Hello!!

[learner_1]

Hello.

I am a 25 year old female. I am 5' 1" and I currently weigh 135 pounds. This is the most I have ever weighed. I used to be a dancer and a cheerleader and was always in decent shape. However after high school a busy schedule, little time, and little money caught up with me and took its tole on body. However, I have just graduated college, have a wonderful boyfriend of 9 years, a beautiful house, an adorable doggy. I am sooo happy with life. I just want to get to a place where I am happy with body. I have lots of free time this summer and I am dedicating it to getting in shape and feeling good. I have only been working out for a week and I already feel soooo much better, so I'm really excited about this. I will just need to support and help along the way.

This is a sample of how days go currently. (Monday - Thursday)

8 am .... eat a banana or apple
9 am .... 60 minutes pilates or 30 minutes cardio and 30 light strength training
10 am ... 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese
11 am ...plain oatmeal with fruit
2 or 3 pm .... sandwich or salad with chicken (maybe also some veggies or fruit)
6 pm ... 60 minutes cardio or 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes light strength training
7 pm ... protein (chicken breast or lean pork)
8 pm .... salad and fruit

I am drinking tons of water!!

Friday is one boot camp workout in the morning.

I also try to walk the dog or take a leisurely bike ride a few days a week.

I know I need to get some more nutrition in diet...but I just don't feel like eating that much right now. I need to make some healthy adjustments. I feel like I am missing out on a lot of important nutrients. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[cassiegose]

Hi there,

Congrats on graduating college! Thats such a wonderful feeling!

Regarding your diet, I would make a few changes such as:

8 am .... eat a banana or apple I would add lean protein here.
9 am .... 60 minutes pilates or 30 minutes cardio and 30 light strength training
10 am ... 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese I would have a protein shake right after workout followed by oats and fruit listed below
11 am.... oats and fruit
2 or 3 pm .... sandwich or salad with chicken (maybe also some veggies or fruit) this is fine. Make sure bread is whole grain. Could add some healthy fats here
6 pm ... 60 minutes cardio or 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes light strength training So you're doing this in addition to the workout in the am? Thats alot. Why so much?
7 pm ... protein (chicken breast or lean pork) I would add some veggies here and healthy fat. If you do workout before this meal you might also do some carbs here to replenish glycogen after workout
8 pm .... salad and fruit I would do salad with protein here. Could do some healthy fats also. If you do fruit here I would stick to things like cucumber, zucchini, peppers

Now going back to the workout thing... Would it be possible to split your workouts up a bit? Maybe do weights on one day and cardio on other days? Or atleast do weights first and cardio after so you get the most out of your weight routine? With all that cardio and weight training I believe you are doing a bit much and you may set yourself up for injury or you could easily burn yourself out.

Just thoughts.

Cassie

[learner_1]

Thank you for your reply!

Regarding the workouts. I joined group exercise classes at local gym. I really enjoy them and right now it is the only motivation I have to work out. There is a very limited selection, so I just deal with what they offer when they offer it. They are pretty low impact and I do not feel like I am working as hard as I have in the past with workouts. I also don't feel the strength training classes are effective at all. I am thinking about replacing these with at home strength workouts to make it more focused and intense. Then I could do them on a schedule that fits me best.

Also, I would love to be able to simply jog or run for a cardio workout, but I can't. I am just not that fit yet and I have flat feet and weak ankles which makes running painful. However, I feel like ankles are getting much stronger from the aerobics classes. I think once I build up some more stamina and leg strength I will find better ways to work out on own. For now I am doing what i can. As far as getting burned out, I don't think that will happen. I LOVE going to these classes and I really look forward to it everyday.

As far as healthy fats go...I cook protein in a small amount of olive oil and often add avacado to salads and sandwiches. I'm not really into protein shakes, so opted for the cottage cheese. It provides 13g of protein and only 80 calories.

Any other suggestions on how to build stamina, get back into running, or improve diet/nutrition would great!!!