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Hey guys...so I wanted to start a thread on what you guys do to get/stay in shape as I didn't find anything though the search.

I am ashamed to say that since I got married almost a year ago, I have put all the weight I lost back on and I am not confident to where anything less than knee length shorts.

So what is the best way that you have found to burn off max amount of fat and then followed up with toning and definition?

I've dropped about 20 pounds in the last 2-3 years and my wife has lost a similar amount. The biggest change in our diet? Significantly reducing the amount of bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes that we eat. When we were younger a default meal was pasta with sauce, but we don't do that any longer. Nor beef stroganoff with lots of sour cream. We've always eaten lots of fresh veggies (from our garden in season, from the store other times) and fruit and we continue to eat lots of fresh produce. We cut down on red meat as well, but more because it got expensive than any other reason. I'm eating smaller portions of Cheerios for breakfast, too. What we haven't cut out: beer and ice cream.

There's no magic bullet here, just good healthy fresh food. No supplements, no vitamins either.

Our exercise is sporadic. Some walking, some road biking, and I do a fair amount of hiking in the mountains. I've been off swimming for several years and keep thinking I'll get back to it but then don't make the effort to get to the pool.

90% of it is honestly in your diet. I dropped nearly 60 lbs in 8-9 months just by limiting my calories and using FatSecret to track them.


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It is easy, firstly you have to eliminate anythink that needs to be fried. Do not fry anythink, better use the oven or a barbecue. Also, avoid eating bread or fruits for dinner. It is better to eat vegetables, fish, chicken breast, ...

Do not follow a strict diet, just change your habits. Good luck!

Eat real food - stuff that is fresh, not out of a packet, tin, jar or box.

Cut out the sugar - the one common element of every diet and doing this will make you sick for a while, so prepare yourself for that!

If you eat properly then you will naturally regulate your intake.

Exercise for me is mainly endurance work, less than an hour is a waste. It gives lean but not muscled.
If you want tone and definition then you'll probably need to do high load, small repetition work like weights or using body weight as loads to build muscle mass - that should give lean with muscle definition.

Lots of good comments. I agree, at least 75% of results is from nutrition, not gym workouts.

Here's what's working for me...

1. Far and away, the BIG improvement for me was eliminating all polyunsaturated fats. No nuts. No margarine. No vegetable oil (soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, canola, etc.) This eliminates virtually all processed snack foods and all fast foods. Absolutely no "hydrogenated" anything! No "low fat" garbage either.

2. Eat real foods. Eggs. Whole milk. Grass fed beef. Chicken. Cheese. Ice cream. Fruit. Breads and cereal occasionally. (I don't like vegetables, but that'd probably be ok!) Read the ingredients. They should be simple and recognizable!

3. I pan fry a lot of meals, but the only oils I ever use are coconut oil (I use lots of this!), butter, and olive oil (rarely). Never eat a fried meal at a restaurant... they invariably use junk oils... even fine dining.

4. I differ from many people in that I think sugar is great. You need energy. Starvation does NOT work! The body is made to process glucose and fructose. I drink lots of soda. I eat chocolate and ice cream made from whole milk. You eat for two reasons: energy and nutrition. As long as you're getting nutrition from the real foods in #2 above, there's nothing wrong with sugar for energy.

5. I'm active throughout the day. No desk job. I don't belong to a gym. I just do situps and pushups. Bike ride. But I didn't get motivated to do this until I was already seeing really good results from better nutrition.

6. I eat when I'm hungry. I try not to over-eat when something tastes really good... like pizza. (I investigated the ingredients to find a pizza place that passes my requirements for #1 and #2 above.)

7. No supplements. No gimmicks. No crash "diets". No cheat days. No calorie restriction. Just honest food, every day.

Good luck!

ExBex wrote:Lots of good comments. I agree, at least 75% of results is from nutrition, not gym workouts.

Here's what's working for me...

1. Far and away, the BIG improvement for me was eliminating all polyunsaturated fats. No nuts. No margarine. No vegetable oil (soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, canola, etc.) This eliminates virtually all processed snack foods and all fast foods. Absolutely no "hydrogenated" anything! No "low fat" garbage either.

2. Eat real foods. Eggs. Whole milk. Grass fed beef. Chicken. Cheese. Ice cream. Fruit. Breads and cereal occasionally. (I don't like vegetables, but that'd probably be ok!) Read the ingredients. They should be simple and recognizable!

3. I pan fry a lot of meals, but the only oils I ever use are coconut oil (I use lots of this!), butter, and olive oil (rarely). Never eat a fried meal at a restaurant... they invariably use junk oils... even fine dining.

4. I differ from many people in that I think sugar is great. You need energy. Starvation does NOT work! The body is made to process glucose and fructose. I drink lots of soda. I eat chocolate and ice cream made from whole milk. You eat for two reasons: energy and nutrition. As long as you're getting nutrition from the real foods in #2 above, there's nothing wrong with sugar for energy.

5. I'm active throughout the day. No desk job. I don't belong to a gym. I just do situps and pushups. Bike ride. But I didn't get motivated to do this until I was already seeing really good results from better nutrition.

6. I eat when I'm hungry. I try not to over-eat when something tastes really good... like pizza. (I investigated the ingredients to find a pizza place that passes my requirements for #1 and #2 above.)

7. No supplements. No gimmicks. No crash "diets". No cheat days. No calorie restriction. Just honest food, every day.

Good luck!

Sounds somewhat like a Keto diet? It's basically no carbs, high protein and fat, low sugar. I hear it works wonders because your body won't rely on carbs and complex sugars for food, it'll start burning fat for energy. It takes several days for your body to switch over though, and eventually (like months of practice) you'll plateau.

>>>>So what is the best way that you have found to burn off max amount of fat and then followed up with toning and definition?

Tonyo919 - lots of good suggestions here. Hopefully here is a different view.

The first question I would ask is - how far are you from your ideal height/weight/age? The further you are from your ideal weight, the more results you will have from diet alone which will help bring you back into the area you are probably seeking. To make an impact that is sustaining, you need to be aware of what you are eating, your portions and it's contents. Without being able to control the basics of your diet, you will not be able to sustain the weight loss. This is why many folks here called it a life change. Starving yourself will not give you what you are looking for.

To help you get control of your diet, you have a lot of options. You can stick to foods that folks here have already recommended. Your body will be different so you need to do some try different things. If you need a little help to understand your portions or how many calories you should be eating, there are a lot of free stuff out there. My fitness Pal app helps you track your food and exercise. You may not realize that your portions or what you are eating is giving you a lot more calories than you would have imagine. With a little tracking, you may be able to make a few changes and they will give you a big impact. For example, just eliminating beer or soft drinks can be a huge different in your daily calories. Processed and fast foods elimination is also a big way to get a big bang for your buck. I have friends who also swear by WW point system (but you have to pay). The concept is good since it is less about strict caloric intake and more about eating habits. It also does not ding you on certain fruits and vegetables. Strict caloric diets can starve you and lead to failure. With WW, you can eat a pound of fruits and vegetables until you are stuffed and it does not count against you because again, it is getting you to change eating habits. My whole point of this is that understanding your food intake is probably 60% of the battle. People have said to stay away from shakes supplements but personally, they work for me. I drink one right before I leave for a swim and it saves me from being ravenous afterwards - but that is just what works for me. I don't use it as a meal supplement.

As far as fitness, your main thing to achieve is 30-45 mins of cardio 3 times a week for sustainment. Again, your body is different so you have to figure out where you want to be. I personally need about 4-5 days a week to keep on track to where I want to be but I know it is because I have a hard time with being strict on low carbs and certain types of sugars. I look at it as a trade off. And when I know I won't be able to work out as much as I want to, I try to cut out things like beer and cheese temporarily (which for an upper Midwesterner is really, really hard) until I can get back into my routine. It helps me be consistent with out depriving myself.

To toning and definition question....

If you are currently a lot more than your ideal weight, I would stay away from high impact activities like running or jogging. You will have a higher probability of injuring yourself (because your are excited and push yourself too hard too quick). Low impact is what you want to do. Low Impact sports are things like swimming, biking, walking, hiking and even certain types of yoga. I think a lot of folks here would agree that swimming is one way to get a huge bang for your buck because it works a ton of muscles during a session. Also, it is also rare that an average person gets injured from swimming.

The hardest part for me is the activity piece. I'm married with little kids and I have a desk job... and I half jokingly say that I barely have time to shower on some days. While dieting is a lot easier for me and I have the skinny genes in my favor, finding time to work out isn't. When I add the motivation factor to the mix, it becomes a real struggle. I have tried a lot of different workouts and routines and the only thing that I have been able to sustain is swimming. People say swimming laps is boring but I swim with a pair of headphones and it has been my savior. Without them, I would have given up a long time ago.

Ultimately, you just have to figure out what works for you and finding the right balance. Tweaking your diet and pinpointing the right activities that you enjoy doing will take you a long way. Having a supportive spouse, friend, family or even anonymous folks who are this board is a valuable asset too.

If you need some motivation, I am sure there are a ton of people here that will cheer you on! If you are comfortable with it, post before and/or after pics. We call it the 'Speedo Body Transformation'. Without sounding off for the others, I know you will get a lot of positive reinforcement to keep you going!

Good luck and let us know how it works out for you.

BriefsBro wrote:Sounds somewhat like a Keto diet? It's basically no carbs, high protein and fat, low sugar. I hear it works wonders because your body won't rely on carbs and complex sugars for food, it'll start burning fat for energy. It takes several days for your body to switch over though, and eventually (like months of practice) you'll plateau.

This is a really interesting diet and there is a lot of fascinating research being done by people like Tim Noakes, Donal Oniell and Peter Defty. Cold turkey is a couple of days/weeks, but to properly fat adapt its 8+ weeks with continuing returns over time. Personally I think that this is a really good diet for athletes as it activates and develops the bodies ability to use its fat stores as a primary energy source, especially for endurance and it gets supplemented by Carbs - rather than carbs being a primary energy source which is a very limited way of doing things, especially over 1hr or so. Tim Noakes is all or nothing with it, but Peter Defty tends to think that carbs need to supplement ketoses (consuming fat for energy) to maximise performance - this I agree with if Tonyo919 is going to also do exercise - once you run out of energy then you're done, if you continue while energy depleted then you're just doing damage. If you you are fat adapted then you'll power on for ages and can continue to exercise.

On the other hand, there is also mice testing that has found that a diet higher in Carbs compared to fats also produces better longevity.

How it goes for weight reduction. There is research also that shows a full Keto diet will reduce weight and some will come from Muscle loss. Likewise the brain needs glycogen from Carbs, not from fat but it can metabolise fats into glycogen based on blood tests. The implication here, is that if you need to your brain at Uni or to do work, the Keto diet may also not be the best way to approach it either.

I agree with what I'm reading. Diet and exercise, figure out what works for you. For me, elementary school P.E.; do that. Calisthenics, running. But the big trick is how to keep it going.

Like they say, find a job you love, and you'll never work another day. Find an exercise you love, like surfing, or running on the beach in your speedo, and you'll keep it up.

A few more tips for keeping it going....
It took me about 18 months to lose 35 pounds. That's only 2 pounds a month! Doesn't sound like much, but looking back, I wish I had started sooner. So if you feel like giving up, just remember to keep moving the ball forward.

Masterbate before or after a workout. For me, it's a great pain reliever, will clear your mind to focus on exercise, and reward you to associate exercise with those good feelings. Admittedly, I have a strong libido, but I also exercise way before my wife gets out of bed in the morning, so there's never really a conflict with being in the mood again with her later.

Eat regularly throughout the day. Small breakfast, snack, small lunch, snack, small dinner, snack. I started because I was mentally crashing everyday after lunch, and it fixed that. But it should help stabilize your metabolism too.

I found out I have a gluten allergy. So it wasn't difficult for me to cut out beer, bread, and pasta. But that made a difference too.

I've read it's a good idea to share your goals and what you're doing with others so that you're held accountable for staying on track. But for me, for some reason, nothing will get me off track faster. I realize I'm kind of breaking that rule here, but I'm just adding to some already good info from others.

So let us know how it's going... Or don't. (;

Thank you everyone!

My issue is I am not a morning person at all....so going to the gym before work isn't going to happen LOL. Then I work all day and don't feel like doing anything once I get home, so I usually have dinner with my wife and sit on the couch for a couple hours before going to bed and starting it all over again the next day.

But I do know that it needs to get done! My doctor is even on top of me as my last numbers came back pretty bad and I'm only 33.

What do you all do for motivation? To get you to go to the gym for an hour or two every day?

I used to have motivation by having a personal trainer about 10 years ago....that was the best shape I was ever in. but at $60 an hour, I can't afford one right now.

I'm the exact same as you Tony! I had a trainer…$110 per hour. Saw some results, nothing dramatic. I try to push myself to go right after work. That being said…really have done much in the last week, as I really enjoy the peace and quiet of sitting out by the pool in the late afternoon. Time to give myself a much needed push!!!

tonyo919 wrote:What do you all do for motivation? To get you to go to the gym for an hour or two every day?

I'm not a gym guy, although I tried that for a while more than a dozen years ago. I exercise somewhat sporadically, but pretty hard when I do. It's more a mindset of staying fit. As a self-employed photographer I sometimes spend way more time than I'd like in front of my computer doing editing work. But I also move around a lot, and I never sit on the sofa for a couple of hours in the evening. Yard work is light exercise. Walking in our woods is light exercise. Bicycling the 9.5 miles round trip to Costco this afternoon was light exercise.

Some evenings I'll do yoga and push-ups, but I'm not very consistent about it.

What I really like to do is go hiking in the mountains. Where I live, on the west side of the North Cascades, trails are steep and you gain a fair amount of elevation. My hike yesterday gained about 3000 feet in about 3 miles, which some people consider to be a steep trail. Parts certainly were, but there were nearly level sections as well. I felt like I was doing intervals, hiking briskly up steep sections and then stopping to photograph something that caught my eye while catching my breath. I was outside and on my feet for about 11 hours. I can't imagine any better way to get exercise, enjoy great scenery, and feel the fresh air on as much skin as possible.

BriefsBro wrote: Sounds somewhat like a Keto diet? It's basically no carbs, high protein and fat, low sugar. I hear it works wonders because your body won't rely on carbs and complex sugars for food, it'll start burning fat for energy. It takes several days for your body to switch over though, and eventually (like months of practice) you'll plateau.

I never heard of the Keto diet before. I'll have to research. My diet has a lot of sugar and quite a few carbs (mostly from pasta, a little from bread) in addition to fairly high protein. But I don't aim for a specific mix; I just eat what I'm hungry for, so long as it meets my other criteria for good honest food. (I think our cravings tell us a lot about what our bodies need.) My research, which is based around Raymond Peat, is less about getting the body to burn primarily fat than about getting the body to reduce its stress responses, which trigger many negative chemical cascades, like inflammation, leading to long-term health issues. Their theory (which I can't do justice here) is that you want your body operating at high metabolism and generating energy as efficiently as possible. Partly, that means making sure your body is using aerobic respiration (ie oxygen) rather than non-aerobic respiration. And the heart of the aerobic respiration process is glucose. Sugar! Carbs! Lack of cellular energy is highly stressful, and that starvation also ultimately leads to fat accumulation as a survival response.

tonyo919 wrote:What do you all do for motivation? To get you to go to the gym for an hour or two every day?

I find positive results produce the greatest motivation. I've always hated working out. In my case, the results from improved nutrition (ie fat loss and muscle definition) are now motivating me to want to workout more and maybe join a gym. Get your eating habits on track, and maybe you'll start seeing some results that'll make you want even more results! Also, you can get some great beginning results with a home workout of just push-ups, sit-ups, etc. which might give you some more motivation to do the gym thing later.

I swim a good mile 5-6 times a week. Other than that, I don't have an exercise regimine and I am looking for one. Does anyone else swim for fitness in this forum? I am trying to reduce my sugar intake but that is very difficult. I am addicted. Any suggestions? I once ran but a serious accident resulting in the near amputation of my left leg prevents me from pursuing that activity. Thanks!

I work out and swim daily and have learned a lot about nutrition as a method to stay in shape. This game all changes when a man gets in his forties and fifties, trust me! It gets very difficult. I have tried real hard to retain that swimmer's body I had as a teen. Of course it is impossible but I've done better than anyone else I know. My waist size went from 30 to 32 and my weight from 150 to 170 in forty years. I'm proud of that. Especially in light of some injuries and a cervical disc degeneration that has slowed me down a tad. That's when diet became critical. Everybody is different though, every body is different. Find what works for you, and do it, and above all set a good example to the young ones. It is sad what the average human considers an acceptable body shape nowadays, it has affected what is popular to wear and worst of all it affects what is acceptable to wear now, isn't it? Again I'm proud, able and willing to wear my speedo anywhere it is appropriate.

Thank you everyone again for all the tips! I had a bit of a setback as I had some neck and back issues, but they are finally figured out and healing so the gym will be starting this week! I plan to post a current photo and then update photos as I go along so I can get some words of encouragement from others besides my wife, family and friends

One question for you all....Every night we have our sensible dinner and then in an hour or two I am hungry again! What type of snacks and such would you all recommend in that instance to satisfy the cravings?

Best of luck...

I always have another meal after dinner too. I tend to have breakfast again... usually cereal (whole milk and a cereal that meets my oil-free requirements, like Lucky Charms!). Sometimes I cook eggs. Occasionally, I might reheat leftovers from dinner and just have dinner again.

Ice cream is good too... the real stuff with recognizable ingredients, none of that low-fat chemical trash!

Fruit, eggs, nuts is what I nibble on.

I've found the more that I've removed sugar from my diet and the more I eat real foods the less I feel like nibbling on stuff and I don't have that constant need to graze.

...:::sam:::... wrote:Fruit, eggs, nuts is what I nibble on.

I've found the more that I've removed sugar from my diet and the more I eat real foods the less I feel like nibbling on stuff and I don't have that constant need to graze.

SUGAR.....if only us mere humans knew before we harvested it how bad it really is for our system the better off we all would be.
I bought some peanut butter which I do once in a blue moon and about to throw it away cos it has so much sugar in it that it puts me right off, Im baffled as to why food producers use so much sugar in their food production.....I'm convinced it helps them bulk it up in a cheap way vs making decent food stuff.

If I had mega bucks I would open a supermarket chain store where my products would be sugar free, we really would lead better lives without this poison