Weight loss/diet/nutrition - new start for 2015!

[blackmageheart]

Well I decided to go ahead and start a thread for this. Weight loss, (or more accurately, fat loss) is easier and more consistent if you have friends to share it with you! And who better than my awesome friends at Sprite Stitch.
This thread is for anyone who wants to lose weight, tone up or just be more health-conscious. No sign ups required, just join in. Share tips and ideas and whatever else, and feel free to ask questions!

For people joining in, I have some suggestions. First, log your food and exercise. Those of you with mobile devices - get yourself the myfitnesspal app. This good little app lets you track your food and exercise and can be linked to other apps, such as the Runtastic Pedometer and others. If you're not an appy kind of person, just making a food diary on paper or computer will work too.

Second, be completely honest about what you are eating and how much exercise you are doing. If you don't, the only person you are really deceiving is yourself, and you won't get to your goals that way.

Lastly, treat yourself - cutting out all your favourite treats and foods altogether will only make you feel bad. Set yourself a treat time, or even a goal. For example, you might have your favourite dessert only on a Sunday, or reward yourself for completing an important task. You can totally have treats, just in moderation!

So after all that I'm ready to kick things off. I'm roughly 92kg (about 203 lbs) currently and I want to lose the fat I've been accumulating. I will be monitoring my weight in the beginning, but when I move on to building muscle again I'll be using my clothes and a measuring tape as a guide instead. I'm working on my meal and exercise plans now and will be happy to share.

Anyone joining me?

[MeiTow]

I"ve been trying to do those 30-day challenge thingies (I found a group for them on Facebook) and have been enjoying them when I can do them. Got behind on this month's cardio (good for losing fat! ) and now I'm sick so I'm going to fall behind even more but I'm not going to let that deter me from starting back up when I feel better.

[blackmageheart]

30-day challenge thingies

This intrigues me, I must find out more! And hope you feel better soon!

[MeiTow]

Here is the group for them: https://www.facebook.com/groups/169131196626314/

I'm also doing a squats challenge done by someone else at the same time.

[Kareesh]

I'll join ya! I dunno how much I weigh right now (I do my weigh-ins on Mondays) but I also use the MyFitnessPal app (though my phone has gone missing for the moment). My goal is to get down to 135-125 pounds which I believe is about a drop of 60-70 pounds. I'll be exercising at least 4 times a week, though I'll be attempting for 5. Two days will be devoted to yoga and the other days will be cardio. No gym for me. Can't afford it and I'm waaay too insecure to go.

[funkymonkey]

I'm in! My goal is to lose 10-15 lbs. Not a huge amount, but it will let me wear all of my wardrobe again instead of having to buy larger sizes.

I plan to walk/jog 3 days a week, following the free Couch to 5K podcasts. These are really cool; if you haven't heard of Couch to 5K, it's a planned out jogging course to get you in shape to run a 5K. For example, week one is 8 intervals of walk 90 seconds, jog 60 seconds I think. These podcasts have techno music and the guy tells you when to run and when to walk. It's actually a lot of fun!

My biggest issue is even though I love to run, I have weak knees and they give me a lot of trouble sometimes. I may do some cycling instead of running if I'm having a rough knee day.

For my food logging, in the past I used Weight Watchers Online and it was great. Now that I don't want to pay for it, the free app iTrackBites uses weightwatchers plus points.

[Ally]

I'll join in too. I don't have a specific goal in mind- we'll just go until the contents of my wardrobe fit me again and I can wear all the pretty dresses I've brought over the years despite not believing I have the body to wear them! It'd be nice to get the doctors off my back too. I can't run, my *ahem*... attributes don't allow it, but I have been walking my dogs for about 45 minutes a night since the beginning of the year and I'm trying to eat better too. Honestly guys, I don't think there is some big trick to weight loss, and I don't think it matters what you do so long as you pick something and do it consistently.

[arkani]

I'm in too - I've got a lot of weight to lose, though my focus is more on the losing cm rather than weight. I've been getting on my (admittedly cheap and therefore kinda pitiful lol) exercise bike for 5-10 minutes a day for the last fortnight or so - i've noticed my knees and ankles have been getting stronger (my tendons are too long so they roll easily, and get sore very quickly) and haven't been hurting as much this week.
I also need to eat less, though with visitors over Christmas/new years, that's been hard. I'll also be going back to school this year, so getting myself into the 'exercise more/eat less' rhythm before school is probably a good thing.

[TigerLily]

I've been working out and trying to eat better. Wholegrain bread instead of white. Less butter, oils and milk. More veggies and fruits.

For workouts, I've been using videos from Youtube to help me out since I wouldn't be able to afford a gym membership or anything. The videos I like doing the most are from Fitness Blender. I think they've got a good variety of exercises. I've just found a few that I like that I am able to do in the small space I have to work out. Some of you might find then useful as well. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP6wD_tYlYLYh3agzbByWQ. Plus for extra cardio I've been following some Zumba videos. They're good because you don't feel like you're working out, but you do get some good cardio if you do enough and really go for it.

I've set a goal for myself, but it's somewhat abstract. I don't have a set weight or set amount of inches I want to lose. I just want to get nice and toned by my birthday in May. I want to lose fat but build a little muscle as well. Hopefully 5 months will be enough time to reach my goal while still doing it healthily.

I'd love to hear about everyone's progress and tips. Hopefully I can share some good stuff too.

[arkani]

Oh yeah - i'm on Myfitnesspal as well - i'm Arkani007 if anyone wants to add me.