New and in need of a little advice!! SO EXCITED!

shelleydavies1991

Hi everyone,

My name is Shelley, I'm 20 currently studying to be a nurse. I want to lose weight so I'm not a hypocrite when teaching my patients about their diet etc.

I stopped smoking before Christmas!! And ate lots of chocs over Christmas!
And my mum told me about this site, I took my Day 1 of MFP pictures last night and was pretty much disgusted!

Every single post I have read on this site is inspirational. You guys are fantastic and it's so nice to see everyone supporting each other. Just what we all need!

Ok, so I was just wondering..

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

If you can only answer one of my questions then please do!
Would love to hear from you all..


All my love, S x

LoreleiWalks

Hi Shelley, and welcome!

I'm sure everyone will have their own answers to your questions, but I will give you my opinion. For reference, I did lose 50 pounds and kept it off for about 7 years. I am here because I stopped counting calories and gained 20 pounds. I know how to lose/maintain, I just didn't put it into practice.

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

I do not. I find that I can easily become obsessed with the number on the scale. So many factors cause weight to fluctuate from day to day, hour to hour - sodium intake, time of day, whether or not you've used the bathroom, etc. I weigh myself every Friday and that's it.

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

I weigh myself in the morning every Friday. I don't know if there is a "best time" but I just like to be consistent from week to week.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

Do not kill yourself with the exercise. People can get nutty and really overdo things and damage their bodies. Please start slow and build up. Walking is excellent (and free). I have not ever done the 30DS, but I have heard from some people that it ruined their knees. I like Leslie Sansone's walking videos, as they are low impact but definitely effective. When I lost my 50 pounds, I never went crazy on the exercise. It was a steady routine of 20-45 minutes of walking 5 days a week. I also do a lot of walking in my daily life (during lunch hour, walk to the market, take the stairs instead of elevator, etc.)

Hope you find what works for you, and I wish you the best on your journey to a healthier you!

shelleydavies1991

Thank you so much for your advice.

And well done on your achievements! That is fantastic!!

I like your idea of just weighing yourself once a week at a certain time.. it does make much more sense!

I'll try not to get nutty about exercise - thanks for the advice, maybe I'll just keep on with my jogging and build up that way.

Thank you ever so much for replying so quickly!

I hope you have a lovely day, S x

annasaidso

The first couple of weeks I used to log my weight every day just to see if the adjustments I made to my diet had any effect.

Now I check my weight maybe twice a week.

In terms of exercise... I started slowly with a stationary bike for 20 minutes. Over a month I built up my endurance to an hour. Then finally 90 minutes.

When I reached the 90 min mark, I decided to start training for a 5K.

I started with a couch to 5K plan 10wks ago. I could barely manage running/jogging for 2 minutes straight. Now I run for 50 minutes non-stop.

It seems daunting at first, but don't focus on the forest just yet. Focus on the tree right in front of you. You'll see the rest of the forest before you know it.

cherrieruns

Hi and welcome.

FIRST, CONGRATS ON QUITTING SMOKING. I quit 12 yrs ago. Best thing I ever did for myself!

I agree with Loreleiwalks. I would pick a time/day and use that as your weigh in. doesn't really matter if it is morning or night because if you are consistent with the time and following your program the weight loss will show. I am aware that we tend to retain some water over the course of a day but if you weigh in at night, initially, then that number would already be reflected. Start slow with the working out. You did 20 minutes of jogging. WAY TO GO. Stick with that for awhile and when you find that you are doing the 20 minutes wthout struggle then bump it up. either longer run or a different workout, whatever works for you. You don't want to beat yourself up so much that you don't want to continue.

(I've also lost a bit of weight. kept it off for several years and then, like loreleiwalks i got lazy and careless and before I knew it I had regained 20 pounds)

umachanxo

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

I enter it once a week on Thursday mornings.

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

In the morning before you eat or drink anything.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

When I started, I used to jog in place in my spare room to youtube music videos. I would start at 20 mins, and later worked my way into doing it for a full 60 mins. I also did a LOT of bike riding over the summer and into the early winter.
Then I started the 30 day shred. It's HELL at first, but your endurance will pick up and it's definitely worth doing

amfaery

I weigh in once a week in the mroning when I wake up usually friday for me

weighing yourself everyday will make you crazy lots of fluctuations

i hate running but people tell me the couch to 5K program is good for starting out

I like the beachbody programs especially insanity, I threw up the first time I did it but was able to do a little more and take less breaks every week lost 30 of my pounds in 2.5 months on it

MrsSWW

Hi Shelley, and welcome!

I'm sure everyone will have their own answers to your questions, but I will give you my opinion. For reference, I did lose 50 pounds and kept it off for about 7 years. I am here because I stopped counting calories and gained 20 pounds. I know how to lose/maintain, I just didn't put it into practice.

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

I do not. I find that I can easily become obsessed with the number on the scale. So many factors cause weight to fluctuate from day to day, hour to hour - sodium intake, time of day, whether or not you've used the bathroom, etc. I weigh myself every Friday and that's it.

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

I weigh myself in the morning every Friday. I don't know if there is a "best time" but I just like to be consistent from week to week.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

Do not kill yourself with the exercise. People can get nutty and really overdo things and damage their bodies. Please start slow and build up. Walking is excellent (and free). I have not ever done the 30DS, but I have heard from some people that it ruined their knees. I like Leslie Sansone's walking videos, as they are low impact but definitely effective. When I lost my 50 pounds, I never went crazy on the exercise. It was a steady routine of 20-45 minutes of walking 5 days a week. I also do a lot of walking in my daily life (during lunch hour, walk to the market, take the stairs instead of elevator, etc.)

Hope you find what works for you, and I wish you the best on your journey to a healthier you!

Wise words!

AMcMaster

welcome!!! you can do it!!

shelleydavies1991

Hi Ladies,

Thanks for your advice, it's lovely to know that there are people out there that have taken their time to reply and support!

Annasaidso, I think that is what I need to do, just build up gently and do it like you have!

Well done on your weight loss, it really is inspirational to know that you started off just doing small amounts of exercise and now you're training for a 5K! Good on you girl!!

Thank you for the inspirational quote too, I'll try to remember that when I'm looking like a beetroot and sweating like mad jogging!

S, x

Cherrieruns, THANK YOU!! The smoking was really hard, but I feel so great..even after one month!! Well done on your quitting too! I'm sure you'll sympathise with the struggle!

Ok, so I will pick a a day and time I think for the weigh-in!!

Well done on your weight loss! Is that you running in the picture? I aspire to do a run one day.. Not just yet though!

I tripped yesterday when I was jogging, damn pavement.. I have a nice bruise on my rib to remind me I need to keep going!!


THANKS GIRLS - really appreciate all the support already!!

S, x

sjackson902

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!

Oh wow! Two 10-min sets? To me that's AWESOME. I've been working on C25K for about three months now and I just ran my first solid mile yesterday. You're in much better shape starting out than I was about eight months ago. I bet you could push yourself and do one of those tough programs.

Keep up the great work!!

blink1021

I weigh in once a week first thing in the morning after getting out of bed before eating or drinking and after using the bathroom.
I do not enter my weight everyday just on the weigh in days. I started 30DS without having a cardio schedule before. There are 3 levels to it with Level 1 being the easiest and there is also someone on the video doing modified moves for those of us not as fit. It can cause knee pain if you do it every day I only do the video 4x/wk and have no knee problems. The key is not to do it everyday and it works you really work up a sweat its just that it is so short I usually combine it with another workout. Find what works best for you and your schedule. I went through many workouts before I found ones that worked for me and when I get bored I go out and buy a new one. 30DS was only $6 and there are others out at around the same price. As well as free ones online and my cable company has some that are free on demand.

ArroganceInStep

Hi everyone,

My name is Shelley, I'm 20 currently studying to be a nurse. I want to lose weight so I'm not a hypocrite when teaching my patients about their diet etc.

I stopped smoking before Christmas!! And ate lots of chocs over Christmas!
And my mum told me about this site, I took my Day 1 of MFP pictures last night and was pretty much disgusted!

Every single post I have read on this site is inspirational. You guys are fantastic and it's so nice to see everyone supporting each other. Just what we all need!

Ok, so I was just wondering..

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

If you can only answer one of my questions then please do!
Would love to hear from you all..


All my love, S x

Doesn't matter when you weigh yourself, just do it at the same time everytime. If you choose to weigh in in the morning (generally when you're at your lightest) make sure every time you weigh in it's in the morning.

I do not log my weight daily, it's a hassle and there's lots of jitter since your body weight can fluctuate a lot. I personally log my weight on here once a month, and weight myself once a week.

The only way to improve your fitness is by doing it. Try to build up slowly. Google couch to 5k as a starting point, find a plan that works for you and build from there.

Workout videos may be a bit challenging right now, but as long as the difficulty doesn't get you down there's no reason not to try them out. Understand that you may have to modify a lot and that you might not be able to do everything yet, but as you work at it things will become easier.

Good luck to you!

kimberly702

Hi everyone,

My name is Shelley, I'm 20 currently studying to be a nurse. I want to lose weight so I'm not a hypocrite when teaching my patients about their diet etc.

I stopped smoking before Christmas!! And ate lots of chocs over Christmas!
And my mum told me about this site, I took my Day 1 of MFP pictures last night and was pretty much disgusted!

Every single post I have read on this site is inspirational. You guys are fantastic and it's so nice to see everyone supporting each other. Just what we all need!

Ok, so I was just wondering..

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

If you can only answer one of my questions then please do!
Would love to hear from you all..


All my love, S x

Morning Shelley!! Welcome and congrats and taking this step towards a healthier you! MFP is an AWESOME support site, I have met so many fantastic new friends on here!

I weigh in once a week, usually on Friday mornings (EEK! That's today! lol) and first thing in the morning... before I have anything to eat or drink and after I use the bathroom (Every little thing counts right?? haha Oh, and I also weigh in... ummm... naked!)

I started this journey with just walking each night for just a half hour then in the fall started going to the gym and now do 90 mins on the elliptical or AMT, 30 day shred (LOVE IT! It hurts... but after about 4 days it gets better) strength train.

Over the holidays I did slack off with diet and exercise (boo... gained almost 10 lbs since Nov.) and am trying to get back into routine now that the kids are in school.

Good luck!

ottawagirl613

Hello and welcome!

As far as your questions go:

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?
I weigh myself every morning in my birthday suit but only enter the weight on MFP once a week. I find checking in daily keeps me on track and the little ups and downs dont bother me, they just motivate me. When I'm down it's a boost to keep going in the right direction. When I'm up it's motivation to be especially diligent that day. Only time I avoid weighing is that TOM. And I mean I avoid it like the plague.

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?
I always weigh in in the morning. At night I find my weight will vary too much depending on what I ate and/or what time I ate it. Even drinking a glass of water before bed will throw me off.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

I definitely wouldn't rule out the 30DS, but I would build up to it. I've been doing it three weeks now and it's still kicking my butt! It's not just the cardio though it's the strength training (if you're not used to that either). You are young enough that you should be able to push yourself with something like the 30DS when you feel you are able to. And while there is a lot of jumping around involved, jogging isn't really any better on your knees. Just remember if you do eventually get there DON'T QUIT! The more consistently you do it the less it hurts and the less exhausted you will be. Let me tell you I feel a difference on the rare occasion when I've had to skip a day.

Good luck!

Jnine25

i weigh in the morning at the same time with the same amount of clothes on. The first day I gained so don't be discouraged if you are weighing every day. The next day I was down 1.2 pounds. I figure if at the end of the week I've lost my goal of 2 pounds, then I've done what I'm supposed to. Good luck with your weight loss and please add me as your friend. I would add you but I'm new to this site and haven't figured out how to add friends yet. Have a great weekend!

JJ

shelleydavies1991

Thank you so much Ladies and Gents!!

Yes, DarlingLC I did two sets.. with about two hours in between.. not straight after one another!!
It pretty much killed me, but I did feel better after I had done them!
I haven't done any today, but I am going to log off here shortly and do a ten minute jog!
Well done on your weight loss - FANTASTIC!!

Blink1021, I'm not sure if I am up to the 30DS yet!! But thanks for your advice about the knees!! Maybe a knee support might be worth wearing when doing it!
I don't want to be a fit nurse with dodgy knees!! That's all I'd need! Hehe!! Well done on your weight loss.. and thank you for your advice!

Rtalencar, thanks for the advice! I will google that this afternoon! Thank you for your support too, it means a lot!

Kimberly702, well missy..today is your day! You best get weighing!! Hope you have lost some weight!
Yes, I was wondering what to weigh in! I've just done it in bra and knicks as they hardly weigh anything! Unless I've got my Bridgets on! Wow! That's a lot of exercising! Well done!! And thanks for your support!!


S, x

shelleydavies1991

Ottawagirl613, Well I will defo get the DVD and when I feel like I'm ready I shall give it a good go!
Well done you!! I'm glad you're sticking to it! And I will not QUIT! Not now I'm on here with all this support.
I think if I did it by myself, it's very easy to lapse and go back to old ways!
But on here it seems like it will be different!!
Thanks for your support and advice!

JJ, I have added you!

S, x

Misty_Cathey

I just joined here and started my weight loss journey so I have no advice but wanted to wish you luck with everything!!

krsnjas1022

I agree with the first person that answered your questions...almost verbatim Good Luck!

mandycasey

Hi and welcome,
I only weigh myself once a week, first thing in the morning - Naked! lol.
Good luck feel free to add me xx

dabombmom23

ConIgrats on quitting smoking!! that is a big challange in itself! You will do great !! Add me as a friend and like everyone here we'll take the journey with you!!

cherrieruns

hey Shelley, yes that is me running in the pic. I started running about a year after I quit smoking. I love it. You never know, that 20 minute jog (although I call any movement faster than a walk a run may turn into a running some day!!

shelleydavies1991

I hope so Cherrieruns! I really do!!

Thank you ladies, I will get adding and supporting!

All my love,

S, x

Missjilly1025

Congrats on quitting smoking! That in its self is something you should be proud of. Another congrats on joining this website. I haven't been on here long either but love the support I get from others.

I typically weight myself in the morning about once a week. I try not to get to obsessed with the scale and instead look at inches lost. You can log these as well on here. I love doing my measurements! I get more excited about inches lost than pounds.

As for cardio listen to your body. Allow it to tell you when you are doing too much. At the beginning it's about building up a solid base and not about pushing yourself really hard. That's how injuries happen.

Again congrats, you can do this!

niknak2308

Hi, Welcome to MFP!

You're right about this being a very friendly and supportive place - feel free to send me a friend request if you want a buddy to lose weight with! (Click on my username and Send Friend Request)

So in answer to your questions:
- Do you enter your weight on here every day?
Absolutely not! I don't even own scales as I'd be obsessing day and night lol. I weigh in once a week before breakfast but after a coffee at the scales in Boots, and always in leggings and a vest top. Aside from the Xmas fortnight there hasn't been a week I haven't been able to log at least 1lb loss as soon as I get in

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?
I choose first thing in the morning so in my mind my body is as empty as possible and therefore there will not be extra factors to take into consideration when weighing in (eg Oh I didn't lose anything today, but I have just eaten a full blown English breakfast and drunk 3 large coffees!) But as already said, as long as you keep it the same you'll be most accurate.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?
I started off just walking more... I've got 2 little ones and there's simply no way of getting to the gym without a) expense and b)organising childcare! Just an hour walk is a couple of hundred calories, which makes a big difference to your food allowance when you're only on 1200 or so. I've since moved up to LOTS of walking (I aim for 2hrs or so) and I have just bought an exercise bike so I can make the most of the evenings when the kids are in bed/napping in the day. As for the 30 Day Shred, it's great, (I'm on Day 5), but knackering! It's a good kickstart and you can just jog along during it if you can't quite manage all the moves straightaway. As long as you're doing the most you can manage you'll be burning those calories! You can always do it every other day too, there's no need to only do it within 30 days. I know a lot of people (including myself) who tried it out for a week or so and then got fully into it.

Feel free to message me with any qu's etc. Good luck, today is the first step towards a new healthier, slimmer you! :flowerforyou:

Dawnnan

Hi Shelley,
I'm new here as well. Congratulations on the quitting smoking and best of luck on your future in nursing~ it's a great career choice, one that I love.

Thanks for the questions, they answered a few of my questiond as well.

Dawn

roseymacdoo

Hi everyone,

My name is Shelley, I'm 20 currently studying to be a nurse. I want to lose weight so I'm not a hypocrite when teaching my patients about their diet etc.

I stopped smoking before Christmas!! And ate lots of chocs over Christmas!
And my mum told me about this site, I took my Day 1 of MFP pictures last night and was pretty much disgusted!

Haha make sure you keep hold of those 'before' photos, as much as you want to burn them right now, they're a brilliant too for the future when you look back and see just how far you've come!

Every single post I have read on this site is inspirational. You guys are fantastic and it's so nice to see everyone supporting each other. Just what we all need!

Ok, so I was just wondering..

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

Absolutely not! We have no scales in our house. I go and see the nurse at my local doctor's surgery once a month on a friday morning and get on the scales in her office. This whole weight loss thing is a marathon, not a sprint (I've been here on MFP for 17 months now!) and weighing more often that monthly won't work for me, there's too much fluctuation throughout the month due to water, hormones, ToM etc. Once a month helps me make sure I'm going in the right direction, otherwise I judge how I'm doing by how well my clothes fit and how much I feel like I want to die after I've run for the bus haha!!

Just as an aside, I really think that having to get on the scales in front of someone else is a massive motivator too - I'm convinced that's the only reason slimming clubs work!!

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

As others have said, doesn't matter as long as you keep it consistent so you are comparing like with like. Personally my weigh-ins at my docs surgery are always the first slot in the morning but that's just because I go on the way to work!

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

If you currently don't do anything at all, then just take it steady and slowly and build it up gently. I started just by getting out of the office on my lunchbreak for 40 mins and taking a brisk walk down to the other end of the city centre and back. Then I bought a reebok mini stepper and started getting that out on an evening once the kids were in bed - I'd catch up on a bit of tv while doing half an hour on the stepoper, then it became 40 mins, then an hour. Anything that keeps you moving and maybe gets you slightly out of puff counts as exercise, especially if you are starting from nothing like I did!

If you can only answer one of my questions then please do!
Would love to hear from you all..


All my love, S x

Good luck on your journey, MFP is definitely working for me, I know I'll be on here for years to come to help me maintain, but that's fine, it's great!

Rosey x

cmrjones

:flowerforyou: Hi Shelly,
I am also new to the site. As for weighing you should weigh yourself everyday, naked and at the same time and with the same scales. As for exercies you should get 150 minutes in a week that is roughly 30 minutes a day x 5 days. And this exercise needs to to get your blood pumping. Like a brisk fast paced walk is wat i would start out with. But like they say always check with your Dr. before starting any exercise. I wish there was a way to put in your weight every day and since there is not you could always have a calender hanging where your scales are and record it on there. I have found that this site really makes you think about what you are eating. I thought i was eating pretty healthy everyday and my calories were still way over limit, so today i had to take drastic measures and modify my breakfast.....LOL
I hope you stay in touch, I would really love the company while i am trying to do this.........

turningstar

Welcome! And congratulations on beginning your journey. This is an amazing site with a lot of great people who are very knowledgeable. I've been on here 51 days and lost almost 11 lbs and have gained a lot of strength!
I just jumped right in and did the 30 day shred. I lost 10 lbs and over 10 inches on it, without cutting calories too much.

My recommendation to you would be to chat with some of the fitness and nutrition "experts" on here. (You can generally tell by their profiles pics, and the advice they give. They really know their stuff!) Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, 10 is better. Eat a lot of protein! It aids in building muscle and helps with post workout recovery. My average is 130 grams a day. It doesn't have to be meat. It can be from protein shakes and bars. Make sure you stretch really well after the shred. It will help release the lactic acid from your muscles.

And finally, whether or not you take this advice, Ima gonna give it! Don't drastically cut calories! If you want to be stronger and more fit, AND continue to burn fat in the long run, you need to build muscle. To build muscle you need to fuel your body. When you drastically cut calories, you lose weight, but some of it is lean muscle tissue! I don't really like seeing people go on a 1200 calorie a day diet and then workout until they drop. I've lost more weight faster and built strength while eating 1500 to 1900 calories a day. Please do your research before you begin.

Sorry so long. I just want pros to be siccesful and happy! Good Luck!
And with weighing...I only weigh once a week or so, in the morning. You can get really obsessive weighing every day!

Hattiemayperkins

Well firstly well done for admitting you need to loose weight! Sometimes that is the hardest part!
I started with thsi earlier in the year and lost 1 stone in a month, so it does work! Unfortuantley I then went on holiday and never got back into it so here I am!

I have about 4 stone to loose, and Ideally want to achieve this in 6-7 months. I aim to eat 1200 calories a day and tend to have...
Bowl of fruit for breakfast or All Bran with sliced Banna and Skimmed milk

Soup and salad for lunch - minimal carbs

High protein dinner so salmon potatoes etc or a steak.

I am lucky enough to have a gym and work so I exersize 5 times a week for about 40 minutes a time...

I'm telling you all this because this really works for me (I used to be my target weight until I fell in love and stopped working out!)

I would only recommend that you weigh yourself once a week, and ideally if you have an Iphone download the app! It makes things a lot easier. I program my foods when I'm on the tube or have a quiet moment at work.

How much have you got to loose?

Good luck!

Hattie