Losing weight - muscle or fat

After my 'you don't have to exercise to lose weight' post I did some more thinking. While I still agree with the post, there is an important fact you need to consider. When you lose weight, you not only lose fat, but also muscle and because I am not doing ANYTHING to keep my muscles (unless you call lifting my toddler exercise) that means the weight I'm dropping is also precious muscle.

Muscle is so important, even though it weights more than fat, the more muscle you have the more energy you burn, which is from the food you eat. Therefore, I think I need to add in a little muscle burning to my week. I plan to do this through a bit of weight training. Now anyone who hasn't done any weight training before may think I'll turn into a incredible hulk, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact women have a particularly hard time putting on solid muscle and have to work really hard to do it. I've weight trained before, really seriously weight trained and while my muscles got tighter, they didn't grow very much.

The fact it, you need to feed your muscles good protein on top of what you need daily for energy and I'm just not prepared to do that right now. I just don't have the time to think about anything else, so I just want to add a bit of muscle maintaining workouts into my day. A few squats/lunges here and there and a few press ups and maybe something for my shoulders and back. If you concentrate on the big muscles, the little ones will come along for the ride :-)

I lost another kg (2 pounds) this week which is pleasing. I expect the losing will slow down now my body is onto what I'm up to ;-) but I'm still feeling really determined.

So my goals for March are:
1. Drink more water
2. Add a few muscle maintaining routines into my day

What are your goals for March?
ZG

Is exercise essential for weight loss?

One week with no cheating - YAY. Lost one kilogram (approx 2 pounds) which is just okay. I would have liked more, but I'm sure my body is fighting me because it's so tired of my yo-yoing... I only have myself to blame.

The key to sticking to my diet this week was preparation. Having lots of protein in the fridge, cooked and ready to grab at a moments notice, and some atkins bars for the times I was in a fix.

My hubby was beating me on weight loss all week but at the weekly weigh-in (this morning) I beat him by .1 of a percent. Go me!!!!

My thoughts on exercising to lose weight: 
I've been thinking a lot about exercise and how much is it really needed for weight loss. Now don't get me wrong, I think it's vital for a healthy body but this is what I've found when using it with weight loss:

1. I got within one kilogram of my true weight with NO exercise (doctors orders after an operation) so therefore it is not essential for weight loss.

2. Exercise makes me hungrier, which means I'm eating the extra calories (plus some) I've lost by exercising.

3. If I don't do a planned exercise session, I get guilty and often eat something bad to make myself feel better.

So I've concluded that for me exercising on a regular basis for weight loss, is a no go. It works against me and my diet. Therefore I will reach my goal weight THEN add exercise back into my life for fun and health rather than weight loss. So Zealous Girl is not running right now. ALTHOUGH I do exercise on a non-planned basis (hike with family, bike ride for fun) but it's not for weight loss.

What are your thoughts on exercise and weight loss? 

I am worth it

I am worth it is my new mantra (thanks Vicki).

I am in charge of my body. No one else can diet for me. No one else force feed the bad foods into my mouth. It's all on me. It's my fault I've let myself slip and it will be me who gets me out of this pit.

I AM WORTH IT.

My hubby and I have started a little competition. We both want to lose about 5kg/10pounds so have set a prize for the first person to get to to that goal. I'm motivated to win the prize!!!!

What motivates you? What are you struggling with at the moment?
ZG

Is it February already?

I'm not doing so well. I have a couple of good days then I slip up again.... Struggling big time. 

Motivate me friends... I need it. 

:-(