Hi everyone, My name is Ashley, I am 20 years old, I am in college to be a chef and I also work full time as a line cook....
~I found this forum last night and I just couldn't get it out of my mind! You people seem so awesome and impowered! I have decided to start a diet that I am going to stick with, not sure how much I weight (guessing around the 200+ area) I'm going to buy a scale today.

Some questions I have...
~Should I start by going through my cabbinets and fridge and throw out anything specific?
~Also how many days in between should I weigh myself...I see alot of you saying "I weigh in tomorrw".... I know if you look everyday it can be discourgaing if your not loosing right away.
~How much weight loss is just inital water weight loss?
~I'm busy busy busy, work full time, college full time, Mary Kay consultant and President of the Culinary Arts club..... what kinds of work outs can I do at home besides walking that can shed some pounds....also I have large lovehandles-any good workouts specific to get those off my back?

Thanks guys talk to you after work! Pulling a double today...
~Ashley~

Hi Ashley! Welcome here!

I can't answer all of your questions...but here's a few thoughts. Try not to weigh everyday if you're the type to get discouraged about fluctuations. It can be tough. A lot of people seem to weigh in once a weekk, same time of day, wearing the same thing each time. I do it every morning, but it doesn't bother me if it goes up a little; that's just me.

About the water weight loss- everyone is different. The first time I lost weight, I lost 12 lbs the first week, then nothing else for the next month. This time, I've lost 1 lb or so consistenly since I started; no big loss to kick it off.

Hope that helps...good luck!!!

Hiya Ashley and welcome to this forum, i have been a member for about a week now and i find it has helped me out so much, i hope it also helps you. I would agree with dariqueen in saying about weighing once a week, at the same time and wearing the same clothes but also try and get the scales in the same place each time, my mrs is terrible for weighing at home and she will weigh every day sometimes twice, she will then chase the scales around the room looking for the place where it weighs her lighter and everytime we go to our slimming club the scales there say something completly different
I have tried lots of diets and on my 1st weeks i have lost anything from 3lbs to 15lbs but like dariqueen i struggled to lose for a couple of weeks after a big loss, i wish you all the best on your weight loss journey
kev

To lose weight - excess body fat particularly, its simple - you need to cut calories below your daily requirement. You should cut those calories that are nutritionally weak - stuff that doesnt 'give you' much good nutrition. You could also benefit by checking out the glycemic index - avoid stuff like white bread. Eat healthy - avoid saturated and trans fats. Eat wholesome - plenty of fresh fruit and veg (nutritionally dense foods). You could chuck out any cooking oils that are high in saturated fats. You could chuck out any full fat dairy produce. You might well consider chucking out anything such as frozen pizza or ice cream that could tempt you...No more than once a week - less is better, but its hard!Varies person to person.Cutting calories and eating nutrient dense foods will have the largest affect on weight loss in any programme - its far easier to cut calories from a diet than to burn them all off by exercise. However, exercise will help you with your body fat percentage, metabolism, health, and fitness. It is probably vital for long term weight loss. ANY amount of exercise will be better than none. Find something that suits your new lifestyle. You might be able to fit more walking or cycling into your life. You may find gym membership your thing, or prefer workout DVDs at home. What can you do at home? Its not really my thing - I like running and strength training in the gym, but someone here should be able to help.

As for those love handles - thats excess body fat, some people put it on their bums, others their bellies, some their legs first. You cannot target an area of body fat in order to 'turn it into muscle' - it doesn't work that way. However, cutting calories whilst eating good healthy food, combined with some kind of regular cardio exercise (running, jogging, cycling, home workout, etc) will get rid of them for you