Ok...Ready...Set...Go
 

Ok Ladies. Im new here, today is my first day being a member. I have been looking at the site for maybe 2 weeks and i have to just say that i love it. I started my diet last wednesday and Im doing calorie counting. I think its the easiest for me because it doesnt restrict you too much to any one particular set of rules. I quit drinking sodas and juice since wednesday (I was a soda addict) and its not as bad as i thought!

I have a few questions for the more knowledgeable ones:
1) how long does it usually take to see results (scale or inches)
2) Whats a good time to stop eating at night
3) how much exercise should i be doing through out the week?

You guys are so great. Its amazing to see people so supportive. Ive been gaining weight over the last year due to my own eating habits. My family who i do love seems to always remind me of my weight gain which gets to me sometimes. :o But its ok, because i plan to show them that when i put my mind to it I will and can reach my goals. So here i go....:D

:welcome:

Unfortunatly the ony question that I can answer for you is #2 and my doctor told me nothing between the times of
10 p.m. - 2 a.m.

Also you go girl show your family that you can do whatever you want!!!
You will find that everyone on here are such great people! This is the first site that I have been on that I don't feel embarrsed about my weight or if for any reason I mess up a little I won't get judged!
Good luck on your goal!!! :dust:

It took me probably about 20 pounds to start seeing results. But thats because I was sooo overweight. Still am. I usally try to stop eating by 8:00.
I work 10 hour days and dont get home till 7:00 so I have to eat dinner late. Not drinking soda has worked for me and I drink tons of water which helps keep me full. For exercise I do at least 30 mins 5 days a week and sometimes I throw up in some little things on the other 2 days. Hope this can help. Good luck on your journey!

1. Everyone is different. I saw a rather dramatic drop at the beginning which slowed down to a 1-2 lb loss (with occasional weeks of plateau). If you want to actually see my weight loss graphed out in Excel by date, it is here:

http://gloriana.myphotoalbum.com/vie...bum02&id=chart

I would definitely recommend taking measurements, I didn't start measurements until almost a month into my weight loss. I wish I had the beginning numbers! Taking measurements in both inches and centimeters is a good idea - you can really see movement when you record the measurements in centimeters :)

(Just a note, I stopped tracking in March 2004 around 141 lbs when I started significantly plateauing near my 135 lb goal. I stuck it out and eventually reached 127 lbs in January 2005. Those last 13 lbs took me nearly a year to lose!)

2. Studies have shown it doesn't matter what time of day you eat. In my own experience, I often worked late and by the time I got home and cooked a healthy dinner it was often 8:30-9:00 or sometimes even later. It appeared to have absolutely no effect on my weight loss.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...ay%2A+calories

3. In my opinion, any amount of exercise is great for you. Definitely consider weight lifting to make sure you don't lose muscle mass during weight loss.

Good luck! Calorie counting worked for me :)

Thanks ladies. I feel so welcomed. Ill be sure to track my results and post. Good luck to you all as well.

I was going to say some things, but Glory took the words right out of my mouth! But, just for example, my hubby eats breakfast at noonish, lunch at 6 pm, and dinner after 10 pm and he still has lost 20 pounds. He also goes to bed at 2 am and gets up after 10 am, so the actual time doesn't matter if your schedule is wonky.

Anyway, congratulations on getting started and welcome to the best place for support! Good luck and keep us posted...

-Lala

On the eating before a certain time at night--calories are calories no matter when you consume them. If you have a problem with snacking in the evenings after dinner (as many people do, like snacking while watching tv), then a cut-off time may be helpful, but just to break that habit, not because it's better to eat at any certain time. Otherwise, whether you eat at noon, midnight, or anytime in between, your body isn't going to process it any differently :^:

As for exercise, it totally depends on you! Where are you starting? Do you get ANY physical activity already? Some people can only do 5 minutes at a time a few times a week, but if that's more than they were already doing, then that's awesome! For others who are normally active, they can maybe work out for an hour a few times a week. It all depends on you, your current level of fitness, your lifestyle, and your personal goals (for example, doing only cardio will help you burn fat, but adding strength training will tone your muscles and slightly increase your resting metabolism) :)