Have to kick it into high gear...... You too?!
Posted by Beans and Greens on May 16, 2007 · Member since Apr 2007 · 169 posts
My friend's wedding is 2 months away and I need to get more toned (and lose a bit too!)... I only have about 25 lbs to lose to get down to my ideal weight.Know of any good exercise/logging websites you can recommend? I know of fitday and will sometimes look through women's health or shape.com for workout suggestions etc..... I'm planning at least 2 hours a day on the treadmill and then adding some circuit/light weights training and definitely lots of crunches. Maybe up to 1000 a day if I can (vintage Britney Spears style?! lol)...Anyways, any tips are appreciated. Maybe we can have a supportive thread on logging exercise/ water intake or something? Anyone else have an event/wedding etc coming up that they have to prepare for?!
:)
I hate crunches--they hurt my neck/back and do nothing for my abs. I highly recommend getting an exercise ball (sometimes called balance balls). They are like gigantic beach balls that you can do all kinds of exercises on. They sell them with accompanying videos at Target, etc. I love mine! Every exercise works your abs whether you mean to or not--even bicep curls and push ups! The ball forces you to use your abs to stabilize yourself, so you're working your muscles without even knowing it :)
Also, don't go crazy on the treadmill. If you work out too hard too quickly, your body won't have time to adjust and you'll be sore and much more likely to get injured--soreness and injury = not able to workout anymore, which will hinder your progress. Try starting with 30-45mins and working up to an hour or so. 2+ hours on a treadmill is A LOT and you will likely just be exhausted and/or really, really sore. Maybe shoot for 2 hours total for cardio and circuit/weight training (an hour for each). Don't set your goal too high in the beginning, though, or you will get discouraged if you can't meet your goal right away. Also, I like to go hiking on the weekends for my exercise--it doesn't seem like a workout because it's fun, but it's great exercise! Anywhere near you with good hiking?
For the water thing, get a big bottle--mine is 1L. I just make myself drink the whole bottle by lunch time, then I refill it and drink another liter before dinner. Then I have water at dinner and after I workout and I'm set for the day! It helps having a giant bottle so you don't have to refill it all the time (and we have really bad water here, so it's a pain to find somewhere with yummy water more than twice a day--except in my house). I find that now that I've gotten on this system, if I don't do it for a day, I feel really drained, so that will force you to stick with it!
Good luck! I'm trying to get back into regular exercise as well--started running yesterday. It was probably very sad to watch, but I felt good afterward, so that's all that matters, right? ;)
I usually do 1 hr (or 1hr 1/2 max) on the tread so I'm thinking I need to rev it up so my body doesn't just 'plateau' because of the same exercise duration/exercises.... I guess I should add other cardio /fat-burning too to mix it up.... Thanks so much for the tips kbuettne!
I'm determined to not less this summer pass me by!!
I might be a huge worryer, but losing 25 pounds in 2 months is a lot of weight in a really short amount of time. I've been there, and losing that much that fast sometimes results in a loss of muscle mass, too.
Worrying aside, I'd say what everyone else is saying- just get moving when you can, and drink lots of water- hydration is huge. Also, one the best snack foods ever: bananas with peanut (or almond or cashew) butter, or mushrooms with hummus. Filling, relatively low-cal, and really good.
I can reccomend this site for women's weight training: http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/stumptuousblog.php
Just ignore her dietary advice. She's not vegetarian but the weight training stuff is very good. I like her general attittude towards fitness.
Its great that you are interested in getting in shape! I love the gym and it often makes my day just to go. I find that weight training makes the fastest changes in my body. As you create muscle that tissue burns more calories than fatty tissue, as far as I understand. As far as 1000 crunches a day... if you are able to do 1000 you are probably not doing them correctly. Resistance training is based on tiring your muscles (or exhausting them) and that usually occurs between 30-45 reps in most excercises. Ab exercises are incredibly easy to do wrong, its one of the easiest ways to pull muscles in you back and neck. If you are going to a gym, ask one of the people to work there to give you some tips on form, or suggest some varied excercises to try. My favorite is the plank. You hold yourself at the top of a pushup for as long as you can. They really, really work at pulling your tummy in and giving you strength and stability in your core. Leg raises (or reverse crunches) also help alot to engage your lower abdominals, and regular crunches are great too. My usual ab workout is 3 sets of 15 crunches with a 10 lb medecine ball, 3 sets of 15 leg raises and 3 planks lasting 1 min to 1min and 1/2 each.
I agree with mdvegan "Your goal should be a maintainable, healthy and active lifestyle; not lose x number of pounds by x date." Its important to see that every change is a good thing. Just starting an excercise regimen is something to be celebrated. Getting in an extra crunch, rep or minute on the treadmill is an accomplishment. On days you feel blah and don't want to exercise, any little effort you make should be celebrated. Try to think of excercise in the positives "I can run 2 mins longer than before without getting winded" or "I can lift a heavier weight now" or "I have more energy" rather than "I need to lose those pounds". Find little ways to reward yourself and praise yourself, other than seeing your weight drop. Remember muscle weighs more than fat, so pounds are not always an accurate measure of your progress.