How should I lose Weight?

[Red]

So during this quarantine, since I'm not going to be able to go to the gym and use the treadmill or other equipment, I decided that I should not eat as unhealthy, and lose few pounds for the summer, if things go back to normal by then.

So I cut out all sweets, and am limiting myself to about 2000 calories per day. I also go on walks around the neighborhood for about an hour or so when I have time, and am sure to stand at least 10 feet away from people is I do see them (which is not as uncommon as I expected). I go on the virtually untouched trail near the park in my area. I also do some light lifting with my 10 pound weights.

The Great and Powerful Jreg has the type of abs I'm trying to get, so I messaged him on Patreon for guidance (though I am a little bulkier than him):

Garage Messages.PNG

So as stated in the messages, I'm gonna try losing the weight first, then try getting abs. I will start with some basic crunches, which do very little in terms of gaining the abs, but I will do them until I lose the weight, then do more rigorous exercises.

As stated, I weigh about 63.5 Kg (about 140 lbs) and am going for about 61 Kg (135 lbs). If I lose a pound a week, I'll have lost all my weight within 5 weeks! My mom said that 135 lbs is about a girl's weight, but whatever. I weighed about 150 lbs last year, so this is an improvement.

[John]

As someone who has sported a 6 pack I feel I should say something. However I didn’t do it within a vegan framework.

I am also mindful of a talk I saw on YouTube if some scientist interested in longevity who said that animals fed an animal based diet were leaner, had more muscle, had more reproductive tissue and bred more but then they died earlier. The ones on a vegetable based diet were the opposite. He suggested that extrapolating from that there might be a trade off. If there is anything in that it might be harder for you. However you alluded to your idol who presumably has low fat and presumably is a vegan so it can be done.

That said your proposed weight loss per week sounds healthy and exercise helps. Have you considered doing push ups and chin ups in addition to the walking? You are on the money with the belief that low body fat is needed for a visible 6 pack. You need the muscles and the low fat to show them.

[John]

Another thought ... if you are trying to lose weight is there any health reasons that make it necessary to walk rather than jog?

I have read that some foods are useful. Raspberries have the reputation and animal experiments putting green tea in their food found the more green tea in the food the more weight they lost. (Of course it tastes disgusting to eat so there could be a confounding variable in there.)

[brimstoneSalad]

@Red It would not be wise to start training intensively or lose a lot of weight during a pandemic, because these will both make you more vulnerable by lowing your immunity and making you more susceptible to dying if you do get sick.

That said, 140 is already very light. Unless you are very short, that's already on the low end. Girls are not going to be as impressed by a six pack if you're very thin. Just look up your BMI and make sure you're not overweight. At the upper end of normal weight appears to be healthiest due to the risks of death from low weight if you get sick.

@John Association in humans is only slight gain in muscle mass for meat eaters, whereas vegetarians are leaner and I believe have higher fertility (this may not hold for very active populations and may only be due to cardiovascular disease and obesity being more common in meat-eaters).
Muscle advantage may be due to things like branch chain amino acids or creatine, both of which professionals often supplement on (you get a LOT more from a powder than from any amount of animal product), so for humans that difference is not significant with supplementation.
However, once a vegan starts supplementing on these things there's a good chance that the life-span benefits would go away (or at least some of them, the diet would still be lower in saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, and maybe a few carcinogens formed from cooking meat because supplements aren't cooked before consuming).

[Red]

@Red It would not be wise to start training intensively or lose a lot of weight during a pandemic, because these will both make you more vulnerable by lowing your immunity and making you more susceptible to dying if you do get sick.

Well I was more trying to lose weight around the gut area. I still want to get more muscle mass, so I do some light lifting (and my brother bought a home-gym set for the pandemic which I use from time to time, but it just isn't the same as the gym). I agree that having abs but little muscle mass isn't very attractive, though I already have a slight amount that I'm trying to build.

That said, 140 is already very light. Unless you are very short, that's already on the low end. Girls are not going to be as impressed by a six pack if you're very thin. Just look up your BMI and make sure you're not overweight. At the upper end of normal weight appears to be healthiest due to the risks of death from low weight if you get sick.

My BMI is about 20 give or take, I'm not entirely sure what my height is. I've been eating more protein, having more beans and making (vegan) protein shakes. It's hard to find really good tasting powder though, especially during a pandemic.

You know, my mom actually had Corona for a few weeks (since she works in a hospital) but she's feeling better now, and my brother was feeling a little sick for the past few days. We're just lucky that my grandfather didn't get it.

I actually had one of my favorite high school teachers die from it though this weekend. Terrible shit.

[brimstoneSalad]

Well I was more trying to lose weight around the gut area.

Targeted weight loss isn't really a thing. Most people carry some fat around the belly, that's normal and it's your backup energy store. People in movies or magazines without that are usually cutting and it only lasts for a short time.

I still want to get more muscle mass, so I do some light lifting (and my brother bought a home-gym set for the pandemic which I use from time to time, but it just isn't the same as the gym). I agree that having abs but little muscle mass isn't very attractive, though I already have a slight amount that I'm trying to build.

Having abs consistently (not just for brief period after starving yourself) isn't really normal unless your muscles are so large that they show through the small amount of subcutaneous fat, or you have genetics that puts all the fat on your butt or something instead.

My BMI is about 20 give or take, I'm not entirely sure what my height is. I've been eating more protein, having more beans and making (vegan) protein shakes. It's hard to find really good tasting powder though, especially during a pandemic.

Protein powder generally doesn't taste good. Your BMI is on the low side, don't lose weight. Around 23-23 is in the middle of normal.