I am new to working out and just joined the YMCA last weekend. I love all the options they have available and look forward to getting to know the equipment.
I was wondering if anyone would be willing to advise me with a workout plan that would help me loose a bit of weight yet tone up. I do not want to build bulk or develop my muscles too much. Altohugh I am bit on the chunky side, my body is feminine and I like it this way - minus the slight rubber tire!! The Fitness Instructor there has not called me back after a few messages to him and I do not know what is good or bad and I have not even tried any of the equipment because I am honestly afraid of them. He is supposed to help me with a plan and teach me the equipment.
I have been everyday (five days in a row now) and am taking either one hour of Yoga or Yoga/Poliates Fusion followed by an hour of water fitness. I take the water fitness classes and just streach and swim on the days there is not a class. I used the steam room last night and loved it, too!
I am 5'4 and weigh 166 pounds. My weight is mostly in my waist and a bit in my butt and a little in my lower arms.
I have been eating better food products overall... No sugar, fatty, fried or white foods. I use raw sugar for coffee, which I want to cut completely. I have a piece of fruit before working out and salad or sandwhich for lunch. Dinner is usally something cooked with Olive Oil and frequently chicken. Sometimes I have a yoguart in between or after dinner. I am also trying hard not to eat anything after 7:00pm.
I will have to learn more about eating well and proper nutrition. I'm not eating enough right now and need to fix that. I have tried power bars, Muscle Milk and other drinks and am unable to eat or drink those types of products. I don't like either the taste or texture and cannot finish them.
Thanks again!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Dog
Welcome to JP's.
No matter what your workout plan ends up being, losing the fat is going to be mostly about your diet. What is your plan in the nutrition dept?
Thanks for the reply. Right now, I am not into lifiting weights and want to find other ways to tone up. I do some handheld weights in a Light and Lively class and will work towards more as time goes on.
My yoga instructor has an ideal body type for me. She is my size and very fit. Although, she does not have what I would describe in anyway as defined muscles like some of the many of the other women there. Thanks again!
Quote:
Originally Posted by missjane
I would get the New Rules of Lifting for Women and read that first. You may get a new appreciation for muscles.
I have been eating better food products overall... No sugar, fatty, fried or white foods. I use raw sugar for coffee, which I want to cut completely. I have a piece of fruit before working out and salad or sandwhich for lunch. Dinner is usally something cooked with Olive Oil and frequently chicken. Sometimes I have a yoguart in between or after dinner. I am also trying hard not to eat anything after 7:00pm.
I will have to learn more about eating well and proper nutrition. I'm not eating enough right now and need to fix that. I have tried power bars, Muscle Milk and other drinks and am unable to eat or drink those types of products. I don't like either the taste or texture and cannot finish them.
Thanks again!
First, there's a difference between eating healthy and eating for fat loss.
You need to eat less than your body needs to shed fat. That's the bottom line.
Healthy is great. Choose healthy foods, but don't obsess that healthy foods lead to fat loss. They don't.
Notes:
Raw sugar is just sugar. It's not healthier. Agave nectar is just sugar. Honey is just sugar. Etc. They are added calories, and empty ones, at that.
You don't need those bars and drinks. Many Power Bars are just sugar. Look at the energy bar versions. A block of sweet. Not supplements needed, just eat food (just less) and stop drinking things with calories. That's a start.
Yogurt can be a lot of sugar, too. Added is the real issue, but it still comes down to calories per day.
Have you tracked your calories to see where you stand?
Well, thank you for pointing out that all those things I listed are full of sugar and not good for me. I didn't think about the sugar content, just trying to avoid my bad food habits.
I haven't tracked calories and I think you are saying that I might want to keep track of how many calories I eat per day. Is there a number I should be striving towards?
I will start a Training Log on here. This way, I will be able to see daily how I am doing with everything fitness. It will also help motivate me to avoid bad food and skipping a workout... I not want to have to list "I skipped the gym and, oh yeah, I ate a cookie too.
Do you happen to know why I weigh two pounds more today than I did yesterday? I have worked out for the last five days straight and have hardly eaten anything today. The scale at the gym is a good one, so it's me.
Thank you once again for your counsel!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lost Dog
First, there's a difference between eating healthy and eating for fat loss.
You need to eat less than your body needs to shed fat. That's the bottom line.
Healthy is great. Choose healthy foods, but don't obsess that healthy foods lead to fat loss. They don't.
Notes:
Raw sugar is just sugar. It's not healthier. Agave nectar is just sugar. Honey is just sugar. Etc. They are added calories, and empty ones, at that.
You don't need those bars and drinks. Many Power Bars are just sugar. Look at the energy bar versions. A block of sweet. Not supplements needed, just eat food (just less) and stop drinking things with calories. That's a start.
Yogurt can be a lot of sugar, too. Added is the real issue, but it still comes down to calories per day.
Have you tracked your calories to see where you stand?
Don't necessarily weigh yourself every day, or don't freak out if you weigh more one day than the day before. Your bodyweight will fluctuate for lots of reasons. My weight on any given morning might vary due to retaining water, food volume in the stomach, my need to take a dump, etc... If you're going to weigh yourself frequently, do it at the same time each day, and don't worry if it goes up and down. If you wake up and are 2 pounds lighter, that doesn't mean you lost 2 pounds of fat since yesterday...there's lots of variables.
much of the advice you'll get here is from people who have already traveled a long way on their fitness journeys. you've started and your best bet at this point is to find things you like to do and do them regularly. of the stuff you mentioned i'd suggest emphasizing swimming and pilates. the classes may be great, but may not be, so i can't really offer an opinion. swimming, if you go hard enough to raise your pulse and keep it raised is a good workout and the cardio-vascular gains will help you do better at anything else you try. core work and flexibility from the yoga/pilates also help build a good base for future exercising.
i usually advise not to start exercising and dieting together. it's a lot to take on all at once. without first investing time in one or the other, i think that many people find that struggling unsuccessfully with either the diet or the exercise leads to abandoning both. spend the next few months making both eating healthy, as opposed to calorie counting, and going to the Y important parts of your life. soon you'll find yourself willing and able to do more. you didn't get where you are in one day, you don't have to fix everything today, either.
i usually advise not to start exercising and dieting together. it's a lot to take on all at once. without first investing time in one or the other, i think that many people find that struggling unsuccessfully with either the diet or the exercise leads to abandoning both. spend the next few months making both eating healthy, as opposed to calorie counting, and going to the Y important parts of your life. soon you'll find yourself willing and able to do more. you didn't get where you are in one day, you don't have to fix everything today, either.
I couldn't agree with you any more! If I started out 18 months ago doing everything that I do now, I wouldn't have lasted a week! I had to slowly grow into this one behavior at a time. First it was no junk food. Then no fast food. Then it was making a breakfast and lunch everyday. This alone took three or four months to make it a true habit. Then when I started working out it was simply a matter of actually going to the gym on a consistent basis. Not really about working out....just about showing up and making that a habit. My first couple of sessions at the gym were truly embarrassing. Later it became about improving what I was doing at the gym.
It's all about one habit at a time. In the past when I tried and failed to take control of my health it was because I tried to do everything perfect. I tried to do too many things all at once. I didn't do that this time, and this is the one time that it stuck!
Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents along with LostDogs. If you really want to lose fat it really does come down to calories in vs. calories out.
As for your questions of the intake you are trying to take in there are some guidelines.
1) Harris-Benedict formula and activity multiplier for caloric intake will give you a basic idea of where you are aiming. Then you can subtract 500 cals or so from that number and see how that goes for you.
2) Harris-Benedict formula and logging activity same as above.
3) GoWearFit or Bodybug type concepts are devices you constantly wear that monitor your vitals and again give you feedback on how many calories you intake. So you can subtract 500 from that number and see where you get.
This brings me to how much you are actually eating. I would recommend weighing and tracking everything for a little while, and then off and on. I think of it as calibration. A kitchen scale is a necessity as well as someway to log. I recommend www.fitday.com or http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/. I like the dailyplate better, it has a more realistic food database in my opinion and more robust tracking capability.
Basically there are many methods to get an basic idea of where you want your caloric intake to be, and there are other formulas out there. But I cannot stress enough that they are just guidelines and do not work perfectly so you will need to tweak them.
As for weighing. I am obsessive about it, it is probably a bad habit. There was a time when I started this journey when the scale would fluctate 10lbs between morning and night. The best thing you can use the scale for is to plot a trend over time.
Really the better option for fat loss progress is just to measure yourself, or judge how you look in the mirror, or how your clothes fit.
I would have a look at Leigh Peele's forum here and maybe her blog and podcast.
At the end of the day though you have stepped up and decided to take control. That is where it starts. If you really want this, you can take it.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
Advice on Workout Plan for Beginner
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