i wouldn’t say i’m overweight, and i know that the BMI index is not necessarily reliable, but i do feel like over the years i’ve kinda lost the figure i used to have. i mostly stay at home and code now, whereas a couple years back i used to play a competitive sport on a daily basis.

how do you guys lose weight, or stay fit, as adults? i’ve tried the gym, i just don’t really like it there. i feel insecure, and i don’t really utilize many of the machines they have there since i don’t want to bulk or gain muscle. for christmas, i got a yoga mat and some dumbells. do lemmers have resources for creating a low-maintenance workout plan?

there’s also the whole diet thing. how do you count calories, eat well balanced meals, etc? i already struggle with meal prepping, and feel like having to account for calorie intake would make this even harder. or would that make it easier since i would get good at making the same things? idk, it’s stressful but i’m hoping to take better care of myself in 2022.

  • a_Ha@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Bariatric surgery produced such great (and unexpected) results, doctors and scientists took a deeper look … if i recall correctly, one of the conclusions : easiest way to lose weight is to reduce to a minimum the number of hours during which one takes food, meaning having the longest possible fasting period each day. (I’m combating pre-diabetes using this)

  • Slatlun@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    For me regular, maintainable changes are the way to go. Find exercise types that you enjoy and do them regularly. If that is once a week a first, perfect. If it is waking up to yoga every day, also perfect. As that becomes second nature add a little more. You won’t see changes at first because you are working to build healthy habits not make wide sweeping and unsustainable changes. Generally, I would say ditch the scale. Measure your progress in how you feel and if you are meeting your goals. I keep track of things like time to run a mile, weight lifting/rep increases, and things like that to show myself that I am making progress. I had some random goals to work towards too, like being able to walk on my hands. If you have something that you’re working towards it will keep you motivated.

    On eating, I eat whatever seems good and I don’t count calories. I do try to pay attention to when I am feeling full enough. Always take wait before having a second portion. Again, slow, maintainable changes are the way I want to go.

    As a full disclaimer, my drive is to be capable and have fewer health problems and injuries as I age not to build any sort of physique.

  • lfod14@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Track what you eat and drop the carbs down. BMI is completely useless, my bodyfat is around 10% and my BMI says I’m Obese.

    I’d get over the gym shyness, gyms are great, everybody regardless of level they’re at is all working to better themselves, with many different goals. Don’t get brainwashed by Planet Fitness commercials. If your dumbbells are a full set, you can do a lot, but motivation is very difficult to have and sustain long term working out at home. Gaining muscle should also be a goal, muscle drives your metabolic rate, the less muscle mass the lower your TDEE, meaning easier to gain weight as well as just not being as metabolically healthy. Having a good amount of muscle and bulking are worlds apart.

    Grab the Cronometer app or use the website and tracking is about as easy as it gets, doing it blind is impossible. Failing to plan is planning to fail.

    Good Luck!

  • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Keeping a consistent routine helps. If you got some adjustable dumbbells and a yoga mat, the only other thing I would say to get would be a door frame pull up bar, and you’re all set.

    I do 10 mins every day of p90x, you can find that on torrents. There are also really good youtube channels like athlean x or fitness blender that can help you work on cardio, abs, whatever you need, in short videos. You can do that 10 mins right after you get up, or go to sleep, but make sure you do it every day. We waste hours every day on the net, so 10 mins is not difficult to fit in.

    Watch some videos on diet from various fitness channels. They will tell you some counter intuitive things, such as how you need to eat more food more often, (and think about food as energy, not as a snack) but you will need to cut out the junk if you want to lose weight.

    Counting calories is overkill imo, and a lot of the fittest ppl don’t do it. But you need to develop good and consistent eating habits and meal prep, as well as a daily consistent workout routine.

  • X51@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    I fell in love. I quit eating to fill up the void. Lost at least 65lbs.

  • greensand@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Depending on where you live, it might be a good idea to go running and/or cycling outside. Swimming also helps to balance out your body fat. Doing outdoor sports is way more fun than going to the gym & healthier, too.

  • stopit@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    crystal meth worked wonders for me. I’m mostly kidding, but…

  • dogmuffins@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Low carbon diet did it for me.

    You do need some exercise though. The key is to find something that you enjoy.

  • GadgeteerZA@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    Increasing exercise never did it for me, and what astounded me was I stopped exercising for a while when I started a LCHF diet some years ago. Obviously, I adhered to it quite strictly for the first few months, and I saw my extra weight bleed off in about 6 to 8 weeks.

    After those results I was very loath to go back to “normal” eating, and it inspired me to largely stick with it the last few years, and the weight has not returned. Basically, I cut out anything with added sugar or processed foods. I did not pile fat on but did go for full cream milk, full cream cheese, etc. The “not removed fats” actually give the food, coffee, etc flavour, so there was no need to add sugar. It is not a zero carb diet, so I am on whole wheat type breads and do have sweet potatoes, etc.

  • ghost_laptop@lemmy.ml
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    3 years ago

    A good routine if you don’t have any equipment is to do some push-ups (you can do different types of push ups), do some push ups (also do different types), and some squats. If you manage to make a 100 of each that should get you in moderate shape IMO, maybe if you have fat in a specific part of the body and you want to get rid of that you should do some specific exercise in that area, but I think that’s a workout plan that does not require that much time. Also don’t try to do 100 push ups one after the other, you should try and do 10, then 20, and so on, and doing everything slowly is better than doing it fast.

    • Slatlun@lemmy.ml
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      3 years ago

      if you have fat in a specific part of the body and you want to get rid of that you should do some specific exercise in that area

      This is a common fallacy that fitness folks try to sell ‘Ab workouts to burn that stubborn belly fat’. It is known as ‘spot reduction’ if you want to search for it. Bottom line - our physiology doesn’t work locally on fat. You can build a muscle underneath, but you can’t specifically remove the fat above without surgery.

  • AverageCakeSlice@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    My wife and I have gone on and off Keto/Low-carb diets when we start gaining weight and it works really well for both of us I ended up losing ~30lbs in the first four months. I haven’t really had to watch calories at all as the diet itself will usually naturally lower your calorie intake for the same volume of food. I don’t work out at all as I don’t have the time in my schedule between kids, work, and social obligations. I’m a programmer as well so all of my work is done sitting at a desk