New on this board and need some advice!

yalena · 10-Aug-05, 11:14 AM

Hello boys & girls!

I just registered today because I really want to work on my body. I'm from the netherlands 21 years old and live in amsterdam!

I have a body similiar to that of Jennifer Lopez or Shakira. I don't mind the fact that I have a big booty but I would like to have more muscles and less fat. Everything has to be more tight. I am about 1.70m tall (or short

) and weigh 58 kilos.

I don't have a good picture of myself, but I can show you how my body kind of looks like:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v222/Y...ent=fatima.jpg

I have slim legs and I don't want them to get bigger but a bit more muscular. My abs are not at allllll well defined

and I really want to work on that.

I have a round ass and I want it to be less jiggly if you know what I mean.

Basically I would love my body to look more like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...1-05-08-05.jpg

I think I can achieve something like this...

About my diet:
I am afraid that I am eating too little. I have stopped for years now with putting sugar in my drinks. I don't eat sweets and if I do I try to buy sugar free candy.
I don't eat "white" carbs so I try to only eat full grains.
I eat a lot of yoghurt (no fat almost no carbs) with fruit...
I try to eat breakfast as fast as I can after waking up..(heared somewhere that it's better than waiting)
I basically try to have a healthy diet but because I am so afraid of eating the wrong things or eating too much I tend to eat to little... There have been periods that I have been living under a 1000 calories a day. This has really ****ed up with my metabolism and I am afraid of gaining weight if I start eating normal.

I dont know what "diet" I should concider. I just want to eat regularly and healthy. I don't eat meat or eggs and I don't like food that are high in fat.
I can't get rid of all carbs (only the "bad" carbs) and try to eat at least 1's a week fish.

I just need something steady which I can follow and basically live the rest of my life like that.

About excercise:
I usually went four times a week to the gym and used to do 30 minutes of cardio at the beginning... 30 minutes weights and 30 minutes of cardio at the end.

I stopped excercising because it was too boring. I just could not get in to it. I did feel better afterwards but it became too much of the same thing everytime.

I like swimming so my question is: Can I achieve a lean body (so I mean more muscles than fat) by swimming extensively? Or is it only achievable by fitness?

I hope somebody can help me with a good eating habit and a good way to achieve my desirable body!

Thanks...

**threenorns** · 10-Aug-05, 11:27 AM

there are four things you need to achieve your goals:

a PROPER diet! like it or not, that means you need to eat carbs, protein, and fats in the proper proportion and in the proper quantities. perhaps you could start with a 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat split. calorie-wise, NO LESS than 1500 a day or your body will, as you noticed, screw your metabolism and make long-term survival (fat storage) the number one priority. if you stopped eating meat just for calorie control, you're gonna have to start eating it again. if you're a vegetarian by choice, then you need to get enough protein from eggs, dairy, legumes, etc. use a site like www.fitday.com to plan and monitor what you're eating.
cardio - the best is a mix of low- and high-intensity cardio up to six days a week. you can swim, jog, run, walk, use a treadmill/elliptical trainer/stairmaster/versaclimber, do aerobic classes, home video aerobics, carmen electra's "striptease aerobics", tae bo, drag a sled - there are SO many alternatives out there that "boredom" is a lame excuse.
strength training - you MUST stimulate your muscles in order to grow more metabolically-active muscle tissue to replace what you've lost through starvation practicing. there are quite a few good beginner routines posted in here - pick one and go with it.
consistency - you have to make this your NUMBER ONE priority. a half-assed "on today unless somethign more interesting comes along" approach just isn't going to cut it.

**Lady C** · 10-Aug-05, 11:40 AM

What she said (3N)! If you need help planning any of the diet and the workout, just ask! We will help where we can.

yalena · 10-Aug-05, 11:58 AM

Thanks for your help threenorns. Consistency is one of my big problems.. I need to work on a good plan and your advice about the 40/40/20 (protein/carb/fat) might help me with that. I've already registered at the FitDay website and it's handy when it comes to knowing the percentages of protein/carb/fat intake.

I will read the rest of the site and I am sure I will find some good tips.

I've heared many times people say on different health related boards that it is best to split your meals over a day. For example in stead of three meals a day ( like most people do) you eat six smaller meals a day.
Is it really that benefical?

**Lady C** · 10-Aug-05, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yalena

For example in stead of three meals a day ( like most people do) you eat six smaller meals a day. Is it really that benefical?

Yes, it is. It helps regulate your body's insulin and glucose as well as your metabolism. Try it for 1 month and see if you like the results. The hardest part is getting the meal sizes not too big or too small. My rule of thumb is if you are hungry in 2-1/2 to 3 hours you ate about right. If you are not hungry in 3 hours, you ate too much.