where to start - exercising at home and nutritious snacks

darlenegodfrey1

Hi I am currently 208 and 5'4" tall.

I am looking at good places online to work out from home that are free? anyone have ideas?

Also, I am currently trying to only take in 1200 calories a day as recommended by Fitness Pal to reach my weight loss goal of 50-60 pounds by November. Where do I look for low cal meals and snacks that will keep me feeling full and that will give me energy.

I appreciate any other info that may be helpful to a newbie.

darlenegodfrey1

Also, 1200 calories a day doesn't seem to be enough for me, does anyone experience this to? what do you do to keep going?

lipsticknlattes

If you are still hungry, then I would slowly increase calories 100 at a time. 1200 is very low and I don't last long there, especially when I am exercising. As far as free exercise, I would check out bodyrocktv

WolfAlexandra

Hey.
Congrats on having the courage and ambition to start this journey.
As for programs, you can find a lot of exercises to start with on Blogilates. They are easy, fun, and make a great starting point for a begginer. As you progress, you can further try 30 days shred and Insanity, but these are fairly more difficult. Another fun way to exercise at home is trying Tae-bo and Zumba videos, which are fun and easy to stick to. You find plenty of them on youtube, on different difficulty levels. I haven't done Zumba, not my cup of tea really, but some time ago, when I first started dieting and being physically active, I found Billy Blanks' tae-bo videos really fun and easy to do.

I honestly believe a 60 pounds weight loss goal by November is a little unrealistic when discussing sustainable weight loss, without gaining some of those pounds back on. You might achieve the wanted number on the scale, but by dropping so quickly, you risk losing more muscle mass rather than fat. I think you should aim for 1 pound per week, which would mean around 30 lbs lost by that time, which is truly a lot in such a short time. If this is mainly from fat, woohoo, we have a winner.

As for the calories, I strongly suggest you calculate them thoroughly. I used IIFYM for a calculus, and I got your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate, practically what your body needs to keep functioning at rest) to be around 1625. Your TDEE if sedentary (this means minimum physical activity) is 1951. One way of approaching caloric deficit is substracting 20% from TDEE, that is 390, in your case. 1951-320=1631, which is very close to your BMR, therefore fits your most basic necessities. I do not recommend you falling under this number. Greater deficit can be obtained through exercise. In your case, 1200 kcals is way-way too low and would definitely put your body into starvation mode, making weight loss significantly more difficult.

I have done the same mistake, trying to force my body to make do with ridiculously low amounts of calories and the weight loss process was going very very slow. However, when I reached a decent number of calories per day, combined with exercise, the weight started dropping off at a normal rate.

As for the snacks, if energy is what you are seeking, you should go for vegetables mostly: carrots, broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes (they are a little more carby), green or red pepper, figure a way of serving them that you like. Low calories, mainly from carbs, which your body uses as a primary source of energy. Many voices are against fruit consumption, but I honestly recommend you eating fruit every now and then. They are healthy if you do not have any insulin problems, have a great amount of carbs which will provide you with energy and some are a good source of fiber. Moreover, they keep your desire for sugar consumption in check, thus reducing the danger of binge eating. Berries have a particularly low GI, kiwies, applesand grapefruit are great too.
Another thing you can snack on might be egg whites, which are a source of protein, relatively low calorie. You can try peanuts, almonds, nuts, avocado, but in a moderate to low quantity, since they provide healthy fats, but are calorically dense. As a source of protein, you can try low fat cheese, almond milk or greek yogurt.

I honestly hope you will stay fine and healthy and eventually reach your goal.

editorgrrl

With 50–60 lb. to go, set your goal no higher than 1.5 lb. per week. 1 lb. would be even better. The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off. That's just the way the human body works.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants