Exercis for the novice

BlueDress

Hi,

I used to use this site a good bit about 2 years ago, mainly as a passive reader and gained loads of advice on healthy eating. Since moving jobs I've lost my previous logon and name etc. and stopped using the site

Anyway, until last December I had a good diet, not great but basically good. I followed a low GI diet for the most part. Porridge/muesli/eggs for breakfast. Nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit for snacks (not all at once obviously) lunch was mainly based around beans or lentils, tuna salad etc. lots of veg. Dinner about 4 nights a week would be healthy and the other 3 would vary form a smelly big pizza to steak and chips, home made curry etc.

Throw into the mix the odd few bikkies with my tea and some ice cream some evenings, and too much beer for any girl to develop a flat tummy:(

Anyway, at 5 ft 5 I weighed between 115 and 120 pounds and while I would have liked leaner arms and a flatter tummy I had little to worry about.

I moved jobs in the New Year to one which is much for challenging and time consuming but which ultimately I much prefer and makes me happier. My diet however got pants. My routine changed, I stopped taking lunches into work, stopped having good snacks ready and it carried over into my at home diet as well.

Fast forward 1 year nearly and I am about a stone heavier, certainly a clothes size bigger and I don't want to be.

So I've started making up lunches and taking them into work, stocking up on cottage cheese and oatcakes, nuts, seeds etc. I know I'll never have the cleanest diet but I'm not trying to stop traffic or lift really heavy things!

Exercise is where I fall down big time. I have joined a local gym and my aim is to loose 10 pounds by next March.

Because of work I may sometimes only make it in once a week, if this is the case what should I be doing there? A friend suggested that I should concentrate on free weight lifting alone and that 45 mins once a week would help me become leaner and more toned fairly fast if the diet is good.

Is this true? I know I should be aiming to go more often but i have to be realistic. I also know that 10 pound in 5 months is very achievable but achieving short term goals and keeping them as life habits are two different things.

All advice welcome.

celestial

BlueDress wrote: »

Hi,

I used to use this site a good bit about 2 years ago, mainly as a passive reader and gained loads of advice on healthy eating. Since moving jobs I've lost my previous logon and name etc. and stopped using the site

Anyway, until last December I had a good diet, not great but basically good. I followed a low GI diet for the most part. Porridge/muesli/eggs for breakfast. Nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt and fruit for snacks (not all at once obviously) lunch was mainly based around beans or lentils, tuna salad etc. lots of veg. Dinner about 4 nights a week would be healthy and the other 3 would vary form a smelly big pizza to steak and chips, home made curry etc.

Throw into the mix the odd few bikkies with my tea and some ice cream some evenings, and too much beer for any girl to develop a flat tummy:(

Anyway, at 5 ft 5 I weighed between 115 and 120 pounds and while I would have liked leaner arms and a flatter tummy I had little to worry about.

I moved jobs in the New Year to one which is much for challenging and time consuming but which ultimately I much prefer and makes me happier. My diet however got pants. My routine changed, I stopped taking lunches into work, stopped having good snacks ready and it carried over into my at home diet as well.

Fast forward 1 year nearly and I am about a stone heavier, certainly a clothes size bigger and I don't want to be.

So I've started making up lunches and taking them into work, stocking up on cottage cheese and oatcakes, nuts, seeds etc. I know I'll never have the cleanest diet but I'm not trying to stop traffic or lift really heavy things!

Exercise is where I fall down big time. I have joined a local gym and my aim is to loose 10 pounds by next March.

Because of work I may sometimes only make it in once a week, if this is the case what should I be doing there? A friend suggested that I should concentrate on free weight lifting alone and that 45 mins once a week would help me become leaner and more toned fairly fast if the diet is good.

Is this true? I know I should be aiming to go more often but i have to be realistic. I also know that 10 pound in 5 months is very achievable but achieving short term goals and keeping them as life habits are two different things.

All advice welcome.

Hi Bluedress,

One thing you will notice from your post is that it was your gradual change in lifestyle that put the extra weight on you - so it will be your gradual change for the better in your lifestyle that will take it off you again.

So, first of all - you need to start eating as clean as possible. At the early stages, and for those who don't train regularly, diet is the most important factor. If you are fairly overweight you will lose weight just by dropping those extra biccies. You say you'll never have the cleanest diet - I don't know why as it's a simple matter of losing the taste for junk food and having some self-control and discipline. From personal experience, I can say that I used to snack on bars of chocolate and biscuits. I made the decision to cut them out and now I don't even want them anymore. Quite literally if you spend two weeks (less even) not eating them you won't even want them anymore. The same is true for take away foods, for example chipper chips. The only time I ever eat them now is maybe after a night out, when you tend to crave junk food. However, even when I eat them then I find them disgustingly greasy and just not_good. This is partly because of the actual fatty, greasy taste but also because I know I won't feel good after eating them. But mainly it's the taste factor - with my new lifestyle giving me a preference for good stuff I simply just don't enjoy them the same way as I used to.

So just cut out the junk (at least 95% of the time) and you won't look back.

Next, exercise - how exactly do you only have time for one session a week? You have the same 24/7 as everyone else. You only need 45 minutes per gym session (provided you are working out hard). You can do this in the morning, lunchtime, evening...no excuses. You will note that those who are the fittest and most dedicated are the ones who prioritise_exercise.

As for what exercises you should be doing- it's simple.

Exercise for 45mins - 1 hour, no more no less.
Get yourself a good weights programme using free weights only - no machines. These won't make you look bulky or man-like unless you're taking steroids - trust me.
Warm up for 5 minutes. Stretch. Do a 20-25 min weights session, pushing it hard.
Follow it up with 20-25 minutes of high intensity interval training. Look it up on the net. (Go according to your fitness level and work your way up - you will start getting fitter straight away)
Stretch. Cool down for 5 minutes.

If you aren't going regularly and if you aren't sweating like crazy after your session, then you ain't doin nothin'

Intensity + consistency = results. Make it your motto.

rubadub

BlueDress wrote: »

A friend suggested that I should concentrate on free weight lifting alone and that 45 mins once a week would help me become leaner and more toned fairly fast if the diet is good.

Lifting is excellent for losing fat, but bear in mind you will be adding a little muscle too so your actual weight might not decrease as much. i.e. you can be losing fat and adding muscle at the same rate. So instead of your goal being 10lb of weight, it would be better to aim for 10lb of fat loss. Your gym should be able to take your body fat %. From this you can calculate your current fat levels.

Or easier is to take measurements on waist, thigh etc, and aim for an inch loss. Or you might have a tight dress or jeans. This is a better way to gauge progress, especially when wieght training. Weight figures can fluctate all the time

BlueDress

celestial wrote: »

Next, exercise - how exactly do you only have time for one session a week? You have the same 24/7 as everyone else. .

I have the time for more then one session a week, it depends on whether I have the will to do it!!!!!! not making excuses just putting my laziness up front.

I will go more then that, I will. It's just hard when it's cold outside:(

I know it's about discipline and you're right about small changes getting me to where I am and small changes will get me back (and better).

Going to the gym however has always been my stumbling block. Seeing it in type makes me a little embarrassed however.

New me is going to need a new routine.

Thanks for that, I need to speak to someone in my gym and get a free weights programme done. I definitely won't stick with it without a programme to follow.

Also, I recently had laser eye surgery so can't go for about a month or whenever they give me the all clear. Hopefully a better diet will mean I've more energy by then and more will to go.