[phoenix98]

hello all,
well bascially ill get right down to it, im 24yr. old female, after i got into college 4 yr. ago my wight slowly crept up from 110lb to a whopping 150lb.. : ( very sad, since im only 5'2 most of the weight went to boobs and tummy which prompted everyone to ask if i was pregnant since i have muscular arms and legs and the only thing is my midsection thats big ...anyways i tried a pretty extreme diet a few months back with no exercise since i was in my last semester of college and swamped with work i managed to lose 10lb that month ive kept 5lb off after going back to a healthier eating regimen so im at 145lb now. anyways since i have a alot more freetime now that ive graduated ive decided to hit the gym twice a day 60 min each. bootcamp class in the morning and spinning class in the evening. i want to be between 105lb-115lb, i can deal with more as long as im super lean and with some abdominal definition. since im type 1 diabetic sweets arent really an issue as i dont eat them, ive pretty much given up diet coke, i dont smoke at all, and rarely consume alcohol. i always measure my portions now when eating and they have been around 1200 calories/ day since i wasnt working out but since now im burinig almost 1000 calories daily im thinking i should consume more calories so my body doesnt go into "starvation mode" i want to lose these 30 lb in 60 days which is 15lb/month which i think is doable...what do you think is it overkill??? will 1 60 minute workout of bootcamp or spinning 5 days a week be sufficient to reach this goal? or should i stick with 2 60 minute workouts 5 days per week????

sorry its so long ... any advice is greatly appreciated.

[chickadee32]

The 2x daily exercise sounds a bit like the crash diet - you'll do it for a period of time and lose some weight, then burn out, stop altogether, and put some of the weight back on. For both exercise and diet, it would be better to develop routines which are sustainable long-term. What good would losing 30 lbs do if you didn't develop the habits needed to keep the weight off? I also agree with Kara that you'll need to do strength work of some sort, rather than cardio only, to keep from losing muscle as you lose weight. Having more muscle means you burn more calories even at rest, so you definitely want to keep the muscle you've got.

If I were you (and I'm not, so take what works for best for you) I would aim to eat 1200-1500 calories per day and exercise 1x daily 5-6 days per week, with a mix of cardio and strength training, and aim to eat a minimum of 60g of protein per day (70 or 80g per day would be even better). That's essentially what I've done throughout my weight loss, and in doing so I have developed healthy, sustainable eating and exercise habits, I have maintained my muscle mass, am I am still losing weight at a good pace now that I'm at a lower weight that is similar to your own.

As Kara said, losing 30 lbs in 60 days is unrealistic, so expect to see something more like 1.5-2 lbs/week at the start. I'll also mention that while a weight of 115 is a fine target, I think 105 is too low. By BMI standards, it is nearly underweight for someone your height.

Good luck, and I wish you the best.

[phoenix98]

ok, the boot camp i go to does include alot of weights actually with cardio being sprinkled in, in the form of jogging around the basketball court multiple times. i usually do 15lb weight for curls and working on biceps and triceps and 8lb weight for chest flys. believe me my arms and back are always burning the next day after the boot camp and i figured the spin class is my dedicated cardio. the spin bikes are not traditional because these pivot side to side to work on core as well. im ok with losing the weight slowly i would have liked to have done it in the 60 days but as long as im losing inches and look halfway decent come this summer im happy.

[andrew80k]

What they said!

More is not always better, it's just more. Don't short circuit your success by creating unrealistic expectations. If you are aiming for summer, you have plenty of time to do it right, not get burned out, and not hurt yourself. Make sure you take days off here and there to recover as well. 30 pounds in 3.5 to 4.5 months is probably a safer target range. You'll lose a lot of lean mass if you try to do it faster, if you even can. If you get hurt your progress will come to an abrupt halt.

Relax, take your time, enjoy the journey.