AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Today I started doing something I'm not entirely used to!
I took a nice run through a part of my neighborhood. I am used to living in unsavoury neighborhoods and thus staying inside often, but it felt nice to get on my feet and break a sweat. Since I live in a Navy bubble, I can basically walk any time I want (since the sun stays up until like 9 o'clock and rises at 5 AM for some stupid reason) without too much fear of crime.
I am going to make a point of doing this every day when it isn't raining, running/walking/jogging for longer periods every few days and such. I'm looking to lose fat, not so much gain muscle.

That's awesome. I heard running is the best exercise for straight up fat burning.

I live in one of those unsavoury neighbourhoods, on a main road. I've taken walks around here but with so many cars around it was more like an exercise in breathing exhaust fumes.

Yes, I remember that. That is what I had allllll the time when we lived in Illinois without a car.

Pretty much the only time I was allowed outside by myself was when we lived in a gated community. And now, of course, since I live on government property now. And yeah, when you only want to drop 50 pounds and don't feel the need for stronger muscles, running is the way to go, supplemented with occasional yoga or some shit like that.
I was only out for 15 minutes today, but if it doesn't rain tomorrow I'll do 25.

You'll probably get some lean muscle, I think.

I'm now thinking I should visit my parents and sister more and take their dog for a walk. But last time I did that the dog got puffed out and started wheezing. Lazy little bugger.

That I don't doubt! There was a point where I was at my goal weight. And then Illinois happened. God daisies I hated living in Illinois (I apologize to anyone who lives there for that statement).

Aww yeah, ran/walked 6 miles on the elliptical today
I shall be so much fitter by the end of Summer.

I seriously wish I could play DDR. I would burn so many calories playing on that thing. The apartment complex we live in is so poorly built that you can't walk heavily without disturbing the downstairs neighbors, let alone stomp around playing DDR.

but can you lumberjack all that excess chin away

(it actually makes it bigger)

About half way through my daily exercises as of this very moment.

Out of curiosity, what's everyone's health goals? (eg. general weight loss, toned muscles, trim tummy, beefy biceps)

I'm after a bit of everything but mostly weight loss and internal health.

Another thing is, what obstacles do you face reaching your goals? What habits (if any) do you need to break yourself out from?

Right now I eat too much processed cereals.

I have a lot of noodles and white bread because it's cheap and I don't always have time to prepare healthier stuff from scratch. While I may be able to lose weight if I eat small portions of that stuff, it's still no good for me as it's lacking in nutrition and full of salt and preservatives.

Moving forward I'm going to introduce more fresh veggies in there. Also I want to try and increase the intensity of my work outs now and then.

I've got naturally high cholesterol, and I'm trying to keep it down

Also I don't want to gain weight after my metabolism goes down, so I figure I should get used to exercise early

Well it's not like gaining visible muscle is easy for women, some resistance training will help a lot with getting your metabolism up and running (long after you're done exercising) - having more lean mass (it's hardly just muscles - stronger bones, tendons, etc.) makes it easier to lose fat and maintain your weight. You'll certainly gain some muscle, but unless you train for many, many years on a super-strict diet (with plenty of surplus) you'll never look "ripped" as a girl - your hormones make that pretty much impossible. You'll look leaner and curvier than the scales might suggest (if you go by the standards of an untrained person).

Why am I saying this? Because if you live in a Navy bubble, chances are you have very easy access to proper lifting equipment and instruction. Chances are you'll see more progress in less time, at least if you get past silly superstitions kept alive (among other things) by heavily gendered advertisements targeted at selling inefficient, undemanding fitness programs and fad diets to women. And the scary images of roided-up, dehydrated female body-builders.


Nah, the best exercise for straight up fat burning is making yourself aware of how much energy you need to sustain your current weight and eating slightly less than that while making sure you focus on healthy stuff so you don't sacrifice lean mass (physical exercise helps with that - especially resistance exercises) and develop various deficiencies (which you might've had to begin with, depending on your diet).

Can I expand this to the health and diet thread too?

If so then I'm kind of proud of myself for drinking much less fizzy drinks than I used to - my teeth are whiter and stronger now (been doing it for about 2 months now, with occasional slip ups). I advise anybody to try it once in a while, plus when you do have one it tastes much nicer.

Well, exercise without proper nutrition/rest won't make you (stay) fit.

Cutting out all fast food and sugary drinks (sodas, fruit juices, milk - if consumed excessively) and substituting it with simple, traditional meals and water (and some beer/wine every once in a while, if you're old enough) will make a huge difference.

As for health goals, I don't really have a "goal body" or "goal weight", it's mostly a general challenge to myself, the "stick with it, feel good" kind. The RPG-ish touch that comes with tracking your nutrition and performance on exercises also satisfies my OCD, hah.

Edited the OP at Tales' request.
I was a lazy booty for two days because I was tired, but yesterday and today I managed to get off my bum. Didn't really do all that much though.

As for goals, I just want to stay in shape since I do less sport now than I used to due to college and I can feel it. I'd love to build some more muscle.

I don't eat healthy at all, don't really plan on changing either. Never felt the need to.

I like to keep myself healthy and part of that is staying fit. I like the idea of being able to do anything without having to be scared of hurting something because my muscles aren't used to being active.

On top of that I actually enjoy eating healthy. I tend to only really drink water and tea and enjoy eating fresh fruit for lunch.