Its really hard work, but try to stop eating when your no longer hungry. Not when your full.

If you can do that, the rest will be a piece of cake.

And only eat when your body wants it, and try to talk to your body and see what it wants to eat instead of what your mouth and mind want to eat.

All I can add is try to make work out fun, then it won't seem like a chore. I think on its good to get at least 20 minutes cardio a day, if you like cycle or play DDR, etc then you will not even notice the time fly by,

Also, I not sure if anyone mentioned this, as I haven't read the whole thread yet, (I want to come back when I'm ready to take notes!). But, if circuit training is great! I tried it out once and I love it. My school has a gym set up for it and an accompanying class.

Basically, there's a bunch of cycles set up in a circle in the middle of the room. Out the outside, the the weight training machines are lined up. The thing is, you have to go to weight station, then to a bike, then to the next station, then to the next bike. You don't stay at each station or bike for more than a minute. That doesn't mean you cram as many reps as you can in that minute, either. You take your time, but when the timer sounds you head to the next station. Doing this takes about 30-45 mins and it is supposed to include all of the muscle systems and your cardio since designed to keep your heart rate up the whole time.

To the dismay of all people suggested DDR as a workout, I'm going to have to say that it does not constitute as a valid cardio-vascular workout. I've seen my sister play on Extreme or something and despite all that moving around, it's not much different then walking in circles if you ask me.

So instead grab a walkman/iPOD/whatever and go jog on the treadmill until winter is gone. Once spring comes go jog/run outside. It's much better then playing DDR.

DDR is equal to walking, jogging, or sprinting depending on what setting you have it on. It's part of the reason I've lost noticeable weight in less than a week, and it's the reason my friend lost 30 lbs playing two hours a day for a month or two (while eating better as well).

And even if it was like walking in circles... Well, walking is still good exercise.

DDR is awesome exercize from what I've seen. Gets the heart rate up, if anything. Unless you just play the easy/slow ones. Then yeah, its just walking, more or less.


And I HIGHLY recommend staying away from weightloss drugs unless you really have a serious weight problem. The risk just isn't worth the benefit.

As someone mentioned, the biggest thing is just repeating it. Making it routine. Once it becomes part of your day it's just that much easier.

If you're looking to lose weight, do fast reps using weights. (For the person looking to gain weight) In the last two years, I've gone from 140 to 175 at 6'2 but it's only because I do presses and such very fast. I do 12 in about as many seconds. If I'd do them slow, I'd probably be closer to 200. If you're wanting to build large muscle, do them very slowly pushing your muscles to fatigue. If you're wanting to build lean muscle, do them fast. Heh, if I could show a picture of my dad and me, it'd show the difference. We both have the same body and proportions, but he's muscled bulk where I'm very lean.

My thing is I do it every other day during my breaks at work because there's a gym there. The other idea is just going directly there after work but DON'T STOP ANYWHERE! Don't stop off at home, don't stop to get something to eat, just go there. That way you provide yourself no excuse for not going. Once you start seeing results, that'll probably be your biggest motivation.

We could have a Lusternia support group. I'll email everyone every morning asking what did the last day to reach your goal. You can only be excused once a week.

That's not such bad idea Endlessnite. It's good to have someone on your back about it. Of course, having face-to-face support is better, but this isn't so far from it.

probably a bit of random obscure advice.....join the army

I lost 25 kg in 6 weeks and put on a heap of muscle.

That's a LOT of weight to lose in 6 weeks and I'm not sure it's all that healthy. But, yeah, if the army doesn't go against your ideals and is an interest, you could do that.

I'm parking my car now in the Gym carpark. So I have to walk past the Gym to get to my car. I don't really have an excuse now to not go: I work at a university with a gym on campus.

I went for my fitness appraisal and planning session today. The fitness guy thinks I'll put on muscle really quick so he's mixing 30 minute cycling periods with weight training. I'll put in my streching exercises with it. We'll see how it goes.

Everyone, thanks for the advice/support.

I'm 26 - I don't think the army would take me. Although with the recent criteria lowering that occured..

Although, I lose/gain weight really damned fast. If I keep up going to gym I'm sure I'll see reasonably immediate results. We'll just see.

I should take a before/after photo and pretend I'm on "the biggest loser" just to keep myself psyched.

Ok it depends on the type of results you want to see. If you want to build muscle, low reps (5-8) at about 4 sets with a nice amount of weight is the way to go. If your looking for muscle toning, high reps (10) at a bit lower weight is how you want to do it. I personally wouldnt take creatine because I used to know a few wrestlers that died because they were on it. (they were using it wrong and not drinking enough water but still) Personally I just bench and curl every other day and do situps every day. Also helps that my job is basically walking around all day. (I read gas meters) But like the others have said, once you get into it, it's rather easy to keep up.

From a person who has been involved in body building in the past, martial arts, and been there done that for many weight gain/losses.

Break up your meals. Contrary to popular belief the human body is quite nomadic. Meaning it likes many small means over the day, instead of 3 large meals. Reduce the amounts you eat, but don't starve yourself. Keep your body wanting to work hard for the food you put into it, and it will help you alot.

Don't bother with supplements until you see results. Creatine is a good supplement, but there is no point putting on water weight when what you want to see is loss. You will just look in the mirror and think nothing is working.

Walk. Alot. Many people forget that the most basic of excercises is one of the best out there. In the evening, get up, walk for half an hour. Whether it be around your neighborhood, or to the local park or back. Just walk. If you need to go to the store for something and it is a few blocks away. Walk.

Now exercise... Don't push yourself. Anybody that tells you "do 300 situps" should have thier head smooshed with a barbell. Certainly do situps, although any good back doctor will tell you to avoid them and do crunches instead. Similar but not the same thing.

Do light weights, many reps. Quality is better than quantity though. Not to say Raezon is wrong, but the faster you do them, the more you are allowing motion to cheat for you.

My personal recommendation is use free weights whenever possible. Some people swear by machines, but I have always been a free weight man.

If you are serious about losing weight and putting on muscle, you can pick up an 80 pound starter kit from most stores for less than 50.00. If you can't dish out for that. Look around the house. You would be surprised what you can rig for small workouts with just what lays around in the garage. Garage sales are also a good source of finding old weight sets for dirt cheap.

Whatever you do, don't let someone convince you that "this new diet is absolutely the best diet out there for losing weight fast!". Change your eating patterns, drop the junk food to once a week, add alot of fruits and vegetables to your diet. They fill you up with out adding a pile of carbs. If you feel peckish, grab a carrot stick.

The big thing is, don't expect to see dramatic changes in just a couple weeks. Very few people are in the category that can make overall physical changes just by thinking hard enough about it. Some of us have to actually work hard to get any little change at all.

Read my post and follow it. Really losing weight is just as hard as gaining weight for most people. You would be what is called a hardgainer. Meaning what takes those monsters you see in the gym 3 weeks to build up, you would take 3 months. I have the same problem. When I was about 17 I started bodybuilding. I was 19 before anyone really started saying "wow, you must work out alot." Now granted in the many years following that I researched and learned newer better ways of doing things, my gains were coming faster, but overall it takes a long time for a small framed person to put on the weight they want. Procrastination is your enemy too. Once you make an excuse to not work out it just starts getting easier to miss workouts and eventually you have lost what you worked for. One of these days I will stop drinking soda and eating chips and dust off my weights and go back into it.... maybe... tomorrow.

EDIT:
Just for reference. When I was 17, I was 5'11 and weighed 155 pounds. My martial arts instructor lived in the same town as me and he got me into lifting and bodybuilding, as he had his own gym. When I was 19, I weighed in at 193 pounds and was probably in the best physical condition ever in my life. At that time I wasn't taking any supplements, just changed how I ate, and worked out constantly. By constantly I don't mean everyday either. Another bad mistake is people thinking they have to workout daily. Avoid that, your muscle needs time to heal, it is the healing that makes it grow. Workout different areas each workout too.

Monday - legs and back
Tuesday - chest and arms
Wednesday - walk, run, rollerblade, ride your bike
Thursday - legs and stomach (legs are one of the easiest areas to work on more. They are constantly in use so heal faster)
Friday - relax
Saturday - relax
Sunday - repeat Wednesday

Now that isn't the best workout plan, but it is an example of switching around and allowing time to heal between areas.

Forgot another important rule

Anybody who uses the line No pain, no gain, turn around and walk away from them.

Workout to failure not to pain.

If it hurts, you have hurt yourself, and it takes longer to recover.

Your body may ache after a workout, but if it hurts to move afterwards, you have gone to far.

As a footnote, the 'no pain no gain' thing depends on what you are doing.

If you are an athlete or heavily involved in sporting, the maxim holds true. I row a reasonable amount, and frequently the pain comes from build-up of lactic acid in the muscle tissue due to lack of oxygen (high performance over short amounts of time). From time to time, you also blister your hands/heels due to salt water and friction, and you can also hurt yourself through poor technique (catching a grab is never fun, and you learn not to do it).

The pain can also be mental - I spend hours on Concept 2s for every hour on the water, and they've been described accurately in the past as "indoor torture devices that best simulate the rowing motion without any of the pleasantness".

But getting back to the topic. Take it easy, don't forget to have rest days, eat properly, and remember, have some fun while you do it

Yeah, sorry, didn't explain well enough. Don't sacrifice the quality of the lifting to do it fast. When I'm doing fast reps, it's in bursts, which means I'm pushing the weight up in one fast burst, resting, and then lowering with my breath until I'm at rest, then back up with a burst. Normally, when building straight max muscle, you want to have long clean fatiguing extensions instead of the bursts.

No one listens to me.. I said the same crap as gregori *pout*

The army takes you up to age like 32 or something like that.

But for less extreme, if you live near the beach try doing stuff there, you get lovely scenery as far as the ladyfolk go, and you feel awesome and smell all beachy for the rest of the day.