WEIGHT LOSS HELP ASAP

cheltgirl87 wrote: »

All my weight is my stomach x

Read this

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

and this

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

Are you SURE you're only eating that much? Do you use a good scale to weigh your food? Accuracy is key. I very rarely work out, and by eating at a deficit, I lose weight. So while exercise is a great way to get healthy, it is NOT what determines weight loss. And you have to do it more than a week. It didn't take us a week, or a month to put on our extra weight, right?

Weight fluctuates from so many things: water, time of day we weigh, what we're wearing, using a different scale, and for women, of course, the time of the month. Don't be discouraged after a week or two. If you don't see a change, re-evaluate your food, and get back at it. Trial and error.

Good luck, and welcome to the journey!

cheltgirl87 wrote: »

I try doing sit ups and planks I find them hard to do

Of course they are going to be hard if you are just starting. Don't give up though! If you can hold plank for a couple of seconds it's better than nothing. Sit ups are overrated btw, plank all the way. Oh, and if you are trying to *just* lose weight off your belly you need to be more reasonable with yourself. You can't just lose weight off a single part of your body, fat doesn't work that way.

queenliz99 wrote: »

cheltgirl87 wrote: »

All my weight is my stomach x

Read this

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

and this

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

You will learn a tremendous amount from these links. The first one is great. Read, learn and do. Good luck to you.

Don't listen to anyone telling you there is a One And Only True Way.

Ex: "you HAVE to eat low carb" or "you MUST exercise 4 times a week"

There's no one, and only, way. And what someone else "needs" is not what YOU need, only you can figure out what you need.

Create your caloric deficit, stick to it. Use MFP to get your numbers. Exercise to help you do this, or don't. The deficit is what takes the weight off.

I personally feel much healthier keeping my fitness separate -- I exercise to feel strong, empowered, to boost my mood, to get energy, to feel better in my own skin. When I tie it to what I'm eating, mainly, then it's like, you bust your butt forever doing things you don't even love, and you can eat, what, a banana or three? I just end up feeling bad.

We are complex creatures with habits and feelings and thoughts and such. We make mistakes, we get impatient, we don't stick to something, we listen to the wrong people, we can't control aspects of our environment, etc. You have to find those things that are in your way and tackle them.

Second the suggestion to read the stickies here. They do a fantastic job of explaining things simply. Other than that, I'd start with vowing to stick to things regardless of whether or not you see progress. Committing to it is the hardest and most important part!

Hey! Definitely stick with it longer than a couple of weeks like everyone is saying. I'm no expert but I have been doing this for a couple of months now and its working. I usually eat between 1300-1400 calories a day. Mine is set at 1200 but I workout 5 days a week. Mainly running and other forms of cardio. Cardio burns fat and weights build muscle so its good to have a decent amount of both. I recommend the C25K app. Starts off easy and builds you up. Its hard sometimes but it got me seriously into running and I was the most anti-running person on the planet. Exercise is good for the extra calories but you're nutrition is the biggest part of weight loss. Make sure too keep under your calories and you will see results. Remember that it'll take twice as long to get rid of the weight then it did to put it on. Slow process but its worth it. Feel free to add me if you need any help with anything.

Okay, so first, you need to breathe. Second, you need to slow down. Third, you need to learn moderation!

Small, steady, sustainable baby steps forward. Make tiny changes in your life and don't expect a miracle overnight.

Somewhere on here is a great post about 'in place of a road map' or something - maybe someone will jump in with the link. It's got a lot of good info, but for a beginner who is panicking, it may seem to be overwhelming. My advice is to find it, bookmark it, and read and review it often.

If you use MFP's goal setting instead of coming up with your own, that is fine, but bear in mind that if you're too aggressive, it will set you at 1200 calories or something hideous and unsustainable like that. I'd put your goal at no more than 1 pound per week loss and use that calorie total.

Weigh everything or as close to everything as possible. But do not obsess and freak yourself out. Bear in mind that weighing is more accurate than measuring. And that we tend to underestimate our portion sizes. Use this as a tool to get the most out of MFP and your journey to health and fitness -- use it to learn accurate portions for all your foods, use it to learn how to estimate when you have to eat out and can't quite get accurate counts, etc.

Log everything. Get used to it. Stick with it. Remember - you're looking long-term, not short-term.

Remember that weight fluctuates frequently throughout the day and week and month. Use 3 measures --- the scale, pictures, and measurements. I recommend monthly measurements and pictures in the same outfit and pose to really help give you a snapshot across time. I personally weigh daily but only 'count' it weekly, just so I start having an idea of the fluctuations my body is doing. Whatever you do, don't get discouraged by those fluctuations. They are normal.

Remember that with exercise can come extra water retention sometimes.

You don't need to kill yourself with exercise, by the way. You should look into what you like and what works for you and build from there. Yes, strength training is excellent, and you can do it, but if it's hard now, it's something work up towards. I started at 5'1" tall, age 43, and 291 pounds. Two years later, I'm between 165-170 depending on the day and now I'm getting back into it to start losing more. I started with 20 minutes 3x/week treadmill only, 2.0 mph. I now do a lot more than that, including 3x/week strength training with free weights (squats, deadlifts, overhead press, bench press, rows, etc). But I built up to all that!

The biggest way to fail -- do too much too quickly and expect massive changes too soon.

Small, slow, steady, sustainable -- you can do this.

Diet is most crucial for weight LOSS. Exercise is most crucial for weight MAINTENANCE. I would start with your diet. Use the calculators to figure out how many calories you can eat to lose 1 lb/week. I know that seems conservative; but get an idea and you can always decrease from there. Once you see what that feels like, then you can work on incorporating your workouts. If you're new to working out, start simple with a 30 minute walk 5 times/week. If you've been working out, stick with what you know. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You didn't put the weight on overnight and it's not going to come off overnight. Give yourself as much time to lose it as it took to gain it. Best of luck and feel free to friend me for extra accountability!

Lots of good info in this thread, but just want to emphasize the sexypants link. Chock full of great information to get started.

Stay consistent, and don't give up. Weight loss is not linear, and it doesn't need to happen fast. Calculate your TDEE and aim to lose about 1-1.5 pounds/week. Keep at it and don't give up. You need to eat in a way that you can sustain long term.

cheltgirl87 wrote: »

Yeah just by seeing the scales go down will be a start

First off CONGRATULATIONS on making the decision to start prioritizing your nutrition and fitness. You've already lost some weight and that's something to celebrate! Do you use other indicators to measure your progress as well (ie taking body measurements, noting your energy levels, or your physical fitness/tolerance for activities)? Try using some other non-scale indicators that will also clue you in on your progress... it's not uncommon for people to lose inches (aka fat loss) and to not actually have a change in weight.

Also as for nutrition are you weighing things out? Do you rely solely on the pre-stored nutrition entries in MFP? I've found that some of the food item information isn't accurate and that was affecting my progress. It may not seem like much, but if several items you consume each day are off that could add up! It may be giving you a false sense that your consuming fewer calories than you really are.

What kinds of activity do you currently enjoy? Are you standing much at work or throughout the day? I've started increasing the time on my feet as opposed to sitting and have noticed a significant uptick in my basal metabolic rate (you can burn up to an extra 50 calories per hour standing... so that certainly can add up over the day). If you need any support or have any questions feel free to add me! You're not alone here... and remember weight loss isn't a sprint, slow and steady wins the race!