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Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,779 posts, read 15,790,796 times
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My story is similar to Squirl's. I was getting disgusted that I was 25 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight from my first child 13 years ago. At the end of July I started recording my food intake on My Fitness Pal daily. And I started walking daily.
You can enter in My Fitness Pal at what rate you want to lose weight. I entered 1 pound per week, but if you want to lose it faster you can enter a higher number (but, of course, losing weight too fast isn't good for you). Anyway, it calculates how many calories you can have per day (based on height and current weight, I assume). It has been very accurate for me! It currently says I can eat 1270 calories per day. Each time I walk or do other exercise, I enter that in as well and it increases the number of calories I can eat. I started out slowly, doing 20-25 minute walks per day, probably walking about 3 mph. Then I upped it to 30 minutes a day. And now I do at least 60 minutes and I walk at 3.5 mph. A 30-minute walk at a 3.0 mph pace will allow me to consume an additional 100 calories. My current hour walk at 3.5 mph allows me to consume an additional 300 calories.
It has been great! For the food aspect, by recording my food, I was able to see where I was "wasting" calories or eating too much sugar/sodium, etc and could substitute satisfying alternatives. For example, instead of pretzels, I started eating snap pea crisps from Whole Foods. Instead of cereal with high sugar content, I started eating Chex or Kix. I will add a salad to the beginning of a meal and consume less pasta. I also started measuring portions just to get an idea of what a cup of cereal looks like (hint: it's a lot smaller than the bowls I was used to eating!) I still allow myself treats but in smaller portions. So I might have 1/2 cup of chocolate ice cream after dinner, and that is okay as long as I keep the total count of calories under my "allowed" amount, and it's been fine (I also try to keep fat, sodium, carbs, and sugar under the recommended guidelines, too).
This week is my 12th week following this routine and I have lost right about 12 pounds! I am so pleased. It hasn't been very hard, and I've just added a morning walk into my routine. I also try to increase my random walks - like to my kids' school instead of driving, while my kids are playing soccer, etc. Keeping track of the foods isn't bad either. After a few weeks, you have a good understanding of the amount of food you can eat.
Note: It did take me a few false starts before I got into this routine. I think because before I tried to add "running" as my exercise. And I really don't love to run. So I was dreading it sometimes and did it less and less, and then the whole thing flopped. This time I decided to do "walking" as my exercise because I really love to walk. It takes me longer to burn the same number of calories, but I do not dread doing it, so it's easy for me to stick with it. That is the key. Find an exercise you like. Start slow and then build up to a decent amount. Combined with a lower calorie intake you will lose the weight you want. Good luck!
I hate exercise. Period. No exceptions. And I've gained 40 pounds in the last 5 years since I hit 52 and retired. No surprise there. And I admit I let it go too far.
So now I have cut down on my calories and wine and am watching what and how I eat. But I KNOW I will HAVE to exercise to get rid of this weight. Aesthetically, the weight below my chin, on my hips and around my waist is what bothers me most (but the extra 40 pounds is pretty evenly distributed).
What would be the best type of exercise for me to do that will produce a quick enough result to keep me motivated? I am willing to join a gym or group classes of some sort, but cannot afford to hire a personal trainer. Motivation is the most important part - I know myself well enough to admit that no quick results will end up a failure (which has happened before with low impact aerobics 2X a week for 45 minutes, 3X a week at the gym on machines, balls, etc., walking every day.)
I'm 70 and go to the gym every day. It's a great gym, and I only pay $10/month and unlimited use of a personal trainer... for free! I work with a trainer 5 days a week. The gym I go to is Planet Fitness. There are 3 in Raleigh, NC. Perhaps one of them is near you. Here's the link to the Google search showing addresses of the 3 locations in Raleigh. Who knows, you might decide you to hate it as much as you think.
Stop thinking about exercise. You have never done it. Why think about it. It is all a math game anyway. Learn to count calories. Your body requires a specific number of calories daily. Find that number and consume 10% less. Simple. Easy to do.
I agree with you 100%. Also op needs to buy a pedometer so that you can walk about 10,000 steps a day. Walking, in my humble opinion, is the best exercise to do. If you can do 10,000 steps a day then do about 15,000 steps a day, you will see weight come off, that is if you do the math and watch your calories in versus calories out. Fitbit is a device that I just purchased and it's working for me. I am 47 and have a pix in profile to show you how fit I have become after weighing 215 pounds. Today I am 175 pounds.
Actually you don't have to exercise to lose weight, but exercise is healthy. Most people won't ever exercise so much as to burn a significant amount of calories that would really expedite weight loss. Yes, running an hour every day will make a big difference, but most other things just increase your appetite and cardiovascular health and don't burn that many calories.
My story is similar to Squirl's. I was getting disgusted that I was 25 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight from my first child 13 years ago. At the end of July I started recording my food intake on My Fitness Pal daily. And I started walking daily.
You can enter in My Fitness Pal at what rate you want to lose weight. I entered 1 pound per week, but if you want to lose it faster you can enter a higher number (but, of course, losing weight too fast isn't good for you). Anyway, it calculates how many calories you can have per day (based on height and current weight, I assume). It has been very accurate for me! It currently says I can eat 1270 calories per day. Each time I walk or do other exercise, I enter that in as well and it increases the number of calories I can eat. I started out slowly, doing 20-25 minute walks per day, probably walking about 3 mph. Then I upped it to 30 minutes a day. And now I do at least 60 minutes and I walk at 3.5 mph. A 30-minute walk at a 3.0 mph pace will allow me to consume an additional 100 calories. My current hour walk at 3.5 mph allows me to consume an additional 300 calories.
It has been great! For the food aspect, by recording my food, I was able to see where I was "wasting" calories or eating too much sugar/sodium, etc and could substitute satisfying alternatives. For example, instead of pretzels, I started eating snap pea crisps from Whole Foods. Instead of cereal with high sugar content, I started eating Chex or Kix. I will add a salad to the beginning of a meal and consume less pasta. I also started measuring portions just to get an idea of what a cup of cereal looks like (hint: it's a lot smaller than the bowls I was used to eating!) I still allow myself treats but in smaller portions. So I might have 1/2 cup of chocolate ice cream after dinner, and that is okay as long as I keep the total count of calories under my "allowed" amount, and it's been fine (I also try to keep fat, sodium, carbs, and sugar under the recommended guidelines, too).
This week is my 12th week following this routine and I have lost right about 12 pounds! I am so pleased. It hasn't been very hard, and I've just added a morning walk into my routine. I also try to increase my random walks - like to my kids' school instead of driving, while my kids are playing soccer, etc. Keeping track of the foods isn't bad either. After a few weeks, you have a good understanding of the amount of food you can eat.
Note: It did take me a few false starts before I got into this routine. I think because before I tried to add "running" as my exercise. And I really don't love to run. So I was dreading it sometimes and did it less and less, and then the whole thing flopped. This time I decided to do "walking" as my exercise because I really love to walk. It takes me longer to burn the same number of calories, but I do not dread doing it, so it's easy for me to stick with it. That is the key. Find an exercise you like. Start slow and then build up to a decent amount. Combined with a lower calorie intake you will lose the weight you want. Good luck!
I hate exercise. Period. No exceptions. And I've gained 40 pounds in the last 5 years since I hit 52 and retired. No surprise there. And I admit I let it go too far.
So now I have cut down on my calories and wine and am watching what and how I eat. But I KNOW I will HAVE to exercise to get rid of this weight. Aesthetically, the weight below my chin, on my hips and around my waist is what bothers me most (but the extra 40 pounds is pretty evenly distributed).
What would be the best type of exercise for me to do that will produce a quick enough result to keep me motivated? I am willing to join a gym or group classes of some sort, but cannot afford to hire a personal trainer. Motivation is the most important part - I know myself well enough to admit that no quick results will end up a failure (which has happened before with low impact aerobics 2X a week for 45 minutes, 3X a week at the gym on machines, balls, etc., walking every day.)
Only if they like running, and no need to do it everyday. In fact a day or two of rest is optimal. Running is not for everyone and there are plenty of other ways to exercise.
I hate exercise. Period. No exceptions. And I've gained 40 pounds in the last 5 years since I hit 52 and retired. No surprise there. And I admit I let it go too far.
So now I have cut down on my calories and wine and am watching what and how I eat. But I KNOW I will HAVE to exercise to get rid of this weight. Aesthetically, the weight below my chin, on my hips and around my waist is what bothers me most (but the extra 40 pounds is pretty evenly distributed).
What would be the best type of exercise for me to do that will produce a quick enough result to keep me motivated? I am willing to join a gym or group classes of some sort, but cannot afford to hire a personal trainer. Motivation is the most important part - I know myself well enough to admit that no quick results will end up a failure (which has happened before with low impact aerobics 2X a week for 45 minutes, 3X a week at the gym on machines, balls, etc., walking every day.)
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Staying motivated is a challenge for most of us. How about just walking every day? Maybe find one or more friends who will walk with you to make it more fun--and then walk down to the nearest Starbucks to treat yourselves to a skinny latte or Tazo tea (IF you have a Starbucks nearby). I have very few options living way out in the country so walking is what I do--alternating 20 min. one day and 40 the next. It works for me--but the nearest Starbucks is 3 hours away....
Swimming is my favorite "exercise." It doesn't even feel like exercise. It's so much fun.
Walking is a great exercise. Listen to music or an audio book while you walk & the time will pass so quickly.
If the weather is bad than go to a mall & just walk for as long as you like.
If you don't like exercise than start slowly. Walk five or ten minutes the first day & slowly increase the time until you get used to it.
You can walk ten minutes & later in the day walk another ten minutes so it doesn't feel like you're spending a lot of time doing it. Break it up into small segments.
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