Exercise and losing weight...

[RockChick1984]

Sorry, not sure if this is best place to post! I need to lose as much weight as possible in the next 4 weeks before a party where I need to look my best. I'm useless at sticking to a diet, but will try my hardest. I've signed up to a 4 week gym trial, if I go 5 times a week, and get as sweaty as I can, how much weight can I lose through exercise alone? Or will I really have to diet as well?

I am currently a size 12/14, still carrying baby weight (not sure if I can still call it that!) was always a comfortable size 10 pre baby, without needing to diet or exercise, so I'm new to all this!

[sleepdodger]

Quick fix cut out carbs ESP bread

[planetpotty]

Drink LOADS I find it helps filing up an old 2 ltr drinks bottle with squash and tell myself I have to drink x amount that day.

Sounds simple but make exercise one of your priorities as much as showering is part if your day if it's an exercise day it HAS to be done!

Spinning = the sweatiest workout EVER! and the classes are usually done in 45 mins so hard but quicker.

Bit of a controversial one but diet coke.

Lots of people seem to be raving about zumba

Of course I'm saying all this sat here in exactly the same position as you so really should take my own advice!!

[duvet]

shred works well only 20 mins a day

[MonsterBookOfTysons]

Swimming. Oh and my fitness pal is helpful.
I also do aqua aerobics which is fun :)

[Trills]

How much weight you will lose depends on:

how heavy (and how overweight) you are now
what exercise you do and how much
whether exercise makes you extra hungry
whether you think to yourself I went to the gym so it's ok for me to have this muffin

[RockChick1984]

Lol trills I think that's my problem, if I go the gym I feel like I can eat what I want which I know isn't true!

My BMI is somewhere around 25, so although I'm not technically overweight, I'm not in my comfort weight range. Pre baby I was about 1.5 stone lighter than I am now, so although I know it's not a lot to lose, it's just not shifting!

[latrucha]

I'm in the same position. I'm planning to shred every week day. I may try and cut carbs, or at least up protein.

Just jumping on the thread for tips, really!

What's the diet coke thing?

[latrucha]

It's the last bit that has the lazy factor attached. I've lost 15kilos slowly, by doing things in bursts. I have let the last five sit. I think I am now determined but we shall see.

[HazleNutt]

If you really want to lose as much as possible then I would certainly recommend diet as well.

[JasperJohns]

Cut out the carbs as much as you possibly can and the weight will fall off.

Try and do some exercise every day and if your gym does spinning, def try it. It burns a huge amount of calories.

[planetpotty]

you just drink it

I find it fills me up and gives me a sugar fix.

[ameliagrey]

Why do you not want to eat a little less?
To lose 1lb a week, you have to have a calorie defict of 500 kls a day.

There are loads of stats etc online if you google to show how much energy certain forms of exercise use up per hour etc.

So- you can either "lose" 500 cals a day through exercise alone- which will be more exercise than you imagine, I suspect- or cut out 250 cals from your diet as well.

Unless you want the weight to creep back on then surely eating less is the way to go- or you would need to maintain the exercise regime indefinitely?

[ameliagrey]

Oh- a little reminder- BMI of 25 is the top of the normal range which is 18.5 -25.

[Bienchen]

I don't think that spinning will attack a muffin top, yes it does burn a lot of calories but it is exercising mainly the lower body.

My BIL cycles 20 miles every day and has enormous leg muscles and a huge gut to boot.

Agree with looking carefully at your diet, cutting out junk food, drinking water/herbal tea/diluted pure fruit jiuce, walk or cycle where practical.

If you have not exercised much before you will struggle to burn off 500kcal.

[Ispywith]

Dukan diet is good, get a book on amazon. Easy to follow & no weighing or fuss. I lost 10 lbs in 10 days & have kept it off by eating sensibly. Don't eat hardly any carbs & feel great for it. Less bloated. I am similar dress size to you & only wanted to loose a small amount of weight to make my clothes fit nicely!! Now to tone it up!!!

[brighthair]

Interval training and the paleo diet
Eat meat, fish, veg, salad and a few nuts and berries
See if your gym has a boot camp or circuit session. Don't plod away on cardio for hours, do 45 seconds hard/fast, 5 mins steady pace, repeat 6 times
Don't be scared of weights, and use your own body weight. Plank, squats, lunges, burpees/bastards!

[Hopefully]

I managed to lose a shedload of weight in the run up to my wedding (relatively soon after giving birth, which is why all the dieting was last minute!) by doing Shred 6 days a week absolutely religiously, walking everywhere (which I do anyway, but I kept inventing extra errands to run to give me more exercise) and eating a massive salad with every single meal. I basically tried to fill up on salad so I didn't eat any proper food. It was boring as fuck, but I lost about 4lb a week for 3 weeks.

Every time I wanted to eat something unhealthy, I basically put it on a mental list to pig out on after the wedding. Of course, I didn't eat everything from the mental list straight after the wedding, but I wasn't fussed if I gained a few lbs back in the weeks following it, so I knew I could treat myself then, which helped a lot with restraining myself.

[Rudawakening]

If you really want to lose weight quickly then the bellow is what I did amid lost 1st4lb in 4 weeks -

Cut out refined carbs ie bread, white pasta. If you must have them have whole wheat but I cut that out to.

Cut out all refined sugar no sweets, chocolate and definitely no fizzy drinks especially diet drinks with sweetness. The sweetner makes the body think it will get a sugar fix and then when it doesn't come the body sends out a signal for sugar so you start craving sugar.

Basically eat foods as close to their natural state as possible stay away from processed foods as well. I found the clean and lean book very good.

Drink at least 2ltrs of water a day that dies fill you up, will help your liver and kidneys function which will boost metabolism, so you burn calories quicker.

And the last bit I exercised 3 times a week for 30 minutes a time doing something like jillian Michales boost fat, boost metabolism, basically circuit training doing mainly strength training using multiple muscle groups at a time. You can lose weight with cardio training but it will take a lot longer than with strength training which includes small bursts of cardio.

Finally I let myself have a cheat meal at the end of the week every week and still lost the weight. I am still following this and have gone from size 14/16 to 10/12 and lost 35 inches in total.

It's hard work but does give results fast if you stick to it.

[otchayaniye]

Eat meat and eggs and green veg and lots of water.

Soup for lunch

Run every day

Learn to live with being a bit hungry

[MrsCampbellBlack]

Everything I've read recently says weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise so I'd say you'll definitely need to eat less.

Dukan is good but I hated it and it made me feel dreadful - I prefer old fashioned calorie counting - weigh stuff and be very careful re. portion control. And do what Hopefully said - have big salads/lots of greens with protein and very little carbs.

I have porridge each morning but only 35g and that is enough but it isn't loads and I make it with water but am trying to lose weight at the moment.

Good luck!

[Hopefully]

Oh yes, definitely what otchayaniye said - get used to being a bit hungry. It won't kill you. I get so cross with all diet books claiming you can lose weight and NEVER BE HUNGRY. It's actually ok to be hungry occasionally - it makes you appreciate your food more, and you're unlikely to fade away if you go an extra hour without snacking. It was really interesting for me to realise this, as we are so trained to think that it is a huge issue and we suffer enormously and should never ever get hungry. As long as you're not getting to the point where you're so hungry you're going to stuff your face with 12 kilos of chips at the first opportunity you get, it can be good to have a little hunger pang that makes you appreciate dinner all the more, I found.

[Eclairwaldorf]

Marking my place, contemplating weight watchers but I'd u can shift some weight without paying to go to ww then even better

[mrsmartin]

I'm doing the classic -

Breakfast like a queen, Lunch like a princess, dinner like a pauper...i feel quite hungry but I find drinking more helps. I also eat off side plates instead of dinner plates and have started putting my fork down after every mouthful...it seems to be having a positive effect (only started 4 days ago so can't tell you if I have lost weight officially yet as am being very good and only weighing myself once a week). I find I am consuming around 1000calories a day so i should lose weight. Need to lose 3stone to get back to how I was last year - I don't know how my weight can technically be classed as healthy (albeit top end of healthy) - I feel like a right bloater but I only have myself to blame eh?

can I ask wtf the shred is though?

[Bibbo]

am storing up this advice for after i have DD2 in July...

I lost a lot of inches through running when I trained for a half marathon last year. I ran 4 times a week, 3 times for half an hour and then a longer one at weekends. I sure at least 1 of those sessions were intervals and I mixed it up a bit ie swapping some sessions with cycling or swimming if it got too samey. I went from size 14 to almost a 10 and it really wasn't hard once I got into the rhythm of it.

Is awful to see myself ballooning now! but keep reminding myself I won't be preg forever!

Re: cutting out carbs, I agree it's a good way to lose weight but I think it would be difficult if you are going to exercise a lot - you need carbs for a sustained energy fix. Running on just protein and veg will wear you out too quickly.

[MrsCampbellBlack]

I'm using this [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-Lean-Diet-Cookbook-14-day/dp/0857830074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329670575&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21 recipe book]] for lots of healthy ideas that taste good.

This is apparently how Nigella as lost weight.

The recipes I've tried have all been really good - lots of curries and thai food which is what I seem to crave when cutting down.