Obesity Discussion Forums

[FINE]

So...
I know muscle helps burn....but I don't want to be muscle bound...
Are light weights better with more reps?
and how mand reps
and how much should I lift
and how many days should I do this
and should I do this more than once per day
and how long per session should I lift

any advice is appreciated
Thanks

[Steve]

Originally Posted by FINE

So...
I know muscle helps burn....

Not as much as you'd expect. Most 'sources' over-state the facts.

but I don't want to be muscle bound...

Haha, if it were as easy as lifting some weights, everyone would be big and musculy!

Building muscle is extremely hard and no matter what you do, it's not going to happen in the blink of an eye.

Are you male or female?

What are your current stats?

What are your exact goals?

Are light weights better with more reps?

Depends on your answers to the above questions.

There is no such thing as a universally 'good' program. The 'goodness' of a program is based on how well it correlates to each individual goals. That said, it should be obvious that what's a good program for one might not be a good program for another.

and how mand reps
and how much should I lift
and how many days should I do this
and should I do this more than once per day
and how long per session should I lift

We'll get to this once you reply to this and understand some more of the basics.

[bigdaddy38]

I have to agree with Steve on this there are a lot of factors that need to be known before giving any advice, however, if you are a female you probably don't have to worry about looking muscle bound, statistics show that only about 1% of the female population even has the genetics to get big, usually what I have seen with woman is they lose body fat so they can see some definition and they freak out that they are getting muscular, if your not not a female then I just talkled alot for nothing

[jimmy]

Hi I disagree I weighted 263 lbs April 23 2007 when my son got married. On September 27 2007 when my daughter was married I weighted 189 and I had a body fat of 14%. I' m 5'9", 55 years old and I weight 198 lbs today. I'll loose the extra 8 lbs in few weeks easily once I can walk regularly the weather is getting nice again. All my new clothes still fit I'm 34 -35 pants, 44 jacket, 16 inch neck. I'm proud of what I did but it was not just me my wife had to put up with a lot of grief and it was painful. Anyone can do it if you really want to make the life style change and sacrifice. Provided you do not have diabetes, a heart condition or a problem that limits your movement the three stage plan should work. There is nothing exotic involved, nothing to buy you don't buy every week just old fashioned hard work and stick to it as new mantra.

Jimmy

[bigdaddy38]

Your right Jimmy for just general advice you really don't need any information, but it sounds like newbie to exercise wants more specific information and for that you need to know what your dealing with, it would be like a doctor trying to diagnose you over the phone without being able to look at you.

[bigdaddy38]

Oh by the way Jimmy good job on what you have accomplished.

[Irving]

welcome! steve is very right with what he said.

[jimmy]

Hi Fine
Steve and Bigdaddy have a point as far as it goes The point is you are going to have to be honest with yourself. Remember we all have a problem with food I call mine and addiction. I ate when I was not hunger, I ate when I was bored any excuse would do. Its easier to lash out than it is reach out for help. I was embarrassed at Banks when I had to get the suit for my son's wedding, a size 50. I came home and took a shower and saw myself for the first time in years. Without blinders I was a mess. I'd ruined my knees, I itched all the time, I was out of breath with the slightest excursion and I had a bad attitude. I was always in the bathroom and I had no stamina sexually. I had people who cared about me, who loved me but I could not hear or see what I WAS DOING TO MYSELF. By extension I was not showing my family any respect in that I was not expressing my love for them by loving myself. As the saying goes god can raise the dead but you have to push yourself away from the table OK maybe I'm brash, too straight forward but I know what it is to change a lifestyle. You see I believe in stirring the pot, I still love to cook and now I can cook all through the house. Look at it this way you are going to pay a price for letting yourself go. You get to choose whether its going to buy you a better quality of life or an early grave.

Jimmy

[bigdaddy38]

Jimmy good post,you bring up a lot of important facts, at some point you do have to just buck up and make a change. But its not that easy I have been unhappy for years an started and stopped exercising lots of times, and to top it off I was in the health club business, but for me I think the more that people told me that I needed to lose weight the more depressed I became and the harder it got to make those changes, any way I could write a book about this stuff. Oh and the suit thing don't feel bad since I was a weight lifter for so many years I have huge shoulders combine that with being fat and I can't even where a suit not even the biggest size they sell.

[nisha]

Hi newbie to exercise, if you want a free bodyweight routine you can do at home to get you started I have one uploaded at Look Great Naked Bootcamp!. It will take you through all the basic moves that the body should be able to do without problem and build a solid foundation for future exercise programmes.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by jimmy

Hi I disagree I weighted 263 lbs April 23 2007 when my son got married. On September 27 2007 when my daughter was married I weighted 189 and I had a body fat of 14%. I' m 5'9", 55 years old and I weight 198 lbs today. I'll loose the extra 8 lbs in few weeks easily once I can walk regularly the weather is getting nice again. All my new clothes still fit I'm 34 -35 pants, 44 jacket, 16 inch neck. I'm proud of what I did but it was not just me my wife had to put up with a lot of grief and it was painful. Anyone can do it if you really want to make the life style change and sacrifice. Provided you do not have diabetes, a heart condition or a problem that limits your movement the three stage plan should work. There is nothing exotic involved, nothing to buy you don't buy every week just old fashioned hard work and stick to it as new mantra.

Jimmy

Who were you disagreeing with?

There's a quote function, ya know.

[jimmy]

I'm really not sure about the disagreements anyone who has gone through a life style change knows it hard. No reason AFAIK to state the obvious repeatedly then quote it. It is the same reason I never tell anyone to RTFM if it was that easy why bother. Look IMHO we are talking around the issue, in spite of what I believe is a fixation on diet the three elements remain true. Cardio, diet and exercise are all key but to loose weight and keep it off you must have a strong Cardio component.

Hard, yes all day long and into the evening, does it hurt yes, are you going to be hungry, sometimes you bet your life when you first start. I'll go a little further what kind of Cardio depends on your age. I'm in my 50's so I walk. I walk 5 miles a day as fast as I can, it usually takes me 75 to 80 minutes. When I first started I could barely make it around the block but in 6 weeks I was at 3 miles, in 2 months at 5 miles. Jogging is not recommended for people my age and I'd say the risk of injury is not worth the difference in time saved even if you are 40 unless you have a history of jogging. I do core training, modified core training. Standing crunches, hip digs if you have seen a belly dancer you've seen hip digs a total of 30 minutes. I also do some stretching, shoulder rolls, knee bends that bring my workout to 45 minutes. On odd days I do some core weight work with 30lb dumbbells 3 sets of 30. 20 lbs dumbbells 3 sets of 100 and 4 sets of 100 curls with bands. The workout is 45 minutes depending on how I'm feeling no two days are the same.

Its taken me almost a year to get comfortable even though I was only out of the loop with weights for 7 years. You are not going to get big during modified core training, its toning and strength only. You have to work your way up to the weights you need just as the degree of movement in the standing crunches depends on your conditioning and body elasticity. Bigdaddy can tell you people stop exercising and running because they get injured or bored. Look you have to start somewhere and the beginning is as good a place as any. Encouragement I can help you with, I can even give you some of my horror stories to help with your determination. No one can provide the main ingredient desire you have to want to change. I can tell you this, I'll never gain the weight back. I know the weight is a killer, without any warning my best friend had a stroke while driving his grand kids home, he's about the same weight I was when I started my program. Only by the grace of God is he alive today, the stroke caused no permanent damage AFAIK. He laughed at me when I first started, after a few months he looked at me like I stole something I was just lucky and I know it I don't want to think I could have helped and just sat by and say nothing. My solution may not work for you but it is one solution.

Jimmy

[Steve]

Sorry, I'm not following you at all. It was a very simple question. I wasn't sure if you were disagreeing with me or the post after mine at the top of this thread.

I didn't need a book about your beliefs.

[FINE]

Wow...

Okay...
I am female...
35
234
5'4"

My over all goal is to be healthy....I don't have a weight in mind...I just want to be comfortable
I definitely want to be below 200...

and I don't think I could go below 160
I have big bones...and wide shoulders
even when I was younger and thin I still was a big girl

I am also pretty strong...not greatly...just above average...

Thank you everyone for your responses and advice so far...I really am commited to making a change this time....I can taste it

[jimmy]

Hi Fine
How about your health do you have diabetes, hypertension and anything that would keep you from entering a dedicated weight loss program? I'd like to help for 2 reasons one is purely selfish, we all need support. I had support from my wife but it is difficult to find help when you are trying to loose 20 to 30% of you body mass. The info is just not out there and what you can find is often not reliable. My doctor told me she had never seen anyone loose weight at the rate I did and remain healthy without the aid of drugs. It seems they don't know what to do with us if they can't push a drug and they don't want to say our problem is an addiction. My community is in crisis that's the second reason I want to help. Diabetes and obesity are rampant in the Black community and it is not being addressed as the silent killer it is.
Jimmy