General Advice please

robbda
robbda Posts: 82
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I did really well for a while, had a bad patch in my life - went back to food for comfort and now i'm back on the wagon!

I have a few questions..

1) I only have £40 a month to spend on food (eek) I know! so a lot of my food is cheap and carb tastic.. i'm sticking to my calories and the macros and i've bought frozen veg to be better going forward but i do rely a lot on low fat ready meals as they are only £1 a meal or bread to bulk up a meal..and its all quick for when I get in from work late - if i'm under my macros and cals will i still lose or will it be slower than some one that eats a salad every day?

2) I've also been give an interval running programme a friend was using which I started monday I really enjoyed it but as I had a ligament injury a few years ago i'm worried about over doing it do you think I should go for once a week to start with? or try for 3 times a week that i want to aim for and see how I go? (i'm not a runner and never have been!)

3) I'm thinking of doing:

Monday - Running the interval programme
Tuesday - begin to spin
Wed - Running (?)
Thursday - body pump
Friday - Zumba or Running if I can
Saturday - rest day
Sunday - if i get to the gym what ever takes my fancy!

I was thinking that looks a bit cardio - my main aim is to loose the 12lb i'm over weight by and I've heard the less you have to lose the harder it is so I really want to maximise my hour a day - from what i've read strength training is important so maybe i should swap a run for another bodypump session? or should I stick with the cardio to get the higher calorie burn and move to more weight training as I get closer OR.... am i completely wrong and as its only a stone-ish should I be concentrating on toning more?

4) when is an ache just and ache and when is it that your body is saying "give me a break or else?" today for example my calfs ache - Monday I did 45 mins of running and yesterday 30mins of spin - should I ignore the ache and go for a run or leave it and have a day off? my ex use to say he run through it and then the ache goes away..

Thank for your time everyone! sorry for all the questions I don't have anyone to ask but you guys - too self concious to speak to any of the gym instructors they always start trying to sell me PT sessions which I really can't afford!

Replies

  • Saree1902
    Saree1902 Posts: 611 Member
    First of all, well done for getting back on the wagon. I'm in a being-dragged-by-the-wagon-by-one-leg situation so I know how hard it is to get on with it!

    First of all food ideas... do you have a slow cooker? you could get cheaper (but still fairly lean - try the butcher) cuts of meat and cook them in tinned tomatoes/stock to make casseroles to up your protein. if you (e.g.) spend £7/kg on beef stewing steak (Asda price - just checked) and make a bulk beef & root veg (also cheap, especially at theis time of year) casserole to freeze in portions to use as your own ready meals. Smart price carrots and onions are both less than 60p a kilo so for £8, you can make 8-10 casseroles. Without a slow cooker, this can be done in the oven. Unfortunately, it all requires being organised and spending one day of your weekend doing food prep! but you save time during the week and home-cooked will probably be healthier overall.

    Exercise-wise - listen to your body. If you get any weird aches, check on runnersrescue.com, in case they're anything more than muscle strain. I tend to ignore muscles and pay more attention to joints when it comes to pains...other than the pesky Achilles tendon!
  • PurpleTina
    PurpleTina Posts: 390 Member
    Agree with the slow cooker idea! Also, if you can get to a supermarket where they do bulk buys on stuff like rice it can work out cheaper.

    If something aches I would say that's okay, make sure you stretch and don't overdo it. It it hurts, that's another thing; you'll soon learn the difference.

    Nothing wrong with running three times a week, little and often is a good way to start. Pump and Spin are low-impact so good for 'cross-training' for your running. Just don't be afraid to take an extra rest day if you need it.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Bulk buy your rice/pasta or what ever, it can work out really cheap.
    Well done on the £1/kg frozen veg, that's where it's at.
    Keep checking the price per kilo on your meats, they keep swapping it about and sometimes you'll just have to get frozen. I know some frozen meat has stuff added to it, but your argument is mute if you're having microwave meals instead!

    You can make you're own microwave meals. I make a meal, but I double up the ingredients, serve half, tub half, and that's my meal for later in the week/at work. You can even select remember meal or copy meal to date on MFP and you don't have to add it all again!

    Don't worry about the carbs so much, the government/NHS recommended levels are relatively high compared to what most consider 'normal' on here, but it's not going to hurt you too much as long as you try to make low GI choices.

    The good thing is, that less food (dieting and losing weight) should cost less!
  • sd75
    sd75 Posts: 49
    & veges are great - and cheap too. Make a huge batch of vege soup - add a bit of chilli if you like spicy, and throw in a few tins of beans to help it fill you up. & again you can freeze it in portions - take out in the morning and either have for lunch or will be ready & waiting when u get home for two mins in the microwave or in a pan. Then if you have a roll or bread on the side its not the end of the world as the main part of your meal is so healthy ....
  • HapThompson
    HapThompson Posts: 48 Member
    On eating: meat is really expensive, so I try to use beans and pulses in my cooking to provide protein without as much meat. Red lentils are great for bulking things out, as are chickpeas. Also, I try to put as much veg as possible in things - fills you up but with less calories and is tasty too. I go to Tesco's at the end of the day and look in the reduced section; you can often get bags of pre-prepared veg, stir frys etc there for a fraction of what it would cost normally. These make great bases for soups or casseroles or quick meals and like sd75 suggested, you can make batches of soup and freeze it in portions.

    Turkey is a cheaper meat and it's pretty lean, especially if you grill it, so that could be a good meat option (you can get turkey mince too). If you have lots of veg and pulses in your food a little meat goes a long way.
  • mineboy
    mineboy Posts: 2,478 Member
    Great job on getting back doing exercising .................

    Try walking, if you haven't done much exercising for some time......... start out with walking.( Power walking) i never run, i only walk and have been for 18 months now....... i started slow and then built it up to walking speed of 7.5kms per hour now. i walk up to 50 kms per week in summer, am doing 30 kms now but will build up to it again. try that. xoxo
  • robbda
    robbda Posts: 82
    Thanks everyone! i'm quite fortunate that the gym is funded by work so I want to make the most of it

    I will def look at slow cooker stuff

    Thank you!
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
    I'm at work and should be working so I only have time to answer the muscle ache question. I started Insanity (with two workouts because I'm an idiot) on October 15 and my calves were on fire for about a week. The day after I started I had to go down stairs on my butt. I didn't take time off. I did the workouts as they were scheduled and took my rest day as scheduled. My calves burned through the workouts for at least another week and even now they get sore. I pushed through because it was muscle pain and only muscle pain. Well, my ankle was sore too but that's a 28 year old injury that acts up with every new workout. Anyway, it was only pain that I expected and that was normal for me and my condition. If it was joint pain anywhere other than my right ankle or muscle pain that felt like anything other than soreness from working out hard. Nothing felt torn, nothing was hot or swollen. Advil helped a bit but lots of gentle stretching did more.

    Take stock of yourself carefully. Only you know if the pain is to be expected or if something hurts in different way. If anything feels hot or swollen, or the pain is sharp and feels more like an injury, get it checked out.

    Best of luck. It does get easier.

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