Weight loss

alohajls

@SueInAz I think I might love you. Thank you for being so clear in your reasoning, this is much more useful than just being told to 'lift heavy' when you have a lot of weight to lose. I lift heavy all the time--I lift *me*!

tcm2003

SueInAz wrote: »

tcm2003 wrote: »

LovingLife_Erin wrote: »

Thanks! I started last September, just about a year. For the first 6 months approx. I lost about 3lb/week, but I wasn't counting my calories then, and since I had so much to lose, it was not unsafe for me then. I now lose about 1-2 lbs/week, which is more appropriate at my weight now. Everyone will lose at different rates though, so please don't get discouraged if you don't lose at the same rate. You also may not lose every week. I have weeks where the scale doesn't move, but I'll get a larger loss the next week. It's just water fluctuations so as long as I've tracked my food, I know it's fine. You really just have to trust the science that if calories in is less than calories out, then the weight will come off.

I started off walking. At first it was just for 15-20 minutes at a time, and then I slowly ramped up. I now walk 7-8 miles a couple times each week, and get over 10,000 steps most days. I also love swimming (I used to play waterpolo and be a lifeguard) so I started doing that again, and aqua aerobics (which I love! I recommend it a lot). I have a spine issue so I can't do high impact stuff, but I slowly worked my way up to doing some weights in the gym, plus the bike and elliptical. I also love fitness blender videos (free on youtube) so I'll often do those. Now I typically swim a couple times a week, do aqua once, and then the other days, I go to the gym, walk, or do a video at home. This is what works for me, but you need to find what works for you. A combo of strength training and cardio is usually good, but if you aren't used to exercising, start slow and find what you enjoy.

That's great! I love going to the gym too I just haven't been able to go as much as I would like but I have to learn now to work out at home and stop using the fact I can't get to the gym as an excuse got not working out. I can't swim a bit but I'm gonna check out the fitness blender videos on YouTube as well. Thank you so much this has really helped me alot.

At your current weight, just walking is good exercise. I also highly suggest strength training as soon as you can begin. I know that most people with a lot of weight to lose want to just focus on seeing the number on the scale get smaller, and I get that, but being significantly overweight actually has some advantages when it comes to strength training. I'll explain....

When we lose "weight" the pounds we lose are made up of a combination of water, fat and muscle. The faster you lose weight, the more of that lost weight will be from muscle because our bodies are looking to preserve as much stored energy as possible against a future starvation period and unused lean muscle mass is an easy target. As you shed pounds, you need less muscle to move your mass around so your body will break it down and it'll be gone.

Strength training forces us to use our muscles in such a way as to signal to the body that we need them. This limits muscle breakdown for energy and helps to retain the muscle you already have. It's much easier to maintain your current muscle mass than it is to build new muscle (just for starters, building new muscle involves gaining weight!) and here is where those advantages I mentioned come in. As I said earlier, when we lose weight it's a combination of muscle, fat and water. The opposite is true, too! Your current muscle mass is significantly greater than someone who is smaller because while you've been gaining weight over the years some of what you gained was extra muscle so that you could simply move around your extra weight. That's a huge advantage if you're willing to capitalize on it!

Strength training now will allow you to keep a lot of the extra muscle rather than losing it along with the fat and water. This means more of your weight loss will be from fat and that's what you really want to lose. It also means that when you reach the weight you want to be that your body fat percentage will be much lower and you'll be much firmer at that weight than you would have been if you simply "lost weight" to get there.

So, rather than reach your goal weight and then decide you want to "firm" or "tone" your body, start strength training now. Doing so will help to ensure that you will look, and feel, amazing when you've reached your goal and lost the fat that is covering all of that muscle hiding underneath.

Great advice you hit that on point!! Thanks alot

SueInAz

alohajls wrote: »

@SueInAz I think I might love you. Thank you for being so clear in your reasoning, this is much more useful than just being told to 'lift heavy' when you have a lot of weight to lose. I lift heavy all the time--I lift *me*!

I'm a huge believer in helping people to understand why something is a good or bad idea. I've never been one to blindly follow rules or advice myself unless I understand and agree with the reasoning behind it. I believe that most people are reasonable, logical creatures so I resort to logic a lot in here. (Maybe one day you'll catch me responding to someone who wants to lose 20 pounds in two weeks and see me break down the math for them. )

I have to admit, I've never been technically "overweight" but I have been stupid enough to just want to "lose weight" most of my life. It's only been in the last couple of years that I've come to realize how important maintaining muscle mass really is to our health and happiness, especially as I'm quickly approaching the BIG 50.

Since I started lifting last year I've discovered a few amazing things about myself.

• At 5'3.5", I now bounce around between 130-135 pounds and still fit into the same clothes I was wearing at 120-125.
• Because my metabolism is a bit higher I can eat more.
• I'm strong and that's empowering all on its own.
• I'd rather be "buff" than thin.
• My goal weight is now higher than it was because I'm smaller at the same weight.

DLMitch22

Hey.... I work night shift at a hospital... The work is laid back ... However when I started I was 256.6 ... I am Down to
227... What works for me is eating at 630 am before I get off and then I go work out for 2 hours and then I sleep and then when I wake up it's time to go back .. My dinner is at midnight ....basically I be so tired I only eat twice a day ....