After a week or two of sickness, job hunting, and many other excuses...I havent been working out as much as I was when I started. Gone from five days a week to about 3. I think I'm still losing (I'm anti-scale but I've been able to wear clothes that's been in storage for years)...but I'm probably at a stand still - this early in the game!!

I know this will be an impossible question to answer, but I'm just looking for some insight from you fine folks.

Is there any way I can get someone to tell me EXACTLY what I need to do?? Haha This is probably something that everyone longs for. But if someone would sit me down and say "To lose 5 pounds, you have to run/walk/jog/lift weights for [this amount of time, this amount of reps]. To lose 5 pounds you can only eat this today." On and on.

I read a lot on the forum about creating your plan. I think I could stick to one that works for me if I can just figure out how to make one! I hate those online menu maker things that are telling me to use ingredients I cant even pronouce! I'm essentially still a college student...I can't go from Easy Mac to Oregano all in one jump!

I go to a very basic gym ($10 a month) so no fancy-schmancy machines or pools...but I dont even know how to determine what machines to do for how long or how often.

Can't someone just present weight loss to me in a big pretty box with a bow on it...then if I'm successful or if I'm not, is all up to me?

I know, I know...different bodies, different metabolisms, no perfect plan...but I just don't know where to even attempt to start.

Calories per mile: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...8402-0,00.html

To lose 5 pounds, you have to walk about 250 miles, or run about 118 miles.

I'm not sure that this is much help. Instead, how about starting by walking for half an hour every day, at a good pace, and cutting out fast food and soda?

That calories per mile thing is very cool to know - I'll have to start tracking that!

As for the cutting out fast food - I never eat the stuff. I made a rule a long time ago to never eat anything that comes through my car window (haha) but just in the past few months started sticking to it. Now, any fast food makes me terribly sick.

And for sodas...never drank the stuff either. Didnt even know what Coke tasted like until I got to college! (No one believes that). I drink TONS of water, always have. I'll drink anywhere from 2-4 liters of water throughout the day.

[Without fast food, lots of water, and always being generally active - how in the world did I get so FAT in the first place?? HA.]

But I see what you're saying...start small and the plan will make itself.

...well, maybe.

There is no one size fits all. I could tell you what worked for me, but what if you didn't like what I did? What if you can't maintain it (whatever plan you pick - has to be something you can live with forever!).

Basic guidelines (VERY VERY basic):

1. Eat fewer calories. How many are right for you? I don't know. The Mayo Clinic calorie calculator is a pretty good place to start. What worked for me - 1400-1600 a day, initially
2. Eat more good foods, eat fewer bad foods. The food pyramid is a pretty good place to start. What worked for me - 5+ servings of vegetables, 2+ servings of fruit, lean protein, healthy fats, whole grains, no fast food, no soda, no packaged baked goods
3. Exercise regulary (something that gets your heart rate up, as many days a week as you can manage). What worked for me - 3-5 aerobic sessions a week
4. Get enough sleep. How much sleep is right for you? I don't know.
5. Avoid stress.
6. Drink lots of water.
7. Make a plan you can live with forever. If you stop a diet, and return to your old way of eating, you will eventually weigh what you weighed when you ate like that.

I'd say start your plan by using www.fitday.com. You can log BOTH your food AND your exercise. You can get a general idea of how many calories you're burning and consuming to see what you may need to work on. 3500 cals equals one pound. So try fitday and find out what your calorie deficit or intake is.

OK, you're looking for a specific plan so here's one for you that might be worth trying at first. This would need tweaking later on as you progress, and it all gets much easier to follow once you've got the routine down.

Eat an average of 1800 calories per day.

Log every single thing you eat into fitday.com. Once you have entered the foods you generally eat into the custom foods section, logging will get much quicker.

Substitute foods with lower calorie versions whenever possible (egg beaters or whites rather than whole eggs, nonfat milk, lite bread, sugar free jelly, cool whip lite, fruit rather than baked goods, ground turkey rather than ground beef wherever used, low fat cheese; be creative..you end up saving tons of calories this way yet get to eat more.

Get a heart rate monitor and do some form of cardio with your heart rate between 70% and 75% for 4 hours per week (exercise at whatever duration as long as you meet your total). You can find calculators online to tell you what your heart rate is in that range (mine is around 128-135). Tracking your heart rate lets you know how hard or not you're working. You can use ANY machine or do an aerobics class as long as you get your heart rate in that zone.

Use the weights in your gym twice a week. Find someone that can show you a program and how to use the weights, or get Women's Muscle & Fitness or look online for how to do things. Dont be afraid to ask people in the gym, most are willing to help.

Good luck with whatever program you end up following

I would just add--have a staff member at your gym show you how to use the weights. There are plenty of "helpful people" at gyms who are doing it wrong and will pass that on to you.

Jay

Join us over in calorie counters! The best thing about counting calories is that you know exactly what you have to do.

There's already been great advice for you on this thread, but I just want to remind you -- when people say it all boils down to "calories in vs. calories out," that's because it's TRUE! You probably already know that, but I know it can be hard to get going even when you're armed with that little piece of knowledge that really is the secret to weight loss. Take everyone's advice and start logging your calories, whether it's on Fitday or in a little notebook (I'm a little notebook kind of girl myself because I can carry it with me everywhere). Get addicted to some form of exercise that burns lots of calories, build your strength, and there you go. Keep a little chart of all your progress so you can see how far you've come and see that it IS in fact working and that you can make a successful plan for yourself. And of course, tell us everything along the way because we love celebrating successes.

Oh yeah, forget all those diets that tell you exactly what to eat. Calories in, calories out. It's better for your body if those calories are made up of healthy, whole foods but still...I'll say it again...calories in, calories out. It's the key!