[Rebel91]

Hey everyone!

My name is Lexy and I am 19 years old from Florida! I have struggled with my weight basically forever! My highest weight was 212 (as far as I know!) and am currently 202, but in high school (obviously not too long ago) I was usually around 178 so I've packed on a good amount of weight in my first semester and a half of university. I am getting married in March 2011 and I would really love to be back in the 70's again (at least) but I would prefer to be lower than that. My problem is I carry my weight pretty well for my height (5'6) because a lot of it is from muscle (it seems the only areas that jiggle are my stomach and arms, but my legs are pure muscle) so I'm not entirely sure what weight I should be (since the BMI doesn't take into consideration muscle weight...) so I basically just want a flat stomach (one I'd be proud to go to the beach with) and less jiggly arms...

I don't plan to change my food intake much, mainly because I still live at home and I've tried in the past to change it but it never works because my parents won't change what they eat and they won't buy what I want to eat...I don't eat all that unhealthy, my main problem is I'm addicted to the internet and PS3 so I NEVER exercise...

Sooo my goals for now are to exercise at least 3 times a week and hopefully later I will post my starting pictures...

Thanks for letting me join your community!

[Gold32]

Wow, so how did you get all that muscle if you never exercise? You must have some activity that put that muscle on. That's a good thing, I have floppy, flabby arms, so I'm insanely jealous.

So, you probably don't want to hear this, but not changing your eating habits and only working out 3 times a week isn't really going to do much for you. Weight loss/control requires both healthy eating habits and exercise. Interesting tidbit- compared to 40 years ago, our nation is massively, horribly fat. Yet compared to 40 years ago, we exercise a massive amount more. Why isn't it the other way? So much of what we believe about exercise and how it effects us is wrong.

But more importantly, what we eat is so screwed up it's ridiculous. Between out of whack portion ideas and the fact that we put sugar in literally everything, it's no wonder. So even if you're parents won't change what they buy, and you can't buy your own items, it would be way worth the effort to learn more about what's in your food, and what a correct portion is. I was way in denial about all this till recently, so trust me, it's ALWAYS better to read the labels than make an assumption.

As far as exercise goes, they recently learned that if you sit for a long period of time without getting up and moving around, "fat burning" nearly completely stops. Just getting up and walking around the room makes a HUGE difference. Relatedly, while 3 times a week is a good start, most people recommend at least half an hour of exercise every day. It's not about just the calories directly burned, but also that it keeps up your metabolism. Also, "exercise" doesn't always mean "cardio." It can mean walking, or whatever you enjoy. Maybe that will make it easier for you?

Sorry for the ramble there, I read about this stuff all day long. (Mostly because I'm bored at work and there's not much else to do. ) One of the main things I've learned is that people disagree about everything. So you have to research on your own and decide what makes sense for YOU. But hopefully the people around here will help.

[SouthernGurl]

Welcome and good luck! I know for myself, I have to exercise at least 5 or 6 times a week, to really see any difference on the scale. My eating habits could be better, but I have been able to cut out the "junk" and that has helped alot. And I feel better too...:-)