I was thinking, since there are so many of us who are striving to lose weight in a healthy way, we could have a thread solely dedicated to helping each other acheive our goals. That way we can condense all the seperate threads into one super helpful place. We can talk about favourite workouts, songs that help motivate us, great recipes/snacks and how to deal with late night hunger pangs. We can post progress and potentially find "workout buddies" who follow a similar regime. Here's my story thus far: I have always been "heavier" than most girls. I never really lost the chubby baby fat when I grew and due to high muscle density, I always weighed alot more. I used to swim competitively on a local swim team until I graduated from highschool. Until grade ten, I would swim every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday morning and every day after school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we would do "dryland" training. When I made the improv team and the pressure to do better at school became more intense, I gradually cut down the amount of working out I was doing. I never changed my eating patterns though. My mother, who is overweight, always used to keep snacks (think cookies, chips and other sweeties) in the house and this is what I would snack on. By senior year, I had gone from 127 pounds to about 140 pounds. When I went to college last year, I gained another fifteen pounds when I basically stopped training all together. I had tried to go and join the Master's Swim Club, but I felt out of place with the middle-aged men and women. I tried yoga for two months and did not enjoy it. I recently tried martial arts and felt that once again, I did not fit into the already healthy and active people in my group. Meanwhile, alongside my lack of working out, my eating habits got progressively worse. I am in a terrible place right now. I consistently fail at controlling my portions at meals and even though I try to only buy healthy foods, I give into cravings far too often. I snack late at night all the time and since I'm always on the go due to university, I rarely sit down for dinner. I feel unmotivated to go to the gym as I feel I need someone to go with. Someone to motivate me. I want to go back to swim, but I'm so hyper-aware of my body that I feel unfit to show off my body in a bathing suit. I walk to school everyday for 30 minutes and then walk back for 30 minutes, but it has done nothing to stop the gaining of weight. Sorry to sound so sad right off the bat, but I really do want to change. And I think this would be a good place to find the support I need. Right now: Weight: 155 pounds. Height: 5' 3" Bust: 39" Waist: 33" Hips: 42" Around One Thigh: 25" Where I want to be two months from now: Weight: 140 pounds Where I want to be five months from now: Weight: 130 pounds. That's where I was most comfortable with my weight and my body shape. That is a little over one pound per week. As for measurements, I have a little skirt that I used to be able to fit into. I want to wear it this summer. Body-building wise, I would like to tone three specific areas: my arms (flabby flaps), my (thunderous) thighs and my mid-section (rubber tire). I'll post my plan of action later. So yeah... Even if it's only me posting here, I will try to post once a week with updates and asking for help if I need it. :eusa_danc Here I go. Why don't you join me?
OH YES! YOU have my support! I'm a heavy set too, and have been since forever... Well, I'm a lot heavier than people thought I am and I always blame it on my bone density (which we know it isn't true!) And I've been trying to lose my weight ever since but I always give in when it comes to craving. We'll totally get into this. For me, my clothes are all XL since I'm never comfortable wearing tight fitting clothes. So my goal is basically to gain muscle definition and losing weight! PLUS a pound a week? That's perfect! Let's get started tomorrow!
Good idea Numfarth! Well, i personally have a thyroid problem so my metabolism does not jump start. I used to be quite chubby, but then i got meds and started to kinda work out somewhat. Now im about 160 when i used to be 180+. This is a good start, but i still sport a *small* gut, some muffin top, a fatty face, and SMALL as hell arms. My goal is to tone up my arms, and slim down my gut. This means for me ALOT of cardio with some weight lifting and crunches. Ill have to eat really healthy, normally not a problem but i am also an emotional eater...so yea... Right now: Weight: 159 pounds. Height: 5' 9" Where I want to be one month from now: Weight: 155 pounds Where I want to be one month from now: Weight: 150 pounds I cant do math, but thats like 5ish pounds a month. Not a hard goal i dont think, but my weight loss has slowed down ALOT recently due to lazyness. I just need your support for that guys!
Update time! I'm going to lay out my plan of action for everyone to judge and whatnot. My diet is going to consist of 3-6 small meals a day with a daily caloric intake of 1200-1500 calories. I am trying to limit my saturated fat to 8-10g a day and my sodium intake to around 1000mg. In order to try and keep track of my eating habits, I've started to write down what I eat every day. I've been used my sketch pad, but since it's good paper, I'm going to pick up a smaller/easier to carry one tomorrow. I've had a few slip-ups on food intake over the past week (mostly going over the saturated fat). But I feel that if I stop myself from buying the "bad foods", then I will be less likely to eat them. I'm missing pop ALOT so I let myself have a diet coke today. My exercise plan is going to be as follows, beginning next week (this week was my initiation into the healthy diet): Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Walk 30 minutes to and from school. After classes, swim at the local pool for an hour to an hour and a half. Stretch in the morning for five minutes and at night for 10-20 minutes. Tuesday, Thursday: Walk 30 minutes to and from school. Work out at the local gym for an hour to an hour and a half. Each workout will consist of 20-30 warm-up cardio, strength training and/or exercise ball work for 20-30 minutes, and a 20-30 HIIT round of cardio. Stretch in the morning for five minutes and at night for 10-20 minutes. I hope that by the summer, I will be able to increase the amount of time spent at the gym or in the pool. So that's the plan so far forth. I only weigh myself once a week to avoid becoming obsessive with the scale. And I will take measurements once every two weeks. I will update again next week when I've started the workout regime. My favourite recipe this week: Take one chicken breast approximately the size of your palm. Cover in a low-fat sauce and wrap in aluminum foil. Place in the oven at 375 F and let bake for 30 minutes. Remove and enjoy the juiciest chicken ever. Tastes great with a side salad or mixed veggies.
The level of exercise that you have is great. The number of kcals that you have planned is a little on the low side for a 19 year old. You may need to look at a range closer to 2000 kcal to support 1-1/2 hours of daily exercise. If you calorie restrict in the range you proposed, you will have problems with your energy level but more importantly, when you stop your calorie restriction, you'll end up regaining the weight. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you're better going on a more reasonable diet by reducing carbohydrates but still taking in adequate nutrition.
Thanks for the info! I am feeling pretty much full at 1500 calories when I'm not working out. Taking into account what you're saying, I will probably up the calories to 1500 to 1800 calories a day when I'm working out. But on the weekends, when I plan on not working out, 1200-1500 cal feels about right.
Currently trying to lose some weight myself, I've already lost 42lbs in the last 6 months and I'm trying to drop another 20. I'm eating healthily and running quite a bit. I've never really been thin, because I was involved in competitive martial arts from the age of 10 I've always carried quite a bit of muscle, but I really piled on the weight during the time I was no-lifing it on World of Warcraft and not training. (I put on 50lbs in 2 years) Right now: Height: 5'7" Weight: 165lbs Clothes size: UK 14/US 10 Goal weight: 145lbs, hopefully by my 25th birthday in June. Clothes size UK 12/US 8
I'm just reading bits & pieces of the post above, and it seems some of you are cutting back on your diet rather than increasing excersice. From what I've seen (with 4 sisters that means quite a bit) it doesn't work well and will increase weight in the long term. My first boyfriend had some weight issues (at least he thought so) and struggled with it for years. It was all in his mind, his weight tipped just over medical criteria for overweight (+25 BMI) his was maybe 26 BMI, but if so, just barely. At the time I was more like BMI 17 or 18, too thin anyways. I kinda liked his size. He liked mine better, which is fine but a bit crazy. I was too thin, I'm still thin, thats genetic, due to medication and quite dangerous. This weird ideal for boys, girls and everybody else to be as thin as a bag of bones is just keeping folks from what should be your real goal: good overall health and physical fittness. Infinite diversity also means that we don't all fit a size 28-32, doesn't it?
I'm a 33 LOL news update: I joined 24 hour fitness at Sherman Oaks, CA. I heard from my sis that there're a lot of famous people there. She saw Rob Kardashian there before and some other people. (a plus is that there are a lot of hot people!) lol Current;y, I'm trying my best not to eat outside as i'm the kind of person who doesn't like to waste food and will eat off everything on the table. I'm trying my best to just stay home and cook. At this point, I think counting calories for me is too troublesome so I'm not counting really. I haven't weighed myself recently and I'm scared
Update time! I haven't updated this week because I have been completely unsuccessful in sticking to it. I could tell you the excuses I used, but that would only proove how useless I am. This week has started out better, I've been doing my walking and I went swimming. I just need to refocus my eating habits again. I will do this. I won't let this beginning struggle stop me.
keep it up. Ive lost 73 pounds since last april. I was 253 and a size 44 pants, but now i am 180, size 32, and feel and look great (modestly spoken of course). My seceret was actually the South Beach Diet, i followed it and eventually i learned how to eat healthy and became addicted to working out, so this years goal is the ever searching eight pack....i'll get, i know it, just takes motivation. let me know if you have any questions i know a little about this stuff
I just completed my first week at the gym. I got a personal trainer and I am glad I did. As I really have no idea what I need to do. Especially since my main goal is to gain muscle mass and of course lose weight. The main goal is to eat better and he has given me lots of suggestions. The best part is that he is speaking from practical experience, so he is helping me find food that I like but is healty. One thing that annoyed me is looking at the carts and asking doctors they say I should be about 185 lbs. I always thought that was crazy as I am a big guy. 6'2" with a large frame. If I weighed 185 I be nothing but skin and bones. My trainer recognizes that and set my goal at 225. Which makes since as I want to put on muscle mass. I am currently at 277 lbs., so I have about 50 to go. The downside is that it is expensive, I pay $65 a session. In the end it will be money well spent. If you attend a university they often offer discount personal trainers, or you may be able to find a kinesiology student that is looking for a side job.
Personal trainers do help when you first begin working out. They give you ideas and a plan that addresses your needs. There's nothing worse than going to a gym and either not knowing what to do or doing things the wrong way- that's why many people give up on working out after a few weeks. You'll find that as you begin getting into your program and you feel more comfortable, you can cut back on the sessions with your trainer. When you get bored or reach a plateau, then you set up more sessions with the trainer to change your workout or to find specific exercises to address the areas that you want to focus upon.
