Fitness advice

Hey, i've said this a dosen times to myself and my friends, i'm going to get fit. Personaly I don't like doing exercise, apart from swimming(But not liking people seeing my body puts me off). Right, question is what would be more effective to get rid of my man boobs and gut, jogging or swimming. Which one would be more rewarding, personaly I prefer swimming as I can keep swimming for almost 3 times as long as jogging. But I feel more physicaly drained and tired from jogging then swimming.
Can anyone give me some advice, if i decide to take up swimming i'd go about 3 times a week for 90minute sessions at a time(i've found the perfect times which means I don't waste my 3 hour breaks in between college lessons at the coffee shop). I'd most likely be swimming with a friend of mine who's getting fit for the RAF.

Swimming would be the best for man boobs - especially breast stroke. I suppose you could always call it man boob stroke

The resistance you get from the water when swimming is very good. What about something like water aerobics as well? that would be very good as it uses the resistance of the water as a positive. plus you said you've got a friend who will come with you. This is very important especially if you spur each other on to keep going.

I would say swimming too for the upper body but if you want to work out that tummy you will need to add in a bit more than just that...maybe doing some sit up (stomach crunches) in your bedroom at night before you go to bed as well....

I seriously have to get fit, i'm fed up of feeling this bad about myself, time to make a change, i've had this pair of 36" baggies that i've not been able to wear in ages(i'm 39"). I miss my baggies. Me and one of my mates (Craig) also take digs at each other(Me "Emo kid", Craig "Fat [censored]"). These comments don't really effect me, just Craig doesn't have to work to get thin(He's got like a 26" waist, not kidding). He has a OOber high matabalism. But if i can get thin, then i'll be impressed with myself as I would have to Really have to work for it,.

I'm already doing weights for my upper body, and i already do about 30-50 crunches a night

you need a workout that will burn fat. you need to get "puffed out". you need to raise your heartrate. Is there anything you would do that's slightly more intesive?

What about cycling or circuit training as an alternative to jogging?

Weights alone won't do much you need the aerobic exercise.

I plan to do Swimming aswell as weights, I'm gonna start off with the 3 90 minute sessions every week. and take it up to 5 sessions a week hopefully. I don't want to be thin thin, I just don't want my stomach to hang out, thats what makes me feel bad about myself, the hangover stomach.

jogging, cycling and an aerobic element to your other exercise (e.g. sprint on the spot for 2 minutes, do some sit ups, sprint on the spot for another 2 minutes, do rest of situps) would be good to lose the weight.

i'd cut out the lifting until you have lost some weight first - otherwise you will find that you put on muscle under the fat and you will in all likelihood get bigger for a while!

swimming rocks because it is aerobic and also works at giving you a toned muscle base

i know a bloke that got a figure like this just through swimming


cole. x

theyre both really good for toning up. start with jogging to get in shape a bit, then start swimming, if your uncomfortable with people seeing you. or just swim, and dont worry about it.

If you really want to get a better wasit line you will also have to watch what you eat and drink....it's all well and good going about exercising but if you are then going out and eating rubbish or going to the pub for a couple of pints it isn't going to be very effective....

(Not saying you do that) *disclaimer*

One of the best ways to lose weight is to watch the diet.

I put on a fair bit of weight before I left Australia, since being in London I make sure I walk a lot and always take the stairs instead of the escalators (or walk up the excalators instead of standing still on them) but I eat really healthy as well and that alone has helped me shed a number of kilos.

I don't eat amazing amounts of junk food, I usualy have a tuna and salad bauguette for lunch. I next to never drink fizzy drinks(2 cans a week maximum).I do have about 5-8 cups of tea a day(only 1 sugar in each though). The tea is proberly the most unhealthy thing I have on a daily basis. I don't drink that much beer, (infact last night I had 2 cans and that's the only beer I had in the last 3 months). I go through maybe half a bottle of whiskey in a week or two. I don't eat pub meals or go to pubs for drinks. Don't smoke.
Erm. I usualy eat something like chicken kieves and rice, pizza, soups and bread, I love melon, i eat a lot of melon. Thats usualy what I eat when i'm in my home, but it's not that often I eat at home. I don't eat sweets or chocolate ever(for the main reason that it really really hurts me teeth). I'm in work 3 nights a week where I may have a small bowl of chips while i'm there.

I want to get back into baking my own rock cakes and stuff, those are usualy pretty healthy the way I make them, and they fill ya up really easily.

Except for the Kievs and the pizza (depending on the topping) that isn't bad at all.

But treating yourself once in a while is all good anyways

Kievs I love too much to give up, and the pizza usualy has onions,peppers,pepperoni and mozarella

My boss lost over 60 lbs by swimming 3 times a week and changing his diet, so I'd say doing both of those could work for you. By changing his diet, he gave up chips, cokes, and several other things. One thing he does to maintain the weight loss is to not eat bread - that's why the pizza might not be a good thing. Not the toppings on it, but the sheer amount of bread content in it. Opting for things with high protein content instead of things with calories and not much nutrition value (i.e. the bread).

Advise for diets is to stick to the healthy food pyramid...don't cut things out of your diet completely (like breads, oils even, meats) as that is actually bad for you...

If you stick to the healthy food pyramid and don't eat anything in excess (no matter what it is) then you will be fine diet wise and add the exercise of swimming and whatever you do at home (crunches etc) then you will start to see the changes.

You can get bigger even if you eat healthy by having a slow metabolism and not exercising....

That is why sometimes diet is simply enough...also some medication can make you gain weight....

Of course metabolisms differ, but, ultimately, fat (and muscle) require calories to both create and sustain them.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that, for the body to be creating/maintaining fat, there must be an excess of calories over and above that needed to sustain the body?

If we think of those horrible photos of holocaust camps were, without exception, all the victims were skeletal; regardless of metabolism, the lack of food led to an absense of bodyfat in all the victims.

Obviously, that's in extreme circumstances, were food levels were way below those found in any weight-loss diet; but the point I'm making (and like I said, correct me if I'm missing something here) is that, fat requires an excess of food over and above the level that would be required to sustain ones body if one were not carrying excess fat?

That is correct but you can not say that is a given for each person...there may be exteniuating circumstances that we are not aware of here...such as medications.

The medication I take make a few people put on weight (I am lucky it has no effect like that one me), women can put on weight b y taking the pill, and there are other things that can also have that effect.

There may also be a health condition that makes people put on weight.

So you are correct in Some instances but not all.

My husband lost weight, his chronic back ache and gained alot of energy by swapping his cups of tea for water. It is difficult at first, but once you are out of the habit of drinking tea, (we both find) you don't miss it.

Small changes can make a big difference. Good luck with it- I hope you can start to feel better about yourself soon, regardless of whether you change your body shape