dipping my toe in the water

[JavaJunkie]

Hi Guys,
So the OT people believe that this is the best place to ask the quetions and get answers that will help. I'm 21 years old, about 5'6-5'7ish and i've weighed about 108-110 lbs. for a while now. I've dropped to some scary weights but not intentionally. I'm now at 115 lbs. and I'm freaking out because it's all in my stomach and waist area. My stomach used to be flat as a board and I was very happy with that. Now it's flabby and when i put my hands on my hips i can grab some flab. My friends say i look really great but i'm VERY self conscious of it. I guess i just got too used to my metabolism being very fast and eating whatever I want without having to DO anything. I try to eat healthy but i'm not very good at it. I eat a LOT of food- I usually eat about every two hours (like an infant) it's amazing, on the two hour mark my stomach starts rumbling.

I used to be an active kid, I played baseball, I was a cheerleader, I figure skated, swam and rode bikes non stop among other things. Yet lately I've done less and less. I walk to class, I swim just a little bit, and I sit for at least 3 hours a day at work and then all day in classes. I've also turned 21 and went to new york city and drank a lot of liquor- which i think is sticking to me (that and the food i'm eating).

I've NEVER had weight stick to me and I'm not really sure how to deal with this. My stomach has always been flat, granted after i'd eat a meal my stomach would stick out like those kids on the save the children fund but it would go down and two hours later i'd be hungry again.It still does the starving child thing, but when it goes down i'm still flabby. yeah, i know i sound like a brat but it's REALLY bugging me.

I just went out and bought new jeans and instead of being a 0-2 i'm a 2-4. I don't mind the weight so much as i do the "soft" tummy and fat on my back/hips.

HELP!!!!! i've been doing situps but I have no idea if they're doing any good, i also have (don't laugh) an abs video that i've never done but i own it and i COULD do it i guess and tae bo videos that haven't been used forever. I suppose it's a question of WHAT do i do? I don't really like the gym because as soon as i or any other girl walks in all the guys stare and I'm not there to be looked at but i don't want to be a bitch so i avoid the gym at all costs. i would be ok with getting to 120 lbs. but i really need to make everything flat and not move before i'm ok with weighing 120. anybody have any suggestions?

As far as food goes i'm not a huge breakfast person then lunch is usually whatever i can scrounge up. i eat a LOT of carbs and salty stuff. i also only drink water or liquor- i don't really drink alcohol a lot but i do drink it. i don't eat a lot of sugar either. of course once a month i enjoy chocolate but that's about it. (i eat better when i'm at my parents at least once or twice a week)

please don't pick on me for being a dork- or a whiny girl who freaks about her weight. if i get up the nerve i'll post some pictures so you can see what i'm talking about(i'm not sure if my descriptions made any sense).

thanks if you made it this far. and thank you in advance for any/all advice!

[gobbla]

Goal #1 is get your eating in line.
-eat lean meats, vegi's, at every meal and add fruit once in a while if you're in the mood. This is a blanket statement that will serve you about as good as any. Meat...vegi's. If it's not a meat or a vegitible you don't eat it.

Goal #2 workouts (weights)

-contrary to popular believe more is not better when you're trying to lose weight. You're breaking your body down when you excersise and you're eating less than you need to maintain what you have SO find a full body plan that is 2-3 times a week (or we could help you make one), put forth an honest effort when you lift but don't kill yourself.

Goal #3 energy system work

-Same as #2, with a caviat of do something that you enjoy. Whether you run, cycle, or swim...dedicate some time and do it 3+ times a week for a half hour. OR you could do interval training for 10-50min you take it easy for a set time or distance, go hard for a set time or distance. It's up to you.


Soreness doesn't mean shit. Don't excersise to get sore and don't think that being sore means that you did a good job.

Lifts should involve heavy weights working big muscles.

Never train till failure. If you geneuinly think you're going to die then you pushed it too hard.

[chris_f]

at 5'7/8ish and 115, you're HOT!!

I'm so glad i'm a guy! At 5'8 and 155, i'm too skinny!

[gobbla]

Originally posted by sharkbait:
at 5'7/8ish and 115, you're HOT!!

I'm so glad i'm a guy! At 5'8 and 155, i'm too skinny!

hey...fuck you buddy!!

[Rev]

Hey Jav,

Gobbla gave great advice. I will just add on if I can.

First off you don't sound whiney so don't worry bout that. Like Gobbla was saying, diet will most likely be the most challenging obstacle here. Something you might do is record what you eat for one week and post it in the diet forum. Many members I'm sure could post tastey alternatives to anything that may not be in your best interest according to your goals, a lot of these people are good about that. It will also give a good idea about your eating habits and the type of foods you like.

With your training, establishing a solid cardiovascular routine shouldn't be too difficult. Pick a method you enjoy. Do you like to run, cycle, swim, etc? Some people like to do multiples because they get bored, like 15 min on that and go to something else with no rest and do another 15 min, etc, whatever keeps you interested and on a routine consistently. Gobbla mentioned a form of training called High Intensity Interval Training, this is where you train in short intense bursts, say run all out 30 seconds and then jog/walk a minute and a half until you complete 15 solid minutes. That exact prescription has done wonders for me in getting leaner when I need to.

You may get best results by mixing both styles of cardiovascular work (steady pace and HIIT). I always told clients to try to get 30-45min per session (this would change if HIIT took the place of a couple steady pace cardio sessions) of cardio at 3-5 times a week. If your schedule is tight, get in the gym 3 times a week and try to get in 45min, if it's not as tight maybe try 30min five days a week. So that leaves a little bit of flexibility to work with whenever life gets in the way.

As far as resistance training, if you have no experience training against resistance, it may be best you find a trainer to make sure you keep proper technique and posture. What you could possibly do if the trainer was cool enough, was have some of the guys/gals here set you up a routine or pick a premade routine, show it to a trainer, and have him show you the correct techniques of the lifts. To give you an idea, you would most likely be best suited for a full body routine, performed three times per week.

Hope this helps, don't be afraid to ask any questions.

Good Luck,
Nate

[chris_f]

Originally posted by gobbla:

quote:

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Originally posted by sharkbait:
at 5'7/8ish and 115, you're HOT!!

I'm so glad i'm a guy! At 5'8 and 155, i'm too skinny!

hey...fuck you buddy!! [/quote]oh yea, gobbla's advice (and nate's) is right on!

[gobbla]

Originally posted by sharkbait:

quote:

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Originally posted by gobbla:

quote:

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Originally posted by sharkbait:
at 5'7/8ish and 115, you're HOT!!

I'm so glad i'm a guy! At 5'8 and 155, i'm too skinny!

hey...fuck you buddy!! [/quote]oh yea, gobbla's advice (and nate's) is right on! [/quote]was actually reffering to the 5'8 155lbs being too skinny. my advice is crap Listen to Rev though! Rev rocks.

[kuri]

JJ, do you have friends that workout or play sports?

In addition to what Nate & Gobbla posted, environment is a major factor. Hanging around bars or people not into their health makes getting fit more difficult than it should be.

Seeing as your only 21 you probably can handle a few drinks and less than optimal meals.

That said try reading through whatever posts here look interesting, absorb. Envision what you want to look & feel like - then search out the relevent information that will help you out.

Just by posting your already ahead of the game.

[wingsfan]

JJ, what type of equipment do you have available to you at home that you could use? a jump rope, swiss ball, small weights? it's understandable about being a bit intimidated going to the gym so let me know what you've got available to you at home and we can see what we can work with.

[Blackjack]

Just some additional advice to add to the above.

Don't change everything all at once. Concentrate on one thing (eg exercise) and work on that for a few weeks. The start working on your diet. If you try to change everything too quickly, you'll have a tougher time getting used to it and may get discouraged. I generally tell people to start exercising on their current diet and then after a while adjust your diet to provide more energy for your workouts. You'll find that you want to eat better because healthier food is better at providing energy for exercising.

Either way, you've made a good decision to listen to the folks on this website, keep it up and read, read, read.

Ted

[Deserve]

Originally posted by gobbla:
was actually reffering to the 5'8 155lbs being too skinny. my advice is crap Listen to Rev though! Rev rocks.

Sh#t if that's to skinny I better sign up for rehab. I have a disorder.

[JavaJunkie]

WOW! thanks so much for all the help and advice guys!!
ok let's see if i can do this:

Meat...vegi's. If it's not a meat or a vegitible you don't eat it.

so i thought i did that pretty well today - i made an omlet (i HATE eggs) with cheese, bacon, some little smokies cut into pieces and pepperoncinis. meats and a veggie- kinda. then i had steaks for lunch (little ones that you can just slice up and put on a sandwich). and then my stomach exploded and i wanted nothing more than to go to bed. so i had some cookies. dear lord the cookies are the best thing in the world. i think that even if i burned them i'd still love them.

i haven't attempted any kind of workout just yet and i'm ok with that.

at 5'7/8ish and 115, you're HOT!!

haha thanks for the boost of confidence shark [img]smile.gif[/img]

Something you might do is record what you eat for one week and post it in the diet forum.

should i just go back to eating how i would normally eat or just make changes that probably needed to be made?

JJ, do you have friends that workout or play sports?

unless you count beer pong/beirut a sport then no none of them really DO anything except one of my friends. he's big into eating healthy and working out.

JJ, what type of equipment do you have available to you at home that you could use

umm... I have a set of tae bo tapes, some abs workout tapes, a yoga tape and two yoga mats but that's really it. i do live in an apt. complex that has a gym (although i've never been in there so i don't know what they have). (the last time i watched tae bo was when i was in high school and i've never watched the other tapes)


ugh. back to my ooey gooey cookies and work. thanks so much guys [img]smile.gif[/img]

[chris_f]

mmm cookies! and yea, the beer is worse for you than most of the foods you eat.

[gobbla]

I'd argue the exact opposite of what blackjack recommended...but I'll give you my little catch phrase here "you are 21 years old. it took you that many years to get in the shape you're in. with a little bit of luck you're going to live to be 100+ years old. so when you think about it you have at least 89 years to get your shit strait, so don't spaz if you fall off the wagon, or you get confused. everything's going to be ok, do the best you can, and smile."

So...with that said. Meat AND vegi's [img]smile.gif[/img] . Eating nothing but protien will give you a special kind of feeling eh? Don't over-do it, you're looking to make a lifestyle change...just look for the best solutions that you can at whatever time you're looking doing. Don't worry about being perfect...you're going to do the best you can.

Breakfast, omelete (spinach, musrooms, onions, peppers, whatever), bacon\sausage + eggs, or leftovers! tomato juice\or whole, breakfast burrido.

Lunch, soups, low-carb wrap, any kind of salad (as in tuna\chicken), any kind of vegi salad. If you have a sandwich load up on the vegis.

Dinner, meat...vegi

Snacks, cut up vegi's, fruits, nuts would be fine

The meat and vegi, is an ideal. When you look at your plate the vast majority should be meat and vegi's. If you're going to kill yourself if you don't have a tater or a roll, then go for it, but it's an aware decisioun to eat outside of your normal diet.

here's a workout plan that you can get started on untill you get somewhere that you can really get the ball rolling. DBB

[JavaJunkie]

beer shark? bleh! i'm a hard alcohol girl. i never acquired a taste for beer.

i like your catch phrase gobbla [img]smile.gif[/img]
yeah it wreaked havoc on my stomach!! i had some shrimp and raw broccoli with a ranch dressing tonight and another cookie. i also went grocery shopping so i have more choices as to what to eat.
thanks for the suggestions on foods! [img]smile.gif[/img]
those exercises are perfect!! thank you! i can do those at home without having to stress about the gym : )

[gobbla]

glad to help, glad to help.

Something that you might find helpful is to take a couple days writing down everything that you eat and when. Kind of get an idea of when you're eating and how much.

Then plan out a menu for a couple weeks with that as a guide. Quantity of food really is a non-issue for all given purposes, so if you snack all day then that's fine, just make the snacking good for you. If you're a 2-3 meal a day girl, then that's cool (although more is more), just make sure those meals are good.

The planning out a menu for an extended period of time has 4 purposes. 1, it will take all the guesswork out when you're hungry and don't know what to fix...keeping away the temptation for the less than healthy quick fixes. 2, you know exactly what you need for 1-2 weeks worth of food so when you go shopping you'll buy enough to cover you till you go shopping again! 3, you’ll be more inclined to have a wider variety of foods, you’ll find out what you like\don’t. 4, You’ll be in the “habit” of putting thought process into deciding what you eat and why, why\not.

Something that'll help ENORMOUSLY...is doing some research on recipes. Eating shouldn't be a chore or something to dread. There are billions of recipes floating around in the world. Take an evening that you have some spare time and go to borders\barnes&nobles grab a notebook and go to the cookbooks. Grab a snooker of coffee and steal info, get ideas. I'd personally recommend sticking towards the "low-carb" "low-GI" cookbooks, but don't be afraid of ethnic cuisine’s either (stir fry can be GREAT).

Take that research, your menu, and a little bit of willpower and your diet is set. 

Take an hour a day to devote to yourself and your workout (whatever it may be…”weight training” or energy system), two day a week are “off” days. Try to do “something” every day…preferably a little more than the last time you did that. If you’re feeling a little bent, take a walk. You don’t have to kill yourself, but be sure you give it a god’s honest effort.

OFF DAYS NOT OFF!! On your “off” day, take that hour and pamper yourself…take a bubble bath…go look for cute outfits that you can show off your new bod. “Me” time is very important.

You’re the most wonderful person in the world and hold the key to all the happiness you could ever dream of. Treat yourself good.