Hi everyone,

A friend of mine recommended 3FC, and here I am.

I have already lost a bit (36 lbs / 16.37 kgs).

Welcome and good luck ! Congratulations on your 36 pound loss. You have mae a great start.

to a fellow Canadian, even if you started out somewhere else (we have a "Canadian Spring has Sprung" Thread in the Support Groups forum). This a great place and you will find it helpful; take a look around and join in wherever you feel comfortable ...

Hey, how's it going? I live right south of the border (Bellingham, WA). You want to be inspired to go to the gym? Well, let me share my experience and thoughts on the matter (which will be long winded):

At the end the day, what will cause fat loss is your caloric deficit, plain and simple. Eating less on its own WILL make you lose weight, but its a SLOW process. I don't know how long it took you to lose the 36 lbs, and maybe you could provide some clarification, but I'm going to assume that it took a long time. If you eat 1500 calories a day (which if you do it with SMALL nutritious "fuelings"), and your body burns 2500, you will be losing about 1/3 of a lb a day, because a pound of fat is 3500 calories (sorry, I'm American, remember, I'm gonna speak in English units LOL). The problem is that your body will adjust to the lowered caloric intake by lowering metabolism. Then eventually you might only be burning 2000 calories a day, and the fat loss will come really slowly!

Eating 1500 calories a day is not FUN (although its not that BAD if it's done right), but I am assuming you don't want to be on a highly limited diet forever! You are trying to lose 56 more lbs. That could EASILY be done in 4-6 months, as long as you are working out too!

See, not only does working out burn more calories, which is really the only way to increase your caloric deficit (anything under 1200 calories would be unhealthy, make you lose muscle instead of fat, and also probably drive you insane!), but it burns more calories throughout the day by increasing your metabolism, and keeping it from dropping (which is what causes a plateau in weight loss if you aren't exercising.

Seriously, I was hardly losing weight at all just by eating less.. Maybe 1 pound a week. But that's way too slow! It would take forever to reach my target. Now just by working out about 4 times a week (I started off with half hour sessions on the elliptical, now I'm up to hour sessions), I'm losing 3 lbs a week on average.... That's 12 pounds a month! I will reach my target weight in only a few more months... And the benefits to working out are great! I have so much more energy now, even on my days off (I was severely lethargic feeling before, ALWAYS tired.. never wanted to do anything.. Slept 12 hours a day sometimes).

The only problem is that it's really hard AT FIRST to start working out. Your body isnt used to it. It will be so sore, and the workout feels like its gonna kill you. But it gets easier! Soon you will feel like crap if you DON'T go to the gym (although off days are healthy too).

Anyways, good luck.