Someone asked ME for advice on Facebook! This is the earful
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ZebraGlee78
Posts: 83 Member
As a preface, a read a topic awhile back dealing with life at the goal weight. The person said that what sucks is that people ask him all the time how he did it, and never seem happy when he responds with diet and exercise. Well I wouldn't be happy with that either! I'm sure people want to know specifics. You know, how to get started and all. So anyway, I got up early this morning to do P90X Plyometrics and I saw on Facebook that an old high school friend had sent me a message. It reads below, (followed by my answer). Let me know what you think and what you would tell someone.
OLD HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND:
Hey, I see ur burning a lot of calories on a short work out wht u doing. I just started the gym yesterday. But I want to see if I could do something in morning before I go to work. If u dnt mind telling. Thanks .
ME (It's long!)
Basically interval training...where you so any kind of cardio. Instead of keeping the same pace the whole time you go for short bursts of just going all out where you get your heart rate up high, about 150-160 for me, that way when you're going at a slower pace, your heart is working harder and you burn more calories.
I have to do it right now for Air Force PT because I can't pass the push-up portion of the test. On my own, when I have time, I've been doing P90X, some days there is a higher calorie burn. If you have Netflix you can also do instant play of some workout videos. At the gym, you're gonna get your highest calorie burn on the elliptical but it's good to use a different type of machine now and then to give certain muscle groups a break and work out other ones.
As for weights, I'm kinda clueless there, which is why I've been doing workout videos instead, but I do know you alternate which muscles you work on. My husband (he's a personal trainer at Bally's) usually has his clients alternate days between back and biceps one day, chest and triceps another, and legs another. You can add abs any time, just not every single day, and you can do your shoulders on either arm day. My favorite thing above all else is distance running, which I do at a slower pace.
If you're gonna get serious about working out, a few thing I would suggest are buying a heart rate monitor, it'll help you with getting an accurate # on your calorie burn (don't trust what the machines tell you), a good comfortable pair of shoes (Nike, New Balance, or Acix). If you can't afford those right now then at least quality insoles (gel preferably).
Another thing, and probably most important is to track your calories. There are tons of websites, I use myfitnesspal.com. Tracking calories is hard at first, but if you tend to eat the same things, it'll eventually become second nature.
A pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so between diet and exercise, if you have a 500 calorie deficit every day (on average) then you will burn off (on average anyway) a pound a week. By tracking my calories, I haven't had to go on a crazy diet, I either just eat less if the bad stuff, or I've found calorie free substitutions.
I probably answered way more than you needed to know! Oh well, hope it helped. I learned most things by asking a ton of questions, from people at the gym showing me how to properly lift a weight, or people at work telling me about their dieting habits.
My co-workers and I keep each other in check, two people I work with are on a no sugar diet...lol, I couldn't live without some sugar! Like I said, I don't diet, but diets can be a good thing when used as a jumping off point to get you started, but you gotta do it in moderation. I also had a friend who was about 80 lbs overweight and she absolutely refused to exercise (she hates it!) so she invested money on Ideal Protein. At first she was severely restricted in what she could eat, and it was mainly their stuff but now (about 8 months later) she's eating normal foods again and is down the whole 80 lbs!
OLD HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND:
Hey, I see ur burning a lot of calories on a short work out wht u doing. I just started the gym yesterday. But I want to see if I could do something in morning before I go to work. If u dnt mind telling. Thanks .
ME (It's long!)
Basically interval training...where you so any kind of cardio. Instead of keeping the same pace the whole time you go for short bursts of just going all out where you get your heart rate up high, about 150-160 for me, that way when you're going at a slower pace, your heart is working harder and you burn more calories.
I have to do it right now for Air Force PT because I can't pass the push-up portion of the test. On my own, when I have time, I've been doing P90X, some days there is a higher calorie burn. If you have Netflix you can also do instant play of some workout videos. At the gym, you're gonna get your highest calorie burn on the elliptical but it's good to use a different type of machine now and then to give certain muscle groups a break and work out other ones.
As for weights, I'm kinda clueless there, which is why I've been doing workout videos instead, but I do know you alternate which muscles you work on. My husband (he's a personal trainer at Bally's) usually has his clients alternate days between back and biceps one day, chest and triceps another, and legs another. You can add abs any time, just not every single day, and you can do your shoulders on either arm day. My favorite thing above all else is distance running, which I do at a slower pace.
If you're gonna get serious about working out, a few thing I would suggest are buying a heart rate monitor, it'll help you with getting an accurate # on your calorie burn (don't trust what the machines tell you), a good comfortable pair of shoes (Nike, New Balance, or Acix). If you can't afford those right now then at least quality insoles (gel preferably).
Another thing, and probably most important is to track your calories. There are tons of websites, I use myfitnesspal.com. Tracking calories is hard at first, but if you tend to eat the same things, it'll eventually become second nature.
A pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so between diet and exercise, if you have a 500 calorie deficit every day (on average) then you will burn off (on average anyway) a pound a week. By tracking my calories, I haven't had to go on a crazy diet, I either just eat less if the bad stuff, or I've found calorie free substitutions.
I probably answered way more than you needed to know! Oh well, hope it helped. I learned most things by asking a ton of questions, from people at the gym showing me how to properly lift a weight, or people at work telling me about their dieting habits.
My co-workers and I keep each other in check, two people I work with are on a no sugar diet...lol, I couldn't live without some sugar! Like I said, I don't diet, but diets can be a good thing when used as a jumping off point to get you started, but you gotta do it in moderation. I also had a friend who was about 80 lbs overweight and she absolutely refused to exercise (she hates it!) so she invested money on Ideal Protein. At first she was severely restricted in what she could eat, and it was mainly their stuff but now (about 8 months later) she's eating normal foods again and is down the whole 80 lbs!
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Replies
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Sounds like good answer
I get asked what I did a lot & usually when people ask me "I need to lose weight, what's your secret?" is when I give a general counting calories & exercise. I usually end it with a "if you have any specific questions or need help with anything I'd be happy to help!" So it leaves a door open if they are truly interested. I used to spout off in detail to everyone but their eyes glazed over on information overload lol
Your friend was wanting specifics
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