I dropped 20 lbs a few years ago.
I was 5'2, 132 lbs and gettinng real chunky, real fast (Wendy's and Strawberry Shortcake Rolls every day will do that lol)
I struggled with it tremendously (trying to get it off that is)-- and I was still at an age where most girls do not have to worry much about it yet.
I gain and store fat real easy. My mother is 5'2 and was at one point 160 lbs for years and I actually have about 70+% of my FATHER's genetics-- and he's not a small guy, so Im predisposed to carry a lot of weight lol!
I cut back on eating (but for a compulsive binge eater I was still eating way too much).
I count calories NOW, now that Im the weight I want to be and dealing mostly with weight training.
But I found that watching the FAT is what finally pushed me over my hump. Your body gets used to carrying a certain weight around for a long time and it doesn't want to let it go. It took me 4 months before I started shedding the weight at the average rate (1.5 lbs per week).
I didn't even think of calorie counting at the time. I cut down to 20g of fat a day or LESS.
Sounds painfull, but it really wasn't that bad (and I love my food too!) I cut out ALL FRIED FOOD COMPLETELY, until I got the weight off (now I don't have to have it every day and think of it as a treat once in a while in moderation).
I ate a lot of bean, veggie, rice dishes (I like a lot of Latin food) and would throw some chicken or tempeh in it for protein and consistency. I use a LOT of spices and I can tell you that simply changing the spices around can take the same leftover dish and turn it a hundred different ways!
I remember having a lot of turkey sandwiches of the highest fiber bread that I could find that I could tolerate to eat. High fiber was another HUGE issue for me.. fiber absorbs calories and having it will reduce the amount of calories your body absorbs, helping to keep your linings clean and lower cholesterol as well
Come to think of it I actually ate plenty at the time, just NO FAT.
I did exercise a LOT though. I did weights, but more CARDIO as I had to lose the weight before I could build the mass.
I did about 50 minutes staggered, 5-6 days per week. I was DETERMINNED so I didn't hold back. When you spend 4 months doing somehting you've never really had to do before (exercise haha) and get NOTHING from it, you get PO'd and do whatever you have to do to see a RESULT.
I can't do that much cardio now, haven't since and don't think I even could lol. But it worked at the time.
Now Im carefull with the garbage I eat, if I need to lose a couple lbs for something or if Ive been slacking then Ill throw an extra cardio or two in there, but I typically do it twice a week anyway(skate practice).
Ive even found than doing 10 mintues of drills or jumprope intervals, or anything low impact after a weight routine helps to give the heart rate an elevation for an extra 10 mins so it burns a few more. That way I don't have to do the WHOLE 30 minutes (heart rate is already up from the weights).
I would focus more on cardio when you need to lose more than a few pounds, do less weights.
That's just me, do what you will with my personal experience imput
Good luck!
