Losing Weight

[bluedragon]

Hi guys,

Is losing 1kg - 1.5 kg per week considered healthy weight loss?

Thats about 2.2 - 3.3 pounds per week.

I have seen some weight loss transformation pictures and some people end up with saggy skin.

It was mentioned that it was because they happened to lose too much weight in a short period of time.

I dun want to end up with saggy skin.

[Jake]

Blue, what do you care? Loosing weight or having that sagging skin that can be easily removed? Sorry I can't give more advice on that because I have been a skinny fit fuck all my life - even if I live with diabetes type 2, I'm still a skinny fuck. But what is it you do to lose weight? I have been training people for years and I had overweight students (guys or girls) that have extremely lost weight in a period of a month, but they didn't have any sagging skin - and we're talking about obese people.

[bluedragon]

Blue, what do you care? Loosing weight or having that sagging skin that can be easily removed? Sorry I can't give more advice on that because I have been a skinny fit fuck all my life - even if I live with diabetes type 2, I'm still a skinny fuck. But what is it you do to lose weight? I have been training people for years and I had overweight students (guys or girls) that have extremely lost weight in a period of a month, but they didn't have any sagging skin - and we're talking about obese people.

Thanks for your reply Jake

My current weight is 100kg and my acceptable weight is 70kg.
I'm doing brisk walking on treadmill because I have difficulty running or cycling.
Furthermore, I tend to watch videos on my Ipod while walking so that I dun feel bored and give up.

I want to lose weight because it helps to boost my self-esteem.
Also, I have difficulty finding clothes for my size in shops. Losing weight will solve this problem too.

[BlueStar]

Hey Blue don't forget that losing weight isn't about decreasing how much you eat, it's about organizing a healthy diet.
Nice work I just love being skinny!!

[bluedragon]

Hey Blue don't forget that losing weight isn't about decreasing how much you eat, it's about organizing a healthy diet.
Nice work I just love being skinny!!

Hehe thanks Bluestar

[MikeW]

You are asking a question about what is healthy weight loss. It's the kind of question only a health professional can truly answer -- and even then I suspect you might get different answers depending on their knowledge pool.

It sounds like your OP question is a hypothetical one. Rather than asking what is a healthy amount of weight to loose in a week, I'd ask much weight *can* you loose (not hypothetically but actually) per week? Don't worry about loosing weight too fast that your skin becomes saggy -- be more concerned with HOW you are loosing that weight and *what* weight you are loosing.

Before I go further (since I struggle with this a lot, I'm not a professional but I've done a lot of research about it) lets make a clear distinction: We say "I want to loose weight" but that isn't exactly true. What we *want* is to *loose fat*. This is important because "weight" can be anything -- fat, muscle, water, etc.

So to be clear "healthy weight loss" means losing fat while retaining (and preferably increasing) muscle tissue. Other ways of thinking about it is in terms of "body composition" and "body fat percentage". The "ideal" from a healthy point of view is to change our body composition: To increase our muscle size and strength while simultaneously decreasing our stores of fat.

Whether or not our bodies store food AS FAT is partly determined by how much we eat, when we eat, what we eat, how active we are (or are not), our hormonal makeup -- and how much our hormonal make up is influenced by everything mentioned previously PLUS environmental factors (such as stress, our exposure to certain chemicals, etc.) *AND,* last but not least, our genetics. So, as you can see, this is very complicated.

In general though (understanding this is way more complicated than one would think) the most important thing in any healthy weight loss plan is your diet. Loosing fat is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

By "diet" I don't mean some "special" way of eating -- what I mean is *what you eat every day* coupled with when and how much you eat.

To loose fat, the one thing you MUST eliminate from your diet is "sugar." Packaged foods (anything in a bag, box, bottle or can) often contain a *lot* of sugar and yet not call it that. Here is a list of "ingredients" that are, at base, "sugar": http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugars.htm. The best advice is, do not eat anything that comes out of a bag, box, bottle or can *unless* it contains only two ingredients: real food and water. Most of the chemicals put in processed foods -- preservatives and so on -- effect our hormonal balance.

So eliminating sugar and processed foods is the first step in any healthy weight loss plan.

The second step is drinking lots of water -- at least 2 liters, or more precisely: 0.033 x body weight (kg) = litres per day. You should drink approximately 250 to 500 ml of water when you first wake up, before you have any other food or beverage (tea or coffee). The remainder should be consumed at regular intervals throughout the day.

Those are general rules that pretty much apply to everyone. You can't go wrong eliminating sugar from your diet and drinking sufficient water.

Beyond that it is a bit more complicated because we have to get into discussing *what* you eat, *how much* you eat and *when* you eat it -- not to mention what exercise or other activity you engage in.

So, what DO you eat, bluedragon?

[bluedragon]

You are asking a question about what is healthy weight loss. It's the kind of question only a health professional can truly answer -- and even then I suspect you might get different answers depending on their knowledge pool.

It sounds like your OP question is a hypothetical one. Rather than asking what is a healthy amount of weight to loose in a week, I'd ask much weight *can* you loose (not hypothetically but actually) per week? Don't worry about loosing weight too fast that your skin becomes saggy -- be more concerned with HOW you are loosing that weight and *what* weight you are loosing.

Before I go further (since I struggle with this a lot, I'm not a professional but I've done a lot of research about it) lets make a clear distinction: We say "I want to loose weight" but that isn't exactly true. What we *want* is to *loose fat*. This is important because "weight" can be anything -- fat, muscle, water, etc.

So to be clear "healthy weight loss" means losing fat while retaining (and preferably increasing) muscle tissue. Other ways of thinking about it is in terms of "body composition" and "body fat percentage". The "ideal" from a healthy point of view is to change our body composition: To increase our muscle size and strength while simultaneously decreasing our stores of fat.

Whether or not our bodies store food AS FAT is partly determined by how much we eat, when we eat, what we eat, how active we are (or are not), our hormonal makeup -- and how much our hormonal make up is influenced by everything mentioned previously PLUS environmental factors (such as stress, our exposure to certain chemicals, etc.) *AND,* last but not least, our genetics. So, as you can see, this is very complicated.

In general though (understanding this is way more complicated than one would think) the most important thing in any healthy weight loss plan is your diet. Loosing fat is 80% diet and 20% exercise.

By "diet" I don't mean some "special" way of eating -- what I mean is *what you eat every day* coupled with when and how much you eat.

To loose fat, the one thing you MUST eliminate from your diet is "sugar." Packaged foods (anything in a bag, box, bottle or can) often contain a *lot* of sugar and yet not call it that. Here is a list of "ingredients" that are, at base, "sugar": http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/sugars.htm. The best advice is, do not eat anything that comes out of a bag, box, bottle or can *unless* it contains only two ingredients: real food and water. Most of the chemicals put in processed foods -- preservatives and so on -- effect our hormonal balance.

So eliminating sugar and processed foods is the first step in any healthy weight loss plan.

The second step is drinking lots of water -- at least 2 liters, or more precisely: 0.033 x body weight (kg) = litres per day. You should drink approximately 250 to 500 ml of water when you first wake up, before you have any other food or beverage (tea or coffee). The remainder should be consumed at regular intervals throughout the day.

Those are general rules that pretty much apply to everyone. You can't go wrong eliminating sugar from your diet and drinking sufficient water.

Beyond that it is a bit more complicated because we have to get into discussing *what* you eat, *how much* you eat and *when* you eat it -- not to mention what exercise or other activity you engage in.

So, what DO you eat, bluedragon?

Thnks for your reply MikeW

Breakfast, I have oats porridge mostly. Once in a while noodles

Lunch: Its rice and 2 portions of vegetable

Dinner: Sandwich or some local steamed food

Plus I eat 5 types of fruits everyday.

[MikeW]

Thnks for your reply MikeW

Breakfast, I have oats porridge mostly. Once in a while noodles

Lunch: Its rice and 2 portions of vegetable

Dinner: Sandwich or some local steamed food

Plus I eat 5 types of fruits everyday.

Ok, well, so far it looks like your diet is mostly carbohydrates. You understand that food is either carbohydrates, proteins or fats? Oats, noodles, bread, vegetables, fruits -- all these are mostly carbohydrates. (I have to say "mostly" because, take vegetables for example, they may also contain fats and proteins -- but the majority of their molecules are carbohydrates, not proteins or fats.)

Speaking very simplistically, carbohydrates are "sugars" that get broken down inside our body to be used by our muscles as fuel. If you consume more carbohydrates than your body *needs* to burn, the excess energy will automatically get stored in fat cells. (This is the body's way of protecting itself against times when there is very little food -- it uses up the stored energy in the fat cells.)

This could get really complicated because carbohydrates from different sources are handled differently in our body.

For example, SUGAR -- white table sugar, usually made from sugar cain -- is a very refined "simple" carbohydrate. The sap from the cain has been boiled and filtered so everything else that was in the sap has been removed. So what you have is something like very high-octane super fuel. It goes into the body and is almost instantly turned into energy. This is PERFECT if you're right in the middle of running a race and starting to feel tired. But, what if the body doesn't NEED that energy -- what if you're just sitting around looking at a computer -- right at that moment? What is it going to do with it? Well, it will store most of it in fat cells.

But obviously oatmeal and vegetables -- although they are carbohydrates -- aren't "refined" -- their molecules haven't been "simplified" the way raw cain sugar has. They are still "packaged" (so to speak) with other molecules, fiber for example. So, these carbohydrates are digested much more slowly. So, when you eat oatmeal in the morning you're giving your body a staple of fuel that it can use as you move around doing things until your next meal -- when you refuel.

See how this works (sort of?)? I wish it were simpler. Believe me, I truly do.

One thing you didn't mention is what you drink... Do you drink sodas? (for example) or beer? If so, these also have a lot of carbohydrates -- simple sugars. I'd highly recommend eliminating them completely.

So -- from what little I know so far it looks like you're eating too many carbohydrates relative to the amount of activity you're engaged in -- and thus you've been gaining fat.

So -- what to do, what to do!

[bluedragon]

Ok, well, so far it looks like your diet is mostly carbohydrates. You understand that food is either carbohydrates, proteins or fats? Oats, noodles, bread, vegetables, fruits -- all these are mostly carbohydrates. (I have to say "mostly" because, take vegetables for example, they may also contain fats and proteins -- but the majority of their molecules are carbohydrates, not proteins or fats.)

Speaking very simplistically, carbohydrates are "sugars" that get broken down inside our body to be used by our muscles as fuel. If you consume more carbohydrates than your body *needs* to burn, the excess energy will automatically get stored in fat cells. (This is the body's way of protecting itself against times when there is very little food -- it uses up the stored energy in the fat cells.)

This could get really complicated because carbohydrates from different sources are handled differently in our body.

For example, SUGAR -- white table sugar, usually made from sugar cain -- is a very refined "simple" carbohydrate. The sap from the cain has been boiled and filtered so everything else that was in the sap has been removed. So what you have is something like very high-octane super fuel. It goes into the body and is almost instantly turned into energy. This is PERFECT if you're right in the middle of running a race and starting to feel tired. But, what if the body doesn't NEED that energy -- what if you're just sitting around looking at a computer -- right at that moment? What is it going to do with it? Well, it will store most of it in fat cells.

But obviously oatmeal and vegetables -- although they are carbohydrates -- aren't "refined" -- their molecules haven't been "simplified" the way raw cain sugar has. They are still "packaged" (so to speak) with other molecules, fiber for example. So, these carbohydrates are digested much more slowly. So, when you eat oatmeal in the morning you're giving your body a staple of fuel that it can use as you move around doing things until your next meal -- when you refuel.

See how this works (sort of?)? I wish it were simpler. Believe me, I truly do.

One thing you didn't mention is what you drink... Do you drink sodas? (for example) or beer? If so, these also have a lot of carbohydrates -- simple sugars. I'd highly recommend eliminating them completely.

So -- from what little I know so far it looks like you're eating too many carbohydrates relative to the amount of activity you're engaged in -- and thus you've been gaining fat.

So -- what to do, what to do!

Thanks again

I will have to make some changes to my diet then.

I used to drink Coke and sweetened fruit juices. But now I have cut them down.

Nope, I dun drink beer.

[MikeW]

Thanks again

I will have to make some changes to my diet then.

I used to drink Coke and sweetened fruit juices. But now I have cut them down.

Nope, I dun drink beer.

Yes, but you also need to educate yourself so you know what you are doing and why. Or, at least have a general idea.

My guess from what you've written is you need to 1) include more proteins and healthy fats in your diet; 2) reduce the amount of carbohydrates you're consuming -- especially the simpler ones such as fruits. Fruits are good for you but they are better used as snacks when you need a quick energy pick-me-up. Do not drink fruit juices. Fruit in its natural state has a lot of fiber which makes the carbs digest more slowly, a good thing plus we need fiber in our diet. Juices are basically just "sugar" -- with, perhaps, some vitamins and minerals. In any case, eat whole fruit. Increase your protein (usually meat) intake. Try to reduce the amount of carbohydrates (such as rice) that you consume relative to proteins and fats.

Why don't you do an experiment? I don't care HOW you do it -- run 5 miles a day, starve yourself -- whatever you want. But the experiment is this -- trying your hardest through any means you can, find out how much 'weight' you CAN loose in one week. So, tomorrow morning weigh yourself -- but don't weigh yourself again for seven days. And in the mean time, try your damnedest to loose as much weight as you possibly can by any means you can think of.

Note this is just an experiment -- I'm NOT suggesting you keep whatever you do up for more than 7 days. We just want to see what happens when you do something extreme.

Also, take careful notes of WHAT you do exactly -- what you eat, when, how much -- what you do, when, how much -- etc.

Seriously, it will be interesting.