What exercise to do to lose weight

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Transatlantic20145
Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm already eating the calories suggested by my fitness pal, but I want to exercise as well. So far the exercises I've been doing for months haven't affected my weight by even a pound, so I'm hoping for some suggestions. Tell me what to do and I'll do it!
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  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise is for fitness.

    What is your daily calorie goal, do you meet it, come in way under or go over? Do you log accurately, weighing and measuring all foods?

    As for new exercises - no clue what to suggest that might be new without knowing what you've been doing already. :smile:
  • Transatlantic20145
    Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
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    Calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise is for fitness.

    What is your daily calorie goal, do you meet it, come in way under or go over? Do you log accurately, weighing and measuring all foods?

    As for new exercises - no clue what to suggest that might be new without knowing what you've been doing already. :smile:

    I meet my calorie goal every day since I plan out my meals and I do weigh everything. Insanity and 30 DS don't work for me. Swimming doesn't work for me. Riding my bike doesn't work for me. Perhaps I should do good old running?
  • cpislander
    cpislander Posts: 9 Member
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    Hi, I count calories and eat lower not low carb meals. I eat around 1200 calories a day and less than 100 carbs and absolutely no sugar, white flour or white bread. I walk 60 to 90 minutes a day in a rather hilly environment at a moderate (not fast but not slow either) and I've lost 29 lbs in 5 months. I was stuck losing weight until I starting walking and now I'm losing about 1/4 lb a day which is great. You have to get your heart rate up and I walk early in the morning to get it done and over with so I can get on with my day. Good luck!
  • Heatherybit
    Heatherybit Posts: 91 Member
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    Dear OP what are your stats? In order to suggest exercise program or work out, like the other poster commented, more information is needed. There are amazing community members that are highly knowledgeable in this field; however, without more information it would be difficult to give you ideas without knowing more about you.
  • Transatlantic20145
    Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
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    Hi, I count calories and eat lower not low carb meals. I eat around 1200 calories a day and less than 100 carbs and absolutely no sugar, white flour or white bread. I walk 60 to 90 minutes a day in a rather hilly environment at a moderate (not fast but not slow either) and I've lost 29 lbs in 5 months. I was stuck losing weight until I starting walking and now I'm losing about 1/4 lb a day which is great. You have to get your heart rate up and I walk early in the morning to get it done and over with so I can get on with my day. Good luck!

    Wow thanks. I'm going to speed walk to the swimming pool tomorrow rather than riding my bike.

    Heathery I'm very ashamed to tell my weight...I feel very ashamed in real life with girls asking me how much I weigh and then they proceed to say that they weigh 100 pounds. But I guess I will try with walking.
  • cosmichvoyager
    cosmichvoyager Posts: 237 Member
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    don't give up on exercising! I exercised for years without losing anything because I never was willing to change my diet. I still saw a lot of benefits to my physical fitness, mood, skin, hair, sleep, etc. Now that I am changing my food habits (mainly smaller portions, less restaurant food, swapping out whole grains for white bread, eating a lot of healthy snacks), I am seeing gradual weight loss and am toning up. I eat around 1900 calories a day and exercise about 45 minutes a day, 4 or more times a week including cardio and strength training. Some weeks I have lost a lot of weight and other weeks I lose very little.

    I really want to get under 200 pounds and maintain at that level. 180-190 is comfortable for me, even though I will still be fat at that weight. I don't really think thinness is inherently attractive, I just want to try and ease joint pain, be more fit overall, improve my heart health and I feel that my natural weight is in the upper 100's range and I will be able to maintain that. Going lower could happen but I think I might be setting myself up for failure/regain if I try to go too low. I have never been thin ever.

    Don't feel ashamed, that isn't going to help you :) I am sure you're being much harder on yourself than you need to be.
  • Transatlantic20145
    Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
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    don't give up on exercising! I exercised for years without losing anything because I never was willing to change my diet. I still saw a lot of benefits to my physical fitness, mood, skin, hair, sleep, etc. Now that I am changing my food habits (mainly smaller portions, less restaurant food, swapping out whole grains for white bread, eating a lot of healthy snacks), I am seeing gradual weight loss and am toning up. I eat around 1900 calories a day and exercise about 45 minutes a day, 4 or more times a week including cardio and strength training. Some weeks I have lost a lot of weight and other weeks I lose very little.

    I really want to get under 200 pounds and maintain at that level. 180-190 is comfortable for me, even though I will still be fat at that weight. I don't really think thinness is inherently attractive, I just want to try and ease joint pain, be more fit overall, improve my heart health and I feel that my natural weight is in the upper 100's range and I will be able to maintain that. Going lower could happen but I think I might be setting myself up for failure/regain if I try to go too low. I have never been thin ever.

    Don't feel ashamed, that isn't going to help you :) I am sure you're being much harder on yourself than you need to be.

    Thanks for your nice reply and for sharing your experience. What type of cardio do you do specifically? 180-190 pounds sounds good and I love that you're doing it for fitness!
  • alexagia
    alexagia Posts: 37 Member
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    Depending on your size, the scale isn't alway a good measure of progress. I haven't lost much weight through exercise but I have noticed that my legs are in much better shape and more firm. Make sure you measure yourself and don't get too discouraged.
  • Transatlantic20145
    Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
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    Depending on your size, the scale isn't alway a good measure of progress. I haven't lost much weight through exercise but I have noticed that my legs are in much better shape and more firm. Make sure you measure yourself and don't get too discouraged.

    Thanks for your kind words. Also I think I have an underactive thyroid which is why I cannot lose weight.
  • jimbmc
    jimbmc Posts: 83 Member
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    So I'm already eating the calories suggested by my fitness pal, but I want to exercise as well. So far the exercises I've been doing for months haven't affected my weight by even a pound, so I'm hoping for some suggestions. Tell me what to do and I'll do it!

    Running is the biggest calorie burner, followed by swimming. If your into sport, then 90 mins of Football (Soccer) is always a good one, or Rugby. Tennis is also good, as is Squash (Racketball I think its called in the States)

    But if I want a good calorie burn, I tend to do a 10k run and try to get under 60 mins. It depends on your ability tho.
  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
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    I agree with running being a great calorie burner.

    That's all I did at first and dropped weight.

    And, in the past that was my go to exercise when I wanted to lose weight and it worked for me.
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    BrightCrystal? Is that you?
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    The best exercise is the one you will do consistently and enjoy. I don't have a gym membership, so I do workout DVDs. I've seen results with all the DVDs, but I get better results with some. Not because the workout is magic, but because the type of workout appeals to me. I set goals for myself to do one more pushup, jump higher, do a tough exercise for 5 seconds longer than I could last time, etc. And I end up burning more calories because I'm pushing myself and focusing on a goal other than "I want to burn X calories."

    Notice I didn't say "the best exercise to lose weight," because there isn't one. You can't out-exercise your diet. Well, maybe in your early twenties you can. But I'm 36, and the only way the scale moves is if I have my diet in check. When I first started, I was exercising and "eating better" but not logging, and the scale didn't budge. Once I got my diet in order, the weight started coming off.

    The other thing to remember is that sometimes the scale doesn't move when you start a new exercise program, and you may even gain a few pounds. This is water weight from the glycogen in your muscles, and will even out after a bit. If you've been jumping from program to program, you might be masking any loss or not giving your body enough time to adjust. Pick one program and stick to it for a few weeks. You don't need to do a million different workouts. I workout for 30 mins, 6 days a week. 32 lbs gone from measuring my food, logging, and eating back a portion of my exercise calories.
  • Davidc1961
    Davidc1961 Posts: 16 Member
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    If you are actually weighing and counting the calories of every single thing that passes your lips, staying at/under your calorie goal every single day, and not losing weight, I suggest that your scale may not be correct. Calibrate it by weighing a measured volume of water.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    So I'm already eating the calories suggested by my fitness pal, but I want to exercise as well. So far the exercises I've been doing for months haven't affected my weight by even a pound, so I'm hoping for some suggestions. Tell me what to do and I'll do it!

    Insanity!
  • SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish
    SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish Posts: 831 Member
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    Fork-blocking is the best exercise :P Seriously, what you do not put into your mouth, you do not have to burn. So first and foremost you need to accurately know how much you are eating, and eat only so much that you are at a deficit. I eat larger portions than I think ALL THE TIME. I will commonly burn upwards of 1,000 calories/day, yet I lose slower than lots of people who barely exercise. Why? Because I'm lazy counting calories and do not measure my portions, and I eat a lot.

    I had several days week before last burning 2-3 thousand calories, but if I forget a snack here and there and have a larger portion here and there, it adds up and that burn doesn't matter anymore, it's balanced out by the extra food. But, surprise surprise, when I measure more accurately, I lose significantly faster. In fact the times I've been monitoring my intake more closely and only walked most of the week, I lost more than weeks when I exercised burning an average of 1,200 calories/day.

    Take it from me, someone who exercises a lot, yet has slow weight loss because I don't frequently actually weigh my food: what you eat is more important than how much you exercise. Do something for 150 minutes/week, preferably walking with 3 30 minute weight lifting sessions, but most importantly for losing weight: measure your food and eat at a true deficit!
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    long distance running with moderate heart rate.
  • Transatlantic20145
    Transatlantic20145 Posts: 94
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    BrightCrystal? Is that you?

    ??

    Running - okay. I will add running and walking daily.

    Insanity doesn't work for me.

    So long - you exercise a lot - good job! I do weigh my food and I'm eating at a deficit, yep.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    insanity made me supe rhungry first round...but maybe later I will get beter if I do a second round....
  • karlospiklington
    karlospiklington Posts: 143 Member
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    Walking is a great way to get some exericse in, especially if your fitness level isn't great. I brisk walked for an hour most days for the first couple of months of my weightloss and it definitely made a difference. Adding in some kind of weight training, either body weight moves or exercises with dumbbells, could help kickstart your weightloss again.

    Most importantly, find something you like! I enjoy walking and Jillian Michaels circuit training style workouts so I look forward to doing them and, as a consequence, I work out consistently. If I had to spend an hour on an elliptical I would probably top myself. Find what works for you; and obviously play the Rocky theme tune whilst you do it.

    *Also, forgot to mention, take inch measurements! Especially if you start weight training. Some weeks the scale might not move but your inches will go down.

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