Losing weight without a gym

It's important to have a defined goal. What do you mean by in fire shape? Do you want to look a certain way? Do you need to pass a physical test? Do you want specific physical abilities? Not to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but you can only make so many changes in two months. It's great that you're starting, but don't expect to lose 40 pounds by August.

It's also important to make physical activity an enjoyable activity. Try to find ways to make it fun -- go dancing, find sports you like, walk/bike/jog with a friend or significant other, etc.

Try googling "body weight exercises" and trying out different exercises.

The Couch to 5k & 100 pushups programs are good.

You can check out the library for exercise DVDs.

You can get a pull-up bar for $20 on Amazon. You probably can't do pull-ups (don't worry; it took me a long time to be able to) but negative pull-ups are good for working up to them.

Stumptuous has a handy guide for a cheap at-home gym:
http://www.stumptuous.com/the-basics-of-a-home-gym

It's an awesome site in general for exercise/lifting info for female lifters (I'm assuming you're female based on your username).
 
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Oh, I like the shovel glove concept.
 
Best way to lose weight is enrolling in some activity which involves physical work like dance. You can also keep a check on your calorie intake and do some exercises. You can also do some meditation to improve your concentration and focus; it helps in having good control on your body.
 
Some of the best advice I have gotten for living a healthy lifestyle (may be some repeats here, sorry!)

1. Add some quality protein to your diet. Protein is important because you want to maintain your muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fat and is also denser so it may weigh more but it takes up less space. Having muscle is good for you! Some good sources of protein include lean meats (turkey, chicken, etc.), cottage cheese, Greek Yogurt, nuts (almonds, walnuts, don't severely overdo it as these are very calorie dense also but still good for you! Much better than chips, cookies, etc.), eggs, hummus, fish, if you are on the go a lot (as you will be in EMS) consider throwing some sort of protein bar in your bag. Try to get protein from real food but if you have to supplement once in a while it's not the end of the world. Look for a bar with 15-20 g of protein (some have more but the price is high calorie count) and low sugar.

2. Avoid sneaky sources of sugar in your diet. A lot of people are under the impression that fat makes you fat, but really it's an excess of sugar which can pack on the pounds. A HUGE source of sugar in people's diets that they don't even realize is what they drink. Most people know soda isn't the best choice (65 g of sugar in a 20 oz Coke!) Fruit juices may seem healthy, but really it's just sugar water with 1/10 the nutrients of a real fruit. Try to drink lots of water, if you need to maybe add some Crystal Light packets to your water for flavor, or try seltzer, adding lemon, I really like Diet Snapple but some people don't like to consume artificial sweeteners. A lot of manufacturers will make "Low-fat" products (for example, low-fat peanut butter) but to replace the flavor they add sugar, so just keep an eye out for the sugar content in your foods.

3. If you don't have access to a gym, maybe consider buying an exercise DVD you can do at home. There are some good ones that cost maybe $12 and then you have them forever and can do them whenever you want! Especially nice if you have an unusual work schedule (overnights..) I don't have a car so I actually end up walking to the grocery store a lot. This is good because a) it's about a 3 mile walk round trip and you add some weight carrying groceries and b) I can't bring back a huge amount of food. This might not be realistic for you if you are shopping for more than just yourself. But you can still walk places if you want!

The final word I can say is that in the world of weight loss, diet is key. You can exercise all you want, but if your diet is lousy you will have a hard time losing weight and getting healthy. Try to eat lots of vegetables (I like spinach because when you cook it, it becomes this tiny little portion but you are eating like 4 cups of leaves) and mostly be prepared. There have been lots of times I've assumed I won't need to eat and then I'll get 3 calls, be starving and just eat whatever is there (pizza...cookies...things that 6 foot 200 pound cops can eat...) instead of being able to munch on nuts or fruit or something healthy.

Sorry for the long reply! Feel free to PM me if you want to talk more.
 
Eating clean really isn't complicated. And luckily for us, the poorer you are, the easier it is (assuming you stick to the plan).

Next time you go grocery shopping, stock up on nothing but a lean protein source (the family packs of chicken breasts), a pure complex carbohydrate (bags of brown rice), and some fruits and vegetables (I get the frozen bags of chopped broccoli and cauliflower).

Just roast all the chicken breasts in the oven (you can season them, but don't anything with calories), and cook up a pot of brown rice and another of the mixed veggies. Now just load all this into tubs or whatever and put them in the fridge.

Just microwave yourself a plate of this stuff 3-4 times daily and you should be GTG. And it would certainly help to regulate your serving sizes based on your macronutrient needs.
Yeah, its boring as hell, but daily eating shouldn't be exciting. Particularly good tasting food only encourages you to eat more of it. This way you know you're only eating what your body demands.

This is the sort of food that humans were meant to eat. Nothing processed, and you don't have to cut out any particular macronutrient, so you don't get any weird cravings.
 
Its summer time, so if you dont need to use your car dont.

Ditto on the getting a bike, I got mine 8 years ago and its still going strong. I bike to work and class. I use my car very infrequently. I dont weigh myself (dont have a scale) but I can see and feel a difference.

If you cant make the whole trip on the first try then work up to it or set time aside for exercise. For me the best part about jogging or biking is that it isnt like a gym where you can stop anytime. You need to eventually get back to home base.
 
You can't drive a car 2 miles and expect the gas tank to be empty. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. I lost 40 pounds, but it took me about 5 months and a lot of activity. To think you can get in shape in such a short time is setting yourself up for failure, its not gonna happen. Set realistic goals that you can meet. Eat healthy, avoid the just because snacks, and burn calories. I follow the Firefit program.
http://www.fs.fed.us/fire/safety/council/newsletters/march2010/march10.html

Word of advice. Before undertaking any physical fitness program, it is a good idea to consult a doctor.
 
Not-so-real answers:

You can get hit by a car while on the job and spend 6 months recovering before you can really do anything (I lost 40 pounds :glare: ), though I don't really recommend that one at all.

Another way would be to starve yourself or induce vomiting (again, neither of which I recommend).

Real answer: Run/jog/walk, eat healthy, do crunches/pushups/other exercises using only you and the ground. Nobody needs a gym to lose weight and stay healthy.
 
caloric intake vs caloric expenditure. no one on this forum can give you the will power to affect either you eating habits or your exercise routines.

but it aint' rocket science
 
This is a really interesting thread, I think I'm going to try the couch to 5k and the 100 pushups. Thanks for the links!
 
Eat less, walk everywhere.
 
Here's another big one- stop drinking. I gained 15 pounds in about 6 months in part because I turned 21 and really started enjoying the Mojitos. Lost almost all of it since I started taking a med I can't drink on. Alcohol is chock full of empty calories and sugar and adds up before you know it.

Sent from my telefono
 
Manic_Wombat said:
This is a really interesting thread, I think I'm going to try the couch to 5k and the 100 pushups. Thanks for the links!
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Me too. I'm at 260lb and I'd like to get down to about 200 in the 6 months I have before I start Fire School.
 
LucidResq said:
Here's another big one- stop drinking. I gained 15 pounds in about 6 months in part because I turned 21 and really started enjoying the Mojitos. Lost almost all of it since I started taking a med I can't drink on. Alcohol is chock full of empty calories and sugar and adds up before you know it.

Sent from my telefono
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Definitely. I do not drink calories at all, except for my recovery drink after a workout. Very occasionally, I drink milk, but I mostly get that nutrition elsewhere.
 
medic417 said:
So is everyone trying to avoid needing one of these?

http://www.cbs7.com/news/details.asp?ID=28283
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A supervisor of mine who used to be obese said to us once, "The bigger you are the smaller your world becomes, the less you wanna socialize, less you wanna work, eventually you become so disgusted with yourself you wont even go outside, and one day you look in the mirror and you don't even know how you got to be that size."

=\ So I've learned to somewhat simpathise with severely obese patients... just a thought.
 
I BOUGHT A $50 bike this spring and just riding that along the bike trail and limiting junk food i lost 20 lbs so far. and that's not doing hardly anything special.
 
abckidsmom said:
Definitely. I do not drink calories at all, except for my recovery drink after a workout. Very occasionally, I drink milk, but I mostly get that nutrition elsewhere.
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Giggity.
 
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