Posts by miss_vito

Circuits - alternating lifting weights (not too heavy but more reps) with cardio movements like step-ups, burpees, etc. for short but intense intervals.

Boot camp - at home or in a class -  a series of both cardio and muscle challenging movements performed in sequence at high intensity with a few moderate to low intensity movements mixed in so you don't lose your lunch.

30 minutes of each of these is a good, short workout that will boost your resting metabolism for quite a while. (as long as you're not going at a relaxed pace)

Yup,  when calories needed aren't supplied by food, the only available option is to cannibalize tissue.  Given that the goal for an organism is to survive, the most metabolically expensive tissue to maintain, i.e., muscle, will go first.  Net weight is lost, but the fat to muscle ratio is higher, so with less muscle mass there must be a decrease in bmr.

The question I have is why skirt around starvation in the first place?  It's certainly no fun, almost impossible to sustain in the long run, and basically jeopardizes one's chances of keeping the weight off because you have jettisoned your best calorie burning tissue.

That's not a bad site.  I will add it to my bookmarks.  I'm always interested in training suggestions.  I like T-nation, but the emphasis is a little more on boys in the gym - good for articles though.

I can try that for the deadlifts.  Chin-ups and pull-up are still out of my repertoire though - i can't hang on, just drop to the floor.  I was wondering if there was any specific working out of the hands that helps.  (Little curls for the fingers?)

Incidentally, the calorie counter thing tells me I need to eat 1500 calories per day to lose weight, regardless of what numbers I plug in.  It even tells me this when i enter the same numbers for current and target weight, despite the fact that this number is also within the normal range for my height.  Tools are not to be taken too seriously.

In my opinion, 1350 calories a day isn't enough for anyone to live on, even if you're in a coma.  I would suggest you take calorie counters as guides rather than prescriptions.  They don't always work as predicted and don't take individual variation into account.  (I lose weight when I eat 2000 calories a day, and I'm only 5'5). The disparity between what you are used to eating and what is recommended to achieve a certain amount of weight loss can be too much of a shock and sabotage your efforts both biologically and psychologically.

One very successful way of losing weight is to log what you currently eat and determine the calorie level you ingest to support the weight that you are.  Then to lose 1 pound per week, remove 500 calories per day from your net consumption by a combination of better food choices, reduced portions and added activity.  Use this site to determine both calorie and nutritional content and to log energy expenditure of various activities.  Adjust your consumption down periodically as you near your goal. (Don't try to lose more than 2 pounds per week or go down by more than 1000 calories per day from your current consumption.  It isn't sustainable).

Successful weight loss is accomplished by changes to your lifestyle, not by embarking on a diet or exercise regime you cannot endure for more than a month or two.  You don't need to eat like you're a prisoner of war or train like a marine every day to lose weight.  A slow but painless weight loss beats harsh but quick losses followed by equally quick re-gains.  You will be rewarded by feeling fine, and keeping the weight off.

Try browsing this site:

http://www.t-nation.com/ALSAuthorsCat.do

I recently read an article there by Alwyn Cosgrove that suggested that for most people, full body workouts three times a week were more effective than splits,  but I can't remember which article it was.  All very interesting reading, nonetheless and Cosgrove often quotes references.  I find his suggestions very effective and have lost ten pounds of fat recently by using complexes in addition to some more traditional lifting.

Cheer up, you'll find you will get fitter faster this time. 

The right time is when you and your partner feel it's right.  You can't predict the future.  A year ago it may have seemed like a great economic climate to have a baby and... surprise.  I can't agree that being fiscally secure is a prerequisite for having children.  A good family environment is dependent on children being loved and welcome.  You can't control world finances, job markets and the value of currency, but you can provide a loving home, care, instruction and support anywhere, any time.

I never had any kids, incidentally.  Never seemed like the right time.  Kind of late now, but so it goes.

Just to address the question and make no comment on whether you should or should not lose weight:  When you eat, concentrate on what you're eating and enjoy it.  Otherwise you can shovel down high calorie food without realizing how much you're eating or even really enjoying it.  Eating slowly at dinners gives your brain time to realize you've had enough before you over-eat.  Trying to save up calories all day for a big meal only means you arrive crazy-hungry at dinner and it's hard to control quantities or realize satiety in that circumstance.  Eat moderately the day of an event, and have a low-cal protein snack before you head out to dangerous circumstances.

The best weapon you have against over-eating is not being hungry.

You forgot to mention all the expats who are storming the immigration offices demanding to become Canadians.

I'm another person who got fat by going on diets.  I was never fat as a child nor a teenager, but i was of a heavier build:  broad shoulders, muscular.  When compared to the stick thin models in magazines i looked fat, at least to myself.  This was an image I carried with me, and through the years made many attempts to become "thin".  All previous attempts involved some kind of deprivation through the elimination of one or more types of food.  The worst was the low fat diet, which left me ravenously hungry all the time, even after a meal.  (Trying Atkins made me homicidal after two days and I had to stop). 

Each time, I would lose some weight, but have to give up the diet because I couldn't take the deprivation any more.  The weight would come back, with increasingly more speed, and there would always be an additional 5 or 10% gain over what i lost.  I started out, at 22 weighing 135 pounds, and ended up, at 47 weighing 214 through all these wonderful diets.

I just gave up and hated myself for a while.  Didn't go anywhere, do anything, just sat around watching TV with my husband and eating and drinking wine.  The food was actually delicious and nutritious, but there was just way too much of it on my plate.

What eventually got me back on track was a costume event.  Every year, my husband and i and a couple of friends would go to a fundraiser in costume.  One year, we were approached by the local newspaper to have out pictures taken.  The costumes were all my idea and I even made them, but it was my much thinner friend whose picture turned up in the paper.  i was just a big (very big) blur in the background.

I decided that I just couldn't live with myself any more.  I also knew that i could not go on a diet for the year or more it would likely take to lose the weight.  So I figured out what a normal person of the weight i wanted to be should eat as to portion size.  I didn't really need to worry about the type of food - I always had a balanced diet heavy in the fruits and veg - just what was an appropriate amount.  I figured if I couldn't handle that, then i would resign myself to being fat and try and deal.  But i found, with the aid of calorie counting, that the portions were just fine.  I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted, but watched the frequency and size of desserts and snacks.

I also committed to a daily course of activity, alternating cardio and strength training, and keeping it challenging all the time.  It worked.  i lost over 70 pounds.

Buying clothes in anticipation of losing weight or to motivate me never worked for me.  I jJust felt fat, sorry I spent the money, and so guilty over everything I put in my mouth I think I ate more.  Actually trying on old "fat" clothes worked better - showed me how much progress I made and that motivated me to stay on track. 

Building up your muscles through weight training will help control loose skin.  Carrying more muscle mass will also help you keep the weight off as it's metabolically more expensive to maintain.

1200 calories is starvation rations.  Your going to lose lots of weight at 1800.  When you have a lot of weight to lose (as i did), keeping on a more moderate regimen is easier to maintain in the long run. 

My local paper runs fitness equipment and routine reviews.  This weeks's offering is using your local playground equipment for workouts.  They suggest this: "do one exercise for a period of time and then directly move to the next exercise without a break. Walk [using your arms] along the monkey bars, follow it with a set of triceps dips off the bench, do a set of pull-ups followed by pushups. Do each exercise for about one minute, and then swing for about three to five minutes. Repeat it all two more times. This will get your heart pumping. The swing, by the way, is awesome for working your core".  You could also try the bootcamp routine on this site in the exercise section.

Doing nothing but elliptical work is going to get boring and you will find that it does less for you as well.  Try something new and have fun.