While true in general, exercise can be a great tool for weight loss in conjunction with eating properly. I lost 60+ lbs (240 -> 175) in about 6 months by learning how to eat correctly and taking up running as a serious hobby. While the calories I burned running are only a relatively small percentage of the calories I reduced via diet it made me more conscious of my eating and left me less hungry. I also slept better, which I’ve read is good for weight loss. Besides, any time exercising is time you can’t over eat. 
I’ve actually always lost weight on cruises because, yeah, there’s a lot of food, but you’re also walking a lot, climbing a lot of steps, etc.
There ya go - start baking decadent desserts for the whole office! 
I used a very low fat diet,mebbe 10 -12 grams a day, that was very high in carbs.Lost a bunch of weight in a rather short time.
I lost weight on a cruise once because after Egypt I had, uh, let’s just say GI trouble and spent a lot of time on the potty.
The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that the points system is heavily (hah) weighted toward high fiber, lean foods. You get that allowance of x points a day (based on your current weight), and if you concentrate on the healthier stuff you can eat more volume (and even slightly more calories).
For example I found muffins at Trader Joes that were over 100 calories but very high fiber and low fat, so they were 1 point for a fairly large piece of food - whereas a pat of butter at 30-40 calories was also a point (admittedly, those same muffins happened to be not all that tasty, I’m just mentioning them to show you the extremes).
While you don’t want to “bulk up”, I’ve heard you should include some light strengthening exercises to keep up your lean body weight. Otherwise you’ll lose muscle as well as fat, and it’ll be that much harder to keep the weight off.
My go-to to drop some weight (I don’t like running except uphill [short uphills, but they can be steep], but love to walk – that’s how I listetn to most music, which is critical to get me inspired to steal some licks or learn some new tunes) is walk at least 10 miles a day, including enough hills to get me plenty sweaty…and eat moderately.
I’m not vegetarian, but that’s the food I prefer most to eat most of the time – it may be arguably more healthy, but to get enough calories just to stay afloat, that means eating most calories from carbs and fat. Vegetables just don’t have enough calories by themselves, nor do beans – one lb of dried beans has IIRC about 850-900 calories in it. I’m 6’3 about 230 lbs, so I do need quite a bit even without exercise to have a 1000 calorie/per day deficit, and some would say that’s too high. I’m comfortable on 1500 calories/day, though, whereas many wouldn’t be. Add in the occasional beer or twelve and you’re well into maintain/gain weight mode, at least temporarily. Now that a break from Fucking “school” is coming up, I’ll get back to my routine and drop some of that fat PDQ.
I loved the alternate-day fast for the six or so weeks I tried it – it was a fun exercise. Not sure how good it is for the body, though – my GP didn’t really have any data, but didn’t think it was probably a great idea, and he does give me good, non-judgmental advice about keeping alcohol to 10-12 units per week. Ideally it would be zero, but he knows my profession and that it can be hard to refuse a drink from a pretty gal after playing, even though I’m usually sweaty and, with my weight, probably resemble Van Morrison in “The Last Waltz” (not while performing! not in that league at all!) after some time in the green room backstage.
My personal experience is that for the most part exercise gets my metabolism going and makes me crave food to the point that I can’t feel satiated. I’ve noticed this with quite a few friends that have trained for marathons or triathlons with me. It’s more likely that after a workout your body will want food so badly you’ll overeat and gain weight.
I find that for the first few months of Ironman training the workouts aren’t quite long enough to burn all the calories I’ll consume afterwards. It’s not until after the midway point that I have to force myself to eat enough to not lose weight. And the in the last few weeks my weight will drop 10-15lb. It’s that initial weight gain that tends to demotivate a lot of people.
I think the fact that it’s 6 months might make this really hard. It’s almost easier to lose it in a very short period of time, with the risk that you’ll put it all back on during the last month. That’s definitely where I think strength training is key, to actually put on muscle mass during the first few months, which will help with the fat loss. Then stop strength training and switch to just cardio during the last few weeks to shed the muscle mass.
I’m surprised no one mentioned tape worms yet…
The grand prize is only 1000 dollars.
Eat right get healthy. Lift and do some cardio. In six months if you don’t win the thousand you won’t give a shit. You will feel 1million dollars better.
If you stick it out you will likely win. Just going the distance will put you in the top regardless of the plan.
How many people are participating?
This is my thought as well. If I can go the distance I think I’ll be right up there. I can be pretty stubborn once my eye is on a prize.
Registration is ongoing, so there is no number yet. There are around 12,000 people eligible. If you eliminate the non-fatties and the non-motivated, that number goes down quite a bit. Then, cut that number approximately in half (one male winner, one female winner). And I am sure many (not me) will drop out. considering all that, I’m guessing I’ll be competing with less than a hundred individuals.
mmm
It depends on how much you exercise really. If you have the time then cycling can burn an incredible amount of calories. I lost 20 kg, or about 40 lbs by cycling alone and not changing my eating habits. That was a loss of 20% of my body weight just by exercising. I had tried running but it didn’t really work because I couldn’t run for much more than an hour and could only ever burn around 800 calories, but when I cycle I can ride for hours on end still burning about 800-900 calories per hour. When you start burning 3000 calories every couple of days the weight drops right off, trick is you have to have the spare time to be able to exercise for that long.
Adding muscle will increase your resting metabolism, which means you’ll be burning fat even as you sit on the couch. But to echo what was said above, when I lift regularly I tend to feel ravenously hungry at times.
So dietary discipline is really important. Above all, don’t bring the bad foods into your home where they’ll tempt you to eat them (even the “reward” foods; make your occasional treat something you have to leave your home to get, even if it’s just a candy bar from a vending machine).
OK, I know you didn’t want to hear about iron boxers, but. . . megadoses of salt and water the night before will make the initial weight higher without any danger to health or possibility of detection.
Your resistance against building muscle mass is concerning to me. Yes, muscle weighs more than fat, and int he first few weeks it can even out. But in the long run, the only way to increase metabolism is to increase muscle mass. i.e. after the frist few weeks your resting caloric use will increase due to increased muscle mass.
Since you’ve got plenty of time, I would say focusing on lifting and muscle building in the first two months would be your best strategy. Then move to the caloric restriction and aerobic exercise.
And never forget that when your body gets protein restricted your heart muscle also gets pillaged. This does not mean you need three rib-eyes per day; but don’t ever restrict protein below minimum requirements.
We need to know how they are taking measurements.
Like I said BMI is kinda worthless. Scale weight is kinda acceptable but it not all that telling and it is easier to cheat at weigh in. Body fat % is best and the hardest to cheat at.
Sounds Like a big contest. Best of luck to you. Stick it out and you will be a winner in one way or another.
I agree; this would be invaluable information for the thread. Have they told you?
I’ve read through the rules more thoroughly now. They will be using BMI as the measuring stick, which is to my disadvantage as I have a bit of extra muscle hidden underneath the flab. I’m not sure why they wouldn’t do just a straight weight loss percentage.
Other info I learned: there will be a web portal for tips, tools, and individualized tracking. There is also individualized coaching offered as well as peer support. Finally, there are 75 cash prizes awarded each month for “positive behavior leading to weight loss and overall health”.
mmm
Just lose the muscle – you can always grow more. I didn’t realize you got some pretty good prizes. Just go alternate day fasting for as long as you can stand, carefully limiting calories on your “feeding” days. When you can no longer stand it, strictly limit your calories – I don’t know your stats, but, for a man my size and weight, 1000 per day would be pretty strictly limiting (6’3" 230). Man up, in other words, and show those faggy-ass pansies who knows how to sweat off the man meat.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO.
I’ll echo this, but it really depends where the OP lives. Where I live out door cycling doesn’t really start until May if we’re lucky. From June until Sept we’ll do 8 hour rides on Saturdays, and usually two 2-hour rides during the week. The weightloss advantage of these is that it’s entirely possible to burn more calories than you can take in. For long distance events that’s a challenge because you’ll be struggling to ingest 200 calories per hour.
But if it’s snowing right up through April than the OP will need to find a place with a good indoor spin program using trainer bikes (not stationary).
I read that as spooning program and was confused and then thought of that other thread…