Food help!

Discogirl15

I am 5'7" and 136 pounds (currently) I would really like to get down to 120 pounds becasue tere are still rolls on my stomach and my legs are fat.

Your weight is not unhealthy so you should never aim for a fast loss. What you can lose though, is some fat mass. For that, a mild cardio~ brisk walk of 20 minutes every day and 45-60 minutes of medium to heavy weight lifting~ full body workout twice a week will be more effective for you.

Online calculators give around 1450-1500 cals for your BMR. BMR is basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories your body needs if you were in a coma. It's the calories your body needs to properly function so you will not want to go much below that, especially since you are young and your body needs it to fully develop. Try a diet of 35% protein 35% carbs and 30% fats (40%/30%/30% or 30%/40%/30% are also good, I don't think you need a high carb or high fat diet). You can set your goals through My Home > Goals > Change Goals > Custom.

Lean meats (red meat, poultry, seafood), dairy, legumes such as beans and lentils, eggs are all good sources of protein. For carbohydrates, stick to complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, again legumes, whole grains, vegetables and fruits. For fats, saturated fats are not evil but you'll want most of your fat to be unsaturated, especially monounsaturated and omega 3. Go with olive oil, fish oil, nuts, macadamia oil, coconut oil etc. You have many alternatives here but by default you'll have the purest fatty acids your body needs from unprocessed sources so a handful of walnuts or almonds will give you a better quality fat compared to refined oils.

Briefly, this is it.

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

xarge

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

Full body workout is where you train your whole body, arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, quadriceps, calves, glutes etc via different exercises. It's one of the most commonly used workout compared to an alternating upper body and lower body workout. The thing with weight lifting is that you need to give time off for your muscles to recover. That's typically 1-2 days depending on the intensity of your exercise.

As you are new to lifting let's say a workout on tuesday and then on friday will give you the chance to adjust and recover as beginning while you work on your diet. Sure you can workout more, do alternating lower body upper body every other day but you are currently not eating enough to support it. 5lbs dumbbells will be a good start for you. You can look for bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, while some are less effective than others, these never go wrong) which will be good for some strength training. Google and look for videos on youtube for any of those.

MadeInDR022

Eat. Eat. Eat. Its been said enough, but one more suggestion wont' hurt.

bigd65

Cut your Carbs by 75% and quadruple your protein.

She doesn't need to cut her carbs that low. She's 18 (or younger since the site is full of minors who say they're 18) and probably doing just cardio, she needs those carbs.

OP, you're not eating enough of anything. Medically speaking, you're still growing up. You gave us nothing about your height and weight and unless you are tiny, this 800~ calories on average will cause you health problems in the long run. Are you overweight or are you trying to 'see bones'? I'm sorry for asking but it's the common trend.

Please explain why she needs the carbs, I am not saying she is eating the right amount of calories, but I would love to hear the reasoning behind why you say she needs the carbs? Is it for energy couldn't that come from fats? Please explain your reasoning

Raynne413

For some reason, i am finding it really hard to build muscle. Any suggestions?

You are having problems gaining muscle because you aren't eating enough. Your body won't put on muscle when you are running on that big of a deficit.

xarge

She doesn't need to cut her carbs that low. She's 18 (or younger since the site is full of minors who say they're 18) and probably doing just cardio, she needs those carbs.

OP, you're not eating enough of anything. Medically speaking, you're still growing up. You gave us nothing about your height and weight and unless you are tiny, this 800~ calories on average will cause you health problems in the long run. Are you overweight or are you trying to 'see bones'? I'm sorry for asking but it's the common trend.

Please explain why she needs the carbs, I am not saying she is eating the right amount of calories, but I would love to hear the reasoning behind why you say she needs the carbs? Is it for energy couldn't that come from fats? Please explain your reasoning

Because she needs the vitamins and minerals along with insoluble fiber from vegetables and fruits, soluble fiber from legumes. And it's redundant to take them in forms of supplements when she can have better eating habits.

What's the point of cutting down her carbs to 40 grams? Please explain your reasoning if you're supporting that.

ETA: 40 grams~ her intake is 120g already on average if not less, cutting it down by 75% is 40g on average. A medium sized banana has around 25g of carbs.

Discogirl15

Thanks for the info. All I have access to are 5 pound hand weights and I only know how to do 3 exercises with them. Any ideas? Also, what exactly is a full body workout?

Full body workout is where you train your whole body, arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, quadriceps, calves, glutes etc via different exercises. It's one of the most commonly used workout compared to an alternating upper body and lower body workout. The thing with weight lifting is that you need to give time off for your muscles to recover. That's typically 1-2 days depending on the intensity of your exercise.

As you are new to lifting let's say a workout on tuesday and then on friday will give you the chance to adjust and recover as beginning while you work on your diet. Sure you can workout more, do alternating lower body upper body every other day but you are currently not eating enough to support it. 5lbs dumbbells will be a good start for you. You can look for bodyweight exercises (push-ups, squats, lunges, while some are less effective than others, these never go wrong) which will be good for some strength training. Google and look for videos on youtube for any of those.

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

xarge

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

I suggest tracking your exercises, number of sets and repetitions instead of doing for X minutes. So let's say you do 2x 20 lunges today while resting for a minute between each 20. Record them down and either increase the repetitions or the number of sets whenever you feel like your body is too comfortable with your exercise. Same goes for cardio exercises, it's good to keep track of your distance (if you can) and time, if not speed (again, if you can). Your priority should be your food, though. Your exercises won't be efficient if you strain your body with lack of nutrients as well.

Discogirl15

THanks,

SO i just did some exercises that I found via Google (Leg lifts, crunches, weight presses etc...) And I did them for about 30 minutes. I am sore, do you think it is enough? I will take a break from strength training tomorrow and do some cardio. Tell me what you think.

I suggest tracking your exercises, number of sets and repetitions instead of doing for X minutes. So let's say you do 2x 20 lunges today while resting for a minute between each 20. Record them down and either increase the repetitions or the number of sets whenever you feel like your body is too comfortable with your exercise. Same goes for cardio exercises, it's good to keep track of your distance (if you can) and time, if not speed (again, if you can). Your priority should be your food, though. Your exercises won't be efficient if you strain your body with lack of nutrients as well.

I did track them, for example, I did 5 reps of 5 sets of leg lifts, I did 12 sets of 3 reps of hand weight lifts etc. How do I know if I'm doing enough?

xarge

I did track them, for example, I did 5 reps of 5 sets of leg lifts, I did 12 sets of 3 reps of hand weight lifts etc. How do I know if I'm doing enough?

Easy easy Don't fret that you may not be exercising enough. As an easy rule for any exercise, if you are doing your exercises with little to no effort, then you need to increase your pace, your repetitions, or add more stress via inclination or added weights. If you are doing 3x 30 squats easily then it's more productive to start using your handweights and in time increase it even more. Stick to your current exercise for two weeks and at the end of two weeks see if you need to adjust your exercise.

Look for bodyweight exercise routines on google like the one here: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/full-body-bodyweight-workout.html (this is the second link that came up on google search). It will give you a better idea of what a workout plan should be.

Denisebeaird

I agree that you are not eating enough and your body may be hanging on to some fat thinking your are starving yourself. As far as ideas for lunch without bread, I have invested in the Eating for Life recipe book and really enjoy the recipes. Many of them are already in our food diary and there are lots of ideas. Good Luck, think you are doing great. Remember you wont see your progress as much as others will.

Discogirl15

I did track them, for example, I did 5 reps of 5 sets of leg lifts, I did 12 sets of 3 reps of hand weight lifts etc. How do I know if I'm doing enough?

Easy easy Don't fret that you may not be exercising enough. As an easy rule for any exercise, if you are doing your exercises with little to no effort, then you need to increase your pace, your repetitions, or add more stress via inclination or added weights. If you are doing 3x 30 squats easily then it's more productive to start using your handweights and in time increase it even more. Stick to your current exercise for two weeks and at the end of two weeks see if you need to adjust your exercise.

Look for bodyweight exercise routines on google like the one here: http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/full-body-bodyweight-workout.html (this is the second link that came up on google search). It will give you a better idea of what a workout plan should be.

So, are you saying that what I was doing was too easy? BTW I can't even do one pull up, plus I don't have the equipment to do it. I really felt a burn in my muscles with what I was doing. Here is all that I did just to let you know:
Side leg raise (sets:4 Reps:5)
Clamshell leg raise (Sets:4 Reps:5)
Hip raise (Sets:4 Reps:5)
Pistol squat (Sets:4 Reps:5)
Sholder press with rotation (Sets:3 Reps:12)
Lying triceps extension (Sets:3 Reps:12)
Crunches (Sets 5 Reps 10)
Planks (Sets 5 reps 30 seconds)
THe single leg stretch (Sets 3 Reps 10)
Cobra (15 reps)

What do you think? I found all these on different sites and stuff.

Also, is there something wrong with me that I can't do a single pull up? and it is difficult for me to do push ups?

Thanks again

Discogirl15

Anyone? (Sorry, but I'm desperate)

Discogirl15

I know this is going to sound strange, but does anybody have any pictures of there abs?:embarassed: I want to know if mine are really as flabby as I think or if I am just getting paranoid. thnx!:happy: (Before and after pics would be great :-)

MelMena

There is nothing wrong with you if you can't do a pull up or struggle with push ups. Actually, for someone out of shape (not working out on a regular basis) I wouldn't expect them to be able to do that for quite some time. Look, you will not change overnight. You can try...but unfortunately most things in life don't come quick or easy...especially changing your body. One day at a time.

Discogirl15

Bump

Discogirl15

SO, I finished my food diary for today. Take a look. Thoughts?

MelMena

EAT. MORE. I think about 20 people made this suggestion...some more than once. You are already at a healthy weight. You need to eat a good amount of food (think 1500-1700 calories) and work out with weights.

skonly

I know this is going to sound strange, but does anybody have any pictures of there abs?:embarassed: I want to know if mine are really as flabby as I think or if I am just getting paranoid. thnx!:happy: (Before and after pics would be great :-)

no one is seeing my abs! 10 years ago you could have. even before i gained weight I stopped caring about that. i was not meant to have a 6pack. back in the day i wore a bikini proudly, even into my 30's and smiled as the young girls walked by knowing i looked just as good. you get a little older and don't care so much about that.

i bet you look a lot better than you think. don't worry about being perfect. no one is.

Discogirl15

Bump.

Discogirl15

Ceck out yesterday's. Did I do a bit better? (ps. I am still getting over a darn flu, so I haven't done much strength training in the past week because my muscles ache so darn much! Is this really bad, or do you think I can just start again in a week?)

tomusiakl

Strive to eat no less than 1200 calories a day. Good luck.