I've been out of action gym wise for three weeks due to being in hospital and have put on half a stone due to lack of exercise and christmas eating.
I joined another gym last week to motivate myself to start attending classes in addition to my workouts and am determined to get into shape and get proper buff Playboy girl standard!
What are everyones tips and advice for daily motivation to stay on track and reach their ideal weights or at least maintain their shape? I'm struggling a bit due to the deviance from my usual routine and it's getting me down! I've always been quite an extreme person especially when it comes to weight and really can't be bothered with either stuffing or starving myself but I really need to drop this extra baggage quickly. It's weird because I know exactly what I should be doing I just can't get a grip and deprivation exacerbates things.

no shortcuts available without compromising your health, just eat sensibly and exercise

Realistically how long should it take me to lose the half stone? I'm 5'4 and weigh 8 stone 7 pounds and don't feel comfortable with these extra pounds.

Realistically, you don't sound that overweight. Are you sure you need to lose it?

I know technically I'm a healthy bmi weight or whatever but just for peace of mind and to feel really good about myself I do need to lose it. I like being petite and a little weight loss never hurt no one!

- focus on getting fit by doing more exercise, not by cutting down on food. esp. since you've been ill and away from the gym, you don't want to lose muscle tone. unless you're going for the wasted away, close to death look as opposed to the pinup. your metabolism will get faster, your circulation will be better, you'll look healthier!
- you still need to eat a balanced diet though - the same common sense that's been recommended for years.
it's a pyramid

fat/sugar

MEAT/DAIRY*

FRUIT/VEGETABLES

COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES

- concentrate on losing fat, not weight (muscle, water) - maybe get a body fat analyser?
- don't try to lose more than 1% body fat in a week
- don't get too obsessed. take it easy. live a little

*other forms of protein like tofu, legumes etc. count here

Half a stone? Thats mental! What did you eat?!?!?!

Trust me I went nuts, properly binged like a fatty and didn't exercise to burn it off. I am an all or nothing person and seriously overdo things on the weight level so this time round I need to strike a happy balance for once. I was miserable too skinny but liked my figure but admittedly could have looked healthier.