New here, need some advice/tips

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post it, apologies if not. However i really need to lose weight. I'm 20 years old, 6'4 and around 300 pounds. My main problem is not really eating lots of junk food, but drinking fizzy drinks (no alcohol) and doing nothing all day. Theres no gym with a 8 mile radius so thats not an option so if anyone had tips for home work-out then that'd be great. Also does anyone recommend things to drink in place of fizzy drinks? i tried water but it's so bland and i've been told that diet versions of drinks prevent weight loss(??). One more question i have, is if i made a significant weight loss of around 100 lbs in just over a year, would i have alot of loose skin? as that would really be off putting. Cheers guys, appreciate it

Replies

  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Diet soda doesn't prevent weight loss. Excess calories prevents weight loss. As far as replacement drinks go, I would suggest maybe trying flavored water or tea? And give water another chance - it may take some time to get used to.

    As far as at-home workouts go, check out "You Are Your Own Gym" or "Convict Conditioning". Both are great at-home, body-weight programs. You can also get a free couch-to-5-k running app and start doing that for cardio. Or just go for walks. Anything to get moving.

    You could potentially have loose skin. I'm not an expert on that, but a lot of people seem to deal with it. But, I'd rather have loose skin that the potential medical issues associated with obesity. Just a thought.
  • dramaqueen45
    dramaqueen45 Posts: 1,009 Member
    Yeah I agree that diet drinks don't cause weight gain, but I've heard/read that people often overeat when they drink diet drinks because they believe that they can afford to eat more. It also seems to make people addicted to the sweet taste in drinks, hence you not liking water. I do know that diet drinks have come a LONG way since I was a teen and they actually don't taste diet anymore. In any case, water is best for you and will help flush out sodium, etc. As for workouts, you can find many free ones on youtube- play around with the it and see what you enjoy- zumba, dance, aerobics, pilates, yoga, etc. If the weather is nice, get outside and find something you love to do- walk, run, invest in a bicycle- find something fun! I ride a recumbent trike- it's very easy on the back and it has a nice large seat. I can now ride up to 20 miles without a problem which is something I never thought I could do. Have fun and hope you find success!!
  • misaosmith
    misaosmith Posts: 5 Member
    To answer your question about diet drinks is it doesn't cause weight gain, it PREVENTS weight loss. Diet soda basically bloats your fat cells and aids your body to essentially hold water, not just because of the contents within the drink but because most people don't drink water with their soda. For every cup of soda you drink, you should force yourself to drink at least one cup of water. Also, there are a lot of soda alternatives, one that I found was Stevia soda. It's zero calories and only that way because it's made with stevia(a natural sugar replacement derived from a plant.) It's not as sweet tasting as soda but it's a really great replacement if you can beat it. If you're addicted to soda, I would just slowly take yourself off of it. That's what I had to do and now I maybe have a soda or two a week, if not none. Once you get yourself off sugar for the most part, it gets a lot easier. I slowly just had to replace things, so if I wanted a coffee drink I got it with sugar free syrup, if I wanted a soda I drank stevia soda. At first it wasn't easy, because it is not the exact taste of like a Dr. Pepper but after about 30 days you are so used to it it doesn't matter. For work outs, you can do any of Jillian Michaels videos, or Nike Training Club has some great material!
  • Tea_Mistress
    Tea_Mistress Posts: 105 Member
    I've lost tons of weight drinking diet drinks somewhat regularly.
    Also agree about giving water another chance, you do get used to it :)
  • Thanks for the tips guys, i guess i was told wrongly on diet drinks. I'll have to try some instead of full fat/sugar ones. Is losing 2+lb actually possible for someone 6'4 and 300lb? i found something online called Insanity but that looks way too hard for someone at my level yet
  • ellie0213
    ellie0213 Posts: 516 Member
    Hey -- soda of any kind is not going to help with weight loss -- you can google the studies on that. Loose skin takes time but it goes away. Happy to help. If you need motivation add me.