whats enough

[carmenisa22]

ok so I do excercise alot but theres no way im doing enough by the look so some people on here, mainly women. i lift weights but i only have 10 pd dumbells at home that i use. I need help in determining whats good for me and what am i capable of doing. I feel kinda weak when it comes to weights and I love coretraining and weightraining but i dont know if i can lift as heavy as some people. id like to see if someone can give me a schedule i can do every single day especially since i have a little more then 4 wks untill xmas when i go out of town and Id like to lose 8 pds by christmas and defintley tone up alot more by then. so If someone can help me with this i will appreciate it so much. Also im a stay at home mom so i have to excercise in living room i dont go to the gym but 1-2 times a wk when i can and our gym at apartment place dosent have alot of the weights, and the machines some others have. we only have elipticals, treadmills, arm press, dumbells, pullup bar,and excercise bikes. I wanna work more on back since its gotten wider since having kids, slim thighs, DEFINTley love handles i dont know what to do with sides its like hopeless i lose weight everywhere but there.and more defintion in arms especially back parts and of course stomach. I wanna know is there a way for me to lose all the fat in . i feel like its hopeless and ill have to get a tummy tuck in order to have flat again. will i ever be able to have abs? im not fat but im not toned and being toned to me is the most important thing ever. how long will it also take for me to drop a jean size im just curious? im a healthy eater and i allready do alot of excercise plus take care of 2 small kids.

[vamp]

30 min walk everyday at a brisk pace, get your heart rate up. This is also considered your warmup.
3 x per week do intervals for 20 to 30 minutes walk/run ... 2 min/30 sec periods.
3 x per week opposite the above do.....
30 sec each excercise full squats/pull-ups/burpees/crunches/push-ups/lunges/reverse rows
start by doing 2x with 2 minute rest between, week 2-3x, week 3-4x
week 4- less rest between ... 1 minute 45 seconds rest, week 5- 1min, 30sec, week 6- 1min 15 sec., week 7- 1 min
week 8 try 5x with 1minute rest

spend time after every workout stretching the muscles to increase flexability.
the 7th day is just a walk with some stretching.
This is just an idea for you and by no way set in stone. See what you think and non of it is more than an hour a day. If you wish seperate the walk and the other daily workout so its only a half hour at a time if you need to.

Notice no weights only body weight excercises so you don't need special equipment. If you need to look the excercises up to learn how to do them properly. Others may suggest variations or alternatives.

good luck and cheers

[cassiegose]

Hi there,

First of all... what does your diet look like? Weight loss is about 75% diet. Post an example of a typical day so we can look and make sure that is 100% on track.

There is no way to tell you how long it will take you to lose a jean size. Could take a couple weeks... could take a month. It will depend on your diet, your exercise routine, an your bodies ability to lose weight. Everybody is different so its really impossible to say how yours will respond.

As for you feeling weak and feeling like you can't lift as much as some people.. the only way to that is to work hard and continually work towards getting stronger. If i were you i would invest in some heavier weights as those 10lb dumbells that you have at home are definitely going to hold you back. If you only ever lift 10 lb dumbells you will NEVER get stronger as you're not giving your body a reason to grow stronger. In order to build strength you must force your muscles to continually lift weights heavier than what they are accustomed to. When you lift heavier weights your muscles are forced to adapt by growing stronger to handle the heavier resistance. If i were you i would invest in some 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 lb weights. You might not be able to lift all of them right now however having them around will give you something to work towards and will give you options so when your body is ready to handle heavier resistance you have the weights there ready to go. With that said, as Vamp suggested, you can also definitely utilize your body weight by doing things like lunges, squats, pushups, body weight bench dips, and pullups. If you cant do pullups yet row variations and lat pull down variations will help until you get strong enough to pull up your own bodyweight. Pushups.. if you can't do a standard pushup do them on your knees until you can.

You should be able to lose all the fat in your stomach however it is going to require an INCREDIBLY STRICT DIET and INTENSE WORKOUT REGEMIN. You won't be able to do it lifting 10lb weights and following a somewhat clean diet... and honestly typically to get rid of ALL the fat on your stomach you have to get your body fat levels down into the lower teens. I recently got body fat down to around 13-14% and still wasn't able to see lower abs all that well. Unless youre planning to compete in bodybuilding or figure I wouldn't recommend focusing on losing all the stomach fat... instead maybe shoot for overall fitness and a healthy, fit, body fat level that you can maintain.

Hope this helps.

Cassie

[carmenisa22]

thnks for your advice.

diet looks like this

bf: oatmeal with cinnamon and whole grain toast with peanutbutter or whole wheat
eggs with onion, green pepper and mushroom with toast and some fruit

snacks:lite string chz, fiber plus bars, sugar free jello or pudding, special k multigrain crackers, fruit, raw veggies like carrots and broccoli, or cucumbers 1% cottage chz with fruit,


lunch/dinner tuna, steam chicken, lean porkchop, or salmon, i eat this with steam and raw veggies and a carb like sweet potatoe or brownrice i also eat alot of plain salad with veggies 2 tsp of lite dressin like balsmaic vinegerette or lite italian or ust lemon and olive oil i only cook with olive oil


i could use some more suggestions about a cleaner diet

also for bf i sometime i eat french toast on whole grain or whole wheat i make it from scratch and i eat only 1 tps of lite syrup on each is that healthy? u can barely taste any syrup so i figured it was and its on whole grain.

[cassiegose]

So breakfast is oatmeal and toast with peanut butter OR eggs, veggies, toast and fruit? If this is the case have the eggs with either oatmeal or toast. You need protein with every meal. If you don't want to do eggs every morning have another lean protein (chicken, lean red meat, soy, low fat dairy, low fat pork). The rest of your meals look pretty good... assuming you're having some form of protein with every meal.

That french toast should be fine once in a while. Not sure what the light syrup has in it but i would think having it once in a while isn't too bad.

Other healthy foods: edemame, air popped popcorn, low fat greek yogurt, jerky, old fashioned rolled oats, kamute, barley, quinoa, millet, bulgur... i'm drawing a total blank on other options right now.

Hope this helps! Honestly your diet isn't too bad at all. If this is your diet i would think you would be seeing pretty great results once you step up the workout thing (weights). How long have you been maintaining this diet?

Cassie

[vamp]

raw carrots, peppers, brocoli, and cauliflower are great and you can dip them in an olive oil and lemon juice sauce for some zip. How about unsalted raw or roasted nuts and seeds ... protein and healthy fats!!!

personally I enjoy a salad with cabbage, cucumber, tomatoe, peppers, cellery and carrots. Sometimes I will add tuna, chicken or nuts. I use olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, some garlic (powder, fresh or oil), and a little dill weed. I prefer red or green cabage over lettuce and sometimes I like to use spinach instead of cabbage.

A breakfeast I sometimes have is half a banana, half an apple, a serving of oatmeal and a hard-boiled egg with a coffee or green tea or a glass of skim milk.

Just some suggestions for you to play with.

Cheers

[carmenisa22]

well, ive been doin this since a mth after i gave birth to son which was in may of this yr. im 6 mth pp now and ive lost bout 50 pds about that much. i gained alot havin both kids back to back. there 14 mth apart. ive had some slipups tho im defintley not perfect bcuz i have a sweet tooth. ive heard dark chocolate is good for u tho so i have that in moderation. but for the most part i eat well most of the time. to be honest i think i proabbly need to eat more. ive been eating about 1300 cal mainly and im pretty full after that but it says i need to eat 2000 its so hard when ur eating healthy stuff bcuz its low in calories which i thought was the point. i get full off veggies quickly so if i eat them with every meal im pretty full.ive done well with the weight loss but i wanna gain muscle now also slim down more in the process. so i guess pickin up the weights will def help me with toning part im lacking. i drink mostly water so i try to drink 1 cup before every meal to help to not overeat.

[cassiegose]

Hi again!

1300 calories is definitely not enough. If i were you i would slowly increase this until you get to about 2000 calories a day. If you want to build muscle you MUST feed your body to allow the muscle to build. If you're lifting weights but not eating enough calories you really are wasting your time. If I were you I would shoot for about 150 grams of protein per day... or 25 grams per meal (6 meals). By increasing protein you should be able to get those calories up a bit. Also, healthy fats from nuts, nut butter, olive oil, avacados, fish, and flax will also help to get your calories up.

So you've lost 50 lbs since May?! Girl you are doing absolutely fantastic and should be proud of your progress! I honestly think just picking up those weights and increasing protein and healthy fats will help you immensly to start seeing some muscle growth. Keep in mind though that building muscle can make that scale go up (muscle is more dense than fat) so you may want to consider switching gears for a while to really focus on getting enough calories and lifting weights. I would put the scale away for a few months and just focus on building muscle. Then come spring time you could switch gears again and go back to focusing on fat loss. At that time the extra muscle will help immensly in losing that extra bit of fat (every pound of muscle you have burns an extra 35-50 calories per day) and with the increased calories your metabolism should be firing pretty well to help that fat come off relatively easy.

Hope this helps!

Cassie

PS: I checked out your picks. Your children are beautiful!

[lareinamae]

As Cassie mentioned, you need to be sure you're taking in enough calories...which may seem crazy and difficult at first, but it is absolutely true! It will be counterproductive even if you work out like a maniac if you are not getting enough calories to build and muscle and sustain your workout program.

Congratulations on joining the site and working towards a healthier you!