Originally posted by: BlueHeelers
I lost over 100 lbs and I'm 5' 10" (was 275, now 165) the safe and healthy way. I lost the first 25lbs over a 4 month period just by not eating out as much (no exercise). I lost the rest with cardio and weights over 9 months.
I dropped down to 1600-1800 calories/day (but with your size, you wouldn't want to go that low). Right now, I am around 2300-2500 calories a day.
Eating
I took almost all of the sugar out of my diet and tried to minimize saturated fats. I would get around 1gram of protein/pound of body weight. Protein is harder for the body to break down (requiring more energy to process than simple carbs like sugars, as well as fats). I would eat every 2-3 hours with each meal being between 250-400 calories.
Cardio
The best cardio for me was using a recumbent bike (like sitting in a chair and peddling, rather than sitting on a tiny seat hovering over the bike). I would just pop a DVD in and 45mins later, I would have burned a lot of calories and enjoyed a good TV show or movie. It is good to vary up your cardio so that your body doesn't get too used to one thing though.
Weights
The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns. So adding muscle through weight lifting can help increase the calories burned.
A few tips:
- 1g fat = 9 calories while 1g protein or 1g carb = 4 calories. So a meal high in fat can pack on the calories quickly.
- Buy a heart rate monitor and use that when doing cardio. That way you can keep in a target range so that you can go longer than you would by just going all out but for less time
- When going to visit family and friends over the holidays, tell them you are eating healthy and ask for their consideration when they prepare meals
When you take control of your body and your life, you will feel incredible. You will have more energy, higher self confidence (even if self confidence was never a problem), and will live longer.
Good luck and PM me if you need any advice or encouragement.