[mostly for older vt members] I need to get back into shape.

[Magenta]

I say this is mostly for older VT members because some of you are still at the age where you can eat your weight in food and not gain a pound without any exercise and really won't have this problem but if you wanna offer some help, go for it. I figured while I'm here, I'd get some input.

I'm turning 19 very soon and, as I've been warned, my metabolism is not what it was when I was 14/15 years old. I've gained a lot of weight in the past year, both from poor eating habits but also just in general.

Has anyone found anything that really works for them to counter this? Whether it be diet, exercises, small things really. I'm not looking to come out looking like an athlete or lose that much weight, just get back into healthier habits for my age range and possibly tone a few spots.

Keep in mind, I'm asthmatic and running is out of the question.

[Plasma]

Honestly, dieting is pointless. All it does is starve your body of what it needs. The problem is overeating and eating when you're bored. Just consciously try to control that and eventually it becomes second nature and you don't even have to think about it.

Running in the morning helps too, of course.

[Magenta]

I meant diet as in what to eat, not dieting and eating less, although I prolly should work on not eating when I'm bored.

And I think you missed the part where I said I can't run. I like being able to breathe. :P

[Blood]

Health and fitness is mostly about what you eat. Put good, healthy things in and you'll get good results.

Stay away from breads unless it's whole wheat, try to avoid junk foods completely, swap soda and everything else for water, eat more veggies, fruits, and lean meats. But the most important thing is portion control. Do you know how many calories the average person eats everyday? WAY TOO FUCKING MANY. Count count count your calories. Set daily goals, and set weekly goals. Try to make your daily goals but REALLY TRY to meet your weeky goal.

I'm also an asthmatic. Running is hard, trust me, but if you start with walking everyday and slowly work your way up you'll be able to do it. Breathing exercises help!

[Saint]

try and slowly transition from eating junk food to healthier choices. You're probably not going to start eating healthy all the time overnight,hence why you should slowly adjust instead of force feeding yourself and not liking it.


Health and fitness is mostly about what you eat. Put good, healthy things in and you'll get good results.

Stay away from breads unless it's whole wheat, try to avoid junk foods completely, swap soda and everything else for water, eat more veggies, fruits, and lean meats. But the most important thing is portion control. Do you know how many calories the average person eats everyday? WAY TOO FUCKING MANY. Count count count your calories. Set daily goals, and set weekly goals. Try to make your daily goals but REALLY TRY to meet your weeky goal.

I'm also an asthmatic. Running is hard, trust me, but if you start with walking everyday and slowly work your way up you'll be able to do it. Breathing exercises help!

I agree with all that,except the part for counting calories. Unless you're competing or modelling,it's not needed in my opinion. more than likely you're over estimating the calories or underestimating,they're rarely accurate. if you feel full the next day,just cut back on the food a little. experiment with it and you'll be able to listen to your body to maintain,gain or loose weight.

you could also try eating 6 smaller meals instead of 3 meals,that'll keep your metabolism running and help with the urge to have a snack if you're facing that problem.

generally just fixing up your food choices would be good enough to maintain a good look. on the topic of exercise,you said you do have asthma,so I'd look for a doctor's advise on what type of exercises you're fit for.

[Blood]

try and slowly transition from eating junk food to healthier choices. You're probably not going to start eating healthy all the time overnight,hence why you should slowly adjust instead of force feeding yourself and not liking it.




I agree with all that,except the part for counting calories. Unless you're competing or modelling,it's not needed in my opinion. more than likely you're over estimating the calories or underestimating,they're rarely accurate. if you feel full the next day,just cut back on the food a little. experiment with it and you'll be able to listen to your body to maintain,gain or loose weight.

you could also try eating 6 smaller meals instead of 3 meals,that'll keep your metabolism running and help with the urge to have a snack if you're facing that problem.

generally just fixing up your food choices would be good enough to maintain a good look. on the topic of exercise,you said you do have asthma,so I'd look for a doctor's advise on what type of exercises you're fit for.

Yeah, I'll admit I'm a little obsessive with calorie counting. It does help though, especially if you tend to overeat.

[Camazotz]

Health and fitness is mostly about what you eat. Put good, healthy things in and you'll get good results.

Stay away from breads unless it's whole wheat, try to avoid junk foods completely, swap soda and everything else for water, eat more veggies, fruits, and lean meats. But the most important thing is portion control. Do you know how many calories the average person eats everyday? WAY TOO FUCKING MANY. Count count count your calories. Set daily goals, and set weekly goals. Try to make your daily goals but REALLY TRY to meet your weeky goal.

I'm also an asthmatic. Running is hard, trust me, but if you start with walking everyday and slowly work your way up you'll be able to do it. Breathing exercises help!

try and slowly transition from eating junk food to healthier choices. You're probably not going to start eating healthy all the time overnight,hence why you should slowly adjust instead of force feeding yourself and not liking it.




I agree with all that,except the part for counting calories. Unless you're competing or modelling,it's not needed in my opinion. more than likely you're over estimating the calories or underestimating,they're rarely accurate. if you feel full the next day,just cut back on the food a little. experiment with it and you'll be able to listen to your body to maintain,gain or loose weight.

you could also try eating 6 smaller meals instead of 3 meals,that'll keep your metabolism running and help with the urge to have a snack if you're facing that problem.

generally just fixing up your food choices would be good enough to maintain a good look. on the topic of exercise,you said you do have asthma,so I'd look for a doctor's advise on what type of exercises you're fit for.

I agree with what these two said. I'm far from a nutrition expert or a health nut. I'll just tell you what I know (also I think it's harder to lose weight as a female, sorry).

Diet:

1. Drink water 99% of all drinks you have, drink frequently to avoid eating too much
2. Cut down your sugar intake as much as possible
3. Yes- Lots of fruits (natural sugars are so much better than the artificial crap in junk food) and veggies, some healthy meats and other proteins, multivitamin
4. No- Minimal fatty foods (lots of salt and sugar), minimal bread (other than whole-wheat)
[If you stick to all that, you're going to end up with a healthy amount of calories, so no point in counting]

Exercise: (I have asthma too, but it's not as bad as most people's so I'm not really sure what you can do)
1. Light aerobic exercises: jogging, walking, jump rope, dynamic stretching
2. Core muscle training

And just do what feels right. Don't go overkill on the first day because you'll feel stressed and exhausted before it really begins. It takes consistency and will power to change your lifestyle like this, so take it one step at a time (ie. for the first few days, just work on drinking water and taking a twenty-minute walk around the neighborhood each day). If you care about being healthy, it shouldn't be too hard and nothing about this should feel strenuous because getting healthy should make you feel good and sleep better.

I'm not really good with specifics like what kinds of foods to eat or which exercises to do (look those up), but that's the general outline of getting healthy (note: it's all pretty much common sense, so sorry if I didn't tell you anything you didn't already know). Find healthy alternatives, get more physical activity, and just believe in yourself :)

[Castle of Glass]

i mean im not the best person to get advice from nor am i an "older" vt member, but i can help.

first thing with food, stay away from fast food joints and frozen meals, learn to prepare food from scratch. and stay healthy, greens, meat, and healthy crabs(pasta, rice).

then with working out, try like boxing, or kick boxing, or something like that. its not running, nor lifting. but it works you out, gets you to lose weight and get in shape. not athletic, that takes tons of practice and time spent training, but in shape. And even though you are asthmatic, you can still do stuff like this. sure you might get out of breath, but my training partner in wrestling is also asthmatic, he just carries and emergency inhaler, but i have only seen him use it like twice, both after a longer run

[ImCoolBeans]

I lost a lot of weight in the last year by improving my diet. I didn't exercise much and I still ended up losing a considerable amount of weight.

Avoid processed foods, there is no reason to consume overly processed foods, they're loaded with preservatives, sugars, carbs, and everything your body does not need. Like Matt said, eat fruits for dessert/snacks instead of snacking on junk food. The natural sugars are much easier for your body to digest and are much healthier for your metabolism in general.

Drink water, and almost exclusively water. I stopped drinking soda entirely, and rarely have juices unless I juiced the fruit myself. Don't have anything that contains artificial sweetener, is from concentrate, has dyes in it, or contains high fructose corn syrup. If you have to have soda, avoid diet soda at all costs. It is literally poison.

My diet became very low-carb. Humans were not designed to eat wheat or any product that contains gluten for that matter. For centuries man was a hunter/gatherer, and then grain was cultivated and introduced into the diet, that's when we started to get fat. Have you ever heard of a fat caveman? No -- and that's because they didn't have any grain in their diets. I didn't eat less often or in smaller portions, I mainly cut out grain, soda, and all junk food. It worked wonders for me. It's really tough to stick with -- or at least it was for me, maybe you have a stronger will :P -- but the results will be pleasing and it won't take long to take effect.

Also, especially as a female, watch the amount of sodium you take in. There is no reason to have frozen dinners/cup of noodles/ramen. The amount of sodium in them is gross. I say especially as a female because females naturally retain more water weight than males do, and sodium will make you retain more to dilute the high amounts of salt.

I suggest reading up on the "Paleo diet" and other nutritional guides. The Paleo diet is based on the diet of primitive man, like I said before, no grain involved, and it really works. I wasn't 100% paleo because it's pretty hardcore, but give it a chance, it may work really well for you. Exclude things like pasta, rice, quinoa, couscous, wheat, cereal, cookies/crackers etc from your diet.

[Typhlosion]

Forget the car or bus. Distance <5km? Go for a walk! :3

[ImCoolBeans]

Forget the car or bus. Distance <5km? Go for a walk! :3

Very true.

Since you said you can't really run due to asthma, Jo, you should go for walks.

[Magenta]

Cheers, guys. So far any attempts at taking this advice are not going so well but I've written a lot of it down on sticky notes that I've put around my room, lol.

I do have a treadmill I try to walk on fairly frequently so there's that for exercise.

But all of these have helpful ideas, thank you.