I really have to lose some weight!

[TxKimberly]

I'm purty sure that the vast majority of us feel that way Michelle.
I once saw a photo of a long escalator going up to gym. It's caption was "Only in California". There's a lot of irony in that - people avoiding the exercise of climbing steps while on the way to a gym to work out.

With out ever realizing or thinking about it, most of us avoid all of the little chances to make our bodies do some work through the day, and then we have to schedule some specific down time to get exercise!

Anyway, since seeing that photo years ago, I've made it a point to take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators and to avoid the moving walk ways in airports, and to walk for short trips instead of taking the car.
Right now I am ordering one of the old fashioned push lawn mowers like they had when I was a kid. It's a win-win! No more gas or pollution AND I get exercise.

I kid you not, I can even see the difference in my weight eve from walking malls while shopping. When I am doing a lot of shopping my weight remains stable. When I'm not on the road and not shopping, my weight starts to climb. Of course the shopping serves another purpose - it offers incentives. It's harder for me to stuff myself after just having seen so many adorable clothes that I wish like hell I could fit in.
I guess my point is to take a look at all of the little things you might do to increase your physical exertion through your typical day because all of those little things DO add up.

[AKAMichelle]

I kid you not, I can even see the difference in my weight eve from walking malls while shopping. When I am doing a lot of shopping my weight remains stable. When I'm not on the road and not shopping, my weight starts to climb. Of course the shopping serves another purpose - it offers incentives. It's harder for me to stuff myself after just having seen so many adorable clothes that I wish like hell I could fit in.
I guess my point is to take a look at all of the little things you might do to increase your physical exertion through your typical day because all of those little things DO add up.

I know what you mean. I can see the differencce of begin stressed out and not finding anyway to destress. When I dressed all the time, I had incentives and I used some of the times to walk en femme which really took the weight off. I am taking the steps now to get this weight off.

In fact I got on the scale today for the first time in over a week and now I only have 73 pounds to lose. Down 7

[Vicki-Z]

Well after reading all the responses to this thread I can say this finally proves it once and for all, we are really women inside. We all worry (myself included) as much as any woman does about her weight. lol

Myself, I am determined for once in my life to get my weight down to were I want it and get into better shape and health.


Vicki

[maryannnite]

hi hun i think you look fine and a lot of us girls need to lose , but please dont let it stop you from dressing that would be more depressing and be sides we can alway diet.

[busker]

There is a very good article in the NYTIMES today--see link below which looks at exercise as a part of weight loss and basically they opinion of the sports medicine people at various universitites is that "it is useless as far as weight loss is concerned". The best bet is calorie reduction and getting rid of the chair that you sit on. They ran two experiments for a day--one group sitting, and one group standing, and guess what? the standing only group lost weight.
Exercise once you reach your desired weight, will help you maintain it, but exercise alone won't make you budge a calorie.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/ma...e&ref=homepage

[AKAMichelle]

hi hun i think you look fine and a lot of us girls need to lose , but please dont let it stop you from dressing that would be more depressing and be sides we can alway diet.

Unfortunately the pictures is of me 40+ lighter. Now I just look like an ugly pregnant woman, if I can still fit in the clothes which is doubtful.

[mattie]

I'm so glad I found this thread. I've struggled with my weight my whole life, and I really want to do something about it. The thing that worked the best for me in the past was doing a calorie tracking on The Daily Plate, or Sparkpeople but my problem has been that I eventually get lazy and stop entering things in after a couple months. I feel like I really need a lifestyle change somehow to get this weight off. I'm a size 18 now and would like to get down to something smaller. I have a medium bone structure.

What size do you all think I could get down to reasonably? I need to find something that works for me. I'd do Weight Watchers but I don't know if I can afford it right now. I'm really encouraged by this thread though.

Edit: That's it, I've started a profile on livestrong and am going to start tracking calories and exercise again. Hopefully I can keep it up this time, or in the meantime I can try and come up with lifestyle changes that will help me keep it off. Here's my profile on livestrong if anyone else wants to track my progress. Any suggestions are very welcome!

[Tasha McIntyre]

Instead of avoiding your CDing, use it as a motivator to lose weight. Prioritize clothing over calories!

Good luck!

Exactly my sentiments too.......what better motivator than seeing yourself in that cute new skirt

[willowgurl]

I've managed over three years to go from size 18 jeans to size 12, even can caninto some juniors 11's feels great, keep workin at it

[Jannis]

I have struggled like so many of you, for years trying to control my weight. I tried every diet, exercise fad foods, etc. I would lose some weight, but put it back on once I stopped dieting. Now, recently, I have been on Weight Watchers as some one has mentioned. I am losing weight and keeping it off. It is so easy to do. I have numerous friends who have been weight watcher people for years and it has been the only thing that worked for the long haul. I keep my eye on some new mini skirts and have them in my sights as I continue to lose enough to wear them without looking old and chubby.

[mattie]

Now, recently, I have been on Weight Watchers as some one has mentioned..

My mom is doing Weight Watchers and says the same thing. She loves it and has been losing weight. She feels it's totally doable for the long-term. Isn't it expensive though? I think she's paying like $40-$50/month or something. That seems like a lot to me.

[lacie]

Although I’m not actively training anyone right now I used to be a personal trainer and studied exercise and nutrition very closely.
Weight loss is simple if you have a strategy. A lot of people just start off exercising and trying to eat better to achieve their goals. This gets results but without a clear knowledge of how weight loss happens it’s easy to get sidetracked and knocked off course.
The Science of weight loss states that you must burn more calories than you ingest in order to lose weight. But you need to know the parameters involved in order to track and make changes as needed.
First and foremost it’s important to know that one pound of fat is made up of roughly 3500 calories. So you have to burn this amount above what you eat to lose one single pound. You have to burn 7000 calories to lose 2 pounds, and 10,500 calories to lose 3 pounds, etc.
Now there is something called Resting Metabolic Rate or “RMR”. Basically your RMR is the amount of calories your body burns on its own sleeping and sitting on the couch doing nothing. Everybody’s RMR is different based on age, gender, height, and current weight. Here’s a link with a RMR calculator to find yours> http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php
So let’s say you’re a 35 year old male, 5’9”, 180 pounds. Your RMR is 1742. You burn 1,742 calories in a day sleeping and chillin at your crib. Now even when you don’t exercise you’ll still burn additional calories walking, cooking, brushing your teeth, going to work, and doing other general activities. So let’s say you burn another 800 calories doing these general activities. Your RMR calories plus these calories total 2542. If you eat about 2500 calories all day then you’ll break even and basically not gain or lose. If you eat 3000 calories then you’ll gain. And if you eat 2000 calories you’ll lose.
Now add exercise to the 2542 calories burned from RMR and general activities and you’ll accelerate calorie burn dramatically. If you were to do enough exercise to burn 500 calories a day for seven days then that’s one pound of fat lost right there. Couple that with reducing calorie intake by 500 calories a day and now you’re up to two pounds a week lost. And with some types of intense exercise you not only burn calories doing it but after you do it for one to two days. High intensity cardio workouts in which your heart rate gets really high can speed up your metabolism greatly. This puts you in fat burning mode for up to 48 hours after the workout. To calculate your maximum target heart rate just take 220 and subtract your age. So a 35 year old for example would have a max target heart rate of 185. With that said if you get anywhere in the 150+ range your doing great and really working hard. (As always you should first consult a physician before you start trying to reach max rates)
I could go on and on but these are some basic facts that will get you started. I hope this helps and good luck!

[sherri52]

I've noticed over the winter I added more weight to my must have been overweight body. I decided to go on some type of diet. All I did was to cut back on junk food and stop eating between meals. Dropped 10 lbs in less than 20 days
.