I know exercise is essential but....

I am not seeing results as I would like with all the exercise that I am doing.  Has anyone just ate correctly and counted  calories and lost weight.  I am going to try this for a while and see what happens.  Anyone else do this if so please share....

Yes you can lose weight just with diet.  The problem with this approach is that you will lose both muscle and fat, so your body fat percentage doesn't change and you'll develop "problem spots."  Also your metabolism decreases.  You will have much more success reshaping your body through a combination of strength training, cardio exercise, and sensible diet.  Just mho.

I knew that answer was coming.  I am just sick of cardio all the machines are really boring right now.  I have been doing cardio for about 2 months now and really not seeing the results I thought I should be seeing and my weight has stalled.  I thought maybe if I could see the numbers go down I would be more inclined to work out.

Does that make sense?

I completely understand what you're saying -- the first time I lost 45 pounds on Weight Watchers, I didn't exercise AT ALL because I was so afraid I would not see the numbers come down and I would become discouraged. This time I am not going to do it that way, just for health's sake, but if you feel it would give you a boost, it certainly is possible. 

Are you counting calories and working out? Maybe you are not eating enough or possibly eating too much.

Yes, weightloss without working out is possible but your body does not tone itself up after the weight loss, which is where the cardio and weights come in.

I am like you, I find cardio very boring so I put my elliptical in the corner of our family room so I could watch my favorite show(s) while doing the elliptical.  I'll watch a show that is an hour long (Tivo'd and ffwding past commercials) and do the elliptical for the entirety of the show. It usually equals around 40 minutes or so.

Have you taken your measurements to see if you are losing inches? 

GOOD LUCK!

I hear what you're saying.  If the routine isn't challenging you anymore, it probably won't help you.  You need to change things up.  I find the machines pretty boring myself, so when I use them I will HIIT.  That's where you go as hard as you can, as fast as you can, for about 1 minute, then slow down and recover for 3 minutes.  You can do it sprinting or on an incline on a treadmill, or also on an exercise cycle that lets you change the resistance.  It's a killer workout and you only need to do it for 20 minutes or so to get a lot of benefits.  Another good total-body workout is swimming.  Basically the key is to find enough different ways to exercise that you don't get bored and stuck in a rut.  Don't be afraid to hit the weights either, they really can make a world of difference.

When I used to be able to breathe, I used the treadmill quite regularly. I used it for about 45 minutes to an hour. I would start out at 3.2 mph, then in 2 minutes increase to 3.4 mph, then in 1 minute increase to 3.6 mph; then in 1 minute increase to 3.8 mph; then to 4.0 in another minute, and then 4.2. After a minute at that speed I would decrease it back to 3.4 and start all over, changing it at one minute intervals and going up to 4.4 at the fastest. Do that for 3 or 4 sets and I knew I had had a workout when I was done, and it wasn't so boring, because you had to keep track of the time in order to know when to change it.

You know working out has become getting to a certain number like 500.  I am always focused on burning 500 on lets say the elliptical that I am constantly staring at the calories burned and it is strenuos.  I think I am going to start swimming.  The site says that if I swim for an hour I will burn like 239 or something like that.  If I can do a class or something and swim for like an hour that should be better and different. 

If someone can explain the deficit thing again if I don't burn the entire amount in the gym or with workout how to I balance it out.  For example I know that 500 calorie deficit a day will lead to 3500 deficit a week but lets say I do 200 in the gym does that mean I have to eat 300 less a day to balance it out.  Please explain as simple as possible.

Thanks

Well, it depends how you have calculated what you eat.  Did you use the allowance tool to get an intake target?  If so, what did you set it at and did you include your exercise activity?

For me, what worked is calculating my calories based on the sedentary setting, which will automatically give you your deficit.  Then on days where I exercise, I eat back the calories that I burned (to keep the deficit from getting too large).  This works particularly well if you don't exercise every day.

I find cardio very boring too.  I used to try to zone out to the music.  I bought a video ipod recently, and I've been watching an episode a day of hour long shows (each ep is about 43 mins).  It makes it so much easier to get through, and it feels like almost no time at all.  I just finished season 6 of the shield, and I'm four episodes into season 6 of 24.  I haven't though about my next show yet.

I have my activities set at sedetary and it says that i burn 1700 and my allowance is 1200. 

I was thinking today that I am going to change the way well not the way but the foods I am eating because maybe my body is so used to me eating the same foods that its not doing the same for me anymore  just like exercising.  When ur body gets used to the same routine it will not respond.  I don't know just a thought and something I will try.

Any more advice please let me know.

I agree that gyms can be BORING. I was so happy when my gym purchased many bicycling machines with a screen that shows your route and how far you have to go. It also shows beautiful scenery, pacers beside you (or ahead!) and any upcoming hills to prepare for. It almost feels like you are outside, without the Florida heat. Much less boring!