I need to lose 20 lbs in three months

PANDA_IHB

PANDA_IHB

New member
My name is Panda, and I realize that I am sort of getting chubby like "Kung Fu Panda". I'm 5'8'' and always have been around 150 lbs, and true religion jeans waist size of 30. I weighed myself this morning and I am starting to hit 180 lbs with my true religion jeans waist size growing up to 34. My wife is trying to be polite by telling me, "Honey, you are starting to get a little chubby, " A cute and nice way of saying that i am getting FAT. Deep inside, I get a little hurt hearing this.



I run everyday before I start work for about 45 minutes, but man, I am not losing the weight. I think it is because of all the sweets I like to eat during the day. My wife made a new household rule that I am forbidden to eat ramen noodles for snack late at night, past 9PM (I love the Korean brands like "Neguri" and "Shin" ramen noodles, REAL GOOD STUFF!) and drink anything other than WATER.



My goal is to get back to 150 lbs and be able to wear my '30' WAIST SIZE True Religion Jeans in three months. I know that all of you Irvine people are really into being thin and living a healthy lifestyle. Can you guys give Panda some SOUND advice on how to reach his goal? I am also forbidden to cheat and take weight loss pills. It MUST be done naturally.



Thanks in advance.



Yours truly,

Panda Man
 
Just keep exercising Panda !

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It is considered unhealthy to lose more than 2 lbs per week. At 30 lbs in 12 weeks, it puts you at 2.5 lbs per week. I would continue to exercise, track your calorie intake, save sweets for your one cheat day a week, and reset your timeline. 4 months may be a more realistic goal...with 6 months being likely. Your body will become more efficient, you are human and will cheat more than you should and the holidays will hit you right around goal time.



You will probably plateau and experience difficulty after you lose 18-20 lbs, as that is the 10% mark for you. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal recently about how your body hormones (leptin, actually) change after you lose 10% of your body weight because your body thinks it's a famine and you are starving. Blood flow to your brain actually changes, which is why it is difficult to keep weight off. Researchers saw more emotional responses to food in people who had crossed that threshold, and also physiological changes in the way the body burned calories. Just preparing you.



Stay disciplined, stay focused, and you'll meet your goal.
 
You need net 1000 calories deficit each day to reach your goal. You can do that by cutting 500 calories (1 super cookie, one scone from Starbucks, 1 grande mocha, not together individually) and adding 500 calories of excersize (not so easy), it's roughly four additional miles of 6 minute miles.



Your wife may be on the right track, if you can find the useless calories (late night snack), it's an easier pudgifying cut to make. Adding excersize if you're already regularly excersizing is akin to egaging in the 1970's MAD policy of the superpowers with your body. Granted, dropping in a little anareobic excersize may help as it'll build muscle.



But I wouldn't listen to me. I've lost that war and fight it regularly even though I 'know' what it takes.
 
Stop the sweets. Stop the ramen. Go to bed a little hungry. Eat more fiber. Eat 5 smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones. Stay the hell out of restaurants unless you're willing to scrutinize <em>everything</em> on your plate. Quit drinking beer (if you do) and switch to dry red wine.



Oh, and watch your liquids too. You'd be amazed how many beverages are calorie dense. Grande Mocha Fraps FTL.
 
Wow, these are all really good advice. I am a Star Bucks / Coffee addict and I realize that I need to stop going there now, and if I do drink coffee, make sure to use skim milk instead of cream. I also need to cut the McDonald's Sugar/Cream Ice Coffee which I get couple times a week. I didn't think about limiting my calorie intake of 1000 calories a day. Yeah, I think 4 - 6 months is a more realistic time frame to reach this goal. I would love to hear other testmonials on what they did to lose the weight.



Thanks guys!
 
[quote author="PANDA" date=1216000737]Wow, these are all really good advice. I am a Star Bucks / Coffee addict and I realize that I need to stop going there now, and if I do drink coffee, make sure to use skim milk instead of cream. I didn't think about limiting my calorie intake of 1000 calories a day. Yeah, I think 4 - 6 months is a more realistic time frame to reach this goal.

</blockquote>


Bad Panda, bad. :) you're a guy, you can push the 2.5 lbs/wk. Also, a month is 4.3 weeks. 3 months is 13 weeks, 13x2=26, you're essentially there. Thinking 4-6 months, IMHO, is a trap, you'll lapse because you aren't seeing regular gains with the 1 lb a week target.



Here's one of my favorite sites. Believe it not, the Government is actually useful occasionally. <a href="http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/">USDA Nutrient & Calorie Database</a> Blows your mind when you convert a Grande Mocha Frap to the comparable deli turkey breast and fresh fruits and realize you'd nearly burst from eating that much physical volume.



The real key thing is portion control. If you're a regular coffee drinker with cream, instead of free-pouring the half & half, try picking up the box of individual serve 1/2&1;/2 creamers from Smart & Final. You can determine how many packets/cup you need and know how many calories are in it. For example, 3 of the half & half's comes in at 30 calories, a 'shot' of skim milk (1oz) comes in at 35 calories and I've found that when stepping down to the fat free skim milk, I need more like 2-3 oz to get it to the 'cut' level I like.



Frankly, I think the French have something, they tend to understand rich food but portion control, as American's we try to deny the 'rich' food to save but then eat twice as much to feel satisfied. It's like the 90s rage for all the fat free/reduced fat junk in the store, they stripped the fat and replaced it with twice as much sugar and gum. People then ate the box. Believe it or not, Fat is your friend, fat provides a sense of satiated.
 
Just have to laugh and point out that the topic title is "I need to lose 20 lbs in three months"



and the reply is from member "no_such_reality"



LOL! Funny! :p
 
I've always found muscle building activities a better way to lose weight and keep it off for the long term. I realize I might be under-qualified to answer since i'm 25 and my metabolism is decent, but I've watched a lot of fatties transform by hitting the weight room or doing other muscle building activities (high energy martial arts, etc.) and I don't know too many who have lost a bunch of weight just by running.



Cardio is great for your health, but burning calories alon doesn't seem to do it when you need to lose weight.
 
Do what Cayci, Eff, and 25w$100kNot?s says. Watch your portions, eat five smaller meals a day, no sweets, no starbucks unless it is plain coffee no sugar and low or non-fat milk, with higher carb intake in the AM and higher protien intake in the PM. Do your cardio in the AM, it keeps your metabolism up throughout the day, and do a 15-20 cardio warm up before you hit the weights at the gym 4-5 nights a week. I had heard that for every pound of muscle weight you gain, you burn about an extra 100 calories a day. I have personally done this PITA regime, and I can say it works. You may not drop 20 pounds only because you have gained muscle weight, which is better anyway.



You do this regime... in 3 months you will be one kick ass Panda.
 
Panda, try to switch from coffee to green tea. Green tea has healthy ingredients and I noticed that I started loosing a little bit of weight from drinking it.



If you drink coffee, try to drink it with Splenda instead of sugar. It has zero calories.



I happen to love fruit and I found that eating a grapefruit a day helps with my weight too.



I love ice cream, especially Haagen Dazs Rum Raisin so I exercise, eat lots of fruit, and drink my green tea so that I can indulge on the Rum Raisin.



Good luck!
 
If you struggle with getting hungry late at night



Drink 2 scoops of <a href="http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=IP-1022">THIS</a> with fat free milk (or water) Within an hour of bedtime. It has protein that is meant to be absorbed over long periods of time (like when you sleep) and I swear it tastes just as good as dessert. I love the chocolate mint flavor. I have many other recommendations for diet, but I think thats the best starting point since most people tend to eat crap late in the evening or right before bed.



If you arent hitting the gym or cardio now, I bet you will lose the first 10 lbs in no time. Of course you could also take .1% of that money you have parked away for a house and spend it on a trainer or nutritionist. I think that would be money well spent if you are starting from scratch.





Just cut the crap the out of your diet (sodas, desserts, coffee) like everyone else has said and that will go a long way in the long run on top of exercise and working out.



Too bad you aren't in cali, I would take you to peter's canyon and make you one pooped panda.



For starters I usually suggest a balance of weights and cardio. like one day weights, next day cardio....take a day off or if you are up to it...do weights again and keep doing the cycle
 
Do NOT switch to fat free stuff. Fat is as somebody above said,

your friend.



Drink nothing but tea, coffee, or water. Or V8. Don't drink

soda, and don't drink fruit juice, and if you do, cut it with water

at least 50%, preferably by 3/4ths.



Don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup.



Do not use Splenda, it is bad for you. If you must

use a sugar substitute, use xylitol. It is a bark sugar derivative, a

sugar alcohol. It is natural, and really tastes good. It is used as

gum and actually kills month bacteria. There is a spray which clears

out your sinuses and kills bacteria there. It's kinda hard to find, but

my health food store has it.



Don't count calories, count carbs. Don't go Atkins crazy, but it

helps to cut the carbs.



Try to finish dinner as early as possible. Before 6 if possible, but

certainly before 8.



Eat apples, preferably the organic ones. With the skins.



Don't eat anything white. No white flour, no sugar, no white rice.

You can have ramen, if it's whole wheat ramen. I doubt if you'd

like it if it even exists. Even I don't particularly like whole wheat

spaghetti.



Milk thistle helped me curb my appetite.



Also, there's some evidence that the CLAs in organic milk from grass

fed cows (if you are not of an ethnicity which is harmed by milk) causes

the waist to shrink.



Do not diet hard. I think it's better to only lose a half pound a week, and

indulge yourself with some ice cream--the really fatty kind. As stated

above, your body will think you are starving and actually conserve calories

harder. Once you have been on one or more of those cycles, your body's

metabolism alters permanently. Yo-yo dieting is really bad for you.



It is better to just try and not gain anymore, than yo-yo up and down.



Most of us evolved to conserve calories, and starvation was common, so

dieting is hard.



I think you said you are asian. Go back to the way your ancestors ate

and you will be fine.



Carbs make you hungry. Carbs make you want more carbs. Protein and

fat are more satisfying. Nuts are satisfying.



I am not a poster child for my own advice. I've lost about 30 pounds and need

to lose another 30. It took me years to lose that 30.



Stress also makes you fat. You don't sound very stressed!!! Is Panda stressed?



Get plenty of sleep. Latest research shows sleeplessness causes fatness.
 
I'm in the same boat. I had 20 pounds of babyweight that just wouldn't go away (even after I cut out the late-night neoguri and shin ramen noodles ;-) -- i totally agree those two are the best!).



I used to eat a big breakfast, featuring bacon and eggs. I used to justify it with the fact that I was breast-feeding and needed the calories to keep my energy up.



A month ago I started eating 1 serving of McCann's Irish Oatmeal with low-fat milk for breakfast every morning.



Several weeks later I realized I had lost a lot of weight.



Somehow the oatmeal filled me up -- after eating it, I didn't feel hungry again 2 hours later like I normally did and I don't feel the need to snack anymore. In fact, I don't get hungry for lunch until 2pm every day now, and even still, I'm not starvingly hungry. I can eat a smaller lunch than before and feel fine.



If you really can't stand water, do you remember bo-ree-cha? Cold barley tea. 0 calories, 0 sugar, 0 caffeine. They sell the instant kind at the korean supermarket. Heck, they even sell the organic kind now.
 
Panda, I'm going to focus in on the fact that you are running 45 minutes a day but aren't losing weight. Along with the eating recommendations have you tried changing up your workout? I know that I can hit a plateau in my running, especially if I'm doing 5-6 miles regularly at a comfortable pace. I'd recommend integrating some speed work into your running (aka -<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek">fartlek</a> ).



I've noticed that when I'm training for a long race I can actually gain weight unless I keep up on speed training. It's almost as if my body gets comfortable running for a long time and goes into fat storage mode. My appetite increases because I'm burning more calories but my body seems to try to store as many calories as it can. For me the only thing that helps is to stay up on the speed workouts - if you're running 5 times a week at least 2 of those workouts should have some speed component to them. Run for 45 minutes but do a 10 minute warm up followed by 20 minutes of 2 minute jog/1 minute sprint with a 10 minute cool down. Also maybe throw a day of hill work into your routine.



Hope this helps! Fat pandas are cute...chubby hubbies, not so much! Good luck!
 
you couldn't lose weight while breast feeding?



Lordy.



That was when I was at my skinniest. I could eat

anything.



Oatmeal is very good for you of course. Lots of fiber.

Yeah oatmeal!!
 
Panda,

Substitute 30 minutes of blog-time for 30 minutes of jog-time and you should do just fine. Just ask Wall-E.



<em>says the man who should do the same thing x2.</em>
 
Panda, here's the super secret to weight loss: caloric output must exceed caloric intake.



That's all. Doesn't matter what you actually eat, doesn't matter how you actually exercise, just that, in the end, output exceeds intake.



The next piece of super secret advice: don't exercise more or eat less than you could see yourself maintaining for years to comes. (i.e. Don't do it in 2months). That's silly. If you do that you won't be changing you're lifestyle, you'll likely be losing weight just to lose weight and when you do that the weight always comes back. You can only give up the Starbucks cookies for so long, so find a way to include them in your diet, just to a lesser extent than you do now.
 
I'm curious to see what your daily diet is for some of you thin people. Would someone care to share what you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday? I told my wife today that I am planning going on a new diet of intaking only 1000 calories daily, she laughed telling me "Good Luck" :)
 
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