One Month in the Books

5 pounds could be right on track if you have 20-50 pounds to lose. If the exercise is new, you might also be retaining water from that, which would mask weight loss on the scale.

Good job! That sounds like a realistic and good weight loss!

Time Flys....might as well lose weight while it happens. Before you know it you will be down to your goal and it will feel like it flew by. I'm 14 months in, about 66 pounds down. It seems like it went by so fast but also a good slow at the same time. Anyway, just keep doing what you're doing. That's my advice.

MopMop10591 wrote: »

Any tips will be helpful.

First, I'm excited for you, having laid a plan, stuck with it, and seen 5 lbs loss. I think you got this.

Exercise causes injury...now hold on...I'm not saying you don't do it. The world's greatest athletes and Olympians are constantly dealing with injuries, just like all the rest of us here. A big source of injury, perhaps the biggest source is "too much too soon."

How about running an experiment? Check to see if after this first average-to-good month of your plan working out as designed to a 5 lbs loss. Double-check the results. Do the same plan again for this month, same food, same lifestyle changes, same exercise regiment, and see if you lose approximately 5 lbs again. If "Yes," congratulations, you have a winning approach, and now it is just math and time to get to whatever final weight you would like to be. 5 lbs/month times X number of months and I'll weigh Y.

People like to imagine themselves being stronger and gaining muscle mass. That's not really my thing, but it is for some. I'm trying to be a runner and be flexible. Think of your "cardio" and "strength" ideas as separate from your plan. First, you want to be at a good healthy weight. (your plan plus the time it takes.) Second, you want to be physically active and engage in cardio activities. That's going to be an ongoing, every week for the rest of your life. So your plan can get you where you want to be with your weight in short order, and being active, and exercise is just the background music for the rest of your life.

Using exercise solely as a tool to lose weight is kind of ineffective. Possible it can work, especially for the very young, but after youth, our bodies just don't want to be switched into high levels of activity mode. Stuff breaks, and there are consequences. Build your exercise base, enjoy it, and have it be a good part of the rest of your life. Not just a hammer to lose 20 lbs.

Tips? Stick with a winning formula. This is what people mean when they say 'lifestyle change."

Again, I'm super happy you have had this successful first month. Good luck.

MopMop10591 wrote: »

I appreciate all the support. I’ve stayed with it and am now down 11.2 pounds approaching 2 months. Please feel free to send me friend requests! The sense of community is a strong contributor to my motivation.

Good for you! Whatever you're doing, it sounds like it's working.

5 pounds in a month is great! I mean, at that rate, you'd be losing more than 50 pounds in a year. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep at it!