General

Just make sure you're at a caloric deficit. I'm losing weight while eating about 500 less calories a day and I don't do cardio. I only weight train.

Yeah i know what some of you mean by body image being more important than actual weight, but i do feel like i will need to lose some weight.

I mean ive already lost some weight and i have been doing different workouts on different muscles, so i feel like im in a mich better shape than i was 6 months ago and i feel more solid.

By some weight i mean like 10 lbs in the last 2 months.

Im hoping to have some muscle and get toned more than just losing weight, but i know it wont happen overnight and i need to keep working at it

My tip would be to read more scientific literature related to overall health, wellbeing, and mechanisms of the body. That way you will have a better understanding of everything that may happen to you, can make a plan, have expectations, and cross-reference those expectations with what you are feeling and what is actually happening to you. And then when you experiment with different things, you may be aware of changes in your body and mind.

Though also, knowledge can be a double-edged sword. It's like the story of Adam and Eve.

I think you should make body shape your goal instead of some target weight. You won't care about your weight if you're just happy looking in the mirror. It's up to you if you want to look like a body builder, a marathon runner, or anything in between, exercise accordingly. Also, don't listen to the 'navy' dude, he's not a real marine.

@upcomingnerd: bulk life not 4 me hahaha, well maybe just a bit . super late reply! notifications are broken been busy as per usual. Not a great year but i've been trucking along quietly, excited for the end of the year though - 2017 be gone! how about you?

@tyrantblade: All I do, is go hard in the gym. Put on more muscle mass, and in turn, my body requires more calories. Eat the same amount as before and lose fat. My body weight was decreasing initially but now it's increasing again but it's muscle. So I feel more fit but weight as in weight isn't really a goal imo. Losing fat sure, but not losing weight per say.

Big 3 lifts?

I am trying to be healthier and get in better shape, its not just about losing weight; but thats probably the majority of my goal because im already pretty strong and i like to challenge myself to work out a little harder each time than the time before (higher weight or maybe even 1 extra set).

But i also weigh over 260 lbs (i have lost only 3 or 4 lbs so far that im aware of, but i feel like i have also gained some strength and my jeans feel a little more loose than before); so its like 75% of my goal is weight, the other 25% being strength and overall fitness.

@lostmyjob: You don't. Bulk Life

@giraffe: how do i like this a thousand times over

@upcomingnerd: The literature on the subject tends to say 0.8-1.2g protein/lb of bodyweight while at a caloric maintenance or during a lean bulk (caloric surplus), and up to 1.5g/lb when cutting, as carbs will be restricted.

Personally, I have never seen the need to eat more than 1g/lb, even while cutting, but 1.5g/lb does seem to be generally accepted as the upper-bound figure for protein intake.

Edit:

@dgnunch: I agree that weight loss is, at its heart, about energy balance--namely, eating at a caloric deficit. And I agree that if the primary goal is weight loss, the gym plays a comparably minor role (about 20% in my view).

However, there are some glaring falsehoods in your post, and although I understand the gist of what you're saying, they should be clarified so as not to give the wrong idea to someone like OP:

"What you eat doesn't have to be healthy"

Eating a 1000kcal diet of refined carbohydrates, saturated animal fats (McDonalds, as you suggested) is markedly different from eating a 1000kcal diet that comprises a variety of whole foods (including whole grains, fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, oils, etc.). The first diet is full of empty calories and harmful fats and excess sodium, and devoid of micronutritional content. The second diet contains the fiber, micronutrients (including vital phytochemicals that are only found in plants), and healthy fats that are necessary for proper long-term bodily function.

Could the 1000kcal McDonald's diet lead to weight loss in an average human? Probably, but only over a short time horizon. And it would lead to all sorts of hormonal imbalances, major inflammation, and probably changes in mood and motivation.

1000kcals of McDonalds is digested way too quickly. There is no fiber or healthy fats to slow down the digestion of the meals, and so the refined carbohydrates, proteins, and saturated fats will pretty much pass right through the digestive system, and what little nutrients are contained in those meals will be mal-absorbed.

Would I ever recommend something like this to anyone? Not a chance. It absolutely does matter what you eat, if your goal is to be healthy.

"I suggest restricting yourself to 1000 calories per day. It sounds ridiculous, people might say it's unhealthy. As long as you aren't malnourished it won't make a difference"

That last sentence is a triumph of hope and expectation over experience. You'd have to be some sort of demi-god to avoid suffering malnutrition on a caloric restriction as severe as 1000kcals/day.

By restricting your calories to 1000kcals a day, you make it difficult--nigh on impossible--to meet your macronutrient and (especially) micronutrient requirements for the day. This micronutrient deficiency inherent in caloric restriction is exacerbated further when you put yourself on a diet that's full of empty calories and devoid of nutritional value.

As for the Wikipedia article that you posted, at the end of the very first paragraph it says "However, the life-extending effect of calorie restriction is not shown to be universal.[3] In humans, the long-term health effects of moderate caloric restriction with sufficient nutrients are unknown," so I'm not sure what argumentative value this article holds.

tl;dr

You've taken a valid topic, and some worthwhile recommendations, and pushed them to the ragged edge.

Yes, weight loss is mostly about caloric restriction and not about effort in the gym, but restricting your calories to 1000kcals (especially for a guy of OP's size) is loony.

Maintaining a daily caloric intake of 500-1000kcals below his maintenance level/TDEE is what most people would recommend. Anything lower than that would tax the body to the extreme.

At 1000kcals/day, your body would be forced to switch its main energy source from carbohydrates to fats. When the body doesn't get the energy it needs from external (food carbohydrate) sources, then yes, like you mentioned, it would convert its fat reserves into usable energy. The body naturally does this when it runs out of glycogen stores during exercise, but eating 1000kcals would force your body to switch fuel sources not just during exercise, but even at rest, just to carry out basic bodily functions, and that's where the danger is. When you restrict calories to 1000kcals, your body switches its fuel source from carbs->fat as a survival mechanism; such a mechanism should not be triggered for simple weight loss reasons (citation: "Understanding Nutrition 14e" by Whitney and Rolfes, pp. 109-110).

Link to cited text: http://imgur.com/a/IH4Nd

On a personal note: I have been in extended periods of caloric restriction before, and I can tell you that it's not fun. I got down to 9-10% body-fat this summer eating 2200kcals a day for several months, and it was bloody difficult. I was down to 150lbs (at 5'8) in June, and now I'm back up to my normal weight of 165lbs at 13%, eating 3000kcals. During the cut, my testosterone dipped like crazy, I experienced mood swings, my hair started falling out... I mean I was the leanest I've ever been, but it took its toll. Look at the contest-prep journeys of any natural bodybuilder on YouTube and you'll see that they report the same symptoms, this is not something that's unique to me by any stretch.

Getting down to 1000kcals a day--even if I stopped working out and got rid of that source of energy expenditure--would have been abject misery.

What I'm trying to say is that, sure, on paper, weight loss is a matter of thermogenic homeostasis, calories in vs calories out. But only once you've lived with the day-to-day consequences of severe caloric restriction, will you understand just how difficult it can be. And once you've experienced it, I'm sure you won't be nonchalantly recommending it to a weight-loss beginner on a forum.

@giraffe: That seems like a lot of protein especially at 1.5?

There's only so much that you can get from a maplestory forum and from the fitness community more generally. You have to do your own primary research.

Recommended reading: https://muscleandstrengthpyramids.com/
This ebook was written by Eric Helms, one of the top natural bodybuilding coaches and strength training experts in the field, and is worth the price.

Also: read an introductory nutrition textbook, and look up some basic push/pull/legs routines. That'll get you on the right path.

That being said, I'll give you a few basic tips:

1.) Track your calories

Google "basal metabolic rate calculator", find any random site, put in the necessary information (weight, height, activity level), and find out what your maintenance calories are. This shows you, roughly, the number of calories you can eat without gaining or losing weight.

Take your maintenance calories, and subtract 500. This new number is your target caloric intake each day. Don't stress about hitting this number. As long as you hit it 80% of the time and miss it only 20% of the time, you'll be fine.

2.) Eat more carbs.

Eating a low-carb diet only makes your body work harder. Here's why.

The body's preferred source of energy for most forms of anaerobic and strength-training exercise is glycogen (stored glucose aka metabolized carbohydrates). Eating a low-carb diet doesn't necessarily alter your body's preference for carbs. Since the body is not getting enough carbs from external sources (diet), it will be forced to look internally, and convert the protein that you ingest into carbs (known as gluconeogensis).

Eating a high protein diet is inefficient and expensive. Your body will end up converting most of that protein to carbohydrates, or into fat if you're eating too many calories.

Don't buy into the low-carb hype, it's detrimental to your health and to your weight-loss journey, especially if you also restrict your fat intake.

In summary: your protein (grams) should be 1-1.5x your bodyweight in pounds. Your fat intake should be 20-30% of your total caloric intake, and your carbs should fill out the remainder. All of this is in the ebook that I linked above, and you'll find this same information on reputable bodybuilding sites and fitness youtube channels.

This brings me onto my next point.

3.) Do more low-medium intensity cardio

High-intensity cardio and strength training have their place, and you should continue to do those exercises, but if your primary goal is fat-loss, you need to strategize when it comes to your cardiovascular activity.

Assuming you're around 20 years old, keep your heart-rate in the 120-140bpm range, to ensure that your body uses fat reserves as its main source of energy.

Anything above 150bpm, and your body switches its fuel source from fat stores to glycogen stores. And, as mentioned in my previous point, if you're not eating enough carbohydrates, during bouts of high-intensity cardio/strength training, your body will get the glycogen it needs by converting your protein (ingested protein as well as skeletal muscle protein) into glucose for energy.

Good luck.

@caeg: wtf r u talking bout 25g of carbs is half a subway sandwich. LOLOLOL TWO DAYS OFF? You pansy, god civilians got me fked up.

I barely have any days off if I am lucky let alone two. Running with a flak in boots....... carrying someone..... what the fk do you think this is? North Korean gone die.

When you are playing COD or BF bro it's so much fkn weight. When I play it it's makes me laugh at how unrealistic both of those games are.

YOU WEAR OVER 100 LBS ON A FIGHTING LOAD. R...uuu...nnnnn..iiii....nnnn....gggg with 100 lbs. what the fk.

Stop being a weak fk. Train hard enough that you don't need to worry about what you eat. If I didn't have to exert myself so god damn much my 6pack would probably be more visible, but I need to fkn eat or ill injury myself.

compound exercises and keto, counting calories is good
what's your bmi, height and weight?

Me and my marine brothers stuff our faces or we will lose weight due to how much work we do. On average we eat like 4K just to maintain.

low fat is absolute utter nonsense. Don't fear the fat. Don't necessarily fear the carbs.
Fat fills you up QUICKLY. Don't buy non-fat or low-fat products. 10% fat greek yogurt fills ya up so much quicker than the watery stuff.

Avoid processed first and foremost.
Drink more. Sleep enough.
If you're STARVING in the morning, drink something first.
Some people mistake thirst as hunger, so before stuffing your face make sure you're hydrated. You have no idea how much that can mess you up. Drink tea or water, 100% avoid milk, juices and soda as soft drinks.

What really helps is rather than telling yourself "I can't have this but I want it", learn to think "I could have this, but I don't want it". Sure a muffin tastes great, but it'll make you feel sick and you'll regret it.
That bag of chips would be so easy to eat, but it's just a bag of dead weight on you.

Don't do anything you can't keep up for the rest of your life, unless you're critically ill (260-270 shouldn't be in the "one more pound and you die" range lol).
Make changes slowly, find substitutes. Don't see it as struggle, keep your goal in mind. Don't try to lose weight, try to be healthy.

Don't eat until you're FULL, eat until the hunger is gone (you'll find you actually need surprisingly little from what you're used to if you're the type to eat until you feel you'll throw up if you eat more or that your tummy is only happy if it's "stretched").

Don't work out now on a special regimen and then go back to a "normal life" when you lost enough. Aim to change your life permanently. Work out as much as you feel comfortable with. Losing too fast stresses your body and mind out and you're more likely to fall back and gain more back.

If you're hungry when you're bored, or emotional, or you notice certain situations make you hungry even if you recently ate or shouldn't be hungry figure out what those situations are and find a solution.
When is the last time you drank, are you thirsty?
When did you last sleep and how long?
Are you bored? Are you angry? Are you sad? Do you feel lonely?

I find self-awareness really helps a lot. Awareness of your physical and mental state. Remember that food is fuel for your body, it shouldn't be a tool to cope or fight boredom with. And treat your body like what it is: unique and irreplaceable. You would't put crap into your car knowing it'll break down soon, but you can repair a car, replace parts, or replace the entire car. You can't do that with your body, so why risk anything?

I'll leave the TLDR weight loss tips at the top with more advice under.

TLDR: Diet. Learn to count calories. And learn about if things fit without your macros. Check out the Keto Diet. You're pretty much doing it, but it will let you eat more things like cheese and bacon. Essentially you can't eat over 25g of carbs a day, but you can eat a bunch of fat and a bunch of protein. Apps like MyFitnessPal can be really handy.
Sounds like you're overworking your body too. It's best to take 2 days off a week to help your body recover and gain muscle. Also, you need to work out different muscles every day. Doing the same few things every day will help you burn calories but it will slow down your muscle development. I'd suggest focusing on back/bicep one day, chest/triceps the next day, and legs/abs the next day.

I think the biggest thing that helped me stay motivated was to stop focusing on my weight but rather how I look in the mirror. If you're lifting weights and dieting at the same time, your weight may not go down due to you gaining muscle. A person at 200 pounds can look entirely different depending on how much fat and how much muscle they have.

Is your goal to look like a skinny hipster or to look muscular? If you want to look like a skinny hipster, just do light weights, diet, and optional cardio. If you want to look ripped, your fat will actually benefit you can turn your fat into muscle to help gain muscle mass. You'd just have to lift hard, eat a lot of protein, and watch the amount of carbs and fat so that it fits your macros. Keep in mind that you're not going to look muscular until you shed off the fat since you won't really be able to see the muscle because it's all under your fat. But having the fat and working out will help you gain muscle mass much faster.

@dgnunch: lol I didn't read your post man, I'm just killing time.

@upcomingnerd: Wow, you really proved me wrong. You have no idea what "starvation" even is. By definition, it's a way more extreme form of malnutrition. Eating 1kcals a day isn't "severe deficiency in caloric energy intake needed to maintain an organism's life." Especially as a weight-loss diet. When you're burning fat, you already have energy reserves stored on your body. By restricting calories, you're forcing your body to use those energy reserves. That is NOT starvation. Furthermore, I've already proven that restricting calories without restricting nutrition will increase your lifespan; therefore, in general, restricting your calories is healthy (and further restricting calories is healthy as long as you have sufficient energy reserves to lose).

So, no, your suggestion is nonsense.

@dgnunch: Your suggestion is nonsense.

@upcomingnerd: What? Are you brain-dead, or did you just not read my post? When did I say I was on that diet, and what does my build have to do with anything? I'm suggesting a diet for weight-loss..

@staplemory: Thank you. And I agree, if you exercise you should probably eat more to compensate. Although I would like to correct you by saying that it isn't necessarily unhealthy as long as you aren't malnourished, on the contrary, it has been shown to extend your lifespan. (Although it does depend on weight/height. Super rapid weight-loss might be relatively unhealthy; similarly, a 6'7 person eating 1kcals/day is much more extreme than a 5'7 person on the same diet. You can read up on calorie restriction on the link in my other post. Also if you're young or pregnant, it may not be the best idea.)

@staplemory: Google starvation mode for your body. Some people don't agree with you as to it making sense.

@upcomingnerd: If you want to lose weight quick then this makes sense. I have moments when my appetite just isn't good, and I barely eat 1000 calories in that day. It isn't healthy, but you do lose weight fast.

But when you do eat around 1000 calories a day, it's actually quite normal. A cup of milk and some cereal for breakfast, a normal lunch but without too much empty carbs, a small dinner, and some fruits for snacking from time to time. Pretty sure any average person can survive on that.

Foods like instant noodles, soft drinks, and sweet desserts are the kings of empty carbs. Even white rice and flour count as empty carbs, but just not as unhealthy as the first three. The meat that I eat most is chicken and I still don't eat it every day.

When you exercise a lot you WILL have to eat proper meals.

@dgnunch: 1000 calories...are you a twig?

Losing weight is just "calories in, calories out." You burn a certain amount of calories per day just by being alive. If you eat less than that you literally have to lose weight, it's simple physics (conservation of energy). Although this is obvious I should mention that what you eat doesn't even have to be healthy. You can lose weight eating only McDonald's. Similarly, you can work out 10 hours a day, eat healthy, and not lose any weight at all. So, if you only care about losing weight: calorie restriction is your #1 priority. Not working out. Not necessarily eating healthy. Calorie restriction. Nothing else matters. Only if you want to be healthy should you worry about cardio and dietary specifics.

As for how many calories you should eat? You can calculate how many calories you passively lose per day just by living (it depends on your current weight, height, etc). However, I suggest restricting yourself to 1000 calories per day. It sounds ridiculous, people might say it's unhealthy. They're idiots. As long as you aren't malnourished it won't make a difference. On the contrary, calorie restricted diets have to shown to extend your lifespan; and the lifespan of every animal studied (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calorie_restriction). Calorie restriction has been shown to "slow the biological aging process, resulting in longer maintenance of youthful health and an increase in both median and maximum lifespan."

That's all you need to know about losing weight. Anything else is either an excuse, or complicating things for no justifiable reason. (Two disclaimers: First, if you are extremely overweight you should probably consult your doctor before going on a 1kcal/day diet, as I'm not sure how dangerous it is to lose weight that rapidly; perhaps you may need close supervision. And secondly, of course I'm not referring to people with diabetes or hypothyroidism, or general mental disorders, although they aren't exempt from the basic laws of physics either.)

I've been gyming again for the last 4 weeks. Lost 11 pounds. I've found that if you make slight changes that becomes part of your lifestyle versus dramatic changes, you're more likely to stick to it.

You should be in and out of the gym in 45mins for weights. Cardio mix it up, try some high intensity instead of treadmill. Lazy days aren't really lazy days. Your body needs time to recover. 3-4 times a week is plenty.

Buy hot sauce of at least 1.5mil to 2mil scovilles and put it on everyghing you eat. Also walk about 20 miles per day.