WinterBreeze
New member
Gosh, this thread has definitely grown in length since I last read it! Thanks for the replies!
Regarding Slimming World - I find it an enjoyable plan, even though I don't fully understand how it works. It claims in the books/on the website that it has nothing to do with calorie counting. I find that hard to believe since in order to lose fat, one must cut calories. Regarding exercise, I agree with Lizabell - for me, it's been an integral and vital part of my weight loss. I have at least 45lb left to lose - and have already lost 42lb and exercise has been what's enabled me to do it, IMO. Prior to losing weight, I probably ate 2,000 cals on average and didn't exercise at all. Now I eat 1500 and try and exercise as much as I can. I don't love exercise, but I'd rather do it than cut more calories from my diet. As Liz said, for a woman it's very difficult to cut corners with calories - I did try eating 1200 for a while and exercising less, but I actually found I was feeling too deprived food-wise and that's not beneficial long-term. Plus, at my weight and height, eating 1200 is not really enough. That said, I do agree that just exercising won't make anyone lose weight. Dietary changes have to be made. But for me, personally, I have found that exercise has been the more important factor. Food-wise, I don’t feel like I’ve had to make too many changes.
Anyway, regarding the original question I asked in the topic, I think I am getting back on track now with my weight loss. For five weeks I did not have my heart monitor, and this made it incredibly difficult for me to guesstimate how hard I was working. Now I am sticking to one hour a day of intense cardio (trying to work at approximately 80-90% of my MHR.) I think that is a lot more intense than what I had been doing in the weeks without my heart monitor (it had broken and was being fixed.) According to my HR monitor, I burn off around 850 calories in one hour, but usually I subtract around 150-200 calories from that, because I would burn that amount (150 ish) if I were sedentary during that time.
I have checked my calorific needs and have found that I “need” 2877 (without exercise.)
So for me, I’m already cutting 1000 out (I eat between 1500-1800 most days.) Plus about 500 with exercise every day. I have been told on a few occasions to eat more, but whenever I’ve tried this I’ve instantly put on a 1lb or 2. Perhaps the calorie calculators are just wrong? Other than my 1-hour-a-day cardio and 1 hour of resistance training (per week,) I do not live an active lifestyle at all.
Regarding Slimming World - I find it an enjoyable plan, even though I don't fully understand how it works. It claims in the books/on the website that it has nothing to do with calorie counting. I find that hard to believe since in order to lose fat, one must cut calories. Regarding exercise, I agree with Lizabell - for me, it's been an integral and vital part of my weight loss. I have at least 45lb left to lose - and have already lost 42lb and exercise has been what's enabled me to do it, IMO. Prior to losing weight, I probably ate 2,000 cals on average and didn't exercise at all. Now I eat 1500 and try and exercise as much as I can. I don't love exercise, but I'd rather do it than cut more calories from my diet. As Liz said, for a woman it's very difficult to cut corners with calories - I did try eating 1200 for a while and exercising less, but I actually found I was feeling too deprived food-wise and that's not beneficial long-term. Plus, at my weight and height, eating 1200 is not really enough. That said, I do agree that just exercising won't make anyone lose weight. Dietary changes have to be made. But for me, personally, I have found that exercise has been the more important factor. Food-wise, I don’t feel like I’ve had to make too many changes.
Anyway, regarding the original question I asked in the topic, I think I am getting back on track now with my weight loss. For five weeks I did not have my heart monitor, and this made it incredibly difficult for me to guesstimate how hard I was working. Now I am sticking to one hour a day of intense cardio (trying to work at approximately 80-90% of my MHR.) I think that is a lot more intense than what I had been doing in the weeks without my heart monitor (it had broken and was being fixed.) According to my HR monitor, I burn off around 850 calories in one hour, but usually I subtract around 150-200 calories from that, because I would burn that amount (150 ish) if I were sedentary during that time.
I have checked my calorific needs and have found that I “need” 2877 (without exercise.)
So for me, I’m already cutting 1000 out (I eat between 1500-1800 most days.) Plus about 500 with exercise every day. I have been told on a few occasions to eat more, but whenever I’ve tried this I’ve instantly put on a 1lb or 2. Perhaps the calorie calculators are just wrong? Other than my 1-hour-a-day cardio and 1 hour of resistance training (per week,) I do not live an active lifestyle at all.
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