I am going to lose weight! :)

[mamatraining]

I am going to get to 68kg by the end of May - I AM! :pray:

I am 24yo female with an 8 month old baby girl so kept quite busy, gym times are during her nap times, I am 174cm and weighing in at 77kgs...

This is the start of my 4th week into a 6 day gym routine of group fitness classes for an hour a day where i WORK my butt off... I am considering adding on an extra PT session in the afternoons 3 times a week of mainly running as well... but wont for another 2 or 3 weeks (do you think i need to add extra sessions??)

Morning classes at the gym are...

Monday - Kickboxing,

Tuesday - Pump,

Wednesday - Boxing,

Thursday is like a cardio version of pump,

Friday - Spin and

Saturday - Kickboxing

(all awesome HARD classes!)

For breakfast I will have a bowl of Cereal (Kelloggs Just right, the pinky boxed one) with light blue top milk... before heading to the gym for class at 930 (do i need to have a protein shake before or after gym classes??) - still trying to find a good one for me, its all a little overwhelming whats available out there and the price rage... ive heard (maybe misunderstood), protein shakes are for gaining weight but ive seen some girls at the gym have some and they look in fab shape! (any suggestions for one for woman trying to lose weight??)

Ive always wondered whether my lunch is healthy as I usually have this most days and really never get sick of it

Tuna Salad made of, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, carrot, cucumber, advocado, red onion, almonds, sunflower seeds and tuna - sometimes i add in boiled egg as well... YUMM!

For tea is where is gets hard as I have to also include cooking for my husband and he can be quite fussy, I am trying to get him to be helpful - slowly but surely it will happen but for now I am not cooking 2 seperate meals...

Well better get myself and baby ready for the gym - bugger its a crappy and rainy day this morning, all the little obstacles to try and stop me from going to workout

HURRY UP GET TO THE GYM!!!

[HarryB]

Welcome to the forum.. just focus on diet in the beginning, before spending money on supplements. Your workload is good, would definitely recommend some sessions with a PT just to give you confidence while working out and to measure you up and give you your starting point. The clearer your goals the easier they are to achieve!

[mamatraining]

Welcome to the forum.. just focus on diet in the beginning, before spending money on supplements. Your workload is good, would definitely recommend some sessions with a PT just to give you confidence while working out and to measure you up and give you your starting point. The clearer your goals the easier they are to achieve!

Thanks HarryB... I definitely agree with starting with adapting good eating habits which i am working hard to do! have considered doing sessions with a PT but will have to set money aside to be able to afford that so maybe a month away before I can get that together... I have been ringing around its about 45-60 dollars an hour! :shock:

[mamatraining]

Back from Kickboxing - hardwork but definitely noticing I am not needing breaks to catch my breath back - something's working even if im not seeing results...yet...

snack - handful of almonds and a banana!

?Question? Im not sure if i should take before and after photos? how often do you all take photos of yourself? weekly, monthly??

[becbec]

Yes to photos!!!!!

You don't have to post them up here but they're really great to look back on in the long run.

About your diet, you lunch looks fine, especially because you've added in the avocado and nuts which will help keep you full for longer. I would just watch portion sizes and get rid of the egg yolk if you have that (or the nuts or avocado - cause you dont need that much fat)

For breakfast, I suppose that cereal is ok but it's not that great. If you're wanting to incorporate a protein shake into breakfast, just add some oats or some san bran into the blender when you're blending it for a little extra. The Horleys Sculpt protein powder is alright if you're just starting out, otherwise jump onto http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz, they have the best deals

As for dinner, meat and veg will always keep the partner happy. Just make sure it's lean meat (chicken breast / fish / steak with the fat cut off) and try to avoid starchy vegetables.

Most people find that their metabolism becomes faster if they have 5-6 smaller snack meals during the day instead of 3 big ones but it's kinda hard to follow if you're one of those people who just keep eating :shifty:

Cool as for deciding to do some PT sessions. You don't really need to see them 3 times a week if you're skint. Ask them to write you out a program and go through it with you on your session and then you could do the same program for 2 or 3 weeks and then go back for a new one, otherwise have a look at some of the girlies journals up here for some ideas :nod:

[HarryB]

Yes to photos!!!!!

You don't have to post them up here but they're really great to look back on in the long run.

About your diet, you lunch looks fine, especially because you've added in the avocado and nuts which will help keep you full for longer. I would just watch portion sizes and get rid of the egg yolk if you have that (or the nuts or avocado - cause you dont need that much fat)

For breakfast, I suppose that cereal is ok but it's not that great. If you're wanting to incorporate a protein shake into breakfast, just add some oats or some san bran into the blender when you're blending it for a little extra. The Horleys Sculpt protein powder is alright if you're just starting out, otherwise jump onto http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz, they have the best deals

As for dinner, meat and veg will always keep the partner happy. Just make sure it's lean meat (chicken breast / fish / steak with the fat cut off) and try to avoid starchy vegetables.

Most people find that their metabolism becomes faster if they have 5-6 smaller snack meals during the day instead of 3 big ones but it's kinda hard to follow if you're one of those people who just keep eating :shifty:

Cool as for deciding to do some PT sessions. You don't really need to see them 3 times a week if you're skint. Ask them to write you out a program and go through it with you on your session and then you could do the same program for 2 or 3 weeks and then go back for a new one, otherwise have a look at some of the girlies journals up here for some ideas :nod:

Great advice... and as to the PT... get an initial assessment so you have something to refer back to.. you don't need 3 sessions a week, just one every couple of weeks to make sure you are doing things properly.

[mamatraining]

Yes to photos!!!!!

You don't have to post them up here but they're really great to look back on in the long run.

About your diet, you lunch looks fine, especially because you've added in the avocado and nuts which will help keep you full for longer. I would just watch portion sizes and get rid of the egg yolk if you have that (or the nuts or avocado - cause you dont need that much fat)

For breakfast, I suppose that cereal is ok but it's not that great. If you're wanting to incorporate a protein shake into breakfast, just add some oats or some san bran into the blender when you're blending it for a little extra. The Horleys Sculpt protein powder is alright if you're just starting out, otherwise jump onto http://www.bodybuilding.co.nz, they have the best deals

As for dinner, meat and veg will always keep the partner happy. Just make sure it's lean meat (chicken breast / fish / steak with the fat cut off) and try to avoid starchy vegetables.

Most people find that their metabolism becomes faster if they have 5-6 smaller snack meals during the day instead of 3 big ones but it's kinda hard to follow if you're one of those people who just keep eating :shifty:

Cool as for deciding to do some PT sessions. You don't really need to see them 3 times a week if you're skint. Ask them to write you out a program and go through it with you on your session and then you could do the same program for 2 or 3 weeks and then go back for a new one, otherwise have a look at some of the girlies journals up here for some ideas :nod:

Great advice... and as to the PT... get an initial assessment so you have something to refer back to.. you don't need 3 sessions a week, just one every couple of weeks to make sure you are doing things properly.

Photos taken and not too happy :cry: and ive stared at them about 5 times only to see more areas im not happy about... but I must say that I have nice legs and arms, so thats something nice to say i guess... just the mid section (butt, hips and stomach) needs serious work!! so with that I have booked an appointment with a PT at the gym for tomorrow... stoked! and looking at making seperate meals for me and hubby (i might talk to him tonight to ask to help me out by eating the same as me as i dont want temptations slapped in my face)...

I feel I could get addicted to this forum site since I have already got soo much helpful advice and aswering questions Ive always had but not sure of who to ask... AWESOME!...

[Anna x4]

Welcome mama in training!!! I too am a mum, I have 4 kids the last 2 being twins. I go to the gym 3 times a week as thats all the time I have. I do 45 minutes of weight training and a little bit of cardio. I used to be a runner but I get skinny doing that and lose all my shape, whereas with weightlifting I keep my shape but lose bodyfat and ref up my metabolism. Your workout sound pretty intense good on you!!!! Have you thought of replacing 1 or 2 of your workouts with only a weights session?? Eats wise try to increase your protein in the morning as becbec said and protein shakes are defnitly excellent as a way to get more protein and also as a snack between meals. I eat 6 times a day now with 2 shakes as 2 meals. 4 meals actual food. I have cut out flour, chocolate, and refined crap like biscuits, but I do have cheat moments which I think are necessary to stay happy on this way of eating. Cottage cheese on corn thins with a can of tuna on the top is also an excellent snack when the munchies hit. Also i have discovered the wonderful low carb bars at bigger supermarkets like countdown and pak n save which are great to cut into 2s or 4s when you need a sweet fix. Also diet coke and pepsimax are also nice as a cool drink when you feel the need for sugar. Good luck and go hard. You will get there and we will all support you along the way!!! \:D/

[teamfatboy]

Well done for jumping straight in and starting a journal :clap:

Your goal's certainly do-able - although it'll be a big push to lose ten kilos in ten weeks, most folks believe that that's an acceptable rate of loss (one kilo/ week), more than that tends to result in yo-yoing.

Like the others, I'd encourage you to swap-out the occasional cardio session for weights. There are two reasons for that - one, weight training will help conserve lean muscle mass (which is denser than bodyfat and will look smaller); and two, once you've got it, lean muscle mass needs more energy to function, so the more lean muscle mass you have, the easier it is to stay within maintenance calories once you reach your goal.

Protein shakes are a useful convenient way of keeping the proportion of protein in your diet up - what you have to watch out for is the carb content, as there are some protein shakes designed to build mass, and they're loaded with carbohydrates, which is exactly what you don't want. Ideally, they're not a substitute for whole foods, but when you're time-pressured with a family, they can be helpful.

Just watch the colas, for High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) - Pepsi Max or Coke Zero would be better than anything with HFCS in it....

Oh, and extra well done for going to the gym in the rain - THAT's what'll make the difference

[mamatraining]

thanks for all the advice and encouragement...

wow! i havent been on in a wee while but have been keep track on what im doing and eating...

session with PT was amaazing and intense and I was in bed by 7 and dead to the world haha so Im going to go once a week, maybe once every 2 weeks as money is a bit tight! but he has given me a weight/cardio plan (like cardio monday, weight tuesday, cardio wednesday and so on... using treadmill, rowing maching and tuesdays focousing on upper body and thursday focusing elsewhere...) which I feel like I can do on top of the classes Im doing in the morning and the session id have booked with the PT will only help me more.

Diet is a lot better, hubby's onboard and keen to help me out so happy about that! have added a boiled egg (minus yolk for breakfast) and write down everything i eat which has helped me see what im eating and what times

I realise I had weighed myself about 2 weeks before starting forum and just assumed i had not lost any weight since but today I weighed myself and now Im 75.1kg awesome! and shorts and pants arent as snug...

still a lot of work ahead of me but at least the sun is shinning for my afternoon session at the gym! see ya later...

[mamatraining]

Feeling sore!! tired! and maybe coming down with the flu or cough that hubby has just got through... trying to fight through it, maybe have a break on Saturday - still feel sweet to hit the gym... for now and only in the morning classes

Eating plan typically looks like this

0800-breaky, Rolled oat (those packet ones) 3/4C light milk, once cooked i add a banana

...Class at 930 to 1030

1045/11ish-Home and have a Protein shake mixed with 180mL of light milk, banana and few ice cubes

1230-Lunch... small tin of Tuna and salad or Tuna on toast(Freya) with no butter... avocado, red onion, and beetroot... along with salad...

1430-snack of some sort...usually handfull of Almonds and an Apple

1730-Dinner preps... been strict on portion size and lots of Veges so the usual Chicken,Meat, lots of Veg and 1C of cooked rice

1930ish...green tea

I have cut back on afternoon gym workout-not by choice... wish i could still go but when I can i will include it back into my daily routine

My question is... by around 3pm, maybe earlier i start to quite hungry and find i have to go outside or head out for a drive to stop myself from looking in the cupboards to find something to eat...

AM I EATING ENOUGH?? got this basic plan from a nutrition on a 1500 Cal intake or whatever its called...

OR DO I JUST NEED MY BODY TO GET USED TO NOT EATING AS MUCH I DID BEFORE??

When i first started on this new eating plan, i was FULL and didnt need to look for more food...

I am on DAY 11 (still early days i know :oops: ) on this plan and needing more advice as my next appt with nutritionist isnt until next Wednesday

[mamatraining]

Lunch time salads are made up of

Lettuce, Red/spring onion, carrots, beetroot, cucumber, capsicums,

LOTS OF IT!

[teamfatboy]

Lunch time salads are made up of

Lettuce, Red/spring onion, carrots, beetroot, cucumber, capsicums,

LOTS OF IT!

Good choices :clap: - add some celery for 'crunch' if you like that sort of thing.... capsicums win!

[teamfatboy]

My question is... by around 3pm, maybe earlier i start to quite hungry and find i have to go outside or head out for a drive to stop myself from looking in the cupboards to find something to eat...

AM I EATING ENOUGH?? got this basic plan from a nutrition on a 1500 Cal intake or whatever its called...

OR DO I JUST NEED MY BODY TO GET USED TO NOT EATING AS MUCH I DID BEFORE??

When i first started on this new eating plan, i was FULL and didnt need to look for more food...

I am on DAY 11 (still early days i know :oops: ) on this plan and needing more advice as my next appt with nutritionist isnt until next Wednesday

My gut reaction, purely a personal 2c worth, you're not eating enough.

My favorite tool for this is this page here. For someone your age/ height/ current weight/ gender, a BMR of 1595 cals is basic calorie load, before you allow for your activity regime. If you're even moderately active, and that's being conservative based on what you've said, you'd need more like 2475 calories.

Now, 2475 would be "maintenance" calories, neither gaining nor losing weight, but based on you continuing to work out at the same levels of duration/ intensity - so once you stopped working out, you'd ease back.

But that figure is nearly a thousand calories MORE than you're eating now.... and no-one I've ever spoken to has ever recommended a calorie deficit of more than 500 cals. It's not sustainable, it's not safe and it doesn't conserve lean muscle.

Why a 500-cal deficit?. It takes 3500 cals to burn 500g (one pound) of fat, and magically, 7 days of 500-cal deficit equals 3500 cals

What I'd be expecting your nutritionist to come up with is:

a. calorie load around the 2475-500 = 2000 cals/ day;

b. with some attention to meal timing around exercise times; and

c. with a protein-carb-fat split of maybe 40-50-10.... or even 45-45-10.

I'd also be looking at the long gap between last meal at night and first meal in the morning - you're effectively fasting for twelve hours per day. A meal, even a protein shake, last thing before bed (esp when the calories are included in the overall daily plan) might help.

Again, just my 2c worth (but I just started a "cut" in January, increased my calories and still lost 3kg in 4 weeks...)

[Chillicat]

I agree with TFB that you might be a bit low on 1500. I'm 168cm, currently a cuddly 63kg and have just started on a healthier eating plan to drop a few kgs. I was the same weight last year and used a different calculation to TFB - can't remember where I found it, but it was a bit more generous with the calories, and I found that I had good enough success with it, certainly as a starter for weightloss.

My calculation gave me around 2500cals for maintenance and 2000 for weightloss at my height and weight - and given that I'm shorter than you, and had some success with that, I'd be more inclined to take TFB's advice and start on 2000cals and see how you go with that. I found that I lost weight initially on that, so I can't see why you shouldn't as well. Later down the track if you get to a point where you're not losing anything, you can drop 100cals and see how that works. But on 1500 you don't really have anywhere further to go if you want to actually maintain some health.

I'm no expert though, and have certainly never stuck to any kind of 'diet' to competition level. But if you just want safe and maintainable weightloss, I'd be more inclined to go with the less drastic, and 1500 really seems very low for someone of your height.

[mamatraining]

Thanks guys-I couldnt agree more!

might be time to call it quits with the nutritionist or get a new one as it seems like a waste of money...shes a bit rude too, shes doesnt really like to explain herself...

Before meeting with her I had done all the research I could thanks to Google and her reaction was, "you cant trust everything that google tells you"

I said shouldnt it be around 2500Cal diet?(again according to research i had done via google etc)

im a complete newbie to calorie counting, have NEVER EVER dieted before, so i took her word for it... she said no, and explained her way out of it so i stupidly believed her... she also said that if I experience any hunger pains to snack carrots, celery etc...Im trying, also convincing myself I AM FULL! haha

She said that I had adapted to eating more from when I was breastfeeding... but I have not breastfed for over a month now and thought that would have nothing to do with anything??

I thought going to a nutritionist (excuse spelling) would help me since i needed some good advice with regards to "Good" eating habits... i am such a grump when im hungry so turn into evil mother and evit wife...not cool man!!! want to be back to my happy self... starting to second question doing this all together, at least i was happy before - just wasnt too happy with my body... might back to oh well ive had a baby so its OK to look a bit chubby now

P.S - Chillie Cat, at only 5cm shorter than me and you say a "cuddly" 63kgs thats my ultimate goal weight!! with the realistic one being around 67-8kgs

might go and cry now hahaha

thanks again for advice

[Chillicat]

P.S - Chillie Cat, at only 5cm shorter than me and you say a "cuddly" 63kgs thats my ultimate goal weight!! with the realistic one being around 67-8kgs

might go and cry now hahaha

thanks again for advice

LOL, I was just kidding saying I was cuddly! It's the upper range that I like to be, as throughout most of my 20s-30s I was around 52-55kg, then I kinda porked up a bit in my late 30s, and I never really got used to being this 'heavy', though it's pretty much standard for me to be between 58-63kg. So don't cry :pfft:

But also, 63kg with an extra 5cm would be lovely, and I reckon your aim (and realistic extra few kgs) are pretty much spot on, and you'll look great at that :nod:

[Chillicat]

Oh, and just for the record, I've lost .7kg in 4 days on a 2000 calorie per day eating plan, just if you wanted some hard evidence that it's not too high :wink:

[teamfatboy]

Hmmm - yes, it's true the internet's full of bro-science, but:

a) what you've been told to do, isn't sustainable for you at least right now, so you need a better option, and this person's not coming up with one;

b) bro-science or not, I use the Harris-Benedict after advice from people on here who have serious, relevant, hands-on experience, and it's working for the way I train (which is not dissimilar to the way you've said you like to train);

c) any specialist who won't explain themselves isn't earning their $$....

I think that with a little care, you can take the diet you've got, refine it and come up with something that will do wonders for you, will help you stay on an even keel and get results.

Bottom line, tho: do NOT give up - hang tough thru the winter, and by summer you could surprise folks!

[AgentOrange]

looks like she gave up. fail.

[mamatraining]

yay internet has finally been sorted for new house!...

and nope not failed!! still continued to workout and eat really well with a few cheat days in between but I am down to my goal weight of 68kg and i look and feel fantastic!

sorry i couldnt keep everyone updated but like i said we moved house and there wasnt really any priority to getting phone and net connected - but imm baacck!

[teamfatboy]

Wow, well done for staying focussed thru the house move, and for reaching your goal.. take a bow :clap: