Getting in shape for cosplay - Support~

[Suicide Skittle]

Genma Ruishito

I'm 6'1 and weight 300 pounds which makes me tall enough that the weight gets placed out well. Most people don't believe I weight 300 pounds from when they look at me but it is my actual size. I dont ever cosplay small or petite male cosplays for that reason and I pretty much stick to my monsters/masked and fully covered characters. My next years costume is going to be Bane from Arkham Asylum so that's going to require me losing some weight around the midsection.

I've been eating a nice salad with some lean meat for dinner and eat light snacks most of the day. Nothing bigger than a half a sandwich and yogurt or something. I haven't begun working out yet due to my work schedule pumping me full of OT since it's the holiday season. I intend to use the excerise bikes at plant fitness since I have a membership and it's up the street. My key goal is to lose weight and not build up muscle mass until I've lost 50 pounds or more. Also I need to strengthen my back a bit since being out of shape actually made my back hurt a lot when I was clearingg snow ( and I was using a snow blower T^T )

WOW! He has some muscle! D:
EVERYTHING I've read says that you can NOT have spot weight loss. You're going to loose weight throughout the body the weight will leave the area it wants to leave regardless if you are only doing crunches. So keep that in mind if you were going to focus on workout around the midsection. ((Not that you said you were going to I just wanted to point it out in case you didn't know))
Hopefully you'll have time in your schedule to start getting to the gym soon. :3

Dementia DarkMoon

I've been slowly working towards getting down to 110-120.
I'm 5'6.5ish and 148lbs. I'd like to at least get to 130 by SakuraCon '10, which is in April. I'll be cosplaying numerous characters, but Enma Ai being my main focus.
I have a gym membership, and now that it's winter break i intend to go daily to ensure I burn as much as possible over the next three weeks 3nodding

Whoa! 110 is really small for your height. It would be much healthier for you to stick in the 115-120 range. I would suggest focus less on the scale and more on the mirror to mark the progress you've made on your weight loss. The mirror will tell you more than a scale will.

 

[Rishiki]

I'm about 5'8" and around 220 pounds(I take after my dads side of the family), although I pull it off well. I want to try to lose 20-40 pounds. I get up at four in the morning and go to bed at either 9 or 10 on weekdays. My next convention is at the end of May. That makes it about six months. This tread seems helpful. I don't quite have a set plan yet. With college and the hour ride it takes me to get there I don't have much time to do things. Plus the computer is to hard to ignore.

First I guess is eating light snacks and probably eating breakfast. Thing is, my stomach doesn't always like food in the morning. Then I have to cut out soda, but I'm addicted to the caffeine. Anyone know a good caffeinated drink that isn't tea? Plus, I'm gonna try to cut out eating out. And drink more water.

Now for exercising. I live in Arizona, so most of the year it's too hot to do anything. During the summer I used to walk for about an hour, but I stopped doing that. I plan on walking at least 30 minutes a day, about 20 crunches, and 20 push ups. I'm not what else to do. My sister also offered to do everything too for support. Although she says its for support, I know she wants to firm up her stomach a little (she doesn't need to lose weight, she's 18, 5'2" and only recently did she hit 100 pounds).  

[Suicide Skittle]

Rishiki

I'm about 5'8" and around 220 pounds(I take after my dads side of the family), although I pull it off well. I want to try to lose 20-40 pounds. I get up at four in the morning and go to bed at either 9 or 10 on weekdays. My next convention is at the end of May. That makes it about six months. This tread seems helpful. I don't quite have a set plan yet. With college and the hour ride it takes me to get there I don't have much time to do things. Plus the computer is to hard to ignore.

First I guess is eating light snacks and probably eating breakfast. Thing is, my stomach doesn't always like food in the morning. Then I have to cut out soda, but I'm addicted to the caffeine. Anyone know a good caffeinated drink that isn't tea? Plus, I'm gonna try to cut out eating out. And drink more water.

Now for exercising. I live in Arizona, so most of the year it's too hot to do anything. During the summer I used to walk for about an hour, but I stopped doing that. I plan on walking at least 30 minutes a day, about 20 crunches, and 20 push ups. I'm not what else to do. My sister also offered to do everything too for support. Although she says its for support, I know she wants to firm up her stomach a little (she doesn't need to lose weight, she's 18, 5'2" and only recently did she hit 100 pounds).

College can be intense D;
However, your college probably has a workout center right? Most colleges do, and just being a student gets you into their facility for free. I would suggest looking into going to the gym after your classes are over a few days of the week.
Okay, about the caffeine. In my case, I wasn't actually addicted to the caffeine. I just LOVED carbonated beverages. I would suggest picking up some diet Sunkist. It's like a carbonated lemonade and much better for you than some of those other sodas.

 

[salsaplant]

As Guild President, I should be setting an example for everyone, but really I'm guilty of carrying around extra weight as well =A =

Height: 5'5''
Weight: 170lbs
Ideal Weight: 135lbs
Weight to Lose: -35lbs
Next Con: Anime Boston '10
Time till Then: ~4 Months
Weight/Time Ratio: 9lbs per month

When I started cosplaying, I was 182lbs. When I was in college, I actually lost the "freshman 15" and continued to lose weight over the course of two years. I was down to 155lbs, but when I left end of sophmore year to go to a school closer to home in CT, I put the weight back on between all of the family get-togethers and my more sedendary lifestyle (all my friends moved out of state for college so I don't have anyone to hang out with) I put 15lbs back on D':

What's motivated me to lose the weight finally is a lot of friends have baited me in to doing cosplays that are skimpy/form-fitting and crossplays as well, so I need to lose the weight so I can actually feel comfortable wearing those outfits. I guess the good thing about my weight is that it's kinda all localized in my tummy and thighs so I can focus the majority of my exercise on those places, but it's still going to be a struggle losing almost 10lbs a month.

.: My Plan :.
Give up desserts every night after dinner
Eat 5 small meals (currently I only have 2 meals a day)
Excersize on treadmill, bowflex, and exercise bike

.: My Strong Points :.
Since my sister is a vegitarian, our dinners include a lot of vegitables
I have access to fitness machines at home as well as a nearby track
Already resisting sugary temptations! X3

.: My Problem Areas :.
Since I work 40 hours a week and help run errands/do chores for my family, it's hard to find time/energy to work out
I hate water -- The taste is gross DX
I love soda ;A ; -- I don't drink it daily and it's usually Diet, but even so! *flailflail*
My metabolism is next to non-existant


I'm gonna make this work though! I have so many 'dream' cosplays I want to do that require me to be thin thin thin!

 

[Rishiki]

Suicide Skittle

Rishiki

I'm about 5'8" and around 220 pounds(I take after my dads side of the family), although I pull it off well. I want to try to lose 20-40 pounds. I get up at four in the morning and go to bed at either 9 or 10 on weekdays. My next convention is at the end of May. That makes it about six months. This tread seems helpful. I don't quite have a set plan yet. With college and the hour ride it takes me to get there I don't have much time to do things. Plus the computer is to hard to ignore.

First I guess is eating light snacks and probably eating breakfast. Thing is, my stomach doesn't always like food in the morning. Then I have to cut out soda, but I'm addicted to the caffeine. Anyone know a good caffeinated drink that isn't tea? Plus, I'm gonna try to cut out eating out. And drink more water.

Now for exercising. I live in Arizona, so most of the year it's too hot to do anything. During the summer I used to walk for about an hour, but I stopped doing that. I plan on walking at least 30 minutes a day, about 20 crunches, and 20 push ups. I'm not what else to do. My sister also offered to do everything too for support. Although she says its for support, I know she wants to firm up her stomach a little (she doesn't need to lose weight, she's 18, 5'2" and only recently did she hit 100 pounds).

College can be intense D;
However, your college probably has a workout center right? Most colleges do, and just being a student gets you into their facility for free. I would suggest looking into going to the gym after your classes are over a few days of the week.
Okay, about the caffeine. In my case, I wasn't actually addicted to the caffeine. I just LOVED carbonated beverages. I would suggest picking up some diet Sunkist. It's like a carbonated lemonade and much better for you than some of those other sodas.

I looked into my college workout center, and they do have one. They even have a year round swimming pool! How did I not know about that. I'll try visiting it the start of next semester (procrastinator) since I only go to the campus to more times this month for finals.

As for the caffeine, I really do believe I'm addicted. I tried to stop drinking all caffeinated drinks but I ended up getting headaches.  

[Unusual gravitons]

Hight: 5'4.5
Weight: 148
Goal: 115-120 ish
Time till con: 7 months
Weight to loose: about 25 pounds.

Pros: I love to drink water.
I dont have to eat much to get full.
I rarely eat fast food. maybie once every six months.
I do yoga daily.
I get some exersize when playing with my brother.(He's 3. You know how they are. whee )

Cons: I hate health food.
I hate exersize.
I'm an otaku.
Candy is my friend.
vegtables are yukie.
I'de rather read then party.

 

[faelixir]

@Suicide Skittle: Thanks so much for the tips, for starters. I normally run 2 miles for 2 days, then have a bicycle off day, and then repeat; and it usually takes us anywhere from 35-40 minutes to complete the run because we switch out with walking when we need a breather. Sorry, forgot to mention that. sweatdrop As for the push-ups and sit-ups...it's become a contest between my sister and my dad to how many each person can do in a minute or so. I thought about doing an exercise video or something along the lines of that but I just can't bring myself to do...my mom has plenty of Buns of Steel tapes all over the house. I just feel silly doing it, stupid I know.

Thanks again for the tips! <3333 *is off to buy diet sunkist*  

[User_1017918]

Suicide Skittle

WOW! He has some muscle! D:
EVERYTHING I've read says that you can NOT have spot weight loss. You're going to loose weight throughout the body the weight will leave the area it wants to leave regardless if you are only doing crunches. So keep that in mind if you were going to focus on workout around the midsection. ((Not that you said you were going to I just wanted to point it out in case you didn't know))
Hopefully you'll have time in your schedule to start getting to the gym soon. :3

Yeah lol. I have the mass but not the muscle. sweatdrop
Oh yeah thanks for the tip! I meant more like doing crunches and stuff to lose weight all over but I'm fixated on mah bellah cause of the muscle mass suit I'll be sporting which will make it extend more.

Right now I'm sticking to eating salad and healthy foods with lean meat but once these OT hours throttle back in two weeks then I can really give myself over to the gym. I might even buy an excerise bike for the house so I can use it when I can't go to the gym to keep up the regime.  

[Myopsida]

Suicide Skittle

Ahh, so you don't have a car/can't drive yet? Is there no bus in your town? A bike is probably the least effective cardio, but at least it's cardio! I know five meals a day is REALLY challenging. I'm having so many issues with it.

For you I would suggest
Breakfast 6:00 or whenever you eat
Snack sometime inbetween classes around 9:00 ((Cashews are not too good for you. Salt dehydrates you and you need to stay hydrated. And they're definitely not filling. imo anyways. )) I would suggest just carrying around the high fiber bar. jYou get five in a box and they're not too expensive.
Then you have your scheduled lunch around noon.
Then follow the schedule I posted before. :3

Yeah I don't think it's too important to see a nutritionist or your doctor unless nothing else is working, so at least try the diet and exercise for a few months before resorting to that. :3

I hope it works for you this time too!! <3

I should be taking lessons but what with school and trying to find a job, it's kind of difficult. xD That and I don't need to until I go off to college.

I think dad was just too lazy to buy granola last time he went to Wal Mart so he settled for cashews. I'll have to tell him to pick up a few boxes as well as some non-sugary cereal. Special K cereal is going to be invading my life again. Hopefully I can pull this off. And hopefully I won't get stuck eating during ceramics class too much. x] Clay and food don't mix well.

Thanks again for the help.~ :]  

[Archaical]

well, i have some little tips for healthy weight loss.
1) the banana diet: banana's help you lose approx. twice the weight on a workout regime, i cant remeber what the ingredient in it is called.

before every meal eat a banana. this helps you to not over eat. OR for breakfast eat only 1 or 2 bananas, and a glass of water.
and this is crazy huge in japan.
you can also replace the banana with any other fruit. its really all about getting you to eat more fruits.

2) No jogging!
you lose weight faster when you push yourself harder for shorter amounts of time. a combination of running for 2 minutes walking for 1, is much faster in progress than jogging. also jogging is terrible for your spine and knees.

3) targetted exercise such as weight training dont help lose weight.
you are only making the muscles bigger, which is a good idea if your skinny and can see them, however they do not burn fat. your best bet is cardio if you want to lose weight, other wise the targetted exercise wont show much.

stairs and sprinting are good cardio.

4) WATER WATER WATER!!

getting your 8 glasses a day helps keep cartelidge healthy AND clears your complexion, if you sweat alot gatorade is an exellent choice, because when you sweat you lose nutrients, and it is important to restore them (drinking gatorade when NOT sweating can add on extra pounds.) who would have thought!

5) count your calories.

yes some meals are healthy but could be too many calories. heres what you need

the formula for finding out how many calories you burn in a day.

200 calories burned for your autonomous work like heart and lungs.
then your weight times eight is burned just by doign your daily things like walking.
so 200 + (i am 117 x 8=)936 = 1136 ( any extra work outs burn more)

so if i want to gain weight i eat more than 1136 calories (excess calories not being burned and so fat is being stored) , if i wanna stay the same i eat 1136 calories (burning as much as i took in), and if i want to lose weight i should eat less than 1136 calories ( so i burn more than eat...duh)
remember as your weight drops you must lower your count as well. or else you will plateau. (no more progress)

on the back of cans or bags it will have your count, though it is not very accurate but its the best youve got. however with vegetables and fruits it doesnt have a count, thats because IT DOESNT MATTER! eat as much as you like. snack on an apple or a peach whenever you want! all the better.

hope i have helped you guys a little!  

[Archaical]

omgosh i almost forgot! STAY AWAY FROM NUTS!!! peanuts are like 300 calories like a handful!! most people think "oh nuts are healthy. ill munch on them." DONT. because by the time you feel full of them you will have eaten a whole days worth of calories!

if you order a salad, the dressing is usually as much fat and calories as a burger, so whats the point! skip the dressing.

dont reward your self with sweets.. its a trap. the reward is a smoking body.  

[Chibi_May-chan]

Also, you should be careful with specific food diets. Certain minerals and vitamins in foods, Like Potassium in Bananas, is not water soluble, which means you can get too much in your system at one time. That just throws everything out of balance!

Eating breakfast helps to kick start your metabolism, too.

Also, if you can muster it, cut Dairy out of your diet as much as possible. Other things have calcium and D. (I'm allergic to milk, so it's easy for me) For some reason, cutting out milk products just seems to work, I'm not exactly sure why. Beef should not be a first choice either. However, fish has loads of Omega 3s and the "healthy fats" that make us work right. Almonds also have those plus loads of fiber. Pumpkin seeds can be a good choice for a snack, but get unsalted! Too much salt just holds water in and makes it seem like you weigh more when you really don't.  

[burgawinosourus]

Thanks, I'm working on it. Wow really? That's pretty cool. ^_^ Yeah 140 really is on the skinny side so that why I settle for 160. Anything below 190 will make me happy really.

I use to drink Tea everyday. Green, oolong, jasmine. It was nice, but it didn't seem to bring results. :<

Well I have PE every other day which lasts 70 minutes so on those days I get a pretty good work out. But also at home everyday I have to walk about a mile to get home. I also have a little routine I do everyday when I get home from school. I do some crunches and some moves sort of like palates for about 30 minutes. And there's also all the chores in the house. :/  

[Extreme Cuddler]

I am good according 2 my friends. I am 6'1 I weight about 142. I have the ab lines but I want 2 tone those lines more and actually be more ab like right now it just looks flat with lines on the side where there is suppose 2 be a six pack inside of it. I tried gaining some weight so that I can work it out in2 muscle but my metabolism is 2 fast and I have only gained 5 pounds in the last 3 months. I even ate an entire pizza 4 2 days straight one on Wednesday and the other on Thursday. But it still won't work so I am planning on getting some protein shakes and doing some 50 sit ups every day and maybe some squats. If I don't see any results in a 2 weeks then I will do 100 sit ups and start jogging.  

[FreakingCosmicKid]

I am sad to report i had a junk-food relapse today ;_;

2 mini bags of potato chips, 4 miniature cupcakes WITH icing, chocolate milk, and licorice. I feel terrible now ;_;

And just to kinda clear something up about vegetarianism, i feel the need to say that yes, i am quite healthy being vegetarian. I take no artificial supplements, just natural food-intake.