Looking for advice...1 mth not losing hardly anything...

[Angelgirljessi]

Hi There. I'm 31 Female mother to 1 son I weigh 240 lbs. I've just been lazy and since feb I realized that i'm 50 lbs overweight from my goal and i weight 27 lbs more then when I was full blown pregnant. No excuse for it I also got a new job 4 yrs ago which is a call center sit down job instead of my previous phlebotomy running my butt off at the hospital job. I also heard metoblism slows after 30 yrs yay for me. But I bought a fitbit charge 2 in hopes to help motivate me and keep me motivated I'm not happy with how I look and just tired all the time. I have almost 6 yr old boy who I enjoy playing with and I need to be healthy I have heart disease and diabetes in the family I had gestional diabetes with my pregnancy I know its a matter of time until I'm diagnosised with it. But for the past month I've been eating at or under 1800 calories a day. I started walking 30 min every single morning I did that for a week just to get back in the sync of this working out idea then the following week I continued 30 min every morning and started an aerobics workout that is 30-45min in the evening. Sometimes I walk in the evening ontop of the aerobics workout. I've been doing very well I feel. I've only lost 2 lbs and normally in the past I drop 5 lbs water weight like that. I took measurements have lost 1 inch around my belly. I feel some days like i've busted my butt and I don't want to get frusterated and give up. I know losing weight is hard work and takes time. Before I started doing anything different I did only have about 3-3500 steps a day and since 3/20/17 I've increased to atleast 8000 a day that is my goal and here the past week or 2 i've been doing atleast 10,000 steps a day. Any help with workouts/food would be appreciated. I love this community and love the before and after pics it really helps to keep me going. Am i expecting too much from myself? Thanks everyone!

[bcalvanese]

When I was 57 I was obese. Male 5' 8" 230 lbs. I developed diverticulitis and had to have surgery to remove an 8" section of my colon. During the prescreening for the surgery they uncovered that I had COPD and a small part at the bottom of my heart was slightly enlarged. They told me if I did not start exercising and lose weight I would not be around much longer.

They recommended walking for exercise.

I started walking every day. Sometimes 2, 3, 4 times a day. I could barely walk a mile at first without having to lay down and feeling like I was dying. I kept pushing myself harder, faster, and longer.

After a year or so I could power walk 10 miles at a 4.5+ mph pace, and lost 57 lbs. (about 1 lb. per week). About 8 months ago or so I started having trouble keeping my heart rate in the cardio zone just from walking so I started adding run intervals into my power walks. Started with 30 second run intervals, then 1 minute, then 2 minutes, etc... Now I can run 5 miles non stop and have been maintaining my weight without even logging my food anymore.

All my blood work comes back 100% normal now, my resting heart rate has gone from the upper 80's to the low 60's. I recently had an echocardiogram and a stress test done to recheck my heart, and it came back 100% normal now.

I think you should do a combination of exercise and learn how to eat a well balanced healthy diet, and only set your goal to lose 1 lb. per week. When you do cardio, push yourself until you are breathing heavy and you're in the cardio zone for at least 30 minutes non stop. And try to do that at least 3 times per week. If you cannot do it at first, make it a goal and slowly work towards it.

Make sure you check with your doctor to make sure you can do cardio. Maybe get an EKG done.

I still eat junk food her and there, but my main diet is healthy, and I burn a lot of calories exercising. It has become a habit to me now, so I can't not do it.

It's going to be extremely hard at first, but once you get over that hump and start feeling the benefits, you will not want to stop.

Good luck.

[Angelgirljessi]

Thank you @bcalvanese I loved reading your story very inspiring! I have had ekg/2d echo all checked out good. I have alot of heart problems in my family and about 4 yrs ago had some heart flutters but all checked out ok thankfully. I think I need to amp up my cardio I've been trying to jog on my walks for as long as I can but these shin splints kill me so I've settled back down and just walking fast for the moment. I did jog briefly this morning while walking my dog.

If you don't mind me asking how long as your journey been and how much do you weigh now?

 Thank You so much!

[cindynelson]

I have never had a weight problem but I have friends who do.  I can't eat sugar so that eliminates that problem. (No I am not diabetic ...  sugar just makes me really sick). I have always worked out a couple of hours a day since I was in 12 years old when I joined the track team. I am 5'6'' and I weigh 115 pounds. You don't want to know how old I am ... I am old :)) Yes I had to increase my workout time as I got older because my metabolism started to slow down.  I had no weight gain but there were other signs.

My friends who have had weight problems tell me these are some things that worked.  

1. They eat bigger meals early in the day and they do not eat after 8:00PM. 

2. They workout everyday ... no need for a recovery day unless you are professional athlete.

3. They don't binge ...ever.

4. They drink a lot of water and eat foods high in fiber.

5. They never eat "fast foods" , "comidos rapidos" or what ever you want to call it. You never know what is in what you are eating.

Hope this helps,

Cindy

[bcalvanese]

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@Angelgirljessi wrote:

Thank you @bcalvanese I loved reading your story very inspiring! I have had ekg/2d echo all checked out good. I have alot of heart problems in my family and about 4 yrs ago had some heart flutters but all checked out ok thankfully. I think I need to amp up my cardio I've been trying to jog on my walks for as long as I can but these shin splints kill me so I've settled back down and just walking fast for the moment. I did jog briefly this morning while walking my dog.

If you don't mind me asking how long as your journey been and how much do you weigh now?

 Thank You so much!

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I've been doing cardio for going on 2 years now. my weight is between 175 and 180 now and I have been maintaining that weight without logging my food for about 6 to 8 months now.

I used to get pain in my shins at first. And my feet, ankles, knees, hips, and back hurt as well. I found that a quality running shoe helped with a lot of that. Power walking also helps strengthen all those joints as well. Shin pain does not necessarily mean shin splints. All those little muscles that pull the front of your foot upward while you are walking can cause pain, and shoes that cause your foot to slap on the ground can cause it too.

I used to wear the cheap Walmart shoes, and one day I decided to go on my first 5 mile power walk at a local state park. I got about half way through the course and my feet were killing me so bad I didn't think I could take another step. I realized at that point that either way, I still had to walk another 2 and a half mile to get back to my car. At that moment I decided that I needed to invest in some good shoes...:)

[Angelgirljessi]

Thank you so much @bcalvanese and @cindynelson I appreciate everything!

[emili]

Hey @Angelgirljessi you have a ton of good information here already. And I don't want to contradict any of it except to say- everyone has a different journey and a different way to get to the end of it. what works for one may not work for another. Me, I lost weight when I turned 43. I ate at a large deficit, I didn't exercise because of that, and every week I lost. There was never starvation or anything remotely like that. I dropped the bulk of my weight in three months and then fine tuned and started to work out over the course of three more. From there it was keeping it off while building muscle and cardio well being. But that's me. The same worked for my coworker, my son and my husband. My friend couldn't do it. You are losing, you aren't gaining and you are improving your over all well being. Fine tune. Try different food to see if maybe something stays with you longer (fiber, salt) try a different work out routine- go for something that makes you sweat like a man- salt and toxins- awesome healthy. Experiment until you get to know what works, what might work and what very clearly doesn't. It will take time, but in the end- you will have magic.