August 2007 Goal: Get in Shape for my Wedding
Some time ago, my girlfriend and I were discussing the seriousness of our relationship and we decided to get married. We fully settled the deal about a month ago with plans to marry one month from now.
On a recent morning, my suddenly-fiancee and I lay in bed, discussing plans and our future lives together when she gently reached over and pinched my chest.
“Oh my,” she said. “You’re developing quite a pair of man-boobs there.”
I objected, but knew that she was correct. Over the past year I have become more sedentary and slowly put on weight.
“You really need to do something about those.”
And so it was. We are to be married at the beginning of August, which gives me this month’s goal: 30 days to get in shape for my wedding. As always, suggestions welcome.
22 Comments:
Start each meal with salad, stop when you're full, and get in a little bit of aerobic exercise every day. Cut out the grease and sweets.
I lost ten pounds in two weeks with this, but then fell off the wagon and gained most of it back pretty quickly =\
I've started to change things to lose weight, though not with a short timescale in mind. I've tried to improve my diet, rather than go on a diet, and started playing sports I used to enjoy again. None of which is any good really over just a month.
Cut out carbs after midday. Make sure most of your calories are protein. Chicken and rice, fish and steak are good. Fatty foods are bad. Cut down on dairy and sugar. Drink black coffee. And do plenty of exercise.
The average man needs 2500 calories per day. A pound is around 2500 calories. If you cut your calorie intake by 500 per day, you'll lose a pound a week. If you increase your calorie requirements by 500 a day (e.g. by running for 40 minutes) you'll lose a pound a week.
A pound and a half of weight loss a week is healthy. Maybe up to two and a half. More can be dangerous. And remember that weighing yourself daily doesn't work - your weight can fluctuate by several pounds through the day.
work out 15 minutes 3 times a week. But hard. Simplefit.org.
Not my website, but I did something similar; it makes working out actually enjoyable, and will let you get away with a little more food.
write down everything you eat and how many calories it has. This forces you to consciously think about your food choices. This method works especially well if, like me, you have a very acute sense of internal guilt.
i work at a supplements store. find one in you're area and pick up some Venom Hyperdrive and Venom Night time and take them as detailed on the bottle.
be active every day. that doesn't mean you need to run 5 miles. simply walk. walk for half an hour everyday.
diet. high protein. low sugar and salt. Turkey is great for this. turkey kielbasa, ground turkey makes a great meatloaf. and boneless skinless chicken breast. go to menshealth.com and check out their recipes.
all of this is great but try to stick with it even after the wedding. you'll be surprised how good you feel in general.
if you have any question email me.. rjstef@gmail.com
1. Eat slowly.
2. Stop when you are full.
3. Eat when you are hungry.
My wife also had tremendous help from this book:
http://www.amazon.com/When-You-Refrigerator-Pull-Chair/dp/0786885084/ref=sr_1_1/104-7474597-2495943
Remember that there will always be something she expects you to work on.
walk to the gym, sweat a lot, stop eating and use laxatives - worked for me!
Help her organize the wedding....the pounds will melt off as you start sweating the details.
Congrats!
It sounds stupid, but don't eat if you're not hungry - loads of people eat a meal just because it's lunchtime, or dinner time, or whatever.
You might favour a scientific approach. The excellent spreadsheet and general advice from Jeremy Zawodny's blog worked for me.
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006851.html
For exercise, I'd go with cardio exercises. This means running, swimming, stuff that makes you sweat. Take time out of each day to run a few miles. If you want to run, start off lightly and then you work on running longer distances. It may be hard but it's certainly worth the effort.
In case you lose motivation, always try to hate your body. If you are already comfortable with the way you look, then the battle is already over :P
Good luck.
Oh Grey,
Getting married? A job as a teacher? Watching your calories? In many ways you scare young'ins like me about how we all eventually cave into the adults we resent.
The future scares me ever more.
-Rag
(However, an old coder I talk to recommends this: http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html)
I agree with J Martin who posted that you should help organize the wedding. I lost 10 pounds in 2 1/2 months planning mine. That was 8 years and one child ago, though, and I'm a bit heavier now than I was then. I guess we could always get married again! ;D
weddings are designed to drive you batty. everyone swears their way is the right way. so, have fun with it. it's supposed to happen only once, right?
as for the weight gain thing, it is quitet simple. you have to compensate for aging and slower metabolism. there's only so much you can do against nature. i would suggest to work out about 3x a week since you do have a month before the wedding. it will not decrease your man boobs substantially but it will make you feel better about yourself. if you want to look good, i suggest wearing a suit that fits properly.
I can’t imagine I give up eating every time I want, including night. However I wasn’t pleased with my shapes until I’ve started train capoeira. This lovely martial art gives me more kilos but takes cm!
IMHO Improving shapes and lose weight are not synonymous. If I were You, I’d take it into consideration while planning.
You need to get thee to a gym and do some pectoral exercises. Shoulder press, bench press, weight lifts, chest press.. plus cardio.
Google for "coach potato to 5k runner" for a good running workout, it is a gradual build-up and may help reduce your overall body fat percentage.
With 30 days to go you may have time to tone up your chest a little bit.
Failing that - a suit covers all evils.
=)
Maybe you should meditate and develop the ability to control people's mind. Then you can convince your wife-to-be that you're as good looking as Brad Pitt and you won't have to do anything at all. On a more serious note, try the 7-day juice diet. Just drink different juices (lemonade & Orange juice are the best) everyday for 7 days, add maple syrup in for added energy and eat only vegetable when you CRAVE solid food. Try to limit working out as you won't have a lot of energy. After that seven days, you can resume your normal habits or continue on longer to even 10 days. You'll free up a lot of energy normally use to digest solid food, and you will realize that human beings don't need to eat that much to live. Not recommended for longer than 2 weeks. There will be less distractions too because the only distraction you'll have is the craving for food. :)
Thanks for article!
Thanks for interesting article.
Glad to read articles like this. Thanks to author!
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