Getting Healthy/In Shape

[Venetia]

Alright well I recently lost 25lbs. I want to lose 20 more, then I'll be at my totally ideal weight. To lose those lbs I mostly just changed my diet to a healthier one, with infrequent exercise (but it was more than I was doing before: none!).

Well I need to ramp it way up for these last 20. But I've hit a wall with my diet and I hate most exercise.

FIRST
Vegetarians, how do you do it? What meals do you like?
I don't really want to be a straight vegetarian, but I'll lose the most weight if I cut out as much meat as possible (excluding fish). (I already eat about 12-1500 calories a day, and have vastly increased my fiber intake)
Do you have any dish recommendations for a person who's a little finicky about veggies?
(note: I HATE bell peppers, snap peas, asparagus, water chestnuts, and okra)

SECOND
What do you guys do to work out? I can't do a lot because I have a have a really bad knee from a car accident (read: no stairs or impact exercise), but still, what do you cats do to exercise? I might get some ideas that I hate less than my current regimen (aerobics, crunches, stationary bike).

And just talk about getting in shape in general :D
Do any of you have weight loss stories?
Currently trying to shed lbs?
Training for an athletic event?

 

[Ellie]

Mexican food is a holy shrine of vegetarianism as even if you don't use fake-meat it generally tastes the same (like 3-bean chillies and such).

But generally things like quorn are so much like meat that I don't even like some of them. Tival is a good brand - I actually had to check the packet to make sure it was veggie. Quorn often boast about being healthy, idk whether that's true but it is most likely healthier than meat (but some meat is good for you).

To work out I just walk. I walk my dog every day, started off as a couple of blocks but now I do 1-2 miles around my neighborhood. I've lost a lot of weight this way, and am now underweight.

BUT my only gripe is that I have really fat upper legs (seriously, they're like baloons) and idk what to do to solve this :/

 

[candle]

I don't do a damn thing and I eat junk food all the time, and yet somehow, I have been able to keep my weight steady at about 135-138 lbs for the last year.  Two summers ago I was 155 and lost 20 lbs in two months.  I'm a bit underweight for my height and age, but not unhealthily skinny.  It is hard to find pants that fit properly, though.  Most everything has too large of a waist at the proper length, or is too short at the proper waist size.

I do have a friend though whose main diet for losing weight consists almost entirely of Taco Bell.

Good luck, though!  :thumb:

 

[Venetia]

I have no idea what those brands are, but thank you Wyatt :3

For your thighs you have to "blast" your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Do squats and bike sprints.

 

[Venetia]

I don't do a damn thing and I eat junk food all the time, and yet somehow, I have been able to keep my weight steady at about 135-138 lbs for the last year. 

Jesus I could benchpress you :/
But honey it's called "being a teenager"
When I was a teen I could maintain that weight thereabouts pretty easy.
Your metabolism will slow after your body realizes you're no longer growin.

 

[Ellie]

Hmm, maybe they don't do them in Americaland. Oh well.

http://www.tivall.co.uk/
http://www.quorn.co.uk/CMSPage.aspx?ssbid=2

 

[dadevvtsvre]

One thing I love doing for exercise is riding on my bike. It's enjoyable and it's great for staying in shape. Even just going out for a bike ride for twenty to thirty minutes a day is a good way to stay fit. It's also cool if you can go to a bunch of different places you've never been to before so the rides are more interesting.

 

[alexis]

this summer i picked up a book called skinny bitch (http://www.skinnybitch.net/) and the first part of it basically tries making you a vegan and it's annoying but it brings up some really good points about dairy food and meat. after reading it i tried it, which wasn't too difficult (considering i drank a glass of milk a day and yogurt all the time) in fact it was really fucking easy. tbh, i was going to the doctor at the  same time i stopped eating meat/dairy for acne problems and they did the usual checkup, weighed me etc. a week later i went for a follow up and they took my weight again and i was 8lbs lighter. the nurse was surprised and asked me if i had done anything differently and i told her i cut dairy and meat out of my diet and she thought it was the coolest thing. i didnt really even try either it was weird.

anyway, the last pages of the book has recipes for breakfast/lunch/dinner for a whole month. and most of them sound really good. as for milk substitutes, vanilla soymilk is ace imo. i allow myself to have chicken maybe once a week. but absolutely no red meat. tofu is surprisingly good when added into meals (i.e. tofu fried rice) and such. as for vegetables, i've really come to love zucchini and sweet potatoes. they're really good sides for salmon, which is reallyyy good when it's grilled. same with tilapia.

also, i'm not  a fan of mushrooms but my mom always substitutes portabella's for meat in "hamburgers". annnd if you haven't tried gardenburger's before, theyre really good. boca's are okay but it depends. the vegetarian ones are good but the vegan ones taste a little weird.

sorry for my essay, my mom and i have been doing this stuff for a few months now haha.

 

[alexis]

oh and i never work out anymore but when i did, i went to the navy base to use the gym and there were really sexy people there. guys and gals!!!!! it made working out more bearable :[

 

[Surmuck]

Only thing I can really handle is sit-ups for a long time in terms of excercise. That, and running - but with your knee I don't know if that'd really work for you. Plus, unless you have a gym membership, you'd have to be running in the freezing cold all winter and that just sucks.

Anyway. I do 200 sit ups or crunches or whatever total in a day. I find the more I do in the morning, the better I get through my first couple periods in terms of being awake. Obviously staying awake in class isn't an issue for you, but yeah.
It took me a long time to get where I could ever do 200 total in a day though, but in my experience if you start low and climb up that works. Dunno what impact that has on your weight though so don't take that to heart. Also keep in mind it took me a long ass time to get to where I can do 100 in one sitting. Still can't do 200 just at a time; so I do it in like 50 increments.
Don't do this because for the first like 6 months it hurts so bad every time you laugh D:

Again you probably don't want to do this, because I don't have any idea wtf it means in calories. I did it for the abs, not for the sake of losing weight.


^^Rereading this post it looked like I made it majorly for gloating purposes. I know 200 isn't like WOW YOUR AMAZING SURMUCK worthy so don't think I'm a douche ok? D:

 

[Grathea]

OK, here's some input.
Quick and simple things you can do, with regards to food:
Use whole-grain pasta/bread/whatever. It won't really get RID of weight, but it'll slim your torso down a little, which helps make it look like you're losing weight/encourages you to keep on going.
Use smaller plates. Sounds crazy, but studies have shown that people are more likely to eat smaller servings if they're eating off of smaller plates.
Non-fat or reduced-fat stuff. Simple and obvious.
Quick and simple with regards to exercising
Do aerobics.
Bike a little. Stationary bike if you've got one.
Simple things like sit-ups, crunches, V-sits, etc.
Simple recipies
Mushrooms. Any edible kind will do, really, but I like to use shiitake. Cut the caps into roughly 1cm slices. I like to remove the gills, too, but you don't have to.
In a tupperware container or something, combine a fair bit of balsamic, three tbps olive oil and some thyme. Add the mushroom slices, put the lid on, and shake. The slices will be barbecued, ideally on some sort of grill bowl or plate or whatever so they don't fall through the cracks. They're quick and simple, and VERY delicious.

Fried Rice. Made as many different ways as there are people - I like to use tofu, chili peppers, spring onions, tempeh if I have any, and occasionally some other stuff, but that's just me. Basically, steam some rice a day in advance. In a wok or other deep pan (wok is ideal, though) heat some vegetable oil. Add chopped onions, shallots, garlic, etc... whatever you use to start it off. Fry those for a couple minutes, then add the tofu / meat. Once THAT's cooked, add the chilis, spring onions, etc. Cook for a minute or so, then add your rice, some soy sauce/oyster sauce, and cook until the rice browns nicely and everything's mixed together. At this stage, break an egg over the whole thing and stir REALLY REALLY FAST to break it up. The egg helps everything stick together. Depending on how much you make, it'll serve really as many people as you want.

Make bread. Ideally sourdough. This one may backfire, though, since generally homemade bread is really delicious, but generally it's better than storebought.
Anyways, I've got to go, I'll post some more stuff later. Although if you have a pool nearby I STRONGLY recommend you swim. If possible, join a team or something, since you'll do a stronger and better workout than on your own.

 

[Durastik]

If you're wanting to do low impact, I would reccomend joining a gym, as they'll have cross trainers, which are very low impact but still a good workout.

I would also suggest doing some weight training, as it'll still burn calories, as well as meaning you'll have some muscle mass once the the fat comes off.

Cardio workouts will help you lose wieght faster, but if your knee is causing you grief, doing non stop mid wieght sets will help. Also, some assisted squats will help build the muscle around your knee and hopefully make it easier to use.

I was training to join the police before I was arrested, (can't be a cop now ) I was intaking about 20-50 grams of protein after working out, I found that it really did increase muscle development.

Ironically i've been trying to gain weight, I've been trying to get to 70kgs for the last six months, and only just broke it. It's going to suck when I get fat and have to lose all this wieght I worked so hard to gain.

 

[Venetia]

Problem is I'm totally antisocial and mostly agoraphobic, I'll never join a gym as long as I live ;(

I have a bike, but in Florida it's always too hot or too cold outside, there's only like 3 weeks of in-between a year :/

I already know most of this dietary stuff since I've been doing a lot of dieting for like almost a year now, but it's neat to know what you guys do.

 

[rexxzecutioner]

Mexican food is a holy shrine of vegetarianism as even if you don't use fake-meat it generally tastes the same (like 3-bean chillies and such).

lol what the fuck do you know about mexican food.

 

[___]

I don't do *anything* to exercise, but my best advice is to avoid vegetarian treats and convenience foods and stick to the straight veggies. I always put on weight when I go to the health food store because they stock all kinds of vegan chocolates, ice cream and other goodies I know I lost a ton of weight when I was doing gardening as a side job though, so if you have some good honest outdoor work to do now's a great time to do it (especially since you live in the south, where the weather is nice during the winter).

@rexx: I think what he means is that mexican food is really easily adapted to vegetarian diets. That's been my personal experience as well; mexican and oriental food both work really well because they create complex varied dishes where meat is a component or a compliment, not the center of the course. If you want to argue it, first compare a hamburger or hot dog to a taco or burrito and imagine how you'd make each without meat in it. Think about a stir fry and a steak and figure out which one is easier to replace or leave off the meat.

The emphasis on seasoning and spices in these foods also works well for people who consider vegetables "bland" compared to meats.

 

[rexxzecutioner]

most worthy mexican dishes contain meat and would never be even close to being as good or even similar without them

 

[Prexus]

The way I do it: Have a job that requires you to do some sort of manual labour. Even stocking shelves at a grocery store worked for me, although now I work in lawncare and its much more physically intensive.

The majority of the people I know, who either have a weight/fitness problem, or complain about a weight/fitness problem, are people who work behind a desk or sitting down in general.

 

[___]

@ven, i cook very free-form so bear with me:

A favorite of mine:
4 Whole Ripe Tomatoes
1 Large Pack/Bundle Spinach
3 cans marinated artichoke hearts
2 small packs of fresh basil (not dried!)
1 large can olives, sliced or whole
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp veggie bullion
1 pack noodles, your choice but I like fettuccini

To prepare, just cut the tomatoes into small chunks, chop the spinach into about 1/4th sq. inch bits, chop the basil very finely and of course put the noodles on, this doesn't take long so it's nice to have them ready to go by the time the veggies are done.

Sautee the artichoke hearts in the olive oil for a few minutes, until they brown a little around the edges, then toss in the olives and let them go for another minute or two until they soften. Toss in the spinach and let it go until the spinach is cooked (you know what cooked spinach looks like I hope <3). Add in the bullion (by the way the Better Than Bullion brand bullion paste works a lot better than the cubes for this) and reduce the heat very low. You may want to add a little more bullion or use a little less, the goal is to be noticable but not overwhelming.

At this point if you have some dry vermouth toss in a couple capfuls, but it's not strictly necessary, and mix in the tomatoes and fresh basil. If you didn't add vermouth, cook just barely long enough to heat the tomatoes, if you overdo it they'll turn to mush on you. If you did add the vermouth, grab a lighter and fire that sucker up :D By the time it burns out (should only be a second or two) your tomatoes will be just a little crispy. You can also do this on a per-serving basis and add the noodles in to the mix, and if you eat dairy also include some parmesan cheese.

That should make about 3-6 servings depending on how big the portions are. If you used vermouth, use the rest on some martinis, and garlic bread is a must!

You can afford a little less or more olive oil too depending on whether your diet allows for it, but don't go under 1-2 tablespoons as it makes up most of the "sauce" if you will. Also, extra virgin is best if you like the stronger flavor, but I usually make it with light when I'm cooking for other people.

 

[___]

@rexx: I don't know what you'd consider a "worthy" mexican dish, but I've made quite a few mexican-style dishes that non-vegetarians liked. I'm not talking the kind of Mexican food you'd eat in Mexico, I'm talking the kind you get in a Mexican place in the U.S. which is considerably different.

 

[alexis]

Mexican food is a holy shrine of vegetarianism as even if you don't use fake-meat it generally tastes the same (like 3-bean chillies and such).

lol what the fuck do you know about mexican food.

there's real mexican food and then there's people who melt cheese inside a tortilla and think they're mexican food gurus