How many calories should I really be eating? and looking for friends for motivation and support!

AshleyNicolePedigo

First off, I have 60 pounds to lose. I've been working out 6 days a week and eating normally around 1300-1500 calories a day. Sometimes more cause I'm still trying to get the eating better down and sometimes less. I've lost 10 pounds in a little over a month so far but I see so many people say that to lose weight, you need to eat like 1800-2000 calories. Was just wondering about that. Also I'm looking for friends. Anyone trying to lose 60 or so pounds. Feel free to add me. That's where Im at right now. I'm still pretty new to all this but I log everyday and comment and help motivate anyone I can as well!! Also, I've been doing mostly cardio but I always do some weight lifting afterwards. I always use the machines at the gym but I heard free weights are the better option but don't really know where to start with all that equipment. Any advice or tips on that is also greatly appreciated!

Cherimoose

Do you weigh & measure your foods? You might be under-reporting your intake.
Anyway, if you're not constantly hungry, it's fine - just eat enough protein, and also take a multivitamin, unless you eat extremely healthy all the time.

For strength training, 2 popular programs here are NROL & Stronglifts. Or work with a good personal trainer.

It's usually better to do weights before cardio, both for safety, and also to put the proper effort into it. A 5 minute warmup on the elliptical or rower is good before weighs.

wmcmurray61

Cherimoose wrote: »

Do you weigh & measure your foods? You might be under-reporting your intake.
Anyway, if you're not constantly hungry, it's fine - just eat enough protein, and also take a multivitamin, unless you eat extremely healthy all the time.

For strength training, 2 popular programs here are NROL & Stronglifts. Or work with a good personal trainer.

It's usually better to do weights before cardio, both for safety, and also to put the proper effort into it. A 5 minute warmup on the elliptical or rower is good before weighs.

I didn't know it was better to do weights before cardio. Can you be more detailed as to why it is safer? I had never heard that before and I am just curious.

Also, OP, feel free to add me. One can never have too many friends.

bajoyba

wmcmurray61 wrote: »

Cherimoose wrote: »

Do you weigh & measure your foods? You might be under-reporting your intake.
Anyway, if you're not constantly hungry, it's fine - just eat enough protein, and also take a multivitamin, unless you eat extremely healthy all the time.

For strength training, 2 popular programs here are NROL & Stronglifts. Or work with a good personal trainer.

It's usually better to do weights before cardio, both for safety, and also to put the proper effort into it. A 5 minute warmup on the elliptical or rower is good before weighs.

I didn't know it was better to do weights before cardio. Can you be more detailed as to why it is safer? I had never heard that before and I am just curious.

Also, OP, feel free to add me. One can never have too many friends.

If you do vigorous cardio before your weight training, you're more likely to wear yourself out. This means that you may not be able to complete a weight training workout, or you may not be able to perform the exercises with the same intensity that you normally would when you're able to give it 100% of your effort and ability, so your muscles may not benefit as much from resistance training if you're already tired.

It can also be less safe to do your weight training after your cardio, particularly where free weights are concerned, because tired muscles mean you may be compromising your form and increasing your risk of injury, or your muscles may be too fatigued to safely maneuver weights/equipment.

As mentioned above, you can certainly do a short cardio warm-up before your weight training session to get your heart rate up. The general idea is that, while your weight training may suffer if you do your cardio first, your cardio will not suffer if you do your weight training first.

AshleyNicolePedigo

Yeah, that does make sense about doing weight lifting before cardio but with a warm up. I will probably start doing my gym routine that way. I do feel wore out after cardio so I'm sure I'm probably not giving it my all on weight lifting! I pretty much measure everything and I'm not super hungry all the time. I actually just read about strong lifts last night. Think I might get into that. Or try haha Thanks for the replys everyone!