So this guy at the gym (who is old enough to be my father) lost 80 lbs in a little over the year and I see him work out, and boy oh boy he SWEATSSS

(I admit I want to sweat like that after all it's FAT melting)

So anyway, he chats up a lot during workouts & he keeps giving me weight loss tips which now seem more like tricks! He suggested I take a garbage bag and wear it around my torso / belly before I go out running / biking. Apparently, I will sweat a gallon (he does!)

He said it's better than wearing those expensive heating belts around your waist (I didn't know what he was talking about till he lifted his shirt n showed me)

You trick your body so you can sweat more?? WOAH! MIND BLOWN!!

He also suggested the quickest way to warm up before hitting the treadmill was to go into the sauna for a minute!!! (Trust me, I tried and I couldn't breathe) He said it was a trick old people used He's a Pathologist so I am assuming he has some credibility

So the REAL reason why he is sweating n dripping all over the gym is cos he is using some catalyst.

Hmm.. interesting

Anyone else here know anyone who has come up with these not-so-conventional weight loss tips (tricks) ???

I am not tempted to try but I find the guy really amusing!! He says he tries to coach his daughter into losing weight but she doesn't listen !! Guess that's why he found me!!! (He has been convincing me to go to yard sales in our neighborhood and buy a used bike so I can join him on weekends for his 25 mile bike ride along this canal we have - I am scared if I do what he does, I will sweat enough to evaporate!!! )

Sounds BS to me. But then again, I am the only one on here that drinks beer and wine in abundant quantities and swears it does not affect my weight loss!

The problem I have with his hypothesis is that I sweat a lot naturally when I exercise because I am overweight and still unfit. And it is normally the sweat (rather than breathlessness or muscle tiredness) that stops me going further on the treadmill, for example. So why add unnnecessary discomfort?

Keep yourself as comfortable as possible so you can do as much as possible at the gym.

Why make things harder? Or cheat to make it look harder than it really is, which is what he may be doing imo.

I can sweat for England, but not lose an ounce. That's how I was at 280lbs anyway.

I've seen people wearing garbage bags in the gym or out running before & it never really made sense to me. I get that it's to promote sweating but why, exactly, is that beneficial? The purpose of sweating is to cool the body down, right? But too much sweating leads to dehydration. Is there something about this that I'm not understanding?

He sounds like an interesting person, and he is certainly eager to help others lose weight!

Yeah, I'm not expert - by any means - when it comes to exercise. But what Rachel said is what I've always understood. Sweat is not fat melting. Its your body cooling itself off. If you live in a place that is more humid, you will appear to sweat more than if you live in a place where the air is dry. This is because the sweat tends not to evaporate from your body when its humid. This does not make your lose any more fat! What makes you lose fat is burning calories. Unless I've been misinformed all these years, I don't believe that sweating is required! I'm pretty sure that if you exercised in 20 degree weather and never broke a sweat, you'd burn just as many calories exercising than if you sweated a lot!

Oh yea he is interesting alright & eager to help too!! EVERYONE knows him by name at the gym!!

The dehydration thing too - I did tell ask him if sweating a gallon in garbage bags was good ? What about dehydration? He said don't drink water to rehydrate, have some shakes and Oh he was anti-fruit too! Apparently cos of too much sugar!

I guess to each his own?

I have nothing to add except......please don't go on this bike ride with him!! People like that make me nervous and it was my first instinct to tell you that when I read your post!!

Sweat is not fat, common misunderstanding. Wearing a garbage bag around you will make you sweat, yes, but that has nothing to do with fat loss. It will make you drop some water weight, but that's about it. The only time I've seen people do that, is wrestlers or power lifters trying to drop a few bits of water weight before a competition to get into a lower weight bracket.

If sweating were fat loss, that would mean someone like me with hypohydrasis would be incredibly thin if left untreated, unfortunately that is not the case.

While I can appreciate the guy trying to help, he really needs to be careful giving that kind of advice out. The wrong person could overheat and get sick doing the whole garbage bag set up - ESPECIALLY outdoors.

thanks elvislover324 - he's a nice old man, I am sure he means no harm but I'll take your advice. I'd rather go for a run with my bf !!

I second this. Unfortunately some people slap themselves with an almost "personal trainer" type attitude without any training - there's a reason gyms require you have certifications! This guy, while trying to be helpful and all that, definitely sounds like one of those people. Unfortunately those are,also the people who end up getting other people hurt .

Plus running with your BF sounds way more fun anyway!

LOL sweat is just water right ha ha it's not like cooking oil running out of you as the fat melts away ha ha. I LOATHE sweating, yuck. This might be a good tip if someone's working out hung over and want to get all the booze out of them fast

The only kind of 'trick' I've tried lately is that 'Fast' diet, where you modified-fast 2 non-consecutive days per week (eating only 500 cals that day). I've lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks, kind of awesome!

What he suggests is flat out DANGEROUS. A better way is to listen to your body, stay hydrated, stay within your allowed caloric intake, and stay persistent.

I wore a garbage bag for a run once. Well the first mile anyway before it drove me crazy. I didn't want to sweat more though. It was a half marathon in the pouring rain, so I was trying to stay warm & dry while waiting in the corrals.

As someone that sweats a ton, I can promise you that it doesn't make me lose weight faster.

That's like the people who "cleanse" and then think they lost weight. No, you just lost a bunch of poop

Ughhh.... I think you might burn some extra calories with this because your body is working harder to keep itself cool. BUT...this is not a good way of working your body. Sweat doesn't equal fat. Excessive sweat without sufficient rehydration is a recipe for wearing yourself down, working less hard and then burning fewer calories because you're exhausted and dehydrated. It is a good way to get a temporary water weight loss, perhaps. But who cares about that?

Exactly. Is he drinking heaps of water to make up for all of the sweat he's losing?

I don't sweat much at all, in fact, I've been running for 30 minutes at a sustained pace and I've only had a drop or two roll off me when I'm cooling down afterwards. Even though I don't sweat much, I've lost almost 9kgs (20lbs) this year so far, and most of that is doing the minimum to avoid sweating

I say good on him if he thinks it's working, but it's not something I would promote myself.