Help with a diet plan and work out regime.

Tiddlypeeps
Tiddlypeeps Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been overweight for about 6/7 years now, I had managed to maintain the same weight for several years. I've often made a drive to get fit/healthy but I kept reverting to the attitude that it's not getting any worse so I can put off fixing it for another day. I was 190 lbs.

I weight myself for the first time in a couple of months and it's finally happened, I've hit 14 stone (196 lbs). I'm bordering very close to obese on the BMI (I'm 5ft 9inches tall) so I need to do something about this.

I have access to a full gym that I really need to make proper use of. I started the couch to 5k programme in the middle of last year but never managed to stick to the programme, I would only do it about once a week so progressed very slowly through it. I did notice a dramatic difference in my heart health during that time tho, I was very surprised. During my first run my peak heart rate was over 200 and I felt like I was gonna die, but after just a month of running once a week my heart rate rarely went over 170. So I'm eager to get back into doing that but properly this time. I love running because it's high impact and it really feels like I'm making a difference I just need to motivate myself to actually get myself into the gym.

So thats interval jogging stuff for 30 minutes 3 times a week planned.

I want to add weight training to that but I don't really know where to start and there is so much misinformation out there it's really difficult to know whats right and wrong. I used to be big into archery which I plan on getting back into too so if anybody is able to give me some advice on a weight lifting programme with a focus on training for archery I would be very grateful, so basically with a focus on upper and lower back toning.

Not sure why I left this till last but diet is my major downfall. Fizzy drinks and take away food are major staples of my diet. My partner pretty much has a cola addiction that isn't going anywhere anytime soon so the stuff is always in the fridge making it hard to say no. Me and my partner both work full time so its all too easy at the end of a long days work to just say lets order in. I can successfully put most of those things aside and easily get my daily calorie intake down to around 2k but that's not really enough to lose weight so I get frustrated/depressed at the lack of progress and I relapse. So I need to do it right this time, I need to cut my daily calorie intake down to between 1,300 and 1,500 so that I'm actually losing weight instead of just maintaining it.

I know good planning is the only way I'll pull this off, I need to make sure I have everything planned out so that I have to do as little shopping as possible and everything I need is available at home at the end of a long day with as little prep needed as possible so that I don't slip and turn to fast food. I need advice on what I should be eating, suggestions on meals that are easy to prep and/or store well, if anybody has anything I would be very grateful. I find when I try to eat healthy I end up eating the same thing every other day and get so bored of it I can't stomach it anymore.

I'm fully motivated to go at this with everything this time around. It's not just about losing weight either I want to feel healthy, I want to form good habits so that it's no longer work to stay healthy. I had a bad flu over the christmas that took way too long to fight off likely because my immune system is crap because of my crap lifestyle.

Any advice anybody can give me would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Replies

  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
    good info here

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/743724-useful-links-for-you-must-read?page=1#posts-10981308

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/119-new-rules-of-lifting-for-women-nrol4w-

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/4618-stronglifts-5x5-for-women

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/47-couch-to-5k-running-program-c25k-
  • Tiddlypeeps
    Tiddlypeeps Posts: 25 Member
    Cheers for the links.

    Using body fat as a metric for progress is a great idea, I vary so much on the scales through out the week and month that it's pretty difficult to track actual progress that way. I just need to pick myself up a calipers somewhere.

    I tried out the stronglifts 5x5 program for the first time yesterday and I love it. I was surprised that there were so few exercises in it and was expecting it to be very easy. I could have lifted heavier weights but it was my first time so I wanted to get my form right, but even considering that the muscles in my entire body are all in bits today (in a good way).

    I went back to week 2 with the couch to 5k program to see how I handled it thinking I could jump forward a bit the next day if it was too easy, but after a couple of runs my hip joint started to really hurt so I stopped. It's fine today so no permanent damage, I will try again tomorrow and if the same thing happens I might have to put the running off for a few weeks till my muscles get stronger. I might replace it with cycling or rowing until then.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    The links are all good info and I was going to suggest stronglifts 5x5. You are doing the right thing buy only starting off on small weights. Getting the technique right first is far more important.

    The only things I have to add with regards to your food. Bear in mind this needs to be a lifestyle change, not a diet. If you like the occasional takeaway (note: occasional), then factor it in to your macros. Cutting out everything you like will not work in the long run.

    Also, fizzy drinks are not the devil, Drink them if you want them.

    As for your calories, you are tall with not as much as you'd think to lose. You do not need to eat 1300 calories to lose weight. I had a brief look at your stats, even at sedentary lifestyle you should be eating around 1600 cals a day to lose weight. If you exercise as well, this will go up.

    Have a look at the 'in place of a road map' thread, that will explain it all in more detail.
  • Tiddlypeeps
    Tiddlypeeps Posts: 25 Member
    Cheers for the advice.

    I couldn't even guess what my body fat % is so I have ordered a calipers and a measuring tape so I can figure it out.

    MFP recommends 1200 calories, adjusted up a bit on exercise days. This is the main reason I fell down when I first joined, I was constantly in the red, usually around 1,500/1,700 and I lost all motivation. Once my calipers arrives I'll be able to work out exactly what I need to be eating.

    For the time being I have adjusted my lifestyle up from sedentary to lightly active because I probably wasn't being realistic when I said sedentary even tho I do work at a desk. I've also lowered my weight loss target from 2lbs per week to 1.5lbs so this has upped my daily calories to 1,550 which is much easier to stick too.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    If you were only running once a week it's unlikely your muscles and connective tissue have adapted or become stronger, far more likely your body has become more efficient at firing the right muscle fibres and so burns less calories/ uses less oxygen. It's not true fitness and it is not really safe to continue to push the overload if you are not being consistent enough to get adaptation. If you have a problem with your hips firstly check your footwear - have you had a gait analysis and been fitted for running shoes? If not have this. Secondly are you using a programme with a proper warm up? Should be ten minutes low impact (walking, elliptical trainer) and easy conversational pace if you are running on concrete or asphalt, you could get away with five to seven on a treadmill.

    Couch to 5K programmes are not intended to be hard, they are intended to acclimatise your whole body without injury. Tendons and ligaments take far longer to adapt than muscles do. If you want to strengthen muscles for running without the high impact use the elliptical trainer and hill walking intervals on the treadmill (do not hold on), the rower and stationary bike are far less specific. You should not be jumping forwards in the programme if it feels super easy, if your heart needs a little more work use a slightly hilly route or up the pace slightly. Try to spread your runs out through the week, one of the biggest predictors of injury is number of consecutive days training, exercise breaks your body down rest days and good nutrition builds it back up again. On the intervening days you can do active recovery, are you getting the recommended 10,000 steps every day?

    You can't do bodyfat with calipers accurately on yourself, it requires skill training and a body position that is anatomically impossible. Since you have access to a gym have a professional measure you. Ditto learning correct weights technique because you cannot see yourself from the necessary angles, and ditto for getting a balanced programme for your archery and running goals. Random exercise selections is the fastest way to muscle imbalances and injury. I have done an archery specific programme once for a client years ago, we did a fair bit of work on the cable columns IIRC and plenty of core and joint stability, but you could also use resistance bands or a Flexibar. Classes are a good way to get 'free' instruction on strength training technique.
  • Tiddlypeeps
    Tiddlypeeps Posts: 25 Member
    I plan to be consistent with the program this time around so hopefully that shouldn't be an issue. I really should invest in some good footwear if I'm gonna take this seriously, I'm currently using the cheapest pair of runners I could find and they are about 5 years old. I haven't had a gait analysis or been fitted for running shoes. Is the running shoes thing just the size of them, or what exactly is fitted? I have no idea what a gait analysis is.

    I do suffer with hip/lower back issues, my osteopath has warned me to stay away from elliptical machines, and that everything else should be fine including treadmills. The treadmills do have an angle option so hill walking might be a nice alternative for a while if my hip keeps acting up.

    On a treadmill I do 5 minutes of walking starting at a slow pace and working up to a brisk walk, increasing the speed as I feel my muscles loosen.

    When I talked about skipping I was just talking about getting closer to where I was before. I think week 4. But you have a point that I wasn't taking it seriously before so maybe I should got back and start the program again completely.

    I have my exercise days set to be Monday, Wednesday and Friday, should that be ok? I don't think I would be able to do what I did yesterday two days in a row with all the muscle pain I have today, I think I'd die >_<

    I don't do 10,000 steps every day. I don't think I have the time to go out and walk 5 miles every day.

    I wouldn't be at all comfortable with a stranger measuring my body fat, I'm far too self conscious. I'll just have to learn to do it myself and get my partner to help me with anywhere I can't do myself.

    The instructor in the gym was helping me with my form on the weights yesterday.

    Are you saying I shouldn't use the stronglifts 5x5 program? It seems to be a pretty good all round one but I'm no authority on the subject. All the muscles I would use in archery are sort at the moment so they must have got a good work out. I might not be getting to some of the smaller muscles around my shoulders/neck so it will probably be worth my while adding a few excercises on the cable columns. Actually now that you mention it my abs don't feel sore at all so I should probably add something to tackle my core too. Any suggestions?

    I live in the middle of nowhere and I use the college gym which is run by students so I don't have a lot of confidence in any program I'm likely to get off them. I remember I asked for a program in there a few years back and they told me to come back in a day, I assumed it was so the instructor would be there meet me, but when I came back the next day they handed me this generic program that somebody who had never met me had written up based on little to no information on me.

    I love your avatar btw :)
  • Tiddlypeeps
    Tiddlypeeps Posts: 25 Member
    Today is supposed to be a gym day but all of my muscles are still really sore. Should I go to the gym anyway even tho my muscles haven't healed or should I leave it another day?

    I went to archery training last night so I guess that is probably responsibly for my muscle pain today. Drawing a 32lb bow repeatedly for 90 minutes is probably more of a work out than I consider it to be in my head.

    Not sure what I should be doing.

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