Hello! So...I'm a 23 yr old female.. currently at close to 210... 5' 6" tall(shudder) I remember when I thought 180 was heavy for me but yeah.. Here is my dilemma, I am hoping to get down to 150 eventually,that is my goal so far... (my best freinds wedding is early next year..and I'd LUV to wear a dress! for the first time in YEARS) haha..
I'm going into this comittment with a positive outlook...but I'm a little afraid,because i don't really know what I'm doing...and don't have a whole heck of support from freinds etc,(because they believe I'm fine the way I am") hehe..gotta luv em for telling me that, but I don't feel fine and I'm on a mission.
I'v never really gone to the gym before..and I'm wondering as to what you guys could reccomend for someone starting out to get comfortable...Eg: how much cardio, should I start any strength training?
I REALLY want to work on my arms..because although everything has to go,I'd prefer focusing on them alot...because I DREAD summer...I don't own a tank top..and my usual summer attire is long sleeved shirts for fear of showing the dreaded "pipes"...
Sorry if this sounds like a tangent..haha.. I'll only do this for my introduction! HONEST.. I have a basic plan of what it is I want to do to get started...But in all seriousness,I'd appreciate ANY tips for excercises, fun Healthy foods to have... ANYTHING that you found helpful on your path!
Good Luck to you all!
Wish me luck! I'm off to achieve!

You sound a lot like me. I have been at this weight loss journey for a long time. Everyone around me was like, you look fine...I was in such denile over how much weight I actually put on. I have been on and off for a few years now and am finally seeing results. I am 5'4 and have gone from 205 to 176. Most of the weight has come off in the past month because of focus and determination. The more focused you are the more weight you'll lose. I am not an expert on Health or exercise but I can tell you that Focus and determination is key. Dont let any one detour you from your goal. You can do it!!

Thank you for your encouragement! yeah... by everyone telling me...i almost didn't realize... (and my weight is fairly evenly distributed,so I'm a little lucky in that sense,that it doesn't show in one huge particular spot,)
But I was shocked to weigh myself a month ago and realize...whoa.... just before christmas I was 185-190....which was alot for me,but now 210! It was really a reality check... And I'm lovin reading all the success stories here! Everyone looks like they'r doing so well! I'm so glad!
I think one of the hardest things for me to overcome will be... "YES it will actually work for me" haha... because I seem to have built this thing up in my mind that what i want...is too good to be true.
But I'm gettin there

what's your basic plan?

Spend a lot of time reading the stickied threads before you get too set into your plan -there's a lot of good information in those threads to get you on your way - and have you stay that way for the rest of your life

My Basic Plan so far: I'm trying to stick to a diet of about 1500 calories a day... My bf and I eat fairly healthy for the most part,( no eating out, no sweets etc etc. With lots of lean meats) So I think that part will be fairly easy for me to stick to...I'm not a big snacker...but since I'v been with him,I'v put on the pounds as when he breaks out the bag of chips while we'r watching a movie...and Me: They'r just...SO close...Mmmm eat eat.
But it's the workout part that I'm still trying to figure out, as to what will work best for me and give me results.
Instead of sitting on my computer the past 3 weeks, I am doing brisk walking/joggin every evening. And some crunches.
But I don't feel that I am getting enough out of it. I am going to be going to the gym starting this weekend. And we'll see what happens from there.

Also, is there any suggestions for good recipe sites to visit? or sites that breakdown what you eat vs. an alternative to eat something better? It's amazing some of the stuff we eat that we "think " is healthy.... but really isn't.

I'm going to try out the gym i found tonight!!! Whee!

That's great that you found a gym! I haven't gone to a gym in ages and ages....

I just found this site Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople
They have recipes, meal plans if you need, they count your calories, proteins, carbs, fats etc. It's great. It even calculates how long it ill take you to lose the weight etc. It's a great tool. Like today, I knew I was going to eat fast food, so I entered that in, and it modified my dinner plans so I could still stay within my calories for the day.

Good luck at the gym

Hey, welcome to the forum. When I started out, I was a 210 pound 23-year old (just with opposite sex organs). This forum has a wealth of information for getting your plan started. First, like mal said, read the stickied threads under all the major categories on the home page to get the basics down. Those are the threads are that always are at the top. Here are a few things that I kinda overlooked in the beginning. It's all information you can find around the forum, but useful to know from the start.

If I could rewind, there would be a few things I would have done in the beginning differently. First, I would have taken measurements and pictures (painful, but you will be glad you did). Also, get a body composition test to tell you what your body fat % is today so you will have something to compare to later. Your local university should be able to do the most accurate testing for like $20-50. I'm not sure I would trust a local gym or any scale that claims to give fat%. It's an easy measurement to botch. Weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day, no more.

Second, I would have really taken a strangehold on my nutrition from the beginning instead of just winging it. I probably lost some muscle because of my lack of knowledge at the beginning. Part of getting nutrition down is really annoying/time consuming, but you will get the hang of it & it will be second nature after a short while. I use a website called fitday.com, but there are others that do the same thing. The site lets you enter foods you eat and it helps you track calories and ratios of fat/protein/carbs. No one can estimate calories or carbs or proteins well. No one. Again, no one. I thought I was the only exception, but when I started really tracking, I found I was off. If you cook a lot, it's harder, you will probably want a food scale (*shudder* I know that sounds so tedious). I cook basically zero, so it's not that bad for me.

I used to be the same way, binging on chips was my main weakness. Well...along with eating too much of everything, but mainly healthy foods. Quantity matters. A lot.

That's probably a pretty good daily calorie goal for you. I calculated your BMR (calories you burn at rest each day) to be 1785 (estimate, of course). So with 0 exercise and that diet, you would lose about 0.5lb a week. Exercise will speed that up quite a bit.

I find cardio machines (ellipticals, bikes, etc) are much more helpful for getting good workouts. A good measure to determine if you are at the right intensity is to get your heart rate up to about 140-160 and keep it there for about 20 minutes. Cardio takes time to get into, so don't stress if it takes you a while to get to that point or you fatigue after short workouts at first. The body adapts quickly.

Read the "Basic Lifts" stickied thread under "weight loss through exercise" to begin, but go through all those threads to figure out a resistance training program. It's an essential part of weight loss. Women need to use heavy weights too! No 1lb dumb bells!

Anyway, I hope some of this stuff helps you get started. Like I said, an enormous wealth of info is on this forum and you have hours of reading ahead of you. All my suggestions are just suggestions that worked for me. Each person is different & will respond differently, so listen to your body & take everything you read with that in mind. Good luck and don't give up. -Marcus

Purple: That website is amazing! Thank you!! I only got a chance to quickly go through the recipe section...but it's great! Those apple oatmeal muffins look great for breakfasts! and they'r only 93 Cals! (And they'r freezable to keep fresh)
Looking forward to checking out the other stuff on there!


Marcus: Wow! haha.. thanks for all your info! Especially the input on cardio etc...
I never even thought about the heartrate etc part of it ... put that's definately a useful tool, to monitor that and for how long.
Haha..I'v noticed it can be very easy to "do the motions" of excercising,but you'r not really doing it at a rate that is going to benefit in the end.
Your response is much appreciated! Thank you so much for your time!
By the way, the little bit of a workout I had last night was fun! haha.. I'm really starting to get excited about all this! I'll be increasing what it is I do Gymwise as I discover more things to try.... but all in all... I'm so far enjoying the experience!

So I went to the gym yesterday! It was awesome.. I did about 50 minutes cardio... felt really good when I came home, did some crunches..and I ate healthy all day and drank tons of water! YAY.. Now is the upkeep for the rest of the week... But I think it will be good. I have tons of new recipe ideas to try out that are healthy...and I LUV the website SparkPeople.. tons of help on there.
Have a great day!

Don't you love that rush after you work out!? It's been easy for me to get it since I"ve been such a couch potato lately, but I love it too! Sounds like a great day! How did you do yesterday? I hope you have another good week!!

Yesterday was ok... I HAD planned on going to the gym, But after getting off work etc, it was a bit late and I didn't want to drive out to the gym...but I went for a good brisk walk...I even attempted to jog... but yeah..I suck at jogging. It seems to be the muscles in my upper legs that absolutely DIE... I'v noticed this with jogging and when I'v tried the elliptical. My upper thighs just get SO tired..and I can't do those things for nearly as long as I'd like. I can't even get past 5 minutes on the elliptical. Which I find weird, because everyone says its so low impact that they find it easy to go long periods of time.
* Any ideas how to strengthen those upper leg muscles? It's really starting to tick me off, because I have TONS of energy...but THEY killl me and I can barely follow through a workout because of it.
Treadmill I'm fine on, I can go fast, on an uphill incline...for a long time and have a great sweating effective workout, But I'd like to do other things as well.
* Will they get better with just treadmilling for awhile?? Any advice on that area would be great.

But I plan on going to the gym tonight. For real We'll see how it goes.
HAve a great week all!

Doing squats and lunges will do a ton to strengthen your thigh muscles (and your butt too!). I don't have a link for proper form or a list of exercises or anything, but you could google for suggestions!