New and in need of a little advice!! SO EXCITED!

ConIgrats on quitting smoking!! that is a big challange in itself! You will do great !! Add me as a friend and like everyone here we'll take the journey with you!!

Hi, Welcome to MFP!

You're right about this being a very friendly and supportive place - feel free to send me a friend request if you want a buddy to lose weight with! (Click on my username and Send Friend Request)

So in answer to your questions:
- Do you enter your weight on here every day?
Absolutely not! I don't even own scales as I'd be obsessing day and night lol. I weigh in once a week before breakfast but after a coffee at the scales in Boots, and always in leggings and a vest top. Aside from the Xmas fortnight there hasn't been a week I haven't been able to log at least 1lb loss as soon as I get in

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?
I choose first thing in the morning so in my mind my body is as empty as possible and therefore there will not be extra factors to take into consideration when weighing in (eg Oh I didn't lose anything today, but I have just eaten a full blown English breakfast and drunk 3 large coffees!) But as already said, as long as you keep it the same you'll be most accurate.

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?
I started off just walking more... I've got 2 little ones and there's simply no way of getting to the gym without a) expense and b)organising childcare! Just an hour walk is a couple of hundred calories, which makes a big difference to your food allowance when you're only on 1200 or so. I've since moved up to LOTS of walking (I aim for 2hrs or so) and I have just bought an exercise bike so I can make the most of the evenings when the kids are in bed/napping in the day. As for the 30 Day Shred, it's great, (I'm on Day 5), but knackering! It's a good kickstart and you can just jog along during it if you can't quite manage all the moves straightaway. As long as you're doing the most you can manage you'll be burning those calories! You can always do it every other day too, there's no need to only do it within 30 days. I know a lot of people (including myself) who tried it out for a week or so and then got fully into it.

Feel free to message me with any qu's etc. Good luck, today is the first step towards a new healthier, slimmer you! :flowerforyou:

Hi everyone,

My name is Shelley, I'm 20 currently studying to be a nurse. I want to lose weight so I'm not a hypocrite when teaching my patients about their diet etc.

I stopped smoking before Christmas!! And ate lots of chocs over Christmas!
And my mum told me about this site, I took my Day 1 of MFP pictures last night and was pretty much disgusted!

Haha make sure you keep hold of those 'before' photos, as much as you want to burn them right now, they're a brilliant too for the future when you look back and see just how far you've come!

Every single post I have read on this site is inspirational. You guys are fantastic and it's so nice to see everyone supporting each other. Just what we all need!

Ok, so I was just wondering..

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?

Absolutely not! We have no scales in our house. I go and see the nurse at my local doctor's surgery once a month on a friday morning and get on the scales in her office. This whole weight loss thing is a marathon, not a sprint (I've been here on MFP for 17 months now!) and weighing more often that monthly won't work for me, there's too much fluctuation throughout the month due to water, hormones, ToM etc. Once a month helps me make sure I'm going in the right direction, otherwise I judge how I'm doing by how well my clothes fit and how much I feel like I want to die after I've run for the bus haha!!

Just as an aside, I really think that having to get on the scales in front of someone else is a massive motivator too - I'm convinced that's the only reason slimming clubs work!!

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?

As others have said, doesn't matter as long as you keep it consistent so you are comparing like with like. Personally my weigh-ins at my docs surgery are always the first slot in the morning but that's just because I go on the way to work!

- Also, I don't currently do ANY cardio exercise.. yesterday I did two 10 minute fast pace jogging and was shattered and sweating!
Would you recommend building up the jogging and cardio workout before getting a workout vid like 30Day Shred?

If you currently don't do anything at all, then just take it steady and slowly and build it up gently. I started just by getting out of the office on my lunchbreak for 40 mins and taking a brisk walk down to the other end of the city centre and back. Then I bought a reebok mini stepper and started getting that out on an evening once the kids were in bed - I'd catch up on a bit of tv while doing half an hour on the stepoper, then it became 40 mins, then an hour. Anything that keeps you moving and maybe gets you slightly out of puff counts as exercise, especially if you are starting from nothing like I did!

If you can only answer one of my questions then please do!
Would love to hear from you all..


All my love, S x

Good luck on your journey, MFP is definitely working for me, I know I'll be on here for years to come to help me maintain, but that's fine, it's great!

Rosey x

Welcome! And congratulations on beginning your journey. This is an amazing site with a lot of great people who are very knowledgeable. I've been on here 51 days and lost almost 11 lbs and have gained a lot of strength!
I just jumped right in and did the 30 day shred. I lost 10 lbs and over 10 inches on it, without cutting calories too much.

My recommendation to you would be to chat with some of the fitness and nutrition "experts" on here. (You can generally tell by their profiles pics, and the advice they give. They really know their stuff!) Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, 10 is better. Eat a lot of protein! It aids in building muscle and helps with post workout recovery. My average is 130 grams a day. It doesn't have to be meat. It can be from protein shakes and bars. Make sure you stretch really well after the shred. It will help release the lactic acid from your muscles.

And finally, whether or not you take this advice, Ima gonna give it! Don't drastically cut calories! If you want to be stronger and more fit, AND continue to burn fat in the long run, you need to build muscle. To build muscle you need to fuel your body. When you drastically cut calories, you lose weight, but some of it is lean muscle tissue! I don't really like seeing people go on a 1200 calorie a day diet and then workout until they drop. I've lost more weight faster and built strength while eating 1500 to 1900 calories a day. Please do your research before you begin.

Sorry so long. I just want pros to be siccesful and happy! Good Luck!
And with weighing...I only weigh once a week or so, in the morning. You can get really obsessive weighing every day!

I think the best advice for working out (other than listening to your body) is to start with something you're comfortable with. You may be DYING when trying to jog, so start out walking. Once you can do that for a while and not feel so winded that you might fall over, add in sprints. Like walk for four minutes, sprint for one. You'll start to build up tolerance until you're able to run (or jog) way more than you walk. I know it's scary, but you can totally do it. I joined an all female non-combat boxing group and we always did a huge run to start off the workout. I thought I might not make it past the run (and then 45 minutes of the real workout I wanted were shot) but I finally decided they could start the rest of it without me...I'd go at my own pace. So I'd run the long blocks and briskly walk the short blocks and I found that I could actually do it. And the girls were all cheering for me at the end because I at least FINISHED. You'll be amazed what you can do when you really try!

Best of luck to you! (I'm adding you as well.)

Hi Shelly and good luck to you! Sounds like you are on the right track. Best time to weigh is first thing in the morning...if not, just do it the same time every time you do. Most people are at their lightest just after waking up. Start out slowly with cardio and build your way up as it becomes easier...just don't get burned out by doing too much too fast. Maybe start with 3-4 15-30 minute walks, bike rides, etc. per week and either increase time, intensity, or add days that you do it. You should progress pretty quickly since you are new to exercise...best of luck to you!

Hi Shelly!

Awesome job on quitting smoking - that is a huge accomplishment on its own! Here are my responses to your questions - hopefully they will help!

- Do you enter your weight on here every day?
I only update my weight when I see a change in my weight amount, but this can just be your preference in if you want to do it daily.

- When is the best time to weigh yourself? Day/Night?
I weigh myself in the morning right before I get in the shower s I don't have on clothes that add extra weight According to medicinenet.com, "Weighing yourself first thing in the morning is usually best. Because of variations in food and fluid consumption, we often "gain" different amounts of weight throughout the day."

- Regarding the jogging and cardio workout before the 30 Day Shred, I would keep doing the basic cardio for a little longer until you build up some good stamina. My fear with jumping right into the 30 Day Shred routine is you may get discouraged right off the bat. I tried to do that same thing and got maybe 15 minutes into the DVD and threw my hands up because I got frustrated and was struggling so bad.

Also, if you're looking for some fun cardio to do, try a Zumba class! I'm addicted and you sweat your butt off! (quite literally )