Saskie ~
My initial personal goal was 130. But, I plateaued at 134, and have never been able to get much lower than that (about a week at 132), so I realized that after a few months of struggling, that my body was happy and comfortable at 134. I am 5'7" tall. I usually walk 2 miles a day over my 1/2 hour lunch, 4 days a week, and then try to make it to the gym to work on the nautilus equipment 2-3 days a week. While at the gym I usually walk the track too, a little over 4 miles in an hour. I have been working out for more than a year, pretty consistantly though. When I started, it was a few nautilus exercises (when I say, nautilus, I mean the weight equipment that works your legs, arms etc.) mostly for my legs, and then walking at a comfortable pace for 30 minutes. I am almost at a power walk speed now.
I found you have to figure out what is best for you. On the days that I know I cannot fit working out in (hey, it happens to everyone, we are busy women!!) I try to stay at the lower end of my points by eating lots of veggies, ww bread, fruit, stir fry and such. The days I work out and walk, I can eat pretty good, and many times end up eating 26-28 pts in a day, I have found that when you consistantly work out, your body really needs fuel. When I would workout and still eat 18-20 pts a day, I would sometimes GAIN that week, my body would think it was in the starvation mode and retain what it had. So, it is important to eat enough especially the days that you are exercising.
Also I have found over the last year of maintenence, is that there are 3 keys to weight loss, at least for me:
1. tracking points - I am terrible at portion control, and I have found that as long as I track, I do better with the portions, I am not a bad eater (fast food and such) just tend to eat too much in one sitting. I have for the most part tracked for the last 2 years, and realize that I will have to the rest of my life.
2. Water!! - I have to drink 64 or more oz. of water in a day, and double that on the days that I work out, I have found on the weeks I slack on the water, but nothing else, I will either stay the same weight, or many times be up.
3. Walking - I think that the weight lifting has been great for me for toning, but walking is the key to losing weight, and I have lost weight everywhere because of it, my face, stomach, legs, butt, it is the perfect exercise for me. Plus, I walk with a friend, you don't realize you have just walked 4 miles when you are bookin' it with someone else.
Boy, can I write a book, or what! You may want to try to stay at the higher points within your range for a week, and see what your weight is, since you said that you only stay in your range 2-3 days and only gain .2 to .4 that week, it makes me think that you have a pretty good metabolism. So, if you stick in the middle to high for the week, I bet you lose. Worth a shot!!
Hope this helps, sorry about being so long winded!!
