Fat and Way Out of Shape - What do I do?

[KO Artist]

Played soccer saturdays and sundays between 1997 and 1999.

Finished 10 years of boxing in 1995 (finished at Welter).

Now 33, 5'8 and 200lbs

What can I do to get in shape?

I hate running

I like bagwork and weights

I half like circuits

My diet is good then bad.

I drink too much wine.

I want to regain fitness

Any ideas.

[Max Molyneux]

With running depends on the person In me opinion.

[KOJOE90]

Walk as much as possible, it may not sound very exciting but it does help over time and it's FREE.

Walk to work, if it's too far get off the bus, car, train early and walk part the way.

Don't sit in the staffroom at lunchtime go for a 30 minute walk.

Now the days are getting longer go for a walk in the evening.

Never use lifts always use the stairs.

Etc, etc, etc, etc

[jomothepure]

Well I don't have much advice I'm afraid, I'd just like to take this opportunity to gloat :P

I've reached just a shade under 15 stone for the first time in about six or seven years. There's photos of me on holiday in Magaluf (classy gents holiday destination) about 5 years ago and the pictures of me are mad. I look totally gigantic.

Now I'm a fornicating tank. You can see my jaw-line for a start, which is always a help. I'm also a 32 inch waist (having been 38) which I havn't been since I was about 12?

The thing is though - I've not particularly tried very hard. Obviously there was continuous "fornicate I'm fat yet I'm swilling stella and eating white pudding suppers" moments" but exercise has increased dick shit. Hate running or anything. For a start I smoke so a light jog causes my lungs to pop out my arse. On occassion I think I'm Scott Harrison and take a 75kg backpack up the hills, but that happens once a month at the most. Weights otherwise is the only thing. I've got fornicate all arm stregnth too. Piss poor really, deadlifting is the only thing I'm half good at.

So I don't know what it is really. I've not grown in height at all over the past couple of years. I still eat like a fornicating ox - whether it's good or bad, I skol the lot, but for some reason I seem to be dangerously close to looking thin. A nice dillema to be honest

[My T Sharp]

The biggest thing to do is set yourself a goal so you've got a target to aim for. If you haven't got a goal then it will be piss easy to give up a decent diet and regular exercise after a month or so.

[pundit]

Played football saturdays and sundays between 1997 and 1999.

Finished 10 years of boxing in 1995 (finished at Welter).

Now 33, 5'8 and 200lbs

Any ideas.

Grow three inches. :P

[jomothepure]

For a start I smoke so a light jog causes my lungs to pop out my arse. On occassion I think I'm Scott Harrison and take a 75kg backpack up the hills, but that happens once a month at the most.

How the smeg do you get back down then?

Roll

No, I walk up and down, which I can just about manage.

[steve689]

Walk as much as possible, it may not sound very exciting but it does help over time and it's FREE.

Walk to work, if it's too far get off the bus, car, train early and walk part the way.

Don't sit in the staffroom at lunchtime go for a 30 minute walk.

Now the days are getting longer go for a walk in the evening.

Never use lifts always use the stairs.

Etc, etc, etc, etc

Your right, walking is a great way to exercise and lose weight. I am told walking at a decent pace for a good distance is as good if not better than running or jogging. I try to walk most places if i can, mostly because im so crap at driving

[states]

I'd always recommend running as a great way to drop weight and build fitness. But if you hate that, perhaps get a bike? A lot of the benefits of running, but something easier to stick to. Easier on the joints as well, as my knackered body will testify.

[Jabba The Nut]

Eat less carbs, especially at night (not the crappy atkins rubbish)!
No food after six apart from fruit
Eat more protein
Stick to a rigid diet, apart from one day a week when you can have the odd luxury.

Drink less alcohol
Drink more water

Bag work is good
Walking is good
Running will burn more calories and fat, especially first thing in the morning.
Try some weights to increase your metabolism.

Stick with the above and I guarentee results

Best of luck

[Manos de Oro]

Most guys I've seen around your age are starting to cut back on the intense training and focus more on weights. There are a number who still do the boxing training - but they're mostly former army guys/manual labourers who have reached cyborg levels of ingrained fitness. Saying that, I know one guy approaching, or maybe shortly over 50, who can do 6x3's on the bag... and I don't mean pussy punching; solid jab all the way through. And I'm pretty sure it's a level he's attained over the past few years...

If your knees are fine there is NO reason to hate running - whether you love it or hate it is 100% purely down to how you approach it, not the act of running itself. It took me YEARS to figure that out.

As steve and Ko Joe say - walk. Walk, walk, walk outside.

Something else to consider, since you like the bags, is to do long sessions of slow burning work - enjoy yourself, don't do set combos, just use your imagination. If you feel yourself going too fast and getting out of breath - step back, move around - you know. Just have fun with it. Doing rounds on the bag is great for comraderie when your working with someone, but if you've done all that in the past just smile with your ghosts, soak in the nostalgia and prod it for however long you like. 50 minutes, 90 minutes, 120 minutes... whatever. Great times.

Another thing to try is random explosive shadow boxing - in a lift, in a dark and empty car park, in an empty dressing room, after taking a piss...
I've been doing this since 1998. Obviously if you get caught you look like twatimus maximus, but it turns into a habit eventually, and it does wonders for speed and shoulder reflexes. About 100 punches or so is good.

[probert24]

Get yourself a pair of inline skates. It burns the same number of calories per hour as running but it won't mess up your back or knees.

[Expug]

I got into Judo after boxing . 45 and I am still competing. Judo in Europe is tremendous . Find yourself a club and start out slow as you can build up. If you stick with it , you will get in great shape. If you live in the U.S. Pm me and I will see if I can help you out. I make this recomendation because you are familiar with combat sports from boxing.

[lvlarc]

Another thing to try is random explosive shadow boxing - in a lift, in a dark and empty car park, in an empty dressing room, after taking a piss...
I've been doing this since 1998. Obviously if you get caught you look like twatimus maximus, but it turns into a habit eventually, and it does wonders for speed and shoulder reflexes. About 100 punches or so is good.

I started doing this in my bedroom few months ago, now I seem to do it anywhere when I'm bored. When someone sees me do it they look at me like im a fornicating idiot

[Sweet P]

Im losing weight at the moment, I have lost around 40 pounds since christmas,
Make sure you eat healthy, Plenty of Vegetables ,rice, Wholemeal bread, meat and cut out a lot of fats, I do light weights and walk twice a week and the weight is just falling off. I still drink beer or wine but as long as you don't eat fattening foods you should have no worries.

[Neri]

Another thing to try is random explosive shadow boxing - in a lift, in a dark and empty car park, in an empty dressing room, after taking a piss...
I've been doing this since 1998. Obviously if you get caught you look like twatimus maximus, but it turns into a habit eventually, and it does wonders for speed and shoulder reflexes. About 100 punches or so is good.

I started doing this in my bedroom few months ago, now I seem to do it anywhere when I'm bored. When someone sees me do it they look at me like im a fornicating idiot

Thank god for that. I thought i was the only nutter. I have this habit at home where i'm just going about my business and suddenly burst into combinations of punches.

[jomothepure]

Another thing to try is random explosive shadow boxing - in a lift, in a dark and empty car park, in an empty dressing room, after taking a piss...
I've been doing this since 1998. Obviously if you get caught you look like twatimus maximus, but it turns into a habit eventually, and it does wonders for speed and shoulder reflexes. About 100 punches or so is good.

I started doing this in my bedroom few months ago, now I seem to do it anywhere when I'm bored. When someone sees me do it they look at me like im a fornicating idiot

Thank god for that. I thought i was the only nutter. I have this habit at home where i'm just going about my business and suddenly burst into combinations of punches.

fornicate!!! I think we should start a club. I have spasms of circling down the hall landing phantom haymakers to the kitchen door and the like (occasionaly)

[JimJim]

Mercman's advice, 3rd or 4th post down on this thread, is absolutely spot on - with no disrespect meant to all the other good bits of advice.

I'm 34; in my late 20's I hit 19 stones. Turned 30 and got fed up of being a fat blob. Tried every diet out there, and almost every exercise. In the end, it does come down to what Mercman says - if you burn up more calories than you take in, off comes the weight. Any diet that happens to work, works because it taps into this basic scientific principle.

I'm now 11 stone and 8lbs, having lost seven and a half stones. I would recommend weight training, it might not be the best at burning off calories but as you shed the bodyfat, you'll look better if you're building up your muscle underneath - it might sound vain but it's a damn good motivational tool to help you stick to the diet and the training. When the bodyfat's off, that's what's left, muscle. But basically, any exercise is good, and walking does burn calories and bodyfat.

Please don't waste your time on any fad diets. If you can learn to count calories, and you then try to stick to 2000 a day (on average, a man needs 2500 a day to maintain his bodyweight), the weight comes off naturally and healthily, and as long as you are somewhat careful with what you eat in future (balancing treats with a good, sound diet) the weight won't go back on.

I've known some fat friends who shed doubt on the calorie-counting principle - and they don't realise that they have already proven it works, just in reverse; they take in far more than their daily requirement, hence they pile on the pounds. I did that throughout my 20's, and when I reversed it, off came the weight. No tricks, no gimmicks, it's just scientific fact.

If you're going to count calories here's a few tips; sweetners instead of sugar in drinks, always have diet drinks - eg, diet coke instead of standard, full sugar coke, and if you must booze, the lowest-calorie way of doing it is either with wine or with spirits. Strong lager and cider contain hundreds of calories per pint. For carbohydrate intake, eat complex carbs (brown rice, brown bread, etc) rather than simple carbs (white rice, sugary foods, white bread, etc), and cut them down drastically, or out completely, after you'd had your tea.

I hope this advice is of some use, everything I've suggested is what I have learned the hard way - it was no fun being 19 stones !

[Goz]

Fat 'Fighters' has a new meaning!

I thought the thread was going to be taking the piss out of Danny Williams or even have been started by him.

KO - Only advice I can give is start running, a lot. You hate it? Tough. 3/4 half-hour runs per week and you'll see that weight fall off. Join a gym to look at the totty while you're on the treadmill, get yourself an MP3 player, makes the time pass a bit better.

That's what I did when I was pushing 15 and a half stone, bobble around at 13 to 13.5 these days... But I drink too much...

Want a free trial at Pinner Fitness First?

[KO Artist]

Thanks very much for all the advice chaps. I guess it comes down
to changing my lifestyle

I think i'll start with Heavy Bag, Skipping and weights for three months and see what happens. I will also go on a low fat low carb diet, with plenty of fruit and veg, and will cut out the wine.

I'll start by traning three times a week

[KOJOE90]

Some great posts here lads.

[Shirow]

I got some advice for ya.

Come back down the gym & bring your kit this time.

I've been training this guy, who though admittedly full on into it, has dropped 12lbs in 4 weeks. That's hard training twice a week, running most days and being strict with his diet - the 6pm carb curfew really helps as mentioned already.

I was hardly overweight at 13.5 stone & 6'1 but with healthy eating rather than dieting i've dropped a stone without really thinking about it since i started white collar boxing.

If motivation is a problen squad sessions are good fun and you push yourself that much harder so you don't look too bad.

[WildWaylon]

Cut out big meals, a little and often is better - Use the training methods that suit you best - 2 glasses of wine a week should be fine - I know someone who swears by certain computer games to keep his reflexes sharp - We are all unique human beings so we have to find the right diet and taining formula that is best for us

[Rocky Balboa]

It all comes down to discipline, determination & motivation!

KO-Artist, you say you hate running, but it's the most effective way to shoft the weight!

If you join a gym, I would suggest you start off by doing a lot of cardiovascular work i.e. cross-trainer, vertical climberl, exercise bike, treadmill & body-weight and floor exercises.

You want ot loose weight, cardiovascular is the way to go!

If you do not want to join a gym, purchase a vertical/versa climber machine for home use. These are brilliant for all-round fitness & I absolutely love training on them!

At the end of the day, start training and after a month, let us know of your progress.

[hitman_hatton1]

never had weight problems and i eat all sorts of shit.

i'm 6ft tall and weigh 11st.

get out and get some exercise ya fat pigs.