what exercises/ what weight?

lorna100

ive been looking through the threads and you guys seem to know your stuff, much more than my gym instructer anyway.

Im Lorna, first time poster and I'm 17. Ive been going to the gym for the past 6 months or so and am just not seeing results.

i'm 112 - 115 pounds (i fluctuate) and 5"5. Dress size 8.
Before I started working out, i was a size 4 and a good 10 pounds lighter. I did need to put on a bit, i do admit that but im talking 2 or 3 pounds would have been perfect. the weight just seems to be steadily creeping up on me. I know muscle weighs more than fat but this is visable on my body. for example, ive fat rolls over my bikini bottoms on my hips, where i never had that before.

Im a veggie, I eat fairly healthily and Ive been in the gym 4 times a week for 6 months. Ive been careful aboout my diet and not to eat more just because im going to the gym, though after a particularly hard workout i do have a whey protien shake. My shape has changed, but im not happy - my arms, for instance, have defined muscles when tensed, but relaxed it just looks like fat.
same with my thighs, and as for my stomach.. I have good, solid abs, but under a layer of flab(!) which i didnt have before starting at the gym.

My typical workout would be cardio, like the bike or running track, then weights (light, were talking 7kgs for the arms in different movements and about 70kgs for my thighs). Im using the automated weights for my legs, the ones where you just stick the lillte pin thing in the weight you want. followed by more cardio and stomach exercises, i do about 350 variations of different situps and the plank.

Please, please advise me on where I'm going wrong? what should I be doing? cos at the moment its just not working.. I'm going away in 2 weeks and planned to be in proper bikini shape. didnt quite work out that way...

any advice or comments/suggestions would be greatfully recieved.

Lorna

BossArky

Post your diet.

lorna100

BossArky wrote: »

Post your diet.

breakfast: one boiled egg OR a small bowl of porridge made with water.

mid moring snack: mandarin orange

lunch: one weetabix with hot water OR half a weetabix and a cup of tea.

Dinner: mungbeans with veggies OR brown rice and salmon + veggies. things like that.

Approx twice a week I'l have a whey protein shake after a hard workout.
I also have a square or two of 70% cocoa chocolate a day.

(i said im a veggie, should have said pescoveggie sorry)

I never consume alcohol on a weekday, the odd saturday night but i stick to vodka and a diet mixer. I dont smoke,and i drink about 2 litres of water a day.

I also take pure aloe vera juice twice a day.

any ideas where im going wrong?

leesmom

im certainly no expert but that look waaay too low in calories,your body may be storin any fat that its getting

lorna100

anyone?

Dudess

"Anyone?" You just got a very good suggestion from leesmom - why did you ignore it? I've a strong feeling it's because it's not what you want to read.

You're starving yourself. Do you think your body is gonna just burn up any teeny bit of fat you may have when it doesn't have anywhere near enough energy to do so? You're sending your body the message that you're in famine mode and your body is responding accordingly.
You're also depriving yourself of so much nutrients - the body can't work properly without them. My advice would be to increase your calorie intake significantly. This crap of a Weetabix for lunch or half a Weetabix if you "let yourself go" and have a cup of tea is nuts (something you could also be eating more of).

I presume you're eating so little and exercising so much because you want fast results - that's not how it works.

lorna100

Perhaps my post was confusing, apologies if ive come across wrong.

ive always been a very small eater, and i dont stick to that amount of food religiously, or anything of the sort.. i eat when im hungry, and until i'm full.

what other things should i add in then? you mentioned nuts, im guessing any raw and unsalted ones? if i add in foods high in essential fatty acids, will i not gain weight?

"I presume you're eating so little and exercising so much because you want fast results - that's not how it works. "

when i started exercising I wanted to get fit and become healthier, and have a defined shape rather than straight up and down. If i was starving myself, it would be evident in my body weight/shape, no?
6 months on, (hardly wanting fast results) and yes, ive become curvier. the question I was asking was does anyone know what exercises i should do to to improve this, ie. i have muscle but when its relaxed it just looks like fat.

sorry if im asking stupid questions, you guys seem to be very knowledgeable though and obviously im going wrong.

lorna

BossArky

lorna100 wrote: »

breakfast: one boiled egg OR a small bowl of porridge made with water.

mid moring snack: mandarin orange

lunch: one weetabix with hot water OR half a weetabix and a cup of tea.

Dinner: mungbeans with veggies OR brown rice and salmon + veggies. things like that.

Approx twice a week I'l have a whey protein shake after a hard workout.
I also have a square or two of 70% cocoa chocolate a day.

(i said im a veggie, should have said pescoveggie sorry)

I never consume alcohol on a weekday, the odd saturday night but i stick to vodka and a diet mixer. I dont smoke,and i drink about 2 litres of water a day.

I also take pure aloe vera juice twice a day.

any ideas where im going wrong?

No offence, but you are either lying or being selective in your memory of what you eat.

If you truely do eat just that amount then your body is probably in starvation mode as mentioned already.

I would say that you can drop the "350 variations of different situps and the plank". I'd guesstimate these take a bit of time to do. Instead get up off the mat and do something a bit more active like running, skipping or frollicking around with friends. This extra 15 mins of activity will do more for you than squriming about on the mat. Remember that you cannot spot reduce fat, you have to burn calories to reduce fat overall.

There is plenty of good dietary advice in the stickies. Off the top of my head I would recommend that you add the following:

• a handful of nuts every day (good fats)
• chicken (protein)
• tuna (protein)

Drop the protein shake. You are 17 and probably should be getting your nutrients from whole foods. You can add the shakes and supplements when you are verging on Olympic trials, or have a proper diet sorted out

Good luck!

Dudess

lorna100 wrote: »

Perhaps my post was confusing, apologies if ive come across wrong.

Don't apologise

you mentioned nuts, im guessing any raw and unsalted ones?

Yep, not the salted, oily ones.

if i add in foods high in essential fatty acids, will i not gain weight?

See the word I've highlighted there? Your body needs fatty acids - they're not the same as the fat in a bag of chips. They help to improve your health, which ultimately helps you to tone up. Eating bags and bags of them every day will cause weight gain, not eating a handful a day.
Your body is probably holding on to fat reserves as it's getting the message you're starving it, and also, such a lack of calories is going to slow the metabolism right down.

lorna100

thanks for the heads up. think im gonna go to a nutritionist and sort my diet out. then deal with the exercises!

thanks for the help guys.
lorna x

lorna100

made a few changes in my diet, heres what i had today:

breakfast: 30g porrige made with water, with pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds and a few almonds and brazil nuts.

lunch: brown rice with carrot, onion, broccoli, green beans, asparagus and black eye beans.

mid- afternoon snack: a bowl of broccoli with some chopped tomato.

Dinner: 150g salmon with some green beans.

Evening snack: a small banana.

went for a 5 km walk and did a workout.

sound any better?

conceited

Your taking the piss girl.
Eat whatever you want (actually eat something)like normal people do and do some weights 3 days a week with high intensity cardio afterwords sprinting for 1 minute then jog for 30 seconds keep repeating for about 10-15mins and the fat will fall off you in a matter of weeks.

You only need to workout 2 hours a week stop going to the gym so bloody often your waisting your time.

celestial

conceited wrote: »

Your taking the piss girl.
Eat whatever you want (actually eat something)like normal people do and do some weights 3 days a week with high intensity cardio afterwords sprinting for 1 minute then jog for 30 seconds keep repeating for about 10-15mins and the fat will fall off you in a matter of weeks.

You only need to workout 2 hours a week stop going to the gym so bloody often your waisting your time.

How is she 'taking the piss' exactly?? Who says she only needs to work out 2 hours a week - is that the same for everyone then? Her diet looks fairly reasonable to me.

conceited

lunch: one weetabix with hot water OR half a weetabix and a cup of tea.

Who says she only needs to work out 2 hours a week

I did

- is that the same for everyone then?

Everyone? Who is everyone?

celestial

conceited wrote: »

I did

Everyone? Who is everyone?

You said she only needs to workout 2 hours a week - what are you basing that on?

lorna100

concieted:
- "eat what you want (like actually eat something) like normal people do"
if i ate what i wanted to, id be eating nothing. i dont enjoy eating, in any way, its not a pleasure for me and i find it hard to eat. my first diet, i know now was too low in calories, its what ive alwasy eaten though so assumed it was ok. thats now being fixed, slowly as per the above reason. I do eat, quite obviously, so your comment was quite pointless.
- please explain how i am taking the piss.
I posted on the board because i wasnt getting the results and i didnt know what i was doing wrong. the guys here pointed me in the right direction and suggested i look at my diet, which i have done and am changing it bit by bit, one day at a time and all that

to only work out for 2 hours a week.. im trying not to go by time, but by the amount ive done and how hard ive pushed myself - im working out and pushing myself hard most days now, along with working in a physical job and walking 5 miles every day to and from work. 2 hours, being honest, would do nothing for me.

celestial - im hoping it looks ok this time round. thanks.

as for working out, i started doing different weight exercises today - this is what i did tonight, does it sound ok? too light weights? not the right exercises? was my first time so i wanted to keep it light.
all were done on half weight for 10 reps to warm up my muscles.
Leg press - 15 reps x 67.5
12 reps x 75
12 reps x 75 x 3 sets
Shoulder press - 13 reps x 25
10 reps x 30 x 3 sets

Squats - 50 x 7kgs
40 x 8kgs x3 sets (i dont know how to put the weights on the bar thingy on my shoulders and these where the heaviest dumbells i could find - please give me a heads up on this, sorry for the ignorance its not intentional)

Bench - 20 x 7.5 kg
16 x 10kg x 3 sets

bicep curls (using the bar thingy with weights either side, apologies for the ignorant terming again) 15 x 7.5 kgs
10 x 10 kgs x 2 sets

Lateral pulldown - 15 x 25
10 x 30 x 3 sets

used the inner thing/outer thigh ones too, both 12 x 75, 3 sets.
cut out my ab work, did 30 mins on the running track, at a jog.
thanks for the advice again.

Lorna

conceited

You said she only needs to workout 2 hours a week - what are you basing that on?

Science.

to only work out for 2 hours a week.. im trying not to go by time, but by the amount ive done and how hard ive pushed myself - im working out and pushing myself hard most days now, along with working in a physical job and walking 5 miles every day to and from work. 2 hours, being honest, would do nothing for me.

That seems to be working wonders enjoy that.

celestial

conceited wrote: »

Science.


That seems to be working wonders enjoy that.

Helpful type aren't ya?

Either you're trolling or you've no idea what you're talking about. I suspect it's a combo of both.

lorna100

so what do you suggest i do in them 2 hours a week to get me the results i want?

Gurlzie1

conceited wrote: »

You only need to workout 2 hours a week stop going to the gym so bloody often your waisting your time.

I've been in the gym for more than 2 hours a week over the last 8mths and lost 1 stone and bf% dropped from 24% to 18%
Diet played a big part in this but lifting weights for more than 2 hours a week has had a huge impact.

Check out the stickys, theres good advice about diet and calculations for calorie intake etc that will help you out big time.

conceited

17
female
5"5
52 kg

BMR of 1380.85
moderatetely active lifestyle
Calories needed to maintain current weight 2071

You don't even come close to consuming this amount of calories.