Weight Loss & Fitness Challenge

[Avicenna]

Copy & Paste - I applaud your consistency, you sound very determined.

If you don't already have it, try purchasing a pedometer that helps you count how many steps you take everyday. You should aim for about 5000 steps/day which is around 3 miles. Also, might want to download a calorie counter app on your smart phone like fitness buddy or make a food diary on everydayhealth.com You have to calculate & document calorie intake and output, otherwise you'll be clueless about whether it's working or not. Educate yourself. Check out fatsecret.com for nutritional info on fast foods. Trick is portion control. You can still eat whatever you want as long as you control the portions. Drink plenty of water. And make exercise a part of your everyday habits. Dancing is a great way to burn off some calories.

Good luck!

[Copy.&.Paste]

I tried counting calories last week like you guys recommended and found it hard to keep track of so I stopped. Today I tried again and joined everydayhealth.com. I did the 'My Calorie Counter ' thing. It's to much work. You have to fill in a lot of data. For example I ate about 4-5 samosas for lunch today. I don't see how I can figure out the calorie count of that and I also did not prepare it myself. I would have to figure out all measurements it took to make the samosas, and add all the calories. Then I would have to input a lot of data about my food intake into these forms on everydayhealth.com. And that's just for one meal.Nah i think I will pass. I tried

I am just going to try the suggestion of 4-5 small healthier portions and drink more water. And I will look into the pedometer.Thanks Avicenna

[Avicenna]

Copy & Paste - You'll probably hit a plateau in your program and there might come a time when you'll be doing everything the same, but not see any changes. When that happens, it's a weight plateau and just a way of your body readjusting to the new regiments. Don't be disappointed by this or quit. It just means you have to up the exercises and do more strenuous workouts. It'll eventually pass and you'll continue to lose weight, don't give up.

You should also invest in strength training and not just cardiovascular exercises. Since you're a woman, you need to tone your body & build more muscle. More muscle means higher metabolism and more calories burned, it also means osteoporosis won't be as much of a concern than if you didn't do strength training. It's a myth that women who lift bulk up like men, so don't be misinformed. Testosterone in men causes the muscles to bulge & double. Not the actual weights.

Good luck.

P.S. Make use of youtube. A ton of videos you can do at home. Buy a few dumbbells and follow along.

[Copy.&.Paste]

^ Again great info Thanks

Week 3: What did I accomplish? Well I said my goals was to walk for 40mins for 5 days. Well I only walk 4 days. But I did make up the time. On one of the days I walked about a 1hour and 30mins. So that should make up for it.

Week 4 Goals: Same Goal 40mins each day for 5 days this week.

Here I go

[Copy.&.Paste]

Week 4: My goal was to walk for 40mins for 5 days last week. I honestly can't remember if I walked fives days. I know I did at least 4.

Week 5 Goals: Same Goal 40mins each day for 5 days this week.

Here I go

[salool]

Skip the bariis and baasto, walle you lose weight without even exercising.Personally i stopped eating them.

[Avicenna]

Coby&Baste - Walking is a great form of exercise, but your body is an incredible machine & will easily adapt. For serious results, you have to always be one step ahead of it and switch it around, specially the tempo. Also, look in to strength training like I suggested. Tone that body and watch it pay you back. You should be drenched in sweat and near exhaustion by the time you're done. Up & down, that's how you burn off serious fat and condition your cardiovascular system. If it's leisurely, then that's a different story.

Check out this site for inspiration & for jotting down your progress:

http://phitter.com/

GL.

[greenday]

Mine is not going so well but well done to you

[Avicenna]

Mine is not going so well but well done to you

Don't make it in to a chore, make it part of your life. It's all about your mindset. This is why so many of you girls struggle with it.

Just do it, don't think too much about it. Do as much as you can, whenever, wherever. You're only limited by your mindset.

[Beans]

Mine is not going so well but well done to you

Don't make it in to a chore, make it part of your life. It's all about your mindset. This is why so many of you girls struggle with it.

Just do it, don't think too much about it. Do as much as you can, whenever, wherever. You're only limited by your mindset.

Real advice.

I walk from work to home thru a trail at least 2/3 a week.Takes me around 1.5 to 2 hours at times but well worth it.Anything i do on top of that is an added bonus.

[Avicenna]

Beans - Just don't stop, inshallah. I used to have a neighbor years ago who walked everywhere & didn't even own a car, he rode his bike to work everyday. He was in his 50s and looked like he was 35 years of age. It was the same back home, people would walk everywhere, all the time. My brothers and I would walk from one corner of Xamar to the beach on Friday afternoons, then back home. I don't ever remember feeling tired. I felt healthy and alive. To be out & about, walking from neighborhood to neighborhood, exploring things, running in to people along the way, sometimes getting chased by kids from the wrong neighborhood. Physical activity was part of our everyday life, and we were so much healthier for it. Depression? Forget about it. Autoimmune disorders? Rarely. Lifestyle disease like diabetes, cancer & high blood pressure? Sparse. But, we lost all of that when we came here, specially in North America where everyone drives a car & wants to park as closest to the mall/grocery store as possible. We then over-book our schedules with work & daily chores, exercise is almost always on the back burner. Then it catches up with us. Years of poor diet, lack of exercise manifests itself in everything from gastrointestinal issues to diabetes, even cancer.

A lot of Somali girls (those who cover) let themselves be limited by their attire; bad decision. It's more about changing your lifestyle. Taking the staircase instead of the elevator for example. Parking away from the stores (even during winter). Being aware of what you're eating. Just paying attention & keeping yourself in check does a lot. Empowering yourself with knowledge about your body, your hormones (specially for women), obtaining gadgets like pedometers that help you keep count of how much you walk, apps on cell phones that remind you of when to drink the next glass of water (8 glasses is recommended), journals for jotting down cals, etc. From experience, white women are on top of this shit like butter on white bread. My school gym doesn't have an empty slot on any of the elliptical machines, at any given time. Why? Because every white girl in my school is on one.

Pick up a sport. If you're a hijaabi and prefer something in-door, squash/racquetball is awesome.

[Beans]

That is one thing that baffles me runtii.SOmeone feeling limited by what they wear.If u r comfortable in what u wear,nothing else should matter.

I wear long skirts,never jeans/pants outside the house and ma walking route includes a 500 step stair that divides the city.I never felt limited in what i wear.Except if i go to carnival rides.

If gym is something one desires,altho i personally couldnt last two weeks,then there are many only women ones.

Pedometer was the best motivator and the best 15 bucks i have ever spent.

[Avicenna]

The gym isn't for everyone, so it's foolish for anyone to assume that's the only viable way to get some exercise. I think the more important side of exercise, which is often over-looked is the daily physical activity part of it. When most of us hear "exercise" we automatically think of being sweaty and at the gym; which immediately translates in to a chore & something costly (time & money). Unless you're a very dedicated person, it's not really easy to commit. On the other hand, when its simplified and broken down in to something doable i.e. everyday activities, it becomes more attractive. The key is for everyone to find that one thing that works best for them. Whether its sports, dancing, walking, etc. As long as you're off your butt for at least 1 hour/day, its an achievement.

[Copy.&.Paste]

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[Copy.&.Paste]

Skip the bariis and baasto, walle you lose weight without even exercising.Personally i stopped eating them.

I don't eat bariis and baasto. But I do think I should change my food choices. It's a work in progress.