I am also a newbie, but oldie. Well, oldie as in I signed up and posted a few times, but quit coming because, of my busy lifestyle. It's still busy, but, I guess I need to find time for myself and this issue too. Right?
I'm definitely ready to try this again, I'm on my 2nd day (today will be 3rd) of walking 1.5 miles in the morning, and 1.5 in the evening.
But, is that even good enough? I fear its' not.
Oh well, here I am again look forward to joining this group again!
I am not sure what you mean by "good enough". Do you mean good enough to lose weight by exercise alone or in conjunction with a healthy meal plan? I personally wear a pedometer and am walking about 3 miles a day in my daily routine and adding extra steps by parking further away, taking the stairs, etc. I don't consider that my exercise. I consider it my moving my body and getting less sedentary. What you are doing is great! Its real exercise!! What I have started to do for exercise is ride my stationary bike 20 mins every morning. I cover about 4 miles each day on the bike. I hope to *some day* be able to do more than that, but right now at 20 mins my legs are like limp noodles.
Tell us some more. Are you following a plan? Counting calories? I am using an online journal and writing everything down and counting calories and watching my fat intake. It works well for me. You need to figure out what will work for you and that takes some trial and error. This is a great group. Just jump right in!
Welcome Back
Yes, it is definately good enough, whatever that means. I walk an hour a day on the treadmill at a 10 percent grade, but unless I watch my food intake it only keeps me where I am, no gain but no loss. So keep up on the excersice and let us know more on your food choices.
Glad you are back!
Welcome back! This is such a great place to find 'like minds'. We are all working towards the same goals. I think the walking is a great 'step in the right direction'....gradual changes make the best long term changes. Why don't you start keeping a journal and writing down everything you eat. That way you can analize what you are doing. You could check it out on fitday.com and see where you could make some more changes. Great going! You can do this. I love to read all of the success stories on here for inspiration and it works! Just get involved and YES make time for you and you will find the time for everything and everyone else. It's true. I used to want to sleep all the time. Now i'm moving and losing and feeling great. My daughter said the other day that I seemed more motivated....she's a great indicator on how i'm doing because she's BRUTALLY honest haha
Thanks for the encouragement! Yes, I also think all the success stories I read, are so inspiring, I noticed that last time also! But, am re-reading them! Just because they get me so pumped up!
What I meant by "good enough" - is this: Is 3 miles a day, enough for the exercise part (if the food diet is there, is the 3 miles enough)?? I don't walk fast. Well not yet. I don't stroll either. Just a steady pace.
Well, as far as what I am eatting. One thing Ive quit doing, was eatting out. We (husband and I) both were big on eatting out - convenience mainly. That will be my hardest struggle, because I truly like to eat out.
Some others, are - Not eatting breakfast and lunch, just snacking throughout the day on whatever was in the pantry. Then eatting large meal for dinner, and sometimes snacks through the night again. Ugh! Because I felt like since I skipped breakfast and lunch, I was OK to eat. Why I thought that, and continued to gain weight is beyond me! LOL!
Anyway, so now I am trying to balance my diet, watch portions, bring healthier foods and cut out the Coke (no not diet). First and see how that works with the walking. If that doesnt do much, then I'll try to do things like Calorie Counting, Etc.
But, I am open to suggestions and places to go and look for more information, I am obviously not intelligent on the entire "dieting" thing.
I like the journal keeping idea. I will do this for sure!
I think the three miles is plenty. As you lose you will just want to do more of all sorts of things. You should be really proud of yourself just for trying and believe that this time will be the last time.
I love all of the success stories too. I print out some of the before and after pictures and pin them up next to my treadmill. Talk about motivation.
I think that cutting out the coke is the best thing you could do. My mom has been addicted to the stuff for several years now and it has ballooned her weight up to over 400 lbs. It just can't be good for you.
Fitday is an awesome web site, you have to register but it is totally free. It is really easy and you can look at really cool pie charts and graphs of the food you eat versus the calories you burn and so on. I really like it too and it really does keep you honest about what you eat. It also is a great tool to really see where you get the majority of your calories from.
That's a good idea to post those pictures by the treadmill. I don't have a treadmill or any exercise equiptment in the house, but you've probably seen the picture of the 5lb fat vs 5lb muscle picture circulating on this board? I printed that just a few ago, and it will go on my refridgerator.
But we moved into a little subdivision (well large) and the sidewalks are wide and beautiful! Most streets are flat, but if you go back deep into this place, you get some good monster hills. LOL Ive not attempted those yet.
Coke is a big reason Ive gained so much, Im ashamed to admit how much I used to drink of that. Im now drinking Diet Coke w/ Splenda, and soon I will go to Crystal Light, then hopefully water. I hate water, so, I save it for last and hopefully gradually learn to appreciate it.
I'm going to check out Fitday. Thanks for the tip on that, I'll check it out!
I think you're doing great! You've started and have a concrete plan. You can easily add to it as you go along. When I started I didn't exercise that much at all, but started small and built on my work. So, yes, it can work! Be consistent with your changes.
I invite you to join our 300+ exercise group. We set monthly goals for minutes of exercise we're going to do, and then report back to the group. We also track the number of minutes the group is doing -- and that's really fun. I hope we make it over 200,000 minutes this year (we didn't quite make it last year...)
Also, the numbered threads move fast, but there's lots of support there too!
Tabby--3 miles a day is 3 miles more than nothing... I think it's a great start. The key is to keep it up, and then in a while you'll find you can walk faster and farther. If you try to do too much--I've done it--right at the beginning, you'll likely end up with an injury of some kind... and that can start a downward spiral, which is what we don't want, right?
Wyllen, Hi - Thank you! I think I will check the exercise group out, that sounds like a good thing! I didnt exercise yesterday night (only in the am) - YIKES! My mom was leaving town late late last night and I had to drop some things off to her, and to do that and be home for American Idol I didnt get a chance, but I made up for it, by speeding up my pace a little on this mornings walk.
Vortex, Hi!
You're right, we don't want an injury from pushing ourselves, I try to do some stretching before I head out. Whether that be playing basketball with my DS - and all that entails is, throwing the ball and going and catching it when it flies 10ft away from the basket! Or, just general stretches.
Let me try again,
Because I felt like since I skipped breakfast and lunch, I was OK to eat. Why I thought that, and continued to gain weight is beyond me! 
My mom was leaving town late late last night and I had to drop some things off to her, and to do that and be home for American Idol 
I didnt get a chance, but I made up for it, by speeding up my pace a little on this mornings walk. 