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ohmijord
ohmijord Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm losing. I lost 50 pounds then I gained it all back. I now have a desk job and a hectic schedule. I'm struggling on how to lose weight. I'm getting married and really want to drop weight before that happens. Does anyone have any advice for someone with a sedentary lifestyle to lose weight? I love running but since I gained weight it hurts to run again.

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  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    To lose weight, you need to consume fewer calories than your body uses. Exercise is great but not a requirement for weight loss.

    Start by logging your food for a couple of weeks. You can then go back through to see where you might eat smaller portions and/or make satisfying substitutions.

    This chart has some good advice:

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Eat less
  • mom22dogs
    mom22dogs Posts: 470 Member
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    It always surprises me when people seem to think the only way to lose weight is to exercise for hours, and calories in/calories out - eating less than you burn doesn't seem to occur to them.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    You need to eat less - it's simple. Not easy, but simple.

    Don't use a sedentary job as an excuse to have a sedentary lifestyle would be my advice.
    I have a sedentary job but don't have a sedentary lifestyle - I watch very little TV!
    If you can't run then do something else that you can do, I can't run because of injury but exercise 6 or 7 times a week.

    If you want something enough you do it. Every meal or snack is a choice you make after all.
  • PixelPuff
    PixelPuff Posts: 901 Member
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    Eat less calorie-dense foods. Also find time to exercise again. It seemed you like to do it, so it may be best to restart that. If it hurts because the weight gain, the weight loss will help that.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    I will echo eating less..

    You will find that there are a good amount of folks here that work day time jobs sitting behind a desk either in an office or even working from home. You determine rather your "life style" will be a sedentary one or not. Take advantage of your weekends and if you can muster up 10 minutes 3 times a day to do something like walk around, this is 30 minutes of activity you are not doing today.. It all adds up..
  • cross2bear
    cross2bear Posts: 1,106 Member
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    Take control of your portions by weighing out your food, and basically, eat less. I have lost over 100lbs without doing a minute of purposeful exercise. Weight loss is accomplished in the kitchen - the gym is for toning and firming.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    If running is something you enjoy, then you can gradually improve your fitness level to get back to it. Start by walking. Not so much to lose weight, but to improve your health/fitness and get back something you like. You can try a couch to 5k app for example.

    Losing weight is about tracking your calories in to make sure you're eating less than your body uses in a day. That is the premise behind using My Fitness Pal for many people.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    May I ask what you did last time to lose 50 pounds?
  • ohmijord
    ohmijord Posts: 25 Member
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    Hey guys, thanks for the responses. I understand that eating less is important, but more importantly is what I am eating. The reason I brought up the fact that I had a sedentary job is because before I was doing a lot of physical labor and I was easily burning more calories than I took in. To lose weight last time, all I did was monitor my calories and actually didn't exercise much, but that's where my struggle is because I used to exercise at work. So I know what I need to do, eat less, better, and exercise, but primarily monitor what's coming into my body. I appreciate the responses.
  • janekana
    janekana Posts: 151 Member
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    ohmijord wrote: »
    Hey guys, thanks for the responses. I understand that eating less is important, but more importantly is what I am eating. The reason I brought up the fact that I had a sedentary job is because before I was doing a lot of physical labor and I was easily burning more calories than I took in. To lose weight last time, all I did was monitor my calories and actually didn't exercise much, but that's where my struggle is because I used to exercise at work. So I know what I need to do, eat less, better, and exercise, but primarily monitor what's coming into my body. I appreciate the responses.
    So are you finding it hard to keep within your calorie goals, is what I think you're getting at? Have you put in MFP that you're in a sedentary lifestyle now as compared to last time?

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