Originally Posted by
bigedgator
Oh yes! I've lost 50lbs and I did that w/o following a diet plan. I would like to follow a nutrition plan and lose 50 more pounds. The weight is taking a toll on my knees!
As a general rule "diet" plans do not work so your statement of a "nutrition plan" is a more on a proper train of thought. Diet plans generally put you on some odd-ball eating regime that is not always healthy and is very difficult to stick with. And once you've lost the weight (if you do lose) and resume eating normal foods again the weight creeps back on. You will be far better off by simply continuing with the exercise and changing your eating habits to more healthy and less food. In other words, make a
lifestyle modification that you can maintain for the rest of your life. It may take a little longer to drop all the weight you want, but you didn't put the extra weight on quickly so don't attempt to take it off quickly. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends 2.5 pounds/week as a healthy and safe rate of loss. They also recommend strength training as an effective way of losing weight since muscle cells burn more energy than fat cells, even at rest. You don't have to go to a gym to do that either. A simple home workout consisting of some crunches, hip flexors, lunges, and arm strengthing with stretch cords of some type will be sufficient to see noticeable gains quickly without an expensive gym membership. Just start slow and increase a little each week (maybe 5 to 10% on the number of repetitions.)
Congrats on the initial loss and keep up the good work.