[bluebugg]

OK so i'm 145 lbs., 26 years old, 5'5", i walk to and from work 4 days a week (bout 4 miles round trip) and try to run 4 - 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes. i eat really health meals but usually over do it on the desserts also. my progress as far as weight loss seems to have stopped. can anybody give me some pointers on getting the weight to start coming off again. please don't tell me to go on a strict diet, i know myself too well to start that. is there something aerobic i can do that's easily accecable and better than running?
peace

[oncemore]

I have nothing to offer but a BUMP...

The only way you can lose weight is to create a caloric deficit, i.e., to use more calories than you consume. If you are unwilling to reduce your caloric intake, then your only options are to increase your metabolic rate (which can be done through weight lifting, aka strength training) and/or to increase the number of calories you expend through so-called aerobic activity. Neither of these is particularly quick, especially when you have some 25 pounds or so to lose.

Of your choices, calorie reduction is by far the most efficient, although there are many benefits to weight training, which I bet Ryan will pipe in about soon!

[Ryan]

please don't tell me to go on a strict diet

Then you don't want to hear the truth.

The most significant part of the fat loss process is dietary manipulation. This is by far the most effective way to stimulate burning of bodyfat stores - in small increments throughout the day. Activities like running (and others mistakenly deemed "aerobic") are not particularly effective for promoting fat loss since they increase stress on the body. The caloric demand, which is not significant compared to bodyfat stores, comes in a shorter period of time, which means less and less of it will come from bodyfat. The balance of the calories must come from somewhere else....and often this is at the expense of muscle tissue. That's no good.

The other aspect to removing bodyfat is in protecting the muscle tissue you have and possibly increasing it. Every pound of additional muscle tissue will increase your metabolism 24 hours a day. This is best done by proper strength training. Fortunately, proper strength training stimulates benefits in all areas of general fitness. NO fitness approach is complete without proper strength training. It is the crux of exercise.