Beginners body magic

[Poppet24]

Hello,

My weekly weight losses have slowed down dramatically since worrying smoking, but I have a new found energy level that I'm hoping to put to good use.

I was wondering what kinds of things people did when they started exercising and how long after starting slimming world did you start exercising? Should I expect to see a few gains as my body adjusts or does that happen with only certain exercises?

Many thanks, x

 

[Poppet24]

Since quitting smoking * haha

 

[Cavegirl21]

If you want to exercise go for it. And yes you may see some weight gain but that will be temporary. Take measurements as well as you may lose inches and not weight.

A lb of fat is the same weight as a lb of muscle. Muscle is denser so uses up less space.

 

[AliGal]

There's an interesting article in today's Times - weight training (13 minutes three times a week gave young men the same results as 70 minutes or 40 minutes 3 times a week - terms of strength. It also reports other research - 33 studies were reveiwed and also show weight training gives a "significant reduction in depression - and it didn't matter if you did 2 or 5 times a week. Lifting heavier with fewer reps to exhaustion is most effective. And .... lifting weight in combo with regular cardio exercise such as swimming, cycling or running) burns fat faster - you gain lean body mass and loose fat at the same time. 249 overweight adults who were calorie counting and weight training for 18 months lost significantly more body fat than those who walked. Wierdly that study also found out that just doing cardio (no weights) caused older obese adults to loose more lean mass than they did just dieting. The article also dismisses most of the myths about strength training (you are more likely to be injured on a running machine or by yr skipping rope, than weights!)

So a short weight lifting prog for me 3 x a week when I get settled.....

 

[Dave.]

Has anyone on here completed the activity awards? I finally did the Gold award this week, 150mins of activity a week over 5 days for 8 weeks. Disappointingly after completing it I've received no notification that I was successful or anything. The award has just got a "start award" button on the page again!

I started in the second week kind of @Poppet24 . The energy levels I found I had I started playing table tennis for half an hour to an hour a few days a week and then went on to going for 10k steps a day which I think by week 4 I was hitting most days. I was then doing 2 x 4 mile walks a day a couple of days a week. I'm now in the fourth month and have started cycling approx 75miles a week.

I'm not one for the gym though. I tried it out at a hotel I was in last week and really didn't enjoy it like I thought I would. I was tempted to buy myself an exercise bike as I have really enjoyed the cycling but having gone on one last week I've realised it's not half as fun sitting on one in a room as it is outside. I've been told one of my local gyms is £25 a month with slimming world membership and that includes use of the pool which is really tempting, I'm not convinced I'll make the use of it and don't really have that extra money to throw away at the moment with christmas around the corner.

I found my weight loss was faster with the walking and slowed down significantly with the cycling. I do however feel a lot better with the cycling. I had a 20 mile cycle today and smashed all my personal best times on sections on strava and walked in the house like I hadn't really done any exercise. 2 months ago I did a 3 mile cycle around the local park, got in the house and collapsed and was unable to walk up the stairs!

 

[AliGal]

Good to read yr update, Bert. Amazing you can smash 20 miles and be in great shape. You are going to live long, Mr Bert!

I think the key is to do things that make you happy. Jealous of your table tennis! Feeling good - physically and mentally - trumps scales and delivers a slinky body! I'm walking more and going faster up & down stairs. If this wind drops, I'll get my bike out.