Hi everyone! I am new here. First off let me introduce myself, I am Colleen and 36 ye old mother of four teenagers, I quit smoking last January 2008 and was up to 283 lbs before Christmas 2008. I went through a break up and quit my job all in November and it turned out to be a life changing turn of events. I got sick and tired of my clothes hurting my belly, of buying huge clothes..just felt..gross.
So I bought a membership to the local YMCA and started slowly and I DO MEAN slowly. Oh gawd the first day KILLED ME, every fiber of my body hurt,ached and I felt like throwing up but I went back and have kept going back.
I would try 15 minutes of straight walking and a few of the machines but I was just getting used to the idea of 'going to the gym' not really committed to working out yet just GOING. lol.
So its April, happily I can say I've went almost every 2nd day - missed a few here and there not much though because its a routine for me. I work out for an hour and half now, doing 10.0 incline at 3.1 speed on the treadmill for 25 minutes... and I LOVE IT. Then I hit the machines for an hour and I train hard, I push myself to the limit and Ive seen results, my clothes hang, I have definition in my muscles....losing inches BUT have not lost a single pound, not ONE SINGLE POUND. I have not changed my diet much though partly because Im so dang hungry from working out.Everyone says I look good and can't believe I weigh 260 pounds. Is this normal?
I don't know what else to do..is it more important to lose weight or inches?
I feel GREAT, I mean fabulous...my stamina is unbelievable, the work I do requires a lot of stair climbling and I RUN up three flights of stairs now...
What am I doing wrong???

You are eating too much?

That was a bit of a joke!

But really, diet and exercise are different things. Weight loss is mostly about diet. Fitness, cardiovascular health and improving muscle mass is about exercise. There is overlap, yes, but not a whole lot, in my opinion.

And this doesn't take away the major accomplishment you have earned by getting fit! That alone is wonderful and will add years to your life, and as you said, make you feel great! Congratulations! You should feel very proud of yourself. I love the feeling of being fit & strong, too.

Being fit & strong & normal weight is even better though. If you haven't already started making changes to your diet, you might want to look into that, if you feel great now, imagine how great you'll feel if you drop another 40 lbs, too!

I've been struggling with the weight vs. inches issue. The only people who know what I weigh is me and my doctor. I think at the end of the day, we all want to look better...what we weigh is just a measurement. I think if you have lost inches and feel healthy, you're headed in the right direction!

First off congrats on quitting smoking! That is wonderful! Second off welcome to the forum!

I'd much rather lose inches than pounds, the scale is very unreliable especially if you are working out with weights and pushing yourself, which it sounds like you are. Weight is a mental issue and can bear a stigma especially if the numbers are high and not reducing.

The incline on the treadmill is a great bun and hamstring burner as I'm sure you are well aware! LOL!

Did you measure your waist, hips, thighs, arms, and chest before you started? It's a good marker of success especially when the scales don't move. Also keeps you from getting discouraged. You are dropping sizes by the sound of things so you are obviously losing the inches, I think it would be good to get a notebook, or use an excel spreadsheet to track your inches.

What phase are you in for your Atkins Plan? Are you tracking your protein and calories? www.fitday.com is a good site to track this info and an account is free.

just a piece of advice...be sure you are doing extra quad work (like squats, leg press, and leg extensions, don't be afraid to go heavy your quads can take a lot. I usually do 90-110 pounds on squats and leg press machine, and about 50-75 on leg extensions). You need to balance the extra glute and hamstring burn you are getting on the treadmill, this prevents injury and gives you good symmetry. Most women have weak hamstrings, so you are ahead of the game.

Also how tall are you? If you don't feel comfortable posting this info, please pm me. I think I can help you crack this thing.

Keep up the good work on the exercise! You are doing great!