Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I logged in. March of 2004. Crazy!
Just wanted to say hello.
I'm 46 now, 5'0" tall, and 214 lbs.
My highest weight was 230.
I'm small-framed and looked/felt my best around 110 lbs.
I've lost about 19 pounds in the last 4.5 months by watching what I eat and not having Coke very much.
Just started going to a gym. Had the free assessment with a personal trainer today and I'm kind of puzzled by something he said. I'm not sure if this is the truth or if he was trying to sell me. Well, I know he was trying to sell me.
I told him that, for the 4 days I've been going to the gym so far, my goal has been to keep moving for 1 hour. For example, 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the bike. I'm going at a slow pace because I have not done any regular exercise since high school. I figure whatever I can do now is an improvement over my usual evenings of sitting on the couch.
He told me I'm not doing any good by keeping myself moving for 1 hour.
He said the only way I will see a difference is if I use weights and the machines.
Then he had another trainer take me out and do some weights for 30 minutes, and then he took me back to the first guy who went over prices for personal trainers.
I told him it's already a stretch for me to pay the gym membership each month and I can't afford personal trainer sessions, and he acted like I wasn't going to get any results by coming in and doing the bike and treadmill.
Muscle building is actually better for you than just pure cardio. What was explained to me, and through personal experience, if you just do pure cardio to lose your weight loss, you will have to do it for the rest of your life. Whereas muscle building, you can tone your body and build muscle and you can maintain your desired weight and stop. Cardio is helpful, but it is beneficial to build muscle as well. I have tried the pure cardio route and when I stopped, I gained all my weight back. But once I did strength training, when I stopped for 6 months, I never gained any weight back.
Another good explanation is that building muscle burns extra calories. This is because the bigger the muscle, the more energy it needs, hence the more fat it "eats." This can be explained through upping your caloric intake when you are working out, since the muscles need those extra calories.
Needless to say, muscle building is good for you. I hired a personal trainer, even though it was expensive, and I did not regret it. However, cardio also has its benefits and should not be cut out either.
Do what you can afford. Don't let the shoulds and betters stop you before you start. Someone in the forum has a tag line that says "no matter how slow you run, you're still faster than the person sitting on the sofa" or something like that. The point is, you've started. Keep going. Keep moving. You can incorporate small inexpensive weights later if you want to do that but don't feel discouraged and don't feel pressure to spend money on a personal trainer.
Yes, you will get results with the treadmill/bike/other cardio. But you don't need a trainer to use the treadmill, do you? He's emphasizing activities that would more likely involve a trainer, so the gym gets more money!
At some point it would be beneficial to add in weights to your routine, but it doesn't have to be today.
Personal trainers are starting to act alot like used car salesmen aren't they? I bought a lifetime membership to my gym back when I was 16 and back then training was included. A trainer would walk you around and show you proper
form, breathing etc, they would measure you and start you on a program suited to your goals. Now they want to charge you an arm and a leg on top of the already prohibitive gym membership price. No wonder our nation struggles so much with weight, sales people convince you getting thin is expensive! (it is not)
Cardio is a great weight to get started in weight loss, and if you enjoy it and feel you can spend the rest of your life doing it, then many people do just that quite successfully. If you do want to get into strength training you do not need a personal trainer to do so. There are many free workouts available online and on various smartphone apps (I recommend fitness buddy if you have one). Google correct form and breathing methods for them, and then you are good to go! Remember that lighter weights and many (12 or 15) reps is the best way to start when you are losing weight, then you can slowly transition into heavier weights and fewer reps.
You don't have to decide right now, you are moving, and despite what the tacky sales guy said, that is an important first step to getting healthy.
As you start feeling the benefits of exercising you will probably look into doing more. You might decide cardio is your thing and start the couch to 5k program or something similar or maybe even rowing, hiking, climbing or any of the other many cardio routes you can take.
If you decide cardio bores you, you can moves towards strength training. Which is a challenging and exciting way to get and stay fit as well.
The important thing is finding what works for you, pricewise and bodywise!
I'm in a similar position, I haven't been here since about 2003.
Back then I reached my target weight losing 217lbs but due to illness and basically giving up I found myself back where I started. Although I do have to say I did diet stupidly before and my illness was basically caused by that.
In may 2010 I regrouped and started again. My starting weight this time was 355lbs. Today I am down to 220lbs and I have another 61lbs to reach my initial goal weight....I say initial because I have no really got a set target. I am going to assess how I look and feel at 159lbs...that may sound like an odd number, but I am from the UK and here we weigh in stones and pounds (14lbs = 1 stone) so159lbs will bring me to11 stone 5lbs which is exactly 14stone lost...there is method in my madness.
Like the others have said, I is true that you do lose weight faster adding writs, but you most certainly do not need a personal trainer. In fact you don't even need special weights to start with....look around your home...use a couple of cans of beans or a couple of bottles of water, you don't even need to set a specific time to do it, you can do this while you are watching TV.
Adding any form of exercise to your daily routine will benefit you and you increase I as and when you feel able to...you will see the benefits and reap he rewards.
I haven't been here since March 2004. Hi!
He's emphasizing activities that would more likely involve a trainer, so the gym gets more money! 
