AIBU to ask what is the best exercise for me to lose weight?

[Latara]

I'm nearly 5'4'' weight 12st and i need to lose 2 stone at least.

I like the gym and have just started warming up by walking 10 mins to the gym; then work out for 15 mins on the rower followed by 20 reps of the (not v heavy) heaviest weights i can manage on each of the weights machines.
Then 5 mins on the cross-trainer and 5 mins on the sitting bike, followed by 10min walk home and some stretches.

At the end of this i'm very shaky and dizzy because i'm not used to exercise.

I like it though and heard that a mix of weights and some cardio is best for weightloss.
Is this true and is eg 4 times a week enough? I work 2 days a week on my feet all day walking around the ward.

I eat 1500 cals a day inc lots of fruit and veg, no alcohol.

Opinions please!

[moonmanic]

I would recommend Zumba classes. They are fun, so you feel more like it is an hour of dancing as opposed to a "exercise class" iykwim? And its very energetic. I found the weight just fell off after just a few weeks.

[vintageclock]

I agree with Mercury and Arabesque. I want to lose a few pounds but was a bit put off when I started reading this thread as I just thought 'blimey' .

But I have found in the past that making healthy changes to my diet and getting out for four or five good fast walks a week really made a difference to the way I looked.

[LillethTheCat]

Good motto Quote. Also loving your ideas.

Some excellent posts up there

[mercury7]

I agree Arabesque, improve your diet and bit and increase activity levels and the 2 things combined should improve body composition.

Obviously if you want the body of an elite athlete you'll have to do the things that elite athletes do, but I suspect many of us would think that is no way to live!

[arabesque]

To be honest, and maybe I'm talking shite, but unless you're seriously overweight surely just developing healthier eating habits and incorporating a bit of exercise into your day (most days!) is going to have an effect.

I'm not very overweight but I need to lose some weight from my stomach and boob area so have just switched to wholegrains, cut down big time on dairy products and sweet stuff and keep a box of rice cakes in my drawer at work to avoid eating rubbish at coffee break or during the afternoon. I'm also going swimming 2-3 times a week and going walking other times. Surely that will have some effect?

[YDdraigGoch]

I've bought a trampette - about £25ish from Argos. I've built up to 30 mins a day over couple of months, and the weight is now falling off me (though I did virtually no exercise before that). It's also toning my legs, thighs and bum - I can tell by my trousers, which fit on the waist, but which are now very baggy round the bum area.

[Ijustbluemyself]

It does take a lot of willpower when it's available like that, sounds like you're doing really well though!

My failsafe snacks are carrots, cucumber, cottage cheese, peanut butter (no salt of sugar) and oatcakes. Also radishes, they fill me up loads.

I try to eat every 2-3 hours, I know this is not possible for some, not full meals it'll be like, handful of nuts, crudites or something. Keeps your metabolism up and also (hopefully) prevents you feeling so starving you end up gorging. I do this with peanut butter, I have an addiction

[maternitart]

Just make sure you have a load of healthy snacks - not just grapes which are sugary - available (and can you take your lunch in)? Almonds are great, I also like rice cakes, celery and raspberries.

Give yourself one day a week when you can enjoy the biscuits etc if you fancy, and every time you refuse a biscuit or choc the rest of the week mark it down somewhere - it will show you you really DO have willpower! When you get to, say, 20 marks, give yourself a (non food based) treat.

I should point out that I ate three pieces of cake yesterday so I'm not someone who can always maintain self control!

[Latara]

I am counting calories and following a diet because i think that - with 2 stone to lose - exercise alone won't shift it.

It's very hard though because at work we get tons of chocs, biscuits and sweets in the office from patients and from the clinical leader; if you're starving and breaktime is late then the chocolates are SO tempting...

I take grapes to snack on at work instead and i'm asking friends and relatives not to encourage me to sabotage my diet (which they tend to do unfortunately).

[GrimmaTheNome]

Up to a point - we live near good walking country but its a car ride to get to the hills and walking on the flat really doesn't do the same trick as hill (or glorious SW coast path...I'm just jealous!) walking.

Those 'real' things are great for weekends/holidays, but don't tend to fit into the normal working day well for most of us - whereas a run straight out of the door can.

(my main aim in exercising at the moment is to allow me to lift a windsurf rig and to regain some ability to 'hike out' on a dinghy... abs are absent!)

[quoteunquote]

not sure it quite fits into the lifestyle of yer average MNer

everyone has good walking places near them, I just do sections, as I can't take the whole time off, my children love marking off on their map which bits they have done,

I've never met an overweight munro bagger either, one mile rough walking is worth ten in the gym, and far more satisfactory.

surfing great, brilliant work out, and as you are having fun you do not notice you are working hard,

www.nicas.co.uk/

find your local indoor climbing wall, an hour on the wall twice a week makes you really fit, arms, legs and tummy, you improve really quickly, and you get a skill and a qualification.

our local wall is packed with women of all ages who have worked out that it is far better than an aerobics class,

it makes me giggle when there are sleeping babies on crash mats in the bouldering rooms, with mummies hanging on overhead.

Kayaking is a fab workout, you really notice your whole body changing.

my motto is never diet, just go out and have more fun, all of the above are my idea of fun.

[maternitart]

Sorry if I'm repeating as I haven't RTFT but:

Yes definitely focus on weights starting with the bigger muscles first - your ass and upper legs
If possible see a PT who can make it more fun/challenging for you - I love medicine ball "games"
As soon as you get comfortable and used to your routine, change it
Don't fall into the trap of overeating or eating more because you're exercising - I did this by "treating" myself to a Starbucks after every gym session. Needless to say I was fit but overweight!

[GrimmaTheNome]

quote - that sounds fantastic... not sure it quite fits into the lifestyle of yer average MNer though!

[WallaceWindsock]

I genuinely find I'm healthier and my weight is lower when I'm generally more active. Things like spending ten mins running up and down the park with DD and the dog, running several loads of laundry up be down the stairs, hoovering the whole house lunge style, leaping about dancing with DD. Things like that on top of regular exercise and a sensible diet seem to make a difference, plus they make you feel energised. It's not always about the serious slog of running on a treadmill, it's about leading a more energetic life.

[Technotropic]

Diet is 70% of weight loss, exercise is 30%

This.

Personally I would say diet makes up a much higher percentage but that's just my opinion.

I tend to work on the basis that exercise has no effect whatsoever. This is not true (obviously) but it means that I do exercise for fun rather than to lose weight. Strictly speaking exercise does very little (or less than we think) so I find it better to get your diet down and the rest follows.

This is one of the most interesting articles I've read in a long time and sits well with me. May be worth a read:

www.ultimate-exercise.com/fat.html

[Angloamerican]

undertone Congratulations, that's very impressive.

[Angloamerican]

Best way is to do high intensity interval training - eg shorter, harder bursts of cardio rather than longer, slower (e.g. Sprints rather than long jogs). Agree with the posters who said that what you eat is critical - and not just the overall calories, but rather the kinds of food you eat. I read a fabulous book called "This is Why You're Fat" by Jackie Warner. A bit of tough love, but excellent. Remember - sugar is the devil, long slow cardio is wasting your time...

[mercury7]

I think it's a mistake to look at exercise only in terms of the calories burned whilst doing it, the effects are much more far reaching.
For instance, it improves insulin sensitivity, reduces your propensity to store calories as fat, instead they are used to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles & liver.

[ChippingInWiredOnCoffee]

Wouldn't it be good if we came with a manual for optimum care.

Anyway - pleasecansomeonereply - come and join us on the BIWI Bootcamp threads. Many of us have a significant amount to lose and are all doing really well :)

[quoteunquote]

If you walk the west coastal path from Minehead to Poole or Poole to Minehead, you loose about four stone, and you are very toned and tanned, no matter what the weather.

t's only 630 miles, but because it is such rough walking, it totally gives your whole body a work out,

my dad is just into his seventies, and he does it one way(alternates each year), once a year, so he can eat what ever he likes the rest of the year,

he does other walking but the SWCP is his "diet" , stuffs his face with crab sandwiches and pasties all the way round, he rates and marks them on the map, so he knows where to find the best ones the next time round.

walk and swim and it will all go, start filling in on the map the bit of coastal path near you,

more fun than a gym.

[Mimishimi]

Running and monitoring your calories through MFP. Add two or three sessions of weights each week (building muscle means you burn more calories even whilst not exercising). I am the same height and have got from similar weight to just under 10 stone. My goal is 9 stone.

[theoriginalandbestrookie]

Brilliant post undertone and a good reminder why different types of exercise work for different people.
Also explains why I'm not losing any weight although I do qauite a lot of exercise.

[chloesaidfred]

sarahtigh I think 15 litres is the amount of water that we can process in 24 hours. I'll check but I'm fairly sure.

[BsshBossh]

And research has found (though off hand I can't link to any right now) that weight training and HIIT cardio raise metabolism up to 24 hours post exercise. But agree, diet is key.

[Ijustbluemyself]

I'm a totally clean eater and I think diet is more important yes, but it's a negative way to look at it to say exercise does nothing for weight. You can easily burn off 500 calories a session, for women that's 25% of her daily calorie intake.

I agree though don't treat yourself after the gym with biscuits, does defeat the point somewhat, hehe.