random stuff i wanted to keep

http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100124393
Baby Pudge Won't Budge
by Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness

Q: I gained 50 pounds during my last pregnancy five years ago, and still have not been able to lose the last 12 pounds. I am in my late 30s, am 5-foot-2 and 130 pounds. How many calories should I be eating? I am fairly active, but I am only able to workout a couple of times a week.
A: First the bad news: Several factors may make it difficult for you to get back to where you were pre-pregnancy. When you gain weight, the longer you keep it on, the harder it can be to lose. That’s because the body seems hardwired to favor fat gain. Once a certain fat level has been maintained for a period of time (no one knows just how long), the body perceives that to be normal and fights to maintain it.
As you start to lose that extra bulk, different physiological systems kick in to encourage weight re-gain. Hormones and neurotransmitters that regulate how active you are, how hungry or full you feel or how you metabolize energy may be affected in ways that make the fat come back. This is why so many people go on diet after diet but usually put the weight back on.
All is not doomed, however, because there are plenty of people who’ve successfully kept weight off. But it requires more commitment and diligence than many people are prepared to make. Weight control should be considered a long-term lifestyle approach rather than simply a quick fix, where you go on a diet for a period of time and then revert back to pre-diet, weight-promoting behaviors.
How much you exercise is crucial in both losing weight in a healthy way and keeping it off for the long term. If you can only workout a couple of times a week, that may not be enough. The current recommendations for exercise are that most people should get at least 30 minutes every day of moderate activity (and this can be broken up into shorter chunks). However, the benefits gained from this amount are primarily in terms of health, such as decreased risks of conditions like heart disease.
To lose weight or maintain weight loss, research shows that most people need to do at least 60 to 90 minutes of moderate exercise nearly every day. Yes, it sounds like a lot, but, again, you can get it in chunks. If you are highly active, running around all day, parking in the farthest spaces, taking the stairs at every opportunity, etc., you can clock up the requisite calorie burn without too much trouble. (People who are out of shape should aim for smaller time periods and gradually work up to the quota. Don’t overdo it.)
There is no exact science to determine your precise calorie needs, outside of being tested in a lab, but here’s a formula that many nutritionists use to figure a person’s energy requirements:
For women, multiply 0.9 by your current weight in kilograms (to covert pounds to kilograms, divide your pound weight by 2.2). Multiply that number by 24 (men should multiply their kilogram weight by 1 rather than 0.9).
Let’s use you as an example. If you are 130 pounds, you weigh 59 kilograms. So 59 x 0.9 is 53; multiply 53 by 24 and you get 1,276. Now you need to account for the additional calories you burn by being active. This estimate can vary. If you are slightly active, multiply this number by 1.2 or 1.4. If you are moderately active, multiply this by 1.8. You sound highly active, so then multiply by the activity factor of 1.8. This shows that you need about 2,298 calories a day to maintain your present weight. In theory, if you eat more than 2,298 calories per day you will gain; if you eat less you will lose. (Keep in mind that this is not foolproof. Other physiological or genetic factors may also affect whether you gain or lose.)
To determine what your calorie count to lose weight, first pick a theoretical desired weight loss. The most you should aim to lose is two pounds a week, but it might be more realistic and easy to live with losing at a slower rate, say one to one-and-a-half pounds a week. (The slower and lower your weight loss, the more likely it will be permanent fat loss.)
One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. In theory, if you eat that much extra you'll gain a pound; if you burn off that much through exercise or by decreasing that amount in your diet, you'll lose a pound. One and a half pounds per week is 5,250 calories. So to lose 1.5 pounds a week, you need to cut out 750 calories daily.
Subtract your daily energy needs by 750. That means you need to eat about 1,548 calories a day to lose about 1.5 pounds a week.
The calories you burn from exercise can contribute to this equation. If you burn 300 calories from a one-hour daily walk, you could cut out just 450 calories a day and still stay on track to achieve this weight loss. Or you could cut out 750 from foods and allow the extra exercise burn to speed up the process. (But keep in mind, aiming for fast loss is not the best long-term approach.)
In the end, you need to find an exercise program that you can stick with for the rest of your life. And the same goes for diet. A crazy diet may produce dramatic short-term results, but if it’s not a healthy way of eating that you can sustain, you’re likely to gain the weight back when you inevitably slip back into old eating habits. So stay realistic, make small, achievable goals and stick to them. And don’t forget to schedule more and more calorie-burning activity into your life. Good luck!