i joined for one reason...

I have no need to journal everything i eat or every muscle i move….what i need is a pen-pal! a competitor! a partner!

Let me tell you about myself as i am looking for someone with similarities. I am 27 years old, work FT, have time in my day to workout but i can’t seem to get going. I keep saying Monday…ok, next monday….ok, next monday and have had enough of it. I believe in ‘eat less, exercise more’ is the key to losing weight- simple as that. No calculating, no pills, no fad diets, etc. I am looking to lose 50 pounds and can’t wait to look in the mirror when i do!

So, please let me know if you’d like to help each other out :)

I am the same way. I was super active in college. I am 23 yo. I am out in the real world now and i work full time. I need the motivation to actually work out. I don’t need to lose weight though, as much as just really tone up and get in a good eating habit.

While in theory the “eat less, exercise more” philosophy should result in weight loss (assuming you’re eating the right foods and exercising in a way that is effective), study after study shows that food journaling results in increased weight loss.

One recent study by Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research finds that writing down what you eat can actually lead to double the amount of weight loss.

In my opinion, food journaling is the #1 factor in a successful weight loss program. It’s not something that needs to be done indefinitely, but it’s certainly worth 30-days of anyone’s time when they’re focusing on a healthier way of eating.

Just some food for thought (pun intended).

Susan
www.CatapultFitnessBlog.com

Support is so important to sticking to a healthy lifestyle. I am 33 and know how you feel. About 10 years ago (after gaining some lovely post high school real world weight) I did say enough. When you really do say it and mean it and find the support you need, it become easier. Not always easy, but easier.

I agree with the food journaling. It keeps me accountable for what goes in my mouth instead of thinking, “one piece of chocolate won’t hurt” and then forget I ate it when I want some other treat later or the next day.

Anyway I can help motiviate, just let me know.

‘eat less, exercise more’ is not a very good basis to go by. You should ‘control’ what you eat and exercise at an acceptable level. You don’t need to only eat 1000 cals per day and exercise for 3 hours per day, this will just be detrimental to your system.

Journal ling your calorie intake is great for weight loss. You first determine what your cal intake for the day would be, then for fat loss, subtract approx 500 cals and that is what you should be consuming. Then you have your exercise on top of this, by doing this you will lose weight effectively and in a HEALTHY way.

I agree some of us are logging our food and exercize in a compulsive way… and it’s not necessary do to it that systematically. I agree I log because I find the game funny. That’s not everybody’s cup of tea.

BUT be realistic. You have 50 pounds to lose, that means you have been eating in a very crazy way (that’s 100% sure). It’s likely you are not evaluating how much your actually eat. The situation is probably the same for activity/exercise.

How do you plan to do to eat less at random ? Skipping meals ? That’s not a good idea. Eating when hungry and exercising when you feel like was the path to your current situation.
If you plan nothing at all, you will eat when you see food in front of you (and odds are big it will be junk today and you will decide to eat vegetables…next monday), and you’ll exercise when you have nothing else to do.

Also to follow/encourage you, motivators need to know a minimum what you are doing.

I suggest you establish a simple meal pattern and exercise program simpler than Dailyburn’s.
That way, you have the program clear in your head.

For instance (make your own):
Exercise : walk to school/work 2x a day + swimming (1 mile) 1x a week, on tuesday + class of fitness/sport 1x a week, on friday
Food :
Breakfast : fruit + yogurt
Lunch/Dinner : salad+meat/fish + greens + 1 slice of bread(or 3 tbs pasta/rice/potatoes)
2 Snacks : 1 piece cheese + veggie or 1 fruit + nuts
Dessert : (a small one, 150 cal max) once a day only

Then you can tell in your journal, for your motivators here :
“I did 6 days OK for food/ I ate tons of cake on Tuesday/ I never eat my greens…
Or this week, everyday as planned for sports/I was too busy to walk / I did it a 8 hour hike…”
That way you can receive encouragement, compare efforts, etc. Otherwise communication will be : "Done fine ? -More or less. And you ? -Me too ! ".

Then if you don’t lose fat (take a measuring tape + scale to check you all over monthly), you and motivators can check if it is because you are not regular or if you need to do less/more. The next month, you can try, to do it with no dessert on weekdays, 1/2 bread and 1/2 cheese and 2x swimming or fitness.
Well, that’s why we do it.