to lose weight?

[Foenix]

I'm 19 years old, soon to be 20, male at 5 foot 11 inches and 11 stone 8 (I believe that is 162 pounds?) and I'm desperate to get to 11 stone (154 pounds) as quickly as possible. According to my BMI I'm healthy, but I feel I'm overweight and I don't look slim at all.

 

I was an extremely active child until I was about 14 then I became a stay-in-and-read-alone-loner and come 16 or so I noticed myself to not be as skinny as I once was and so began a series of starving and binging. I would literally eat as much as I wanted of anything for weeks and my weight never shifted, likewise on the opposite side of it, I would eat an extremely little amount and not shift up or down.

 

I've never had a regular diet or sleep cycle and never been a breakfast eater ever in my life but most recently I tried to stop the starving and binging cycle by forcing myself to eat a slice of toast in the morning and then a tin of soup and another slice of bread with that at 5pm. After a few weeks or so I found no change and I read so much about people eating MORE than that and losing a pound or two a week, even my sisters have managed to lose weight by simply eating less than they used to, but still more than what I eat, with no exercise.

 

While doing this "diet" I was walking 2 hours a day to and from work, on my feet for atleast another 5, sometimes more.

 

I bought a treadmill yesterday which should arrive in a few weeks, I'm feeling like cardio is my last hope, and I'm really hoping to lose it on my thighs. I'm not hoping to tone up or get ripped, I want to be skinny and I've read so much about how cardio with low calorie intake can reduce muscle mass aswell as weight? But I'm just feeling a little fed up at the moment, no matter what I eat, alot or a little I don't seem to change, for better or worse. What's to say I'll lose weight with running an hour or 2 a day? And knowing my luck my legs will probably just get bulkier.

 

All info on weight loss and diets I've ever found are always conflicting, this is the first time I've ever asked other people what to do so I probably sound incredibly naive on how weight loss works, please excuse that and I'd appreciate any help.

[Emilia]

Why do you want to get skinny?

 

Running won't get you bulky, long distance especially gets you fairly skinny as you burn a lot of fat as you increase your stamina. Long distance running also discourages building bulk since it's hard to carry it around and also because the type of muscles you build (slow twich muscles), just look at marathon runners, you can see what they look like.

 

Sprinters are usually larger because they have to build fast twitch muscles that allows them to convert strength to power. The blood supply and structure of these muscles for faster running are different from the slow twich ones you build for long distance, therefore they are bulkier. They often weight train too.

 

So if for some bizarre reason you want to get skinny, just run lots. Interval training will help you shed pounds in no time (ie intensity).

 

If you want to have some visible muscles left however and look healthy, you need to have a balanced protein and carb rich diet and start lifting heavy weights.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Emilia

[Imported]

Do you have @zero muscle mass? Skin and bones with a pot belly? I don't understand 5'11" 162 and fat.

[Foenix]

Thanks Emilia, really appreciate the advice. I'm not sure why you find it bizarre someone would want to be skinny and not have muscle but I'm just not fond of it, not really sure why, I just personally would rather not have defined muscle. I would like to be 10 stone overall, but 11 stone is my current goal.

 

But yeah I definitely appreciate the advice.

 

Imported, I'm alittle unsure about what you said? You wondered if I have no muscle mass, if I'm just skin and bones with a little pot belly, then you don't understand how I'm 5'11" and fat?

 

Well, whatever you meant I'm 162 pounds yeah, I have large thighs (maybe due to 11 years of Tae Kwon-Do?) which probably make up for most of it and an unslightly stomache which isn't as flat as it probably should be :/.

[planetpower]

I'm 19 years old, soon to be 20, male at 5 foot 11 inches and 11 stone 8 (I believe that is 162 pounds?) and I'm desperate to get to 11 stone (154 pounds) as quickly as possible. According to my BMI I'm healthy, but I feel I'm overweight and I don't look slim at all.

 

My husband is 5'9" 150lbs and is as thin as a rail. You don't need to lose weight. You CAN start to eat healthier if you aren't already and be more active, but as far as losing weight, I think you're fine.

[GLDheart]

I am ten pounds heavier than you and about the same height...

 

I would in no way be considered fat, have good muscle tone, and my abs are visible. For reference, the last time I did the body fat test I was at 15%. I'm not exactly an underwear model or anything. But, I'm happy with myself and it's a work in progress.

 

I'm not sure why you are unhappy with your physical appearance. If it is some kind of body dysmorphic disorder please work on your perception of yourself first and foremost... BUT, if you really must lose weight, control your carb intake to control your body fat.

[parismilton]

I am also working out hard to get in a perfect shape, I have lost 25lbs in 8 months and working out to lose more, actually I am on a diet plan which helps me and keeps me motivated for what I want, its not like you always have to go to gym to keep yourself fit, many a times eating right foods at right time can do more for that.

[Lauriebell82]

I understand the need to be skinny, however I find it rather unattrative in a male. I find muscles and some "meat on the bones" very appealing...I think most women do.

 

You don't sound overweight to me either, but I can relate to the body image issues because I have them also.

 

You said that you prefer to be skinny with no muscle tone, however pretty much every other male I have ever met or talked to feels the exact opposite. Hence why most of the people in the free weight section of the gym are male. So is there is an actual MOTIVE why you want to look this way? It sounds like there is more to it then just "preferring it."

[Foenix]

I'm sure there are a million and one psychological reasons for it, but I'd say it's just the condition of my childhood, the effects it had on me. But is it really so strange?

 

I think it'd be hard to say I came out "wrong" because as a male I have a preference for a skinny physique? I suppose I could try to pin point it with fears of looking like a head case - so I'd rather not. But I'm really quite glad I stumbled across this forum, everyone seems so willing to help and genuinely so, so thanks to everyone who's given me some input.

 

[Foenix]

Right, sorry to be a pain again, but just been reading, as you do, and come across another forum where someone asked "If I eat 1000 calories and day and burn 1000 doing exercise, how quickly will I lose weight?" where everyone just basically called the poster an idiot and said "If you burn more than you eat then what will be left for your body to function?"

 

This stunned me. To my knowledge, losing a pound requires you to burn 3500 more calories than you consume. Apparantly though burning more than you consume will send your body into starvation mode and have nothing but negative effects. How is it then, that one would lose weight if in order to function it is imperative that they consume more than they burn?

[GLDheart]

Ignore that old calorie counting crap. CARB CONTROL is the key. You sound like a resourceful guy, get a copy of this book:

 

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I had plateaued HARD on my quest back to six pack glory. I stopped counting calories and started counting CARBS. It was exactly what I needed to do.

[MuscleCarFan]

5'11" and 162 pounds? You don't need to lose weight! It sounds completely ridiculous!

[Lauriebell82]

I'm sure there are a million and one psychological reasons for it, but I'd say it's just the condition of my childhood, the effects it had on me. But is it really so strange?

 

I think it'd be hard to say I came out "wrong" because as a male I have a preference for a skinny physique? I suppose I could try to pin point it with fears of looking like a head case - so I'd rather not. But I'm really quite glad I stumbled across this forum, everyone seems so willing to help and genuinely so, so thanks to everyone who's given me some input.

 

 

I think what is throwing us off is the need for being skinny with no muscle. Those who suffer from anorexia usually become very skinny with no tone because starvation feeds off your muscles when there isnt fat. They look like skeletons, is that how you want to look?

 

As far as your childhood, were you told you needed/should he thin?

[Sammysunder]

Having ideal weight does not means that you are healthy. You should maintain a healthy level of fat in the body to stay healthy. Your body may contain excess amount of unwanted fat which is not good for health. Try to burn excess of fat present in the body.

[Foenix]

Thanks GLD - I'll definitely get a copy of it, thanks again for the genuine advice.

 

LaurieBell - I did write you out a list of reasons that could have caused my preference in skinny, but upon re-reading it I deduced that I would surely get told to seek therapy or something - and I really don't think it's that serious. I just ended up having a preferance for it, but not anorexic skinny, think Michael Jackson during the 1980s, skinny and slim but healthy and attractive. And that's all, like anyone, I want; to be attractive. Though that would take ALOT more than simply losing a few stone ^^.

[Andy_K]

Right, sorry to be a pain again, but just been reading, as you do, and come across another forum where someone asked "If I eat 1000 calories and day and burn 1000 doing exercise, how quickly will I lose weight?" where everyone just basically called the poster an idiot and said "If you burn more than you eat then what will be left for your body to function?"

 

This stunned me. To my knowledge, losing a pound requires you to burn 3500 more calories than you consume. Apparantly though burning more than you consume will send your body into starvation mode and have nothing but negative effects. How is it then, that one would lose weight if in order to function it is imperative that they consume more than they burn?

 

You misinterpreted their comments.

 

Eating 1000 calories a day and burning the same through just exercise is insane.

 

Eating 2000 calories a day and burning 2500 in total through both exercise and base metabolic rate is sensible.

[Foenix]

So supposedly I burn around 1800 calories naturally (BMR)

If I eat roughly 1000 calories a day, while avoiding white carbs, and burn 500 through a running machine and skipping daily then every day I burn 1300 calories. That's good right? It's not too much no?

 

Alot of people say 1000 calories is very little but unless I'm eating junk food or takeaway then I find exceeding 1000 calories would find me eating for the sake of it.

 

Breakfast

1 slice of granary bread toasted - 90 calories (I hate eating in the morning)

 

Dinner

Soup - about 380 calories + a slice of granary - 470 calories

 

or sometimes I'll eat

 

A ready meal - 550 - 600 calories

 

And that's all I eat with the exception of a VERY occasional roast dinner once a month or every other month.

The most calories I'd consume is probably about 800 calories, if I had maybe a bag of crisps, so to reach 2000? I'd have to eat alot of junk or large meals for the sake of it.

 

Another reason I'm quite desperate now to lose weight is I've found myself in public (at my families behest, not my own) after about 4 years hiding in my room. And this girl has become interested in me (according to everyone else saying so) she's very touchy with me, and I do like her, but I avoid alot in fear of being "uncovered." I couldn't bear the thought of anyone seeing me in my current state so I'm rather quite desperate to change before she moves on to more confident, showy and attractive men, which she would probably find just about anywhere in the area.

 

Would losing 12 pounds by the start of January be an absurd attempt? (no need to consider the holiday pounds, I don't eat any more over Christmas) Someone please comment on how many calories I eat and tell me if burning about 500 a day will give me good results.

 

Thanks and very sorry, again.

Edited October 20, 2012 by Foenix

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