Hi from Minnesota

[Country Girl]

My name is Sandy and I came across this forum from a link in another forum. I have a interest in wellness and read a lot of fitness/health magazines. I am looking to lose some weight again.

I lost around 30 pounds around 4 years ago and had kept it off until last summer when I moved in with my boyfriend. Now I have crept back up there and have put it almost all back on :(

I go to they gym 5 days a week, Monday through Friday and have been doing this for years. My workout consists of cardio all 5 days around 45-60 minutes. I am now going to increase this to 60-90 minutes and also add a walk on Saturday. Free weights are on Mondays and Thursdays for about 25-30 minutes. I'm not a big fan of lifting weights but I know that it's very beneficial to me especially since I'm getting into my upper 30's.

I know how to eat healthy but my downfall is sweets and I also like some deep fried food once in a while. I had worked with a dietition in the past but unfortunately she moved away and I haven't found another one here who is motivational to me. I'm trying to stick to the plan that I had in the past which consists of:
6oz meat
6 starches of roughly 80 calories per starch
2-3 8oz dairy
4 fruit of 60 cal a piece
3-4 vegetables - not my favorite thing to eat!
3-4 fat of 45 cal

I seem to be able to stick to this now for only a couple of weeks and then back to my old habits. I don't know how I was able to do so good for so long before - now my resolve just seems to fizzle.

This is probably waaaayyyy more than you want to know but any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[E36Guy]

Wow.. what a perfect intro post. haha. I think you answered most of the questions that usually follow the "Hi Im *name*" post.

Welcome to the forum! I hope we can keep you fired up about it and stick to your plans.

I personally find it such a good feeling just knowing Im being good to my body and helping it. I get a distinct feeling in me when I stick to my workout and that is what keeps me on it. (However, I wouldn't say Im the best at it still.. notice the line underneath my username. )

Anyway, welcome!

[Sportsmedjosh]

Welcome Sandy it's nice to have you here. My first question to you is how long ago did you work with your dietician. If it was a while ago and your body composition has change you might need to look at chaning your meal plan around.

Lifestyle changes such as moving in with a SO plays a big role in your fitness especially if the other individual isn't so inclined to keep up with your lifestyle. How long have you been doing your current 5 days a week protocol.

What type of exercises free weight wise have you been doing? Specifically what exercises on what days with what weight and rep. Then what are you doing first weight lifting or cardio?

[bellavus]

welcome! I defintely think you may need to add more veggies to your diet, what sort of veggies do you enjoy eating?

[Country Girl]

I first worked with a dietition the beginning of '04. I had lost a little over 20 pounds on my own before this. She was the one who put me on the above plan. I did see another dietition this past Oct for a couple of months before she had a job move to a renal dietition. She told me she would like to see me eating between 1500-1600 calories/day. This is what she recommended:
Fruits 1.5 cup/day
Vegetables 1.5-2 cup/day
Grains 5oz
Meat 4-5oz
Milk 2-3 cups
Oil 4-5 tsp
Discretionary Calorie Allowance between 132-171 calories a day.

She used an electrode thing (can't remember what it was called) to check body fat. It was hooked up to my finger and foot. She said it was the best way to check between this and calipers as the electrode thing went through the organs as well for computing of muscle, fat, etc. I found that my metabolism is slower than normal and my muscle mass is slightly lower than normal (which surprised my because I had been exercising for years and using weight machines/free weights twice a week). I used to exercise in the afternoon but around a year ago I started going to the gym by 7am (I just started now switching it up - some morning some afternoon some mid-morning). When I switched I stopped eating breakfast before I went because it made me hungry all day long if I ate before I went. The dietition said that by doing this I was slowing my metabolism down so I was supposed to eat something before I went, even if it was a banana, and as soon as I got home to eat breakfast and include a little protein such as an egg. The month after I did this we redid the electrode thing and my body fat had went down a little, muscle mass was up a little, metabolism went up a little, and weight stayed the same. She also told me not to exercise for over 45 minutes as that would also slow my metabolism down. Before that I was at 60 minutes all 5 days with a couple days being around 90. Since I stopped working with her in Nov '06 I have put on almost 20 lbs. I put on 6 lbs between July '06 and when I met with the latest dietition. I have three things that I think could be contributing to the gain - sinking back into bad eating habits, getting on the pill (that is when I started gaining weight), and not sure about this but I had a thyroid test not too long ago and found the TSH number is well within normal range but the T4 number is low but still within normal range. It is .08 and the low normal is .06.

I have been doing cardio 5 days a week for 4+ years. I was doing 6 days but a little over a year ago I dropped it to 5. I met with a personal trainer a couple of months ago and this is the program we did:
3 sets of:
front lunge/side lunge alternating 8 reps each
deadlifts 10 reps 30 lb weight
calf raises 12 reps
bicycle cruches 30 seconds
3 sets of:
delt row 10 rep 20 lbs
chest press 10 rep 17 lbs
crunch where you set on the edge of a bench and pull knees up - 30 seconds
3 sets of:
bicep curls 10 reps 12 lbs
I now do tricep kickback 10 reps 12 lbs
shoulders front raise then go right to side raise 8 reps of these.
Then we would finish off with more crunces.

I switch it up a little now and will do chest flies 12 lbs 12 reps, sometimes more squats, skull crushers 12 reps at 10 lbs, shoulder press 12 reps at 10 lbs. Sometimes I do the machines but not too often anymore - that used to be about all I would do - but I just don't like the machines and find that I have more problem with my elbow being sore and then it likes to want to give out on me.

I am now doing my cardio first and then my weights. I used to do weights first and then cardio but the last dietition suggested switching. I guess I had previously read to do weights first but what do I know. The last dietition thought maybe I should try switching for the purpose of calorie burn. She said something about between 20 and 40 minutes you are burning the calories and after about 40 minutes your body isn't really burning the calories at the same rate so it really doesn't pay to do more than 45 minutes to an hour. Guess I hadn't heard that before either.



bellavus - There are not may veges that I like -- tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers once in a while, and broccoli once in a while. I try to eat carrots as well but now can hardly stand them as I used to try and make myself eat them almost every day.

[Sportsmedjosh]

The device you were hooked up to was a bioelectrical impedence, it has an error margin on 3%. If you make your way to the nutrition section we have some great ideas of how to set up a healthy meal plan within the range you stated.

I would also suggest doing your warm up first at about maybe 60% of your Max Heart Rate. From there go into your weight lifting followed by cardio. The reason is cardio really doesn't burn that many calories as you would think. An increase in lean body mass would defiently yield great results as well as reducing your body fat percentage.

[bellavus]

what about zucchini, squash, cucumbers?

[Country Girl]

Does zucchini bread count? Just kidding. No I don't like zucchini or squash. I will eat a little cucumber once in a blue moon but not very often.

[bellavus]

hmmmm. Asparagus, spinach?

[E36Guy]

Mmm... Asparagus is goood.

[Country Girl]

I will eat asparagus once in a while and spinach. I used to have a spinach salad almost everynight before supper. If you like spinach try it with raspberry vinagrette and add sliced strawberries. I would sometimes add a little feta cheese to this as well.