Exercise plan & calorie intake.

marshmallowmind

I posted this in the exercise forum an hour or two ago but it's just been moved to the second page many times. Thought I might get a response here?

Basically, I'm a bit unsure if my workout plan is too much or not enough.. Or just right! Also if I should boost my calorie intake to get enough energy to do it.

For starters, I'm 5foot11 & 157pounds. I mostly want to tone up but I do want to drop a few pounds as well.

I'm going to buy the 30 Day Shred [thanks to your recommendations!] & try to do it ever day through-out April.
I'm also going to go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, for about an hour each time.
I'm going to try to get one or two 30 minute walks in every day, but running every 5 minutes for a minute just to give it that extra 'kick'.

Is this a good plan? I really want to get myself in shape for the summer, so I can wear a bikini for the first time in my life & spend my last teenage year as I should, having fun. Being over weight for most of my teens held me back from that so I want to make for it before I turn 20.
Also, should I up my calorie intake for it? At the moment, I'm eating anywhere between 1000 to 1300 calories a day. I've read that a lot of people need to up their intake to make up for how much their burning & to fuel the body for so much exercise.

Anyway, any advice will be greatly appreciated!

erickirb

I posted this in the exercise forum an hour or two ago but it's just been moved to the second page many times. Thought I might get a response here?

Basically, I'm a bit unsure if my workout plan is too much or not enough.. Or just right! Also if I should boost my calorie intake to get enough energy to do it.

For starters, I'm 5foot11 & 157pounds. I mostly want to tone up but I do want to drop a few pounds as well.

I'm going to buy the 30 Day Shred [thanks to your recommendations!] & try to do it ever day through-out April.
I'm also going to go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, for about an hour each time.
I'm going to try to get one or two 30 minute walks in every day, but running every 5 minutes for a minute just to give it that extra 'kick'.

Is this a good plan? I really want to get myself in shape for the summer, so I can wear a bikini for the first time in my life & spend my last teenage year as I should, having fun. Being over weight for most of my teens held me back from that so I want to make for it before I turn 20.
Also, should I up my calorie intake for it? At the moment, I'm eating anywhere between 1000 to 1300 calories a day. I've read that a lot of people need to up their intake to make up for how much their burning & to fuel the body for so much exercise.

Anyway, any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Yes you should eat more. Since you don't have much to lose, and are the ideal weight for your height, you should have your weekly goal set at 0.5 lbs/week. This will help ensure that you are burning fat instead of muscle. If you caloric deficit is too high you risk burning muscle for fuel, instead of fat. On top of changing your goal to 0.5/week you should also eat your exercise calories again to ensure muscle retention.

morganadk2_deleted

Are you eating your exersise calories ? Are you drinking enough water? getting enough sleep?

You might also find the links below helpful...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


This is just a part of it! please read the link above


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)



Good luck on your journey

Fattack

Hey, I'm your height and started calorie counting just 1lb heavier than you. Your plan seems fine, just make sure you log your exercise with MFP and so it tells you exactly how much you need to eat

For example, I'm on 1200 daily, if I eat 1000 kcals then go and burn 150 in pilates or something, MFP will calculate me at 850net calories, and tell me I have 350 left for the day, instead of 200. Make sense? So in total I'd have eaten 1350cals, but burnt 150 of that off

At your weight and age, try to eat most, if not all of your exercise calories to avoid losing muscle tissue (which boosts your metabolism- you really don't want to lose it!).

dandydalek

I'm pretty new to this myself, but everything I've read on both this site and every other diet/exercise site I've looked at in the past few months says that it's very dangerous to eat less than 1200 calories a day. It can send your body into "starvation mode," where it starts frantically holding onto every calorie that it can. I would think with the amount of exercise you're doing, this danger would be doubled. Again, I'm very far from an expert, but I'd say that even if you didn't want to eat back all of your exercise calories (I rarely do) you would at least need to bump your daily intake up a couple hundred calories a day, just to be on the safe side.

Good luck with everything, and I hope you're smokin' hot by bikini season! ^.^

erickirb

Hey, I'm your height and started calorie counting just 1lb heavier than you. Your plan seems fine, just make sure you log your exercise with MFP and so it tells you exactly how much you need to eat

For example, I'm on 1200 daily, if I eat 1000 kcals then go and burn 150 in pilates or something, MFP will calculate me at 850net calories, and tell me I have 350 left for the day, instead of 200. Make sense? So in total I'd have eaten 1350cals, but burnt 150 of that off

At your weight and age, try to eat most, if not all of your exercise calories to avoid losing muscle tissue (which boosts your metabolism- you really don't want to lose it!).

If you are 5'11, then why is your goal 112 lbs? That is way under weight and not healthy at all, may be even more unhealthy than being overweight. Even with a small frame you should aim for 140 at 5'11"

marshmallowmind

Thank you for all the advice!

I've moved my 'pounds to lose per week' thingo down from 2 pounds to 1. My calorie intake is up from 1,200 to 1,350.

I don't eat my exercise calories very often, mostly because as of late I don't exercise very often! I'm fixing that, hence this thread, but even then I will probably eat 3 quarters of my calories back because I do still want to lose some weight. I am ashamed to admit it but I hate water. I don't drink it very often at all. The most I drink a day is probably 2 glasses of Coke or maybe a cup of tea. I'm trying to fix that, I've bought bottled water & try to have a few cups of tea every day. Just getting used to it after years of not drinking.. Well, hardly anything. & I sleep anywhere from 5 to 12 hours a night, depending on how busy I've been/am going to be.

I'm trying to become better with my calories/water, I've got a doctors appointment tomorrow & I'm going to bring it up, see what he says. I'm sure though with all that exercise I will eat/drink a tonne more anyway, can't deprive my body of what it needs! :P

But again, thank you!

rockabyesarojane

I posted this in the exercise forum an hour or two ago but it's just been moved to the second page many times. Thought I might get a response here?

Basically, I'm a bit unsure if my workout plan is too much or not enough.. Or just right! Also if I should boost my calorie intake to get enough energy to do it.

For starters, I'm 5foot11 & 157pounds. I mostly want to tone up but I do want to drop a few pounds as well.

I'm going to buy the 30 Day Shred [thanks to your recommendations!] & try to do it ever day through-out April.
I'm also going to go to the gym 3 or 4 times a week, for about an hour each time.
I'm going to try to get one or two 30 minute walks in every day, but running every 5 minutes for a minute just to give it that extra 'kick'.

Is this a good plan? I really want to get myself in shape for the summer, so I can wear a bikini for the first time in my life & spend my last teenage year as I should, having fun. Being over weight for most of my teens held me back from that so I want to make for it before I turn 20.
Also, should I up my calorie intake for it? At the moment, I'm eating anywhere between 1000 to 1300 calories a day. I've read that a lot of people need to up their intake to make up for how much their burning & to fuel the body for so much exercise.

Anyway, any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Yes you should eat more. Since you don't have much to lose, and are the ideal weight for your height, you should have your weekly goal set at 0.5 lbs/week. This will help ensure that you are burning fat instead of muscle. If you caloric deficit is too high you risk burning muscle for fuel, instead of fat. On top of changing your goal to 0.5/week you should also eat your exercise calories again to ensure muscle retention.

what he said.
but i have done the 30 day shred and i would also like to reccoment that you either do it every other day, or do it 2 days in a row and take a day off etc etc. otherwise your muscles wont have time to repair themselves and you wont see as much toning as you'd probably like. (dont worry, you wont get bulky like a man!)

marshmallowmind

^ If I do it every other day, then went to the gym on the break days, would that work? That way I'm not doing both on the same day as I would be if I did it my original way, might be a bit less of a strain hah.