Good Cardio Exercises

[wbens]

Hi all, kind of a newbie here so please for give me. I lost 160lbs over the last year/year and half doing it very unhealthy, skipping meal. I went from 292 to 130lbs. I have since started to eat better, lots of fruit and veggies, I haven't had a pop in over a year and am exerciseing on a regular basis.I have sinced gained 30lbs, which kinda concerns me. I can't tell if the wieght it from lifting or because I am eating to much. I lift wieghts for an hour mon wed fri and am looking to do some cardio on tues, thurs, sat to help keep my wieght under control and keep my body fat down. Before I started lifting I would walk at least 3 miles aday. I am doing this on my non lifting days. Do you think that this will help or is there more that I should be doing. I just read that people that have lost a large amount of wieght or are trying to keep it off should now exercise for 60 to 90 min aday. I am just afraid that I am going to be one of those stories that you read about people losing alot of wieght and then gaining it all back again.
Thanks for your help and suggestions.

William

[Lady C]

What and when are you eating? This is probably more important than "am I getting enough exercise"?

[wbens]

I have usually an apple or banana for breakfast with a scoop of whey protien in water, the same for lunch, an apple if I am hungry when I get home from work, chef or grilled chicken salad with light/no fat dressing with the whey drink and then if I get hungry again later in the evening a piece of fruit. Not much variety I know. I tried the 6 small meals and that didn't work. I ended up gaining wieght.

William

[B.A.]

As noted by Lady C pay more attention to your nutrition rather than activity levels as alot of people fail to adjust their calorie intakes to suit their new frames or go back to eating the calorie amounts they did when they were "overweight" once they've reached their desired body mass.

The diet sample you provided following your activity level description would appear not to match up with the 30lb gain in body mass so there are probably details and a more accurate time frame missing. What is your height & ethnic origin btw for starters?

Go back to nutrition basics to maintain your body mass. Through trial & error, food log and a calorie counter website find the approx. daily amount of calories required to sustain X body mass or support X loss in bodymass/ week. Spread the calorie amount over 3-4 main meals (meal every 3-4 hours). Focus on a variety of whole complex foods that are reared & prepared/ cooked in a "healthy" manner. Combine all 3 macro nutrients (fats, carbs, proteins) to prolong satiety & ensure you aren't deficient in any nutrients. Drink X volume of water to support mass & activity levels. Ensure adequate periods of undisturbed sleep. Find time to relax/ "destress".

~ B.A.

[wbens]

Well currently I am a 20 year old that is 6ft tall and wieght 160. I am a white male. I drink lots of water when I am at work and home. For some reason I am always thirsty. I think right now it is because I just got back from walking 6 miles in about 1 hr 45 min. Not super quick, I know but..

William

[Pelon]

Originally Posted by wbens

I am just afraid that I am going to be one of those stories that you read about people losing alot of wieght and then gaining it all back again.
William

It sounds like you are on the right track. For the most part, to be successful, you must continue to watch what you eat and exercise regularly. Doing one or the other alone makes it that much harder to keep the weight from coming back. Here is a link that might help: http://www.thedietchannel.com/weight...htm#strategies

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by wbens

I have usually
breakfast, an apple or banana with a scoop of whey protien in water,
lunch, an apple or banana for breakfast with a scoop of whey protien in water
snack, an apple
dinner, chef or grilled chicken salad with light/no fat dressing with the whey drink
snack, a piece of fruit.

Suggestions for changes
breakfast, an apple or banana. Add in whole protein rather than a shake. Whey digests too quickly. Choices are eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, or other lean protein. Even add in some whole grain toast or oatmeal.
lunch, an apple or banana for breakfast with a scoop of whey protien in water. Again this is not filling enough for 3 hours. Switch to a tuna sandwich or a grilled chicken breast and some veggies like broccoli, squash, sweet potato, etc.
snack, an apple -change to carrot, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, jicima or any other fresh veggies
dinner, chef or grilled chicken salad with light/no fat dressing with the whey drink - skip the whey drink with the chicken breast that is plenty for one meal.
snack, a piece of fruit - fruit this late is not good if you are trying not to gain. Switch to cottage cheese, large glass of milk or even hard boiled eggs.

If you have been eating this low of calories for a long time it will take time for your metabolism to adjust. Some weight gain will happen while your body is adjusting. You have made extremely great progress so don't give up!!

[threenorns]

btw, you're not weighing yourself every day or even every week, are you? don't weigh yourself more than once a month - it's not worth it because your weight will bounce up and down daily depending on hydration, etc.

instead, go by your pants: pick a pair of pants that almost-but-not-quite fits and try them on every couple of weeks.

[Xhale]

If you want to lose weight real fast start doing boxing, thai boxing, wrestling or MMA.

The weight will just fall off.

If you don't feel like getting beat up you can always run, skip rope, bicycle etc.

[wbens]

Originally Posted by threenorns

btw, you're not weighing yourself every day or even every week, are you? don't weigh yourself more than once a month - it's not worth it because your weight will bounce up and down daily depending on hydration, etc.

instead, go by your pants: pick a pair of pants that almost-but-not-quite fits and try them on every couple of weeks.

Acutally I weight myself every morning. I guess I'll stop doing that. I have a pair of jeans just like you described. I will try that. Tonight I just ran a mile and did some weight lifting. I have NEVER been able to run a mile. The funny thing is, I wasn't very winded like I expected I would. Maybe I will try a little farther next time.

Why is it bad to have fruit that late. Is it because of the carbs?

Thanks everyone

William

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by wbens

Why is it bad to have fruit that late. Is it because of the carbs?

Not because it is carbs but the type of carb. Fruit is mostly sugars and fiber, which is easily stored as fat, if not burned off. Late at night good things to eat are lean proteins and fiberous carbs (broccoli, aspargus, brussel sprouts, cabbage, califlower, green beans, etc). They will fill you up and have a great chance of not being stored as fat.

[wbens]

Originally Posted by Pelon

It sounds like you are on the right track. For the most part, to be successful, you must continue to watch what you eat and exercise regularly. Doing one or the other alone makes it that much harder to keep the weight from coming back. Here is a link that might help: http://www.thedietchannel.com/weight...htm#strategies

I hope your right.

William

[wbens]

Well, Wednesday night I did something that I never thought that I would be able to do. I ran a mile non stop. I know that may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but to me it is a big self confidence boost, and for me I could use all the confidence I can get. I was able to do it again tonight before I lifted. The amazing thing was, when I was done running, I wasn't hardly winded at all. Normally, if I tried that, you might as well have EMT's standing by with an oxygen tank. This just tops off an already good week for me.

William

[InkZ]

Good going m8. I measure my stamina on what I can do for my Thai Boxing workout. Started off doing 3 left kicks, 5 knees, 3 right kicks 5 all five times, went up to 10, and now I'm on 20 sets, I was proper chuffed when I hit that. If you've got a nice clear target it makes all the difference. It gives you a reason to push yourself.

Next step now you can do the run would prob be to time it. If you can find landmarks on your run, ie. should be passing the shop at 5 mins, then you can break your targets down, and concentrate on each stage of your run rather than the entire thing. A good example where I do this is on the cross trainer. I use the calories as a guide, and try to keep them on target every minute. If I'm getting behind I work extra hard just up to the end of that minute, so I'm consitently on target.

[managemy]

If you are having problems making a cardio routine, you can get this workout planner here it is free free cardio software