A couple of questions....

P

pJaY

New member
I'm here trying to get a general idea on some things I've been pondering about...

I'll try to keep everything organized and hope I can get majority of the questions answered..


Cardio

-When is the best time to participate in Cardiovascular Activities? I can either do it in the morning when I wake up before work, or after work between class.

-Another thing, as a beginner should I gradually ease into cardio exercise or jump right in and try to run as far and as long as I can?


Nutrition

-During the morning, I usually have about 10-15 minutes to eat something, as I try to everyday. I usually stick to the good ol' cereal, but I was wondering if there was anything healthier to squeeze in that time frame.

-With class being rather late in the day, and studying carrying over until wee hours of the night, whats a healthy snack at say..11pm? I've been doing grapes and such, but it always seems to lead to something unhealthy.

Weight Training

-I'm trying to lose about 70lbs, should I weight train while I'm on this adventure?


Thanks to anybody who can help me with these questions, if you need anymore information, please post and I'll gladly reply.

Thanks again.
 
1) The best time to do cardio is when you have time. From your two options in the morning is perhaps better. Not because of metabolism, like many people claim, but because you will be more likely to do it than whe you arrive home from work (tired). But the best is to try and see which works best for you.

2) If you are a total beginner start slowly, but not too slowly. You should workout to the point where you will feel soar the next day, but not so soar that you will barely be able to move. This soareness will disappear after a couple weeks of practice, so it only works as a measure at the beginning. If you can measure, use your heart rate as a guide: work most of the time at 60 to 65% of your max (to find your max, subtract your age from 220) with a couple minutes here and there at 80%.

3) Cereal is healthy as a morning breakfast. If you have time, add a fruit to that, such as an apple or a pear (easy to eat, loads of fiber and vitamins).

4) Instead of grapes, try rice cakes, cereal bars or some fruit that makes you feel more satisfied, such as apples. For me grapes are like candies - you start to eat them and you get hungrier!

5) Yes. Your muscles won't grow as much as if you weren't on a diet, but since you are a beginner, they will get more defined and it will avoid getting floppy skin. Plus, it increases your metabolism and self-esteem and, in my opinion, is much less boring than cardio workouts.

Hope this helps :)
 
So far you've had two spammers reply to you. Sorry for that.

pJaY said:
Cardio

-When is the best time to participate in Cardiovascular Activities? I can either do it in the morning when I wake up before work, or after work between class.
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Doesn't matter, you're really splitting hairs. Place it in the day you feel most comfortable doing it.

-Another thing, as a beginner should I gradually ease into cardio exercise or jump right in and try to run as far and as long as I can?
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This isn't a race. At all.

Ease your way into it. Depending on your starting conditioning and stats, walking might be the first step. Build your way into moderate jogging (or whatever mode of your choice, doesn't have to be jogging).

Shoot for 20-60 minutes.

20 in the beginning.

40-60 once you're conditioning improves.


Nutrition

-During the morning, I usually have about 10-15 minutes to eat something, as I try to everyday. I usually stick to the good ol' cereal, but I was wondering if there was anything healthier to squeeze in that time frame.
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Most certainly.

For starters, most cereals suck in terms of nutritional values.

Secondly, there's hard boiled eggs, old fashioned oats, cottage cheese, whey protein, some fruit, etc, etc. I personally make a shake that contains 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 tbspn natural peanut butter, 1 scoop chocolate whey protein, 1 frozen banana, ice cubes.

-With class being rather late in the day, and studying carrying over until wee hours of the night, whats a healthy snack at say..11pm? I've been doing grapes and such, but it always seems to lead to something unhealthy.
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Anything that fits into your caloric and macronutrient goals. There's no hard fast rules here.

Weight Training

-I'm trying to lose about 70lbs, should I weight train while I'm on this adventure?
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If you are pressed for time Steve's solution of a shake is a good idea. It provides better nutritional value than most cereals and it satisfies your time crunch. Cottage cheese with fruit or yogurt with fruit would also be better choices.

If you like oatmeal then Quaker Oats came out with a weight control oatmeal that contains something like 7 gms of protein and 6 grams of fiber. This will help control the insulin spikes that can happen from eating plain cereals or oatmeal's that contain very little protein or fiber.

Jayson
 
Jayson_RD said:
If you are pressed for time Steve's solution of a shake is a good idea. It provides better nutritional value than most cereals and it satisfies your time crunch. Cottage cheese with fruit or yogurt with fruit would also be better choices.

If you like oatmeal then Quaker Oats came out with a weight control oatmeal that contains something like 7 gms of protein and 6 grams of fiber. This will help control the insulin spikes that can happen from eating plain cereals or oatmeal's that contain very little protein or fiber.

Jayson
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The sodium is extremely high on the Quaker Oatmeal weight loss oatmeal. I like the Kashi oatmeal. low in sugar and sodium.
 
I've decided that I'm going to do my cardio in the morning, so that I'm not as pressed for time and other people wanting to use the equipment. Our YMCA is rather small and it can get busy around 5.

I'm not a huge fan of oats or yogurt, but I can handle cottage cheese.This morning I had protein shake and a half an apple. I was rather surprised at how energized I was around 11 am, I'm not sure that had anything to do with food or exercise.

Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.
 
pJaY said:
I've decided that I'm going to do my cardio in the morning, so that I'm not as pressed for time and other people wanting to use the equipment. Our YMCA is rather small and it can get busy around 5.

I'm not a huge fan of oats or yogurt, but I can handle cottage cheese.This morning I had protein shake and a half an apple. I was rather surprised at how energized I was around 11 am, I'm not sure that had anything to do with food or exercise.

Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.
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I think (fwiw) that you may havhe been used to white processed flour for breakfast. When being broken down, it becomes a sugar that tends to bring you down, or tired. Since I cut out (mostly) white flour and stuck to wheat products, I have a ton more energy also. The carbs in the apple plus the protein shake will also help boost yourself up some.
 
Gator said:
I think (fwiw) that you may havhe been used to white processed flour for breakfast. When being broken down, it becomes a sugar that tends to bring you down, or tired.
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All carbs breakdown into sugar.
 
The way you worded your post regarding "a sugar" made it sound like white carbs breakdown into a unique sugar that makes you tired.

Just trying to keep things accurate here.
 
Also, after i get home from work or class, and have nothing to do, I feel like such a lazy bum. Like maybe I didn't work out enough, but I do atleast 30 minutes of cardio.

Also, would anyone suggest a begginer lifting program? My bench press right now is 135 and I get that a couple times. I'm not sure on my squat, deadlift, legpress or anything of that matter.
 
You simply want to start with 2-3 full body sessions per week.
 
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