[tarat]

Hey everyone!

My name is Tara, I'm 23 and a Colorado native. Initially before I even signed up for this or any weight loss forum, I had began typing an entire background story of my life depicting in moderate detail my struggle with weight. That was on October 2 that I started writing it. I worked on it for a couple days, and now I'm looking back at it, having not touched it in about a week, and it's a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff that I'm sure not all (if any of you) want to read! So, right now as an intro, I'm just going to touch base, and if anyone is interested in the "life" story, I will be creating my own thread to keep my progress. More on that later.

Basically, as I said, I have struggled with weight for basically my entire life. Now, at the ripe age of 23, I'm at the highest weight I have ever been. Well, not "technically," I guess... I have lost a few pounds in the last month, but before that I had reached 206lbs and I'm only 5'5.5" tall. Now... I've always been a very active person, been involved with a lot of physical activity, so my body is more "thick" than obese, even though I do fall into that category right now by my BMI. Either way, whether or not I'm thick instead of obese or obese instead of thick... I want the weight gone. I have an ultimate goal to get to 125 pounds, and I want to be at that weight by the time I turn 24. 8 Months from now.

I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow morning, so ultimately I'm telling myself that I will "start" my weight loss journey when I return on Tuesday the 14th. I'm still going to try and be good while I'm in Vegas, but I'm a huge foodie (pun intended), and I want to enjoy myself. So if I come across some delicious menu with exquisite desserts on it, I'm saying I will probably indulge. I won't over do it though, and that's a promise I'm keeping to myself. I'm also going to be walking everywhere while I'm there, so I won't feel as bad if I slip a bit.

Anyway, I'm still debating to myself about how I want to go about doing this diet. Being thick and fairly muscular already, I want to trim my fat and become leaner... Not as broad of shoulders, hips; thinner arms, face, legs, stomach. I want to feel and look "toned." I briefly wrote about how I had lost a few pounds in the last month or so, and to do that, I was working out daily at a rec center before work and reduced my caloric intake IMMENSELY. I reduced it so much because at this time, I am working a very stationary job as a bank teller. I have never been this sedentary in my entire life day by day. I did that diet for about 3 weeks, and had success, but then started thinking about if that's the way I want to approach this. Here are my thoughts on this:

Working out: Gaining more muscle mass helps burn more fat, and speeds up weight loss. However, I already have a significant amount of muscle. I don't want to lose fat then look like a body builder. But then at the same time, speeding it up would be a benefit to me. If I work out and maintain reduce my daily calorie intake, pounds will shed. Also, a 3-month subscription to the rec center I go to is almost $130! Being a college grad, I have over $27K in student loans... Oi.

I know I need to reduce calories, that's a no-brainer to me. I just need to think about whether I want to work out daily like I have before, or stick strictly to a low-calorie diet, just maintaining my normal exercising routine. If anyone has any thoughts, please feel free to add your input on the subject. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Anyhow, I just wanted to get my basic story out there for anyone to see and read. I will be starting my own thread about my progress after my trip, and I will be trying to update it daily. The first post I make in there will be the long, way-too-drawn-out, background of me. I'm excited to document my progress. Have a good weekend, and I hope to hear from some of you!

[nonameslob]

Welcome to 3FC! I hope you have an amazing time in Vegas, and come back ready to work on your goals

Regarding how you're going to go about losing weight, I honestly believe you should focus most of your energy on calorie restriction. The more you work out, the harder that will be because it can increase your appetite, but unfortunately the effects of working out won't show on the scale (and mirror) as much as a reduced caloric intake will. You don't want to risk burning yourself out working out every day, if that is a concern, and then giving up all together.

My opinion would be to maintain a moderate workout routine, combining both cardio and weight training (to maintain your strength) while reducing your calories. Get up and moving during the day while at work if you are able (if you have an office with a door you can close, squats and planks are great for this!). Once you get closer to where you want your weight to be, then you can focus on strength training if you want to improve your appearance and strength that way.

Just my mostly internet-educated two cents! Wishing you the best of luck in however you decide to approach this!

I feel you on the student loans Are there no cheaper gyms near you? Planet Fitness and the like are usually around $20/month. I finally switch to a cheaper gym after spending way too much at the Y!

[IanG]

On working out, I say do as much as you can. You will not bulk up. That takes years of weight training, heavy lifting and lots of food.

You will either workout now or have to workout later otherwise you will not get the toned look you are after.

Losing weight by diet alone is easy but you lose fat and a lot of muscle. Which is great if you want to look like a skinny-fat person or what cruel people might call "gaunt" (and they have me on previous weightloss attempts). Exercise should help retain some muscle.

Diet matters the most, as has already been said, but if you are and can exercise at your current weight and have the drive to do it then DO IT! You won't regret it.

Just don't use it as an excuse to eat more, like you are doing with Vegas .