slow and steady is always best for weight loss. I need to drop a few pounds myself, it's frustrating but I know a crash diet will be only short term.
You know, that's exactly right! About 4 years ago I was fat and lazy. I'd start the latest fad diet, the latest exercise craze and about a month later I was back to my old habits again. And it really was a vicious circle. I'd start this or that program, get frustrated when it didn't work for me and then start eating crap again, telling myself it was okay because I was going to start dieting/exercising/both any day now. I'm only 5 feet tall so when I got to 210 lbs. I finally decided enough is enough. Still, I think that place is different for everyone and I think, more important that anything is to have the energy to do the things you want to do and feel good about yourself. If you're 20, 30, 50 (or whatever) lbs. heavier than you were when you were younger, but you're happy, have a good life, etc. then really, who cares? The problem for me is that I wasn't happy.
So over a period of about 2 years I lost 100lbs (went from a 3X to a size 4) and exercise every day. But I never, ever dieted (I still don't). I do, however, watch my portions and for the most part try to have MOST of my carbs at breakfast, my fat at lunch and a low/no fat dinner. Plus, I try to eat before 6pm...not always possible, but I still try. And I had to get to the point where it was more important to feel good and be healthy than to lose weight because the health benefits will come before the weight loss. For me, though, exercise was the key and it took forever to find what I liked. Stationary bike was too boring (even while watching TV...I just felt like a lazy, peddling fat person). I'm not wild about walking, either.
Weights were what got me hooked on exercise. I love the feeling of power and if you're consistent you can see the muscles build really quickly. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism and the more quickly you'll lose weight (it's probably why guys usually have an easier time losing weight than women). Plus, I really like the looks on guys faces when I go to the feed store and lift bales of hay that weigh almost as much as I do into the back of my truck. I started with on of those Total Gyms (an excellent choice if you need to avoid putting pressure on your knees). Now I do free weights, about an hour a day and I rotate between upper body/lower body/total body and also heavy weights lower reps, light weights, high reps. I also do Turbo Kick (a combination of martial arts and dance) and like it so much I'm getting my fitness certification so I can teach it. I'd rather exercise than deprive myself of food I love...steak and cheesecake are worth an extra hour of aerobics.
But you can't do anything until you're ready and you can't beat yourself up if you're not. There are too many wonderful things, too many joys to fret about a few (or more) extra pounds. There's definitely more to life than dieting.
Cindie