So I got to thinking today that I have gotten by with no exercise for 16 months now. I quit when I started having band problems and was losing a bit more than I wanted to.

Well, those days are over! ;o) I have two pounds I need to lose to stay within my permissible 5#'s that I allow myself. My jeans don't fit. Just 5# makes a difference of a size at this point. Ohhh, they fit.. but I almost have to lay on my bed to zip them up. Not acceptable!

Today I finally got to the treadmill and I thought it would be harder but it wasn't. I'll work up to running again instead of walking/running/walking/running. It was a piece of cake, not what I expected at all after being a lazy couch slug for 16 care free months!

One down side, I remember when I first started this WLJ. I could burn the same number of calories in 15 minutes that it takes in 48 minutes now. That sucks. (BMI/BMR having gone down.)

I'd put an exercise ticker in there but alas... no room! HAHAHA

You are by no stretch of the imagination fat. I know how determined you are so I have no doubts you'll get to where you want to be.

I also hate weights. But, developing more muscle really will help with your overall metabolism/BMR.

The best way to develop muscle is to concentrate on doing it in one area at a time. Like one day, just do core muscles, then the next day, do just the arms, the next day work on just legs.

It is always better to do the muscle building before cardio. This way everything is available to get the most out of your muscle building.

One week I do weights with lots of reps to get the fat burn right where I want it, and the next week I do fewer reps, but try to increase the weight by 10lbs.

I started out a couple of months ago, only being able to do about 40lbs at 100 reps on the ab machine. Now I can do 80lbs at 100 reps. This is a good example of doing more reps and less weight to mainly work on burning the fat where I want it to burn from.

While the next week, I do the same ab machine with 100lbs for 10 reps and try to make it through 3 cycles. I can't make it on the third try, so I will just keep trying until I make it. If you can make it through all 3 cycles, you need to move up 10lbs next time. If you can't make it to 8 reps on any cycle, you have to move back 10lbs.

Try to get 30 grams of Protein in during or right after your weight lifting, and it will make quicker results.

I know, you hate weights, but a lot of studies have shown that weight training in conjunction with cardio, will make your cardio much more successful, and it will make the most effect on BMR.

Keep your body guessing what it is going to do today by varying things up and it will overall be more effective.

Do these things, and you have just learned everything I have learned from having a trainer work with me. It costs a lot to learn something so basic???

Edited May 18, 200917 yr by Jaffa

What's BMR?

Thanks for that great post Jaffa!

What's BMR?

Thanks for that great post Jaffa!

Here is a calculator:

BMR Calculator

Light weights will help but they wont up the burn by a huge amount. And you have to be very careful not to injure yourself.

Exactly. They really aren't worth it; there are better ways to ramp up your activity.

I know people who are into hard-core exercising, train people a living, etc. and none of them use weights when they run or advise their clients to do so. It's just too easy to injury yourself for very little extra benefit.

What's BMR?

Basal Metabolic Rate. (Sometimes people say "Basic" instead of "Basal"). It's the number of calories you burn to keep your body alive... so what you'd burn if you did nothing all day but lay around in bed.

Your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate) is what you'd burn if you did nothing but sit all day. It's easier to measure and it's very close to BMR so some site and some trainers use it instead.

I had a resting met. test taken at my band dr.'s office shortly after banding. I couldn't exercise for 48 hours prior to the test. I had to have the test within one hour of getting out of bed on an empty stomach. I was hooked up to a computer and had my nose closed shut with a thing like a close pin. I had to breathe in and out through my mouth into this tube thing for 20 min.

It determined I burn 1200 calories per day just sitting there. It showed me how much I needed to exercise and how much to cut my calories in order to lose. it was an eye opener.

I have found the calculators to be pretty much right on. Measuring my intake of calories against what it says I should burn, plus any activity, has pretty much predicted how much weight I'm going to lose. The bodybugg is a litttle nicer, but I'm not convinced it is really any more accurate then just calculating and estimating. But, it does motivate me to move.

I have found the calculators to be pretty much right on. Measuring my intake of calories against what it says I should burn, plus any activity, has pretty much predicted how much weight I'm going to lose. The bodybugg is a litttle nicer, but I'm not convinced it is really any more accurate then just calculating and estimating. But, it does motivate me to move.

Agreed. As I was losing I was tracking calories and exercise on thedailyplate.com and I have to say, it was pretty much on track! If I entered info correctly I could gauge how it would be in real time regarding weight loss.

The online calculators don't work for me. They over-estimate the calories I burn. I had my RMR tested too and found out mine was 8% lower than average for my gender, height, weight and age.

Of course, that was 40 pounds ago. When you are losing weight, your metabolism can be all over the place. I plan to get tested again when my weight stabilizes.

The online calculators don't work for me. They over-estimate the calories I burn. I had my RMR tested too and found out mine was 8% lower than average for my gender, height, weight and age.

Of course, that was 40 pounds ago. When you are losing weight, your metabolism can be all over the place. I plan to get tested again when my weight stabilizes.

I've been kinda shocked, thedailplate.com matches my weight loss. When I compare it (at goal, didn't work pre-goal) to my treadmill it is within about 20 calories. When I calculated my BMR to my weight loss to thedailyplate.com, it was pretty much on target.

I want to get my RMR tested, how do you find someone to do it?

I've been kinda shocked, thedailplate.com matches my weight loss. When I compare it (at goal, didn't work pre-goal) to my treadmill it is within about 20 calories. When I calculated my BMR to my weight loss to thedailyplate.com, it was pretty much on target.

I want to get my RMR tested, how do you find someone to do it?

Check with your PCP. I had this done with mine a few years back

Here's a good article too

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/534066

Check with your PCP. I had this done with mine a few years back

Here's a good article too

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/534066

My PCP is in Nogales, MX. I'm pretty sure he's not going to know how to get it done.

After having had surgery in MX and seeing the huge difference in the medical culture I switched my PCP to MX as well. I am lucky in the sense that I live on a border state.

I have found my bodybugg is usually about 10% higher then the calculated way. My weight loss says the calculator is more correct, but maybe I'm just gaining a little muscle aslo??

The Daily Plate way over-estimated the amount of calories I can eat. OTOH, I now use My Fitness Pal and it seems okay, but it says I should be losing about 1 lb. a week and I've been losing two. So it's going the other way, I think.

I do think the calculators get more accurate the closer you are to goal. Also, for exercise, many people find when they are a beginner runner that the online calculators under-estimate their calorie burned but tend over-estimate calories burned from other exercise. My HRM monitor says I burn more running and less biking in the gym than the online calculators. But the swimming and biking outside are close.

IOW, I find I can't rely on one source because each one is skewed in a different way!

It is always better to do the muscle building before cardio. This way everything is available to get the most out of your muscle building.

I basically do what you say Steve, I concentrate on one area per workout. However, when I first started working out, I worked with a personal trainer the first few times just to figure out what I needed to be doing. He has me start my workouts with ten minutes of cardio just to get my heart rate up and then move on to the weight training. Once I complete the weights, then I do a full thirty minutes of cardio.