losing weight

[bikergirl]

Hey, i was just wondering if anyone had any ideas that would tie in with this programme for losing weight on the stomach area, since ive started this i have lost an inch off my hips and nearly 2 inches from my cheast, booo to the latter, i wanted to keep that bit lol , but my stomach hasnt changed, i know this is the last area that will burn fat from, but i now look like im fat, wheras before i was more in preportion. I never did this to lose weight, but now i feel i need to as i look fat now. I havent lost any weight on the scales, that still reads the exact same. Any ideas folks, any tips and suggestions would be welcome

[Malcy Graduate]

Hi

Sounds like you're off to a good start.

You can read through the blogs and the same story keeps coming through - running will tone you up, you'll drop a size or two but you won't lose weight, etc. Essentially, you're burning fat but building muscle. But that only goes on for so long, and once your muscle is where it needs to be, you'll just be burning the fat. HOWEVER - and it's a big however - a 5k run is only worth about 350 calories, which is only a sandwich. To lose weight you need to cut your calorie intake as well as exercise. The basic formula is, of course, [ if(calories eaten < calories burned), result = weight lost ]. I lost 30+ kilos so have been there and done that. This is the ONLY way it can be done.

The general recommendation is to cut back by 500 calories a day to lose 1lb per week. Reducing by 1000 a day will lose you a kilo a week. But where most people go wrong is reducing from, say, 4,000 cal per day to 3,500. That won't work. The intake has to be 500 or 1000 less than the recommended intake of 2000 for women or 2500 for men. Hopefully you see that if 2000 will maintain your weight, reducing to 1500 will result in weight loss. But if you drop from 4000 to 3500, you would still be 1500 a day more than the 'steady' intake. Instead of losing weight, you would continue to put on weight. You would just be putting it on a bit slower!

The good news is that it really is a simple process. It does work - it CAN be done, and you can actually have a lot of fun doing it. Like running, weight loss is a mental challenge. If you 'buy in' to the idea, you can do it.

Hope that helps.

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Its over two years since I started running and then I had about 2 stone to lose. I followed BootsDiets.com for the weight loss but I didn't find the running alone helped I needed to reduce calories and fat intake. What I did find though was that my body toned up just about everywhere except the tummy. Then last summer I had just 5lbs to go and wasn't getting anywhere, no matter what I did the last few pounds would not shift.

Just about the same time I started HIIT (high intensive interval training) when running and swimming. The pounds flew off and an extra two in about 4 weeks, my stomach had never been that flat in aover 30 years!!! I confess though that I didn't manage to keep that really trim figure for more than 4 months. Holidays, injury and Christmas/New Year all added to my small weight gain. I will do HIIT again this summer just to see if the same happens, why not give it a try once you have graduated and can run a comfortable 5K. Good luck with the programme.

HIIT is short fast bursts of speed followed by slower recovery session then repeated of any exercise you chose, it can be cycling, swimming, running, cross trainer, rowing just about anything really that you find manageable. You don't need to do it for long either, thats the joy and fun of it.

[bikergirl Graduate in reply to Oldgirl]

thank you to you both for answering my question, been doing some reading on the hiit, will give that a go When i do graduate

and have found an app to map what im eating so i can see how many calories i am actually consuming just now. and try to work out how to get below that daily 2000 mark.

[Oldgirl Graduate in reply to bikergirl]

If you go into BootsDiets.com (free for first week, then you can opt out if its not for you) It will calculate your calories and fat grams allowance per day against your height and age. The diary you fill in works out calories burnt during exericse and it also has loads of recipes to help you with your meals. Lovely forum like this with like minded people to help and encourage.

Also NHS has a weight loss programme you can follow which is totally free, check out the Communities tab at the top of the page to find the address.

[Aftabs Graduate]

I was calorie counting from October to the beginning of May and aimed to eat 1800 calories a day. This helped go from 94 kgs to 71 kgs. It's OK to go over on some days but not by too much! You should calculate how much you should be eating by calculating your BMR, there are lots of websites that will help you do this.

[lizfish]

I'm no expert in losing weight, but I'd like to second Interval training or HIIT as oldgirl mentioned. There's apparently a lot of evidence to suggest interval training raises your metabolism for many hours after the workout. Which means (i think) you burn calories at a slightly higher rate even when not exercising. Also adding extra activity into your day like walking further from your car to work, taking the washing in one peice at a time, taking the stairs instead of lifts etc can also make a lot more difference than you would think. (I saw that on that horizon program about exercise)

But there's no getting away from the fact diet is very important. No point running round the park and blowing it on crisps or whatever your weakness is (mines's sugar) when you get back.

Best of luck in your journey.