Some advice please

[blugurl]

Helloo! One fine day I realized that my past attempts to loose weight and keep it off has remained unsuccessful till date. Therefore, there must be something that I’m doing wrong here, so, could someone help me out? Here are my current measurements:

Age 24
Height 5-6
Weight 160lbs
Chest 41”
Navel 38”
Butt 43”
Thighs (Left and right) 21”
Arms (Left and right) 11”


My goal is to get down to 140lbs. My past attempts have been exercising about 3 times a week, usually using the treadmill for 30 min. and using machine weights off and on.

Let me tell you though, that my knowledge of weight machines isn’t that great! I would use machines to work the legs and arms.

My diet consists of cereal in the morning (with 2% milk), lunch and dinner consisting of wheat bread with veggies and gravy mix. A days’ meal usually consists of breakfast and a late lunch with dinner being skipped (for unknown reasons) or lunch being skipped and dinner consumed instead.

I do have access to a gym easily which is well equipped with free weights as well as machine thingys.

So, that’s about it! Someone help me and tell me what direction to go in!! Thankyou!

P.S sorry for posting here again, I didn't realize there was a forum just for the women!

[TrishB]

Don't fret, honey.....we will help you reach your goals.

Nutrition and body building go hand in hand to develop a great body. So you will need to work on improving both to get to where you want to be.
First thing you need to work on is your diet.

Do eat 6 small health meals a day, every 2-3 hours.
A meal would consist of a protein, a carb, and minimal fat.
I have liked to maintain a 50/30/20 ratio. Calories about
1600-1800/day. I am 5'5"
You can check Fitday.com to figure out your meals for the
day and it will break everything down for you.
Allow yourself a cheat day or cheat meal during the week. This will keep you sane.
Drink water......alot of it!

Your exercise routine should consist of both cardio and weightlifting.
My latest routine is:
Mon: chest/shouders/bicepsTues: 20 min HIIT cardio/abs
Wed: legs
Thurs: 20 min HIIT cardio/abs
Fri: back/ triceps

On weight days, I will also add on a 5-10 minute HIT, depending on my time schedule.

When you do weights, really work the muscle group. I start at a lower weight for my first set to warm up the muscle. Then I increase for the next 2 sets....my last set is a killer.
I usually do 3 different exercises for each muscle group. 3 sets of 6-10 reps.....rest 1 minute between sets and 3 minutes between exercise group.

You might find it helpful to get a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to help you out with the exercises. Most gyms also will offer their staff to assist you for free.

Hope this helps..............
Good luck!!!!

[Machine]

just a few small things I can think of, get off the 2% milk onto skim milk, I thought I saw the word "gravy", if so remove it from your diet and white bread isn't your best choice, try whole grain bread... Keep your means small and spread out.

[ctgblue]

also, if you are a drinker of "regular" sodas, switch to diet sodas immediately, 200 cals of sugar each

[MsFit]

I would focus most of your attention to your nutrition. It's best to eat fresh protein rather then processed (boxed food with fillers) and eat a lot of green veggies, fresh or frozen. Drinking a lot of water will aid in your weight loss process, ridding your body of toxins and flushing some fat.
MsFit

[blugurl]

woohoo! TrishB, ctgblue, MsFit, Machine thanks for the great advice all of you! but i still have some questions...

i didn't mention this before, but i am more or less a vegetarian who ocassionally eats chicken (coz i really don't like the taste of meat), so where do i get my protein from?? and if i take protein shakes, when should i take them? if so, how often should i take them?

i was thinking of taking optimum nutrition natural whey as it has no aspartamin (sp?) and seems to have good protein for the money. do you guys think i should go ahead with that?

i also have some ripped fuel extreme on me... how and if at all should i take that?

workouts... should i begin with 3 days a week or 4, and how long should i workout for in a session? how much time should be spent on cardio and weights?

thanks again!!

[MsFit]

Your focus of protein will be milk, cheese, eggs, tofu, yogurt, cottage cheese, beans, some grains, vegetables, protein drinks, natural peanut butter, almond butter, and fish as the bulk of protein source, being somewhat vegetarian.
MsFit