A few more (potentially) dumb questions! :)

[az81]

Okay, I have a few more questions that are probably a little vague, but here goes...

1. How active am I?

I've been using a few calculators lately (BMR, BMI, etc.) and most of them ask me for my daily activity level. For instance, one I'm looking at right now says...

Sedentary people (often seated, with no actual exercise)
Lightly active people (exercise 1-3 times a week)
Moderately active people (exercise 4-5 times a week)
Highly active people (dabble in sports and exercise hard most days)
Extremely active people (exercise hard every day)

I'm trying to pin-point exactly which of these I would fit into. I think it would be somewhere between moderately and high, as my current exercise routine involves walking between 40 and 60 minutes a day, 7 days a week. I wouldn't exactly call that high, but it's more than moderate.

The only reason I ask is so that I can help to determine the amount of calories I should consume a day.

2. How often should I weigh myself?

I decided that I really didn't want to weigh myself too much, and just go by how I look and feel. After thinking about this though, I realised that the more weight I lose, the less calories I can consume as defined in my BMR. Therefore, I will need to weigh myself at some sort of regular interval in order to adjust my calorie intake.

So, how often should I do this? I was thinking that perhaps a month would be best, but of course I'm not sure.

Hope someone out there can help me!

Thanks!

[Blitz]

I would put down moderate. This is a good mean average. You can adjust it later if needs be.

I believe it will be of benefit to you to weigh yourself weekly. Firstly, as you are starting out this data will quickly show any need for adjustments. Second, it will keep you accountable to your new task (weight loss). Third, with good weekly results it will motivate you to continue. Fourth, it will show you the natural patterns your body is going through and greatly aid your understanding of the process of weight loss (this is even truer for daily weighing but that has its own peril).

Don't make this weight loss thing too high tec. In the end there are only two operating levers. One of them is the amount of calories you consume and the other is how many calories you burn. If you are overweight I suggest that you have in the past failed to operate these levers properly. Changing one of these variables (better still both) will mean weight loss.

I believe one of the keys to my successful weight loss was that from the very first I listened to my body. I observed what worked for it and what didn't then acted accordingly. I knew nothing about weight loss when I started but I'm continually surprised by my current reading how many things I got right. It is only because I acted on the principle of listening to my body. Common sense goes a long way in this game.

Kim

[az81]

Thanks for your insights, Kim

I understand what you mean about making things too high tech. I've tried to lose weight many times over the years, both going high and low tech, and failed every time. I think I've now found a good mix that will allow me to succeed, however.

It must be working, according to my scales I've lost 3 kilograms!