Short Timeframe Health

Question

I am severely obese - 180cm and 108Kgs for a 21 year old male - approximately 25Kgs above my 'safe' level. Adverse affects are increased tiredness, mood swings, trouble breathing when performing basic tasks and the like.

What I am seeking is a method wherein I can reduce my weight and maintain it with several factors such as:

• Short, inconsistent time-frames for "free time";
• Low income, resulting in restricted budget, and supplements;

Obviously diet it key here - I plan on trying to adhere to:

• Simple "Fat Reducing" shake in the morning (several suppliments such as iron, calcium etc);
• Standard lunch (around 10:00am - 12:00pm depending on work) consisting of 2 cans of Tuna and rice crackers, plus an "energy boost" drink;
• Dinner will consist of a range of meals pertaining to my budget - usually pasta, chicken and some other miscellaneous items.

The workout scenario is a little askew due to work and life time restrictions. Traditionally I'll go 1 to 3 times for a 4560 minute gym workout. The workout will consist of:

• 5 minute bike ride, traditionally ending at 2KM+
• 5 minute/1K rowing machine;
• 5 minute bike ride (for a different part of the leg)

Then, I'll work on some machine weights:

• 3x 10 sets of 84KG lateral
• 3x 10 sets of 57-64KG "pulls" (sorry, I don't know the names of the machines; horizontal and vertical weights)
• 3x set of 100KG leg press
• 3x 100KG back press (I do not know the name)

Then there will be re-visits, or new machines depending on the night and how I feel.

The biggest drawbacks:

• My inability thus far to stick to a plan;
• My time restraints with work and personal life;
• My habit of snacking and drinking

Furthermore, it's seemingly the point that I am undergoing some test for Iron deficiency, sleep apnea and/or thyroid issues.

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So with all that said and done, can I please get some pointers on:

• Sleep routines that should be abide by;
• Best exercises hinging off short-time frames;
• Best practice diet rules and types of diets and, whilst I know personal opinion;
• Best methods to enforce/support the desire to change - motivation books, apps, quotes you name it.

Not sure if off-topic here, just really want to try and get it underway.

Related Questions

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• Wanting to lose weight cycling is this enough?

• Food diet off balance

• What is the best way to break down a 60 minute gym workout?

Answer 1

I don’t know why people try to complicate fitness so much. I think from a novice’s perspective, they view fitness as something that must be so complex. It doesn’t help that they have people offering advice, that while genuine and with good intention, makes things more complicated.

Here’s the truth: You are obese. You carry a ton of weight around with you all day. By proxy of that, you are actually burning a lot of calories doing that.

The most important thing you can do at this point is to figure out a sustainable (as in lifelong) diet plan that you can stick to. Just plan on 2500 calories a day and log your food.

Then buy a FitBit and start walking. If you’re eating well and walking, the fat will start coming off.

When you hit a plateau (weight stops coming off), then up the intensity in the form of faster walking, longer walking, etc...

I wouldn’t bother lifting weights for a while. Don’t overcomplicate it and don’t let anyone overcomplicate it for you. The biggest turnoff for people starting is having to sort through a mess of hundreds of thousands of “rules” of crap they’re supposed to do or not do.

You have plenty of time to make things complicated. For now, start with the basics and gather the discipline to walk every day and stick to a proper diet.

If you want motivation, listen to “Jocko Podcast.” Former Navy SEAL who talks about discipline. I side with him that “motivation” is this wishy-washy thing that comes and goes but discipline is the act of doing the things you should be doing no matter how you feel.

Answer 2

Diet

The first thing I would change, is to drop breakfast altogether. You've probably heard the phrase "breakfast is the most important meal of the day", but the dirty secret is that this phrase was coined by a man named Kellogg. You may have heard the name.

When you wake up in the morning, the body provides a natural increase in blood sugar. It's what helps you actually get up and out of bed. When you insist on eating while you enjoy this blood sugar spike, you increase your blood sugar even more, and you develop a risk for Type-2 Diabetes.

The only thing your body truly needs in the morning is water. Lots of water. This will kickstart every process in your body; metabolism, moisturizing, immune system... Pretty much everything good your body does.

Also, the longer you wait before breaking your fast, the longer your body stays in this fasting mode, where all nutrients required are supplied by burning fat.

If you skip breakfast, and wait until lunch to eat, you're doing what's called intermittent fasting. This is where you do all of your eating in an 8 hour window, and fast for 16 hours. This method has been linked to good results to combat obesity, and for general health benefits.

Sources on intermittent fasting

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4042085/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064803/

Workouts

In all honesty, most of the fat loss is done in the kitchen. Workouts help your body to adapt to the changes in a better way. Making sure your posture isn't permanently damaged, keeping muscle tissue active and maintained, and improving flexbility is quite important for someone who is going to lose a lot of weight.

I'm not going to comment too much on your workout regimen. It needs to be replaced completely. It's important that you don't try to create your own workout programs. This isn't really something we do until we have many years of experience. There are lots of programs readily available. If you insist on using machines, I'd support that, but as soon as you feel able, you should move on to free weights.

You can find a plethora of good

• programs for overweight beginners

• programs using machines

and whatever else.

The main reason I choose to disregard your program, is because you have a fixed weight every time. This indicates that what you're doing has no long-term progression planned, which means that you'll hit a plateau after just a month or two. Additionally, it indicates that the program was made by someone who isn't aware of this, and perhaps shouldn't be making their own programs just yet. But that's fine. We all started there.

The other questions

So with all that said and done, can I please get some pointers on: [...]

This section of your question becomes rather broad. To keep things tidy, I suggest you create separate questions for these.