Enough?

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red1775
red1775 Posts: 22
in Health and Weight Loss
I am working on losing weight and getting in better shape.

I have altered my diet and count everything that I eat, which has helped. I run my daily goal at 2300 calories for a 6'6", 287 pound man at the start. I do not add calories I burnt back in after they are, meaning I stick to 2300.

I usually do 800 calories for breakfast and lunch combined so I can have a good selection for dinner. I gave up on soda drinks, bread and a lot of little things.

I use a Nike Fuel Band to track calorie burn and distances in a day.

During the course of my day I make two hour long walks at a 3.5 mile pace as well as walk an additional 2 to 3 miles in the course of the day. I do not have a ton of time for the gym.

Is this enough? I feel much better, see changes and know it is helping but also feel that the gym would give me more.

And advice is appreciated.

Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Weight loss is not something you need to kill yourself over.

    To me, you're doing just fine. Just remember it will take time to lose the weight, so do not get disgruntled with slow results. (Fast results are dangerous, unhealthy, and almost always come back)
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    If you make progress than it's enough. You will have to adjust things as you go along.
  • amann1976
    amann1976 Posts: 742 Member
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    i could never live like most of you with all this counting every calorie you put into your mouth... yes i measure most of my food and pay attention to what i eat but i dont log everything and say i need xxx more calories in the day or i went over by xxx...

    eat right and train hard and the results will come, dont drive yourself crazy with all the other stuff.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    i could never live like most of you with all this counting every calorie you put into your mouth... yes i measure most of my food and pay attention to what i eat but i dont log everything and say i need xxx more calories in the day or i went over by xxx...

    eat right and train hard and the results will come, dont drive yourself crazy with all the other stuff.

    Counting calories is a fabulous way to go. Most people count the fuel they put in their car... why not count the fuel you put into you? :P

    Really kind of odd for you to be on a site dedicated to counting calories while arguing against it. >.>
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
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    Yeah, that's enough. Incorporating daily movement beats working out for half an hour on a machine. Besides, going to the gym means burning calories you could just have easily not have eaten in the first place. Strength training is more beneficial for fat loss and maintaining muscle mass, but it's not a a must as long as you lose weight slowly.
  • red1775
    red1775 Posts: 22
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    I count calories for awareness so when I go to eat I understand that what I put in my mouth can cost me a lot of working out or I can find a heather choice.

    For me it is a life style change from consumption of whatever I want to awareness of what I need/am going to accept.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
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    Lose one of the hour walks and there you have an hour for the gym. But honestly you can lift for 15 minutes and get the same or better results than you could lifting for one hour. Look up 15 minute workouts.....

    You will basically be doing 4 to 6 exercises as a circuit. Meaning, no rest between sets. After all sets are complete, rest for 90 seconds and do it again. Rest 90 more seconds, repeat again. If you're not damned near dead by this time, go one more round!

    I have been doing this for about 6 weeks and have made a lot of improvement, including dropping 14 pounds, @6% body fat, gaining more energy and upping my bench press max by 25 pounds.

    You can do these workouts with dumbells at home, even. Though I prefer the gym as I will mix up my exercises to include big, compound exercises once a week or so, like squats and deadlifts.

    But what you're doing will work. Eat less than you burn and workout in some way shape or form. If you want to speed up fat loss, don't do it by lowering calories too low. Do it by lifting! The more muscle you build, the more fat you will burn to feed that muscle....plus if you decide to do the circuits like I mentioned above, you will continue to burn that fat for up to 48 hours after your workout. It ends up being way more fat burn than just plain cardio.

    Although my weight is not dropping quickly, the inches and fat are steadily dropping and my muscle definition and strength are making regular gains.
  • stuffinmuffin
    stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
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    That sounds more than enough for a successful weight loss to me! I also commend how you have actually set a sensible daily calorie intake rather than going as low as possible for fast weight loss like so many new starters to the site do.

    I didn't do any exercise when I started MFP and I can vouch that with calorie deficit alone through diet, you can lose weight.

    Best of luck with your journey!!!! You wont regret it!
  • red1775
    red1775 Posts: 22
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    The walks are done on company time so I am able to do those but not go to the gym.
  • hehouston
    hehouston Posts: 6
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    I'm still pretty new to all this, but it sounds like you are on the right track. Many on MFP would advocate some type of strength training. You don't need a gym to do body weight workouts. I have just started a routine that I found on Nerd Fitness http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/. They should let you do this on work time if you wanted to give it a try, and all you need is a dumbbell.
  • snowysfarra
    snowysfarra Posts: 4
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    Hi Red,

    Sounds like you are on track. I always try to find a happy medium that i can stick to for long periods of time to avoid exercise burn out. My weight lossjourney has been a long one, which has required tweaking along the way. If you find you plateu for more than two weeks, take a look and make a little change. Maybe a different exercise combined with walking. I have lost 83 lbs over the last three years, most of it done by walking. The most weight loss has come from counting every morcel of food that goes in to my mouth, along with diligent exercise. I walk rain or shine, sleet, snow. I am trying this program over weight watchers because it's free and seems to function well. Cheers and Hats off to you.:drinker:
  • njgirl50
    njgirl50 Posts: 62 Member
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    My main form of exercise is walking, I do not have the money to join a gym & have back problems, so I do what I know I can handle at this time. I am hoping that as I drop more weight - I have 70 - 80 pounds to go, that I can add strength training in. You need to do what is best for you, we didn't gain this weight overnight & unfortunately it won't come off as fast as we would like it to. Keep up the good work!

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