The RIGHT Way?

C

calamity.dear

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Hello! I'm a 5'4" 24yr old female. I used to be a long distance runner until I hurt my knee (BOOOOO) and can no longer do what I love. Since that time ('twas about 6 yrs ago now) I have gained q bit of weight. I'd like to get back down to my normal 115lbs- I'm currently at 130lbs. However, I've never really done this before so I was hoping you could help.

per day I eat anyway from 1600-2500 calories. I've been doing 50 crunches in the morning and 50 at night. plus 45 min to an hour of yoga in the evening. I can't afford a gym but I found a stationary bike recently for $15 (craigslist is the best!) and have been trying to do that for 30min per day.

My question is- how long till I see results (I can feel it already)? and also, most of my excess fat is stored in my belly region (surprise surprise)- how do I make sure that goes too? I'm doing this to get my runner's high back- but toning my body so I have the one I never had would be great too!

If anyone can be of any help here I'd be eternally grateful. Thank you!
 
Hello and Good Luck!! First thing you probably need to figure out is your Base Metabolic Rate. This will tell you how many calories you how many calories per day (roughly) you need to intake to maintain your current weight. Once you know that, you can figure out how many you need to cut to lose weight. Understanding that it takes about 3500 calories burned/cut to lose 1 pound. Generally 500 cals per day reduced/burned is considered a safe level. That should equal out to about a pound a week. During my weight loss, I cut between 700 and 1000 per day, basically cause I'm not a patient person.

Once you know how many calories you can intake to make your goal, then you need to make sure you are making the most of those cals. I would recommend keeping a detailed journal, so you can see what you are eating, what you can eat less of, and what you need more of. I use fitday.com because then all I have to do is tell it what I ate, and it tracks fat, protein, carbs, vitamins, etc. I'm sure there are others, that's just the one I started using, so I kind of stuck with it.

Your workout seems like a good starting point. The fact that you can feel a difference tells me it's working! Just make sure you do some weight/resistance training to maintain muscle. Just know going in that you cannot spot reduce. All the crunches in the world will not make the fat on your belly go away. As you lose weight, that fat will go away, but it is not possible to lose from only there, or mainly from there. Crunches will tone and build the muscles beneath the fat (definitely a good thing) but they will not make the fat go away.

And finally, be patient and have fun. It will take time. When I started my weight loss, I lost about 4 or 5 pounds immediately. ( water weight, I'm assuming) and then nothing for a couple of weeks. Then the pounds started coming off. So be ready for a commitment. Hope at least some of this helps, and once again, Good Luck!!!
 
thank you!

wow, fitday.com is great! I can't believe it's free (for most of it). The weird thing is that I don't think that I eat the amount in calories that my BMI says I burn. something like 2,358 calories? crazy! I eat brown rice and kale... must be all the salt, tee hee. Well, I'm excited to soon be healthy. I set my goal to be met by May, so that means I'm taking your advice on the 500cal restriction.

I'm kinda concerned about the body toned thing though. I mean, I know you can't burn in specific spots, but I guess, I just want all the fat gone (or as much of it as is healthy). Is there another type of exercise that I should do that doesn't require money? Apparently doing the stationary bike + yoga really doesnt burn much (about 300calories for me). thoughts?
 
Yuck! You eat kale?? J/k.

I noticed that about their base metabolic rate. It says mine is around 2800. And I burn about 600 cals a day via exercise. But, I have to eat around 2300 or so to maintain my weight. And I don't worry too much about the salt. Before they redid the site a few months ago, when you pulled up a food, you could edit the ingredients. I think it assumes that everyone salts everything. I haven't picked up a salt shaker in 6 months, but it always show my sodium intake at least 150 percent of RDA, if not higher.

As far as the calorie burning, you could always look at it this way, if you are burning 300 or so calories per day, then you don't have to cut as many calories to hit 500 burnt/saved per day.

Believe me, I wish I could spot reduce, I'm on the low end of healthy BMI, and I still feel like my belly needs some work.
 
Dear calamity :) , check out this link. You'll see that ab exercises are well down the list and to be done in moderation. I think it is excellent advice, and I especially like #8.
 
I love yoga and in an hour it burn about 300 calories only. The bike is alright and here is an idea. Put in front of the TV and watch your show and ride it passively at steady state. Now when you are in the mood to power up, do some HIITs on them. Maybe look up a spin class type of routine and try to do it by yourself.

Diet is key to losing the bodyfat. Try doing bodyweight squats like 50-100 of them a day. First 50 is easy for me, but the last 25 is wow.... What I like to do is 50 pushups + 50 situps + 50 squats. Or try some burpees. Oh you like yoga so do some inversions like headstance with all muscle engage or crane pose.

Can you still run at all? Maybe try hiking or swimming.
 
oh btw, FITDAY is a great tool but their values are slightly off. :) Try to keep as detailed food journal as you can, you might realize how much you really eat. Keep in mind serving size and eat tons + tons of veggies / fibers to help stay full.
 
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