Losing weight tips for me?
 

Alright! So my family has been nagging at me like no tomorrow to lose weight, which i admit i could most definitely benefit from losing weight. I'd also love to strengthen my back muscles since i have back problems and I'm only 18.

So! Is there any tips? Recommended exercises?

I will admit I am a very lazy person, I lay on my bed and read all day or sit at my desk and work on art >.< I'm not a big fan of dieting, if I'm going to die the next day I'd rather die knowing i ate what i wanted too, I know portion control is a big factor though. I would enjoy simple stuff.

I also got the Zumba game for the will which I have yet to play so I might try that two times a week.

Sooo any advice? Helpful hints?

Well, weight loss is something that just isn't easy. It comes down to the fact that you're going to have to exercise, you're going to have to eat small portions, and you're going to have to cut out high calorie food 85% of the time. :( I mean, eating a cookie isn't going to kill a diet, but eating three every day might.

For exercise, I recommend variety. It's great you got the Zumba game, but trust me when I tell you you'll be sick of it within three days of doing it every day. SO go to the library and rent a couple workout DVDs every week to switch it up.

This site: Calorie Calculator will tell you how many calories you have to eat every day to create a calorie deficit and lose weight. Keep in mind that as you lose weight, you will have to progressively eat less and less calories to continue losing weight.

thank you so much! I love the site

It has helped me a lot. :) You should eat an amount of calories that is somewhere in between the one and two pound weight loss range, and it's hard but you should drop sodas and juices. They add way more calories than you can imagine.

I think juice will be the hardest, I'm not that much of a soda drinker, love the taste but i can live without it

It's more of eating a varied diet. Counting calories is a bad thing in my opinion because people think calories=bad when that's not true. Too few calories can actually have a reverse effect and make your body store fat because it's starving even though you're eating.

Getting up and being more active for sure helps. There are things you can even do at home with small hand weights that help strengthen muscle and lose weight. A quick Google search will pull up a bunch of different exercises. Zomba, dance classes, and yoga are all fun ways to lose weight and stay active as well. I find if it's something fun then I want to stay active in it more. Even if you don't want to join a gym, you can find things online but a personal trainer may help target areas that you need to work on better than what you can do on your own.

As far as food goes, add more fruits and veggies, more nuts and lean protein. By lean protein I mean cut down on things like hamburgers and red meats and eat more things like baked chicken or fish. Cutting out fast food and prepared foods/processed foods will help a lot too as does staying away from anything that's fried. Staying as "natural" as you can is always better for your health anyway.

Saw your thread and thought of this video.

I manage to maintain my weight mainly because of my job. I work in a buffet, so I'm constantly running around grabbing things, cooking, and carrying heavy things, and also running up and down stairs between floors.

Though besides that, I've switched from drinking soda to drinking mainly water when I'm at home (considering that soda costs too much nowadays). And when I'm at work, I'll drink lemonade mixed with cranberry juice to keep myself hydrated as I work, and so I can drink something sweet. I've also taught myself not to eat as much, so eating less can really pay off.

I would pop in that Zumba game right away and play it! I've done Zumba before and it's a really great way to get you moving. I find Zumba to be so much fun. There are all sorts of different dances that it teaches you that are quick and easy to learn. Make sure that you start with the beginner classes in the game first. I would play it at least three times a week for about an hour or so. Be sure to keep some water with you while you play since you will be jumping and moving around like crazy.

Yeah, you should take my advice on calorie counting with the grain of salt that Mystic brought up. I personally find that counting calories helps me. It has made me start eating those lean proteins, fruits, and veggies, and cut out processed foods because you realize just how many calories are in them. But even if you eat too many of those you simply won't lose weight. So that's why I recommend starting out counting calories, and then when you learn what healthy meals and portion sizes are you can forget it and just live your life with the knowledge you got by beginning by counting your calories.

I'm a complete soda/juice addict, so I switched over to sparkling waters and spritzers. 0 calories, all of the fizzy goodness.

I have a small tip that doesn't take much effort.

(depending on where you live though)
Wear less clothing around the house or turn down the heating by a couple of degrees. It may not be huge but the colder your body registers, the more your body uses NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) which is your bodies natural way of using energy in day to day activities. Your body makes small twitches or continuous movements to keep itself warm and thus using more energy and calories.

I can't understand what she's saying in that video... o.o
Too much chirping XD

Only tip I can think of is "Build Muscle" because muscle burns fat. Also sticking to a routine helps too

I have just a few tips to offer

The first being don't deprive yourself of something you love. This always backfires. If you love soda and you drink five cans a day and then try to drink none ever, you're going to be miserable, constantly wanting soda, and then you're going to drink a ton. If you love chips or chocolate or whatever and then have none, you're going to be miserable and then go "screw it" and eat a lot. So if there are some less-than-healthy things you love identify what they are (versus the things you can live without - some people can live without chips just fine) and then try to find healthier versions (zero calorie soda, dark chocolate instead of milk, baked chips, etc.) and enjoy those in moderation. Pay attention to the serving sizes on the package and stick to it (the bag saying the chips are only 100 calories doesn't matter if you eat three servings - if it says 14 chips are in a serving, pull 14 chips out onto a paper towel, put away the bag, and just eat your portion). Still eat what you love so you don't feel deprived, just do it smartly.

Likewise, don't force yourself to eat food you don't like just because it's "healthy." If you are bored to tears by salads and no amount of sprucing them up makes you like them, then just find something else. Same principal as above - if you're unhappy with what you're eating, you're not going to stick to it.

Also, try walking around while you're on the phone instead of sitting. Not only does it provide some mild exercise/cardio, it'll keep you from getting distracted by the computer or something when you should be focusing on who you're chatting with. [lol]

And of course, none of this is implying that you have poor self-control or anything like that. These are just very common pitfalls for many people, myself included.

Also, remember that when you add something to food, you have to account for those calories as well. So if you do have a salad, you have to realize that cheese, croutons, and dressing all contain calories as well.

And with excersize, try to find activities that you enjoy doing. It won't be such a chore to work up the motivation to do something you enjoy. For instance, if you find running boring and repetitive but you enjoy basketball then basketball would be better for you.

My biggest tip that I can give: it's all about habbit. If you drink soft drinks at all, I would recommend switching to diet. I have done this, and while it was hard at first, it is second nature to me now, and I can't stand to drink regular sodas.
Also, when I first started working out, I could only do about 20 pushups at a time. Now I can do 100!

So if you keep at it, you WILL improve your body and health, even though it's at a slow start.
I run every other day, and it was hard the first time I went out running. But now I feel so much better about my health. And I can't even run a marathon yet! lol

My boyfriend is on the atkins diet, which has taught me a lot about carbs and nutritional value. All I can advise you is to try to start looking and counting carbs and other values that you eat too much of. Although when exercising, you cannot eliminate carbs!

I'm trying to join the army, and I'm pretty much forcing myself to drink nothing but water. But like I said, once it becomes habitual, it's not hard. And when I'm running, I don't want anything but water! :)

Just going to throw this out there: the goal should be to increase your health, not lose weight. Thin =/= healthy.

As for exercises for a bad back, I'd go for swimming. It exercises all your muscles and it's also really easy going on your joints because the water gives the whole weightless feel as you move. I have a really bad back too, and I think this helps more than any other exercise as it doesn't jar it.

If you cut the soda it will had a ton. For a work out i like to swim we have a year round pool just down the street <3