Beginners - How hard are you hitting the workouts?

AllonsyAlonzo

Hi everyone!

I’m very new at this, I’m trying to keep my calories levels down to 1200-1450 as per the MFP app suggestions. Trying to eat mostly lean protein, fruits, veggies, and string cheese or cottage cheese. For exercise, 3-4 days a week I’m trying to do 30 mins of cardio using a stationary recumbent bike, an elliptical, or varying between speed walking and lightly jogging on a treadmill. Then weight training machines focusing on either arms or legs for another 20-30 mins. Just took my first BODYPUMP class at my local Y.

Am I doing enough to make a difference? What are you other newbies doing?

ninerbuff

You don't want to hit too hard on workouts because of enthusiasm. It takes about 2-3 weeks just for the body to start acclimating to exercise and people that try too hard in the beginning end up with major DOMS and possibly a strain or sprain of muscle or joints. Always work within your realm of fitness level. It's fine to up it little by little and don't try to compete with others out of ego.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

yuske05

Sounds like you're doing everything right.

As far as your calories, if you find yourself hungry every night then I would add 100 more to your budget. If you're just starting the diet it takes time for the body to adjust to the reduced caloric intake so you may go to bed hungry for a few days until you're fully adjusted into a fuller feeling. So add 100 if you need it then slowly work it down to 1200 or 1300 over two weeks. Cheat days are awesome- pick one out of the week and stick to it!

As for your workouts, I love it! Get as many days as you can. I do 5 days a week. It's a lifestyle, I use workouts as a daily ritual for stress management. A nice trick for me is to never look in the mirror, there's a bit of narcissistic emotion that comes when I'm looking at myself workout; it's a detriment to the ego and it may keep me from successfully living the lifestyle in the long run. And I don't wear nice gym clothes, I always wear rags. Again, I'm not there to show off- I'm just there to maintenance and improve myself and stay as positive as I can without drugs.

One more thing about workouts: control is everything. It's good to make occasional bursts of activity to feel your MAX but be quick about settling it back down. Always move with good posture, controlled weight, and manageable speed. This is the stuff that allows working out to be a lifestyle. Attending classes or working out to videos with certified trainers are always a good idea no matter how often you workout.

Strudders67

Why are you trying to keep your calories levels "down to 1200-1450"? MFP will have given you one number, not a range. What did MFP give you? That's how many you should be eating. And you should be eating that many PLUS your exercise calories.

AnnPT77

Here's some advice from an old exerciser (old in age, been active for a long time): Focus on establishing a sustainable exercise practice, one that you enjoy, one that's always a little bit of a challenge (but not exhausting or painful), and that fits into your overall positive life balance (i.e., you still have time and energy for other important parts of your life). Exactly what this is will be a little more modest for a beginner, in frequency, duration, and intensity. From their, build up gradually, but keep it sustainable.

Weight loss is about calorie balance, i.e., eating fewer calories than you burn. Most of your calorie burn is from just being alive (BMR, basal metabolic rate, the biggest burn for most of us), and from daily life (NEAT, non-exercise activity thermogenesis, the second biggest burn, for most of us). Over-exercising (excess fatigue, perhaps subtle) bleeds calories out of daily life calorie expenditure, so can be counter productive. For any average person, the calorie burn from exercise is a much smaller number than the calorie burn from BMR+NEAT.

Figuring out a happy eating routine is much more influential, for most of us, than exercise, when it comes to losing weight. (I was training and competing as an athlete, burning plenty of exercise calories, while remaining obese. I got my eating to the right level, and lost to a healthy weight, where I've stayed for 5+ years now.)

The bigger, harder thing is not to lose weight, but rather to stay at a healthy weight permanently and happily. That's where establishing an exercise routine comes in: Something that keeps you happy and active long term, builds and maintains fitness.

Ninerbuff's comment is right. Overdoing leads to burnout, maybe even injury. Think in terms of establishing a positive exercise/activity habit for life. It'll have a gradual on-ramp, less intensity for less time less often at first, and ramping up from there to a sustainable, energizing, enjoyable level.

Best wishes!

cwolfman13

I'm not a "noob"...but I don't "workout" all that much. I'm active and exercise regularly, but while any workout is exercise, not all exercise is a "workout"...I like riding my road bike and mountain bike...I like going for walks...I enjoy a good hike or doing some rock climbing, etc. I am active most days of the week. I hit the gym 2x per week to lift weights, and really those are my only "workouts." Most of my exercise is just being out and active and enjoying life.

In terms of "making a difference" I assume you're talking about weight loss...99.9% of that is in the kitchen...it's your diet. Unless you're an athlete or training like one, the energy expenditure for exercise (even as intense as it feels) is fairly nominal relatively speaking

Regular exercise (being an active person) is very important to your overall health and wellbeing and can make weight management efforts (whatever that may be) somewhat easier in that it gives you some wiggle room...but there's no need to kill yourself in the gym or whatever. People tend to get very enthusiastic early on and overdo things which often leads to injury, and very commonly burnout, especially when their "results" for all of that hard work don't reconcile with expectations...mostly because those expectations are all weight loss related. The reality is that regular exercise and fitness should be approached as something to be engaged in regardless of whether you're trying to lose weight or not...it doesn't default to weight loss...millions of people (who don't need to lose weight) exercise on the regular because it is extremely beneficial for their health and wellness and basic functionality in life.

When I was a "noob" and didn't really know what to do or how much to do, I found it very beneficial to layout some actual fitness goals that were in no way related to losing weight. To that end, I found structured programs to be highly beneficial in basically laying out what I was supposed to do and when to help me achieve those goals and not do too little or too much. For me, that meant a structured lifting program for the gym and then a structured running program...and later when I determined I didn't really like running, a structured cycling program. I also signed up for various running events and then cycling events which gave me further purpose in the training I was doing beyond just exercise for the sake of exercise.

AllonsyAlonzo

Strudders67 wrote: »

Why are you trying to keep your calories levels "down to 1200-1450"? MFP will have given you one number, not a range. What did MFP give you? That's how many you should be eating. And you should be eating that many PLUS your exercise calories.

1440 was my Max to lose just 1 pound a week. I think it was less to lose two, so I estimated based on what I saw online for my height/weight. I eat more if I feel the need, but depending on what I consume that range works for me. I’ll adjust once I get into more intense exercise.

ChickenKillerPuppy

I would say this is always true, but especially in the beginning, my advice is to focus on your food calories and just moving more. Your exercise plan you outlined sounds great and reasonable, but one of the best things I have learned in this process is that you can never outrun your fork. In other words, getting your food consumption and calorie intake in check is the MOST important for weight loss, and exercise can be a wonderful supplement to feel more fit and energetic and it can give you some extra calories to consume, but don't think of it as a 50-50 split food and exercise. Staying within your calorie goal and just moving more can be huge. My NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis - the calories you burn just from moving around during the day) is responsible for the bulk of my steps/exercise and is more important to me than getting in a cardio workout.

callsitlikeiseeit

listen to ann and niner. they know of what they speak.

FitAgainBy55

A lot of people here are diminishing the importance of exercise in weight loss. I'm going to take a different perspective.

I eat at maintenance and create my entire deficit (750 calories per day) with exercise and some NEAT. I don't believe exercise has to be relegated to "wiggle room" in the CICO equation.

If someone has a lot of weight to lose, I think it's even more important to focus on exercise. People that lose weight using diet alone are forced to eat fewer and fewer calories as they lose weight. This sends signals to the body that food is in short supply and can cause behavioral and metabolic adaptations that can reduce TDEE enough to actually stop weight loss. Using exercise to create all or at least 50% of your deficit mitigates these adaptations. If you slowly increase exercise over time then you can actually INCREASE your food intake as you lose weight instead of constantly reducing it.

Metabolic and Behavioral Compensations in Response to Caloric Restriction: Implications for the Maintenance of Weight Loss
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2634841/

JGT001

For me, I utilize exercise & the gym as a means to make sure I'm being active - and it has also turned into somewhat of a stress reliever. Before that, I'd always say I'm going to do some physical activity when I got home from work, but instead, usually crashed on the couch, watched TV & played with the cat until it was time to cook dinner. I was just lazy. I finally got into the routine of leaving straight from work & hitting the gym before heading home, that way, I know I'm getting some extra physical activity in besides NEAT. My routine at the gym varies every day - that was actually something a trainer convinced me to do to keep from getting bored or burnt out. I have a list of exercises I do, but do them in different combinations over the course of a week. At times when I can't make it, I try to walk the neighborhood or take a hike at a nearby national park. When the weather is good & I have the time, I started biking on the river levee just to do something different.

michellemcnamara55

I used to jog and go to exercise classes years ago before I had kids. My eldest is 4 years old and my youngest is 3 months old. I’m starting out again now. Finding it very difficult to stay within the 1400 calorie limit. I’m on my feet all day running around after the kids and I’m so hungry. I started Apple fitness last week and I try to do a routine about 5 days a week. I do 20 minutes HIIT, 20 minutes strength and then 2 10 minutes core workouts. I try to go out for a walk everyday for some fresh air as we are in a level 5 lockdown and cannot go further than 5km from our homes. I walk about 3/4 miles at a fast pace. The evening time is the hardest for me. I tend to binge eat watching tv. I’m trying to drink tea now instead but I’m really struggling. I’m not hungry, just looking to eat out of boredom/habit. At the weekends I’ll have a glass of wine. I cannot lose any weight. It’s really getting me down. Anyone else struggling? My boys are not in preschool as it’s closed with the pandemic so I’m trying to do the workouts at times where I give them play doh or crafts to do and the baby has gone down for a nap. I can’t do them in the evening as I’m exhausted after my day. Anyone any tips to start shifting weight?

Littlebitta

AllonsyAlonzo wrote: »

Strudders67 wrote: »

Why are you trying to keep your calories levels "down to 1200-1450"? MFP will have given you one number, not a range. What did MFP give you? That's how many you should be eating. And you should be eating that many PLUS your exercise calories.

1440 was my Max to lose just 1 pound a week. I think it was less to lose two, so I estimated based on what I saw online for my height/weight. I eat more if I feel the need, but depending on what I consume that range works for me. I’ll adjust once I get into more intense exercise.

You won't lose 2 pounds a week at 1200 calories, that is just the lowest calories MFP will tell females to eat. You need a deficit of 500 calories per day per pound you want to lose in a week. If it tells you 1440 for 1 pound per week loss you would have to eat at 940 to lose 2 pounds, which is not healthy.

callumrayb

Beginner weightlifter here, currently just focusing on my core doing 5x6 100kg deadlifts twice a day, absolutely destroys me haha