Need Help Planning Weight Loss

jamesw1994
jamesw1994 Posts: 1
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey,

I'm really new to the whole weight loss deal, I wasn't blessed with an amazing metabolism like lots of teenagers these days, I'm 19, 6 foot 2-3 ish, and probably weigh around 340, haven't been on a scale in like 2 years to be honest. I don't own one. I don't want to be SUPER picky about calorie counting, but rather make healthy choices, and stay under some # of calories... I am not 100% sure what it should be, which is why I am here.

If I'm 6 foot 2, and 350Lbs, around how many calories should I be taking in to steadily lose decent weight (I want to lose 100 LBs this year if possible. As well as how should I go about it. I will be cutting out soda 100%, as well as most non-water beverages(Maybe the occasional beer) I think Eggs for breakfast and Turkey Bacon once and awhile (once a week?), then I will bring some type of small and hopefully healthy snack to school/work, like almonds, trail mix, or something similar. Then lunch, some type of sandwhich, with no margarine/butter on it at all, then another snack-y food inbetween lunch an dinner, like some fruit when I get home from school/work. Then dinner, more likely then not it will be whatever my mom makes for dinner, OR a salad I can make myself. Is that a good diet for me?

Now, on to my exercise concerns. I don't have TONS of time to get exercise, between doing college work ~25 hours a week and 10-15 hours of work a week, with usually 1 day off in a week between school and work I stay pretty busy. I do around ~20-30 minutes of walking during the day just doing my daily stuff. I own a stationary bicycle at home, It is Canada, so it's fairly cold out right now, but if walking for ~30-45 minutes would be good I can do that, 3 days a week maybe? Basically my question is what kind of cardio should I be doing to help supplement my diet to cut weight, quick but healthy.

Also, would going to the gym 2-3 times a week help a lot? The college does have a gym, and I think I could probably go on Tuesday, Wednesday's and Friday's pretty easily, it's fully equiped, I am not really looking to gain muscle, just lose the weight, so what kind of exercise should I do if I go to the gym? I don't know very much at all about weight training/cardio. I guessed maybe ~20 minutes on a bicycle, Then work my muscle group for that day for ~20 minutes, then do ~15-20 minute fast paced walk/jog on a tredmil. I am really just guessing.

I would REALLY love some good explanations and help with this... Thank you!

Replies

  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Enter your numbers into mfp and it'll give you a goal calorie range. Eat a proportion of your exercise calories back and make sure you weigh all you food and you'll lose weight.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    You can use MFP to set your calorie goals or a lot of people also do TDEE. With MFP it will give you a daily goal based on no additional exercise (besides your general activity level) and you eat back your exercise calories for that day. With TDEE you do not eat back exercise calories, they are accounted for in the original equation and averaged throughout the week. Do a little research on those and think about which method you would prefer. A good place to get your TDEE calculated is http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ but there is a ton of other useful information on that site if you browse around some. This post is also pretty educational http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 Also get a food scale so you can measure out your portions, if you do not want to be super picky about your numbers that is up to you but most people find they have noooooo idea what portion sizes really are so you need to at least be a little bit accurate for calorie counting to work.

    For exercise if you do not have any specific goals in mind then it seems like pretty much anything would be helpful. A lot of people like the c25k app (stands for couch to 5k). It is an app that will take you through a few weeks of workouts and build non runners up to being able to run a 5k (3.2 miles) which once you get up to pace would be a 20-40 minute run depending on your speed. Hop on that bike you have and play around with the settings, most gyms also have cycling classes to that could be a good place to start to see how bike workouts work. I have been to a few at my gym and the teacher was really great and dumed everything down for me since I have never done it before. If you want to get into weights then get a personal training session. A trainer should be able to give you a weekly routine that hits all the major muscle groups, show you how to do all the exercises correctly, and help you figure out what weight to start with. That I think it the best way to start with weigh lifting because form is very important and hurting yourself is just no fun.

    Hope that gave you some ideas, enjoy your journey :)
  • Glens_Life
    Glens_Life Posts: 32 Member
    Yea find your Calorie goal and then measure out everything. You can find cheap digital scales for food. I keep my fridge stocked with egg whites almond milk Greek yogurt and the like.

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