Motivate me? "You don't need to lose weight"

Sinead1819

When I tell people I'm trying to eat healthier and shake off the extra calories, I get told I'm being silly or don't need to and it's very demotivating! Its more visual than whats on the scales I'm concentrating on, so toning too not just burning fat. Started going to Zumba 2 x a week (hour classes) and an hour horse riding 1 x a week. I'm watching my calorie intake but mainly looking at fat intake. Have some green tea extract on order too! What helps you? What drives you? What makes the end goal important and something to look forward to?

Thank you

Big5BigChange

Fitting into my nicest clothes again is a huge motivation for me. Sad but true. I have lovely clothes and I'm too fat to feel good in them like I once did. I think I'm a bit like you - probably with not an awful lot to lose, so it is hard for others to understand your motivation and they immediately jump to "big A" assumptions (crazy - I'm 150lbs and they are accusing me of having an eating disorder!!!). However, the amount doesn't matter - your 5lbs could be somebody else's 100lbs. That's why I generally don't tell people I am "dieting". That word has a lot of association (much of it bad) and it often encourages chippy comments. I'm doing this for me. I wouldn't expect somebody else to understand how I feel when a lovely dress I wore last year now makes me look like a sack of potatoes. They don't notice the pounds I have put on underneath my cunning "baggy, cover-up clothes". But I know they're there.

As an aside - I have been changing my exercise to include weight training due (in no small part) to the threads I have read on this website. I believe it is the way to go, especially if you don't have much to lose and want to change your body composition as much as the number on the scale - look it up (if you haven't already). I love Zumba (and other "dance-y" exercises). I do them mainly because they're fun, I like the music and it makes me feel happy. However, I have got my best results from strength training (have you tried ballet bar or equivalent? Brilliant!) and I hope I can continue this success with weight training, (I've only started weights this week, so too early to say for sure on the latter!!)

Anyway - just wanted to say "I hear ya" - dismissive comments from others can be demotivating. Ignore them. Stick with it

Sinead1819

Thank you so much! I went to equine college and got so used to being healthy and toned from the hard work that anything else feels flabby and makes me unhappy! I wanna feel as good as i'll look! Weight training has crossed my mind, although my upper body strength is truly lacking, any tips/places to start?

pondee629

Why do you care about what anyone else thinks YOU should do with YOUR body? Have we become so weak willed that a decision invloving our most intiment being (ourselves) is questioned because someone else might disagree? "You don't need to lose weight" is just as improper as "Gee, you could lose a few pounds?". Ignore these unsolicited comments, unless they are sincere compliments, of course, and go about implementing YOUR decision.

Your body, you gotta live with it;
Your decision, make it;
Your action, take it.

Big5BigChange

Equine college eh! You must be used to having thighs of steel!!

Re: where to start re: weightlifting, I am only just starting myself, so don't feel well placed to advise. However, many love New Rules of Lifting for Women. I actually preferred the Stronglift 5x5 website because of the YouTube demos. However, I eventually settled on the book "Body by Science" (McDuff) cos I found the science compelling and the workout really straightforward, requiring minimal equipment. There are also many, many groups and threads on this site, so search "new to weightlifting" or the like. Also, I've already found some really experienced lifters here who are generous with their time and advice. However, probably best to keep questions specific rather than broad,"how do I start".

At the end of the day, if you do a bit of research, all the lifting programs tend to have fairly consistent messagess(lift heavy not silly "girly" weights, push yourself, maintain good form to prevent injury), etc. Then you have nuances (free weights vs. machines, working to number of repetitions vs. lifting until you literally can't lift another rep (failure), how much cardio you should do alongside. At the margin, I think the nuances are less important. Find a program that speaks to you. Doesn't matter why, as long as you believe in it.

Perjaps the biggest barrier is access to the weights themselves. Using a gym is by far the easiest way (and there will be people on hand to tell you what to do). However. I actually ended up investing in my own weights (I didn't have time to travel to a gym or the will to pay the high memberships), but it took me 3 months to decide to invest the cash needed (hence all the research. Ha! )

Anyway, that's all I have to offer on the subject I'm afraid.

Good luck! Whatever you end up doing!

fiddletime

I've had people tell me I'm "skinny" and "don't need to lose weight". Usually they are quite overweight themselves. Whatever. I know what fat is and I know what muscle is. I lose fat till I can see the muscles I've been toning up through resistance exercises and cardio. Just do your own thing and smile at the unsolicited comments. Don't bring the topic up yourself.

Need2Exerc1se

Do you need to lose fat? What is your current weight and height? Do you know your body fat %?

Sinead1819

Thank you! I currently don't own any weights so any recommendations for what's cheap and gets results, the only free time around work and a part time college course I have I'm doing classes anyway so would prefer to train at home

Sinead1819

5'8, just under 10st, I've visibly put on fat around my waist thighs and *kitten* in the past year (left college, worked in a chocolate factory and so on) weight wise I don't care too much but I'd like the belly gone and to tone back up again. Would like to boost my BMR too, so a little bit of fat loss and some muscle gain would be my goal

Sinead1819

Oops I mean bottom xD