Hi all!

It's time for this weight to come off! My first thought regarding this weight loss was just that I need to fit into and look good in my wedding dress (10-20-12, baby!), but then... who was I kidding? I'm very, very overweight. I shouldn't be losing weight to fit into a dress. I should be losing it so that I can be a healthier, happier me.

Which is just what I'm doing! My fiance and I joined a gym together recently, and it's really great that we can be accountable to one another. I'm really excited to get involved here, though, because support from a group of ladies going through the same thing? You can't beat it.

I can't wait to get started and make some new friends here!

Congrats (: and HOW exciting! I absolutely LOVE weddings (:
What all are yall doing at the gym, as far as your workouts go?

Haha! Thanks! I liked weddings before, but I didn't know how much I would enjoy planning my own wedding. Granted, I'm still over a year out, but I think that the extra time will help me stay on the ball, as far as planning goes.

The first week we were at the gym, I stuck to the stationary bike. It's the main reason that my fiance wanted to join, and everything else looked pretty intimidating to me (lol). I got bored with that quickly, though, so I came to this message board to see what sort of workouts were suggested. I found a suggestion to look at Stumptuous' No Fat Chicks workout plan (sorry, it won't let me post the link), so now I'm following their week two plan. I slightly modified it to do more reps. And I think I'll skip the squats next time, to save my poor knees for cardio.

We go back to the gym tomorrow, and I have a fitness training session with one of the instructors there. He was really helpful showing me around to the different machines, so I'm hoping that he'll have some good advice for exercises that will help target my problem areas (stomach, thighs).

Welcome to 3FC!

Congratulations and YOU CAN DO IT!

Hope to see you around the boards!

Good luck with your efforts!! YOU can do it!!

@Cylon

Well I'll have to google that (: but I've never had "good knees" but I've noticed that I started doing lunges (like 2 reps) and didn't go down too far, and have actually worked my way up to about 5-6 and can do "deeper" into the lunge itself.

But let me know about your "target problem area" workouts they show you, if you don't mind. Because I've been jogging/walking/running, and my tummy and legs are starting to change a bit, but something new would be nice (:
keep up the great work though!

Thanks for the welcome, ladies!

I really liked the way that it made me feel, but I'm a little concerned about my knees, if I keep up exactly what I was doing. There's a chance that they're just sore because I'm not used to that sort of movement, but there's also the chance that doing squats like that is just a bad idea. I might have bad knees and not even know it! Haha!

I think that I'll go with your suggestion of lunges, though. I feel much more sturdy when I do lunges as opposed to squats. Also, I feel like a darned fool stickin' my booty out like that. lol

I'll let you know what they say about the the problem areas. My guess is that a lot of crunches are in our futures.

@Cylon

Oh sounds like a plan (:

And in fear of doing any damage to your knees, I actually work at a place called Massage Envy, and the therapist there have been SO supportive of my weight loss. But they can't stress enough to STRETCH. If you plan to do a LOT of cardio, or even any sort make sure to NEVER do any stagnant stretches. Do jumping jacks, or lunges. Wait to stretch AFTER your workout. You'll notice a difference. I did that for the past two days, and even though I'm SUPER sore, they said that I'll start noticing that I'll be able to work out longer and more efficiently. Because when the muscles become tired/strained stretching will aid in all of this. Because if they continue to be tense in every work out, it's going to reduce your time of an effective workout (:

Hey Elle!

I'll just copy and paste here what I wrote in my fitness blog. I tried to explain in detail everything that we did today at the gym with the trainer. I didn't feel as challenged as I wanted to, so I added in a few more reps than he was asking for, or rode the bike longer/harder than he asked for.


10 minutes warm-up cardio (stationary bike)

Lots of different stretching (nothing I was unfamiliar with, as I still remember our stretching routine from high school soccer)

Lower and upper abdominal workout (one set, fifteen reps each)

Free weights, eight pound, bicep curl (one set, twenty reps)

Bench press machine (one set, twenty reps)

Leg press machine (one set, twenty reps)

15 minute cool down cardio (stationary bike. Stayed between 85-95 rpm for 1.5 minute intervals, then pumped it up for thirty seconds. Alternated between the two)

I also did crunches this evening after we got back from the gym. It was nice to just do them while we watched a TV show. I laid down flat on the floor, put my legs up on the couch, and then scooted in close to the couch so that my backside was touching the bottom of the couch, and my calves were resting comfortably on the cushion. Then I put my hands up beside my head (I didn’t hold on, because I was worried I would pull on my neck) and lifted my horizontal torso up toward my knees. I hope that this is correct, hehe...


Let me know if you have any questions about how we did any of it. I think that the leg presses are definitely going to help with my thighs. You could also consider using an elliptical. As for the stomach, I'm hoping that a mix of crunches and general weight loss will help.

Cylon (:

thanks so much love! i'm going to do that tomorrow (: I'm just SO excited to continue this journey, and SO excited that there are others out there ready to do it together!

I have an elliptical at home, but is semi falling apart! Lol. But living in the south, working out in the humidity has helped my endurance!

But all in all, WE CAN DO THIS (: