I joined a gym at the beginning of the month.

@mommaj (23112)
United States
August 9, 2010 10:25am CST
I have lost a pound or two since joining the gym. The best part is I have lost at least two inches. Most of the weight loss was water, but that's okay. I am trying to lose the most weight in the shortest time possible with exercise. I don't want to put the weight back on so if it takes time to lose I am okay with that. Do you have any weight loss secrets besides drinking lots of water?
1 person likes this
9 responses
@wiggles18 (2506)
• Canada
9 Aug 10
Eat paleolithic, and train like an animal. I lost around 15-20 pounds during my first month.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
9 Aug 10
LOL. The showers are definitely out. I love hot showers. LOL The tea I would love. I usually only drink one glass of tea a day and the rest of the time water. I am a water maniac. LOL
@wiggles18 (2506)
• Canada
9 Aug 10
I also drank lots of green, red and lemon tea during this time too. And, I would have peculiar showers: I would start off at neutral heat, then I would work my way back to the coldest temperature I could handle. It was tough at first, but there was a point where I could stay under the coldest temperature possible for about 3-5 minutes, quite comfortably.
@wiggles18 (2506)
• Canada
9 Aug 10
Oh, but they feel so good. Way, way, way better than a hot shower. I liked the feeling of hot showers and bathes much more before, but nothing compares to a freezing cold shower. After you get out, you feel so, alive! Your senses are heightened, you hear and see things so crisply, and your body feels great. You still look the same as when you have a really hot shower though, red, haha.
@lulu1220 (1006)
• United States
9 Aug 10
The most obvious is diet. You need to eat less calories. You can exercise all you want but if you do not change your diet you will not lose much weight or just maintain. One trick that has worked for me is this. I will go about a week eating good. No fast food. No sweets. No sugary sodas. Then I will eat a high calorie snack one day or maybe even a high calorie meal and then go back to eating healthy. It tends to shock the system and boost your metabolism for a few days and then I start losing again. It seems your body is good at adapting to routine. If you eat the same amount of calories every day and do the same exercises, you will lose weight but eventually your body will adjust and hit a plateau. This is when you stop losing the weight because your body has adapted to what you are doing. So what some people do is still eat healthy, but maybe one day they will eat 1400 calories, another day eat 1800 calories and so forth. Then there is the method I use by eating a high calorie snack or meal about once a week or maybe three times a month to shock my system. Also it is good to not do the exact same exercise routine and try to change it up every day. One day walk, another day ride a bike, one day jog, etc.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
9 Aug 10
I'm not having trouble with the exercise. It seems to be working. I have heard about shocking your system before. That might work well with me. LOL I have a hard time setting a schedule for anything especially eating. When I do eat it is usually while I am chasing my kids. I will let you know if I try the 1400 then 1800 calorie diet. At least that sounds reasonable.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
10 Aug 10
LOL. The past couple days I've been sweating plenty just by going outside. LOL I've been using the eliptical. I love that thing. After I use it I do a quick weight routine with leg exercises and then arm exercises. They even have a machine that is supposed to do what situps do. Can't say I believe that though. LOL I've used it and it doesn't feel like I've done anything. I usually grab a floor mat and do a few crunches. I've never been one to lose weight fast, but then again I don't really gain it that fast either.
@lolo58 (54)
• United States
9 Aug 10
I posted before but seems it didn't take - oh well, new to the system. Being an avid gym gal - going for about 18 yrs. with nor long term break I've picked up a few very important key thoughts. But first, I'm in agreement with lulu...Switch the amount of calories, our bodies get bored...If I may add one small bit to her advice - try to determine how many you're taking in now. I would also try to get a good idea of your Body Mass Index - any trainer at the gym can help you with that and then you have a starting point. One major thing is this: very fast weight is unhealthy and it usually comes back - slow and steady. Totally agree on the snacks. For the longest time I deprived myself of the 2 items I love, Peanut butter and also cheese, both high fat. This resulted in bingeing (very bad). Now, it's all good and can pretty much stay on track - On the cardio issue....I was told once from a trainer " It's all in the sweat." I'm not a fan of a lot of cardio and I don't like to sweat - Guess what? I started to sweat...I also live in Fla. and not only are there no stairs, the heat mixed with the humidity is horrid - If your a member of a gym - try the eliptical.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
12 Aug 10
Mommaj, I can help you lose weight faster. Later I will go out and catch a few mosquitoes. I will ask the mosquitoes whether they can give you dengue fever. If they can, I will send them over to you. Once you get dengue fever, you can lose 30 pounds within a week. The best is that you do not need to do anything, just sleep and sleep, until the fever gone down. By then, you need to buy clothing two size smaller.
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
14 Aug 10
Hi Mommaj, I just found out from the mosquitoes that there are four kind of dengue fever. I wonder which one you want. Maybe I can send four mosquitoes over, so that you can get all the four kinds of dengue fever. I think it is better to recover from one dengue fever, before you get another dengue fever. That will keep you busy until the end of the year. By then, you would have lost 120 pounds. You can start to eat whatever you like at Christmas. No harm putting on 10 pounds during that week.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
12 Aug 10
I will email you directions to my house. This sounds much easier to me. LOL
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
16 Aug 10
Don't eat fatty food. Congrats on the pounds and inches and keep up the good work!
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
17 Aug 10
Somehow I managed to sprain my wrist when I fell in the garage and it still hurts if I use it too much. I know it is almost better because I have had to pick up my 50 pound son almost everyday since I hurt it. Since it's the arm I usually use to carry him and lift him he keeps holding on to it. OW! I think I will start exercising again this week if I can go for a whole day without it hurting. It only hurts at night now. LOL
@Canellita (12029)
• United States
17 Aug 10
Are you wearing a brace? Did you see a doctor? You don't want to do any permanent harm.
• Canada
10 Aug 10
you might want to hold off on the water. drink a normal amount .. you dont even need 2 litres a day like they say.. you go swing it with 1 litre or less. what you need to do is run and exercise and cardio like crazy... bottom line you will melt it off
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
10 Aug 10
Interesting that you said that about the water. I can tell when I have drank too much water because my body wants salt. I guess too much of a good thing can hurt you.
• United States
12 Aug 10
1) Make sure that you eat plenty of fruits and veggies. 2) Try to keep at leats half of your grains (bread, pasta, etc) whole grain. 3) Avoid overdosing on salt and sugars. 4) Don't completely limit treat foods, or you'll risk getting bored with you diet amd "falling off the wagon." 5) Bring a friend to the gym...you'll have more motivation to keep up a regular routine if you have someone planning to tag along. Best of luck!!!
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
12 Aug 10
The exercising I enjoy. I thought it would be hard at first because the last gym I belonged to everyone was already in shape. This gym the people are there to exercise and not socialize. That is the type of gym I like. I hate thinking someone is watching me while I exercise. I have no coordination or grace so it is pretty funny to watch. I'm not sure about the whole grains. I do not eat much sugar but I am bad with the salt. I think that may be why I have a blood pressure problem. LOL
@youless (112586)
• Guangzhou, China
9 Aug 10
It is always good to do more exercise. I hope you will keep on doing exercises in the gym. I have heard that having breakfast and have enough sleep will make you have a normal weight. I love China
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
9 Aug 10
I am enjoying the exercise. I have an autistic five year old so sleep is out of the question. I pass out when I have to. LOL The gym is nice and I do cardio workouts.
@Rainegurl (2156)
• Philippines
9 Aug 10
Good for you Congratulations. Less sweets and less salty food, I think. Also, have a good and healthy breakfast. I hope you would continue enjoying going to the gym. Keep up the good work!
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
10 Aug 10
I'm not a big fan of sweets. All I like is chocolate. Not cakes though just the morsels, chocolate bars or m&m's. I don't eat them very often though because I don't want the kids to have them. If they don't taste them they won't know what they are missing. LOL
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
9 Aug 10
I read recently that to lose weight, a female has to exercise for 90 minutes per day and if you simply want to maintain 60 minutes per day is required. What has always worked for me is carb cycling (but calorie cycling works as well as do Weight Watchers points). Your body gets used to food and exercise (calories, times or types) in 48 hours so you have to mix things up. for instance, if your goal is to eat no more than 1200 calories per day, eat 1200 one day, eat 1000 the next and the folloring day eat 1400. Just don't provide a pattern for your body to adjust to
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
10 Aug 10
That's interesting. First that much exercise would kill me. I don't have enough hours in the day. LOL The adjusting is also interesting because I don't know if I could set a calorie limit a day and actually stick with it. Sometimes it is hard to eat a lot of food and other times the same food seems like it is making me starve. LOL Guess my body binges on its own.