Losing weight and exercising...Right supplements? Other suggestions?

[Weaver31]

I've made a new years resolution (yes we all do) and I've been eating clean for most days and been exercising. Lost 6-7 lbs since early Jan. I don't eat fried food and I lower carbs in the evening. I eat plenty of veggies in my meals and healthy snacks like healthy fruit and nut trail mixes, fruit and nut bars, fresh fruit, protein bars, carrots, celery, veggie and fruit juices, etc.

My coworkers who work out take supplements. I started that a few weeks ago. I take men's vitamin, omega 3 fatty acid pill, biotin, apple cider vinegar pill, garlic pill and horny goat weed (energy and stamina). Is that the right mix? Something I'm missing? Something I need to take out?

Also with working out, I am doing an hr of cardio (treadmill, eleptical, stair stepper, etc.). I do a lil weights but wanna focus on cardio much more because i still need to shed 25lbs of to get to at least desired weight and I wanna trim my upper body much more. Anything I need to change?

I'm just trying to implement lifestyle improvements and be more healthy and feel even better about myself. I wanna do something I can be consistent with and maintain. I do feel a lil better. I felt I needed to change because I didn't like what I saw in mirror plus my dad has a lot of ailments (kidney issues and just started dialysis, high blood pressure, arthritis, early dementia) and my mom is gaining weight, has knee pain, high blood pressure and other issues. My folks don't really wanna improve and eat clean and I made many suggestions to them. Even cooked for them sometimes and made healthy food...of course my pops didn't want it and want to eat fried food, drink sodas, etc.

What y'all suggest?

 

[Bboystyle]

I've made a new years resolution (yes we all do) and I've been eating clean for most days and been exercising. Lost 6-7 lbs since early Jan. I don't eat fried food and I lower carbs in the evening. I eat plenty of veggies in my meals and healthy snacks like healthy fruit and nut trail mixes, fruit and nut bars, fresh fruit, protein bars, carrots, celery, veggie and fruit juices, etc.

My coworkers who work out take supplements. I started that a few weeks ago. I take men's vitamin, omega 3 fatty acid pill, biotin, apple cider vinegar pill, garlic pill and horny goat weed (energy and stamina). Is that the right mix? Something I'm missing? Something I need to take out?

Also with working out, I am doing an hr of cardio (treadmill, eleptical, stair stepper, etc.). I do a lil weights but wanna focus on cardio much more because i still need to shed 25lbs of to get to at least desired weight and I wanna trim my upper body much more. Anything I need to change?

I'm just trying to implement lifestyle improvements and be more healthy and feel even better about myself. I wanna do something I can be consistent with and maintain. I do feel a lil better. I felt I needed to change because I didn't like what I saw in mirror plus my dad has a lot of ailments (kidney issues and just started dialysis, high blood pressure, arthritis, early dementia) and my mom is gaining weight, has knee pain, high blood pressure and other issues. My folks don't really wanna improve and eat clean and I made many suggestions to them. Even cooked for them sometimes and made healthy food...of course my pops didn't want it and want to eat fried food, drink sodas, etc.

What y'all suggest?

Focus more on weights then cardio. Trust me u wanna cut while getting your noob gains. Plus the more muscle u have, the more fat u burn. As for supplements, add magnisium and super complex B vitamins.

What is ur goal besides fat loss?

 

[Weaver31]

Focus more on weights then cardio. Trust me u wanna cut while getting your noob gains. Plus the more muscle u have, the more fat u burn. As for supplements, add magnisium and super complex B vitamins.

What is ur goal besides fat loss?

I was thinking I need to lose more weight around my upper body first before going hard on weights cuz I didn't want the fat strong look....I'm trying to get more tone but leaner too. But I see what u saying with muscle gain and losing fat.

 

[Bboystyle]

I was thinking I need to lose more weight around my upper body first before going hard on weights cuz I didn't want the fat strong look....I'm trying to get more tone but leaner too. But I see what u saying with muscle gain and losing fat.

Trust if u looking to get lean, lift weights and do cardio 2 to 3 times a week. If its just strict fat loss not caring about muscles then keep doing what u doing

 

[Waterproof]

I was thinking I need to lose more weight around my upper body first before going hard on weights cuz I didn't want the fat strong look....I'm trying to get more tone but leaner too. But I see what u saying with muscle gain and losing fat.

There's no such thing as fat spot reduction so get that out of your head, the fat going to drop where it wants to drop, yeah I know cold shyt aint it.

You better go hard on them weights, you going light and high reps you will be skinny fat.

 

[The ADD]

Congrats on making a shift in lifestyle.

I would cut almost all of those supplements, they aren't really doing much for you especially towards weight lost. A good multi and ZMA supplement would be my suggestions. Get the rest through food as much as possible.

 

[Weaver31]

Congrats on making a shift in lifestyle.

I would cut almost all of those supplements, they aren't really doing much for you especially towards weight lost. A good multi and ZMA supplement would be my suggestions. Get the rest through food as much as possible.

Good look on ZMA supplement.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Trust if u looking to get lean, lift weights and do cardio 2 to 3 times a week. If its just strict fat loss not caring about muscles then keep doing what u doing

I'm doing both cardio and weight lifting and notice I'm losing weight significantly slower than I have in the past.
At this point I'm good at knowing what I need to do to produce the results I want strictly as far as weight lose goes.
This is the first time I'm taking the gym 100% serious and was surprised that my weight is taking so long to drop.
I am noticing that my clothes are fitting me looser so I'm definitely on the right path, I just have to get used to paying more attention to my overall size and not the numbers on the scale.
What I imagine is happening is that as I'm burning fat I'm gaining muscle, which is what is causing my overall weight loss to be much slower than I have experienced in the past.
I'm also trying to pay more attention to my performance in the gym instead of the scale. I'm trying to get my mile time down and my max lifting power up too.
My goal is to keep doing this Keto diet and work out 3 times a week and in 9 months hopefully I'll be looking and feeling right.

 

[The ADD]

I'm doing both cardio and weight lifting and notice I'm losing weight significantly slower than I have in the past.
At this point I'm good at knowing what I need to do to produce the results I want strictly as far as weight lose goes.
This is the first time I'm taking the gym 100% serious and was surprised that my weight is taking so long to drop.
I am noticing that my clothes are fitting me looser so I'm definitely on the right path, I just have to get used to paying more attention to my overall size and not the numbers on the scale.
What I imagine is happening is that as I'm burning fat I'm gaining muscle, which is what is causing my overall weight loss to be much slower than I have experienced in the past.
I'm also trying to pay more attention to my performance in the gym instead of the scale. I'm trying to get my mile time down and my max lifting power up too.
My goal is to keep doing this Keto diet and work out 3 times a week and in 9 months hopefully I'll be looking and feeling right.

You likely aren’t losing fat and gaining muscle in any quantifiable amount. Simple math is that you aren’t eating less calories and stimulating muscle. The body doesn’t work large scale that way.

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

You likely aren’t losing fat and gaining muscle in any quantifiable amount. Simple math is that you aren’t eating less calories and stimulating muscle. The body doesn’t work large scale that way.

I'm eating way less calories than I was and the calories I am eating include 20 net carbs or less a day though.
Most days for dinner I'm eating chicken cooked in a pressure cooker with water and some butter and a side dish of cauliflower rice or a bit of broccoli.
For lunch and sometimes dinner I'll eat a low carb tortilla (8 net carbs) and throw some protein in there: chicken, tuna fish, ground beef, etc.
I'm doing the same exact diet I did last year where I lost 60 pounds with no exercise.
This year I added exercise to the mix since I want to do more than just lose weight now (I'd like to get toned as well this time).
When I'm in the gym I run at least a mile and then do some weight lifting on one area a day. Did biceps and triceps today, most likely I'll do legs on wednesday.
Gym at least 3 times a week, one hour sessions. (I tried to do 5 days a week but I ended up sore and jacked up my productivity in the gym. I dropped it to 3 and will try for 5 again at a later point).
I'm not assuming I'm growing all kinds of muscle by leaps and bounds, I'm not that naive.
I'm just saying that with this particular diet, I lost of bunch of weight with no exercise at all.
It would make perfect sense to me that the only new variable (the working out 3 times a week) is what is contributing to the weight loss being significantly slower.
And notice I'm saying it's slower, I'm not saying I'm not losing weight at all. It just isn't the near 10 pounds a month I saw last year, which many people have told me was dangerous but I felt the best I have felt in a long time during that period. I'd like to lose 5 pounds a month this time around.

 

[The ADD]

I'm eating way less calories than I was and the calories I am eating include 20 net carbs or less a day though.
Most days for dinner I'm eating chicken cooked in a pressure cooker with water and some butter and a side dish of cauliflower rice or a bit of broccoli.
For lunch and sometimes dinner I'll eat a low carb tortilla (8 net carbs) and throw some protein in there: chicken, tuna fish, ground beef, etc.
I'm doing the same exact diet I did last year where I lost 60 pounds with no exercise.
This year I added exercise to the mix since I want to do more than just lose weight now (I'd like to get toned as well this time).
When I'm in the gym I run at least a mile and then do some weight lifting on one area a day. Did biceps and triceps today, most likely I'll do legs on wednesday.
Gym at least 3 times a week, one hour sessions. (I tried to do 5 days a week but I ended up sore and jacked up my productivity in the gym. I dropped it to 3 and will try for 5 again at a later point).
I'm not assuming I'm growing all kinds of muscle by leaps and bounds, I'm not that naive.
I'm just saying that with this particular diet, I lost of bunch of weight with no exercise at all.
It would make perfect sense to me that the only new variable (the working out 3 times a week) is what is contributing to the weight loss being significantly slower.
And notice I'm saying it's slower, I'm not saying I'm not losing weight at all. It just isn't the near 10 pounds a month I saw last year, which many people have told me was dangerous but I felt the best I have felt in a long time during that period. I'd like to lose 5 pounds a month this time around.

Well it could be a lot of factors.

For example if you weighed 300 pounds last year (I’m just making up a number) and lost 60, losing weight after that is not going to operate on the same progression line.

You could also be screwing around with yor hormones a bit because based on what you listed you aren’t getting much dietary fat and you are going low carb. That can (not always) screw with your leptin levels causing you to NOT lose weight.

At a base level, that type of eating and working out is not ideal. If you were just walking then sure but not you are asking your body to perform while (likely) limiting its fuel and 2 of the three primary macro nutrients.

@Spliff correct me if I’m wrong here

 

[Kamikaze Revy]

Well it could be a lot of factors.

For example if you weighed 300 pounds last year (I’m just making up a number) and lost 60, losing weight after that is not going to operate on the same progression line.

You could also be screwing around with yor hormones a bit because based on what you listed you aren’t getting much dietary fat and you are going low carb. That can (not always) screw with your leptin levels causing you to NOT lose weight.

At a base level, that type of eating and working out is not ideal. If you were just walking then sure but not you are asking your body to perform while (likely) limiting its fuel and 2 of the three primary macro nutrients.

@Spliff correct me if I’m wrong here

I've actually been told this before.
It's hard to get in that mind set especially coming from being significantly overweight at one point.
It's like my instinct is to eat as little as possible but people have told me and I read online that not eating enough (of the right foods) can hinder your weight lost goals.
It's something I'm going to have to learn to adjust especially since I'm much more active than before.
I try to get as much fat into my diet as possible, the problem is I get bored of it too quick.
I'll mainly go for avocado, plenty of butter, and use coconut oil as much as possible.
What you said about progression makes perfect sense too. If a person loses 10 pounds a month in the beginning it makes perfect sense for the body to slow that rate down at one point or another. It's not like a person is going to be able to go down to 0 ever, so the body has to put a stop to the loss (slow it down definitely) at some point.
Do you go to the gym often?
I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the gym.
I just made up my own routine of:
One hour total session - at least 3 times a week
Start with running a mile
The rest of the time I'll concentrate on one area. Today I did the bicep curls and triceps.
I start by putting the max weight I can lift and do 10 reps.
Then I drop the weight by 10 pounds and do 10 more reps.
I keep doing that until I've done 5 sets.
Does that sound like a decent enough routine along with my diet to lose fat and build enough muscle to look toned (not bulky)?

 

[Jim Cornette]

do some boxing OP...

that's honestly the fastest way to shred weight and it's fun at the same time learning a combat sport.


it's a good look too, boxers have some of the best looking bodies pause.

I do boxing 5 days a week.. no weights.

all I take is;

fish oil tablet
multivitamin
zma tablet


and of course you gotta cut out the fast food, processed shyt and alcohol.

you'll notice a massive change in your shape in 2 weeks

 

[The ADD]

I've actually been told this before.
It's hard to get in that mind set especially coming from being significantly overweight at one point.
It's like my instinct is to eat as little as possible but people have told me and I read online that not eating enough (of the right foods) can hinder your weight lost goals.
It's something I'm going to have to learn to adjust especially since I'm much more active than before.
I try to get as much fat into my diet as possible, the problem is I get bored of it too quick.
I'll mainly go for avocado, plenty of butter, and use coconut oil as much as possible.
What you said about progression makes perfect sense too. If a person loses 10 pounds a month in the beginning it makes perfect sense for the body to slow that rate down at one point or another. It's not like a person is going to be able to go down to 0 ever, so the body has to put a stop to the loss (slow it down definitely) at some point.
Do you go to the gym often?
I'm completely ignorant when it comes to the gym.
I just made up my own routine of:
One hour total session - at least 3 times a week
Start with running a mile
The rest of the time I'll concentrate on one area. Today I did the bicep curls and triceps.
I start by putting the max weight I can lift and do 10 reps.
Then I drop the weight by 10 pounds and do 10 more reps.
I keep doing that until I've done 5 sets.
Does that sound like a decent enough routine along with my diet to lose fat and build enough muscle to look toned (not bulky)?

I been there in regards to being very overweight and then the peaks and valleys of losing it and what that can do to you mentally.

Overall there are different ways to look at it. It doesn’t sound like right now you are terribly concerned with tracking calories or a formal listing program. Nothing wrong with that IMO. That being the case I would just focus on eating well balanced meals with good protein sources and fruits and vegetables.

Workout wise I don’t think isolation exercises are doing a lot do you right now. I would focus on body weight exercises and I think @Mal has a good suggestion with boxing or other fitness type classes.

You do need to drop the notion that you are going to lose fat and gain muscle in a consistent caloric deficit. It’s just not going to happen that way based on what you are doing.

 

[Wildin]

Does that sound like a decent enough routine along with my diet to lose fat and build enough muscle to look toned (not bulky)?

Don't be afraid to eat. Just eat right. For instance I have no problem eating an entire can of frenched green beans.

But an entire can is like 40 calories. I eat an entire bag of salad a day usually half of

with half of

With a can of tuna or a can of chicken

or 3oz of chicken.

You get that satiated feeling. But not a sleepy itis feeling. I get more tired from having to eat for 20-25 minutes. (Those fresh leaf salads are pretty big and I take my time to eat). I get full but not sleepy, I don't wanna or need to lay down afterward and to top it off, those big ass meals are barely 300/400 calories if that.

2 and a half cups of the Romaine salad is about 30 calories, plus 2.5 cups of spinach which is like 60 calories, the can of spinach is 60 calories, the can of chicken is 100 calories.

Try fitness boxing for switch. Try the demo. I can't remember if the demo let's you do 45 min workouts. It's something fun that'll get you working out everyday and burning an extra 400-500 calories. The 'achievements/unlockables' may keep you wanting to come back, otherwise perfecting the moves and combos might do it.

You can turn your brain off and pay attention to the game/unlockable aspect and still burn calories or say fukk the game and focus on the workout portion and burn calories that way. I reviewed the game in the switch thread. I'm going to buy it within the next couple of days, I've had it on game fly. I'm just under 50,000 punches. And within the next two weeks the game believes I should have 100,000 punches. I think that's pretty cool. There doesn't appear to be any achievement for 1 million punches thrown. I think the game will somehow acknowledge 1 million but I doubt it does anything special. A rough calculation is about 5 months for me to hit that mark. I'm willing to stick it out and give it a shot.