic from CostCo but frozen. I just put a small bit of butter in the pan and cook them until ready.
They are also very good and I can't imagine that not being healthy for me.
Thoughts?
 
Ryan,

your dinner sounds good. Just mix it up a bit so you don't get bored of chicken. Chicken can get old real fast. Olive oil is very good for you. Just be aware of the calorie content, but definitely continue to use it. Just make sure it doesn't start smoking as that is an indication of bad fats being put into the oil.
 
Thanks SH,
I am not sure if it smoked. I will check next time I cook.
I know I will probably get sick of chicken but It is really the only thing I know how to cook easily.

I was thinking Spinach salads for dinner too.
 
Ryan, try the fish fillets from costco too. They come individually wrapped and really easy. Take 'em straight out of the freezer onto a baking pan, season and bake for about 20 minutes.
 
Ryan - I am assuming you don't have a grill? Even a George Foreman one?

Also, I makethis soup about once a month or so and eat a bowl every day/every other day. It has a buttload of nutrients, it's filling and it takes a decision about what to eat out of my hands. If you have any questions about how to make it, shoot me a PM.
 
Ryan,

A couple of other things I've thought of, especially regarding ice cream.

There's nothing wrong with treating yourself to ice cream. But it's just that, a treat.

Here's my suggestion:

Eat some cottage cheese before bed. It is a slow digesting protein (casein) so it will fuel your body during the night. Remember, sleep is when you gain muscle and repair yourself. Having that protein will be huge in adding muscle.

Save the ice cream until saturday. And instead of a small cup every night, get a nice sundae on saturday.

That's basically what I do. I eat really well Monday through Friday. Saturday I eat whatever I want. Anything. Then Sunday I taper that off a bit, still eating a lot. Start again Monday. It will seriously help your psyche knowing that you will reward yourself in a few days.

It's tough. Don't get me wrong. But it works.


Edit: Let me give you the recipe to my pre-bed meal. Use if you want, but I have seen great results doing it every night.

1 c. cottage cheese
1 scoop protein (~25 g protein)
1 splenda packet
1 tablespoon peanut butter

Add ice and water in a blender. And blend into a smoothie. It may be an acquired taste, but I am hooked on it.
 
Ryan
I've been on lots of diets, that is, many cycles. Mostly balanced portion control, like Weight Watchers without the Mark Kay ****, or South Beach. Always made exercise part of it.

I'm currently down from 219 to 189 since Oct 1. There's more to go for me. Here's what's been different about this time.

Of course I'm targeting weight. But my main target is officially time. I was able to keep my behaviors right by committing to 11 weeks of "being good" before taking a holiday break. I let the pounds be what they would be, just do each day and each week like I was supposed to.

So now I'm committed to a 5 week period (before another vacation). You have a lot a useful advice above. I just suggest you focus on a time period to commit to, in additon to the other tactics.
 
Subliminal - great advice . I do the same exact thing with cottage cheese... I used to hate it but have found ways to make it taste good... natty PB, cinnamon, berries... all kinds of ways to "dress up" a very nutritious protein-rich late snack.
 
Thanks guys. Cottage cheese? Is it good?

I am looking at this routine in a couple ways.
1) The way I feel
2) The way I look
3) My weight getting down to 185 ish

The time period sounds like a good idea but I think I have plenty of drive to keep it up.

Best advice is a "lifestyle change" rather than a diet.
It is definetly a change though. I went to Chipotle with a friend yesterday and decided to check what was best to eat prior to going.

Ordering a Burrito Bol, with Chicken, Beans, Salsa, and Lettuce only was really hard but I felt good about it afterwards and it didn't taste half bad.

(I usually get a Burrito with Chicken, beans, cheese, sour cream, and corn salsa.)
I saved about 1200 calories by ordering the latter.
 
I saw a post on here awhile back that included a link to a site that will keep track of calories you have eaten by allowing you to search foods and clicking them as eaten.

Does anyone know a site link like that so I can keep track?
Thanks
 
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