Health Question

[TrueBlue]

I am 23 years old and have abused my body for most of my younger life.

I finally woke up to the fact that I have to do something about it so I have been swimming every morning at 7am then going to work and then having 30 mins on the treadmill at home around 6pm after work. When I started these were my stats as printed out on one of them digital machines that measures weight, BMI, Fat Index and Fat Mass

Week 1 Results...

Date 09.01.09

Weight - 19st 12lb (126.1kg)

B.M.I - 35.6

Fat Index - 38.5%

Fat Mass 48.5kg

Now that's what I started at so as you can see there is allot of work ahead to do now here is week 2 results and what worries me is that am I on the the right path from these results below the weight has gone up! though fat mass and index has fallen but BMI has risen so am I doing something wrong?

Week 2 Results...

Date 16.01.09

Weight - 20st 0lb (127.2kg)

B.M.I - 36.3

Fat Index - 33.3%

Fat Mass 42.3kg

Any advice would be great thanks.

oh and before anybody starts this is a serious post just looking for advice

 

[Gremlin]

Serious question: are you combining this hard work with any changes to what you eat & drink?

 

[osymandus]

It will if your doing regular exercise and developing muscle (which does weigh more then fat ) it will increase , however BMI is a contencious issue and its one of those does it dosnt it really acturatly represent acurate body sizes !

At the moment your doing the test thing , good cardio work out and swimming which exercises every muscle group (well most ) with the smallest amount of stress.

Remember to vary what you do as you will get bored , also give Yoga a try ;) and look at your diet .

 

[TrueBlue]

Serious question: are you combining this hard work with any changes to what you eat & drink?

Yeah I now aim to drink at least 2L of water a day I have cut out all carbonated drinks.

Had a couple of beers Wednesday nothing over the top though and will have a few Saturday I only ever really drink at football

Stopped eating Chinese and take aways having all home cooked food thats lower in fat and empty carbs

 

[MK Shrimper]

What Gremlin said. No point doing all this exercise if you're eating crap like KFC and drinking 20 pints of Stella over a weekend.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I would ignore the output from the machine and just concentrate on your weight because the values seem wildly different despite being taken one week apart.

 

[madaboutblues]

Hi there TB.
As a nurse, I agree with the above. It is not all about exercise although going for a swim every day before work is amazing (I couldn't do it!)

You have to eat healthily too. That doesn't mean a carrot stick and lettuce leaf for lunch but eating good well balanced food. You can still have your steak meal ;) but have it with a jacket potato rather than chips.
Make sure you eat breakfast every day after your swim as this gets your metabolism working.

You can still have a few beers at the weekend but limit the amount or have a few gin and slimline tonic instead. You won't lose weight as quickly but you will still lose it if you're eating healthily.

 

[Ulysses]

Remember muscle weighs more than fat and this is why i think weight/bmi are inaccurate cos they don't take muscle into account. (i myself am 15st 1/2 stone and evidently verging on obese according to the charts - i'm a1 fit by the way and have a 36" waist). I think the easiest option is to set yourself realistic targets. Oh! give up booze cos you wouldn't believe how many Kcal in that.

 

[fatshrimp]

Could it be that muscle weighs more than fat, or something like that? If you're doing more, perhaps you're developing your muscles..?

I was told once that weight was not always an indication of good health. Although judging by my user name, maybe that's just what I chose to remember from the conversation!

Either way, it sounds like you're heading in the right direction so keep it up!

 

[Ulysses]

If you drink beer try Coors light, its about 5% but about 1/2 the Kcal of normal beer.

 

[fatshrimp]

If you drink beer try Coors light, its about 5% but about 1/2 the Kcal of normal beer.

Or Holsten Pils. Most of the sugar turns to alcohol apparently. It's almost a health drink!

 

[madaboutblues]

Muscle does weigh more than fat, but in just a week, you won't have turned much fat into muscle I'm afraid - it takes a bit longer than that.

 

[steveo]

Do you smoke?
Try an electronic cig – not bad for you and helps kill your appetite

Dont over do the exercise – especially if you havtn done much before, but make sure you exercise regularly.

Walk to more places – example – if you go to Tesco, park as far away from the shop as you can and walk there briskly.

Burn more calories than your intake

If you drink lager, try and change to Guiness. It won’t do you any good but it tastes so much better.

 

[Firestorm]

Burn more calories than your intake

Spot on That it basically all you need !

At that weight , I would say cut down to 2500-3000 calories a day. and it will fall off as long as you stick to it

 

[EastStandBlue]

Don't worry about the BMI at all mate... A lot of the taller professional footballers are considered obese by their BMI's because of the amount of muscle they develop in their careers.

Jason Scotland for one I know has a BMI that leads him to be almost morbidly obese on their scale, when actually he's just a powerhouse.

One of the best bits of advice I can give as well is to make sure you drink at least 2 litres of water a day, this will help you lose weight, keep you hydrated and make you feel healthier.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Sorry ESB that water thing is bolleaux spread by the bottled water companies to make you spend your £1.50 on something you get out of the tap for (virtually) free.

If your body needs water you body has a wonderful way of letting you know - you'll be thirsty.

 

[Aberdeen Shrimper]

How much water should you drink each day? A simple question with no easy answers. Studies have produced varying recommendations over the years, but in truth, your water needs depend on many factors, including your health, how active you are and where you live


The average urine output for adults is about 1.5 litres (6.3 cups) a day. You lose close to an additional litre of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Food usually accounts for 20 percent of your total fluid intake, so if you consume 2 litres of water or other beverages a day (a little more than 8 cups) along with your normal diet, you will typically replace the lost fluids.

 

[Perth Bambi]

Sorry ESB that water thing is bolleaux spread by the bottled water companies to make you spend your £1.50 on something you get out of the tap for (virtually) free.

If your body needs water you body has a wonderful way of letting you know - you'll be thirsty.

Actually he isn't wrong although it doesn't really have any great scientfic fact behind it. If you are struggling with the not eating as much drinking lots of water is good as it supresses appetite.

Just as a safety note don't go hugely over board on the water. It is pretty rare but drinking TOO much water can give you water toxicity which is actually fatal, a few cyclists and boxers I believe have died from it.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Excellent website here blowing the two litre myth out of the "water" ;)

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/womenshealth/features/watermyth.htm

Your body regulates how much you need - too little and your urine goes dark and your brain tells you that you're thirsty - too much as your urine is clear and you go to the toilet every 5 mins.

 

[Einstein]

Excellent website here blowing the two litre myth out of the "water" ;)

I think I'd rather trust a medical professionals judgement (i.e. Yorkshire Bambi) who has studied for the past five years over some dodgy website.

I could easily set up a website and announce that drinking 10 pints of Lager a night is actually healthy for you. In fact I bet somewhere out there, someones already beaten me to it!! :)