Can light daily exercise help me lose weight?

[Mar]

I'm about 5'10", 200 pounds and I figured it's time to take some inches off the waist. I play floor hockey once a week and snowboard twice a month but it isn't doing anything for me, I still get winded walking up the stairs.

I know all types of things that would help this but I really hate exercising and I'm aware that physical activity needs to be balanced with a healthy diet but I'm specifically looking for a couple of answers here to whether or not some easy things could help me.

I read online that a 15 minute jog every day can be quite helpful as long as you're not shovelling food into your face afterwards. I figured I can do 7 minutes down the road and 7 minutes back every day, so will this actually take an inch or two off the waist? What about 100 sit ups or push ups every day? What about using that stupid Wii Fit thing? Can any of these simple things take an inch or two off the waist? I'm not looking to get super fit, just want to fit into some pants. Two years ago I was 175.......now this and my hair is falling out, it's like my body is slowly committing suicide.

Part of the reason I'm asking this is from all those contraptions that claim 20 minutes a day will help you look like Joanne Mcleod. Seems phony.

[max_boost]

Hiit

Google it

/thread

[ReflexFX]

If you're really only willing to dedicate 15 mins of your day to slim down, then no. Just that alone shows your level of commitment to losing weight...

$0.02

[klumsy_tumbler]

Honestly, it would probably be good to sign up for some fitness classes or something... Something like that to get you in a gym (or arena, or pool, or whatever you choose) and get you familiar with the environment and appropriate exercises. It's also more motivating if you have scheduled classes to attend (no opportunity for "I'll do it later"...), plus you've paid for it :P

Once you can find something you actually have fun doing, then it wont be such a chore. Like ReflexFX said, only 15min/day really wont do much except slow down your current negative trend.

[chathamf]

I think the biggest thing realize here is that 20 minutes of light activity is better then none at all. If anything maybe it will just ne the beginning. 20 mins could turn into 30 and light activiry may turn into moderate or hard.

Its all about starting somewhere and if you really want to lose weight and be healthy you will enjoy it and want to do better. If you hate exercise a good diet can do wonders with no exercise at all. I assume you like to eat as well though so it comes down to what's worse dieting or exercise? I personally like exercise but find it hard to do on a regular basis so my approach is exercise when I can and eat decent when I can and it creates a happy medium.

Just start somewhere and you will feel better and all of a sudden you will strive to do what it takes to feel better and better.

[KRyn]

Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by Mar
Part of the reason I'm asking this is from all those contraptions that claim 20 minutes a day will help you look like Joanne Mcleod. Seems phony.

I have no idea why on earth you want to look like a 57 year old woman.....

What you need to do is change your attitude towards exercise because honestly, it's all downhill from here if you're over 30 and already naturally progressing towards being out of shape. You can buck up and get back into fit and healthy shape or you can prepare for an ever downward spiral of both. Seriously.

Exercise doesn't have to be a chore, you just have to find something you will enjoy doing. That may take some time but, once you do, it won't be hard to start making progress.

Good luck!

[sputnik]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

+1

[Cos]

.

[ExtraSlow]

You'll probably need a combination of improved eating habits and excersise.

A few years ago, I was 240, and I've made what I would consider pretty small changes.
- Cut pop almost completely out of my life. Maybe a can a week now, used to be several a day.
- Eat a good breakfast - I do yogurt with almonds, pumpkin seeds and steel cut oats. Eat something that has protein and digests slowly.
- Cut snacking way back, especially in the evening. I used to have a "bedtime" snack every single night. Now I usualy have nothing, or at most a slice of cheese with a glass of milk.
- Eat vegetables, often and plenty. This fills you up and has vitamins and shit in it.

I do about the same excersise as before honestly. virtually no cardio still, lol. I should probably look into that.

Still drink, a lot. still go for wing nights pretty regularly. Not really depriving myself of anything.

Anyway, I'm 205 now, looking to get to around 195. If I got a bit more excersise in I'm sure that's attainable. My progress has been slow, but that's because of the lazy approach I've taken. Someone more motivated could get my results much quicker.

[Tik-Tok]

I can only speak of what works for me, and 2000 cal per day intake, plus doing 20 minutes twice a day of HIIT works great. The key is to have a TV in front of you to watch netflix or something so you won't get bored.

[Dumbass17]

Speaking of HIIT, anyone got any formulas that work good for them, in terms of minutes of high and minutes of low intensity etc?

Last week I began doing 30mins of elliptical in the morning before work, 3x/week. I just use the machines interval setting (steep incline w/ high resistance for high intensity & medium incline w/ low resistance for low intensity) The machine does 2 mins of high intenisty, 2 mins low, repeat. Then I do 20mins of abs.
Anyways, I am thinking of trying the treadmill tomorrow, but I have a bad ankle and it likes to act up with impact exercises but I'll give it a shot.
Any thoughts of another cardio exercise I could do, and no, I won't do the bike, they bore me.
I don't know where I am going with this.

[88CRX]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

This.

Specifically do this: http://forums.beyond.ca/st/325343/rapid-fat-loss/

Dropped nearly 40 pounds last year over the course of 6-7 months by eating super healthy. No added exercise or activities that I wasn’t doing previously either. The low carb, high protein diet isn’t easy but seriously it’s not that hard. All you do is stuff your face with chicken, fish and veggies and the pounds will drop off.

[Mibz]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

This right here. I lost ~35lb from changing my eating habits, despite sitting down for 16 hours a day.

Also, I promise you that 15-30 minutes of exercise a day is still EXTREMELY easy to ignore if your head's not in it. Until you're mentally ready to do something about being fat, you're going to continue to be fat. That means doing whatever it takes, not doing the bare minimum.

[Laoz]

Originally posted by KRyn
Don't waste your time with any physical activity. I would focus all of your efforts on your poor eating habits that have made you over weight. Once you understand and are able to control what and how much you are eating I would look into adding some other weight lose options.

Yea, its pretty much calories in and calories out, you'll probably want to start keeping track of that too and try to stay under your limit.

[Ca_Silvia13]

Mar i am in the exact same boat as you. By changing my diet ONLY i dropped 10 pounds in 3 weeks, im hoping 20 mins/day cardio can take another 10 off.

Alot of negative responses in regards to doing 10-15 mins a day which in my opinion is BS. 10-15 mins a day as long as you get your heart moving and break a sweat your doing something right that will take pounds off, as long as you're eating proper.

[88CRX]

Originally posted by Ca_Silvia13
Mar i am in the exact same boat as you. By changing my diet ONLY i dropped 10 pounds in 3 weeks, im hoping 20 mins/day cardio can take another 10 off.

Alot of negative responses in regards to doing 10-15 mins a day which in my opinion is BS. 10-15 mins a day as long as you get your heart moving and break a sweat your doing something right that will take pounds off, as long as you're eating proper.

I don't think anyone is saying not to exercise 10-15 minutes a day... but you're kidding yourself if you think a 10 minutes walk a day (while still eating normal or poorly) is going to make any sort of noticeable difference on the scale.

[shadowz]

Originally posted by Mibz
This right here. I lost ~35lb from changing my eating habits, despite sitting down for 16 hours a day.

Also, I promise you that 15-30 minutes of exercise a day is still EXTREMELY easy to ignore if your head's not in it. Until you're mentally ready to do something about being fat, you're going to continue to be fat. That means doing whatever it takes, not doing the bare minimum.

Honestly it was fun working with Mibz, he had strictly told me he did not want to do any exercise, easily took 5 years off his face. Get a structured meal plan, not a diet, diets tend to revert back to poor eating habits

[Ca_Silvia13]

Originally posted by 88CRX


I don't think anyone is saying not to exercise 10-15 minutes a day... but you're kidding yourself if you think a 10 minutes walk a day (while still eating normal or poorly) is going to make any sort of noticeable difference on the scale.

I agree a walk isn't going to do shit. Gotta get that heart beating!!

[Mar]

Diet seems to be the unanimous decision here, maybe I'll lay out what I've been eating and see if I'm doing it wrong. I didn't think it was too bad.

Sunday:
Breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. I used to drink skim but my girlfriend's a doctor and she was telling me skim milk is terrible for you. Your body needs the fat in order to digest the lactose so if you drink skim milk, you're just putting pure lactose in your body and you can't digest it properly.
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. Again, not skim milk. And a carrot muffin my girlfriend baked with cinnamon bun icing on top.
supper: My girlfriend made nachos with those blue tortilla chips, lots of cheese, chives, tomatoes, ground turkey and jalapenos. And spicy salsa, everything we eat is very spicy, we love our hot sauces. And I had a big glass of 1% organic milk.

Additionally, we usually have a 1 hour session of Dr. Mario every night so I ate a Crispy Crunch chocolate bar while we played around 9pm. And 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the candy dish on the table next to me. And a glass of pineapple juice.

Monday:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk. Also a grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks.
lunch: left over crab, shrimp and pasta dish from Costco. It was Saturday night's supper. It was a tupperware container about the size of my fist but it was packed in there pretty tight so it filled a small plate when it came out.
supper: My girlfriend made some sort of goulash rice thing with green onions and tomatoes in it. And lots of hot sauce. I had half a bowl and a big glass of 1% organic milk. And just before eating that I had 2 more of the carrot muffins she baked, she had been complaining that I wasn't eating them and asked if it was because I didn't like them. You know how it is if she bakes something, you better eat it.
Dr. Mario session snack: Another 1 or 2 Lindt chocolates from the dish around 9pm.

Today:
breakfast: bowl of Alphabits with 1% organic milk
lunch: grande, no-whip, cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks. I might go put some peanut butter on bread if I get hungry in the next hour or so but that's the extent of my cooking abilities. And of course another glass of milk.


My current exercise consists of getting out of bed, sitting on the couch for 16 hours and going back to bed. I work from home on my computer so I barely move at all. And I have an insane amount of work to do, I couldn't possibly dedicate an hour a day to exercise. Some people might have noticed I disappeared from this site for the last 2 years, that's because I had too much work to look at forums. And I still do, I pretty much have to work every minute I'm awake to get this done in time for launch.

I hate cooking, so much so that I won't even heat up a can of ravioli, I just eat it straight out of a cold can. I'm too lazy for a microwave. So before my girlfriend cooked for me I was sometimes not eating anything, or if I got hungry I'd drink a can of Coke, that would fill me up. I was at 3 cans of Coke per day for about 7 years straight and I was 20 pounds lighter because I wasn't eating as much. Now I drink maybe 1 can per month and the food I mentioned above, I somehow gained weight.

My indulgences include:
- Bolsa (Vietnamese) maybe twice a month.
- I was previously spending $300 a month on sushi as well but now it's a once a month treat since I'm not in that part of the city any more. I freaking love sushi.
- Pizza 73 once or twice a month. I refuse to eat take out food, this is about as close as I'll get.
- beer one night a week with my hockey team.

One thing I don't eat is pork, my girlfriend has an extreme pork allergy and gets violently sick if she comes in contact with it. So no pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon, anything like that. That also includes popsicles and gummy candy, they have pork fat in them. So I can't have any type of pork at all in the house at any time.