12 weeks to lose 1 stone

tarch333

Hi all,

I know this doesn't seem like a difficult task (just over a lb a week) but I have my sister-in-laws wedding in 12 weeks and would love to lose a stone to fit into a dress I haven't been in for a few years.
I'm a 21 year old university student with time and motivation against me.
I generally eat quite healthily but feel my downfall is cheese or chocolate. I can't seem to remove the former from my diet.
I have a gym membership but have been quite lax recently and know I need to go back to get into shape. (I used to go 3/4 times a week). I'm a keen bike rider but feel that my exercise is restricted by the weather and I never feel like it's doing much in terms of losing fat and toning. (advice on that welcome!)

I've also recently come off the pill and have found that I have gained weight despite no changes in my diet or exercise so would love to shift this extra weight.

Has anyone got any tips on:
1. Good exercises at home or at the gym for losing belly/hip weight and toning up?
2. Good motivation to get out and go to the gym (regardless of the weather)?
3. Quick and easy meals that are low in fat and carbs?
4. Good replacements for pasta and cheddar?
5. General tips?

Anything would be of great help, thank you

tarch333

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roachhaley

I'm probably not the best person to ask as I dont get out and exercise besides walking everywhere (and even that isn't much lately with this english weather) - but frankly, just consume less calories. Find our your BMR, subtract around 500 from that and you should be on your way to about a pound a week. Any exercise on top of that is just extra. If you find yourself doing more exercise, log it and adjust your calorie intake.

Oh, and drink tons of water. I used to hardly drink any, and after I started drinking 1.5-2.5 liters a day so much bloat/water weight fell off of me it was crazy. Even if you dont lose weight, feeling less bloated makes you feel 10000x better in any clothing.

tarch333

Thank you
With regards to water, do you think there is anyway of water tasting better? I hate it. I drink flavoured water but obviously there's the addition of sugar and what not? Or I guess that's just something I'll have to either put with or I'll have to bite the bullet and just drink old fashioned water.

I've started going back to the gym more and feel better for it. Sometimes I just don't know where I'm going wrong. I eat, on average, 1400 calories a day (1700 on a bad day) and have up-ed my exercise but it doesn't seem to shift.
I don't think it helps that I'm an impatient person and wish for instant results.

What do you think about weighing yourself? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Or cut out weighing and go for waist measuring instead? I've always been told that, specifically for women, it's better to measure around the crucial areas instead of weighing yourself because our weight fluctuates so much (particularly with exercise = muscle gain).

Any thoughts welcome

pyrowill

Hi Nice to meet you.

Losing even 2lbs a week is very manageable if you make the right choices. I would definately go for the drink lots of water, and just pure water, don't go for the flavourings, although ideally if you really have to I'd suggest the No added sugar Robinsons orange & mango squash! It's lovely. And it's better to have that than fruit juice which can be packed full of sugars!

A few very good fitness tips that can help you reach your goal.
1) Try going for a half hour walk in the morning BEFORE eating breakfast.
2) Don't eat carbs after 7pm
3) Walk/run up stairs rather than escalators or lifts
4) Drink more water! If you get hunger pangs and before a meal, have a pint of liquid, then see how hungry you are.
5) In regards to weighing yourself, do you have scales? Personally I took to weighing myself every day at the same time. There are fluctuations and I accept that one day I might be heavier than the previous, thats why I only really look at the differences once a week, but have 7 results to go by. So it's up to you really!

This site is a plethora of awesome people and full of advice. Good luck! And does your sister have a wedding photographer yet? I do good rates

tarch333

That's brilliant advice thank you I will particularly try not to eat carbs after 7pm too. Do you think there's a particularly good time to eat meals and which meal should be the biggest? People always argue that breakfast should be big and decrease from then on. I prefer a larger lunch and small breakfast and dinner. Any opinions?

Thank you for your advice regarding weighing! I hear so many different things and I want nothing less than to feel depressed at the lack of weight loss each day etc.

It's my sister-in-law but yes I'm afraid she has. It's not far away so everything's pretty sorted now. Thank you for the offer though I too am a photographer but decided I'd be in some this time (here's to hoping I look better by then!)

tarch333

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JobasIsaacs

When I'm Feeling like I'm "over" drinking water, I'll add some lemon juice. For me, 1 lemon can flavour about 2 litres of water at a cost of about 12 calories.