Posts by catsy22

You should be fine. If you read the instructions to the pills, I think it says you can go a day or two and be fine as long as you take the missed pills asap. I was on a low dose "mini" pill which is progesterin only. The "mini" pill is more sensitive to when you take it but you can still miss a day and be ok.

• Goal:  You need to set a realistic goal, like losing 30 pounds over a six month period.  Put that one in writing in a visible place so it can constantly remind you of your goal.   

• Making Time:  If you want to be successful, then you need to make time for exercise.  Half an hour of exercise a day is enough. It is absolutely necessary that you work out, otherwise don't even bother trying to lose weight, because you'll only end up wasting your time.  

• Figure out what kind exercise you like:  As I've stated before, to lose weight steadily and effectively,  exercise is the most important part  if you want to achieve success.  Pick an exercise that you enjoy and that won't bore you during that half hour.  It can be walking, jogging, running, swimming, riding a bicycle, anything that gets your heart pumping for at least thirty minutes.  For me, it's jogging. I enjoy it very much, since while I'm jogging I also take the time to think about the things I will do throughout the day. 

• Clothes and shoes: Get something comfortable, you don't need a huge sweater that suffocates you, a short sleeve T-shirt will do, as will short or large pants (Actually, this depends on where you live and the weather).  A huge misconception is that the more you sweat the more you lose weight.   Wrong.  Sweat is just water and you will gain that weight back the moment you drink more of it, and you will be drinking a lot of water.  But, the good side effect of sweating a lot is that you will also lose sodium (and several other minerals you need to replenish), so if you suffer from high sodium, then using a huge, warm sweater could help you regain healthy sodium levels.   Use sneakers, or any brand of comfortable and sturdy running shoes,  otherwise you will end with horrible, horrible back pain. 

• Reason: Why do you want to lose weight?  Is it for your health?  Is it because you want to be prettier?  Is it because of a boyfriend/girlfriend?  If the reason is one of the first two then you are ready to the next item on the list, but if you just want to lose weight because a boyfriend/girlfriend told you so or because you want to impress someone, then you need to stop right now and re-check your priorities.   You should do this because YOU want to feel good about yourself, not because you want someone else to feel good about you. 

• Motivation: I was pretty straightforward on the last point because when you lose weight for another person, and it turns out that said person is not interested in you after you lose all the weight, then you will not just lose your motivation, your whole mental well being is going to suffer and in the end you will most probably gain all the weight back, even more.  To stay motivated you need to keep it real, don't measure your weight every day, do it every other week instead, and even then if it doesn't go down the way you expect it to, you should know that you are growing muscle mass now, and that muscle mass tends to weigh more than fat does.   You could also measure your waist, since it can be a more precise indicator of how many pounds you've lost. 

• Food: I am not a fanatic of diets that exclude certain food types, instead I am a fanatic of moderation.  In fact I hate the word "diet". That implies that you are going to forcibly eat something for a determined period of time when you should be doing the opposite.  The term I like is "behavior modification".  You should modify your eating habits and keep them for life.  Instead of focusing on a low carb or high protein diet I focus on calories.  I should be eating around 2450 calories a day to maintain my current