Hello Again

I found this page by accident last year, but lost it - found an old email and found it again - now it's book marked. I really am in need of 411 on life style changes out there. I don't want to diet - it sets me up for failure. So if you have info you would like to share consider me your sponge and I am ready to absorb. Anyways, Im new to this - I have no clue what exercise works which muscle and tones where. I don't know if I should be eating more when exercising or eating less - the last time I exercised was in high school and that was 17 years ago - OMG I feel old, but Im hoping to change that.

Hi. Only advice I can give is what inspired me to lose 53 pounds since January 11th of this year. When I complained that I didn't think I could do a "diet" that excluded so many foods I ate regularly, I was told to "Stop dwelling on the foods you can't have, and start seeing all of the foods you can enjoy." I began a low-carb life style right then...started looking for and finding low-carb alternatives to all of my favorite foods, started reading nutrition labels, recording what I ate, and watched my portions. I don't consider myself on a "diet" (even though I selected Atkins as my diet of choice here on FatSecret, because it closely resembles what I am doing, and I started there by researching what it was all about). I figure I've always been "on a diet"... It was just a bad one, so I made a change and chose to follow a healthier diet plan or rather a healthier "eating" plan. And it's really worked for me. In addition to that decision, I also became a more active person. No gym membership or anything like that. I don't get up at the crack of dawn to go jogging. But I do stay much more active than I ever did before. Over 10 years ago, I gained because of the eating choices I made and my sedentary lifestyle. I stayed at 200 lbs (& size 16 to 18W) throughout my 30s because I did nothing about it. I'm now 147 and a size 6 because I made the decision to change, to pay attention, and to get up and move. You can too if you really want to bad enough.

i am dieting and so far lost 11 pounds ...but im not thinking of it as a diet as i exclude NOTHING ...i really mean ...NOTHING ....i have a hospital dietition who is guiding me and as in the past ive lost hundreds of pounds only to put it all back on and more i know DIETING AS SUCH doesnt work for me yes im aware of calories thru this app.but if i want something i eat or drink it ..BUT the rest of the time i am ( dieting ) but this is really a change for life NOT A DIET
because if i diet and deprive myself ...when i reach my goal i will then go back to eating all the things ive been deprived of ...sio i amm learning to eat things in a different way ..

Heya A couple of tips for exercise is to focus on building muscle rather than cardio- though cardio seems to yield more results short term increasing muscle mass increases your BMR and AMR and means long term you'll be able to eat more calories to maintain your goal weight. I used to do HIIT (high intensity interval training) fairly religiously but got a bit lazy and I definitely would say it had more of an impact than focusing solely on cardio. To work out a strength training plan that suits you you should probably research home HIIT exercises to construct a plan for yourself but this seems like a pretty good start if you want to get going right away- http://www.burnfat-buildmuscle.net/fat-burning-hiit-home-workout-routines/ . Also don't be scared if you put on a couple of pounds after starting a new routine- it's water weight from your body storing glycogen to rebuild your muscle, as your body gets used to the exercise it'll go away.

I won't preach too much about diet 'cause as you said yourself you don't want to go on a 'diet' per say, just want to warn you not to eat under your BMR, if you don't know what that is there are a few websites that'll calculate it for you, a lot of people go on VLCD for speedy weight loss but it's not worth it in the long run, your BMR is the bare minimum your body needs to function normally and if you don't give it at least that not only will you feel the effects physically during the diet (dizziness, queasiness, irritability) but you'll be at a much higher risk of plateauing or even regaining it all when you're done.

Anyway, good luck and I wish you every success losing weight