Losing weight (aka fat) or GAINING weight (aka muscle) ? ;)
First thing to realise is, that these two aims cannot easily be reached with the same training regime. Burning fat requires another approach than rapidly building muscle.
I'll skip the building muscle part, as I have no exp whatsoever with that, but I can share some advice on how to lose about 100 pounds... :rolleyes:
First general advice, as a biologist, former medical researcher and general enemy of ripoff schemes: completely ditch all vitamin pills. NO citizen in any industrialised western nation with access to a normal supermarket has ANY need for artificial vitamin supplements. A healthy and diverse diet will suffice 100%. Some fruit and vegetables, a balanced diet that includes milk, meat in moderation, the occasional fish dish and high quality oil and you will consume ALL necessary vitamins and minerals in abundance.
More does not help at all, and there are some vitamins where an overdose is actually detrimental to your health (too much A for example causes osteoporosis).
The effect of coffee is a pretty complex one, and I think on average it neither helps nor hinders. Too much of it (more than 5 cups a day) is generally not recommended. SAme for the water: I think it's a generally wise approsach to, when in doubt, listen to the people first who recommend the middle approach ;)
The most primitive key to lose weight, is simply that you have to burn more calories than you consume. No other approch, no matter what ads promise, has ever worked in the long term to my knowledge. Frankly, no human body I found so far violates the two main laws of thermodynamics :P
The first thing your body will use up, though, are the glycogen deposits in your liver. Only after a loger period of time will the organism switch to actually burning fat. Thus, burning fat generally requires longer periods of workout, with a moderate strain. Sprints don't burn fat, and when you have sore muscles after the workout you overdid it. In that case the body took the muscle's own emergency supply, not fat cells.
Swimming, jogging and bicycling are generally better for weight loss than workout with weights. An hour, two or better 3 times a week will do. Half an hour every single day is even better.
In your diet, reduce calory input a bit, but not too drastic. At your age you'll probably need about 2500-2700 calories a day for normal upkeep. 3000 with some workout. Reducing this to 2000 will already have an effect in the long run, and make it easier to keep it after after you reach your goal. A well balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, enough fibers and unsaturated fatty acids will go a a long way. Don't fall for some "low carb" or other schemes. Fashion crazes with dangerous side effects :wacko:
Chicken is overrated IMO, ANY meat (in moderation) with a low fat content is OK. Tuna isn't ideal acually, as far as fish goes, it's a pretty fat one ;)
Balanced, 2000 or maybe 1800 calories a day (tables are easily available) and choosing things that you actually LIKE (with some help from a calory table) will work much better than supplements, tricks or advertised shortcuts.
YOu'll see, success comes pretty easy - and long term that way ;)
First thing to realise is, that these two aims cannot easily be reached with the same training regime. Burning fat requires another approach than rapidly building muscle.
I'll skip the building muscle part, as I have no exp whatsoever with that, but I can share some advice on how to lose about 100 pounds... :rolleyes:
First general advice, as a biologist, former medical researcher and general enemy of ripoff schemes: completely ditch all vitamin pills. NO citizen in any industrialised western nation with access to a normal supermarket has ANY need for artificial vitamin supplements. A healthy and diverse diet will suffice 100%. Some fruit and vegetables, a balanced diet that includes milk, meat in moderation, the occasional fish dish and high quality oil and you will consume ALL necessary vitamins and minerals in abundance.
More does not help at all, and there are some vitamins where an overdose is actually detrimental to your health (too much A for example causes osteoporosis).
The effect of coffee is a pretty complex one, and I think on average it neither helps nor hinders. Too much of it (more than 5 cups a day) is generally not recommended. SAme for the water: I think it's a generally wise approsach to, when in doubt, listen to the people first who recommend the middle approach ;)
The most primitive key to lose weight, is simply that you have to burn more calories than you consume. No other approch, no matter what ads promise, has ever worked in the long term to my knowledge. Frankly, no human body I found so far violates the two main laws of thermodynamics :P
The first thing your body will use up, though, are the glycogen deposits in your liver. Only after a loger period of time will the organism switch to actually burning fat. Thus, burning fat generally requires longer periods of workout, with a moderate strain. Sprints don't burn fat, and when you have sore muscles after the workout you overdid it. In that case the body took the muscle's own emergency supply, not fat cells.
Swimming, jogging and bicycling are generally better for weight loss than workout with weights. An hour, two or better 3 times a week will do. Half an hour every single day is even better.
In your diet, reduce calory input a bit, but not too drastic. At your age you'll probably need about 2500-2700 calories a day for normal upkeep. 3000 with some workout. Reducing this to 2000 will already have an effect in the long run, and make it easier to keep it after after you reach your goal. A well balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, enough fibers and unsaturated fatty acids will go a a long way. Don't fall for some "low carb" or other schemes. Fashion crazes with dangerous side effects :wacko:
Chicken is overrated IMO, ANY meat (in moderation) with a low fat content is OK. Tuna isn't ideal acually, as far as fish goes, it's a pretty fat one ;)
Balanced, 2000 or maybe 1800 calories a day (tables are easily available) and choosing things that you actually LIKE (with some help from a calory table) will work much better than supplements, tricks or advertised shortcuts.
YOu'll see, success comes pretty easy - and long term that way ;)
With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince...
With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D. ...
and still keep the frog you started with.