Exercise! Love it or hate it, let's motivate each other to just DO IT!

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Old 08-08-2013, 09:46 AM   #1  
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Hey there!

So I am by no means overweight. People get super mad at me when I complain about my weight. My BMI is normal. I just carry my weight in a specific way so I don't believe my BMI lol. I'm very much a pear shape and my family history is both overweight and normal (healthy I'd call it since no one is toned/skinny).

Back in high school I was super toned, cross country/track runner (hate running btw :P)
I am now 24 on Sunday. I go between 130-133, my target weight is 118-120, with a more toned look. I don't want to look like a stick off a tree lol, which is impossible with my curvy frame, stupid pear shape lol.
It's difficult to find the time to work out as I work 4 days a week for 10-11 hours a day as a vet tech so by the time I get off work at 6-7pm at night I am definitely not energetic enough for the gym.
And I go to school the remaining days from 8am-7pm, which starts on August 20th for me.

So, this is the plan. And this is where I need the advice. I'm 10-13 away from my goal.

My diet is not terrible. It's predominately greek yogurt, oatmeal, flax seed/pumpkin cereal, almond or soy milk (for breakfast), my lunch is usually fruit, dinner I can sometimes get in trouble, but I try to stick with turkey or chicken, but my weight just doesn't budge.

For exercise all summer I went to the gym 3-4x a week, I did ellipitical or treadmill and did weights every other day. I went from 133-130... yay me? Then summer school finals happened and I was off for 2 weeks. I think I'm at 131 or 132... I didn't want to look, honestly lol.

For the actual semester I know I'll be lacking in time. My goal is this,

Monday, Tuesday & Thursday I'd be doing cardio for 30min - hour, ellipitical or treadmill, though I do best on the elliptical cause I hate running and I always end up walking. I feel with the elliptical I can keep my intensity up and I like to do their hill intervals option or even the cardio.
Treadmill I do walk jogs, though I am running a FUN 5k in November so I want to be able to predominately jog it amidst the bouncy houses and ball pit obstacles! Yay fun obstacles lol!
Saturday & Sunday I get off work by 4 on weekends sometimes earlier and I Was thinking of doing ONLY weights on those days. My rest days being Wednesday and Thursday.

I think this is truly obtainable since I only have 2 classes and though I usually study about 40 hours a week I can pull out 5-6 hours a week for the gym.

I am considering doing herbalife (just the shake) for my breakfast/lunch. My snacks at school can remain my fruit. Dinner I will stick with my chicken/turkey.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? Maybe they see a whole in my plan. I worked out literally from May till 2 weeks ago with no results. I thought I was doing everything right so now I'm changing my diet and doing 5 days a week starting today actually lol.
How many calories should I be consuming? How accurate are calorie counter apps?
I know calorie counters on machines aren't accurate. I'm considering a HRM for myself soon too.

Thanks in advance.
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Old 08-08-2013, 10:45 AM   #2  
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I wanted to say hello & welcome, but I am new hear myself & don't have any advice for you...but the people hear are awesome & Im sure someone has some great advice for you!
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Old 08-08-2013, 11:43 AM   #3  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nickyl View Post
How many calories should I be consuming? How accurate are calorie counter apps?
Congrats on setting healthy goals, and your meal plan looks delicious I don't know what you look like, but you can probably get the body you are describing without reducing your weight, but by focusing on the right type of exercise.

Calorie counter apps are often a good way to get started on most diets, especially for beginners, but they are not very accurate for many people. For most of us, it comes down to trial and error.

In my opinion, it would be better to see where you are so you can decide where to go next. Carefully measure your food for a few days and keep a good log of how many calories you normally eat to maintain your current weight. Then cut back a little so you can lose weight, or adjust your food choices to support building muscle.

In general, they say that creating a deficit of 500 calories per day will result in one pound of fat loss per week. You can accomplish this with both diet and exercise, so it sounds like you are on the right track (although I never recommend Herbalife and similar products - stick with real food). If you are working on building muscle, then your needs will be quite different.

Good luck!
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Old 08-08-2013, 11:45 AM   #4  
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Your BMI goal is pretty low. We tend to retain our shapes, so I am afraid if you just lose weight, you will be a "skinny pear".

How hard are you hitting the weights? Are you lifting HEAVY? Ad nauseum we mention on here The New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. You should check it out.

You probably will not lose a lot of weight if you start lifting heavy, but I expect you can transform your body somewhat and lose inches, which is what it sounds like you are looking for!

Jen
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Old 08-08-2013, 03:16 PM   #5  
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Hey everyone! Thanks for the replies.

Here is a pic of what I look like, right now, this very second, lol Let me know if the pics actually work, I put them as private on my fb. If I need to unprivate them I can.

Not sure if it matters. My pant size is 11, shirt is medium. Goal is 7 pants, I don't mind a M shirt.





I'm thicker around the middle, down to the legs for sure lol.

I definitely feel like the summer was nothing but error for me... I only lost 3 pounds, gained them back in the 2 weeks I had to prep for finals.

The reason I am attracted to herbalife is mainly cause I work so much, am on the go a lot so preparing anything beyond dinner can be... difficult lol. And doing a 2 shakes and some fruit for while I'm at work is just so easy for me. If there are any other suggestions I'm all ears before I actually buy this stuff. I stopped at one of the herbalife smoothie places to try the flavors before buying... Chocolate isn't bad. Very tolerable.

As far lifting, I do not lift heavy... When I do dead lifts or anything I do 15 pounds, arm curls is 20, legs are heavier but I try to stick to the 70-90 pounds, whereas I can do 120+

I use the machine where you can adjust the angle for my crunches and do it at midpoint for me, I use a 5-1Lb weight on my chest for resistance and do 3 sets of random numbers, 10, 12, 15 etc.

I can't think of the names of the other machines I use. One for sure is the one for your arms where it's like 'flying'. I joke and say I don't want to learn how to fly lol. It works on your chest at the muscle where your armpit/arms meet and chest.

Last edited by nickyl; 08-08-2013 at 03:18 PM.
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Old 08-08-2013, 03:30 PM   #6  
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the "flying" machine is likely the chest fly

I would say from looking at you that you don't need to focus on losing so much as toning.

To change your body and losing inches you need to be lifting heavy. What this means is use weights that it is hard to do 6-8 reps of and do 3 set or 5 sets. using lower weights and doing more sets helps your muscle endurance but does not stress your muscle enough to change your body. I'm not even sure it is enough to maintain muscle in a calorie deficit as it will see you do not use your muscles enough currently to warrant keeping them in a deficit.

I highly recommend New rules of weight lifting for women. the routines it gives you are all full body routines so you only have to go every other day, maybe skipping an extra day if you are particularly sore. Cardio is good to keep healthy and a great stress reliever so I recommend keeping it up but you don't nessacarily need to do more then a warm up and cool down on the days you are lifting. and always remember to stretch, before and after!

Good luck!
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Old 08-08-2013, 03:37 PM   #7  
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Ha.Ha. You look FANTASTIC! It sounds to me like you're doing everything right--and maybe you're concentrating a little to much on what the scale says?? I don't know what brand you're buying in pants--but if I were to guess just looking at your pictures you're a 6 possibly 8--but certainly no more than a 9. Size 11 in the brands I wear would fall off of your waist.

Just to give you an idea of what I meant about the scale--I know a very FIT Jazzercise instructor that teaches anywhere from 5 to 11 classes a week--depending on if she is subbing for someone else. She is so fit that she couldn't pinch an inch if her life depended on it, ha.ha. She complained that she weighs 140 pounds--and I told her--by looking at her there is absolutely no way she weighs that much. She looks like she weighs 125-130 pounds--and she looks great. (Keep in mind that muscle only takes up 1/3 the space as fat does--and that's the deception with the scale.)

So don't stress out about the scale--you're doing everything right. I don't see anywhere on your body where you need to lose. Just tighten up--do more body sculpting exercises for abs--hips--inner and outer thighs if you wish--but you're just fine the way you are. Keep up your good habits.


Last edited by Kscott; 08-08-2013 at 03:54 PM.
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