Should I lose weight?

Question

I'm 5'4 and I weigh 119 pounds.

I run about five miles a day and mantain a pretty healthy diet, but I dont really watch what I eat.

I used to be really skinny, (100 pounds) and sometimes I feel like I need to lose weight.

Should I lose weight? and if so, how much?

Answer 1

eat and exercise in moderation...you dont hav to lose any weight

Answer 2

Check this site out to see if you should be concerned with losing weight: http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/. It's your BMI (ratio of your HEIGHT to your WEIGHT), set by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to the standards for males and females. Healthy weight is not set using age and weight.

According to the BMI chart, your BMI is 20.4 at 5'4'' and 119 lbs. See categories below:

BMI Categories:

    * Underweight = <18.5

    * Normal weight = 18.5-24.9

    * Overweight = 25-29.9

    * Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

-If you eat less calories than you burn, you'll lose weight;

-If you eat and burn the same amount, you'll stay the same (balanced).

-If you eat more than you burn, you'll gain weight.

Experts say a healthy weight loss is 2 pounds per week.

The misconception is that if you barely eat anything AND work out, you'll lose weight. It's might be true, BUT very dangerous/harmful to the body system because if you don't have enough energy to do the work out, then you're going to wear your body out and pretty soon, you may end up in a hospital bed. Because you don't eat, your body will go into minimum metabolism rate, where it will burn as LITTLE fat as possible to retain fuel sources. So by eating lesser, your body will retain that you eat longer and you won't achieve any weight loss long-term.

What you should do is change your eating habit to a healthier one and start exercising (people tell you this over and over because it WORKS!). Even if you're not overweight, if you have a bit of flab in unwanted places, you may want to do some exercise to tone your body. Even if you don't have any flabs, you'd still want to exercise because it's a great habit for a healthy life.

Disclaimer: I don't recommend any diet to you or anyone, but I just wanted to share my experience. You should talk to your nutritionist/doctor before making any drastic changes to your body.

What I did was I went on an "eating-only-corn-flakes" diet. xD I lost the weight really quickly (~25 lbs). After a 2-3 weeks of eating only corn flakes with regular milk for breakfast/lunch/dinner (NO snacks whatsoever). (You can try it with skim, 1%, or 2% milk to lose even more weight.) I went off the diet and started eating normal, and healthy foods, with A LOT of water and tons of fruits. I'm able to keep off the weight I've lost for ~6 years now. At summer camp, I've also went on a cereal-salad-and-skim milk "diet". For breakfast, I would only eat grain cereal with skim milk and drink another glass. For lunch and dinner each day, I had only a salad and two glasses of skim milk per meal. Camp was only 5 days, but I lost a considerable amount of weight for my father to notice my weight loss. xD

Currently, I've been exercising on my "air-stepper" at home, and I get on it for 15 minutes each day to get my cardio workout. I take my pulse at 5 min. intervals for 15 minutes to see if I'm improving. ^_^ Then, I get on my Total Gym and start working on my arms and legs (pulling, pushing, etc.). To tone my abs, I do 200 crunches (I lay on my Total Gym at an incline, so it's VERY easy and no back strain!); they are much easier than sit-ups. ^_^ Lastly, I do 100 of those "standing-up" crunches. I don't know what to call them, but I saw it on Hip-Hop Abs. You can see a sample of it here: http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness...

The lay down crunches and the standing up crunches that I do gave me the flat stomach I have now. ^____^ Very happy with the results. You can do as many as your body can tolerate for ONE day and feel your stomach flatter immediately afterwards (at least for me)! It's incredible!

If you do not have gym equipment, just jumping around and running place for 15-30 minutes will get you your cardio workout. Eat yogurt, fruits, and other health foods. Drink tons of water and your daily dosage of milk. ^_^

Good luck! :D

Answer 3

No, you don't need to lose weight.  It sounds to me as if you have a very healthy life style.  The number on the bathroom scales is simply one small indicator.  We can all improve out strength, health, and life style.

Keeping a food journal really does help.  It will give you a much better sense of how much you are eating, and when, and why.

Make a few small changes - walk everywhere, always use stairs instead of elevators, walk on escalators, get up and move around at least once an hour if your work or your life in general is sedentary, walk every day, use a pedometer. Walking 10,000 steps a day is a really good idea. Build up to a long brisk walk everyday, or most days.  Be more active and watch less TV and spend less time on the computer.

Start a weight lifting routine. It will help increase your metabolism and make you feel and look better in so many ways. Join a gym. Possibly you can find one that has someone who specializes in weight lifting programs for beginners. Weight lifting will increase your metabolism as well as improve posture and appearance overall.

In terms of diet, cut out or reduce things like junk food, pop, fat, fast food. Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat, fish.   Particularly if you choose a vegetarian lifestyle include natural peanut butter, hummus, dried fruit and nuts.  Pay close attention to getting the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.  Drink plenty of water, at least 8 big glasses a day, and more if it is very hot, it you sweat a lot, or if you are exercising intensely. You will begin to see changes in your body.

Check out websites about nutrition, exercise, weight training, etc.  Here are a couple of helpful links.

http://www.nutrawatch.com/

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

http://weightloss.about.com/cs/fitness/a...

http://www.thepumpingstation.com/trainin...

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/fe...