Summer weight loss

[Striker17]

Right now, I'm 16 (17 in September) and I just graduated from highschool. I'm going to college next year, and I want to get a good first impression.

 

The one thing I really need to change is my weight. I'm 6'2" and I weigh 280lbs. Luckily, a good bit of the weight is muscle, but still an overwhelming amount is fat.

 

I'm tired of always running out of breath, and of being ashamed of my body. This summer, I am mostly free. I am going to my cottage for two weeks, which will basically be two weeks of swimming at the lake, and mountain biking. But for the rest of the summer when I will be in town, I want to lose weight. I can probably join a gym, and change my diet.

 

Does anyone have any reccomendations on what kind of excercise programme I should do, and what kind of diet I should have? There won't be any school, so I don't care if anything is a little long to prepare, and the gym is nearby so that is no problem either.

 

I used to walk on the treadmill every day, but I hurt my back one week doing something else, and here I am a month later and haven't picked it up. There will be no excuses this summer though.

 

So if anyone has any tips, it would be greatly appreciated.

[nicorette]

hmmm in the summer i absolutely love biking. and i dont do it for the exercise, even though it is good exercise. i love biking on a nice hot day cos wehn you bike fast and on trails its liek an adrenaline rush. if you have a bike and know how to id suggest trying it. is there any "forestry" or any kind of trails around where you live?

 

also, how did you manage to graduate at only 16, even if you are turning 17 this year? did you skip a grade? because most people graduate at either 17 or 18. and if they are 17, they are turning 18 that year.

[melrich]

You are carrying a bit of weight so good on you for wanting to get to a healthier level.

 

Because you are carrying that weight, make sure whatever you get into you ease yourself into it. Don't go gang busters straight up, that is likely to lead to you injuring yourself.

 

Swimming is a greatway to start as it is low impact and a great way to get your aerobic capacity up. So get a routine happening at the lake. Work up to about a half mile a day.

 

You'll get best results in terms of weight loss by doing a combination of healthy eating/cross training exercise. Once you have started the swimming you can maybe then incorporate walking then jogging/treadmill. But again take it easy to start.

 

Don't get obsessed with you weight. Set a goal that is a healthy weight for your height and don't be tempted to keep going.

 

Good luck.

[Striker17]

Well, I live in Quebec, where highschool lasts only until grade 11, then we have CEGEP, which is reffered to as college, and then University. So we basically have a school which combines the last year of highschool and the first year of university, and we just call it college.

 

Anyway, I like biking, but there is nothing really that close forest wise since the only half-decent place has been closed to mountain bikers. In Montreal, we do have tons of bike paths which span the entire island. I prefer to do excercise in a gym though, because it's easier to keep yourself working a certain rate with machines than it is on a bike or jogging.

 

If I bike, it's mostly for enjoyment, I don't want it to be part of my workout routine.

 

EDIT: Didn't want to double post since melrich posted at the same time as me

 

 

 

I don't really have to worry about impact right now. I have very large bones, and I have done a good amount of high impact activities and feel fine. There is a local pool, so it would be nice to get started with that.

 

Right now, a healthy weight for my height is so far away, that I don't have to be worrying about it for a while. So my goal for now is to just lose.

[BBHFutureAllAmerican]

just a lot of cardio and weight lifting (mostly squats or leg press or any explosive liftings like hang cleans n such) should work well for you, yes i am a body builder but not hardcore just to look nice for the ladies

[nicorette]

thats cool about the graduating thing. i heard about that. id otn know much about quebec, i only did french up til grade 11 and im on the other side of the country hehe

[JJRadical]

-Eat every 3 hours

-To quote Lou Ferrigno "YOU MUST TWAYNE!"

[easyguy]

Striker,

 

It's going to require a change in both your eating habits and your lifestyle. I've gone through quite a transformation over the past couple of years, so I guess I am speaking from personal experience.

 

Telling someone what diet to use is risky, because everyone's body is different. Perhaps you should consult a nutritionist and your doctor. I used to weigh nearly 300 lbs, and was borderline diabetic (at 17 years old), but my parents put me on a strict diet. This was around the time that the Atkins diet became popular, so I started with that. I ate almost no carbs and sugared foods for maybe 4 weeks (which was hell at first), then I started to notice some positive changes. I was slimming down, and naturally felt less tired on a day to day basis.

 

After a while I started using a more balanced diet. And it wasn't until the past couple of months that I began putting an effort in to work out regularly. There are lots of good foods out there that taste great and aren't unhealthy. You just have to look a little harder to find it. And you have to keep in mind, it isn't so much WHAT you eat (which is important), but how MUCH of it you eat. If you go out and get a sandwhich regularly, only get a half a sandwhich. A lot of little changes can make a huge difference on your overall health. Don't eat big meals, but short meals throughot the day. Two words: portion control.

 

For a while I was down to 190lbs (5' 9''), then regained a bit of weight over the holidays. Now I'm trying to control what I eat and try an maintiain a healthy lifestyle. I'm still 5'9'', but I weigh 204 lbs. My goal is to get it down lower and lower until I get into the 170 range, which is a normal weight for some my height.

 

Anyway, I've rambled on obviously. The other posters here have some great advice. Just take everything with a grain of salt, because everyone's body chemistry is different.

 

Good luck!