Need motivation to exercise!

sultanhaleema wrote: »

You say eating in deficit is required to lose weight, how much deficit are we talking about?

1 calorie per day. It'll be slow going (about 10 years to lose 1 pound) but it'll happen. A bigger deficit will get the weight off faster. It's like the volume control on your radio, really.

Because you're happy with your body overall except for your belly (that's a polite way of saying you're not 350 pounds) you should go with a very small deficit. That will be easier to achieve, better for your health, and probably for your muscle goal too.

It sounds like you also want to have more muscle. The sad part is muscle and fat come and go together. If you're in a calorie deficit, you'll be able to build a little bit of muscle (it's called "newbie gains") but they'll be very slow and you'll have to work hard for them. Gaining muscle and losing fat are competing goals and you should put some thought into which is more important to you because people generally take very different strategies to achieve them. (Not always though.)

But if you're losing weight, you're probably losing some of whatever muscle you have, too. If you lift weights, that will help a lot. If you eat more protein, that will help too, and it will make you feel more satiated. You can get resistance bands on Amazon for $15 or so and "lift weights" in your living room.

sultanhaleema wrote: »

Chieflrg wrote: »

sultanhaleema wrote: »

Ive never enjoyed exercising but i know that is what i really need to do if i want to lose weight which im carrying on my belly area.
Im 5ft 4 and size 8-10 and im pretty good at hiding my belly fat with my clothes.
A size 8-10 waist is 26-28 inches if im correct.
My waist is 28 inches in the morning and around 30 inches by evening.
I have what looks like a beer belly as my belly slants outwards to about 35 inches at the biggest area!!
Yet im pretty slim elsewhere which is why this is really annoying.
I weigh 9st 9 lb
Anyway ive tried to improve my diet which i think is going ok.
However im not sure where to start with exercise.
I feel i lack a lot of abdominal muscle and muscle generally.
I bought some medicine balls and 3kg dumbells but i really have no clue where to start. Is there any fitness DVD, regimen that you could recommend?
And how many times a week would i need to do cardio and how many miles?
Thanks all.

Exercise is not required to lose weight, only eating in a deficit.

You won't be able to build muscle while eating in a deficit. You can build strength though. Certainly a established resistance program is a good idea to help retain the muscle you do have. Look into Convict Conditioning or You are your own gym for body weight type programs.

If you plan on buying more weights or going to a gym, there are other really sound programs. Is that something that interest you?

You don't have to cardio at all unless you enjoy it. Once again exercise is not required. Perhaps you can list activities you enjoy, and we can give you some direction on how to start.

Thanks for your response. You say eating in deficit is required to lose weight, how much deficit are we talking about? I'm currently trying to stick to 1200kcal max. And do nutrients matter like low carb/low fat etc?
Yes I'm open to buying more weights.
I think I'd do any form of exercise that I can do at home to be honest. Hence why I thought fitness vids might be an option..

20% of your calculated TDEE(total daily energy expenditure) is a good starting point for a deficit. You can adjust your calorie intake after 3-4 weeks of consistent logging and weighing your food using a food scale. Remember that when your TDEE is calculated it is an estimate and more than likely need to be adjusted by your calories intake reflected by your weight change.

I would concentrate on hitting your minimum goal for protien and fat macros each day.

.8 X LBM (lean body mass) = Protien grams
.4 X body weight in lbs = fat grams
Fill the rest in with carbs or whatever you prefer.

Low fat or carbs in general is not something I would suggest unless you have a medical reason. Fats are needed for your normal body function and carbs are the primary source your body uses for energy. By cutting those down to something low for your body needs, you are making things harder on your body. Body weight including body fat is lost by eating in a deficit, not necessarily by what you eat. I literally eat 1500 calories a day from ice cream, cake etc when on cutting weight and lose fat because I'm in a deficit and still hit my protien macros while doing resistance training.

The two body weight programs I suggested are excellent established programs. Since your interested in weights you might want to check into NROL4W (new rules of lifting for woman) and Strong Curves by Bret Contreras. You can youtube to get an idea, but the books will be a great addition to you learning.