I worked with a personal trainer 2 weeks ago and she said the same thing - eat some protein after the workout!!

I eat a protein, carb and good fat both before and after lifting (try for within 1/2 hour of working out). At one point, I wasn't eating anything before working out, but I started to eat an egg white with hummus and an olive (protein, carb, good fat), which helped me have more energy to lift heavier. It's not much, but is easily digestible and, for me, really helped when I was experiencing flagging energy. Contrary to what Bob Greene says about night eating, I started eating 1/2 c ff cottage cheese with a Tbl. of flavored yogurt, 1/2 c blueberries and a couple chopped walnuts at 8:00 pm, which made a big difference the next day, too. I'd eat a little later than that, but I have a hiatl hernia, so I don't want to eat too close to bed time.

I don't do anything near what you all do. I use 2lb dumbbells to do an upper body workout a couple of times a week. Another workout I do is the one on diet.com with the stretchy cord with handles a couple of times a week. Am only doing one set of those exercises. I am a beginner and am afraid to do to much to soon and hurt myself lol. Oh the one leg, hip-thigh area ( not the hip itself ) and behind the knee ( bottom of thigh top of calf, not the knee ) is bothering me tonight. I was told, those were a good introduction to strength training. I didn't have to use a lot of weight at first to strengthen up the muscles. Not sure if this is really true or not. How much protein should I be taking in a day? I do make sure I eat an apple and drink orange juice before my video in the morning and then a couple of servings of egg beaters and wheat toast after. I was told good carbs before fat and protein after.

I try to get 20-30g of protein every 2 to 3 hours. I start & end the day with a protein (whey) shake 'cause those are the times I most dislike eating. Sometimes I also use a shake before a workout just because of time. After my workouts is when I try to incorporate a healthy starch. This is what my trainers recommended & I have to say, although i find it a lot of work, I've lost 30lbs doing it & much easier than I lost the first 30lbs, so it's doing something

I do a lot of weight training and have been for years. I also do a lot of reading on the subject. What I have found is that the heavier the weights, the more rest you need between days of lifting. Also, the larger the muscles, the more recovery you need. Abs are small muscles and can be worked out more often. If a muscle is really sore, give it an extra day of rest. Sore is good, pain is not. I have also read to not try to take a way soreness by soaking in a pool, hot tub etc. It adds to the swelling of the muscle and inhibits the recovery. I lift very heavy and this is my schedule. I take two days off between upper body sessions and two days off between lower body. I do Abs and Back every time. I run on the off days. What this means is that i'm at the gym a lot but it is well worth it. I have a friend who is a trainer (although I don't hire him friends/professional services don't mix) and he says never do a lot of cardio before lifting. It sucks up the glucogen your body needs for lifting. To lift you need fuel so you don't want to burn it up on the treadmill. I also read that within 20 minutes of a good weight workout, you should eat a small snack of protein and a good carb. I like a string cheese and apple or skim milk and grapes. And don't be afraid to lift heavy. You will not bulk up and the empowerment of being able to hoist some real weight is incredible. good luck and keep at it.

Suzanne--I started with 3 lb. weights, and am now using 7.5 lb. for most muscles, still 3 lb. for anything that raises over the head because I have very weak shoulders for some reason. I had heard through Jillian Michaels' radio program to do cardio after the weights, not before, so I am doing that...or I do the cardio at a different time of day, but ususally I do it right after. I am finding I get more out of the cardio on weight days because my muscles are already worn and i feel them more during the cardio.

How often do you all workout? I have been scheduling workouts everyday, but taking one, sometimes two, days off...I schedule them daily but know I will skip a day or two each week, depending on what else is going on that week it is different days off. I have been doing weights just two times a day, but now am going for every other day unless too sore...on the other days I do at least an hour of cardio. I am finding now taht days I don't do anything I miss it and really long to workout, it is becoming an addiction maybe.

I aim to work out 6-7 days a week. 3-4 of these are heavy weight workouts & the others are just cardio. I do 10-30min of cardio as well on my weight days but 30-90 on my cardio only days.

I do about what Lifeguard does. I have read you always have one day of rest each week but I have found that hard to do. So I try to do something different one day such as a leisurely walk or hitting balls at the driving range. Since I live in Maine there is a lot of the year when activities are limited but I've found ways to still get exercise virtually every day. And I understand your comment on becoming addicted. I have felt the same way. I schedule my life around working out (within reason) but I don't think it's a bad thing. Our health should be a priority and do make it so, you have to schedule around it. I travel for work about 6 times a year and those weeks are tough. I run while I'm away but rest up from wieghts and it kills me. BUT, you should take a break from lifting every 8 weeks or so for just one week for real recovery. You'll come back stronger. To me, the only time you need to worry about being hooked on exercise is when it prevents you from enjoying other things in life or gets you in trouble in other ways. Other than that, craving exercise is good and a really great sign that you are committing to this new lifestyle. Keep it up. Note: My exercise plan takes up a lot of time each week and so I had to give up something since we can't do it all (although we think we can). I sacrificed a little housework. So what if there is a basket of socks that needs to be matched and who cares if if I didn't vacuum today. The exchange is well worth it.

I feel so much better today. My kids and I did the sweating to the oldies series 1-4. Think it is just what I needed. Nice low impact aerobics to stretch everything out. Bought 3lb weights to do the upper body with 2lbs weren't enough. Hubby said we will keep adding weights for curls until I can only do 10 to 15 of them lol. I said oh you mean 60 is to many. He just laughed.

What about pilates and yoga? Can they be done on my days between weight workouts? I know pilates really works my muscles, but I don't know if it is considered the same as weight workouts or not.

Great job on the workout shy! I think the amount of weight you need depends what type of workout you are doing. i do some where you use lighter weights with a lot of varied reps, and then some where you use heavier weights and go for exhausting the muscle in less reps...depends what you are doing.

I think both pilates and yoga are great to work in with weight workouts (different days). My trainer's thrilled I'm doing yoga. Weight lifting tends to contract muscles and yoga stretches them.

Purple
Thank you.

I know very little about this stuff. I have become very surprised over and over to find he knows a great deal about this stuff lol. I knew he use to be very well built, I have seen the pics. Now days he has a keg instead of a 6 pack. That is fine with me I like kegs, I don't like 6 packs lol.

I have some things that I use the 1 1/2lb weights for. Things over my head mainly. My shoulder is pretty good but since I had the frozen shoulder it is only about 95% when it comes to over my head and hurts if I use to much weight. For other things I use 2lbs. Now I have 3lbs. Have a feeling I am going to need a great deal more for curls. How did I know I wasn't suppose to be doing 60 of them and my arm still not be tired lol. He said, "Did you really think you should do that many?" I said, "How the heck did I know, you told me to do them until I was tired lol." Still could do 60 of the curls before my arm started to get tired and that was with the 3lb weights.

Shy - you crack me up!

Life
That is my goal in life. To crack people up.

Heather -

What flavor protein do you use?