A
female
age
30-35,
anonymous
writes:i have a health problem as told from other people and i know this myself. i am quite over weight lets say around 45 pounds overweight and it's been 4 years since i was in great shape. now i am not in great shape. i've been thinking about my weight issue almost every single day. here is what i am going to do, i am just going to eat whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner whenever i am hungry, I WILL EAT IN SMALLER PORTIONS ON THE FOODS I ENJOY EXCLUDING DESSERTS, AFOREMENTIONED JUST EAT WHEN I AM HUNGRY; EAT 3 SMALLER PORTIONS, BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND DINNER. during the course of the day i will drink water. in the morning when i wake up i will just exercise everyday for about 45 minutes, first doing some weight lifting for about 10-15 then i will be on my bike pedaling for 30 minutes. in the evening everyday i will be walking my dog for almost an 1 hr. what i've meant about walking is just casual walking, not like fast power walking. what i've mentioned will be my exercise, but during the day i will be active doing stuff for instance running errands or whatever i need to do. how much weight do you think i will lose in 2 months when i am doing it this way?THANKS for taking the time to read and i know it's long. what i've mentioned will i lose weight this way and lose my 45 lbs??
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female
reader, Midge  +, writes (12 June 2008):
 Okay, I have been told by my doctor that I need to loose 2 stone because of a medical condition that I have. So I have done something similar to you:-
I have three small meals a day, whether I want them or not. Made up by fruit, vegetable a little healty carbohydrate and a small portion of fish or chicken.
I drink fruit juice and water, and NO alcohol what so ever!
Each day I excercise for at least 30 to 40 minutes on the treadmill and bicylce. I also do some weights but I dont do too much as I dont want to be too muscular I want to be toned.
I have done this for almost two weeks and to be honest I feel great! I have more energy and i have lost almost 8 pounds, which is a fair bit for me. I have in fact almost dropped a complete dress size and that is due to eating and excercising healthily!
10 years ago I was a complete health nut excercising daily by running about 10 miles and then doing some basic excercises when I was done. I never drank alcohol and if I did it was a glass of wine and that was it.
But the main thing is that I can feel more healthy and I can see I have lost weight. I can fit into clothes now that I havent been able to in about 2 years.
So dont overdo it! Only do what your body tells you you can, and no more. My body is not sore, like it always was when I started excercising because I overdid it. Now I am doing it in moderation and I feel great!
A
male
reader, Uncle Sneaker +, writes (12 June 2008):
 Just a couple of things to add -
The exercise you are taking, particularly the weight lifting, will build muscle. That's good, but you need to remember that muscle weighs more than fat (lots more!) so don't be put off by the result when you stand on the scales if it isn't quite as good as you wanted - you WILL still be achieving what you really want which is to get rid of excess fat. And don't overdo the exercise, because it's no good going crazy at it one day and then being too knackered to do any for the rest of the week! Don't push it past what feels comfortable - certainly not when you first start. Build it up as it starts becoming easier.
Eat regularly and at set times. Your body handles food much better if it gets a regular intake. Missing meals because you don't happen to feel hungry leads to other health problems and, as someone already said, your body starts to process food more "efficiently" and deliberately starts creating extra body fat - and that defeats what you are trying to achieve. Eat less, not less often.
Remember to eat a variety of foods. Cutting out particular types of food altogether (e.g. fats) will cause problems. Eat less of the foods that are high in calories, high in sugar and/or high in fat, but don't leave them out altogether.
45 pounds over your ideal weight, if that's where you are, isn't horrific. It's no good losing all of that by adopting a regime that you can't keep up for more than a few months at the most. What you really need is to put together a routine that fits into your normal lifestyle, and then with luck it takes only small adjustments to bring your weight up or down a little to where you feel comfortable.
Good luck.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (12 June 2008): For certain, if you eat LESS and do more exercise you should lose weight...What I would do is try out your plan for one week. After the first week, weigh yourself, and if you have lost weight in the first week, then keep doing what you are doing cause you are doing something right...But if in the first week you have not lost weight even after doing everything you've mentioned, then you might need to change your DIET again. Maybe, eat more lean protein, less carbs, and keep those portions even SMALLER...
But it sounds good...I don't see why it wouldn't work...and even if in the first week you lose weight, you might keep losing weight for the first month but sometimes you can reach a plataeu where you don't lose weight anymore. In that case, again, you are going to need to either change your diet again, AND exercise more...But I think it sounds good...just keep checking your weight every week to make sure its working...and adjust your plan as you need to...Good luck...
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A
female
reader, Emilysanswers +, writes (12 June 2008):
I think the advice below is really great so I will just add to it a bit and say:
Don't cut down your breakfast size, have a big breakfast but make sure it is something like porridge or a healthy breakfast cereal with semi skimmed / skimmed milk. It's more important to fill yourself up with something that takes a long time to digest. Otherwise by 10am you'll be desperate for a snack.
Also I would nibble on fruit through the day. There is a good chance your stomach has been stretched through over eating so you won't feel full until you've over eaten. Give it a good flow of healthy food and you won't feel empty, and will give it a chance to shrink back to normal size. Sip water through the day and make sure you eat your meals slowly, and sip water between mouthfuls. This will make you feel full faster.
As for the exercise, it all sound great but there is no way you'll be able to do it all every day without feeling ill the next morning.
Start small, take your dog for a walk to the park and have a good time throwing the ball and playing with him (dogs find just walking quite boring after a while as they need mental stimulation too.) as this will get you moving lots of muscles.
You can add all the rest of the stuff as you get fitter.
There is no way of knowing how fast you will lose the weight. Don't give yourself a target time though, concentrate on losing it slowly and in a healthy way.
Congratulations on getting fit as well! You have saved your life from heart problems, diabetes, and your poor knees and ankles will thank you as well.
PS. Keep moisturising and massaging your skin while dieting, it will loosen fat deposits and encourage blood flow so it will shrink better with the rest of you.
Good Luck!! xx
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A
female
reader, SugarCookie +, writes (12 June 2008):
First off what I was told for losing weight is start small on the excerising. Your body isn't use to it so you muscles will hurt. If you are really sore after doing the morning stuff cut back a little bit so that by the end of the day your legs dont hurt so much you think you will die. Modify the exercise so that it burns a little while you are doing it but not hurting later. One of the biggest reasons people fail at exercising is because they hurt themselves and then lose the urge to do it. I figure that if you dont push your boundries and stick to it having little snacks like a power bar or jello in between to make sure your blood sugar levels dont drop to low that you will lose maybe 20 pounds in two months. Also depending on how your personal body loses weight it could be more or less. Just remember that after a couple weeks your body will get confused and go through a small period were you dont lose much weight but that will pass when your body realizes your not starving it. Good luck! It is hard to lose weight but since you are doing it for health reasons and not vanity you should do great!
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A
male
reader, mtmtmt +, writes (12 June 2008):
Hi There,
First of all, congratulations on your choice to lose weight in a healthy manner and to improve your overall physical fitness. I think you are starting on the right track, but there are some things to consider.
Here's some simple, real facts to help you out:
Firstly, one of the major keys to weight/bodyfat management is taking in fewer calories than you use in a day. Unfortunately, most people take this to mean "eat less" which is only about 40% (or even far less) of the equasion. Eating right is important, and you are definitely on the right track with portion control, but exercise is extremely important to your physical fitness, which is what I think you're probably really after.
Remember - losing weight isn't the goal - losing fat is. If you lose fat but don't build muslce, you will be at best wan, and at worst, anorexic looking and/or sick. Very few people like a stick figure (and this is coming from someone who loves tiny girls) - many people like a fit figure (we are biologically programmed to seek healthy mates). I don't think you're aspiring to heroin chic here, so I won't dwell on that aspect too much. The important thing to know is that you want to burn calories and build muscle which will burn calories for you. Muscle is "metabolically active", that means, muscle tissue burns calories just sitting there even when you're not actively doing anything. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns at rest.
Needless to say, even if you're the most muscular person in the world, you must also actively burn calories with good quality cardio exercise. Running is popular, and does burn a good number of calories, but can be boring to some (me). There are tons of activities that burn even more calories than running, and are far more mentally stimulating - kickboxing and rowing are two that come to mind (again, find something that works for YOU - if you find something boring or unpleasant, it will be very difficult to motivate.) Try to find something that burns more than 300 calories an hour. 600-800 is great, but can be challenging for a beginner without a coach. Basically, the more you sweat, the more calories you're burning, and the more fat you're potentially losing - just remember to stay hydrated!
As for diet, smaller portions are good, but what's in those portions is just as important. You want high protein (especially after a workout), high vitamins, and low in fats, sugars, and starches. This doesn't mean torture yourself with an impossible diet eating nothing that you love - that's a recipie for failure, the goal is to make things more pleasant, not less. Asking yourself to not enjoy food isn't fair to you or your body, so experiment and find a compromise - but beware, it can be easy to slide down the slippery slope of "just a little won't hurt", which is true, until it stops being "just a little". Try to find foods which fit your needs and still taste good. Since I've got a sweet tooth, I'm a sucker for powerbars, which are great nutrition (as long as I don't eat too many in a day, of course, but they're certainly better than sweets, and have high protein). Experiment!
Finally, addressing your question about losing 45 pounds in 2 months. Possible? Yes. Are you going to do it? Probably not. Is it something you want? Again, probably not. Remember that muscle weighs a lot more than fat, and takes up a lot less space. You'll start to see figure results that really surprise you at as little as 10 pounds. Losing 45 pounds is certainly possible, and doing it in 2 months is also possible, but that is a very aggressive timescale. If you can afford it, a personal fitness coach seen weekly will really help you take the pounds off. Some gyms have intense cardio or conditioning classes that work wonders as well. If you can get a coach or into 2-3 heavy duty cardio classes a week, you'll certainly be on the road to acheiving your goal within your timeframe.
The key is to find a vigorous exercise that you enjoy and pushes your limits. Try thinking outside the box of regular gym routines - there are an incredible number of things you can do to get an excellent workout in and not even realize it. There's a brief list here:
http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist.htm
and another here along with some tools:
http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/calories-burned-by.php?search=kick%20boxing
but there are more complete activity lists out there on google if you look.
Remember to treat yourself well, love yourself, your body, and others.
Good luck, and have fun!
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