<p>At the least, kayf, you must have sweated off some weight.</p>
<p>Its mostly due to diet. Very few college students (Americans in general!) are willing to eat healthy and consciously. They will worj theyre ass of in the gym, but they wont turn their back on Carl and his Jr.</p>
<p>If you look at the number of calories burned by various forms of exercise, unless you’re very heavily into it at a competitive or almost level, it is clear that exercise per se doesn’t make you lose weight. The amount of exercise needed to burn off a handful of oreos is daunting. I believe exercise has other benefits and increased exercise levels probably mean you’re paying attention in other areas. If you see exercise as an excuse to treat yourself, you probably won’t lose weight.</p>
<p>^^^^^^You can’t just look at calories burned during the exercise. With high intensity interval training and especially weight training, there is a metabolic afterburn where you burn calories at a higher rate than normal for hours afterward.</p>
<p>Exercise won’t negate a bad diet. However, with diet alone, you will almost always lose muscle tissue as well (up to 40% of weight loss depending on the diet). This in part explains why more than 90% of dieters end up putting the weight back on eventually. Strength training in conjunction with diet can prevent loss of muscle tissue.When you preserve muscle tissue, you increase your chances of keeping the weight off.</p>
<p>We’re currently visiting Barcelona, and I think the portion sizes here are perfect. I can finish the meal and feel full without feeling stuffed. I’d say the portions have been about 60% of the size of American portions. I ordered a single scoop of chocolate gelato for desert today - it was rich, creamy, and slightly larger than a golf ball. I loved it!</p>
<p>We’ve done SO much walking that my feet are killing me, and my calves are so tight when I wake up in the morning I can barely walk. Combine that with being in a hotel - no snacks in the room - and reasonable portion sizes, and I’m really hoping I lose weight while we’re here. </p>
<p>BTW, we had a 9 hour layover in Munich (a very international European airport), and while people-watching we realized there were no obese people. Just thin and medium, maybe a few that were a little chubby, but nothing like we see in the USA. D wondered if guys in Europe work out at all, because they were all so slender/wirey. Her teenage guy friends from the US would stick out, because many of them work out for football and wrestling and are very muscular. Haven’t seen any fat people in Barcelona, either. Now Disneyworld, on the other hand… wow. Never realized how many truly large Americans there are until we went to Disneyworld. (I say all this as a woman who needs to lose 20 lbs herself!)</p>
<p>Side story - One of my saddest memories from Disney was riding a bus between the hotel and Epcot - there was a family on the bus, both parents were truly obese and their son (maybe 10 years old) was also quite overweight. They were talking about the restaurant they were going to, and the son kept saying, “But I’m not hungry!” and the parents kept saying, “But you will be hungry later, so you have to eat now.” Poor kid, he’ll spend the rest of his life trying to undo the damage from those parents.</p>
<p>^^^^You’re right about Disney and the number of obese people you see there. </p>
<p>Have you ever gone on a cruise? Interesting cross section of America.</p>
<p>This is the most depressing thread title I’ve seen in a long time… :(</p>
<p>(I know, I know, it’s true…)</p>
<p>4 of us went out to dinner the other night. Too stuffed for dessert, but reluctantly decided to split 1 piece of chocolate cake between the 4 of us - I figured 1 or 2 bites per person. They bring out this “piece” of cake as big as an entire cake!! I was annoyed! I asked the waitress if she would warn people if a party of 4 each ordered a chocolate cake for themselves. She said yes, but it would have been too much to split 2 ways!</p>
<p>There’s a restaurant near here ( i think it’s called Seasons?) where all the entrees are under 475 calories. AND, for dessert, they bring out this assortment of adorable little glasses filled with different concoctions (key lime pie, apple pie, carrot cake). You choose and get it right there (they’re real not “demos”).VERY small but both of the ones my dining partner and I tried were delicious. I think they charged $3. I wish restaurants would do more of this…</p>
<p>The main way I lose weight is by exercising. When I biked across the US, I lost 18 pounds. I always lose weight when I do bike touring. So, I’d say the thread title is not quite right.</p>
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<p>I agree, and, unfortunately, that’s the way I look when I use any weights at all. It’s very difficult for me to gain weight as fat, but I add muscle mass very easily.</p>
<p>The women in my family are small and thin. All the older women suffer/suffered from severe osteoporosis, but none of them exercised regularly. Since I want to do everything possible to avoid a similar fate, I started using weights 4-5 times per week several years ago. After a couple of months, my kids complained, “Ewww, Mom, you look like Madonna. Gross!” :(</p>
<p>I’ve reduced the days per week I use weights to only one day and I’ve added yoga, but I still have that hard, muscly look. Not a good look for someone my age.</p>
<p>So hence my question: Does anyone know of good weight bearing exercises (especially for the upper body) that will help me in my fight against osteoporosis, but that will not give me the “Madonna look”?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
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<p>I guess the good doctor only works with those with a very flexible schedule. I barely have time for the three 30 minute sessions a week that he dislikes.</p>
<p>I used to workout for 20 hours a week when I was in my early 20s and it was a struggle to keep weight on so clearly exercise does affect caloric balance. It’s hard to keep up a strong exercise programs if you are squeezed for time though. I’m trying to get back to my schedule from last year - the kids schedule is more taxing on my time this semester compared to last semester. Also, the cold weather has taken a toll on my time and motivation for working out.</p>
<p>mapesy, post 211–</p>
<p>I have the same question. Does anyone know if using resistance exercise bands results in less of that “Madonna look”?</p>
<p>This review doesn’t address that particular question.</p>
<p>[Choosing</a> and Using Resistance Bands](<a href=“http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/a/resistance.htm]Choosing”>How to Choose the Right Resistance Bands for You)</p>
<p>[No</a> right to bare arms: How to avoid veins like Madonna | Health & Beauty](<a href=“This is London Magazine”>This is London Magazine)</p>
<p>Wow…her arms DO look bad. I haven’t had this problem. But maybe it’s cause I do yoga and keep fat in my diet. Also, I think body type has something to do with it. I have to work REAL hard to get muscles…yet my niece has muscles on her arms without lifting a thing. Maybe resistance bands would help for those who have this tendency…</p>
<p>now, personally, I think Tina Turner looks great and she’s almost 70. Lots of dancing…sounds like fun.<br>
[Tina</a> Turner. How to Look Amazing… Forever - Project Weight Loss](<a href=“http://www.projectweightloss.com/index.php?page=news§ion=3&id=107482]Tina”>http://www.projectweightloss.com/index.php?page=news&section=3&id=107482)</p>
<p>That’s really strange. She has fat in other parts of her body but her arms look really strange. We have women in the office that do a lot of weight-lifting but I’ve never seen a man or woman with that kind of definition. Perhaps she is working very hard on specific muscles so that they stand out so much more than others.</p>
<p>Her face and arms really don’t look like they go together.</p>
<p>In Madonna’s defense, her reps say that pic was photoshopped.</p>
<p>This is just an odd photo of Madonna. I’ve seen her in person and her arms don’t look nearly that extreme, although she is very thin and muscular. I think that she looks great.</p>
<p>That photo does look phony. That is not what I would call ‘muscular’ arms.</p>