Advice please........

Dublin14

Right, I’m a 5ft5” female weighing 8 stone 10lbs. I know I don’t have much weight to lose but ideally I want to lose approx 3lbs and tone up. At the moment I’m running for 30mins (4km) 4 times a week. I’m going to get a weights programme and introduce that this week.

I’m just wondering if my diet needs to be looked at and also is 30mins cardio enough – I’ve read elsewhere on this thread that you don’t start burning fat unless you are doing 50mins of cardio.

Breakfast
Tea with full fat milk
Organic Rice cake with a chocolate coating on one side.
Yoghurt or bowl of cornflakes with full fat milk

Should I switch to low fat milk and substitute the rice cake with cornflakes?? By the way, I hate porridge – so it’s not an option..

Lunch
Ryvita x2 with the following toppings:
Turkey, goats cheese & cucumber Or Philadelphia and tomato
OR
2 slices of wholemeal bread with 2 eggs
OR
Wholemeal pitta bread with turkey, cheese, tomato & cucumber.

Dinner
Chicken breast steamed in oven with salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber) balsamic vinegar
Salmon breast steamed in oven with salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber) balsamic vinegar
Slice of quiche with salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber) balsamic vinegar – sometimes I’ll add a portion of coleslaw.

Some evenings if I’m not overly hungry I’ll have 2 slices of wholemeal bread with a tin of beans or a wholemeal pitta bread with turkey, cheddar cheese, tomato & cucumber.

I’d probably have 3 cups of tea a day (full fat milk) with a snack bar at night.

I know I need to add veg to my diet – I am going to alternate veg and salad for dinner. I also need to increase my water intake.

Any advice/criticisms welcome.........

Transform

Diet needs big change if you want results and hit the weights hard.

Cornflakes and chocolate for breakfast!!!!!

trainer says Nooooooo!

Dublin14

Wow - I didn't think my diet was that bad..!! That's a slap on the wrist for me....!! I don't expect you to write out a new diet for me but any tips would be appreciated......

rubadub

Dublin14 wrote:

Wow - I didn't think my diet was that bad..!! .

It is not so bad, probably better than 80-90% of what the population is eating. It is just many on these forums are very dedicated athletes, some are personal trainers, some compete in weightlifing/powerlifting- so they watch everything they eat.

I hate the smell of rice cakes, and they are dried up so will not fill you as much. Some people have set notions of what could be a breakfast. I sometimes eat chicken at breakfast. Wholegrain cooked rice would be more filling, and chicken would give protein.

I make porridge pancakes, mix and egg, oats and milk, and fry in a tiny bit of oil on a nonstick pan. You can liquidise oat flakes dry and keep it, or just buy oat flour in a health store.

Skim milk would be better on the cornflakes, which are heavily processed with added salt & sugar. The honey nut ones contain sickly amounts of sugar.

Try and eat 6 even sized, even spaced meals each day. Hit the weights hard, as much as you can lift for 8-12 reps. Do not worry about getting too big, most guys are lifting heavy for years and are still not "too big" nor anywhere near they want to be. Any woman/model you see that you consider "toned", is probably lifting serious weights along with low bodyfat.

If you ever did get "too big" you simply stop lifting so much and the muscle will reduce.

Darwin

This is my average breakfast & lunch which I consider fairly healthy and may be of interest to you:
Breakfast: Salt & sugar free organic museli with a chopped-up banana and low fat milk (you could try adding other fruit such as apple or blueberries etc)
Lunch: Mixed lettuce, tomato, 1 slice edam cheese, 1 slice turkey, 1 hard boiled egg. Mayo or coleslaw a big no no.
(Dinner: Still working on what's healthy )

The FitnessDock

Dublin14 wrote:

I’m just wondering if my diet needs to be looked at and also is 30mins cardio enough – I’ve read elsewhere on this thread that you don’t start burning fat unless you are doing 50mins of cardio.

30 minutes of cardio is more than enough. To burn more fat, make it more intense. I highly recommend interval training. Also start a strength training program - that'll really speed up the rate at which your body burns fat. Muscle is metabolically active - it's favourite food is your excess body fat!

Dublin14 wrote:

Breakfast
Tea with full fat milk
Organic Rice cake with a chocolate coating on one side.
Yoghurt or bowl of cornflakes with full fat milk

Should I switch to low fat milk and substitute the rice cake with cornflakes?? By the way, I hate porridge – so it’s not an option..

I suggest you think outside the box regarding what you eat for breakfast. So many of us are conditioned from childhood into eating cereals that we seldom think of eating any other types of food. How would you feel about eating a salad and/or soup for breakfast? Most people are appalled when I suggest eating these for breakfast but they are great food choices, which allow for great variety in terms of what you put in them.

Breakfast is THE most important meal of the day. Remember it's called breakfast because you are BREAKING a FAST! So stabilise your blood sugar levels by eating something containing protein and/or (good) fat. This will eliminate sugar cravings later in the morning so you'll be fine all the way up to lunch.

PAUL

Dublin14

Thanks for the replies guys.....

I really can't see me eating soup or salad for breakfast - how about natural yoghurt with fruit?? I normally eat breakfast around 10 in work and won't eat again until lunch time. Maybe I should give porridge or museli a go and have this before i leave home...?? I rarely if ever snack between meals and am lucky enough not to have a very sweet tooth. I normally have a cadburys snack bar at night with a cup of tea. This is probably more a habit than anything else though and could reduce it to every second evening.....

I want to make sure that I'm not fooling myself and thinking that I have a good diet but I also don't want to become too strict... anything in moderation is my moto especially if i'm going to the gym 4 times a week.

Paul, when you say interval training - should i start with 10mins at 8km/hr and then increase it to 8.5 or 9 for 3 mins and then back to 8 for 3mins and so on until i've done my 30 mins.....??

Vegeta

Dublin14 wrote:

Thanks for the replies guys.....

I want to make sure that I'm not fooling myself and thinking that I have a good diet but I also don't want to become too strict... anything in moderation is my moto especially if i'm going to the gym 4 times a week.

Really lean bodies are made in the kitchen and not the gym. Yes the gym is very important but get the diet spot on 1st.

Too strict, I never understand this when it comes to healthy eating. There is a simple rule that makes dieting (which is a word I don't really like) very easy. Enjoy what you eat, eating healthy does not equal disgusting food. Portion size is critical. How big is the bowl of corn flakes? A lot of yoghurt is loaded with sugar so be careful.

Pick the correct foods (which you enjoy and can see yourself sticking to) and buy an electric food scales (very cheap in tesco) and a calculator

Dublin14

Vegeta - i totally agree with you about healthy eating - it should not be a chore - it's a lifestyle change. I think I probably need to get more advice on my diet because I genuinely thought my diet was fine but I reckon it needs to be looked at.......... I've been thinking about going to a nutritionist .... or would a Personal Trainer look at my diet as well as an exercise plan. I just need to be put on the right track and then i'll maintain it..... It's all about education.....

fits

crikey, outside of your breakfast, you eat very well. You really should try out the porridge. Its brilliant I think.

Very little carbohydrate and fat in your diet... I'm the same height and 9 stone 3 but I dont think I'll ever get down below 9 if I'd have to eat like that..

Beelzebub

Dublin14 where do you get your salmon breasts?;)
It's just that I've never heard them referred to that way before.

Seriously, it looks like a good diet, though I'd probably add a little more protein especially if youre taking up weights.
A couple of protein shakes should sort it.

The FitnessDock

Dublin14 wrote:

I think I probably need to get more advice on my diet because I genuinely thought my diet was fine but I reckon it needs to be looked at.......... I've been thinking about going to a nutritionist .... .

I'd actually recommend against it.

Back in 1999, myself and Transform held twice-weekly nutrition lectures at our gym. There were at least 20 gym members at each lecture and they were getting great results following the advice and tips we were giving them. Amongst the topics we covered were using the Glycemic Index (this was way before the G.I. diet became popular), eating frequent small meals throughout the day, and essential fats (we heavily advocated the teachings of Udo Erasmus and his book "Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill). Everything was going great...

UNTIL our gym manager thought that it would be a great way to conclude the series of lectures with an open-day, whereby a nutritionist would come in and give a talk of her own.

The "nutritionist" gave a talk which consisted of such gems as recommending jelly babies as an ideal pre-workout snack. She also had no idea of how the Glycemic Index applied to weight-loss, thinking it was only relevant to diabetes. Neither Transform nor myself could believe some of the stuff she was coming out with - even the audience were appalled with what she said. The results they had each achieved (in weight-loss and increased energy levels) by following our advice totally contradicted what she was advising.

What I'd recommend you do is to educate yourself on nutrition by reading the very best books on the subject. Then apply everything you learn and find out what works for you and what does not. Ultimately, that's the only true way to find out what really works best for you.

I'd be happy to recommend you some great books on nutrition if you're interested.

PAUL

MrPinK

Dublin14 wrote:

Paul, when you say interval training - should i start with 10mins at 8km/hr and then increase it to 8.5 or 9 for 3 mins and then back to 8 for 3mins and so on until i've done my 30 mins.....??

Here's a good article on high intensity interval training. Personally, I'd say the 30 second recovery in his sample workout is pretty short if you're just starting out. I'd start out at 60 seconds and reduce as you get better. If you finish a HITT session and you don't feel completely exhausted, time to add more intervals and increase the intensity.

G86

Quote "Should I switch to low fat milk and substitute the rice cake with cornflakes?? By the way, I hate porridge – so it’s not an option"

Ok in all fairness you need to change that mindset asap, I know because I'm after doing it myself recently. You need a good diet and a good program and to get that you need a good PT. I spent years wasting time in the gym and I've made more progress in the 6weeks-since I copped on,got good advice and did things right-than I did in the last year.

Once you get started you'll be flying

Dublin14

fits wrote:

crikey, outside of your breakfast, you eat very well. You really should try out the porridge. Its brilliant I think.

Very little carbohydrate and fat in your diet... I'm the same height and 9 stone 3 but I dont think I'll ever get down below 9 if I'd have to eat like that..

I never made a conscious decision to cut out/down on carbs - I just eat the foods I like and it just so happens that pasta and rice aren't my favourite foods. I'll have them now and again though if i ever get the urge...

I'll definitely give the porridge another try..... I can add honey to sweeten..

Dublin14

G86 wrote:

Quote "Should I switch to low fat milk and substitute the rice cake with cornflakes?? By the way, I hate porridge – so it’s not an option"

Ok in all fairness you need to change that mindset asap, I know because I'm after doing it myself recently. You need a good diet and a good program and to get that you need a good PT. I spent years wasting time in the gym and I've made more progress in the 6weeks-since I copped on,got good advice and did things right-than I did in the last year.

Once you get started you'll be flying

Change what mindset.......?? What's a PT..???

Dublin14

Paul - thanks for all your advice..! I'd love to read a book on nutrition as I'm really clueless...... any recommendations would be appreciated...

MrPink - That's a good article - I'll start HIIT this evening...... 30 seconds of sprinting and 30 seconds of jogging doesn't seem to be alot - i'd be constantly hitting the button to increase and reduce my speed - what about doing intervals of 2 or 3 mins????

Beelzebub - I get my breasts in Tesco.......... I believe some folk call them darnes or fillets...... :-)

G86

Hiya


I just meant that you should maybe try to get used to eating different foods, for example by not ruling anything out because you don't like it. If I did that I'd hardly eat anything!

By PT I meant a personal trainer.

But thats just my experience of whats worked for me, everyones different and I'm sure there are lots of other opinions out there.

Oh and hey porridge is great with honey!!

Dublin14

Right, i guess i have a block against certain types of food like chickpeas and lentils and seeds...... I should start introducing them into my cooking.. I've been thinking about getting a PT even for just a few sessions to make sure i'm on the right track.... Are they pricey and can anyone recommend anyone ???

I'm not sure how "knowledgeable" the guys in my gym are......???

G86

you're right, sure I never went near nuts or seeds before but now I just throw them into whatever I'm cooking. I don't think I'd even seen chickpeas or lentils til recently!!

As for the trainer...expense depends on how often you go, you could pm transform, he's on this site.

Dublin14

Oh is he a PT........???

G86

yep, you should defo give him a shout if you are going to go to a PT.

Dublin14

Will do - thanks a million G86...

G86

No Probs

Beelzebub

Dublin14 wrote:

Paul - thanks for all your advice..! I'd love to read a book on nutrition as I'm really clueless...... any recommendations would be appreciated...

MrPink - That's a good article - I'll start HIIT this evening...... 30 seconds of sprinting and 30 seconds of jogging doesn't seem to be alot - i'd be constantly hitting the button to increase and reduce my speed - what about doing intervals of 2 or 3 mins????

Beelzebub - I get my breasts in Tesco.......... I believe some folk call them darnes or fillets...... :-)

Thanks Dublin14!
You're perfectly entitled to call them breasts.;)

The FitnessDock

Dublin 14 - check your PM Inbox

MrPinK

Dublin14 wrote:

MrPink - That's a good article - I'll start HIIT this evening...... 30 seconds of sprinting and 30 seconds of jogging doesn't seem to be alot - i'd be constantly hitting the button to increase and reduce my speed - what about doing intervals of 2 or 3 mins????

There are plenty of different variations out there, just follow the basic principle and go with whats right for you. Short periods of maximum effort followed by recovery periods. Although I would say that if you can go sprint for 3 minutes then you're not going fast enough After 45 seconds going all out, I'm ready to drop. That's actually why I prefer doing my HIIT on a stationay bike or rower. I don't fall on my face if I push it too hard.

Dublin14

Right, last night i did 40 mins on the treadmill....... On an incline of 2 I ran for 15min at 8km/hr then i did 2 min intervals between 8.5 and 9 and then back to 8 for 2mins - then i did the last 5 mins at 8........ should i be going faster than 9 for 1 min and then recovery at 8 for 2mins???

hunnymonster

Dublin14 wrote:

Right, last night i did 40 mins on the treadmill....... On an incline of 2 I ran for 15min at 8km/hr then i did 2 min intervals between 8.5 and 9 and then back to 8 for 2mins - then i did the last 5 mins at 8........ should i be going faster than 9 for 1 min and then recovery at 8 for 2mins???

Yes, there is not a big difference betweeen your "effort" and "recovery" phases if you are only going from 8 to 8.5. Try and increase above 9 on your efforts. If you really can't manage this then walk your recoveries. It's important to have the change in effort.

Dublin14

hunnymonster wrote:

Yes, there is not a big difference betweeen your "effort" and "recovery" phases if you are only going from 8 to 8.5. Try and increase above 9 on your efforts. If you really can't manage this then walk your recoveries. It's important to have the change in effort.

Great, thanks for that hunnymonster..... I'll give that a go tomorrow night.... Does anyone know if i'm better off running on an incline of 2 rather than flat..??

hunnymonster

Running at a slight incline is believed to simulate outdoor running conditions more than running on the flat when using a treadmill. I've never fully bought into that but better people than me came up with it.

It is also uauslly kinder on your joints to run up a hill (and downhill really hammers them). Also it's harder because you have to lift your legs higher so you do more work so it is certainly worth doing.

Dublin14

hunnymonster wrote:

Running at a slight incline is believed to simulate outdoor running conditions.

That's what I thought too........