Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am 5'1.5 and weigh between 155lbs through 157lbs (female)
Last year i weighed between 151lbs through 149 but i think I gained more weight after eating unhealthy on a vacation i went on in November.
I'm trying to lose weight and its been real hard. I know i wont be doing a good job next week because im going out on the 13th with my boyfriend (he works valentines day) and the 15th is both our birthday so more going out. But so far since Sunday I cut out soda. Still ate a bit bad Monday but i had an iced coffee, 6 chicken nuggets, and then had a burrito at Taco Bell but it was small on the dollar menu. However still went to the gym and did arm workouts for 1 hour. Walked the 20 minutes home. Yesterday I had no soda, ate chili then 2 boiled eggs, two tiny squares of chocolate and had a bowl of oatmeal. Also had 2 bottles of water and a glass of milk. Went on the treadmill and elliptical at gym plus two other cardio machines i do not know what they are called but burned 400 in total. Also walked 20 minutes home instead of taking the bus.
I really dont know what to do to try and lose weight. I think i ate poorly yesterday and i have to skip the gym today to buy interview clothes for a job interview tomorrow and then go to work or I would of went. What workouts and foods should I eat to lose weight? I would love to be 110lbs through 115lbs
I suggest that instead of focusing on your weight, you focus on doing those things you know are healthy, and eliminate the unhealthy, and weight will take care of itself over time. Your diet sounds like a bit too much fast, processed food; try to eat more natural, and make vegetables the main dish instead of the sides. Avoid bread, potatoes, pasta, and white rice. Avoid sugar as much as possible (good move on the sodas), particularly in baked goods. Consider giving up gluten later on (hard to do). Expect to see results over a long period, like 6 mos to a year.
Exercise works best when it is enjoyable and you look forward to it. You may not think that's possible now, but it is. That means starting out slow, and keeping it gentle-moderate at first to avoid injury and enjoy the feeling of gradually progressing. It doesn't always have to be at the gym -- do you like walking, swimming, playing ball, etc? The key is consistency over time, not intensity (save that for later). Aerobics is great, but you also need strength training; get someone at the gym to show you how to use machines or dumbells for multi joint exercises like chest press, row, squats or leg press, etc. These give you a lot more bang for the energy buck than exercises that isolate muscles like most arm exercises. Lift weights at least twice a week.
Above all, don't get desperate or frustrated. Give it lots of time, no pressure, and reward yourself in small ways once in a while (not with food) for sticking with it and progressing. Good luck!
Clean up your diet. If you sincerely want to lose weight the food excuses have to go out the window. You cannot out run your fork - remember that.
Exercise should be bothcardio and strength training. You need to learn to push yourself. The calorie burn on machines is almost always wrong so do not pay attention to it.
Working out works in conjunction to diet. If you do not get your diet in order the workout is not going to make up for it.
tracking my food
learning portion sizes and training my body to make due with less. For example, I eat a cup of pasta. The average portion for many is at least twice that. it took a bit of time, but my body became accustomed to eating less and feeling satisfied.
making more healthy choices and consuming said healthy foods most of time while
dedicating one day to making a "not healthy choice". What this means is that most of the week I eat healthy but I dedicate one day to indulgences and don't count/track. This has kept me from falling prey to binge eating (which can really sabotage your efforts).
In addition to cleaning up your diet, you must also work out, preferably at moderate to high intensity. Don't go balls to the wall - instead work your way up to four-five days per week. I personally don't have time or desire to work out every day of the week.
Exercise has enabled me to "earn" my "cheat day" but in no way does exercise compensate for overeating most days of the week.
Always remember that progress is based on an average, not any given day. One day of overeating isn't going to truly translate into a pound of fat. Water maybe. it's about what happens over time.
Clean up your diet. If you sincerely want to lose weight the food excuses have to go out the window. You cannot out run your fork - remember that.
Exercise should be bothcardio and strength training. You need to learn to push yourself. The calorie burn on machines is almost always wrong so do not pay attention to it. Working out works in conjunction to diet. If you do not get your diet in order the workout is not going to make up for it.
This. The latest issue of Scientific American (which my dad has been subscribed to since the 1960's) has an excellent cover story on diet vs. exercise. It's called "The Exercise Paradox," by Herman Pontzer. He did a study on a hunter-gatherer tribe in Tanzania and discovered that the tribes people don't burn any more calories than more sedentary Westerners do. And these are people who go out every day gathering food, hunting wild game, etc. The author actually does use the phrase you can't outrun a bad diet.
This isn't a link to that article, but it does mention the study and the findings.
"Exercise is really important for your health," says Herman Pontzer of City University of New York. "That's the first thing I mention to anyone asking about the implications of this work for exercise. There is tons of evidence that exercise is important for keeping our bodies and minds healthy, and this work does nothing to change that message. What our work adds is that we also need to focus on diet, particularly when it comes to managing our weight and preventing or reversing unhealthy weight gain."
People who start exercise programs to lose weight often see a decline in weight loss (or even a reversal) after a few months. Large comparative studies have also shown that people with very active lifestyles have similar daily energy expenditure to people in more sedentary populations.
Pontzer says this really hit home for him when he was working among the Hadza, a population of traditional hunter-gatherers in northern Tanzania. "The Hadza are incredibly active, walking long distances each day and doing a lot of hard physical work as part of their everyday life," Pontzer says. "Despite these high activity levels, we found that they had similar daily energy expenditures to people living more sedentary, modernized lifestyles in the United States and Europe. That was a real surprise, and it got me thinking about the link between activity and energy expenditure."
I believe that it should never be either/or when it comes to diet and exercise. It should be "and". Sooner or later the dieter who only restricts calories will hit a wall. They can either eat less (which may be undesirable at that point) or eat the same and move more. I can't comment much about the Hadza study, but when I upped the calories burned, I could restrict less and achieve a deficit. It never got to the point where all I was eating was 1200 calories, and that was due in large part to regular, strenuous exercise. It is my belief, which may or may not be erroneous, that physical activity is more than just a health improvement or something that makes you feel good. Burning more calories is a good thing and can forgive occasional dieting transgressions. The problem is people don't realize that moderate exercise is not strenuous enough to forgive regular bouts of overeating. You'd have to put in a hell of a cardio session to work off a 5 guys double cheeseburger. That's why I say eat the cheeseburger once per week only and eat less throughout the remaining days of the week.
Shoveling snow or dirt all day long works great. I can attest to it. And when you are really into it, you are not hungry and actually don't really want to eat, as it makes it hard to shovel on fulls stomach. I can lose 7 lbs a day doing hard yardwork this way.
I am actually not sarcastic or joking. I just shoveled for about 5 hrs Monday because of the snow storm. 4 lbs lighter.
I care less about studies.
Ages known formula is:
Calories burnt>calories in food=lost weight. Body simply starts burning nutrients storage in the form of fat.
So it all boils down to very basic formula. Burn more calories, eat less calories, lose weight.
That leaves you with basically one option - very hard activity level daily. As I said, either shovel snow or dirt or spend 4 hrs a day in gym moving HEAVY weights every day.
Show me a fat trench digger.
Still ate a bit bad Monday but i had an iced coffee, 6 chicken nuggets, and then had a burrito at Taco Bell but it was small on the dollar menu. However still went to the gym and did arm workouts for 1 hour. Walked the 20 minutes home. Yesterday I had no soda, ate chili then 2 boiled eggs, two tiny squares of chocolate and had a bowl of oatmeal. Also had 2 bottles of water and a glass of milk.
Exercise is great for general health and fitness, but to really lose weight you have to eat better. From what you've described you've eaten no vegetables in days.
I can back up what urkhoz is saying. I did hard physical labor for several days (walking up steep stairs constantly, carrying heavy objects, taking minimal breaks). Lost seven pounds in a week. No joke, and it wasn't water either. The weight lost was never regained. The physical activity was intense enough for my body to burn fat - calories burned far exceeded calories consumed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
