what do I do on this board?
#247127 - 02/18/06 02:00 PM
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keke
Reged: 06/05/05
Posts: 71
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I need and want to lose weight. I weigh 185. I should weight around 145. So I need to lose 40 pounds. I would like to do that by the end of May. Is that reasonable?
I do walk with a friend of mine. We walk about 2.5 miles 3 to 5 times a week depending on what's going on. That has helped me maintain my weight. I was 225 when I got pregnant. After the baby (born in April of 04) I weighed 185. So how do I start again to lose the weight?
Do I just post on here what I ate that day?
Thanks!
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Hi there!
Welcome to the board!
Most of the people who post on this board (I haven't been much lately, but there are others who still do) either report in what they have been eating, or what activities they have been doing or both.
Walking sounds like a really good start towards weight loss, especially if you are doing it regularly. What you really want to be doing is adding in as much cardio as you can (so maybe try adding in some other activities like running, going on a bike (stationary or otherwise), an elliptical, aeorbics classes..) so that you are doing something that really gets your heart rate up and burns more calories.
In addition, strengthening exercises are also really important. If you can in exercises with free weights say twice a week for your upper and lower body, you will see a difference faster as well.
Other things like pilates or yoga are great to add in as well, and you may be able to find classes near you or even DVDs you can learn from.
The other obvious important thing with weight loss is your diet. You want to make sure that you are eating an acceptable amount of calories. You want to make sure that you aren't eating too many empty calories (sugary stuff with no nutritional value), while at the same time making sure you are eating enough so that your body is never starving.
Ideally, you should be eating healthy foods every 2-3 hours so that you are eating smaller amounts more frequently.
Another thing that my nutritionist says is that you really want to make sure that as often as possible you are avoiding prepackaged food with a lot of preservatives in them. I realised that I do this and I retain so much fluid that once when I got sick I lost about 9 lbs in only a couple of days!  It's obviously less convenient, but making your own meals with fresh healthy ingredients is the best way to go.
There are a lot of downloadable programs that you can get that will track your food intake and calculate how much you should be eating for your weight loss goals. I know that a lot of people here use fitday.com to track their food.
Other things like making sure you are drinking enough water and getting enough sleep are also important in having a healthy body, and beneficial to weight loss as well.
I would also advise that you set yourself some goals, but that to make sure they are reasonable. 40 lbs by the end of May seems like a lot of weight to lose in such a short period of time. If I put that into my program here at an average height at a default age of 35(sorry, I don't know how old you are.. I could be way off! Let me know and I can redo it for you for your actual age.. this is just to get an idea), it would need to you eat 1372 FEWER calories PER DAY than your body is burning (so naturally, and with exercise). That is not really a reasonable number without having to exercise like a crazy person and then starve yourself... which in the long term, would also work against you.
I think that if you were really working your butt off (that means every day exercising, monitoring all your food portions and calories) that you still can only really lose about 2 lbs per week in healthy way, which would be approx. 25 lbs... but again, that's really working HARD.
Good luck, and feel free to start "Reporting In" whenever you fancy it! 
Cheers!
Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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Steph, you rock 
I second everything Steph said, and I really really second what she said about 40 lbs being a WAY TOO HIGH goal to set for yourself.
Generally, 1-2lbs a week is a good goal to lose weight that stays off (i.e. as opposed to just losing water weight) - and 2 lbs/week is working really really hard. Instead of setting a goal as high as 40 lbs, aim for say, 15-20 lbs by the end of May.
I find that setting shorter, smaller goals is much better though. Like why not trying to lose 10lbs by Easter? Or even shorter - 5lbs in the next 30 days? Or (even better!) a certain number of inches off your waist by a certain date?
Shorter, smaller goals are good for motivation too because since it's easier and more quantifiable to reach them, most people get really motivated by being able to check off that they've already reached a goal - "that wasn't too hard! On to the next one!" sort of thing.
Weight loss is grossly overcomplicated by commercial companies so they can try to sell things to us and feed our "quick/easy fix" lust. Really, weight loss is just about eating healthy (cut out the junk food and sugar!), watch your portion size (eat small meals more often throughout the day, be mindful of your hunger and eat only when hungry and only until full), and EXERCISE!
That's great that you're walking already. Is there any other exercise you can fit into your schedule now too to get you closer to your goals? Again, I second Steph's suggestion of trying to do some more "active" cardio activities like maybe jogging or biking, and definitely, if you can, add in some strengthening activities. The more muscle your body has, the better able it will be to burn fat. There have been so many studies done to show how those who do strength training exercises in addition to cardio lose more weight faster and keep it off, compared to those who just do cardio.
HTH, and good luck! 
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Thanks I will try to work in other stuff. My husband was cleaning out the attack and found some exercise tapes I used long ago and forgot about. I still like them (I think)! They are the firm tapes. Also I just got in some Windsor Pilates dvds. Are those good?
I am going to tackle food next. I'm pretty stable but still eat way too much junk food and too much at a time. I'm 30, 5'7 and teach 1st grade. I'm going to set a goal of 20 pounds by June 1st and to eat every 2-3 hours like you suggested. I'm assuming snacks like carrots between meals, right?
I was reading today Shell Mar's story and she said she used a PDA program to track her calories. I have a PDA. Has anyone else used them?
Thanks for the advice and encouragement. I will begin posting everyday.
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I just found a desktop version of what she has for her pda that isn't that expensive. I think I'll give it a try.
Thanks again!
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