Too much walking, lack of strength training

tracylbrown839

I walk 15 minutes every morning from the bus stop to school. I walk 15 minutes every evening from school to the bus stop. I walk 10 minutes to get my dinner at the canteen and 10 minutes back. I walk during lunch break for something to do. It's a huge amount of walking every day and I feel exhausted towards the end. But I am doing barely any strength/muscle training! Any suggestions about what to do?

Hi. I had a look at your page and like many of the other posts that have been written to you, I'm going to suggest that walking is not your difficulty.

I'm in my 50's and I walk at least 5 miles a day, which actually only counts as "lightly active". So, the amount that you walk is actually not that much, considering how young you are. (If you assume a brisk walk, which in truth, you are not likely doing, 1 hour of walking is only 3 miles).

So, you have to understand, as other posts have pointed out, you aren't, in fact, very active, especially for your age.

To address the tiredness, I think you have to look at all your lifestyle factors. Your page says that you want to weigh 115 pounds, and to look and feel good. Reducing your food intake, as you have, and reducing your weight from what it is now (which is perfectly normal, by the way) isn't going to make you feel great and look great. In fact, you're likely to feel tired - which you do - and not have enough energy to get through your day properly.

So, I think you have to look at your goals. Realize that a woman reaches the height of her strength around 30 years of age, which is much later than men do. So, in fact, the scales, if you are healthy, active, fit and eating well, will actually go up during the decade of your 20's. This is a good thing, not a bad thing, because you want your body to become really strong and fit, especially when you are young. It's these muscles and this fitness that will carry you through your life.

My suggestion, don't use the scales as a measure of how you are doing. Take your measurements. Eat well, with much more food, focusing on good nutrition, and become more active, not just walking. Either join a gym, or take up some sports, and focus on fitness, which means genuine cardio, some weight training, and flexibility as well. Go 3 times a week. (In addition to that daily walking that you simply do as part of life). A year from now, you will weigh more, in fact, but you'll have the feeling great and the looking good that you seek. But you also have to eat and eat well to build muscle. Ask any of the men or boys, muscle cannot be built in a calorie deficit.

But here's the interesting thing. Muscle, at rest, burns much more than fat. So, if you become really fit and trim with a good amount of muscle, you'll get to eat more just to maintain those muscles.

If you look up some women athletes and women that do stuff, they don't weigh any 115 pounds, not by a long shot.

There's also a bit of caution that's worth noting here, too. If you stay on the course that you're on, eating very little and trying to drop your weight through slashing calories and dieting in order to get the scales to read 115 pounds, what will actually happen is that you will lose not only fat but also much muscle as well. This is a really bad thing. Because it means that at rest and without much muscle, your body burns less and less fuel. It becomes a vicious cycle because then eating normally does mean that you put on weight. Then, a little later in your life, a baby comes along, or some other normal life event like that and the pounds really go on.

So, in my mind, young women like yourself have to be very careful of "over-dieting" and dropping the scales too low. In fact, it sets you up for being fat later in your life.

To repeat - 1) eat normally and good, nutritious food in adequate amounts. Focus on real fitness - cardio, strength, and flexibility. Feed and fuel your body well so that the decade of your 20's see your weight rise not fall, as you build your body to maximize it's strength and physical abilities during this great decade when your body is primed for it. Measure success not by what the scale says but by what your body can do, and you'll be happy with the result, I think, and have more energy, too! This will also set you up well for your next decade.

Hope this helps.

tracylbrown839

As an example, take a look at this chic. She is really, really fit. What does she weigh? 144.

http://breakingmuscle.com/womens-fitness/144lbs-why-female-athletes-should-toss-the-scale-and-get-a-new-perspective