I need advice. I'm getting fatter. Tell me what I need to do to get back into shape!

[JakeThompson]

Alright, here's the deal. I'm young and athletic but I'm packin on the pounds lately.

I am usually at 6'0" 175 pounds but lately I'm in between 190 and 200 pounds.

I still have a good amount of muscle but it's getting harder and harder to see under the fat.

The main problem is I don't really do anything all day. I rely on poker to make cash and sit around a ton.

I smoke and I drink and although I will continue to do both, I am cutting back the drinking. I have been going out with friends far too much lately and will probably save the beer for the weekends.

My diet is pretty good. For the last two weeks I have been eating nothing but healthy food. Everything I have in my fridge is either "light" or "lowfat", etc...

I eat an occasional pizza or Burger King but not daily.

The beer I drink is always light beer. I like the taste and it's cheap. It works.

Anyway, that's whats going on. I needed some suggestions on what to do for exercise. Like I said, I have a good amount of muscle and can still feel my 6-pack but it's not very easy to see anymore. It's turned into 6-rolls.

I have some weights around here and don't mind pushups and situps if that is the best way to get rid of this. My beer belly is growing like crazy. I also have stairs in my house so was going to incorporate running the stairs into my exercise if I can.

Let's hear some suggestions. Like I said, I sit around and play poker most of the day so it's not like I can't spare an hour here and there if I need to...

The main thing is getting rid of my beer belly but if anyone has any suggestions on getting healthier in general, I want to hear them. And I don't plan on quitting drinking or smoking although I am working on cutting back. The drinking is easy to stop. The smoking is the tough one.

Thanks in advance guys.

[JakeThompson]

By the way, feel free to make fun of me for being a girl about this. I expect it but would appreciate some good advice.

[Railbird]

If you continue to play poker you will gain 3-5 lbs a month. For each year you smoke, your life will be cut by 6 months. Quit playing poker and drink lots of water, do atleast 30 min of cardio and lay off bread and sugar. Go to your local poker room and average body fat is about 40%, you will be 250 within 4 years if you continue to play poker.

[JakeThompson]

Originally posted by: Railbird
If you continue to play poker you will gain 3-5 lbs a month. For each year you smoke, your life will be cut by 6 months. Quit playing poker and drink lots of water, do atleast 30 min of cardio and lay off bread and sugar. Go to your local poker room and average body fat is about 40%, you will be 250 within 4 years if you continue to play poker.

Appreciate the advice but it's the best moneymaker for me right now and beats most of the jobs around this area. I need to incorporate getting healthy with playing poker. Too much money in it for me to just drop it completely.

[count zero]

Get a recumbent-style stationary bike and ride while you play. Build up to an hour a day. No need to go crazy, better to just build up slowly, stopping when it becomes unpleasant. The recumbent bikes put you in a comfortable position where you're not bobbing up and down like on a regular bike. It's easy to play and bike at the same time. The biking cuts the stress of playing, and the playing cuts the boredom of biking. You'll soon be burning 200+ calories a day.

Here's a way to make dieting easier: don't eat breakfast. Pretty soon your body stops demanding food early. You can easily get up to where you don't eat until dinnertime. After that, you can eat all you want and you'll still consume many fewer calories than when you eat at the usual times but try to limit your intake.

[wannabe whale]

Even if you don't change your eating habits==you must EXERCISE.
If you don't want to join a gym and go thru the BS-go for a walk for small jog everyday-it doesn't have to be far-just get into a routine. If you want to lose weight you must cut your caloric intake and increase your exercise. If you do nothing else start by going for a walk and doing 100 situps everyday. Very simple and then you will find out how serious you are.
If you mix in a new diet-you will be golden. You don't have to change everything. But I will give you a few subtle examples. If you have toast in the morning-don't butter it or use light marg instead. If you normally have 3 slices of pizza-have 2 instead and add an apple later. I don't know your schedule-but if possible-eat MORE little meals and less larger ones. Pick a healthy food you like and run with it-you will be surprised what is good for you. If you can take the ribbibg-take carrots or unsalted nuts to poker. Cut the drinks by 1. Try it-to me it became a mindset.
I couldn't walk around the block about 2 yrs ago-since I have lost 120 # and ran the NYC Marathon.

[The Major]

If you train your body to eat once a day, anything more than that meal will be stored directly as fat. Eating 15 smaller meals a day is the way to go!!!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

PS I said its the way to go, i didnt say it does fukc all [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] )

[George D]

Jake,

You need to build muscle. When you have muscle, your body burns way more calories while you're sleeping and being sedentary.Since muscle weighs more than fat, you will drop inches than pounds but the pounds will go too.

[capt]

all you need to do is some cardio work get a bike ride twice a day for 20 minutes you will lose lbs right now. if your serious stop drinking it will happen quicker

[Dante]

Jake....your not FAT....im 6'1 203.....but I understand your concern with you getting fatter....Just ease up on the coke and fries....workout at Least 4 times a week...therx has a health and fitness forum great tips in there .....


good luck

[saint19]

Sounds like you are built just like me. I was 6'0 175 all through my twenties. In my early 30's I hit 190 and decide that was enough. I bought a treadmill about 4 years ago and started running everynight. It took me about a year to get back down to 175 but that's because I was't dieting or eating anything differently. Just slow and steady exercise everyday to get back to my natural weight. Now I run every other day and lift weights on the days I don't run. Only takes about a half hour a day.

[archimedes]

Begin doing cardio before breakfast. Your carbs have been metabolised overnight, and your body uses stored fat for energy. Cardio can be extremely boring, so it's important to find an exercise and environment that you enjoy/don't hate so much, or you're unlikely to stick with it. There usually isn't much to look at at the gym before breakfast. I'd recommend finding a girl to run with you in the morning, or buying a taebo tape.

Cut down on late-night carbs. And as far as regaining a six-pack, I'd recommend a pilates ab workout.

[capperks]

The sedentary lifestyle is your downfall. You need to get the heart-pumping w/ a cardio-workout. It'll spike your metabolism and you'll burn fat quicker. If you gotta do carbs and sugars, do them early in the day and before workouts... the carbs turn into sugar (which turns into fat) if you don't burn it off. You'll find you have a lot more energy once you make a workout part of your daily routine.

[Pete K]

There's always time to do the right thing. It's your motivation that will determine if you're successful or not. You know what you have to do, diet and exercise. You've won half the battle by admitting your challenge. Now you need to implement a successful plan. Best advice? See a doctor and get everything checked out first.

If you're a very EX-athlete like me, my mind says I can do a lot of physical things with no problems. The problem is, I'm 46 and not 17 anymore and I can't do them. I chose activities that I enjoyed the most to help get me back in shape first. I did the opposite of Count Zero's advice. I eat a healthy breakfast, a smaller lunch and almost no dinner. I exercise during that time and the trade off of burning calories at night instead of consuming them, works great for me. I wake up every morning a little sore but feeling great. I lift small weights at home but always carry my Club membership whenever the mood hits.

My brother was a big time Tri-athlete and married a gal who's a physical trainer. They do the multiple eating sessions per day. I can't stand that. Very frustrating. There are a million diets and everyone is different. Just use common sense and start to reduce volume slowly.

KNOCK OFF THE SWEETS AND ALCOHOL. Just give it a try for the first month. Don't go cold turkey and enjoy a beer or two on Friday nights. But curb it drastically immediately. Your results will vary tremendously.

Now it's up to you.

Pete K.

[FoZo]

Count's advice about the bike is fantastic if you are playing online. I don't like his advice about eating one meal a day. The body gets trained that it is only getting one meal and it will store everything. Major is correct...eat 3-5 times a day...even if its just a salad, cottage cheese, etc. This will fire up your metabolism.

One thing that I have heard works for alot of people is portion size. Start to trim down the size of your meals. Most people (overweight or not) tend to eat bigger portions than they need. I've seen what this small change has done for many people, including myself.

[The Major]

shit, I thought they meant 5 full course meals a day. jerks...

[sledge]

I do a half hour to 45 min. on this everyday.......works like a charm........

[brett]

Jake,
Here is what I do. Sunday thru Friday. I eat often, small portions, biggest meal of the day is breakfast( you have all day to burn it off). I really try to not eat any sugar and low carbs. You will get them anyhow, its inevitable. But read the labels. Try to eat more protein. Its even better to have a little fat compared to sugar and carbs. Then I do a hard cardio workout 2 to 3 days a week for 20 to 30 minutes. I do some occasional lifting of weights as well, but I don't think that is neccessary. Then on Saturday, I eat and drink whatever I want. Its my free day. After a couple of weeks of this you will find that on Saturdays you will be all excited to eat bad food but your stomach will be shrunk and you won't be able to eat as much as you used to. I will do this regime for about 12 weeks and then I will give it a rest for a couple of weeks before getting back on. Its works for me and others who have tried it and stuck with it. But it takes a tremendous amount of discipline. You can't cheat. If you stick to it, I guarantee you will get results. Its my lifestyle now and always will be.

[FoZo]

3 regular meals and the other 2 are tweeners...not too small or big.