Too much walking, lack of strength training

Any suggestions about what to do?

i dunno, maybe join a gym and start strength training?



and what you've described in this post doesn't seem to raise to the level of "too much walking"

That's a "huge amount" of walking? I'd say it's significant, but not too much by any stretch. If you can't get to the gym and you don't have equipment, research some body weight strength exercises - probably tons of info online...:flowerforyou:

For myself, I lose more weight by weight lifting. I have an amazing trainer and I learned and do a lot by using YouTube videos. Popsugar has an app that has a lot of great workout videos. Before my trainer I also used to rent workout dvds. I don't think you can have too much walking. You just need to not do the same old same old. Comunity centers have free fitness classes.

I walk more than that just taking my daughter to school.... You are walking a little more than the average couch bound American. But that isn't much.

I think you should look elsewhere for sources of exhaustion. Like nutrition. (And get your vit stores checked, especially vit b.)

Humans are adapted to walk a lot each day. That is not your problem.

I don't see that that is a " huge " amount of walking......
If you feel you need strength training, start doing some, but not at the cost of walking, because it's really not all that much you are doing.
Example: I am over 65 and walk around 45-60 minutes for exercise. In addition I walk twice a day 30 minutes with the dog. I walk 20 minutes to the closest bus ( and of course 20 minutes back ) and 30 minutes to the subway. Also 25 minutes either way to the store or market. On days when I work at the office I walk a total of 220minutes minimum and think that it's a good chunk of time, but not huge.
And btw: I live on a 4th floor without an elevator and walk a minimum of 512 steps a day, except on Sunday.
if I would eat a 600 to 800 calorie diet of white rice and boiled cabbage with an occasional jack-in-the-box thrown in for variety, with all due respect, I would feel exhausted also. You need to eat more nutritious food, heck, even just more calories of anything will make you feel better. You are well on your way to malnourishment which manifests among other things as general weakness of all body systems .

If you do not want to do weights you could try Pilates as that does an amazing job of strengthening you core and your whole body and can be done anywhere for the rest of your life.

Pfft no, cycling here isn't dangerous (once you get used to the traffic flow). It's my lack of energy and lack of fiance to buy the nutritious food I need (fruit and veg here are 'expensive' - and the company I work for require me to eat at school which only provide the above X amount of food without an option of seconds). Maybe I should have titled this 'Help, I'm exhausted all the time'. :laugh:

I'll be heading to Shanghai (permanently - for the rest of my stay in China) next week, so if it's nutrition you all suggest, then please throw some general idea's in my direction. Particularly things that will boost me up for a few days.

Shanghai food - been twice and stayed with expats living locally (my parents and then friends) - I understand it is difficult to get fruits and vegetables in prepared dishes but the street markets are often fine - Fangbang Lu was great (keep to the unpeeled or peeled in front of you fruit). I are soooo many bananas....

Also, consider that you are going through exhaustion not only due to nutrtion but through "language assault" - it's exhausting to teach or to be submerged in another language and it takes quite a while to rebuild that into something that isn't constantly tiring. Taking moments to "drop out" into English might help but also extends the adaptation period.

I walk 15 minutes every morning from the bus stop to school. I walk 15 minutes every evening from school to the bus stop. I walk 10 minutes to get my dinner at the canteen and 10 minutes back. I walk during lunch break for something to do. It's a huge amount of walking every day and I feel exhausted towards the end. But I am doing barely any strength/muscle training! Any suggestions about what to do?

Hi. I had a look at your page and like many of the other posts that have been written to you, I'm going to suggest that walking is not your difficulty.

I'm in my 50's and I walk at least 5 miles a day, which actually only counts as "lightly active". So, the amount that you walk is actually not that much, considering how young you are. (If you assume a brisk walk, which in truth, you are not likely doing, 1 hour of walking is only 3 miles).

So, you have to understand, as other posts have pointed out, you aren't, in fact, very active, especially for your age.

To address the tiredness, I think you have to look at all your lifestyle factors. Your page says that you want to weigh 115 pounds, and to look and feel good. Reducing your food intake, as you have, and reducing your weight from what it is now (which is perfectly normal, by the way) isn't going to make you feel great and look great. In fact, you're likely to feel tired - which you do - and not have enough energy to get through your day properly.

So, I think you have to look at your goals. Realize that a woman reaches the height of her strength around 30 years of age, which is much later than men do. So, in fact, the scales, if you are healthy, active, fit and eating well, will actually go up during the decade of your 20's. This is a good thing, not a bad thing, because you want your body to become really strong and fit, especially when you are young. It's these muscles and this fitness that will carry you through your life.

My suggestion, don't use the scales as a measure of how you are doing. Take your measurements. Eat well, with much more food, focusing on good nutrition, and become more active, not just walking. Either join a gym, or take up some sports, and focus on fitness, which means genuine cardio, some weight training, and flexibility as well. Go 3 times a week. (In addition to that daily walking that you simply do as part of life). A year from now, you will weigh more, in fact, but you'll have the feeling great and the looking good that you seek. But you also have to eat and eat well to build muscle. Ask any of the men or boys, muscle cannot be built in a calorie deficit.

But here's the interesting thing. Muscle, at rest, burns much more than fat. So, if you become really fit and trim with a good amount of muscle, you'll get to eat more just to maintain those muscles.

If you look up some women athletes and women that do stuff, they don't weigh any 115 pounds, not by a long shot.

There's also a bit of caution that's worth noting here, too. If you stay on the course that you're on, eating very little and trying to drop your weight through slashing calories and dieting in order to get the scales to read 115 pounds, what will actually happen is that you will lose not only fat but also much muscle as well. This is a really bad thing. Because it means that at rest and without much muscle, your body burns less and less fuel. It becomes a vicious cycle because then eating normally does mean that you put on weight. Then, a little later in your life, a baby comes along, or some other normal life event like that and the pounds really go on.

So, in my mind, young women like yourself have to be very careful of "over-dieting" and dropping the scales too low. In fact, it sets you up for being fat later in your life.

To repeat - 1) eat normally and good, nutritious food in adequate amounts. Focus on real fitness - cardio, strength, and flexibility. Feed and fuel your body well so that the decade of your 20's see your weight rise not fall, as you build your body to maximize it's strength and physical abilities during this great decade when your body is primed for it. Measure success not by what the scale says but by what your body can do, and you'll be happy with the result, I think, and have more energy, too! This will also set you up well for your next decade.

Hope this helps.