Hello, DietBetters!! I am SO excited to do this! I am glad that you have made a commitment to yourself and are ready to make some positive changes. And I am honored that you chose this game to join. I LOVE the concept of having a group of people to surround yourself with for support, encouragement, and reaching toward a common goal...Weight Loss!
I had great success losing weight on Extreme Weight Loss and I am happy to share with you what worked for me. It boils down to the simple concept of eating clean (more on that later) and burning calories. It's simple math...burn more calories than you eat. :)
The plan Chris had us on was eating 1,500 calories a day. Those calories were broken down into five meals. Our first meal was within 30 minutes of waking. Then every three hours throughout the day. Each meal consisted of a lean protien, vegetables and either a healthy carb or a healhty fat, totaling 300 calories. It worked for me. You don't have to eat like this, if you've found something that works for you. But, this is what has worked for me. I'll post a link that will provide more detail on my eating plan and carb cycling.
Next! Burning calories!! Cardio always works. Get moving! Hit the treadmill, the elliptical, rower, or the front door! But, get that heartrate up! When you are doing cardio, your heartrate should be between 140-150 bpm. If you don't have a monitor, your pace should be fast enough that it's tough for you to carry on a conversation. If you can walk and chit chat the whole time, pick up the pace! You should shoot for working out 5 days a week, 6 if you really want to keep your momentum going. At least 30 minutes of cardio, but an hour if you can do it. Remember, the more you burn, the more you lose!
I will also be posting 3 workouts each week. You can do those M-W-F, or whichever days work best for you. IF you want to do them. They will all be workouts you can do at home, with no equipment. Cardio can get boring, so having some at home workouts will give you some variation, and add some body weight movements to your plan. I'll post the workouts as a list, then also a link to the video so you can see the movement standards.
I hope this helps you each have an idea of what you can do to get started. I know if you invest in yourself, you will see results. I am excited to lose a few holiday pounds and get 2015 started off right! I am going to weigh in each week to track my results along the way.
The first workout is a doozy! :) Can't wait to see how you all do!! It's the first workout we did as a group with Chris and Heidi. It's going to be fun (if your idea of fun is a bit of torture!) :) I'll be doing it too and will post my results! I'll have it posted tonight for you all to do this week!
Best of luck to you all! More than winning money, I hope you feel good about yourself these 4 weeks and have fun getting healhty. Let's do this!