Sport don't know where to begin

Sport Fitness
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NeuroRN76

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My head is spinning reading through all these threads, trying to find something that may work for me.

Here's my deal. I've been underweight for most of my life. After a period in my life where I had been ill and stressed out, I lost a lot of weight (20 pounds) -- down to 95 pounds. I am 29, and 5' 6". I looked like a skeleton, and people would often ask me if I was sick, some even thought I was dying. It was bad. So I promised I'd try to gain weight, and started eating a LOT. Well who knew it would work so well? :p Actually my thyroid became UNDERACTIVE, which slowed my metabolism down drastically. I have put on 20 pounds in the last 5 months. I am currently taking 50 mcg Synthroid daily, and this has stabilized the weight gain, as my metabolism slowly returns to normal. It will take a couple more months before my thyroid is fully functioning again. My endocrinologist told me to stop panicking, that my body is just trying to "normalize" and get back to my normal weight before I became ill.

Now, here's my thing. I NEEDED to gain that weight. I was not healthy at that weight, and I was tired and sick ALL THE TIME. I had virtually no immune system. Now, I feel GREAT. I have energy again, people tell me I look healthier, I feel healthier. But I don't like what I see in the mirror. Because all the weight I gained, was FAT weight. No muscle, and I haven't really had any muscle tone since my son was born 10 yrs ago. They atrophied when I was on bedrest during the 8 mos of my pregnancy, and 2 mos for my C-section. It's like I never recovered. My muscles are not used to doing any real "work" and I feel pretty weak.

According to that calculator, I should be consuming 1700 calories a day to maintain my weight, being lightly active. (I plan on starting some sort of workout, but I must hire a personal trainer first because I don't know where to begin.) So if I wanted to lose weight, I'd subtract 500 calories from that... which would allow me 1200 cal a day. Doesn't seem like very much. But I don't really want to lose WEIGHT, I think 115 is a healthy weight for my height and body type (very small frame). But I want to lose the fat and tone the muscle, so do I still subtract the calories or not? This is so difficult.

I am prepared to modify my lifestyle. I am trying to count calories, I'm reading labels for the first time in my life. I purchased a membership to the local Natatorium (like a glorified YMCA), and plan to swim, do yoga, cardio, and weight bearing exercises... I just don't know how much or how often.

Can someone please point me in the right direction?
 
What you want to do is build muscle and loose the same weight in body fat, so your body weight remains the same. So, you need to eat your maintenance calorie level to start with and see how it goes as you begin exercising. After a few weeks you may need to add some calories to make up for the calories your burn exercising. Any decent personnal trainer should be able to help you with your diet as well as exercise plan (although there are a lot of lousy personal trainers out there). A good whole body weight training routine 3 times a week would be a good place to start.
 
It can feel overwhelming at first, but it gets easier.

Keeping up with your food intake is a good place to start. Knowing what and how much you are eating really gives you a guideline to go by. I would agree with the previous post that you should stay around your maintenance caloric intake.

As you build more muscle mass, it will help your metabolism to rise, as muscle requires more to build and maintain itself. This will help to reduce fat. However, in your situation, I strongly recommend that you go by your body measurements and/or how your clothes fit instead of the scale. Muscle is more dense than fat, meaning 1 sq inch of muscle will weigh more than 1 sq inch of fat. So, don't be alarmed if you see a slight increase on the scale.
 
Thank you. I am cutting out all fast food, fried food, and the only beverage I'm going to drink is water. I think if I do that alone, I shouldn't have to scrutinize over every calorie.

Now for my workout... do you suggest starting with cardio and then moving up to weights? Like Nautilus weights? How long should I be doing this, like an hour a day, 3 times per week, or more? Maybe 30 min cardio, then 30 min weights?
 
Full body weights, 3 times a week, about 40 minutes:
1. squats or lunges
2. stiff legged deadlift
3. bench press or incline bench press
4. bent row
5. military press
6. crunches/sit ups/leg raises
Start with 2 sets of 15 reps and try to increase the weights every week. After about 6 weeks change to 3 sets of 10 reps.
I am not sure you really need cardio to start, but you can do 20 minutes of HIIT (high intensity interval training) twice a week if yuo are up to it.
 
The Nautilus machines can be a good place to start if you don't have experience doing free weights. Many of the new ones have instructions posted on the machines, complete with pictures and which muscles are targeted. (you still should get a trainer or knowledgable gym employee to show you)

My gym has a complete set of Nautilus machines in a circuit in addition to all the other stuff. It's actually a nice way to get acquanted with the workout world. Check into the gyms in your area and see what they offer.

As for cutting out junk food, sodas, and fast food, yes, that alone will probably make a difference initially. You don't need to obsess over every last bite that goes into your mouth, but watch out for hidden calories and fats (like salad dressings on salads, or mayo on sandwiches, etc).
 
NeuroRN76 said:
Thank you. I am cutting out all fast food, fried food, and the only beverage I'm going to drink is water. I think if I do that alone, I shouldn't have to scrutinize over every calorie.
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One think you could do is “wean” yourself off those foods over time instead of quitting cold turkey. A new workout can be hard enough, but when you completely change your diet, it can be a little bit overwhelming and cause you to quit. But of course you know yourself better than I do so you may have the kind of willpower and determination.

Best of luck!
 
No, you're right.. I did very well all night long (I work night shift.) I ate every 2 hours, (I HAVE to because I have an ulcer and it KILLS me when my stomach is empty.) First I had a banana, later had a cup of soup (100 cal), then an apple, later had a Lean Cuisine meal (250 cal), then one more cup of soup (60 cal). I drank water all night, except for a cup of green tea. Now this morning I couldn't pass up the scrambled eggs and potatoes with a chocolate milk. I know that just ruined it all, but it was just my first day trying. I'll do better as time goes by!
 
NeuroRN76 said:
I ate every 2 hours, (I HAVE to because I have an ulcer and it KILLS me when my stomach is empty.) First I had a banana, later had a cup of soup (100 cal), then an apple, later had a Lean Cuisine meal (250 cal), then one more cup of soup (60 cal).
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First of all, 5'6 and 115 (?) is still very small for your height. Second, that's only roughly 500 calories listed above. No wonder you were hungry the next day! You need at least 1200 calories a day. Find a calorie calculator (search this site), to find out how much you really should be eating to maintain. You'll need to eat even more than that if you want to gain muscle, but there's no way you should eat just 500 calories a day to maintain your weight. Just my 2cents.
 
kaleigh said:
First of all, 5'6 and 115 (?) is still very small for your height. Second, that's only roughly 500 calories listed above. No wonder you were hungry the next day! You need at least 1200 calories a day. Find a calorie calculator (search this site), to find out how much you really should be eating to maintain. You'll need to eat even more than that if you want to gain muscle, but there's no way you should eat just 500 calories a day to maintain your weight. Just my 2cents.
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That was what I ate while at work in place of my usual fast food meals... that wasn't counting the meal I had before I went in, and don't forget the scrambled eggs, potatoes (and I later had a piece of ham too) when I got home. I work night shift, I said "morning" because it's morning to you folks, but that was bedtime for me. I had a TON of calories that day!

My original plan was to stay at this weight and "replace" the fat by building muscle. But I think even 115 pounds is a lot for my body frame, you can't always go by height. I have a very small frame, very thin bones, with a petite appearance. Even my own doctor said I should be around 110, so it's not my imagination that I felt overweight at 115. Although now, I am back down to 110, but I don't look any different. I look at my pictures, and I think I was happiest at 105-108. I think I will try to just lose a little bit more since it seems to be coming off a lot easier and faster than I thought. (I dieted for 6 days and lost 5 pounds... this is my second week, and I seem to have lost another pound, but could be water weight.) I'm not really interested in gaining muscle anymore -- as an ectomorph, my body is just not designed to have a lot of muscle mass. But I'd still like to tone/firm what I've got. I think despite having hypothyroidism, I'm still blessed with a fast metabolism.. I was just eating too much junk. Now that I'm eating "clean" -- the fat is melting away.

With a body frame like mine, even a couple pounds makes a big difference. Maybe you can't tell since I'm posing in one pic, and casually standing in the other, but trust me -- I gained a lot of fat in those extra 7 pounds. In the first pic, I was a size 6. In the second pic, I can barely fit my ass into a 7-8. I'm wearing size 9's, but they're a little loose. If I could just fit into my size 6's again, I'd be happy. This stuff was/is all new to me, but I think I was aiming too high when I said I'd like to gain muscle. I think I will get into Pilates and just tone and tighten. That's probably more along the lines of what I was thinking when I came to this forum, I just didn't know how to say it.

And by the way... when I give my weight, I'm talking about first thing in the morning, nude. If I weigh myself in the evening after meals, with clothes and shoes on while at work, I weigh around 116-120. That might make more sense to you, but I still feel the naked weight in the morning is more accurate.
 
Hi,
I was very underweight like you for a long time. So glad we're both at healthier weights now! I have the same very small frame, tiny bones like you.

I do thin that 1200 cals is most likely too low. I can't be positive since I don't know every little detail, but that's my guess. Calorie calculators can be off. Sometimes they tell you what is accurate for you, but other times not. There are many many factors to take in to consideration when determining the right calories. If what you want to do is lose fat, try making small decreases in your total calories and just cleaning up the foods you eat. Stick to less processed foods and eat with a good balance of carbs and protein.

If you have not been exercising regularly I would not start with HIIT for cardio. It's something to try once you've been exercising for a while. With your frame I doubt that you would gain much muscle from weight trianing unless you really really tried. So you might want to give it a try.

Please let me know if I can help at all!

Sarah
 
THANK YOU, Sarah! I will check out your site. Yeah I don't really think 1200 calories is enough for maintenance either, but I have changed my mind on what my goals are since starting this diet. I am becoming increasingly unhappy with my body, and I'd feel better if I could lose another 5 pounds. So I think I will stay around 1200 calories for now, and will increase as I increase my activity, and once I reach my goal.. I'll gear towards my maintenance calories (around 1600-1700). I'm ready to start my workout now, but will probably start with cardio since that's all I really know how to do. I hope to work up to a pilates workout, and maybe someday even martial arts. Maybe I'm just dreaming, but I'd really like to have something more to do with my free time instead of sitting on the computer moping about my out of shape body!
 
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