21 and Determined

Im 21 and also have a limited budget. You's be suprised that its not actually too diffecult.

Excercise is free and everywhere if you know where to look. Go for walks, have a good spring clean, go swimming (ok, not free but cheap and great excercise)

Fresh food is also a lot cheaper than processed, to buy some dried pasta, a tin of tuna, some tomatoes and beans makes a really simple pasta salad thats probably cheaper than pre-packaged pasta salad, plus theres the benefit of being able to get a more than one serving out of it and its not full of artifical poop!

its not impossible or even hard once you ghet used to it. Welcome to MFP and good luck :flowerforyou:

I'm 23 and I've definitely been in your shoes. I managed to lose weight my last semester of school on a very limited budget and without going to the gym. Just eating better and hiking up a huge hill every morning to get to class was enough. Feel free to add me as a friend, I'm happy to offer advice and support

Hey yall! I cant believe your encouragement came so quick - it made me really emotional! lol maybe thats just me being a girl. Its so hard to lose weight by yourself and its really awesome that within a matter of minutes you can have a whole support system.

I do have a pool! I love to swim BUT i hate going out in my bathing suit! Maybe I can work on my abs first, pool exercise 2nd.
Also, my apt gym is awesome. Its got everything - which is good, but sometime i dont know where to even start. weights or treadmill? bike or leg exercise things?

Is it better to begin by trying to lose weight all over and then start toning up? Or should i start using the weights now? Im most concerned with my stomach area if that matters...

ALSO, thanks for the friend invites! Does anyone know of weight loss challenges starting soon? Competition is always good.

Welcome! I'm 23 and always broke so I understand where you are coming from. Honestly, when it comes to exercise the best advice I can give you is to just move. Whenever possible. That means taking the stairs, going for a 15 min walk after dinner, parking really far away . If you want to take advantage of your gym I suggest the eliptical or treadmil to get your heart pumping. You don't have to run on the treadmil either, feel free to walk 3 or 3.5 mph with a 3% incline. That will not only get your heartrate up but it will work your leg muscles.

It's always good to do some strength exercises even if you can't see your muscles yet. Building muscle helps increase your metabolism and that, my dear, will help you lose weight quicker.

Always drink your water...and lots of it! And always eat at least half of the calories you burn off. Again, it's good for your metabolism. :happy: MFP is a great support system and everyone is really friendly. Feel free to friend me if you have any questions.

You'll do great!!! :flowerforyou:

Hi Everybody! lizabell and djz26 I am also in the same situation as you all! I am 20, and would love to join along in your efforts to lose weight. Just like you i have tried many different times to lose weight and always get distracted by life or loose steam after a few weeks. Obviously my goal is to loose weight! But I also would like to find a health plan that I can stay with and enjoy. I live quite literally on the beach and avoiding it because I can't bring myself to wear a bathing suit is such a terrible feeling. I would love to have some people to this with!!

Lizabell, about your exercise question (weights or no weights), I would definitely say don't limit yourself to just cardio. The most effective workouts include both cardio and weight training. It also helps hold your interest by switching things up! The main focus of cardio is to increase your heart rate, so many people think the faster and longer you go is always better. But there is actually a much quicker and more effective way to burn fat! Have you ever heard of interval training? Interval training is a type of cardio that is very effective at fat burn. What you will do is maybe...

Bike at an easy but constant pace for 60 seconds, then
Go as hard as you can for 30 seconds
Easy 60 seconds
Fast 45 seconds
Easy 60 seconds
Fast 60 seconds
Easy 60 seconds
Fast 90 seconds
and then work your way back down the list until you get back to the 30 second sprint (fast)

Trust me you will be dripping with sweat by the time you finish! What makes this type of training so effective is the switching of paces. Your body stays in fat burning mode instead of transitioning into building respiratory endurance. The difference is that when your body is in endurance mode, you are not burning fat you are conditioning your lungs and muscles. Muscles require a certain amount of oxygen to undergo the fat burning process, thats why many say speed-walking is more effective than running. If you are sucking wind during your workout, yes you are still improving your body! But you will not see the fat loss you want because your body does not have enough oxygen to initiate the process.

Weights come into the ideal fat burning equation because through weights your body experiences after burn. When you exercise using, say an elliptical your body is working from start to finish of the workout session. But when you use weights, your body actually continues working hours after you leave the gym. Building muscle is a very interesting process, what is actually happening when you lift that barbell is you are tearing your muscles! After you are done weight lifting, your body begins to repair the torn muscle fibers, and as it does it strengthens and builds up the muscle just a bit more and more every time. This process of tear and repair takes energy from your body, thus by lifting weights you are burning calories and strengthening muscle long after you leave the gym.

By combining fat-burning cardio and weights you are most effectively helping your body burn fat and lose weight!! Half an hour is really all it takes. You don't have to spend hours on an exercise machine or pump ridiculously heavy weights to get the best workout! Keep your body moving from the time you enter the gym until you leave. If you want more fat loss, do about 2/3-3/4 cardio 1/3-1/4 weights. And once you reach your goal weight go 50/50 to keep it up!

Sorry this is so long!!!!!!!! I love to workout, what I personally need to work on is making the time to actually GET to the gym and making smarter food choices. Also I am a Pre-Med student in college, so i have studied a lot about the body and muscles and find it all really interesting. Sorry again this is so so long. Hope i can help!

Wishing you lots of luck!
Let me know if you would like a weight loss buddy!!!
-Adley