new at this

hello I am looking to lose about 50lbs and don’t know where to start so if anyone can help me that would be great.

Thanks Carla

Well, if you are doing absolutely nothing, you could start walking. If you walk about 3 miles a day, that will do a lot, over time. Try starting out walking a mile a day for two weeks, and then add a mile every two weeks until you feel like you are doing enough each day. Also, simply modify your diet. Gyminee can help you if you input your vitals and goals, then it will spit back a target caloric intake range along with the optimal composition of the calories (protein, carbs, and fats).

Once you feel like you are making some progress, or you are bored, you could do some weight training.

I’d add weights now, and some cardio. If you can’t afford to go to the gym, it doesn’t cost money to walk and/or run around your block. You can also do a variety of exercises at home – push ups, squats, lunges, sit ups, etc. – these are really good exercises. I’m sure some of the people on here know a few more, so hopefully they can add to that list.

Your diet is important as well. You’re trying to lose weight, so I suggest cutting your calories. I believe if you cut 500 calories a day for a week, you will lose 1 lb a week, and 1000 calories would be 2 lbs a week. But you really want to just focusing on eating healthy for the rest of your life so you are healthy, not just to lose weight. So have a healthy diet and exercise!

:) I hope I helped! Good luck!

Drink a lot of water.
Once you start to lose weight, your body has to get rid of it.

ice cold water throughout the day will burn extra 60 calories or so i hear..

50lbs is along way to go, i dnt think u should be doing strength training this early if ur trying to cut down.. You should just do cardio until u drop 25lbs ( if u have 50lbs to loose then loosing the 1st 25lbs shouldnt be a problem at all ) Also create a calorie deficit of 500 700 300 .. You can add strength training with cardio once u have reached 50% of ur goal ..

I agree with melissa, diet is everything.. it is not what u do in the gym but what u do in the kitchen. YOu can run 1mile and burn 140calories but if u go home and drink coke or even orange juice, u just wasted time at the gym. You have to eat food rich in protein and vitamins, cut down on carbs and sugar..

I know some people will say orange juice is good but o well =\

OK, I’ve stayed out of this thread because I think self-education is paramount and boards like these are best for fine-tuning, but I’ve got to say something now. In no particular order:
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1) Don’t rely on questionable tricks like drinking cold water. Figure out how many calories it would take to stay at your weight, and eat 500-1000 less per day. (That will result in a 1-2 pound loss per week.)

2) Go ahead and do strength training if you want. Little irks me more than to be told that I shouldn’t do weight training at my weight. Honestly, if you do it right, weight training can be an additional form of cardio. (Look into supersets or circuit training.) More importantly, it will build muscle which does boost your metabolism. If you don’t want to do strength training now, be sure to add it later or you can end up “skinny fat”.

3) Try to get as many whole foods / unprocessed food on your plate as possible. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats.

4) Don’t treat fat as the enemy. Healthy fats have been proven to not only increase absorption of nutrients from vegetables, but reduce hunger. Of course, watch your consumption because fat is 9 calories per gram.

5) Don’t treat carbs as the enemy, either. They have a place. Again, though, go for whole sources rather than sugary sources. Also look for fiber. Eating an orange is way better than drinking orange juice.

5) Pay attention to your macros (protein/carb/fat). I tend to get bad sugar cravings if I don’t get enough protein. (I do best at a caloric ratio of 25/45/30 P/C/F, but each person is different and it depeds on your activities.)

6) Remember that weight loss is at least 70% diet. But – and this is important – don’t go “on a diet”. Change your diet. The diet you’ll be developing now should be something you can maintain for life. The quantity may change when you hit maintenance, but the quality needs to be there from this point forward.
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I’d say good luck, but I don’t believe luck has anything to do with it. Know that there will be pitfalls, but know also that you are in control of the ultimate success of any lifestyle change. It’s all up to you. Here’s to your success.
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My journey: Fat Athlete

witeowl is bang on, especially with #6. I’d even go as far as 90% diet and it can’t be emphasized enough how it’s a lifestyle change rather than a temporary “diet”.

I’ve always worked out, lifted weights and played sports, but before I started eating well my weight kept creeping up. Now that I’ve been eating well for the last year and a bit, I’ve lost almost 40 pounds.

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your response. I really appreciate that. I will consider it and keep you folks on how it is going. Thanks

Carla

I don’t normally like to push products on people, but if you are truly starting out, want to sincerely make a lifestyle change, and are interested in learning how to do that, then I highly recommend Tom Venuto’s “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” book. It’s not a fad diet plan, but rather a good reference on diet and nutrition. If you google it you will have no trouble finding it.

To get started, you need to understand what it is you want to change. It can’t just be about losing weight; that can be a goal to accomplish as part of your LIFESTYLE change (as others have said), but your goal should be to change your life for the better, to be able to do things in the future that you can’t do now, because you made that commitment to yourself.

It is a great journey, it is a challenge, but the payoff is so far greater than the sacrifice if you want it.

Thank for the encouragement

thanks Carla

I just thought I stopped by and say hello to everyone.

Carla

Hi Carla! Hope your program is working well for you!! Keep us posted.

Susan
www.CatapultfitnessBlog.com

Hi Susannyny! I will do that thanks for stopping by.

Have a good one!

Carla

Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a great weekend. Stopping by to say hello and see if anything interesting is happening.

Hope everyone have a good one.

Carla

Hi Carla…I am in the same boat as you…just starting out! I joined a gym a few weeks ago and really hated it, but was forcing myself to go, then I stumbled upon Gyminee, I have no idea how but am already addicted to it! Ive found signing up for challenges has totally changed me…instead of going to the gym this morning I walked 4 miles…just because I wanted to knock some mileage off the AT challenge and it was pouring with rain and I wouldnt normally have set foot outside the door! Ive also done the killer abs workout, because I signed up for that so made myself a promise that as I said I would have a go thats what I would do and put my arms through a workout because I was given hope that they can be more toned by a gym buddie! Everyone on here is very helpfull…I think you will find like me, you have come to the right place…go girl!! Sam. xx

Hi Carla,
I could recommend you this diet system. And I hope this would be helpful to you as it was to me.
www.qwave.com

Good luck,
Rob

Hi there, yes this site can be very addicted. But it is a great site.

Good luck to you too and we will keep posting how we’re doing on here.

Carla

Hello everyone,

I was working out with someone that was telling me about this coenzyme q10 and what it can do for you. I just thought I post it on here and see if anyone is taking it and what you think about it. So let me know about this.

Thanks Carla