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Originally Posted by laurielou
A typical day for me... Piece of whole wheat toast for breakfast or Carnation Breakfast Essentials shake, lunch is a turkey sandwich with no cheese and spicy mustard (or a Lean Cuisine if I'm in a hurry and don't have time to make lunch) side of pretzels or baby carrots, and for dinner I eat chicken and vegetables (usually I boil the chicken -- I don't cook it in vegetable oil). I eat very sensible portions. For a snack I eat a handful of pretzels with spicy mustard. After my work-out I drink a protein shake with 2 cups of milk. I eat W-A-Y healthier than I did before this diet began. Before, I would eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Dessert every day, burgers, fries, whatever.
I too changed my diet to be what I thought was as healthy as possible, but I found that I was greatly underestimating my portions. I'd definitely advise that you invest in a small food scale and perhaps try measuring out your portions. I plugged everything that you listed into MyFitnessPal and assuming you're portioning your food PERFECTLY you're at around 1300 calories per day, but if you're not counting everything then things like pretzels (150-200 calories per serving!) milk (skim? 2%? whole? 2 cups of 2% milk is almost 300 calories by itself) chicken (1 whole breast is around 300 calories) and lunchmeat (2 oz of Turkey is 60 calories, but that's only 2-2.5 slices!) can eat into your budget more than you think! You can even return the scale once you get a feel for your measurements.
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I just rotate through every machine in the gym. It takes me about 30 minutes and I do my arms, back, and legs (except the machines deemed 'worthless' by a post I once read on 3FC). I don't have a set number of reps -- when I feel the "burn" I make myself do 7 more reps, and by the last rep, I can usually barely finish it. I usually do 2 sets (maybe I should be doing more sets than this?).
I'd say try 3 sets. If you're able to do more than 15 reps in a set, the weight you're using is too light. Increase the weight to decrease the reps, give yourself 4 minutes rest between sets and do another set.
Stumptuous is a great resource, here's what they say:
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A basic beginner’s routine generally consists of something approximating 3 sets per exercise with 10-15 reps per set, though you can start with doing only 1 set per exercise for the first few weeks. Between sets you rest for 1 to 3 minutes, until you feel ready to tackle that thing again. You’ll want longer rests between sets of more complex exercises such as squats and deadlifts.
When you are starting out and figuring out what weights are good for you, you’ll have to go through some trial and error to find the correct weight. In general, aim for a weight that you can do for around 10-15 reps in good form. The 10-15 rep recommendation is based on the principle that beginners should use slightly lower weight for the first several months, in order to allow their connective tissue time to adapt to the loading. A weight which someone can use for 12 reps is usually a good weight to begin with.