I wanted to give a tip / reminder, especially to people who seem to stall. There are three things to consider when going on a diet and starting to take on a more active lifestyle.

Homeostasis - Homeostasis is your body's comfortable, normal, balanced, level. This varies from person to person, and for each particular person, this level can be greatly modified through exercise and life style changes. For example, one could eat a healthy well-balanced meal plan all their life, yet still constantly be 20 lbs over weight. Some of this also has to do with genetics as well, as we all know. So one thing to remember before you set you final target weight is - what is your typical homeostatic weight?

Body Effeciency - The next thing to remember is that the body is a fairly effecient machine, but unlike mechanical devices, the body actually adapts and becomes more and more effecient the more you do something. So try to vary your exercise routines as much as you can. If at all possible, come up with a new training regiment every few weeks. Each and every time your exercising seems simple or unengaging, mix it up early. Each time you pick up something new, your body is not used to the motions and lacks effeciency. An inefficent body burns *more* calories commiting the same action than a body trained for that action through reptition.

Diurnal/Nocturnal cycles - Along with this efficiency and lifestyle, your body also has an internal clock. It has timers that go off throughout the day that try to save energy and expend it when needed. The body also has expectations on when it will have to do work, as well as when it can expect nourishment. Like above, body effeciency, try breaking up these patterns as much as you can. Vary your meal times, or even break a meal up in to two smaller snacks. Work out in the morning instead of the evening one week. Etc..


TomC

Thanks for the tips. As a fat person exercise has always been out of the question. But now I would like to start. I think it really helps. What should I be doing? I am 57.
Take care and think thin.
Jan

Well, the first thing you want to do is schedule a full physical with your doctor before starting anything. Normally, I'd just say go ahead and jump right in to it, but you are starting to get up there in years, so definitely take precautions.

For lower body, I recommend walking at first. Get in your car and measure out 1 mile, 1.5 miles and 2 miles on various patterns in your neighborhood, then walk them forward, backwards, or with alternating loops, and try to get in 1 mile a day for the first week, 1.5 the next and 2 the third week. Once you get to two miles on the third week, the 4th week spend reducing your walking time, ie, increasing your pace. Don't jog though. Make sure at any one time, one of your feet is on the ground. Make sure you do 3 minutes of leg, calf and foot stretches first. One main stretch I recommend is while standing put your foot to a point about a foot behind you and stretch out your front calf. Don't forget that one, as it can help you avoid shin splints or front shin pain. During that stretch feel free to roll your foot ( on your toes for that foot) in a circular motion. Hard to describe, but your toes are stationary and the heel of your foot moves in circles.

For upper body, I recommend starting off with some gym work to help control flab during weight loss. Just do light upper body workouts, 20 lbs or more at higher reps. Say 2-3 sets of 20 reps. You lower body, expecially in females, typically has the strongest muscles and you want to use these to help you burn the calories, but the upper body should also be maintained with some simple exercises. I recommend also laying on your back, bend your knees 90 degress like in a sitting position, and while watching tv, rock you knees from left to right slowly as far as you can go. Do this for 10 mins or more daily if you can. This will get you prepped for doing a more structured abdominal workout, once you get primed and some more of that weight off.

Just remember that you have a higher risk of age related injuries, so start slow and listen to your body's complaints. Also remember that you have a higher risk of weight related damage as well, so keep your workouts light until your weight gets down, then pick up more high impact exercises.

Tom C