Planning Post Christmas Detox Already!
Discussion
It's fair to say I'm not exactly the skinniest chap in the world, and moving to University hasn't helped the situation one bit (damn Dominoes, Pizza Hut etc with their mega cheap student deals!) and when I go home for Christmas I'm expecting to pile on a few pounds. Had been planning on detoxing/dieting/whatever for a while, keep telling myself "I'll start on Monday", then Monday lectures finish, I pick up my phone, 3 messages from my mates all saying "pub?" and well, you get the idea. By now I've decided there is no point in starting anything this side of Christmas, but while talking to the guys the other night, we came up with a brainwave. Start a healthy eating/fitness/detox regime the day we return to Uni. Keep going until Good Friday, and the person who loses the least weight out of all of us pays for a pub night on Easter Sunday. Sounds simple.
But, what the hell am I going to eat? I know I should do but I do not eat any sort of fruit or salad. Obviously the takeaways will be going, not just for health but money as well. I do eat a lot of frozen stuff i.e. birdseye chicken things, steak pies etc but always try to have some veg every day. Obviously I'll be cutting down on the cooked breakfasts, usually a once a week treat and/or random meal cooked when hung over, I'll be removing it completely from my diet. It doesn't help that we don't have a grill in the oven so have to fry everything. Alcohol will need to be cut down, I know, I'm a student and should be practically consuming my own weight in the stuff, but some things need sacrificing.
Right then, here's where I need the infinite wisdom of the PH masses. What shall I eat and drink? Obviously plenty of water to drink, and pure orange juice for the mornings (no more 3 sugar tea/coffee). Please don't suggest that I simply start eating fruit, I'm already going to do that as much as possible, it may or may not end well.
And next we come to the exercise. I already walk 3-4 miles a day to and from Uni, which has built my leg muscles up pretty well but frankly I was aiming to lose the beer gut rather than have strong legs. I'm intending to swim a lot more next year, might even join the gym, but at £45 a month I would prefer the cheaper options. Any exercises I can do at home, which will help lose the beer gut and accompanying man boobs?
As a reward for any good advice given, if I fail and end up being the one who pays for the pub night, I will personally invite any PHers who want to join us.
But, what the hell am I going to eat? I know I should do but I do not eat any sort of fruit or salad. Obviously the takeaways will be going, not just for health but money as well. I do eat a lot of frozen stuff i.e. birdseye chicken things, steak pies etc but always try to have some veg every day. Obviously I'll be cutting down on the cooked breakfasts, usually a once a week treat and/or random meal cooked when hung over, I'll be removing it completely from my diet. It doesn't help that we don't have a grill in the oven so have to fry everything. Alcohol will need to be cut down, I know, I'm a student and should be practically consuming my own weight in the stuff, but some things need sacrificing.
Right then, here's where I need the infinite wisdom of the PH masses. What shall I eat and drink? Obviously plenty of water to drink, and pure orange juice for the mornings (no more 3 sugar tea/coffee). Please don't suggest that I simply start eating fruit, I'm already going to do that as much as possible, it may or may not end well.
And next we come to the exercise. I already walk 3-4 miles a day to and from Uni, which has built my leg muscles up pretty well but frankly I was aiming to lose the beer gut rather than have strong legs. I'm intending to swim a lot more next year, might even join the gym, but at £45 a month I would prefer the cheaper options. Any exercises I can do at home, which will help lose the beer gut and accompanying man boobs?
As a reward for any good advice given, if I fail and end up being the one who pays for the pub night, I will personally invite any PHers who want to join us.
Is that £45 for the gym at your Uni?
Our Uni gym is £180 a year for unlimited access.
Anyway, how about taking up a sport, something you can do once a week with your mates? 5 a side, squash, anything really, there will be loads of stuff on at your Uni sports facility.
As a student, drinking is your real enemy if you want to lose weight, around 200kcal in a pint, you can easily double your recommended calorie intake during a night out. Its going to be hard, but you really need to cut the drinking down.
Same with the junk food, its not good for you and more importantly home cooked stuff tastes much nicer and you know exactly what goes into it. Dont know if you know, but in a regular 8 slice Dominos there are around 1600kcals!
If you want quick and convinient food, spend one day a week making big batches of stuff like chilli, lasagne, fish pie etc portion it up and stick it in the freezer.
The walking to Uni is a good thing, but you need to do some proper cardio that gets your heart rate going at least 3 times a week, 5 if you can. Hour of 5 a side, 40 mins of squash, cardio session in the gym, that sort of thing.
Recommend daily allowance for an adult male is around 2500kcal, you need to be consuming a bit less than that and combine it with exercise.
Eat complex carbs to stave off the munchies inbetween meals, porridge oats or brown toast/bread for breakfast, wholemeal pasta, brown rice and lean meats (chicken, tuna, lean mince etc) and plenty of veg for meals, sweet potatoes are also good. If you get hungry between meals, eat some fruit. Our Uni has a fruit and veg stall, if yours does then there are no excuses for getting fresh fruit and veg.
Sorry if most of that is teaching you to suck eggs, but hope some of it helps.
Our Uni gym is £180 a year for unlimited access.
Anyway, how about taking up a sport, something you can do once a week with your mates? 5 a side, squash, anything really, there will be loads of stuff on at your Uni sports facility.
As a student, drinking is your real enemy if you want to lose weight, around 200kcal in a pint, you can easily double your recommended calorie intake during a night out. Its going to be hard, but you really need to cut the drinking down.
Same with the junk food, its not good for you and more importantly home cooked stuff tastes much nicer and you know exactly what goes into it. Dont know if you know, but in a regular 8 slice Dominos there are around 1600kcals!
If you want quick and convinient food, spend one day a week making big batches of stuff like chilli, lasagne, fish pie etc portion it up and stick it in the freezer.
The walking to Uni is a good thing, but you need to do some proper cardio that gets your heart rate going at least 3 times a week, 5 if you can. Hour of 5 a side, 40 mins of squash, cardio session in the gym, that sort of thing.
Recommend daily allowance for an adult male is around 2500kcal, you need to be consuming a bit less than that and combine it with exercise.
Eat complex carbs to stave off the munchies inbetween meals, porridge oats or brown toast/bread for breakfast, wholemeal pasta, brown rice and lean meats (chicken, tuna, lean mince etc) and plenty of veg for meals, sweet potatoes are also good. If you get hungry between meals, eat some fruit. Our Uni has a fruit and veg stall, if yours does then there are no excuses for getting fresh fruit and veg.
Sorry if most of that is teaching you to suck eggs, but hope some of it helps.
From a dieting point it is very simple.
Eat less and move more .... as many here would have you believe.
Yet, there is a more pragmatic approach to take.
Eat progressively less during the day and if you can start the day with exercise. Make sure that what ever you eat you are indeed eating a balanced diet and that you ensure you get enough protein - in fact if you keep your protein levels up you will go some way to staving off the munchies as it it protein that contributes significantly towards 'feeling full'.
Also be prepared for periods of no loss. Weight loss is not often a linear process and some weeks you may lose a few pounds, other weeksvirtually nothing at all.
Keep your fluid levels up, but you don't have to fall into the deluded trap of keeping 'hydrated' by drinking several litres of water a day. (a myth so readily sold by the poncy water 'manufacturers'). Providing your meals are slightly 'wet' (as in containing sauces steamed veg ets) you will almost certainly have enough fluid.
If you can stomach porridge then that's a great start, as is beans on toast with a couple of rashers of grilled bacon.
Dieting isn't about starving yourself, it's about changing patterns of eating/exercisin behaviour.
Oh and finally... the term detox is utter b
ks. There is no such thing, you cannot detox your body, nothing you can buy off the shelves has been clinically proven to 'remove toxins' as for that you have a highly effective digestive tract. The same applies to those products 'scientifically proven' to boost your health; their results are unfounded.
Good luck , I think is is Soovy who is this forum's weightloss meister at the moment, not being able to move around the courtroom with the smoothness of a racing snake..
Eat less and move more .... as many here would have you believe.
Yet, there is a more pragmatic approach to take.
Eat progressively less during the day and if you can start the day with exercise. Make sure that what ever you eat you are indeed eating a balanced diet and that you ensure you get enough protein - in fact if you keep your protein levels up you will go some way to staving off the munchies as it it protein that contributes significantly towards 'feeling full'.
Also be prepared for periods of no loss. Weight loss is not often a linear process and some weeks you may lose a few pounds, other weeksvirtually nothing at all.
Keep your fluid levels up, but you don't have to fall into the deluded trap of keeping 'hydrated' by drinking several litres of water a day. (a myth so readily sold by the poncy water 'manufacturers'). Providing your meals are slightly 'wet' (as in containing sauces steamed veg ets) you will almost certainly have enough fluid.
If you can stomach porridge then that's a great start, as is beans on toast with a couple of rashers of grilled bacon.
Dieting isn't about starving yourself, it's about changing patterns of eating/exercisin behaviour.
Oh and finally... the term detox is utter b
ks. There is no such thing, you cannot detox your body, nothing you can buy off the shelves has been clinically proven to 'remove toxins' as for that you have a highly effective digestive tract. The same applies to those products 'scientifically proven' to boost your health; their results are unfounded.Good luck , I think is is Soovy who is this forum's weightloss meister at the moment, not being able to move around the courtroom with the smoothness of a racing snake..
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