[royal1992]

I'm 19 years old, a university student and I weigh 215 pounds. My natural body structure is a little broad (runs in my family) but right now, I am extremely overweight. I want to lose at least 50 pounds. I now have my own place, signed up to the gym, drinking water and eating healthy as well. My question is what exercise routines can I do to achieve maximum weight loss and for it NOT to come back. I have scheduled 1 hour and 15 minutes per day after university for work out and on the weekend, I go in the morning and and then in the afternoon. Many people say to strictly do cardio in order to lose all the excess fat and then do weight lifts and stuff to tone my muscles. DO u guys recommend me doing 30 minutes intervals of different cardio machines such as the stair master, eliptical and the treadmill? Also, on the treadmill, should I run, fast walk, jog, sprint, or keep rotating between these? Lastly, what do you think my morning routines should consist of on the weekends (empty stomach). Any other advice and tips would be greatly appreciated. I really want to get my life together and finally have confidence in the way I look, so please, any information is welcomed with a smile !!! Thank YOU!!!!

[Palestrina]

royal, welcome to the forum. DO NOT USE WEIGHTLOSS PILLS!!! I had to get that out of the way, and I am so upset and devastated that the first bit of advice you have gotten from a forum that revolves around weight loss and health is to pop pills at such a young age, or any age for that matter. This is not the way to go, you have youth on your side and you have the right attitude and outlook on life to be able to do this easily without interference from drugs.

Ok, now that I got that out of the way... Try to relax and not think about weight loss quite so much. It's great that you are scheduling in activity. Being in college is so much fun and you shouldn't bog yourself down with numbers and scales or how to split up your exercise. The only way that exercise will work is if you do it consistently. So if walking on a treadmill makes you happy you'll keep doing it. If you get bored with it though you'll stop so why force yourself to do something you don't want to do?

I suggest you get a pedometer. Wear it all day long and shoot for 10,000 per day. If you're walking around campus you may find yourself walking more steps than that. That's really all the cardio you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle and you need to keep it up for life. Any more exercise than that and it's just icing on the cake and should be done for enjoyment! I love weight lifting, I have no problem doing that for 30min. I hate treadmills, you can't pay me to get on one of those things. I'd rather walk instead of drive somewhere in order to get that cardio in. I love taking dance classes, I despise yoga. I could play tennis every day. Please don't ask me to play basketball though.

So all I'm saying is find an exercise that you enjoy doing otherwise you'll get bored with it quickly. Do you want to join a dance class for cardio? Or sign up for a C25K program? Do you have a buddy that you can go hiking with?

When it comes to the details like working out on an empty stomach or not, you'll have to experiment and find your own way on that. Try both, you'll see which method works for you.

And stay away from too much beer. They do'nt call it a beer belly for nothing.

[LaurieDawn]

Originally Posted by weightloser12

i read you query and i think that running is that remedy which covers your all problems. if you continue it up to 3 miles a day it will lose your weight soon. I have also tried this and after that i choose the best diet plan which can control the health to gain weight. one thing i also like to say that diet pills are also an additional supplement which can be helpful to burn your fat. not others i know but one diet supplement is Garnicia Cambogia which is so effective and it gives several benefits like boost your metabolic rate, cardiovascular rate, give antioxidant effect, and suppress appetite with breakdown of fat. i use this pill and now i am feeling much better than earlier.

This sounds to me like spam. A person who has posted very few times, and mentions a specific diet pill. I apologize if I am incorrect, weightloser12, but in my experience, this is representative of those who come to popular weight loss forums to sell to us and pretend you are just a user.

My exercise recommendation is to look into weight lifting. Cardio burns calories at a faster rate, usually, when you are actually doing the cardio. But the afterburn of weight lifting lasts for far longer, and you get long-term benefits from it in terms of calorie burn. In other words, if you build muscle, your body will burn more calories in any given 24 hours.

But college can be a busy time. I love my exercise, and do it largely for the mental benefits. Just remember -- exercise is not going to be a big factor in your physical ability to lose weight. (For me, exercise helps me stay motivated to eat well, so it's a bigger factor for me than just the straight-up physical benefits.) Weight loss is done in the kitchen, not the gym. So, if you find you are bogged down with finals and just can't hit the gym, keep going with the food plan, and you can still stay on track. (Again, though, the most stressful times for me are the times when I need the gym the most. But those are mental benefits.)

Welcome! And best of luck. Lots of great advice here from people much smarter than me.

[Radiojane]

You need to enjoy college. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let obsessing about your weight ruin the experience like I did. If you focus on feeling good and and getting healthy and the weight will work itself out. You have the benefit of youth on your side.

All the advice (save the first post) is good advice. Colleges are great for fitness classes. Try them all when you have time. Youtube workouts during study breaks and do them to clear your mind. Make good choices with food. Focus on whole and healthy, but think of it as an 80/20 thing: Stick to plan 80% of the time, and the other 20% you can live your life and go out etc.

I'm not going to recommend a specific way of eating, it's a highly personal thing, and I personally have ended up incorporating pieces from at least 5 different ways of eating into my weight loss. Start with moderation and tweak from there.

Good luck! You've got this!