Losing Weight

[aphibeach]

thank god my mom never had junk food in the house. it was always granola bars and wheat thins. i cant imagine how hard it must be for some of you to lose weight when you were practically brought up on chips, cookies, and candy bars. to tell you the truth, i dont even like most of those things (except for the occasional cookie).

plus i'm lactose intolerant so i can't have the cheese or the butter or the gooey stuff that makes food soooo good.

another substitute you can try is switching out skim milk for soy milk.....less carbs and less calories and you can keep soy milk longer than skim milk.

[Munchkin03]

Not drinking Cokes, coffees or other empty-calorie drinks tends to help me drop weight. I drink milk, water, and OJ.

I was a coxswain in college, and there was always a little undercurrent of pressure to at least maintain weight (120 is the minimum for NCAA Division I Men's, Women's is 110), and they want you as close to that as possible.

[Diamond Delta]

You guys are all so awesome for helping me! I rode my bike yesterday-not really fast, but I rode for about 20 minutes. I am joining weight watchers online later today (I have popel coming over now).

And I do try to "incorporate" activity whenever I can. I walk to my friends house b/c she lives only a mile away, I walk or stand at work constantly-that kind of thing.

I will give an update in another few days and let you know how I am doing!

[Rudey]

Do the ironman competition.

I bet you lose like 50 pounds.

-Rudey

[aphibeach]

the bike is a great tool for cardio but turn up the notch......it's amazing how many more calories you burn when you crank it up a lot

[KSigkid]

Cardio - do interval training. It cuts calories faster and more effectively than just straight cardio, and it helps add variety to the routine. Try doing a minute of sprinting, a minute of jogging, and go like that as long as possible.

Incorporate some strength training into your routine - you need muscle to burn fat, and weight training is the best way to gain that muscle. That doesn't mean you need to get big like Hulk - but you do need some muscle before you can effectively burn fat and lose weight.

Finally, it's not necessarily about the carbs, but the right carbs. Look for foods that are high in fiber (like whole wheat bread, Kashi cereal, etc.). Like everyone else said, if you can cut a few calories per meal you'll see results.

[XOMichelle]

I think it takes a bit of time to find a routine of eating and activity that is right for you. I've found bodybuilding books to be helpful because they help me find new lifting workouts and moves to use.

Before I say any of this, take what everyone tells you with a grain of salt. The only person who knows how your body feels is you! Figure out how to push yourself and what your limits are. You might get injured if you let instructors or weightloss zealousness get the better of you. Also, warming up, stretching and cooling down will help avoid injury.

For a beginner weight routine, you might do something like this 2-3 times a week. Start out once a week so your muscles can recover, then when you find you recover after a day or so, do it more often. If you have never lifted before, get a trainer at the gym to show you how to use the free weights and machines properly.
legs:
leg press- 3*12
calf raises- 2*15
leg extension- 3*12
leg curl- 3*12
abductor and adductor machine- 3*12 each

chest:
bench press- 3*12
flys- 3*12

shoulders/ back:
overhead dumbell press- 3*12
seated row- 3*12
lat pulls- 3*12

arms-
dumbell curls- 3*12
tricep press downs-3*12

abs-
3*20 crunches


(eta: I do this routine once or twice a week)
-M

[carnation]

Low carb did it for me after all those pregnancies. NOTHING else worked. Then the faculty where I teach decided to do low carb together and you wouldn't believe how different everyone looks--and we've kept it off too.

I actually lost too much weight; my body kept on even after I went off the second phase.

[erniegurl00]

The low carb diet does work and works fast. But, I've found that the weight will easily slip back on if and when you go off the diet. Plus, I had a really hard time sticking to the low carb diet. I'm Irish and was brought up to LOVE potatos and other high carb foods. I'm on slim fast right now, and it seems to be working. It's going off slowly, but at least it's working! LOL

[IowaStatePhiPsi]

One of the things I enjoy to keep me in shape: bike paths. Next year I plan to ride RAGBRAI, but this year it's just me getting out once a week, twice a week and biking on the old rail-2-trail paths or through city and state park paths.

[EEKappa]

I really admire those of you who can lose weight on Atkins. Even at 20 - 30 carbs per day, I didn't lose. Six months of no cookies, bread, or fruit, and I stayed the same weight. Enjoyed all the bacon and macadamia nuts, though! We are all "wired" differently.

What works for me is getting enough protein (at least 60 - 100 g. per day), eating lots of fruit and vegetables, and limiting starches to one serving a day. Entering everything eaten into Fitday.com keeps you honest too, as does measuring everything. What I thought was two tablespoons was actually closer to four, and it makes a big difference when what's being measured is mayonnaise or peanut butter!

Cardio exerciseis great, but muscle is what burns calories, so weight training to increase muscle mass is just as important. And core conditioning, such as Pilates, improves posture so you look thinner too!

[ILLINIgirl]

I've lost 20+ pounds since May! I've been doing "lower carb"...no white flour (pasta, potatoes, real bread, etc) and stopped eating sweets/candy (with the occasional break of the diet, but not many times). Working out is ESSENTIAL! I work out every day--40 min of cardio and 20-30 min of weight lifting. The cardio burns cals and then the weightlifting creates muscle makes you burn calories many hours after working out (and you get muscle tone, so you will lose inches and can wear smaller clothes, even if not losing as much weight!) Hope this helps!

[Diamond Delta]

I've been sick and the weather is kinda icky, so I haven't worked out since I rode my bike the other day-BUT-I have lowered (not cut out) my carbs a bit and upped the amount of fruit I eat (which was NONE). I forgot how yummy fruit could be!

Obviously no weight loss yet! But I haven't binged out or fell off the wagon yet!

Thanks so much for the advice-especially Xo Michelle for giving me the amount of reps and stuff to do. I do have some free hand weights so I am going to try to do those today after I do my Yoga video.

[adpialumcsuc]

Originally posted by Rudey
Do the ironman competition.

I bet you lose like 50 pounds.

-Rudey

My husband ran a Ironman on Saturday and weighed more after than he did before. I guess it is because of the amount of fluid comsumed during the day

[aphibeach]

I really admire those of you who can lose weight on Atkins.

yeah for real......i would die without my carbs.

i think that it's just a matter of finding a healthy balance in your life. some people need to work out for an hour everyday and eat 1800 calories to stay in good shape and then there's people who could work out for 45 minutes 3 days a week and eat 2000 calories and stay in good shape. it's just a matter of finding where your body fits into all of that.