A couple of weeks ago I realized I'd been feeling exceptionally crappy due to my lifestyle. Eating too much bad food, not enough exercise and so forth. I was gaining weight I had lost a year ago, and I was unhappy with it.
So I decided to give it another shot. A change of lifestyle where I make better, conscious decisions about my food and exercise more. I set my goal at 220lbs (which, given my height will look pretty nice on me) but if I feel and look good at a different number, that's fine too!
That's right! I've lost just shy of 8 pounds since the 17th of July through the simple formula of eating at a calorie deficit. If I need 2500 calories to maintain my weight, I need to eat 1800 to lose 1.5 pounds a week. Any exercise I do burns calories, which I need to eat back. (Eating too few calories is very bad for your body. Nobody should go below 1200 calories, and the taller you are the higher the minimum number is)
I know there are people who are wanting to lose weight on RPR too. No shame in that! I want to share with you the tools I've used, and maybe there are people who'd like some motivation and help with this.
If you have any questions please do post or PM me!
Aaaaaaand... that's it! There really isn't much to it except to eat less calories than you use in your daily activities, eat healthier where possible and exercise more. Even 2 workouts a week of 20 minutes will make a huge difference!
It's quite scary to change your life so drastically, isn't it?
It's what kept me from going fully at it for a while too. It's not easy, and can be very overwhelming when you see how much material there is out there. I've been reading up a lot about diets, exercises, and miracle tips, and it all boils down to the three steps I listed above. There's no magic fix to losing weight and being healthier. The first step to make a change is always the most difficult, too. Some people absolutely insist that you do lifting and strength exercises, other people tell you just cardio is enough.
I always say I'm just going to do what makes me happy. If I see results, awesome! If I don't see results, whoops, I guess I'll have to change something around. Different exercises maybe?
The most important piece of advice I've heard and can pass on is this: Only do this if you really want to be healthier.
Your heart needs to be in it. You need to discipline yourself to some extent. If you haven't had a 'Eureka!' moment where you realize you want/need to be healthier, you won't achieve much of anything. Don't feel pressured into doing this right now if you don't want to. Keep it as an available option for whenever you're ready. This is a long-term journey where you need to take things slow for long-term effects!
If you do decide to join me in this, don't be afraid to message me. I'm in no way a professional dietitian or nutritionist, so if you're truly concerned or need professional guidance, see a person who has the diploma for it. Otherwise I'll be happy to share my findings with you, encourage you and help you! Having someone to cover your back is such an invaluable addition to this you really can't do without. I'll be happy to do that for you.
So I decided to give it another shot. A change of lifestyle where I make better, conscious decisions about my food and exercise more. I set my goal at 220lbs (which, given my height will look pretty nice on me) but if I feel and look good at a different number, that's fine too!
That's right! I've lost just shy of 8 pounds since the 17th of July through the simple formula of eating at a calorie deficit. If I need 2500 calories to maintain my weight, I need to eat 1800 to lose 1.5 pounds a week. Any exercise I do burns calories, which I need to eat back. (Eating too few calories is very bad for your body. Nobody should go below 1200 calories, and the taller you are the higher the minimum number is)
I know there are people who are wanting to lose weight on RPR too. No shame in that! I want to share with you the tools I've used, and maybe there are people who'd like some motivation and help with this.
If you have any questions please do post or PM me!Anyway, here's what I use! Click to expand.
1. My Fitness Pal. (Link)
MFP is a website that presents itself as a diary for you to log your food in and track the calories you consume. Counting calories can be a tedious task sometimes, but because the diary stores the foods you use frequently, after the first two weeks most of what you eat will be in there and all you have to do is click and add how much you ate of it. The best thing? You can eat what you want, and if you exercise you can eat the calories you burned back!
It also allows you to record both strength and cardio exercises. For the cardio exercises, you will get a rough estimate of how many calories you burned. Unless you use a heartratemonitor that tracks how many calories you burn, only eat about 50% of the calories MFP shows you. Their estimates can be off, so better be on the safe side!
The site is designed in such way that it calculates the amount of calories you need to eat based on your height, current weight, age and physical sex, then gives you a number where you'll be at a deficit to lose weight. e.g. You maintain at 2000 calories, but you want to lose 0.5lbs a week. MFP will tell you to eat 1500 calories every day. You don't need to go lower than what the site tells you!
You can set your profile to private so nobody can see anything but your username and the profile picture you upload. You can also share your food diary with friends only, site members or everyone - whatever you prefer.
It's a great tool to help you get an idea of what you eat during the day, how many calories it is and where your problem may be if you're having trouble losing weight. I strongly advise not to make it your bible though - being over your calorie goal or logging food shouldn't consume every waking moment of your day! It's just a tool, nothing more.
2. Healthy recipes.
With a lifestyle change comes a need to change your eating habits. You can still have pizza, McDonalds and whatever other fast food you want. Even candy! But if you're hungry often, you can consider replacing the majority of your meals with fiber rich, carb rich and/or protein rich foods. Things like oatmeal and whole wheat bread keep you full longer. Fruits make great snacks to curb your cravings. If you can replace soda with water or (iced) tea, you will find your craving for sugary drinks to vanish after only a week or two!
Some of my favorite snacks these days are fresh fruits, blended (with a splash of (soy)milk) with a gentle stirring of low-fat yogurt through it. (Don't blend the yogurt, it will mess up the texture) You can sweeten it with honey, but I find that most fruits already add a lot of sweetness to the mixture. Depending on your milk/yogurt ratio, you can eat it with a spoon or drink it. Put it in the freezer for an hour and a half to have frozen yogurt or a milkshake! Most 1 cup servings generally don't exceed 200 calories, and they're quite filling and healthy too!
Depending on where you live, this change of diet can be a bit more expensive than a regular diet. But you'll also be eating a little less than usual (assuming your foods aren't really really high in calories), so perhaps the need to buy less food allows you to buy nicer food! You don't need to go all organic and expensive brands for this. Just buy whatever is comfortable for you and your wallet.
3. Workout routines and videos.
Is it possible to lose weight without exercise? Definitely! If you always eat at a calorie deficit of what your body needs, you'll automatically lose weight. However, this is usually not the best way to do it. You need muscle to burn calories (and fat), and if you don't exercise you may become 'skinny fat', meaning your body lacks the muscles to lift the areas where you lost weight.
See the image above? The guy on the right is skinny, but because he didn't exercise he still looks like he has a belly. This is pretty common in people who diet without exercise and causes a lot of frustration for people.
But I can't afford a gym membership. I have injuries that make exercise difficult. I have a condition where exercise is not good for me.
Fear not! I don't have the money to get a gym membership (and I also hate being out in public, I want to do my thing in peace and quiet). I have bad ankles and sprained one badly two days into my diet, along with back issues. Exercise can be painful for me if I'm not careful, but there's also this:
Everyone can find some activity they can do, that's not part of their daily activities.
Can't run? Take a 15 minute walk. Can't do sit-ups? Suck in your gut, tense up your tummy muscles and do bicep curls for 30 seconds at a time. Have back issues or mobility issues? Spend an hour in the pool where you're moving constantly - no pressure or strain on the joints and spine, but a good exercise for all your muscles. Heart problems? Start doing simple yoga techniques that focus on breathing and stretching muscles (big calorie burner there!).
You can also spend an hour vigorously scrubbing your tub, clean the floor with a toothbrush, vacuum the same room three times and so forth. It sounds silly, but it's all exercise that you'll be working out with! Think of something interesting and blast your favorite music to make it fun!
Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred
This is a video workout that I both hate and love. It's tough for people who are not fit (like me) to do this exercise in full without a break. Despite what the lovely Jillian tells us, I give her the finger and stop after 10 minutes to catch my breath for 2, and have a drink of water if I need to.
The point is that her video has a LOT of basic exercises that you can mash and mix to your liking. Too hot for a full cardio workout? Do 25 pushups and 25 crunches and call it a day. Maybe you just want to do something simple for 10 minutes? Do some basic lunges and bicep curls.
Jillian has some of the exercises modified for people who aren't as flexible or have trouble keeping up, so you can check out the chick on the right to see what you can do. Go take a look at this video!
1. My Fitness Pal. (Link)
MFP is a website that presents itself as a diary for you to log your food in and track the calories you consume. Counting calories can be a tedious task sometimes, but because the diary stores the foods you use frequently, after the first two weeks most of what you eat will be in there and all you have to do is click and add how much you ate of it. The best thing? You can eat what you want, and if you exercise you can eat the calories you burned back!
It also allows you to record both strength and cardio exercises. For the cardio exercises, you will get a rough estimate of how many calories you burned. Unless you use a heartratemonitor that tracks how many calories you burn, only eat about 50% of the calories MFP shows you. Their estimates can be off, so better be on the safe side!
The site is designed in such way that it calculates the amount of calories you need to eat based on your height, current weight, age and physical sex, then gives you a number where you'll be at a deficit to lose weight. e.g. You maintain at 2000 calories, but you want to lose 0.5lbs a week. MFP will tell you to eat 1500 calories every day. You don't need to go lower than what the site tells you!
You can set your profile to private so nobody can see anything but your username and the profile picture you upload. You can also share your food diary with friends only, site members or everyone - whatever you prefer.
It's a great tool to help you get an idea of what you eat during the day, how many calories it is and where your problem may be if you're having trouble losing weight. I strongly advise not to make it your bible though - being over your calorie goal or logging food shouldn't consume every waking moment of your day! It's just a tool, nothing more.
2. Healthy recipes.
With a lifestyle change comes a need to change your eating habits. You can still have pizza, McDonalds and whatever other fast food you want. Even candy! But if you're hungry often, you can consider replacing the majority of your meals with fiber rich, carb rich and/or protein rich foods. Things like oatmeal and whole wheat bread keep you full longer. Fruits make great snacks to curb your cravings. If you can replace soda with water or (iced) tea, you will find your craving for sugary drinks to vanish after only a week or two!
Some of my favorite snacks these days are fresh fruits, blended (with a splash of (soy)milk) with a gentle stirring of low-fat yogurt through it. (Don't blend the yogurt, it will mess up the texture) You can sweeten it with honey, but I find that most fruits already add a lot of sweetness to the mixture. Depending on your milk/yogurt ratio, you can eat it with a spoon or drink it. Put it in the freezer for an hour and a half to have frozen yogurt or a milkshake! Most 1 cup servings generally don't exceed 200 calories, and they're quite filling and healthy too!
Depending on where you live, this change of diet can be a bit more expensive than a regular diet. But you'll also be eating a little less than usual (assuming your foods aren't really really high in calories), so perhaps the need to buy less food allows you to buy nicer food!
You don't need to go all organic and expensive brands for this. Just buy whatever is comfortable for you and your wallet.3. Workout routines and videos.
Is it possible to lose weight without exercise? Definitely! If you always eat at a calorie deficit of what your body needs, you'll automatically lose weight. However, this is usually not the best way to do it. You need muscle to burn calories (and fat), and if you don't exercise you may become 'skinny fat', meaning your body lacks the muscles to lift the areas where you lost weight.
See the image above? The guy on the right is skinny, but because he didn't exercise he still looks like he has a belly. This is pretty common in people who diet without exercise and causes a lot of frustration for people.
But I can't afford a gym membership. I have injuries that make exercise difficult. I have a condition where exercise is not good for me.
Fear not! I don't have the money to get a gym membership (and I also hate being out in public, I want to do my thing in peace and quiet). I have bad ankles and sprained one badly two days into my diet, along with back issues. Exercise can be painful for me if I'm not careful, but there's also this:
Everyone can find some activity they can do, that's not part of their daily activities.
Can't run? Take a 15 minute walk. Can't do sit-ups? Suck in your gut, tense up your tummy muscles and do bicep curls for 30 seconds at a time. Have back issues or mobility issues? Spend an hour in the pool where you're moving constantly - no pressure or strain on the joints and spine, but a good exercise for all your muscles. Heart problems? Start doing simple yoga techniques that focus on breathing and stretching muscles (big calorie burner there!).
You can also spend an hour vigorously scrubbing your tub, clean the floor with a toothbrush, vacuum the same room three times and so forth. It sounds silly, but it's all exercise that you'll be working out with! Think of something interesting and blast your favorite music to make it fun!
Jillian Michaels' 30 day shred
This is a video workout that I both hate and love. It's tough for people who are not fit (like me) to do this exercise in full without a break. Despite what the lovely Jillian tells us, I give her the finger and stop after 10 minutes to catch my breath for 2, and have a drink of water if I need to.
The point is that her video has a LOT of basic exercises that you can mash and mix to your liking. Too hot for a full cardio workout? Do 25 pushups and 25 crunches and call it a day. Maybe you just want to do something simple for 10 minutes? Do some basic lunges and bicep curls.
Jillian has some of the exercises modified for people who aren't as flexible or have trouble keeping up, so you can check out the chick on the right to see what you can do. Go take a look at this video!
Aaaaaaand... that's it! There really isn't much to it except to eat less calories than you use in your daily activities, eat healthier where possible and exercise more. Even 2 workouts a week of 20 minutes will make a huge difference!
It's quite scary to change your life so drastically, isn't it?
It's what kept me from going fully at it for a while too. It's not easy, and can be very overwhelming when you see how much material there is out there. I've been reading up a lot about diets, exercises, and miracle tips, and it all boils down to the three steps I listed above. There's no magic fix to losing weight and being healthier. The first step to make a change is always the most difficult, too. Some people absolutely insist that you do lifting and strength exercises, other people tell you just cardio is enough.
I always say I'm just going to do what makes me happy. If I see results, awesome! If I don't see results, whoops, I guess I'll have to change something around. Different exercises maybe?
The most important piece of advice I've heard and can pass on is this: Only do this if you really want to be healthier.
Your heart needs to be in it. You need to discipline yourself to some extent. If you haven't had a 'Eureka!' moment where you realize you want/need to be healthier, you won't achieve much of anything. Don't feel pressured into doing this right now if you don't want to. Keep it as an available option for whenever you're ready. This is a long-term journey where you need to take things slow for long-term effects!
If you do decide to join me in this, don't be afraid to message me.
I'm in no way a professional dietitian or nutritionist, so if you're truly concerned or need professional guidance, see a person who has the diploma for it. Otherwise I'll be happy to share my findings with you, encourage you and help you! Having someone to cover your back is such an invaluable addition to this you really can't do without. I'll be happy to do that for you.
Darth made an excellent suggestion to me about this!
Maybe we can create an OOC group on RPR that's dedicated to the weight loss journey where we can support each other and exchange food tips and the like? Would anyone be interested?
Maybe we can create an OOC group on RPR that's dedicated to the weight loss journey where we can support each other and exchange food tips and the like?
Would anyone be interested?
That would be amazing! I'm underweight but I eat a lot of junk food. (SUPER high metabolism, it's awful.)
I'd love to have a community to turn to where I can fish out healthy recipes and stuff like that, and have support for healthy living. Someplace where I don't have to worry I'm being judged for being too skinny but wanting to be healthy too. I honestly can't help it!
. (I eat everything all the time but I'm still technically underweight.)
I'd love to have a community to turn to where I can fish out healthy recipes and stuff like that, and have support for healthy living. Someplace where I don't have to worry I'm being judged for being too skinny but wanting to be healthy too. I honestly can't help it!
. (I eat everything all the time but I'm still technically underweight.)
There will be no judging under my roof! 
My sister has the very same problem you have. She and I have bizarrely different genetics and metabolisms. She's struggling so bad to gain weight although she easily consumes 3000 calories a day.
A way for you to gain weight would be to, instead of gaining fat mass, to gain muscle mass. A protein and carb rich diet, combined with proper strength training, will increase your muscle mass and you will gain weight. You won't be plump, but you will be filled out more and the scale will go up a lot (muscle = heavier than fat).
Don't be scared by the idea of toning up. A lot of women think they'll get super bulky, and while you'll definitely have some bigger biceps by the end of it and more muscle definition, you won't be a bodybuilder or anything like that. This is what it would look like, more or less:
If that's something you'd like to do, I can help you research what exercises and diet will benefit you the most.
My sister has the very same problem you have. She and I have bizarrely different genetics and metabolisms. She's struggling so bad to gain weight although she easily consumes 3000 calories a day.
A way for you to gain weight would be to, instead of gaining fat mass, to gain muscle mass. A protein and carb rich diet, combined with proper strength training, will increase your muscle mass and you will gain weight. You won't be plump, but you will be filled out more and the scale will go up a lot (muscle = heavier than fat).
Don't be scared by the idea of toning up. A lot of women think they'll get super bulky, and while you'll definitely have some bigger biceps by the end of it and more muscle definition, you won't be a bodybuilder or anything like that. This is what it would look like, more or less:
Click to expand the pictures. All SFW!
If that's something you'd like to do, I can help you research what exercises and diet will benefit you the most.
I also found this incredibly useful website called Model my Diet, where they use pretty accurate images based on your height, weight and gender to see what you look like now, and what you will look like at your goal weight.
This is the image that comes up for me from when I started this, and what I'd like to end up looking like:
If anyone else wants to try it, you're more than welcome to post your results here!
This is the image that comes up for me from when I started this, and what I'd like to end up looking like:
If anyone else wants to try it, you're more than welcome to post your results here!
Here are actual pictures of me for those who are curious.
Wow! Actually! I just started using that my fitness thing too! It was fantastic, I lost 20 pounds! Good job, it works amazingly. I started slacking because of vacations and my sister's wedding coming up, but I need to get on it again. I would totally be in this, and happy to offer support if there were a group on here and likely hop on in. It is always so much easier with friends who are doing the same, and possitive encouragement! Great thinking, and great job with how much you have lost already!
Paich wrote:
Wow! Actually! I just started using that my fitness thing too! It was fantastic, I lost 20 pounds! Good job, it works amazingly. I started slacking because of vacations and my sister's wedding coming up, but I need to get on it again. I would totally be in this, and happy to offer support if there were a group on here and likely hop on in. It is always so much easier with friends who are doing the same, and possitive encouragement! Great thinking, and great job with how much you have lost already!
20 pounds?! Wow, great job!! How long did that take you?
I hear you, I started waaay back in January, but I was too busy with other things to actually focus on this. I gained 22 pounds that I had previously lost again. Very frustrating! Thank you though!
Considering we already have two people now interested in joining the group, I'll get to making one asap.
I'll invite/PM whoever is interested when you can join! Shouldn't be long.
Sanne wrote:
There will be no judging under my roof!
My sister has the very same problem you have. She and I have bizarrely different genetics and metabolisms. She's struggling so bad to gain weight although she easily consumes 3000 calories a day.
A way for you to gain weight would be to, instead of gaining fat mass, to gain muscle mass. A protein and carb rich diet, combined with proper strength training, will increase your muscle mass and you will gain weight. You won't be plump, but you will be filled out more and the scale will go up a lot (muscle = heavier than fat).
Don't be scared by the idea of toning up. A lot of women think they'll get super bulky, and while you'll definitely have some bigger biceps by the end of it and more muscle definition, you won't be a bodybuilder or anything like that. This is what it would look like, more or less:
If that's something you'd like to do, I can help you research what exercises and diet will benefit you the most.
My sister has the very same problem you have. She and I have bizarrely different genetics and metabolisms. She's struggling so bad to gain weight although she easily consumes 3000 calories a day.
A way for you to gain weight would be to, instead of gaining fat mass, to gain muscle mass. A protein and carb rich diet, combined with proper strength training, will increase your muscle mass and you will gain weight. You won't be plump, but you will be filled out more and the scale will go up a lot (muscle = heavier than fat).
Don't be scared by the idea of toning up. A lot of women think they'll get super bulky, and while you'll definitely have some bigger biceps by the end of it and more muscle definition, you won't be a bodybuilder or anything like that. This is what it would look like, more or less:
Click to expand the pictures. All SFW!
If that's something you'd like to do, I can help you research what exercises and diet will benefit you the most.
I'd like to have a belly like that! My belly's got a lil bit of extra skin from when I used to be a normal weight. Or well, healthy weight not normal. I was 120 when I was 12 years old. Haven't grown an inch since I was about 10 or 11. Now I'm 5'3.5" and 110 lbs on average. Sometimes less, sometimes more. I wanna be 120-125.
But I have slightly muscular arms. Even though they're sickeningly thin, they've got muscle to them. And I find that soooo gross lmao. Not for other people, like another person isn't sick because they're muscular, but I don't find muscles appealing personally and having them makes me feel kinda gross.
SO IT'S SO WEIRD AND AWKWARD because I know they're good to have.
But at the same time I'm already incredibly self conscious and that'd probably not help.
OH THE JOYS OF WHAT WE WANT AND WHAT WE NEED.
I'm doing it too. I started today. I'm really hoping to slowly lose 100 pounds and be a little bit bigger than when I was in high school. The problem is, I eat when I'm depressed and I'm depressed a lot lately and stressed. I'm trying really hard to get healthy, though. I want to look in the mirror and not be surprised by how I look. Besides, hearing about Sanne's success every day is very empowering.
I started a weight loss schtick. I've managed to lose 100lbs since last November.
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