What to do to lose weight.....

[lacyliz]

I use South Beach to stay a healthy, light weight - and it keeps my mood and energy level high. I've lost 28 lbs over the last year- I weigh 126 (I'm 5'5" ) and 43 years old. Cycling helps quite a bit - but it's really the combination that keeps me at a healthy weight. I have to say - I rarely go hungry, eating about 6x per day - I just avoid any added sugars, eat whole grains (no white foods), eat lots of proteins, veggies, fruit, etc. I eat Lara Bars as road food - they're completely raw food, no added sugar or fats (and it really stays with you and tastes pretty good with flavors like chocolate coconut). I swear by South Beach - it's more of a lifestyle now. January's issue of Bicycling mag actually talks about it in the article "The year I did everything right". Hope this helps. Liz

[midlife]

To lose weight sensibly (i.e. slowly) and keep it off, it's a matter of calories (or kj if thats your language) vs calories burned. Intake has to be in deficit and it's based on a number of factors.

Not sure if I'm able/allowed to post a link here, but the site is www.caloriesperhour.com It's a great site that has calculators to work out your intake based on age, height, weight and activity level. If it's all to hard to work out, post a 'dumb blone' post and someone will figure it out for you!
I've been doing it for about 3 months (with a couple of stop/starts) and lost over 4kgs, but more importantly, due to my gym and cardio work have lost 7cm from my waist, 4cm from hips and 4 from each thigh and 2 from my bust *sigh*

I find at my age I need to calculate it carefully and have to do cardio at least 5 days a week in some form and weights 4 times - they burn fat faster girls, don't make you look like an amazon and and increase bone density. Way to go