For my height, I'm pretty overweight (Male, 5' 6.5", 179lb). I've been trying to get myself to get active and eat better, but I just can't motivate myself to start. Can anyone help or offer suggestions?

You could pretend someone was stealing your crush/girlfriend because they look better,
you'll get angry and it'll make you want to workout.
Maybe it's just me and my ego. :sadvaultboy:
I give horrid advice I know, but I hope you get what you want. :wub:

Not an expert, but I lost a lot of weight by simply drinking almost only water for like four - six months and walking a lot. Didn't cut out soft drinks entirely, but did moderate heavily how much I consumed. Went from 90 kg to 75 kg that way. Didn't even eat any healthier food than usual, but I do believe the sugar in soft drinks like soda and whatnot is the thing that really bind the fat, so like I said, just drink water above everything else and walk whenever you can. So if say it takes you ten minutes to drive to your job, provided you have one, just leave earlier and walk instead.

I've struggled a bit with losing weight for a long while now - every time I made progress I would slack off or eat the wrong food and the weight would come back. The best thing is to first try and start a regular exercise schedule - this one can be difficult if you don't have any equipment, but simply taking a walk / jog around your neighborhood can help a lot. The second issue is diet - and not the diet where you don't eat anything, but the type of foods you eat. I'm certainly not a nutritionist, but I started cutting out dessert and tried eating less carbs and I've been (slowly) dropping off the weight.

Well, nothing I regularly go to is in walking distance unfortunately. Theres a gym that everyone goes to, and I keep telling myself I'm going to sign up some day, but it never happens.

Gyms are a waste of money. I might seem crazy, but instead, fill a couple of buckets with water and tape the handles to a metal rod. Just as effective. Or if you have broken TV in the basemant, pick that up a couple of times. Also, stationary running is useful if you don't want to run around in the streets like an idiot, if you happen to feel that is how you'll come off as.

Also what do you mean by walking distance? It took me an hour to walk to school but I did it anyway. And if you don't want to spend an hour walking, if that is your case, get a bike. It sounds cliche, but the only thing preventing you is yourself.

I have to lose 10 times or more weight than you. I'm not saying this to make your problem look insignificant. You need to get it in your mind that the weight you need to lose is insignificant. You need to think that you can knock that weight off in no time. It's going to take me a very long time to get healthy, but you can do it in no time. It helps me when I realize other people have it worse. I buckle down and do it, realizing that it could be much worse.

edit: I guess a good way to say my point would be that you need to kick that fat's ass with your mind.

Get your mind right and get into some exercise. Try to cut out the junk food and the soda. Even just drinking water helps out A LOT!

I've thankfully never struggled with weight.

However, I think a good way to lose weight would be to find a few activities/sports that you really enjoy, and push to get good in them. Say you like badminton. I love badminton. I'm not going to join any badminton competitions any time soon, but I like playing doubles with my friends in their backyards. Stuff like that probably won't get you to a slim figure alone, but I think it's a good start.

There's no magic fix for motivation, you either find it or you don't. Good luck though dude.

When I started gaining weight, I stopped eating
But then again, I've been underweight for my entire life. "Gaining weight" was me becoming normal.

I advice you to not to focus on food, and instead find something time-consuming to keep your mind off food for the day.. It's easier not to do something than change what you are already doing.

1. Attract the ire of some angry dogs

2. Engage in highly motivated cardio

This used to be a huge problem for me when I was around 15. I think what motivated me was seeing that all the guys with six packs were nabbing all the girls, coupled with the fact that I'd be out of breath every time I reach the top of a flight of stairs.

In the beginning, join a gym (or if you have a treadmill at home, use that. Or if you prefer to jog outdoors, do so) and visit it 3 times a week, jogging for half an hour. I noticed that people who start out easy and gradually move on stay with it longer than people who start out full blast. Those guys just end up burning themselves out. (You could replace the jogging with swimming too. I found swimming to be much more effective). Also, remember to go in rotation with exercises. E.g. a month of jogging, then a month of swimming, then a month of the elliptical, then a month of cycling, then start over. This challenges the body and makes it keep losing weight. For the three exercises that take place in the gym, it might be a good idea to take an iPod a long.

It might also help to start some kind of sport, or some form of physical activity like rock-climbing or something.

The trick is to stick to it. I've stuck to a workout routine that has been steadily getting more and more difficult for 3 years now, and I'm in a million times better shape than before. Now at least most girls would consider me before rejecting me, which is a vast improvement!

Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention diet. :facepalm:

At first, don't get all hopped up on protein shakes and what not. Just avoid all empty calories or fried foods. So, nothing like chips, or fries, or grilled cheese sandwich (unless the bread is brown). And absolutely NO fizzy drinks whatsoever (No alcohol either). And don't smoke. Treat yourself with something on occasion, but not very frequently. Like, once in two weeks or something.


Anyway, if I missed something out or anything, feel free to ask, as this is something I've done before.

Remember this absolute truth:

To lose weight you will experience large amounts of two things: Hunger and pain. The truth is that the only way you will lose weight is if you burn more calories than you consume. This requires you to eat less than you're used to which will in turn cause hunger. It will require you to exercise more, which will in turn cause pain. If anyone tells you they know a painless way to lose weight, they're lying. If anyone tells you they have this plan that makes it so you'll never feel hungry, they're lying. Stick to it, control yourself, and focus on your goals.

This is true.

I recently lost some weight by drinking only water and exercising. You really don't have to change how you eat that much as long as you aren't eating a ridiculous amount of calories. As for exercising: just start by walking, then after awhile, try jogging.

Don't eat after 7pm. It really works apparently, Jimmy Carr lost a lot of weight that way. Stephen Fry lost a lot of his weight for a while just by cutting out sweets and going on walks listening to audiobooks. I've been doing these things its pretty easy.

Also eat about five small meals a day. Heard that works.

You could also play http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PtvLTZS4Ik whenever you work out.

As long as you eat low amounts of calories, it will work. The more often you eat, the faster your metabolism will get. You just have to make sure that these meals are low on calories. I meant to comment on calories in my first post. If you cut 500 calories from your diet every day, you will lose one pound a week. So that means an average man would eat 1500 calories per day instead of 2000. So you can eat 1500 calories a day, exercise off 500 a day, and that's 2 pounds a week. Two pounds a week is considered to be the healthy way to do it. Two months and you'll be at 153, which is a good weight for a person of your height. If it makes you feel any better, I have to lose around 240-250 pounds. I didn't really want to say that, but most people on here are very polite, so I feel alright.

It's easy enough if you stick to it, when I started getting into shape last year (Haven't stuck to it since I started Uni' unfortunately, JUST starting up again now), I started with cycling and doing press-ups/sit-ups/pull-ups at home, then I started working running into the mix. I got down to 9.5 st at my peak (back up to 11st now), it didn't take that much effort really. I piled weight back on when I stopped though, because when I was exercising I was eating a tonne of food a day, and when I stopped, I kept the appetite.

This time round, since my bike has seen better days, I've started taking Karate lessons, and, assuming I stick with it, it should help, I can feel it working already.

And the only way is to use more energy than you eat. Otherwise you don't get anywhere.

You don't have to join a gym, the main reason I would join a gym is for muscle building. It's silly to pay $20 a month to run on a treadmill. If you're looking to just lose weight, cardio is the key. Put on some headphone or if you can, turn up your speakers with your favorite music and dance to it. If that doesn't work for you try running around your block for an hour each day. If not that, bike ride, if you don't have a bike then I suppose paying the gym fee is your best option and then using their machines to do your cardio. Also drink more water, when you're thirsty hit up the water. You can have a soda here and there but focus on water and cardio.

The only way you'll get motivated really is if you talk yourself into it. When I would work out, I'd look at myself and say I want this guy's [insert random hot bodied celebrity] body and it would weigh on me until I would work out. Granted that would last a good 3 days and then I wouldn't care again but if I would have hassled myself I would have kept at it. And that's what you gotta do, hassle yourself until it becomes a routine. I know that it sounds easier than it actually is though.

Eating certain foods constantly can prevent any weight loss too, but unless you're downing a lot of fast food burgers or an excess of sugary/fatty foods in a day then I wouldn't worry about what you eat too much. Diets matter more when you are trying to build muscle. But like I said you can't sit down and eat for 3 hours and expect to lose weight, 3 main course meals a day are best..some snacks here and there are fine but don't go gorging yourself on 3 boxes of donuts etc.

Holy is right about starting out slow, 1 hour might be too much for you but at least try to do some cardio for 30 minutes and build up, never do an exercise to the point where you can't move.

So to sum it up, losing weight =cardio, water, no sweet/fatty food gorging. To get yourself to do it, you just have to force yourself. Keep at it and it'll become routine and much easier to do. There's no magic keyword to start though, it has to be of your own accord.

I didn't join a gym, I just drastically altered my lifestyle to lose weight, I lost like 30-40 pounds in a month and a half. I cut down on soda (But didnt quit, oh man do I love Dr. Pepper), ate vegetable or light meals, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, ran in the country, and just kind of tried to keep a somewhat routine, I could still afford to lose weight, but now I fit into clothes I used to fit in back when I was 16-17. Really it's all willpower and some amound of dedication.

Do what I do, eat everything you can see and once you've finished walk to the shops and carry everything home.
But then again I'm trying to put weight on

Go on a run and literally act as if you're being chased by a psychotic killer. Just keep telling yourself "Don't stop or you'll die." and act as if there is literally a crazed murder chasing after you.

That's what I do at school. :3

Definitely to reiterate:

Drink water far more often than anything else (including fruit juice, pop, etc.). Drink water almost constantly. Reach for a drink of water FIRST when you feel hungry -- the body does not have a separate feeling for hunger and thirst. Many people do not drink as much water as they should in general. Remember that caffeine will dehydrate you.

Cut BACK on carbs, especially white foods and refined sugars. It's really the sugar that is what's bad for you, not necessarily the fat. Try to snack on things that are high fiber and high protein (such as trail mix) rather than granola bars with added sugar/sweetness/chocolate, or on fruit.

You do also want to increase the amount of exercise you get. It seems as though you live somewhere like a suburb? Even taking a walk through your neighbourhood for a half hour every evening is a simple way to up the amount of activity you get in a day.

Weight loss shouldn't be about dropping X pounds in Y amount of time, but rather, adoption of simple lifestyle changes that are better for you in the long run anyways. Drinking lots of water is always going to be good for you. Cutting back on carbs/refined sugar is always going to be good for you. Take small steps at a time (which is why I have not said to cut out ALL carbs/soft drinks) and know that sometimes you'll indulge yourself for a few days and get off track. This is natural and happens to everyone -- yes, EVERYONE -- who is working towards adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Good luck

When you go for a run imagine that there is a band of uruk-hai taking 2 of your friends to Isengard and you have to save them I did that today and it worked!