Exercising to lose weight

[beamme]

I'm a terrible dieter, always fall off the wagon at some point. So this year I'm concentrating on exercising instead of dieting. I will aim to eat better and make small changes to my eating habits.
I'm 34, 5ft4 and weigh an awful 21st 1lb. This is the heaviest I have ever been and I can't go another year with my knees, hips and back hurting all the time.
I'm starting slowly and will do one of the 10 minute work out DVD's. Doesn't sound a lot I know but I don't exercise at all so need to start somewhere. I started with 1 yesterday and 2 today . I am also cutting out crisps as my first diet change and dusted off the slow cooker.
Would anyone care to join me?

The physical and mental benefits of exercise are indisputable and well documented. However, how effective they are in weight loss is debatable. The sticking point is "if you do enough of it"- I'd need to run 35 miles to lose 1lb. Not that many people would have the time, fitness or inclination to run 5 miles a day, every day, and even if they did, they'd probably eat more to compensate. I do, in fact, run about 50-60 miles a week plus lifting - I don't consciously have to try to prevent weight loss as my appetite is greater than if I was on the sofa all day. Really recommend "The men who made us fat/thin"- on You Tube. They are a bit conspiracyish, but interesting in terms of how the big push towards exercise as the answer to being overweight was at least partially engineered by the junk food industry and politicians keen not to upset the applecart by saying that perhaps it was Cheetos that were making people fat. Correlation observed during trials (fat people move less than thin people) was served up as cause and effect despite no evidence as to which way round the cause and effect worked. It's very frikking convenient for Cadbury et al to point out thats it's all about personal responsibility and moving more blah blah, when they're spending $$$$$ telling us to EAT THE GODDAMN FOOD. Anyway, that's my bugbear- if it was up to me there'd be so much tax on junk food it'd be cheaper to drink petrol than coke

All that aside, there's definitely more than one way to skin a cat. The OP's small changes (exercise, cut junk food) probably will yield results if applied consistently, so providing she's ready for a slow burn, then it's all good and the exercise can only help. Best of luck OP.

AggressiveBunting I see exercise as being greater than the sum of its parts; for me its benefits include helping tme o process information and approach things differently. If it helps an individual to alter and improve their eating habits, then its impact and value can be far greater than just calories burnt.

The sticking point is "if you do enough of it"- I'd need to run 35 miles to lose 1lb.

So assuming consumption stays the same, your example equates to a 4 stone annual weightloss, which sounds much better than needing to run 35 miles to lose 1lb . If you combine half an hour of medium intensity exercise every day, with increased incidental movement (e.g. more walking, taking the stairs etc), you could arrive at a similar annual weightloss to your example.

I'm at work [shirking] so I can't check if this link will take you all the way through. It's a link to the Irish equiv of BBC [RTE] and they do a tv series annually called Operation Transformation by selecting about 10 people from Joe Public who apply. Usually a range of people, weights and ages. They get fitness coaching, diet plans and weekly weigh in's on the telly.

You can watch it on-line [I'm in the UK] and the idea is that you identify with one of the participants and then register on the website. You then try to follow the diet and exercise plan they are given which is tailored for their size, age etc.

It's quite inspirational to watch and it might help.

www.rte.ie/ot/

Losing weight is a simple matter of calories expended versus calories eaten. If you want a bag of crisps, then you'll have to have a 2 hr brisk walk to negate it. You can lose weight by just exercising provided that you burn more calories than you consume; it just nigh impossible if you are mostly eating high fat food, unless you literally have nothing else to do than walk it off .

Treadsoftly I don't think you can reduce weightloss to a simple mathematical formula. My perception of losing weight, becoming healthier etc, is that it's very much about (changing) habits, thoughts and behaviour rather than just numbers. Not sure how much your packet of crisps weighs, but 30 mins to 1 hour should be enough to 'offset' a small bag. Although I think it's healthier not to demonise individual food items or think in terms of good or bad foods - there are some Hula Hoops in my cupboard and I agree with the message on them - 'snacks can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise'.

I respectfully disagree fascicle though I will concede that Hula Hoops at 129 cal a small bag are less calorific than I thought. 2hrs to work off a small bag is probably a little excessive.

The OP states that by cutting out crisps she reduces her estimated weekly calorie intake by 2200 calories. 3000 a week reduction is estimated here to give a weight loss of 1lb a week so by doing nothing else, the OP is almost at that point.

I fully agree that it is more helpful to view weight loss in the context of healthy eating and exercise, more as a "this is how I will live my life" rather than "this is how I will punish myself for eating too many crisps." Added to which, adding muscle as a result of exercise will burn off significantly more weight faster and tone your body up. I doubt that's news to anyone in a chat forum about weight loss. The tricky bit is the actual doing of it when all you want to do is collapse with a nice salty bag of crisps. I get it, I'm guilty of it too.

For me the danger lies in "offsetting". Before I know it, any exercise I am doing is to "offset" my cheating and not actually contributing to any weightloss.

Anyway - I thought it is a good TV programme. It features real people with real jobs and families trying to find the time to exercise in the depths of winter, and trying to cook new "healthy food", and dealing with all the temptations posed by teens bringing home takeaways and the office biscuit tin. I found it quite motivating and inspiring to watch people who in many cases are severely overweight, drop the pounds and become happier with themselves. It's nice not to watch it in the context of some celebrity camp knowing that they are locked away doing this and have someone else taking care of all the day to day life chores.

Hey op!

If you've not been entered terrorised off your thread, I'd love to know how you're getting on?

Best of luck ladies! I've joined the gym and will be going for the first time tonight.. Really hope I can stick with it this time as I need to loose my baby weight