I'm a 22 year old woman who has gained a lot of weight in the last four years. I used to dance competitively in high school and was in pretty good shape. I've always been muscular, and at 165 pounds I feel great and fit, although that may seem high for my height (5'2"). However in freshman year of college I shattered three bones in my foot and tore a tendon, and that stopped me dancing while I healed. The problem was that I never got started up again. I'm now 250 pounds and not at all happy. I need to get back in shape and stop steadily ballooning. But I've never worked out before, and I don't know what I should do. Gym equipment intimidates me, but I'm willing to confront it and get my life back.
Does anyone have any tips as to what exercises I should be doing, and the number of calories I should be eating? I read somewhere that I should be eating 1300/day in order to lose somewhere around 1.5 lbs a week, but I've been tracking what I eat and that seems no less than I normally consume. I'm aware of the fact that at a certain amount of calories, a body goes into "starvation mode," but I don't know what that number is for me.
Here are my eating habits:I love to eat. I absolutely love food, and have always had issues with that. I'm not a doughnuts or chips person; it's more about cheese and portion sizes. However, I don't eat breakfast ever, and although I know that that's a must for getting your metabolism started for the day, I'm not ever hungry until I've been up for 2-4 hours. I'm also in college and a night owl, so I'm up late and getting up late as well.
As far as exercising, I have a full gym at my disposal here at school, with all kinds of machines. When I drop some weight I'll be starting up dancing again, but as for right now it would be a little unsafe for me to do what I used to do. I'd love it if someone could give me tips about how to drop weight in a healthy and controlled way, so that I can make a life change and continue it throughout my life.
Thank you!
