Need to lose 30 pounds
 

Hi!

I have been wanting to join this forum for a while, so here goes. I am 55 and want to start the new year with a goal of losing 30 pounds by the summer. I would like to lose 1-2 lbs a week. I am going to use the WW points system, and have figured out that 20-21 pts. should get me to my goal....I also know that I will have to do some exercise. I am not a "gym" type person, but I do like walking, and I have some 5 lb weights. I have the opportunity to walk about a mile during my break at work, so I will incorporate that into my daily routine. I am also going to do my weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings after dinner. Is there anything else I should be doing? Any help would be good, or if there is someone out there that would like to do this along with me, that would be fun, too.

My number one piece of advice is to not get discouraged if you don't lose weight like clockwork according to that "1 to 2 pounds per week" goal. Remember that if you eat right (a healthy balance of food, neither too few nor too many calories), and exercise, the weight will come off. It just may not be to your pre-conceived timetable. The point is to make lasting changes in your health habits so that you not only lose weight but keep it off, and create a healthy body in the process.

The other thing is that your starting exercise goals are great. You are smart to recognize that you like walking. A mile a day is a good place to start, but your body WILL adapt to that, so eventually you'll need to increase duration/intensity to continue to burn extra calories and improve cardio-vascular health. Weight training is VERY important to overall health, metabolism, functional strength, and fitness. Make sure you have some good information about doing it, though -- flinging around a couple of 5-lb weights won't get you very far. For some easy routines to do at home, I highly recommend the book Strong Women Stay Slim. You might also want to pick up a Kathy Smith video -- she has lots of at-home strength routines that don't take a lot of time and are very effective, even fun. One DVD is called Moving Through Menopause that combines a wide variety of exercise types from various other videos that provides a good balance for ANYONE, regardless of where they are in life.