First off, let me say, that I started this weight loss journey at the end of January and I have absolutely NO problem losing weight. It comes off steadily and I have absolutely no problems with the eating portion, I've got my calories and eating down perfect. My problem is when it comes to exercise. You can't lose weight and have a good body without exercise.

I cannot stick with it for anything. I've read over and over the only way to burn fat is by doing cardio.....so Ive tried the elliptical, too intense, and I can't handle it.....I can walk, but can't get enough intensity to actually get into cardio mode....which also eliminates running, and jogging.

Then I hear, oh ...strength training will do it. So I look online for strength training videos and the women in them are all fit with flat bellys and muscles and whipping their weights around like this is super easy stuff man....and then I just feel discouraged....

"you'll never get rid of your body fat without cardio" "you'll always be fat unless you build some lean muscle mass" ....yet it's not as easy as everyone makes it out to be....an no matter how hard I try, (and i've been trying all this for months, not just giving up ) I try something new all the time, but I don't know what to do anymore....
Im losing...i've went from 266 lbs down to 219...since January 20th.....and I think that's pretty good...but I don't know what to do now

Hello and

Congrats on your ability to lose weight. For exercise, let me suggest... swimming!!

With water workout tools such as weights, zoomers (short fins), snorkel, underwater ipod (!!!) (from underwater audio dot com) you can get in both the cardio and some weight workout as well. Besides, with a little creativity there are a zillion different types of exercise you can do. I love water dancing to my underwater ipod.

Works great for me!

Unfortunately, where i live, there is no swimming pool....closest thing we have is the river and it's waaaaayyyy too cold to even go in ..otherwise that would be a great suggestion.

Have you tried something like Stronglifts 5x5? It's a progressive weight lifting program (so you get stronger as you go) and it's really easy to follow, particularly with their app.

maybe if i had a bench and weights and things like that...

Oh that is too bad. I was googling to see if there was an LA Fitness Signature Club near you but as best as I can determine the closest is Lloyd Center. Since I used to live in Portland and don't recognize the name of your city, it must not be that close.

Here's hoping you are able to find something else you can do and enjoy.

You and I are the same in this department. I really don't like hardcore exercise. I like it when I'm super stressed out, but for an every day thing? It's just not sustainable for me. Have you looked into yoga and Pilates? That's what I'm starting to do and I feel like although it's very low impact and doesn't burn a lot of calories, what it DOES do is reduce stress, gives energy, and it builds your strength and flexibility in a way that using weights don't because you're using your body as your "weight". That's not to say that you shouldn't throw in some traditional cardio or strength training every now and then because it is good for you, but Yoga/Pilates is a good way to ease yourself into it without feeling like you're killing yourself.

My philosophy is do what you feel like you can do, as long as you're doing SOMETHING, when you can do it. If you're having a lazy day and don't want to get too crazy with exercise, do some yoga. If you wanna do something more intense but still don't feel like going all out with your workout, do some pilates. If you're having a great day and feel super energized and ready to take on the world, then that might be a better day for something more intense. It's better to do SOMETHING every day than nothing at all. Sitting on your butt all day definitely won't help you lose weight, but every little bit of activity helps. Just do your best, don't sweat it (pun not intended), and just enjoy your life.

I feel like when it comes to exercise and dieting people always wanna tell you that you're never gonna get anywhere unless you "go hard". But the truth is, you don't HAVE to "go hard" to be a success. Sustainable lifestyles =/= hard lifestyles. A sustainable lifestyle is a lifestyle that YOU can manage that works best for YOU. So don't worry about those gym rats that think the only way to get anywhere is to make yourself puke after a workout. Those people live the way they wanna live, but you gotta do you. So do you and be happy!

I just wanna lose my lower belly.....and i get told the only way to do that is hardcore cardio....and that so doesn't appeal to me...because well....it just doesn't ....not because im lazy but I just don't want to do hardcore cardio every day ..there has to be another way....

I do know that i've been taking Garcinia Cambogia w/green coffee bean and my stomach is getting smaller and im losing weight without hardcore cardio...but i've also been practicing by sucking in my lower gut when i walk....trying to do little exercises like wall pushups..and going for walks when I can...and walking instead of driving places...plus....doing weight lifting with light dumbells for my shoulders, biceps and triceps....im gonna add some leg lifts and back stuff too.....so i do exercise, but just nothing hardcore...i just hope it's enough...because I have the weight loss stuff down

This is the jist: if you've hit your goal, and you're a the weight you want to be at but still have problem areas, then you need to shift your focus from weight loss to body composition. Hard cardio helps you burn fat more simply because you burn more calories in a single workout than other forms of exercise. You can do other forms of exercise and still lose weight. Also, you can use other forms of exercise to change your body composition. It's actually better to use strength training exercises for body composition because building muscle boosts your metabolism and allows your body to burn more calories more efficiently. There is no way to spot reduce; that simply comes from diet and exercise, which is what you are doing. If you're still in the process of losing, then your problems areas will improve over time. Just be patient and do you! Don't worry about what other people say. Like I said before, what matters is what makes YOU happy about your body and your health.

Understandable! I figured if you have an elliptical then you have a gym membership. My mistake


Another really good option is You Are Your Own Gym which uses your own body weight as resistance/strength training.

im by far ...not even close to goal weight, but im losing weight steadily, so I can't complain about that.....and I WISH I had a gym close...OMG....I WISH I had a pool close...we have NOTHING here...it's like I live in the sticks .....im actually trying to sell my elliptical because I HATE it...I knew I should have gotten a treadmill, I would have been more apt to walk on that......I know I would burn the fat faster if I did exercise with cardio...but i don't know if it would make me lose any more poundage....I mean you can't really go any lower than about a pound every day or every other day.......and my stomach is slowly shrinking because of stuff im not supposed to mention....so that's good....I think that even though no where near my goal..that i can get rid of the squishiness by lifting stuff ad doing things like the wall pushups etc.

I'm not telling you how to live your life here; I know you know your body best and what works best for you, but you really should aim for losing a pound or two a week versus a pound a day. If you're losing a pound a day you could be over stressing your body by doing too much activity and not taking in enough calories. Slow and steady helps you keep the weight off once you hit goal. Just some advice!

the thing is ..im not TRYING to lose it..it's just happening, and i shouldn't say a lb ..it's like it goes down from .8 to .6 to .2 then then next number down..it's not every day i lose a pound.....i eat around 1200 calories a day...im not hungry....i drink tons of water....im getting plenty of nutrients....im not exercising...except for what i already said, weights sometimes ..walking sometimes....etc

Hi Carol, I think your current activity level is great! Walking and some work with dumbbells are both excellent forms of exercise, and it sounds like you're getting results.

Down the road, if you want to do something more intense, I would rec doing a strength training dvd. I think the trick there would be finding one you personally enjoy. Strength training really does wonders for tightening form.

Back in the day, I used Brazil Butt Lift. It requires a set of dumbbells (I used 5 pounders), ankle weights, and comes with a resistance band. Nothing else is needed. It's intense imo, but gives excellent results. I'm holding off on using it again until I lose more weight. It's one you may want to keep in mind though to try down the road. Although it's marketed as a booty workout, it really does work the whole body and you will see results everywhere. It flattened my lower belly. BBL includes several different workouts. Some are primarily strength training, some are cardio, and some are a mix. That's what helps it be so effective.

With dvd's the key is finding one/several you enjoy, so that you can do it regularly. I own some I hardly ever did b/c I just didn't like them much. BBL clicked with me though and I did it religiously for a few months and had the best body of my life.

So I say, keep doing what you're doing. It sounds like it's going well! Then down the road add in some strength training dvd's that require minimal equipment (like BBL), and you'll likely be very pleased with the results.

Congrats on your loss and good habits!

Sounds like you are doing great.. and I say... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"