What a 70lb weight loss looks like on a 5'8" 54yr old female!

ojettabrown wrote: »

Fantastic job! Will you be kind enough to tell me what your exercise regime looked like at the beginning and how it has progressed?

I started by walking a couple miles. Few times a week. I hiked routinely, but I struggled with the my lack of strength and endurance. In February 2014 I started a group fitness class focused on weight loss at Lifetime Fitness. This was a huge turning point. It was 3 days per week at a scheduled time. It was a small group with other obese folks, so I wasn't embarrassed by how I looked or how out of shape I was. People would ask me why I had missed a class (so I didn't), I tried new things, worked at my ideal fat burning heart rate (not too slow, not too hard), and I stuck with it religiously until I had a long road trip starting in June. During that weight loss class I lost 35lbs! During my 4 mos road trip of over 12K miles, exercise was difficult. I was also battling a shoulder overuse injury and plantar fasciitis. (We averaged 600 miles per day shuttling across the US to get to graduations, two weddings, caring for parents in MI and OR, dropping our freshman daughter off to Arizona State and a funeral). The best I could do was monitor my calories and walk when I could. I was fortunate that I gained less than 5 lbs and was able to return to my more rigorous exercise when I returned home in Oct 2014. I could no longer afford the weight loss class, so I took the plunge to join "regular" fitness classes, combining cardio and strength. In Feb 2015 I've notched it up again, a core class 3x a week plus 2 60min strength workouts. In an attempt to continue weight loss I also add at least 500 cals of cardio 6 days a week. (I'm not losing weight (yet) using this last strategy but my body fat percentage has dropped from 31% to 25%). I still hike once per week (when it's not too icy), but I'm proud to say I've doubled my speed (from 1.5 to 3 mph), increased my distance and difficulty (usually 6-8 miles), and my endurance gives me hope to be more successful on multi day backpacking trips.
Currently I eat 1500 calories and exercise an average of 600 cals.
My tips are: Stages. Routine. Group classes. Dedication. Variety. Heart rate monitor. MFP!

librarydebster wrote: »

You have a wonderful healthy glow. What exercises did u enjoy most?

Hiking! My husband is an avid backpacker. He's 65 and a recent cancer survivor. Despite this, I couldn't keep up. Now he can't keep up with me. However, if my exercise routine was hiking only, I wouldn't have improved so much. Cardio, core and strength training at the fitness club provided me the necessary cross training was key to being able to do my favorite exercise better.