Getting healthy / toning up with a very sedentary lifestyle?

l25r03b97

Hello everyone,

(this is my first ever post, so bear with me!)

I'm 5 foot 4 inches, and about 110lb - so not overweight, but I have excess fat on my stomach and legs that I want to get rid of. My aim isn't to lose a certain amount of pounds - if I add muscle, the number on the scale won't represent fat I've lost. Instead, my aim is to tone up / get rid of some fat overall.

But my problem is, I have a very sedentary lifestyle as a college student:
- I have to spend two hours on my bus to college every day (one hour each way - walking / cycling would be impossible)
- My time at college is spent sat in lessons / studying; my college is all in one building so there's not much to walk around
- I get home at 5.15 and am quite tired then

I'm aiming to go to the gym on Wednesdays and Fridays; I already go to a yoga class on Tuesdays. But I'm clueless as to what sort of fat burning exercises to do! And should I go more often?

I already eat quite well - mostly vegan, lots of fruit and veg, no junk food, only drink water and herbal teas, very little (processed) sugar.

So my questions are:

How can I make my lifestyle healthier overall?
What are some really good routines / workouts for fat burning and toning up at the gym, or at home?
How can I eat to lose some weight?

Sorry for the long post! Thank you for reading

mactaffy84

These are really two issues. Losing weight is a calorie deficit, so you sedentary lifestyle need not interfere. But being healthier and toned as a matter of exercise, there is just no way around that. The first thing your post did was to provide an excuse to why you are sedentary, so the question has to be: do you REALLY want to do this?

If so, get up earlier to get to school and check out your student areas. Does your college have a gym you can use? How about some clubs that do activities. Or take a class - kind of like taking gym in high school. Not sure why cycling to school on nice days wouldn't be an issue, most busses do not go all that far in an hour (all those stops generally cut down on the miles). But if this truly is a deal-breaker, you've got to find other things to do. What are your weekends like? Can you get yourself in gear to be active then?

It is up to you to implement any ideas people may generate. In the end, that is all we have. Good luck!

leantool

You may want to do some body weight resistance exercises every day for 20 to 30 minutes to begin with after school at home... analyse your day and you will find time if you wish to.
Best of luck
ETA: your goal weight of 98 lbs for 5'4" ,that is BMI of 16.8 seems a bit too low ,does your physician approve of that?

geebusuk

I already eat quite well - mostly vegan, lots of fruit and veg, no junk food, only drink water and herbal teas, very little (processed) sugar.

None of that says 'eat well' particularly to me.
If you'd said "eat a wide range of fruit and veg" (which you may well do), that'd be better.
Food isn't "junk".
Your descriptions suggest you're likely low on protein and possibly fat.
Your diary is private, so we can't make suggestions based on that, though appreciated you've joined recently.

If you have access to a gym, I would go for a resistance workout like Starting Strength, Strong lifts or "new rules of lifting for women". You could also get the kit at home to do this for not too much if you go secondhand - I do work between sets - total time of actually doing weights (including setting up) tends to be ten minutes or so, with total time from twenty five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on what else I'm doing.
Eat 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight.

l25r03b97

These are really two issues. Losing weight is a calorie deficit, so you sedentary lifestyle need not interfere. But being healthier and toned as a matter of exercise, there is just no way around that. The first thing your post did was to provide an excuse to why you are sedentary, so the question has to be: do you REALLY want to do this?

If so, get up earlier to get to school and check out your student areas. Does your college have a gym you can use? How about some clubs that do activities. Or take a class - kind of like taking gym in high school. Not sure why cycling to school on nice days wouldn't be an issue, most busses do not go all that far in an hour (all those stops generally cut down on the miles). But if this truly is a deal-breaker, you've got to find other things to do. What are your weekends like? Can you get yourself in gear to be active then?

It is up to you to implement any ideas people may generate. In the end, that is all we have. Good luck!

Seriously, my college is 15 miles away - it would take me over an hour to cycle, not to mention the motorways involved. But, good news, I just got a membership at my local gym - I'll be going 3 times a week after college. I've also just signed up for a sailing course in May / June (haha yes actually just this morning). Thank you for your help!

l25r03b97

I already eat quite well - mostly vegan, lots of fruit and veg, no junk food, only drink water and herbal teas, very little (processed) sugar.

None of that says 'eat well' particularly to me.
If you'd said "eat a wide range of fruit and veg" (which you may well do), that'd be better.
Food isn't "junk".
Your descriptions suggest you're likely low on protein and possibly fat.
Your diary is private, so we can't make suggestions based on that, though appreciated you've joined recently.

If you have access to a gym, I would go for a resistance workout like Starting Strength, Strong lifts or "new rules of lifting for women". You could also get the kit at home to do this for not too much if you go secondhand - I do work between sets - total time of actually doing weights (including setting up) tends to be ten minutes or so, with total time from twenty five minutes to an hour and a half, depending on what else I'm doing.
Eat 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight.

I do eat a very wide variety of fruit and vegetables. I do need to check how much protien and fat I'm eating, but I'm not depriving myself of anything. Is that the only reason you don't consider it to be eating well?

I've just joined the gym, so I'll look into weights there. Thank you for your help!

meerkat70

I reckon most of us get home around 5.30 / 6ish. We're all tired. I work most days 10 hours a day, maybe more. And I have a child to look after. Get out and work it, a minimum of three times a week. You'll find after a couple of weeks, you need the workout more than you need the couch when you get home. It energises me at night, at the end of a busy day, and I usually find it enables me to put in a couple of extra hours of work at night, plus it enables me to sleep better.

What about cycling a few times a week rather than every day? You wouldn't be losing *that* much time, if it added maybe a half hour to your commute and you'd gain a huge amount in fitness. My university is 15 miles away, and I was doing this last summer - cycling in maybe twice a week. Also the more you do it, the faster you'll cycle. You'll be beating the bus eventually.

l25r03b97

I reckon most of us get home around 5.30 / 6ish. We're all tired. I work most days 10 hours a day, maybe more. And I have a child to look after. Get out and work it, a minimum of three times a week. You'll find after a couple of weeks, you need the workout more than you need the couch when you get home. It energises me at night, at the end of a busy day, and I usually find it enables me to put in a couple of extra hours of work at night, plus it enables me to sleep better.

What about cycling a few times a week rather than every day? You wouldn't be losing *that* much time, if it added maybe a half hour to your commute and you'd gain a huge amount in fitness. My university is 15 miles away, and I was doing this last summer - cycling in maybe twice a week. Also the more you do it, the faster you'll cycle. You'll be beating the bus eventually.

Fair point. Like I just said, I've got a gym membership now, so I'll be going three times a week (for the moment - it's exam season for me so I can't go mad with it).
Cycling honestly isn't an option for me right now. I would be too much, too long, too complicated, not to mention we've already paid for the yearly subscription to my bus.

geebusuk

If you're already spending an hour on the bus, what's up with an hour's cycling each way?
Even if it takes you an hour and a half each way, you're taking an hour longer BUT you are getting 3 hours worth of exercise for only taking an hour longer.
As far as getting healthier, this is a change I'd look to make.
As above, no need to do it every day.

If you don't cycle much at the moment, then sure, work up to it. You could even look to get a cycle bag, take the cycle in on the bus then cycle home. That way it doesn't matter if you're slow and you won't be tired before college.

I cycled around 15 miles yesterday with some van parts in my panniers to get my van ready for it's annual test - then back again stopping in at some shops (there were massive traffic jams and I must have saved at least half an hour if not more there). I reckon the same route in a car would have taken me maybe 20 minutes less in reality, considering the traffic jams*, but my way I got a load of exercise and burnt enough calories that I could eat a whole tub of ice cream and still have another dessert later!

* To be fair, I wouldn't have even tried to go near a town centre if I was in a car - can't be doing with paying for parking etc just to have a wander around.

It's not that I'd consider to be NOT eating well, just that I don't consider what you had said to BE eating well either.
Vegan, clean, etc are all life style choices that aren't particularly related to a healthy diet - in fact vegan can make it harder, by limiting protein for those on fairly low calories.
A "healthy diet" should be one that matches your goals, in order - Calories, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients.

Note that to change body composition (muscle to fat ratio) you are going to need both resistance work (ideally lifting weights) and a decent amount of protein to do it effectively.

l25r03b97

I can't cycle at the moment. There are lots of reasons, it'd be boring to go into them. I'm just going to leave it at that. If it was a different situation, I would, but it's just not a possibility for me right now.

I'm by no means an expert, but I do know that there are plenty of plant-based sources of protein I can (and am) getting. I'm transitioning to vegan at the moment (both ethical and health reasons) but nothing's going to change that.

I'll definitely look into the weights thing. I've got a personal program session with an instructor at the gym tomorrow; I'll ask.

dgkt

It's great you're sticking to your guns about being veg, I doubt protein is your problem.
To get more active start small: park farther away, take the stairs, ect. Go to the gym even when you don't feel like it. Get plenty of rest.

l25r03b97

It's great you're sticking to your guns about being veg, I doubt protein is your problem.
To get more active start small: park farther away, take the stairs, ect. Go to the gym even when you don't feel like it. Get plenty of rest.

You think so? Thank you! Being at college, I obviously still live with my parents, and my mum is into nutrition and is very supportive of me being / transitioning to vegan. She's always checking I'm getting enough of everything.

Thank you for your advice. I'm in bed by 9 most nights anyway haha. I don't understand those people who can run on 4 hours of sleep!

knra_grl

You could get up a half hour earlier and do something before school - there are plenty of workouts that use only your own body weight, resistance bands, dumb bells or kettle bell.

geebusuk

I doubt protein is your problem.

If not at a calorie deficit and not trying to gain muscle while losing muscle, sure.
However, trying to do a 'body recomposition', as is described; getting enough protein is an important part of it for (optimal) results.