4 months out...Need Advice!

Hey Everyone!, I will be 4 months out tomorrow. I have lost 57 lbs which I feel is kind of slow. But, I have to admit I am eating just about anything. I can't eat much but, I can eat almost anything. The advice I need is concerning exercise. Except for moving around with much more energy I am not really exercising at all. I have thought about joining curves. Does anyone have any comments about curves. I need to start working on a little sagging but, I am not really into aerobics. Will exercise help me to get a jump start on loosing faster? Am I the only one that really admits to eating everything? Are you all watching what you eat. I mean really watching chips, crackers, you know carbs stuff like that. The only thing I will not try to eat is desserts. To affraid I won't dump and will start eating them all the time. My weight started at 283. I am now at 226. Is anyone out there doing about the same as me. Am getting a little worried...lost only one lb this week. Help...ByeBrenda 283/226/170?

hi brenda, this is jennifer from Akron, ohio. my program that i'm in has a gym for the patients to use. but itcost $350 a year,, whi*****ludes the gym and the social worker (if you need someone to talk to) i live to far to go to this gym. in may of 2003 my mom and i went to the local curves. i was real relunctant to join. i couldn't believe my mom was even remotely interested, she has never liked to "sweat". well we both joined and it has CHANGED my life. not only did i loose 50#'s in a year by going to curves, i made alot of new friends. Since my surgery, i've lost 84 additional pounds. since i joined curves, i've lost a total of 115 pounds and 53 1/4 inches total!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE going to my Curves. the people who own the club are so nice and the workers are equally nice. the one owner, John, always gives me a hug when i go in (when he's there) and now most of the othe personel give me hugs too. The workers are always saying "were your ears burning today?" i said no. she said I'm always talking about you!!!! I'm so glad that on that day i went to curves for the first time, i didn't say no and continue on my way. I WOULD RECOMEND CURVES 100% to anyone needing to loose weight or just needs some exercise. There is never no competition to see who's skinnier or cuter. Good luck in you journey. need anymore info email me. oh- if you go into your local curves they can give you a free day to work-out to see how you like it. ok, take care, jennifer from Akron, Ohio.

Hi Jennifer, thank you so much for your reply. Guess What after my post this morning I placed a call to the Curves in my area that I visited last week. They called me backed a little while ago and I go in the morning to sign up. I have heard other success stories so all I needed was one more (YOURS) to get me going. I can't wait to get started. I guess I was nervous about commitment. Silly HUH! Oh Well, thank you again for your encouraging words and you have a great week. ByeBrenda in Tx

Hiya Brenda! Please dont take this the wrong way, but your eating may be part of the slow loss problem. You didnt list specifics on what you consider "eating everything", but it sounds like you're having things you know you shouldnt. Yes, I watch what I eat. Every day, every bite. I track my meals on fitday.com. I eat low carb, low cal, low fat and high protein. I dont cheat. I know my eating problems and i'm trying my best to retrain myself. I'm trying to view food as fuel and not a pleasure item. If I dont make changes in my eating habits, after that magical 18 month window has passed this will all have been in vein. I know that. I did have a 5 week long plateau where I didnt lose a single pound. But once it ended, it really ended. I lost 10 lbs in a week and a half. I do exercise also. I tried riding my mountain bike outside but got chased by two huge dogs one night lol. So I bought a stationary bike at a yard sale and have been quite diligent in riding it. I dont really do it on sat and sun but through the week I do it every day. I'll ride for 20-30 minutes and 7-10 miles. My surgeon told me how beneficial exercise is. Whether I agree or not lol I do it. Follow your surgeons orders and find a form of exercise you can committ to. You'll do great. God bless you! Melanie

Hi Melanie, Thank you so much for your reply and for being honest with me. I know part of what I am eating is causing me to loose weight slowly. It just got so easy to grab anything. I just hoped that because I could only eat a few bites of the wrong thing it wouldn't matter. In my heart I know I am only fooling myself. Thank you again and I promise I am going to be better. After all, I was a self-pay patient and what a stupid thing to be doing to ruin it all. I am joining Curves in the morning so wish me good things. I even own a stationary bike, maybe I will knock the dust off that thing and get going. Thanx again, ByeBrenda in Tx

Brenda as for your weightloss, it looks great. I started at 298lbs, and I am now down to 234lbs. I know as we approach the 200lb mark, it really seems to drag, but you will get there. Now as for the exercise. I wsa told curves is good to help tone, and get in some exercise with out getting too aerobic, how ever walking is the best. It is to be at a steady pace. Not just a stroll. Try to at least do a mile a day, wether you walk, or ride a bike. You will find yourself finishing that easier and easier, and can up it then to maybe 2 or 3 miles. I hate the heat, so a friend got me the walking away the pounds tapes. I love them. In 15 minutes you have gone a mile. It also works your arms and other parts of your body. Exercise will definitely help in losing weight faster. Just remember, Protein, water, and exercise. Those are the biggest tools to help our new tool do the job. You are doing great, keep it up and get some kind of exercise routine going. I am not a big exerciser either, but since I got these tapes I am at least doing a mile a day, and I do alot of water aerobics when it is so hot out side. - Melissa

Melissa, thank you for your reply and encouraging words. I love walking and I have heard good things about the walking away the pounds tapes. I will have to check those out. I live in a bad place to walk outside...heat, traffic, etc. so maybe the tapes will be great. I am joining Curves in the morning so I know that will help also. Thank you again, I know I have needed to start some sort of work out routine. I do get plenty of protein and water I just needed the encouragment to start to exercise. Thanx again, ByeBrenda in Tx

That is great Brenda!! I just got back from my trip to my moms. I did curves while I was there and it felt great to do resistance on my muscles. You are doing fine. Sounds like you have the ball rolling. If you ever need to talk, feel free to email me hun.- Melissa

Brenda- Melanie is right; it's always good to do a food diary every once in a while (or check on fitday.com) to see just exactly what all those little bites of cheezits and cashews add up to. In any event, things are going to go slower for us all from this point forward. It's just part of the natural loss curve that we lose slower as time goes on. Exercise is the new addiction in my life. I love it! I go every single day to the gym at the university and use the elliptical trainer (but I'm going to shake it up a bit from now on-use the stair climber and the bikes some) for about 50 min. I've only been doing this machine for a little over 3 weeks and the first day I couldn't manage more than 15 minutes. It's amazing how quick you can make progress. I'm doing it for cardiovascular health because at the same time that our fat is being broken down, some of our muscle is, and the heart is a muscle. I want to be sure my heart survives this process. Cardio work is good for burning calories in a short period of time (my 50 min supposedly burns 500+ cal based on my weight), but not as good at building muscles. To increase your RESTING metabolism, it's important to build some muscle mass. You don't have to look like a bodybuilder. Our muscle tissue is the tissue that burns calories. Fat tissue just sits there and does nothing. So if you can increase the ratio of muscle to fat in your body, even at the same weight, you will have a faster metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn all day every day. I hear great things about Curves. I also know that the company as a whole has a Christian-based philosophy and that they play Christian music during some of the workouts. As long as this is not a turn-off for you, it should be a good fit. I didn't really think I'd be comfortable personally with it, so I went a different path. I know that it has been so incredibly helpful to so many women all over. I admit to having a few Cheezits here and there. I also have occasionally treated myself to a sf dessert. I can eat servings that are up to 1 C in size, and I haven't yet fully mastered having my meals completely 100% dry (but I'm working hard to get to that point). I won't eat sugary things and mostly just pretend to myself that I'm already diabetic (I mean, I was on that road, let's face it). When I eat things that are too high in fat (with the exception of cheese, for some weird reason), I have wicked diarrhea, and that has definitely changed my diet for me. 57 lbs is no laughing matter. Go to a hardware store and try to lift a 50 lb bag of concrete. Heave Ho!!! Hugs, Susan

Susan, thank you also for your reply and encouraging words. I am joining Curves tomorrow and I pray that it builds some muscle mass like you are talking about. Heaven knows I haven't been building any muscle up til now. I am glad to hear that curves is Christian based. I am a Christian and the Lord knows I need all the help I can get. I may check out that fitday.com and see what that is all about. Thank you again and I loved the visual picture I got when you mentioned try picking up a 50lb bag of concrete. I am sure the next trip with my hubby to Home Depot I will have to try that one. Thanx again, ByeBrenda in Texas