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How to lose weight at university?

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Reply 20
Original post by doodle_333
you start running while overweight and unfit you're going to struggle to burn 100cals in a work out because you simply won't be able to run far


stop, catch your breath, carry on.

no excuses.
Original post by iThrow
walking wont do anything. meaningful exercise involves building up a sweat, getting out of beath and getting your heart really pumping.

if you really put your mind to it you could have yourself down to about 12 stone and in good shape by next summer. you have to work for it though - all that comfort you got from sitting around relaxing now has to be balanced by some discomfort. but that's all it is, just some discomfort.


There are many ways to skin a cat, as the saying goes. There is no best or worst form of exercise in terms of weight loss - if you burn 500 calories, you burn 500 calories. It'll take longer to burn those 500 calories by walking as opposed to running, but the exercise is less intense and you can train longer. Swings & roundabouts.

Personally, I see it best to mix up your exercise. Something high intensity one day, then the next keep it low intensity and go for a walk, good for recovery too.
Original post by iThrow
not complete rubbish. i've already been there and done it as i pointed out in my earlier (edited) post.

its like 2 people could work jobs and the guy working on a till in asda will eventually be a millionaire after 1000 years of saving and the guy working in the big hedgefund will be a millionaire in about 5 years (idk how much they earn)

so yeah he can go for his little walks and maybe in like 5 years he can say "wow i lost 20 lbs" or he can do what he knows he needs to do and start running daily, cycling, anything that actually gives you a proper exercise. no excuses.


He should do what he can maintain and keep up with. Lol@ no excuses. All he needs is a calorie deficit whether it comes from reduced consumption ot exercise. There is nothing wrong with walking for starting however much youd like to belittle it. Same goes for swimming. They are both excellent beginner forms of exercise. When he builds up some fitness then he cna move on, but as his diet is going to be easier with lifesyle changes, then walking everywhere is going to be a great help that he can fit in easily.
Original post by WoodyMKC
Whoever told you the part in bold - never take advice from them again. Any exercise burns calories, and having burned more calories than you've consumed generally means fat loss. Swimming is a great one, lots of movement and you can vary the intensity.

As for time - if you want to do this, you will make time. The vast majority of people should be able to work a free hour for exercise into their routine, even half an hour if you prefer the HIIT style of cardio.


Will do :smile: That's good to hear as I really enjoy swimming :smile:

I can definitely do an hour a day even on packed days as I get up so early so hopefully I should be fine :smile:
Original post by loveleest
Losing weight should be easier now that you are in uni as you are fully in control of your diet. Just buy healthy foods... like buy fruits/vegetables and obviously some carbs like rice and pasta.
Don't snack on unhealthy food and when you go food shopping don't buy any of it. Also go to the gym.


It'll be a bit more difficult to control calories at my uni as it is only possible to go catered however I'm just going to pick the healthy options. Tbh it's too expensive to buy all that junk food - the healthy stuff is much cheaper luckily :smile: I'm going to try and lose a bit first (purely for my own self confidence) and then join one.
Reply 25
Original post by 999tigger
He should do what he can maintain and keep up with. Lol@ no excuses. All he needs is a calorie deficit whether it comes from reduced consumption ot exercise. There is nothing wrong with walking for starting however much youd like to belittle it. Same goes for swimming. They are both excellent beginner forms of exercise. When he builds up some fitness then he cna move on, but as his diet is going to be easier with lifesyle changes, then walking everywhere is going to be a great help that he can fit in easily.


can lol @ me all u want but the fact of the matter is that progress reinforces change and you won't make any progress going for the occasional walk and it won't spark massive action. my way leads to quick progress which leads to positive reinforcement which causes you to take further action.
Reply 26
Whenever you see food, tell yourself: "One minute in my mouth, years in my body" (sounds better in this lang, rhymes even).
Anyway that moto helped me lose a lotta weight.
But rmb that there's a lot of fat people at uni, and thats nothing to be ashamed of, so dont go drastic
Original post by Aimen.
I am almost facing the same problem as you but I have two months before my uni starts so I joined a gym where I go twice a day and burn about 350 calories everytime. Plus I've started this fruit and vegetable crash diet which has made me lost 3 kgs in a week. (I could pm you if you want!)
And yea this is kinda working out well for me!
Btw swimming is a great exercise.


Reassuring I'm not the only one - your uni must start really late then. Nice :smile: Thats impressive - any extra info would be greatly appreciated. Hope all goes well.
Original post by iThrow
can lol @ me all u want but the fact of the matter is that progress reinforces change and you won't make any progress going for the occasional walk and it won't spark massive action. my way leads to quick progress which leads to positive reinforcement which causes you to take further action.


He isnt you though. There are many ways up the mountain , as long as he has a consistent calorie deficit he will lose weight.

In terms of weight loss its 80% diet.

In terms of calorie deficits, then its just how many calories he bruns be that from walking or hiit. There no pont in gim going off bigoorusly unless eh can maintain it, the classic mistake of burning out. If he wnats to get fit later on then he cna up the exercise, vut you shoudl still look at it as a way to increase fitness rather than a direct ool for weight loss.

Your the one that said occasional walk. I mentioned consistent calorific deficit. That means regular walking, which he said he will do. No need to rubbish it, just because he isnt lifting and doing tabata. Losing weight is long term lifestyle changes and 5 stone is quite a lot.
Original post by 999tigger
Its 80% diet.

You need to burn more than you consume for a consistent period so you are at a calorific deficit.. You dont have to exerccise at all although its complementary.

Every 3500 calories you burn should give you a theoretical 1lb weight loss.

You should definitely be able to lose 5 stone in 3 years. You could do it in 2 or even 18 months if you set your mind to it.

Go and open yourself an account on MFP because you need to weigh and log your food so you can ensue the amount you consume v burn is always at deficit.


I'm currently gonna try a healthy diet with a calorie deficit (-800 calories ish with one 'cheat' a week although it will only be slightly higher on that day). Does that sound reasonable? 3 years is my maximum although I'm aiming to lose it sooner.

Logging's gonna be a bit difficult as I won't know the calories in the meals as they are all prepared by the uni (self catered was not an option unfortunately) but I'll definitely try to keep track of my intake.
Reply 30
Original post by 999tigger
He isnt you though. There are many ways up the mountain , as long as he has a consistent calorie deficit he will lose weight.


true and you're right i'm only saying what worked for me but if you can get up the mountain in 1 year I think it's better than taking 3.


Original post by ArtyScientist
I'm currently gonna try a healthy diet with a calorie deficit (-800 calories ish with one 'cheat' a week although it will only be slightly higher on that day). Does that sound reasonable? 3 years is my maximum although I'm aiming to lose it sooner.


this is exactly what i meant about excuses. they are already beginning. why do you need to cheat yourself? your goal is to lose weight and get healthy asap, not to drag it out in favour of being a bit more comfortable. losing a lot of weight isn't comfortable it's hard work.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by ArtyScientist
Will do :smile: That's good to hear as I really enjoy swimming :smile:

I can definitely do an hour a day even on packed days as I get up so early so hopefully I should be fine :smile:


Nice. No need to go HAM and knacker yourself out with exercise every day, sure-fire way to burn out. A few days a week though get some intense cardio in and the other days just some light activity.
Original post by niqnoq
Whenever you see food, tell yourself: "One minute in my mouth, years in my body" (sounds better in this lang, rhymes even).
Anyway that moto helped me lose a lotta weight.
But rmb that there's a lot of fat people at uni, and thats nothing to be ashamed of, so dont go drastic


Haha wish I'd thought of that when ordering pizza last week lol. Thats reassuring, I'm gonna try and do things gradually for the first month or so.
Not sure if this matters but I'm a girl btw :smile:
Original post by ArtyScientist
I'm currently gonna try a healthy diet with a calorie deficit (-800 calories ish with one 'cheat' a week although it will only be slightly higher on that day). Does that sound reasonable? 3 years is my maximum although I'm aiming to lose it sooner.

Logging's gonna be a bit difficult as I won't know the calories in the meals as they are all prepared by the uni (self catered was not an option unfortunately) but I'll definitely try to keep track of my intake.


Go and join MFP then you will get all your questions answered about how to record meals in catered halls and how to treat cheat meals.

You need to educate and understand how weight loss works, then everything else becomes much simpler as in what you have to do in terms of diet and how exercise can help. get yourself some scales as well.

I get your maintenance to be c 2500 calories a day so 800 is 1700 calories, which is easy enough. You use scales and keep a log so you can accurately maintain the deficit. If you just guess then you never really know where you are and your diet becomes a lot less reliable and loses effectiveness.


As for exercise then do what you can, just move more. Swimming is really good and burns considerably more thna walking.

If you wnat to do exercise properly then get yourself some weights and theres plenty of youtube videos plus websites where you can do bodyweight exrcises as home workouts. I wouild get your diet under control first and then you cna slowly ratchet up exercise in difficulty and duration. Fitness improvements come quite quickly a the beginning.

Dont be afraid of wlaking well all start somewhere, but the calorie burn is relatively low, maube 300 cals an hour, but its still 300 cals and do that every day, then it adds up.

If you didn an hours swimming 3-5 times a week then you really would burn plenty of calories, but the key is consistency.
stop relying on transport, 10 mile walk might help
Original post by ArtyScientist
Not sure if this matters but I'm a girl btw :smile:


Nope it doesnt. Go and join MFP plus you cna get plenty of friends to support you, who are also losing.. You cna lose all the weight think anout 1lb a week, but its a long term thing.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

Cant emphasise enough how you must commit to doing what it takes, educating yourself about weight loss, nutrition and exercise. once you understand everything it will give you a much better idea of what you need to do, why and how.

Good luck.
Reply 37
Original post by ArtyScientist
Reassuring I'm not the only one - your uni must start really late then. Nice :smile: Thats impressive - any extra info would be greatly appreciated. Hope all goes well.


Yea it starts in november.
Taking around 10 glasses of water is a must for losing. Plus you can squeeze lemon into your water for better results!
Reply 38
Original post by ArtyScientist
Not sure if this matters but I'm a girl btw :smile:


Tbh it might matter a bit more in that case. But still, there are so many fat people in uni, so you have nothing to be worried about.
-----
Just remember
"One minute in my mouth, years in my body"
really sounds crappy in english
Reply 39
Cut your plate size to one or even half scoops, instead of snacks like crips, chocolate etc eat fruits like coconut, papaya, passion fruit etc (not toooo much though). The best sport you can do is to walk (not too slow) at least an hour each day. And a trick for you that burns calories is while your walking suck your belly in and out. So you will suck your belly in; count to 10-20 slowly and out. Do this throughout until your finished with your walking. And thats it really.

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