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A lot of people will have a lot of advice, but the simple truth is that the only thing that works is diet and exercise. Being in shape is a lifestyle issue. It

by awj 15y ago

A lot of people will have a lot of advice, but the simple truth is that the only thing that works is diet and exercise. Being in shape is a lifestyle issue. It's not something that happens overnight or that you can do in one go, it requires a fundamental change in how you approach living. I'm not trying to discourage you, but to steer you away from the "you can fix it quick with no effort" snake oil that abounds. My advice: 1. Become your own expert. Learn how your body works, how nutrition works, how exercise works, how ... I've found that reddit's fitness community [1] has some great places to start. There's a ridiculous amount of good information out there. (Protip: most of the good info can cite studies, less than half of the bad even bothers) 2. Make it fun. Learn new recipes, try activities you've always wanted to do, do anything but force yourself to change. After a while the causation between "not fun" exercises or diet changes and their benefits will sink into your brain and make things easier, but to start if it sucks you'll probably quit. 3. Don't agonize over the scale. Your body weight fluctuates throughout the day and various activities. It's not uncommon to see a single day +/- 6lb change just in the water your body is holding. Aim for feeling better (or looking better, if that's your goal) not a number on a scale. Weigh yourself when you start, then come back after three months. 4. Be persistent. You're talking about a lifestyle change here. These don't happen overnight. You'll probably spend a long time being disappointed at apparent non-progress then wake up one day wondering when things changed. Do your homework and learn what you need to do, then start doing it and trust that the results will come. In a world where we can use our phones to identify and buy the song that's playing right now, results in this come agonizingly slow. [1] http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness http://www.reddit.com/help/faqs/Fitness

neutronicus 15y ago
> Weigh yourself when you start, then come back after three months. Dissenting voice here: As somewhat of a numbers junkie, weighing myself every day is absolutely crucial. I know the numbers fluctuate (if you weigh yourself every day, you can't help but learn that), but they can give you a much-needed reality check. More importantly, I got myself addicted to taking data, and the most precise scale I had available was at the gym ... so I went to the gym. You'll definitely be able to see yourself trending downwards.
- aaronblohowiak 15y ago
  Isn't the circumference of the waistline a better measure?
  - neutronicus 15y ago
    I started out pretty fat; I think my weight was changing faster. Probably as the cube of my waistline. :p Also, my girlfriend at the time (a nurse) informed me that a lot of weight loss in the beginning is visceral fat, and won't necessarily manifest as shrinking dimensions, but will make you healthier.
- awj 15y ago
  That's fine, but I would argue that even for this purpose the number is kind of useless. It's only vaguely a proxy for appearance or ability, so why not measure what you're trying to do more directly? Interested in appearance? Go for waist/thigh/wherever measurements (as 'aaronblohowiak' suggested). Interested in fitness? Measure that. If you're running you can record how far you went or how fast you did it. If you're lifting weights the options for measurement are pretty obvious. An oft-used quote from the engineering world is "what gets measured gets improved." A corollary to that should be "measurement encourages improvement when the improvements are obvious." It's hard to look at a number on a scale and say "what can I do to make this better." It's easy to look at a daily calorie count or your post-run/post-lift numbers and know what needs to be done. All of that said, "more effective" is relative to what you actually do. If a daily weigh-in is what works for you, that's awesome keep it up. I think it's bad general advice because results come slowly and when they do your appearance may not reflect the number changes in the way you'd expect. Most people are terrible at estimating weight, much less how a weight change will be reflected in appearance.

by awj 15y ago

neutronicus 15y ago

> Weigh yourself when you start, then come back after three months. Dissenting voice here: As somewhat of a numbers junkie, weighing myself every day is absolutely crucial. I know the numbers fluctuate (if you weigh yourself every day, you can't help but learn that), but they can give you a much-needed reality check. More importantly, I got myself addicted to taking data, and the most precise scale I had available was at the gym ... so I went to the gym. You'll definitely be able to see yourself trending downwards.

aaronblohowiak 15y ago
Isn't the circumference of the waistline a better measure?
- neutronicus 15y ago
  I started out pretty fat; I think my weight was changing faster. Probably as the cube of my waistline. :p Also, my girlfriend at the time (a nurse) informed me that a lot of weight loss in the beginning is visceral fat, and won't necessarily manifest as shrinking dimensions, but will make you healthier.
awj 15y ago
That's fine, but I would argue that even for this purpose the number is kind of useless. It's only vaguely a proxy for appearance or ability, so why not measure what you're trying to do more directly? Interested in appearance? Go for waist/thigh/wherever measurements (as 'aaronblohowiak' suggested). Interested in fitness? Measure that. If you're running you can record how far you went or how fast you did it. If you're lifting weights the options for measurement are pretty obvious. An oft-used quote from the engineering world is "what gets measured gets improved." A corollary to that should be "measurement encourages improvement when the improvements are obvious." It's hard to look at a number on a scale and say "what can I do to make this better." It's easy to look at a daily calorie count or your post-run/post-lift numbers and know what needs to be done. All of that said, "more effective" is relative to what you actually do. If a daily weigh-in is what works for you, that's awesome keep it up. I think it's bad general advice because results come slowly and when they do your appearance may not reflect the number changes in the way you'd expect. Most people are terrible at estimating weight, much less how a weight change will be reflected in appearance.