Dropping body fat and increasing energy

littlefriend

Hi there
I have been given this diet to do by someone in the fitness industry. I've spent a good bit of time over the last few weeks reading the stuff on this forum and the fitness one and I'm not sure that the diet & exercise plan I've been given is right for what I want to achieve.
I'm female, 5ft 2 and 10 stone. I used to be around 12.5 stone but I lost 2.5 stone with WW a couple of years ago and some how have managed to keep it off. I'm not so concerned with actual weight now but I do want to drop some body fat and tone up a lot. Also I have very, very low energy so thats why I started looking around for some help.

Ok so here is the food list:
Breakfast - 30g cereal w/ water [???]
Snack- plain yoghurt w/ 1 piece of fruit
lunch- 90g fish or poultry, 300mls of veg soup and 2 portions fruit
Dinner - 120g fish or poultry, 150g mixed veg, 2 potatoes or 60g wholegrain rice
Snack- 2 plain ryvita w/ 30g low fat cottage cheese

Exercise - I'm to walk 2-3 miles 6 days a week & do some light weights twice a week.

Maybe this is right for what I am trying to do but -without trying to sound like a pain- it seems a bit boring to keep me motivated - in particular the food part.

Any comments would be really, really appreciated.
Thanks
ps I cant afford gym membership so any exercise will be outside or at home.

rubadub

Sounds like very little food. Do you know how many calories that is per day? you calculate another recommendation here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=4

I would advise lifting heavy weights 3 times a week. This is what you will need to "tone", which is developing muscle and lowering body fat. Lifting heavy will increase your metabolism, leading to fat loss. It will also use calories to build the new muscle. And on a calorie deficit you cannot expect to put on much muscle, esp. as a woman, i.e. you will not get "too big", plenty of lads are desperate to get big and have a hard time getting anywhere.

You can do bodyweight exercises at home. Have a look here http://www.simplefit.org/

or if you do get weights (proper ones, no pink dumbells!) check out this, www.exrx.net

This is a good set to get, and they deliver.
http://irish-lifting.com/product_info_equipment.php?cPath=1_15&products_id=260

littlefriend

First of all thanks for your reply.

The word 'tone' seems to irk people on here a bit - sorry!

Using the first link you gave me I'm allowed just under 1800kcals per day in order to lose weight. Using an online calculator I found, I figured out the diet plan I was given works out around 1250 kcals. I do have to take 2 dessert spoons of fish oil a day as well - don't know what that adds up to in terms of cals.

Apart from all that - when you say heavy weights what do you mean?? I'm not worried about bulking up at all its just that I have disc problems in my neck so I'm conscious of that.

Again, thanks

rubadub

littlefriend wrote: »

The word 'tone' seems to irk people on here a bit - sorry!

It is because it is a very loose term, and some people have ideas about how to get that look, which can often be wrong. Many (esp. women) will say "I don't want to get too big", and therefore steer away from heavy weights.

But muscle development is a very slow process. It is very hard to put on what most would call "too much" muscle. And if it ever did happen you simply stop lifting and it goes away.

when you say heavy weights what do you mean??

I mean lifting a weight which is so heavy that you can only perform 8-12 repetitions of it in a row -while maintaining good form (not swinging it around or "cheating").

Next time you can add a little more weight, or increase the reps. I usually pick a weight I can do 8 reps on, then when I can get up to 12 I add more weight so I am back to 8 reps again.

8-12reps is the usual recommended amount for maximum muscle growth, doing 2-3 sets of 8-12 with breaks for 1-2mins between.

I would increase your calories too.

littlefriend

''I would increase your calories too''

Ahhh thats music to my overeating ears

I think I'm going to get some professional help re the weights thing - I contacted user 'Transform' about it. I've had an operation on my cervical discs and i still have a lot of pain there so want to make sure i'm doing them properly. thanks a lot for your help