I lost my first 5 pounds in the first week and a half but I was running/walking a lot hehe....along with a better way of eating. Since march 18th I have lost 14 pounds. I love it.
You all think I will lose much more weight ridding 10mi's a day everyday and eating right?
Take care all!
Originally posted by Pat
Losing weight
1) Aerobic exercise
2) Eat healthier - less fat more fiber, fruits, vegetables.
Combining exercise with a change in diet is good because if you just cut back on calories, some people's bodies figure this is a famine and the body just scales back its metabolic rate resulting in a very slow weight loss. If you do aerobic exercise, the body has to be ready to go at any moment and it generally increases the metabolic rate. Also losing weight while being sedentary requires a very calorically restrictive diet and that is hard to maintain. Many people lose weight and then gain it right back because they have not made a life style change.
Another benefit to exercise, is when most people diet, they lose fat and muscle in about equal proportions. If you exercise and you are out of shape, you will lose fat and gain muscle.
If you diet alone, you have only 2 basic ways to judge your progress: weight loss and body dimensions. The problem with weight loss is it is often episodic - you go 2 months with no progress than you quickly lost 5 lbs. The benefit of exercise is you can see improvements in conditioning, muscle tone, body shape, average speed, distance ridden, who drops you, etc ect. You have a bunch of positive things going on and you are not a slave to the scale.
Of course, no matter how much you exercise, you can eat enough to gain weight. Last summer, I did a tour through the Rocky Mountains and some people gained weight. I guess they were gorging on hot fudge sundays every afternoon. I lost weight, but I did not increase my intake much either. Remember it takes about 70 miles to burn a lb of fat and that is assuming you do not eat more in response.
