I could have written this post. I just added exercise last week. I lost 30 lbs in two months by diet alone. Now I'm gaining. But I'm now wearing pants that I couldn't wear at one pound less last week, so I know it will be ok.
I've done the crazy exercise before with perfect diet and I too got nowhere. But this time, instead of expecting my body to fall into place, I'm simply giving it a year. I'm doing what I know I'm supposed to for one full year and we'll see what happens.
I find exercise absolutely essential. But I'm not doing it primarily for weight loss. I'm doing it because I'm diabetic, and regular exercise helps keep my blood glucose levels under control. I'm doing it because strong muscles help support my tendency to sore, painful joints. The joints don't have to work so hard moving, when they have strong muscles and supple tendons guiding them. And I'm doing it because I just plain feel great afterward.
I'm watching my food intake too. My diet emphasizes carbs rather than calories or fat, but I try not to go crazy on either one of those. This, too, is more for other reasons than weight loss. The diabetes, primarily.
Weight loss is merely a side effect for me. Diet and exercise are for other reasons.
Howdy,
This is what I use to summarize my thoughts on the components for optimum health
1. Restricting calories for weight loss.
2. Exercise for fitness
3. Food choice for nutrition
They all work together but are not necessarily interchangeable. I think it is great you are aware of what you are doing. That is the first and most important step.
CGH, it could be that you are making the exercise part harder than it needs to be. "More exercise" can mean something as simple as taking a brisk half-hour walk every day. The point is just to do more physical activity, use your body!
Weight training can be good, but it doesn't have to be extreme--to the point where you're getting bulked up.
I believe that it's better to exercise than not to exercise. Exercise does help you lose less muscle, and you need muscle not only for overall fitness and health but also to burn fat. Even so, it doesn't have to be some Biggest Loser "last chance workout" bull**** deal.
You may find that a moderate increase in activity won't make you so hungry--not so much as a big tough workout will.
Good luck!
Jay
Yeah, I'm thinking maybe it was because I was doing crazy exercise. Maybe if I just do moderate 3-4 x per week and get to my target heart rate, stick with 1300 calories, I will be good.
I'll check back and let you all know! It's a mystery to me....
The reason people need to lift weights on top of doing cardio is because as we lost weight, we lose both fat and muscle. It isn't good for anyone to lose both fat and muscle. So you strength train to keep what muscle you have on and build some up. And unless you take it to the extreme you will not get "too masculine" because that is the exception (think female bodybuilder) and not the rule.
In my opinion a better measure of weight loss is not in the pounds you lose, its in the way your clothes fit and in the amount of inches lost from your waist. Try not to focus on weight lost and start focusing more on other things-- the way your clothes fit, if you go down a size, if your feet feel better at the end of the day, if you have more energy, etc.
As for your arms, I don't have a picture obviously, but I'm betting they looked a lot better than you think. I personally think my shoulders are horribly broad due to , but that is my own screwed up perception. What did your close friends on family say about your arms when you asked them?
As for your arms, I don't have a picture obviously, but I'm betting they looked a lot better than you think. I personally think my shoulders are horribly broad due to , but that is my own screwed up perception. What did your close friends on family say about your arms when you asked them?
Well, of course they didn't agree with me that they were man arms. But trust me, they were! LOL.
Don't get me wrong, I love my arms when they are less fat. It was like the muscle build ON TOP of the fat, and that was just not pretty.
When I think of excercise, and the enormous amount I hear people getting I often think of my Mother and Father in Law. They are both in their upper 80's, they are both "thin" and they are both as healthy as upper 80's folks can get. Neither one of them EVER stepped foot in a fitness gym, neither ever walked on a treadmill, neither had personal trainers, work-out videos, or thigh masters...lol However, they both worked 40+ years at jobs were they stood and/or walked for 6- 8 hours a day. They both gardened, and did yard work, and were active people, going to ball games, visiting parks and other activities that involved moderate excercise. They both took the stairs all the way up Lady Liberty, they climbed 100's of stairs at Memorial stadium...but they never forced themselves to walk 5 miles on a conveyor belt. I patterned my activity with what they did/do. It worked. I didn't lose my muscle because I didn't lift weights, I'm as strong as an ox, and I can see my muscles now, and they look pretty darn good. Hard core excercise might really be one persons "drug of choice", but just moving does WONDERS for me...and my 87 year old in-laws.
I am posting this without reading the entire thread - perhaps you are one of the lucky women with a genetic predisposition for being able to grow muscle easily (if so, I envy you!).
Personally, I always lose more quickly when I'm excercising. The problem is that I always end up getting hurt in some way (I have had bad knees since childhood, and I have back issues, too) and then I end up trying to eat the pain away and it totally stalls everything. I've decided this time to not worry about excercise. I'm trying to be more active in my everyday life, but I'm not doing anything formal. I'm waiting until I get to what I feel is a more reasonable weight that will make it less likely for me to get hurt. I don't know when that will be, but I'm feelincg closer to it that I have in a long time.
I am posting this without reading the entire thread - perhaps you are one of the lucky women with a genetic predisposition for being able to grow muscle easily (if so, I envy you!).
Yes I am, but only on my arms! Legs just stay very undefined and log-like. LOL.
Lori Bell - I agree with that! My parents are the same. I, unfortunately, sit at a desk job 8 hours a day.
I just added exercise last week. I lost 30 lbs in two months by diet alone. Now I'm gaining. 
But I'm now wearing pants that I couldn't wear at one pound less last week, so I know it will be ok.
