[svgjen]

Hey everyone.
I found this link on a site and after checking it out a bit, I decided I wanted to join in on the fun!
A bit about me:
I'm 27 and a perpetual student. For those of you who are in or have been in college, you know what it can do to your weight. I'm 5'2" with a mesomorph type frame. In November, after I graduated from college, I weighed about 156lbs.
For health reasons (unrelated to weight) and for aesthetic reasons, I finally stopped talking about it and joined a gym in March.
I'm down to 137lbs now. I'd like to get down into the lower 120's but I'm trying not to focus too hard on a number.
I absolutely love going to the gym and I've decided to step things up a little recently. I'm doing one day full body weights, one day cardio/abs. My weight is pretty much all around my middle and it's driving me crazy because I want it gone faster than it'll go (of course, it would help if I cleaned up my diet more, but hey...).
Anyway, that's enough rambling on my part for now. I'll probably lurk around more before joining in on any conversations, I'm just really glad to see there's a place for women who are into fitness to get together and talk.

[ttuPrincess]

Hi and welcome.. feel free to join in at any time...

I totally understand about the college and weight gaining stuff.. I am 5'1 and was at 152 lbs as of January.. down to 123 now.. Joining these type of boards was one of the things that kept my motivation alive and kicking.

One question.. are you training heavy with weights or just high reps and low weights? I was doing light weight with high reps when i plateued at abuot 135... reved it up a bit started training with my boyfriend who is into body building.. went much higher weights with lower reps and have seen more inches come off...

also Im a bit skeptical about the full body weights day.. I would try breaking into a split as to give your body a recovery time. Just a suggestion. This is how most run their workout.

also how is your diet??? diet is one of the key ingredients to weight loss...

Anywho.. glad to have ya about!!

[svgjen]

Thanks for the welcome.
Let me see, right now my trainer has me on lower weights with higher reps. I hadn't been doing extra cardio which I know I need if I want to burn the weight off.
I just go by what she gives me. I think after this session (6 weeks) I'll be starting a more intense, more focused workout.
I noticed on this one that my hamstrings seem to be really weak and not wanting to lift anything. Particularly my right leg which was injured in a car accident in January.
My diet could really use improvement, I know this and little by little I'm making changes. My biggest challenge is ice cream. Now that the warm weather is here, it's begging me to eat it! Thankfully, I don't keep it in the house, so when I do want it I'm going out to get it from an ice cream place, which means I'm not eating it all the time.
I don't eat red meat and I've pretty well cut out dairy from my diet. I also managed to cut out fast food (which is what made me pack on the pounds in college).
A typical meal for me would be:
Breakfast - 2 pcs whole wheat toast, 1 hard boiled egg
Lunch - Spaghetti and tomato sauce
Supper - Chicken breast, rice and green beans
Snack - popcorn (yeah, if I could find healthier snacks that I'm not allergic to, I'm sure I'd be better off)
I bought some strawberries and I try to snack on them instead. So you see, my diet isn't terrible, I think I just needed to step up on cardio, which I'm doing.
Now on the days I wasn't going to the gym, I go and do 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of abs, but I just started that this week when I got my new routine from the trainer.
I think what I needed was a little more motivation to get my butt in the gym every day. I'm off for the summer now, so I'm hoping to really get serious.
Of course, I'm going to Toronto for a week next Tuesday and that means, a week of no gym...
I'm open to any diet recommendations, for sure. The biggest problem with me is I have so many food allergies, it makes it harder to make choices, especially for snacking.

[Naughty Nurse]

WELCOME TO W4F!!!

As a good rule of thumb...try to eat about 6 or 7 times a day, and follow basically a high protein, mod carb and mod or low fat...and doing cardio, if you can, on an empty stomach first thing in the morning is the best IMO...and there is much debate about what your HR should be at during cardio...but I went from about 60% (with no results) to now over 70%, usually around 75-80%...and am now seeing results.

[ttuPrincess]

as far as i can see you should probably add more protien.. and EAT MORE MEALS!!! thats the one thing us ladies really need to get over.. food is not bad.. I eat 6 small meals a day and 2 of those can be protien shakes

buy some protien power preferably whey and drink one with your breakfast.. or make oatmeal with a scoop of protien and some sugar free jam.. its actually pretty good..

as for your carbs, everything comes in wheat now.. they have whole wheat tortillas, noddles, and make sure your eating brown rice instead of white rice..

keep the fruits to a minimum cause they have unneccisary sugars..

also i would add a protien shake after your workout.. I wait about 15 mins after mine so that my body absorbse the protien immedietly. You need to give your body that protien quickly after a workout so that it doesnt eat the muscle that you have just spent time building.

If you have more questions feel free to ask.. were here for help.. I was in your place about 4 months ago..

[svgjen]

I know I need to eat more. It's just eating has become a chore and a challenge for me. I have a really hard time finding meals.
I've been meaning to buy some whey for awhile. It won't change the taste of my water will it?
I tried whole wheat spaghetti and really didn't like it. I've yet to try brown rice. I don't cook for myself so I try not to be TOO demanding with my weird food choices.
The only fruit I eat are strawberries. I'm allergic to nearly all raw fruit and vegetables. As well as nuts and especially peanuts (which will kill me!). So you can see, eating for me is crazy.
I had tried one protein shake and it was ok, but a bit chalky tasting. I have another one in the fridge, maybe I'll try that when I get home from the gym tomorrow.
Trust me, I love food. I just don't eat a lot during the day and end up starving at night. Then I eat popcorn, which really isn't very filling. Which is why I got the berries, because they're better than popcorn and I can actually eat them!
I've been reading fitness magazines like crazy and they have helped a lot, both with food choices, learning about what I should be doing and also with motivation.
Food is my biggest issue. It's hard to break old habits and whereas I still live at home (because that's what cool people do) I tend to eat what my mother makes for supper, most times.
I'll say that my choices now are about 80% better than what I was eating last year while in school! McDonalds daily and Mr Noodle every night certainly help pack on the pounds.
Thankfully ice cream and popcorn are really the only junk food I eat now and at least they're on the lower end of things, unlike greasy chips or candies and cake or something.
I think if I start off with a better breakfast (since school finished -work not me as a student-I haven't really been eating breakfast at all). When I'm going to work, I need something quick, but now that I'm off for the summer I'll definitely make an effort to eat a more hardy breakfast.
I don't have a set time that I go to the gym every day. I try to go after lunch because that's the most convenient time for me to go, but if I'm not waiting for my friend to come too, I'll go before I eat, whenever I get up, which isn't that early now!
Anyway, babble babble. That's what I do.
I'm sure I'll have lots more questions. I have a great trainer who is female but it's nice to have other females to talk to about fitness since I've gotten a lot of condescension from men that I've talked to...

[Naughty Nurse]

I like Optimum Nutrtion's Chocolate...or Double Chocolate Whey Protein....not too chalky at all...

Food is a huge problem for me as well...my husband isn't a bodybuilder, or into weight lifting that much for that matter...so when he's home it's very hard to stick to my diet. It'll be even harder when I go to work in Aug!!

Are there any veggies you can eat...steamed? I know nutrients are better raw, but you do what you have too...it will likely take a lot of experimenting on your part. And don't forget to drink your water like it's gonna be gone forever tomorrow Green tea also helps with weight.

Us women must stick together....I as well was at your place not long ago...and still working at it every day with diet...but these boards are fantastic for giving advice and motivation...and now that I've found the ladies' board...it's sometimes just easier sharing with them rather than with men.

Don't be afraid to jump in and keep asking and chatting! Your goals are definitely in the right direction...just experiment with your food choices....I see the motivation is there!

[svgjen]

I'm definitely getting better.

My food allergies are very strange, but while I can't eat most fruit and veggies raw, cooking them seems to take away whatever it was I was allergic to and I have no problems. I've started eating greens nearly every day with supper.

I need to get back into green tea. I used to take a mug of it to school every morning but I haven't had any in a long time.

I'll look into getting some whey when I get the cash (after I come back from Toronto). It's something I've been meaning to do for awhile since I figured I wasn't getting enough protein.

I'm definitely motivated and about 20 lbs lighter than I was at the end of last year. I've dropped at least one size in clothes, if not more and since I started hitting the gym at the end of March, my body fat has gone from 27.5% to 24.2% (though I took an extended break from the gym that I really shouldn't have, so if I hadn't done that, I'm sure it would be lower).
The biggest motivation for me going to the gym was that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in November and after struggling with the pain for a few months, then getting into a car accident in January, I decided the best thing I could do for my body was get it into shape. So far, since I've started working out regularly, my pain has reduced drastically and I hardly ever have to take anything for it.
Now, if I could just flatten my abs...

[chrissy]

hello and welcome!

[Naughty Nurse]

My mom-in-law has fibromyalgia....and she too feels better now that she goes line dancing every week a couple of times.

About 3% drop? That's great since March! Since you're in Canada, don't know where, but I can tell ya where I've seen whey protein for the cheapest...and they deliver to me in 1.5 days! Just under $45 for a 5lb container of Optimum Nutrition....one of the cheapest prices I've seen.