Hey there

[WanderlustGirl]

Hi everyone! I am a full-time college student, pre-vet, and work about 20 hours a week. I also want to lose at least 20 lbs, and have wanted to lose it for a long time (I am currently 175lbs and 5'3'). My problem, fairly obviously, is that I just have so little time to devote to longer workouts. At home I have a treadmill, recumbent bike, and a few sets of weights. A while back I was able to lose about 10 lbs, but I have gained it all back over the past few months. So time to start again! My plan right now is to try to keep my calories at no more than around 1,700 per day, do a 20 minute ab workout (I can post the video I use if you want) and 10 minutes of weights at least 5 days a week, and do an additional 30-45 minutes of cardio at least twice a week. I normally hike fairly regularly during the summer, so I will be resuming that in a couple of months as well. Plus, in a couple of weeks I will be backpacking with a couple of friends, about 40 miles in 3-4 days, so I'm sure I'll lose a bit during that period lol.
Does this plan sound ok for weight loss? I would like to try to lose 3ish pounds per month, and hopefully more than that once school is out.

 

[MrNiceGuy1]

Hello WanderlustGirl and a welcome return to the forum.

First off, given that you possess access to both a treadmill and a recumbent bike, with a little self-discipline, the route towards achieving your goal lies very much in your own hands.

Secondly, although you’ve stated that you intend to keep your calorie intake to 1700Kcal, ensure that the daily amount sufficiently meets your BMR (research BMR calculators). Consume more calories than your recommended BMR and it’ll hinder your level of weight loss, but consume fewer calories than your BMR and you won’t be providing your body with sufficient energy to fuel your endeavour.

Get your energy balance just right (between calories consumed and those expended through exercise), however, and you’ll comfortably lose 1-3lbs per week. The level of weekly loss will depend upon how much energy you’re expending through exercise.

By consuming sufficient calories to satisfy your BMR, weight loss occurs by utilising the energy stored in existing levels of stored fat. The more intense the level of exercise, the more calories you’ll expend in the process, as your body will switch to burning fat once glycogen has been depleted from within your muscles.

And this is where the treadmill and recumbent bike enter the equation. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, allowing you to maintain a higher intensity of exercise for longer you’ll increase your fat burning capability, with eventual aim of progressing towards HIIT.

To assist in your goal towards eventually performing HIIT on both the bike and the treadmill, begin to perform slightly harder intervals, followed by periods of rest.

For example, upon the bike and the treadmill, perform the following:

Bike:

2min @ level 7

1 min @ level 5

Repeat five times.

Treadmill:

2 mins @ 7mph

1 min @ 4mph

Repeat 5 times.

The levels and speeds are purely representational, so feel free to adjust them to meet your current level of fitness, aiming to increase your cardio sessions to 3-4 occasions a week.

Concerning resistance training, provided you’re incorporating compound movements (squats/shoulder press/bent over row), you probably only need to exercise with weights 2-3 times a week.

Equally, since you intend to begin hiking over the coming days, the activity will help to strengthen/tone the muscles in your legs and derriere, in addition to burning a host of calories in the process, so possibly consider incorporating the above upon your return home.