Weight Loss

According to an optimal weight calculator I found (and who knows how accurate those things are), assuming that you have a medium frame, you're something like 33 lbs. overweight. That's 15 kilos.

Sooo -- it's going to be both diet and exercise. Spot reducing really doesn't happen but you can help to strengthen certain areas (such as the core). Situps can help, but you might also want to do pushups. You might also want to do some sort of workout where you twist your midsection a lot, such as hitting a baseball or cricket bat. There are batting cages in the US, is there something similar by you?

Another thing is, when you started the rugby season, were you feeling tired or achy, or were you in shape? One idea is to make sure that you stay in rugby shape, such as increasing your endurance and/or working the muscle groups you're going to be working when the season starts up again.

Hanging the washing out for mum, vacuuming and cleaning your room are all mid section exercises that have extra benefits.

No more hokey pokey!

Also learn to spell whether.

Dartboy- Welcome to A2K!

At seventeen you may not realize this, but the best way to insure that you don't have back problems as an older person, is to keep your abs strong!

First off thanks for the replys,

Jespah: Damn 15 kilos is fair bit, can I ask where you found the calculator? it would be a helpful tool to have when losing weight, also in New Zealand we dont have batting cages but I can always get out and have a few hits with a mate. before the season I was totally unfit and about the same weight I am now but at the end of the season I was fit and weighed about 78 kilos so I've put on abit. Thanks for your help

dadpad: I'll work on my spelling just for you mate and I'll do the extra work around the house

Phoenix32890: Thanks for the welcome and the advice, I know what a sore back feels like from rugby and I'm sure I don't want that all the time when I get older.

Swwweeeeet.

Seriouse now. The only answer is eat less processed food, fatty, sugary food and excercise more. Total body exercise is best but you could throw in a few more reps for the abs and gleats.

Mebee you should play hooker. Have a look at Mat Dunnings manly physique.

Ack, I have no idea where I found the calculator. Probably googled something like ideal body weight or normal body weight. These things vary so you might want to look at several and also talk to your doctor and then kind of split the difference.

One thing that can pack on pounds is a lot of eating out, because restaurants and fast food joints heap on the sugar, salt and fat to keep you coming back for more. This also doesn't do your cholesterol levels any good -- but you're a bit young to worry about cholesterol. Still, it's never too early to start good habits.

Here's an example: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts-C00001-01c21d0.html
An Egg McMuffin consists of an English Muffin, Egg, Pasteurized Process American Cheese, Canadian Style Bacon, Liquid Margarine. See: http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.categories.ingredients.index.html

According to that site, one serving (one!) provides 300 calories, over 1/3 of which are from fat, 1/4 of the saturated fat you should have in a day and over 3/4 of the sodium you should have! Even if you don't eat, specifically, Egg McMuffins, you may be eating something similar if you get a breakfast sandwich from a deli or elsewhere.

Now let's try an egg on bread:
It's just over 1/3 of the overall calories and only 1/5 of those come from fat. It has only one gram of saturated fat and less than 10% of your sodium needs for a day. You'd want to add something to jazz it up, such as vegetables or some cheese. But I'll show you what Canadian bacon and a sausage patty are like, too.
Cheese: add an ounce of American cheese (which is similar to what you get in an Egg McMuffin) and you end up adding 67 calories (half are from fat), 4 g of saturated fat and 3% of your cholesterol for the day, and 16% of your sodium.
Canadian bacon: 257 calories, about 40% are from fat. 4 g saturated fat and 1/4 of your cholesterol for the day. A scary 90% of your daily intake of sodium
Sausage patty: 77 calories, about 3/4 from fat, 2 g saturated fat, 7% of your cholesterol and 9% of your sodium -- but --
McDonald's sausage patty: 174 calories, about 80% of those are from fat. 6 g of saturated fat, 11% of your daily cholesterol intake and 13% of your daily sodium

Hence, even with a "bad" homemade breakfast, you still come out ahead. I'm not saying you should cook "bad" foods at home and expect miracles but my point is that even a fairly inept home cook -- or one ignorant of nutrition -- can often do better than an out of home menu. But you can do better than that.

Egg white (1 egg) :
117 calories, only 4 of which (e. g. less than 5%) from fat.
No saturated fat and no cholesterol.
17% of your sodium for the day (sodium is a very difficult nutrient to control; usually the best you can do is avoid foods that are high in it and packaging processes like canning and freezing that add it, rinse foods when you are able to and not add salt to your food)
Mixed frozen vegetables (1 package -- 10 oz!):
182 calories, 13 of which are from fat
1 g saturated fat; no cholesterol
6% of your daily sodium intake (so rinse them before you use them; this will also help to thaw them)
English muffin:
134 calories, 9 of which are from fat
No saturated fat or cholesterol
11% of your daily intake of sodium

Spray nonstick cooking spray on a skillet. Toss in 2 egg whites, beaten. Put veggies on top. Cook until eggs are cooked and vegetables are hot. Serve over a toasted English muffin.

The above meal, which is heavy on vegetables, gives you:
550 calories, but only 26 are from fat
1 g saturated fat and no cholesterol
about 1/3 of your daily sodium intake
It is more calories than the Egg McMuffin; I won't deny that. But you get quite a substantial meal with this simple recipe and your heart will really thank you for it.

Jigger above recipe to taste; you may prefer variations so check out the http://www.nutritiondata.com/ website for more information.

PS It's also a good idea, if you don't already know how, to learn how to cook. You'll save money and have better health over the course of the rest of your life.

These couple of articles really helped me out when I started.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/calorie.htm
http://health.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm

I love www.howstuffworks.com.

This is a great breakfast imo, and while I don't think the fat free american cheese is the best, it's not the worst either. And if you like breakfast sandwiches, this is perfect.

Half an english muffin
1 slice of turkey bacon
1 cup egg beaters (egg substitute)
1 slice fat free Kraft am. cheese (Kraft is by far the best)

That is 160 calories with 26 of those being fat calories (mainly from the bacon).

If you take the bacon off, you have a 125 calrorie open faced sandwich with 4 of those being fat calories.

You already know that exercise helps keep the weight off.
That's a good start.
Add to that:

* A balanced diet, low in fat, low in sugar and high in fiber.
This isn't a "diet" in the sense that most people use the word. This is a
change in lifestyle. Sooner or later you'll go off a "diet" and gain all that
weight back.

* Even a balanced diet alone won't work. Exercise is the key.

* Moderation. Crash dieting, over-exercising and fasting will mess up
your metabolism.

* You need a mixture of aerobic (like a long bike ride or run) and
anaerobic exercise (like weights or sprinting).

* There is no "off-season" from exercise.

* Include abdominal exercises in your program. They will strengthen
your midsection and burn fat.

* Aerobic exercise should be sustainable. If you can't talk while you do
it, you're going too fast.

* The best aerobic exercise is the one you'll do often.

* The best time to exercise is when you can actually do it.

hey guys, thanks for all the help, its been helpful, I just have one last question:
Would
5 reps of 20 doing 5kg curls
Would this do me any good in building arm muscle?

You'll build muscle, but with that type of program it will take a long time.

You'd be better off doing an arm workout like this:

Bicep Curls 4 sets of 6 reps with the heaviest weight you can lift 6 times. Increase the weight if the 6 reps seems to easy.

Tricep Pushdowns (or skull crushers, or kickbacks) 4 sets of 6 reps with the heaviest weight you can lift 6 times. Increase the weight if the 6 reps seems to easy.



To gain muscle though, you have to eat enough calories so that the muscle will be fed.

It is VERY HARD to build muscle and lose weight at the same time. You should only focus on one or the other. Lose weight first (calorie deficit), then bulk up muscle (calorie surplus), repeat until you're happy with how your body looks.

I would suggest this book if you're serious about gaining muscle

http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-2nd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0976805421/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196001740&sr=8-1

I'm not promoting Amazon (buy it wherever), but the book is great.

Thanks for that, just one question, I have weights with the ring things, eg one ring is 2.5kgs, one is 1.25 etc, so i can change the amount of weight I lift , So is it better to have equal weights on each bar and do the curls with both arms at the same time or is it ok to double the weight and do one arm at a time, i dont think It should made a difference but there may be a reason to do them either way.

You'll want equal weights on each arm. I prefer to do each arm one at a time so I can make sure that my other arm isn't 'helping' the weaker arm (everyone has a weaker arm). Also, make sure that you lift each arm the same number of times (i.e. if you're lifting 30lb weights in each arm, you're left arm may get tired around rep 4 or 5, but your right arm may be able to do all 6, you should stop at whatever number of reps your weaker arm can do, even if your stronger arm can do more.) This approach will balance out the strength in each arm and after a few weeks/months of that the arms will be of equal strength.