Health & Exercise
sparks2987
member
advice for a newbie to health & exercise
sparks2987
member
okay so I am a newbie when it comes to health and exercise. I have done numerous crash diets ....but now I want to do it the right way to lose this baby weight and get healthy. I have been going to the gym about 3 days a week for 3 weeks, when I can fit it into my schedule working full time with a new baby, but frankly I am lost. Need advice on what foods to eat, what exercises to do when, should I do more cardio or more weight training or both. How much time do I need to spend at the gym/exercising ect
please share your tips, what has helped you, what does/doesnt work for busy moms. Any advice will be appriciated
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Re: advice for a newbie to health & exercise
I would try and talk to a trainer or pay someone to help you with your diet at the gym you are going to. Most diet's are made for that person but if you are wanting to lose fat , no sugar, limit starches, eat protein and do 3 meals and 2 snacks a day to build your metabolism.
Cardio-burns fat I do this one hour a day 4-5 times a week, just my preference
weights--build muscle and help tone I do this 4 times a week it last usually 45 min for me. I just started this but being online I found there is actually a book you can but for women on lifting weight. It is called something like weightlifting for women and it is written by women and it tells you what excercises to do in the book.
I would say you would want both because you could lose the weight and still not look they way you thought you would plus I read online that lifiing weight's help you look younger
Good luck!
MDC- 10-2-96 CEC- 4-12-98 EEC- 3-10-01
The book is called The New Rules of lifting for Women HTH!
MDC- 10-2-96 CEC- 4-12-98 EEC- 3-10-01
2 books I highly recommend:
"The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sission
"Everyday Paleo" by Sarah Fragoso
The first will go over how to eat and why. (And it's NOT the government food pyramid style, which after reading the book you'll learn is complete bunk.) He also focuses on why your workouts need to be better quality and less quantity (ex: 15 minutes of a proper workout, instead of an hour of improper workouts), so it's a time-saver.
The second is a primarily a cookbook and also has some exercises in it, it's written by a mom 3 kids (who struggled to lose the baby-weight until she changed her eating style), so the recipes are quick & easy and so are the workouts (including exercises using your baby and stroller, so when you take baby for a walk you can also get your workout in!).
No crash diets here! Just healthy lifestyle plans that actually work!
You should really read the books, but in summary:
Eat: vegetables, meat/fish, eggs, fruit, nuts; don't be scared of fat
Don't eat: grains, legumes, sugar, processed foods
Do: Move frequently at a slow steady pace (walking/hiking), lift heavy things, sprint all-out for about 10 minutes once every 7-10 days
Both of the authors also have blogs:
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/
https://everydaypaleo.com/
I was in the same boat as you before I had DS....I never exercised, I pretty much ate what I wanted and had a good metabolism so it didn't matter. After having DS, things changed completely. I couldn't get the baby weight off and I had no experience in eating right or exercising.
For me, I started with walking. I walk 5-6 times a week around my neighborhood, pushing DS in the stroller. I run some of the way depending on how I feel, but mostly I power walk. It ends up being between 2-3 miles each night (we go walking after dinner). This was great to help me START somewhere. After I'd been walking for about 1.5 months on a regular basis, I started the 30 Day Shred. It has the "beginner" moves on it as well as advanced and so I started and did the beginner moves and was gradually able to move up to the more advanced stuff. I really like it b/c it's only 20 minutes a day and I can do it once DS goes to bed.
That being said, I have found that my food has been the biggest factor in losing the weight. I eat a lot more protein now and a lot more fiber, as well as "good fat". Here is what a typical day might look like for me meal-wise:
Breakfast - Multi grain english muffin (100 cal and 1/3 daily fiber) sprinkled with cinnamon, medium banana
Snack: Oikos greek yogurt (vanilla)
Lunch: Grilled chicken salad with balsalmic dressing
Snack: Sugar free jello and mini bag of kettle corn popcorn
Dinner: Baked salmon, brown rice, green beans
If I NEED some chocolate or something, I will either have a diet hot chocolate (only 25 cal) or a piece of dark chocolate (or two) : )
BFP # 1 - 12/19/09 EDD 08/27/10 - D&C 1/26/10 @ 9w5d
BFP # 2 - 06/05/10 EDD 02/17/11, DS1 born on 2/14/11
BFP # 3 - 04/10/13 EDD 12/21/13 - D&C 05/15/13 @ 8w4d
BFP # 4 - 07/27/13 EDD 04/08/14 - CP 07/29/13
BFP # 5 - 09/14/13 EDD 05/28/14, DS2 born on 5/22/14
You've gotten some good advice here and some advice that I don't totally agree with. First, a trainer is your best bet for exercise. If you can't afford a trainer or you can't work it into your schedule, that's fine. Get a heart rate monitor and start walking. Look up heart rate zones for your age and read about working out based on your heart rate. If you keep your heart rate at the right level you'll be burning a lot of fat. If it gets too high, all you're doing is working your cardiovascular system, which is good, but you likely won't lose much weight (above and beyond the calories you burn). And you can walk around your neighborhood and push the stroller.
You should be lifting some weights- it builds your muscles. As you strengthen your muscles, you're increasing the amount of fat your body uses at rest. If you don't have time to weight lift at the gym- get a workout DVD like one of Jillian Michaels that you can use at home with some simple dumbbells.
As for diet, I think everything in moderation is good. I'm not a fan of the paleo diet or sugar free or fat free products. The biggest mistake people make is to cut fat out of their diet- your body needs fat. It also needs sugar and grains and carbs. But it needs the right kind of those things. Make sure you're eating a fruit and at least one vegetable at every meal. Include protein in every meal, and eat some protein with some carbs after you work out. Make sure you're using good fat (olive oil, peanuts, etc) instead of bad fats (butter). Eat whole grain products instead of those made with white flour (bread, pasta, etc).
Me:27, DH:28 - DX: MFI, varicocele repair Nov 2011
Post-Op SA: Count- 15 million, Motility- 75%, Morphology- 3%
IVF with ICSI - Stimming 10/4/12 - 10/13/12, Lupron Trigger
ER 10/18/12, 12 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 5 fertilized
5 day transfer 10/23/12, 3 frosties
Beta #1 11/5/12: 453, Beta #2 11/7/12: 1,013, DD born 7/19/13
The paleo diet is not completely free from carbs and sugar. Carbs and sugar come from more nutrient-dense sources like vegetables and fruits; not from grains or white sugar or corn syrup. (Example: Eat berries instead of a cinnamon roll. Eat a sweet potato instead of a bunch of bread.)
The human body has zero need for grain, we can't even digest grain unless it's ground/cooked. (Grain is designed to come out the body exactly like it went in, and land in a nice pile of fertilizer; plants use mammals to spread their seeds. Animals actually designed to be able to eat grain, like birds, have a gizzard which grinds the grain for them. Humans have no such thing.) We eat grain because it stores well for times of famine, and because it's a cheap filler to stretch our food.
Sorry, my statement about the paleo diet wasn't totally related to the sentences that followed it. One of main issues with the paleo diet is it's restriction on beans. Beans are a great source of fiber and protein- which are where a lot of diets are lacking. As long as someone eats a balanced diet, I wouldn't push them away from the paleo diet. But like I said, personally, I just follow the 'everything in moderation' rule.
Me:27, DH:28 - DX: MFI, varicocele repair Nov 2011
Post-Op SA: Count- 15 million, Motility- 75%, Morphology- 3%
IVF with ICSI - Stimming 10/4/12 - 10/13/12, Lupron Trigger
ER 10/18/12, 12 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 5 fertilized
5 day transfer 10/23/12, 3 frosties
Beta #1 11/5/12: 453, Beta #2 11/7/12: 1,013, DD born 7/19/13
I am new too and I just joined sparkpeople on-line. you can enter your goal and it will give you daily/weekly goals for calorie intake and exercise. So far I really like it
PS - it is free!