Thought I'd better follow the procedure and post one of these!
I'm a 48 year old, 5'2" (very nearly), woman living in Scotland and carrying too much weight for my liking. I was up to 12st 5lbs but am currently down to 11st 10lbs.
I was always quite a comfortable weight and enjoyed weight training and biking for general fitness during my twenties and early thirties. After I had kids though, back then, I piled on a bit of fat. Had great plans to lose it before the first birth but after a caesarian and some complications with illness I could not exercise for a long time. Neither was I so heavy that I panicked about it so I just kept the padding for a lot longer than I realised. Years have slipped by and my 'babies' are now 17 and 13.
A couple of years ago I started walking, hard and fast, for exercise, with good results kept things under control anyway and even lost a few pounds. I didn't want to diet specifically though.
However this past year I piled on another stone much to my surprise. I started seriously exercising back in May and also watched my calorie intake, have lost about 6lbs in the intervening time. It's dead slow though and I became frustrated at the barely 1lb a week loss, especially when I found I was plateauing for 3 weeks in June.
Read the information here about 'interval training' and have been giving that a wee try for the past two weeks... great! Lost another pound but it's still slow.
I feel as though perhaps pre-menopausal hormones are hindering my progress (although I've no signs of actual menopause yet ...I don't think). Whatever it is, I'm sure finding weight loss a lot harder now than I did twenty years ago!!
My schedule is a little haphazard. I weight train at home with a bench and free weights around twice a week... any more frequently and I find I don't gain strength. Muscle tone under the fat is pretty good and I can see a lot of improvement in my shape but I am keen to shift that fat on top!! I was walking hard, up hill mostly, for over an hour daily but have swapped that out for the interval training every other day, either walk/run or slow bike/fast bike on an indoor cycle. I am also doing some pilates and bellydancing for flexibility and tone... doesn't help the weight loss much probably but is pleasant to do!
There you go, ramble finished. Any tips and advice or indeed support is greatfully received. Dieting especially since I've not attempted a 'real' diet before. I never liked the idea as my mother was always on diets and got fatter and fatter over the years it seemed!
I'm a 48 year old, 5'2" (very nearly), woman living in Scotland and carrying too much weight for my liking. I was up to 12st 5lbs but am currently down to 11st 10lbs.
I was always quite a comfortable weight and enjoyed weight training and biking for general fitness during my twenties and early thirties. After I had kids though, back then, I piled on a bit of fat. Had great plans to lose it before the first birth but after a caesarian and some complications with illness I could not exercise for a long time. Neither was I so heavy that I panicked about it so I just kept the padding for a lot longer than I realised. Years have slipped by and my 'babies' are now 17 and 13.
A couple of years ago I started walking, hard and fast, for exercise, with good results kept things under control anyway and even lost a few pounds. I didn't want to diet specifically though.
However this past year I piled on another stone much to my surprise. I started seriously exercising back in May and also watched my calorie intake, have lost about 6lbs in the intervening time. It's dead slow though and I became frustrated at the barely 1lb a week loss, especially when I found I was plateauing for 3 weeks in June.
Read the information here about 'interval training' and have been giving that a wee try for the past two weeks... great! Lost another pound but it's still slow.
I feel as though perhaps pre-menopausal hormones are hindering my progress (although I've no signs of actual menopause yet ...I don't think). Whatever it is, I'm sure finding weight loss a lot harder now than I did twenty years ago!!
My schedule is a little haphazard. I weight train at home with a bench and free weights around twice a week... any more frequently and I find I don't gain strength. Muscle tone under the fat is pretty good and I can see a lot of improvement in my shape but I am keen to shift that fat on top!! I was walking hard, up hill mostly, for over an hour daily but have swapped that out for the interval training every other day, either walk/run or slow bike/fast bike on an indoor cycle. I am also doing some pilates and bellydancing for flexibility and tone... doesn't help the weight loss much probably but is pleasant to do!
There you go, ramble finished. Any tips and advice or indeed support is greatfully received. Dieting especially since I've not attempted a 'real' diet before. I never liked the idea as my mother was always on diets and got fatter and fatter over the years it seemed!