Losing weight and getting fit and eating healthy

[Escobar2390]

I'm 5'8 and weight about 230lbs I know im over weight but I'm am very muscular and can run without getting winded.I am a female and im 18

WORKOUT


I am starting out running/jogging/walking 6 to 7 miles a day 5 to 6 days a week.I dont get winded and I let my body rest right after so no sorness or anything my body can handle it.

I will be going to the gym 2 times a day possibly running 3.5 miles in the morning and 3.5 miles in the evening ....also I want to lift weights in the process so 3 day out of the week weigh training but



I havent started lifting weights yet,but i do at least 200 push-ups a day, and 200 sit-ups a day .I need advice on liftting weights never lifted before always a push-ups kind of girl and let me tell you im pretty built with my arms thou they need some work.so any advice on lower body and upper body workouts.



DIET

Morning:eat 1 cup of oatmeal=400 calories with 3 tbsp of brown sugar that=45 calories together with an apple,orange,or a bannana and drink only water

Lunch:1 cup of oatmeal=400 calories with 3 tbsp of brown sugar that=45 calories together with an apple,orange,or a bannana and drink only water

Dinner:1 skinless chicken breast=100 calories with a salad with low fat ranch dressing and fruit for dessert with only water

I dont get time to eat snacks cause im attending Santa ana college and so after i eat breakfest i go to school i get hungry but dont eat anything cause i dont want to ruin my diet with already package foods with lots of calories so i dont get out of school till 3:00 and thats my lunch and i eat dinner at like 8 or 9 ...

So please I really need advice on lifting weights for lower and upper body...

also,

what do you guys think of my diet ?

How long do you think i will lose 70 to 80 pounds with my diet and current cardio workout?

so please any advice on what and what not to do is welcome

[schlepter]

One thing I would recommend would be to break your diet down into 5-6 meals. I'd also check into increasing your caloric intake. It sounds like you are under 1000 calories a day, which is too little. Do a search for calorie calculators online. You'll see that even without exercise, you're probably burning 2000 calories or more. You add in the running and you are actually starving yourself and won't lose weight. I know it seems weird to eat more to lose weight, but you'd be surprised. Just keep a nice balance of Protein/Fat/Carbs, and you'll be good to go.

[edpmedic]

www.musclewithattitude.com

[NorcalMike]

Wow, you are not eating much and working out alot. This is not a good thing. Your body is in starvation mode. You aren't eating enough protien to sustain your muscle mass. Lifting weights requires proper diet with and adequate amount of protien to support muscle repair. So you need to change your diet first.

Second, you say you want to begin lifting weights but what is your goal, weight loss, getting stronger, or looking better? With out any info on your goal it would be difficult to give you much advise.

[Escobar2390]

my goal is to get fit to be a firefighter the two things that i need to do is to lose weight and keep my muscle mass i mean push ups are ok but i need an all around workout and its not about looking good for me i just want to become fit for the job as a firefighter.....

SO once again my to goals are to lose weight and to keep my muscle while losing weight thats why i want to lift weights 3 times a week while doing cardio.

And to anwser to the first reply is i know it looks like 1000 calories but its not i eat more like extra bowl of oat meal or more chicken brest, and i want to but protien powder does anyone know a ggood brand?

[edpmedic]

www.crossfit.com. When I was preparing for the cpat, I decided that it would be a good idea to increase my strength/performance to weight ratio. This website helped me the most, along with t-nation.com, which is connected to musclewithattitude.com. I use optimum nutrition gold standard 100% whey, double rich chocolate flavor. It tastes good enough to sprinkle in cereal. Hope this helpes.

[NorcalMike]

I gotta agree with edp. Crossfit is a great way to get in shape for firefighting. The biggest problem is that many people aren't able to do the workouts as prescribed. BrandX martial arts publishes scaled workouts for beginners. www.brandxmartialarts.com

If you have never done any serious strength training, you might check out the book Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. It provides a strong basic program for building strength.

As far as your diet goes, you need to figure out how much you are really eating. Measuring and writing down every thing then calculate the calories. The only way to gain strength is to have proper diet. You need the proper amount of protien, carbs, and fat. And cut out the sugar. It will screw everything up.

[resQengine]

Just want to agree with what others here have said. I definatley think you need to eat more throughout the day. You need to keep your metabolism up. There are plenty of snacks that are available that are not candy bars or potatoe chips. Good Luck

[MadClown]

CrossFit is without a doubt the best workout for losing weight, you get cardio and strength training at the same time.

Eat 5-6 meals a day and think "clean food" if it wasn't grown or killed don't eat it. Processed food is your worst enemy in losing weight.

I have lost alot of weight in the last few months. CrossFit is the hardest workout you can get and you can complete the workout faster than going to a traditional gym. Just make sure you do the workouts correctly or you could end up with an injury that sets you back.

[mitllesmertz1]

I'm 5'8 and weight about 230lbs
i do at least 200 push-ups a day, and 200 sit-ups a day
I'm just trying to figure out your baseline fitness level here.
You are capable of doing 200 pushups?
Since I rarely see females, or many males, capable of doing 10 push-ups, I'm curious about this.
Since you state you haven't trained extensively with weights in the past, how did you build up the amount of upper body strength required for this impressive feat?
Since you are only 18, I'm not sure how long you could have been training, but I guess if you started when you were 12, that would make sense.

5'8" and 230 is the height/weight of many NFL running backs.
http://chicagosports.sportsdirectinc...s/roster8.html
NFL Football Teams

So I guess if you are ripped at 5%-8% body fat, that's an ok size; if you are a little less ripped than an NFL running back, I would guess that 5'8" and 230lb would be a tad bit overweight.

Either way, the whole mystery about what to eat is rather easy.
Ignore the fads or trends, ignore Oprah.
Eat less calories, burn more calories.
Increase your calorie burning by working out more.
Decrease your calorie intake by eating smaller portions, and eating healthier foods.
Less fats, more lean foods.

It's not real hard, it's just the basics really.
Eat less, work more, eat healthy.

Good Luck

[Escobar2390]

thanks for the advice to Ignore the fads or trends, and ignore Oprah. lol that was a good one, but yeah your kind of right about me doing 200 push ups but note I said per a day, anyways I started at age 12 i figured at that age doing push ups its just gonna help me in the furture so thats when i started not at 200 a day but i just builded up to that i could do more a day but i dont want to be sore the next day so been doing push up for like 6 years every day gave me that ability...

oh and about my diet I do eat atleast 1200 to 1300 calories a day you guys and i only eat Oat meal,tuna,chicken breast,salad,fruits thats it and i only drink water.

Ok and about my Cardio and weight training i'm doing weight traning on Monday.wensdays,fridays upper body one day then lower body the next and so on moday-upper body,wensday-lower,friday-upper,the the next week monday-lower body, wensday-upper,friday-lowet and it goes on like that but on my weight training days i want to do cardio to so is 30 mins or 3.5 miles a good idea?cause i know my body can handle it i just want to do cardio 6 days a week so what do you guys think?

[agavegrove]

I'm 5'8 and weight about 230lbs I know im over weight but I'm am very muscular and can run without getting winded.I am a female and im 18

WORKOUT
am starting out running/jogging/walking 6 to 7 miles a day 5 to 6 days a week.I dont get winded and I let my body rest right after so no sorness or anything my body can handle it.

I will be going to the gym 2 times a day possibly running 3.5 miles in the morning and 3.5 miles in the evening ....also I want to lift weights in the process so 3 day out of the week weigh training but

Out of the run/jog/walk. How much is running? How much is walking? My only caution is if you go to the gym and try to run/jog that far, that much, you run the risk of developing overuse injuries - stress fractures, etc, etc. Especially if your legs are bearing extra weight. You're on the right track though. You can rest 1 day in between your running days and still maintain the benefits of the cardio workout. At the gym, consider starting out with only 1 time a day running.

What form of pushups are you doing to get 200? I'd like to know so I can try to get 200 pushups.

[Drjmilus]

Looking at your diet, I would say that you are eating almost all carbs until dinner. This will make you store fat! Eat at least 3 egg whites with your breakfast. Add a chicken breast at lunch, and add cut up raw vegetables as snacks between meals.

This will lower the glycemic index of your meals, thus shut down your fat storage/insulin reaction process, and allow your body to absorb more protein, and put on more lean body mass. This process will increase if you are training with weights. This shift will, over time, change your body composition.

As mentioned above, 5'8" and 230... to be lean, effective and healthy, I would suggest you lose 50 lbs. over about a 2 year period. Lifting weights and eating better will make you look like you lost more than that... you'll put on alot of muscle mass. You have age on your side. Get going.

If you can really do 200 push ups... I am sure you don't mean back to back, but in several sets of 25? or more? If so, you have alot of upper body strength. Make sure you do wide set hands on your push ups.

Start doing pull ups and chin ups. You don't need to get fancy, but going to gym can be motivational. Seeing other people work hard inspires me... and I think alot of other folks would agree.

200 crunches/sit ups a day? Work up to 1000 every day, and we are talking, girl.

Also, start weight training with your legs. Women carry (relative to body mass) alot of muscle mass in their lower body. Use that to your advantage. Do leg presses, leg curls, stiff legged dead lifts, leg extensions. Make your you do as many sets of hamstring (back of leg) work as you do quad work, our your knees will pay later.

I would start circuit training some too. Here's an article about it: http://www.fireagility.com/articles.php
Scroll down to firehouse butt-kickin' circuit training.

I agree with the above post. Only run 3 days a week. What you are doing is hard on your knees. Do circuit training, interval training and or weight training the other 3 days.

You are young, so you have time. Alot of hard work lies ahead for you.
Good luck and stay healthy!

Dr. Jen
www.fireagility.com

[ncmilano]

Go get an accurate Body fat Measurement.
Cardio Am Before breakfast, Alternate days of Running and days on the Eliptical. Do 45 mins upon waking.

Diet Wise
Breakfast 1/2 Cup Oats, use Splenda and Cinnamon, drop the brown sugar
1 Whole Egg, 5-6 egg whites
Snack 1-2 Scoops of whey protein
Lunch Whole Wheat Bread, Low fat mayo, turkey, roast beef etc
a small handful of baked lays
Snack 1-2 scoops of whey
Dinner 1/2lb chicken, steak fish, sweet potato, potato, or salad

Dont eat after dinner

Good Luck, Remember it took a long time to put on those 50-80lbs will take a long time to lose it. Just keep working out eating right, and try to avoid the cheat meals. Every now and then is Ok, but No meal is going to make you feel as good as hitting your weight, looking good and feeling good.

Also try not to over train, 1 hour a day is plenty, in your case, I would advise to just drop the lifting all together and just do cardio, and ab work.. Once you lose a good amount of weight then hit the weights again..