Need to know how to start / Need a plan - totally clueless

[Pinksultana]

Hi There

I am hoping there is someone out there that can give me some sound advice around excercise, wightloss and fitness.

Things to consider -
- Im controlling my diet and trying to keep to between 1200 and 1500 calories a day
-Im female and 123 kg
- I have a longstanding ankle injury continuing to cause me pain, so whilst Im working with my podiatrist and physio to work on this Ive been told to keep the excercise as low impact as possible
- im very unfit but have a history of sports ect and have been fit in the past so I know I can do this, the thing is in the past when I was fit i was just very active, I didnt train or anything, so I dont know much about whats required and what are good excercises, also the activiteis such as ntball and soccer which i used to do are out of the uestion with my ankle injury
- I live in an apartment block with a 20metre pool and small gym which entails seated rower, treadmills, elliptical, excercise bike and a gym set to do leg press, tricep pull down, lat pull down, chest press and the one where you sit and place you legs between two pads and pull you legs in (dont know what its clled - works the thighs), I also am a fan of the Plank as an ab excercise, and also other core excercises and squats ect, so these are the tools I have avilable to me

So what excecises should I do , for how long, how often, at what intensity???? I was thknking of buying a heart rate monitor watch thing, is that the best way to monitor intensity??

My aim is to increase fitness and overall health, and to lose weight, and keep my muscles strng as its my understanding that with weightloss you lose some muscle too, so I want the muscles I have left to be strong....hmmm have I got my facts right on that one??

 

[maleficent]

So what excecises should I do , for how long, how often, at what intensity???? I was thknking of buying a heart rate monitor watch thing, is that the best way to monitor intensity??

Nope - save your money...

Do a search on Rate of Perceived Exertion... and use that scale to monitor your intensity...

And do spend time reading the stickied threads... start in nutrition - your calorie count is quite low for your current weight -the stickied threads will guide you towards a more realistic range...

 

[sophie_paine]

I agree your calorie count is too low.

After controlling your diet, the first thing you want to do is go back to being active (just look on google for ways to do this - going through the stairs, parking far from the entrance, walking a bus station away, etc). Exercise is an addon. Due to your injury, the best of the things you mentioned is using the pool - lower impact is harder to achieve! But talk to your physician first.

As for heart rate, the best way to monitor is with a watch. The cheapest is counting yourself - count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4. You max rate is 230 minus your age. As you are just beginning and due to your injury, try to get 60-65% of your max rate. Just don't drown when counting your heart rate, or make sure that the monitor you use is water-proof.

 

[Cookn]

I also believe that your calorie intake is lower than it should be. You are setting yourself up for failure, because you'll stay hungry most of the time, and you'll always be wanting to eat.

Any type of exercise that makes use of your ankle is potentially dangerous for you. I would defiantly stay off the treadmill, and if the bicycle causes you any pain I would also stay off of it. I would also approach the leg press very carefully. Personally, I like the elliptical, they are very low impact. I wouldn't, as recommended, use the stairs, any more than I had to. While it's great exercise, with any type of ankle or knee injury, it could prove to be disastrous, been there, done that. One slip or turn of the ankle and it's all over but the crying. when in doubt, check with your doctors, they are much better in-tuned to your personal situation than we could ever be.

I really like using my HRM and I think it's a great tool. I couldn't imagine stopping and trying to take my pulse. I can't do it when I'm standing still, let alone when I'm exercising, maybe it's just me, but my Lady, an MSN, has a hard time finding it. What I find really helpful is the heart rate alarms. It beeps incessantly if I'm below 60% of max rate and above 85% of my max rate, so if it's not making noise, I'm exercising my heart sufficiently . That feature alone is worth it to me.