Can anyone suggest any proven ways for weight loss?????

[shootingstar]

This is your lst post.

Tell us, abit about your cycling that you do/hope to do. It is...after what connects most us here in the first place.

[tpb]

Weight Watchers is great because it teaches a lifestyle change. The goal is not only weight loss, but healthy eating and a more active lifestyle. I've had great success with them.

-T

[SandyLS]

I agree that Weight Watchers is a great program. I became a life time member 11 years ago and have never missed my monthly weigh-in. It is the only thing that has kept me on track all these years. We all know that we need to move more and eat less. There is no magic and no shortcuts. Keeping a food journal is a great start. If I have to write it down I think twice before eating. Strive to loose no more than two pounds a week. Bad things can happen to our bodies when we loose too fast. Don't think of your weight loss as one big goal. Break it up into 5 or ten pound goals. Plan to give yourself little non-food rewards when you reach each goal you set for yourself. It sounds as if you are really motivated at this point in your life. That is what it usually takes to get started. Good luck. And remember that no food is off limits. I would not be a happy camper without a bit of Dove chocolate or ice cream every now and then.

[tctrek]

I have tried every program and diet in the world, restricting calories, eating only fresh (no processed foods), you name it, I did it. I would lose a few pounds and then stop losing. Then gain it all back. I have hypothyroidism and insulin resistance and I'm post-menopausal. My favorite excuse was "what do you want from me? I have no metabolism and no hormones to help me to lose weight!"

Nothing worked until I first stepped on a treadmill and started walking a little each day. Then I went to a spin class. Then I got a bike and started riding. Now, even though I work a very stressful job and don't have much free time each day, I try to get at least 30-60 minutes of some sort of exercise every day. Nothing else works except to move your body -- a little at first, then more.. nothing too fast or that makes you breathe too hard -- good aerobic exercise.

Of course, moving your body doesn't mean we can eat Big Macs and french fries! You still need a balanced diet, but if you give your body less calories than it needs to perform your basic bodily functions (ie: way below your BMR), you will not lose weight. Your body will figure out how to do things more efficiently and will consume less calories for the same amount of work. So, you have to eat more than you might think when you are exercising... you need to give your body the fuel so that you can exercise more and so that it doesn't start figuring out how to do the exercise without burning too many calories.

Say your BMR is 1500 calories -- this means to do all your normal daily activity, you need 1500 calories. You would think that eating 1200 calories, you would lose weight, right? Sure -- for a little while you will. Then, if you are like me, your body will figure out how to do what it needs to do each day on 1200 calories! It will become more efficient and the weight loss will stop.


The trick is to eat your BMR each day, then exercise say 400 calories worth,
then put back maybe 100 calories, for a net calorie deficit of 300 calories.
(The numbers are just examples, but you get the idea) -- you have to give your body the calories it needs to function, then exercise, then put back at least a little of the calories that you exercised off. Then mix up the exercise - walking, rowing, weights, cycling . This keeps your body a little confused and it won't be able to learn how to keep up with what you are doing on less calories.

Get a copy of Covert Bailey's book -- Smart Exercise, Burning Calories, Getting Fit. It explains the physical side of exercise and debunks some of the myths about why we are fat and how to get thin.

Good luck and may the force be with you!

[Tuckervill]

Great post, TC.

Karen

[ehirsch83]

simple:-)
calories in has to be less then calories out.
So write down everything you eat and add up your calories. Then figure out what you are expending.

If you have a defecit, then you are set:-)

in other words, put down the food.

[mimitabby]

simple:-)
calories in has to be less then calories out.
So write down everything you eat and add up your calories. Then figure out what you are expending.

If you have a defecit, then you are set:-)

in other words, put down the food.

no, no, in other words, GET ON THAT BIKE!

[latelatebloomer]

My weight loss stalled in the past year or so, so I asked my trainer to look at my food intake every week. Writing it down and turning it in to a very disciplined, high-level athlete has helped a great deal. I thought I ate plenty of veggies until I started the journal - and over a few month's time, we have really shifted my eating habits, with great results. One thing I'm in the middle of achieving is an early-evening cut-off time, and getting used to going to bed with some hunger. I don't get on a scale, but I'm getting great comments everywhere I go on changes in my appearance, and it's really showing up in my riding.

It was so easy to feel that since I had done a good ride or spin, I could eat what I wanted as long as it was on the healthy side. Or have a couple drinks. But if I want my weight to go down, i have very little wiggle room.

Can you find someone to do this for you?

By the way, though I had weight issues my whole life, no doctor every checked my thyroid 'til I started with a holistic clinic about the same time i started with my trainer. I'm now on a high dose of thyroid supplement. The old docs made assumptions that contributed to years of struggle.

The "new doc" also said, as we embarked on making me healthier and leaner (I was about 300 lbs) - "don't focus on how you look, you won't lose weight fast enough and you'll get discouraged. Focus on how you feel." My trainer said almost the exact same thing. It was a concept that helped me stick to slow, steady change that has accumulated over years into lasting change.

Feel free to pm me with any questions you have, or if you need a little support. You just need to find the right path for your body and your head/spirit!