Those Last 5 Pounds
- Thread starter Sabasteen
- Start date
It sounds like your body is just used to your routine at this point. As far as your diet goes, it's really not bad. Just make sure you are staying at the lower end of the 1700-1900 calories range that you mentioned. Keep up the small meals throughout the day. The only thing I would suggest is adding more fruits and vegetables. It looks like at this point they are severely lacking. How about replacing your "treat" at night with something more healthy like a piece of fruit?
For exercise, you really need to challenge your body. Right now your workout is... mediocre at best. Just because you have the joint problems doesn't mean there isn't some other form of intense cardio that you can do. Have you tried the elliptical machine? Very easy on the joints and you can get an excellent cardio work out. I would suggest joining a gym so you have access to a wide variety of cardio and strength training equipment. Plan to be at the gym for about an hour five or six days a week. Use the elliptical at a high intensity for 20 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes. Alternate the intensity by adding in some sprints periodically, it will really help you burn the fat.
You said you wanted to get toned, which is a BS word. What you want to do is build some muscle and the only way to do that is with strength training. Without going into a bunch of details here, you're going to have a pretty tough time doing this at home with a couple of dumbbells. If you really have no idea where to start, research some weight training online or even schedule a session with a trainer at the gym. They will be able to get you started on a routine. As long as you stick with this, the fat will drop off in no time.
For exercise, you really need to challenge your body. Right now your workout is... mediocre at best. Just because you have the joint problems doesn't mean there isn't some other form of intense cardio that you can do. Have you tried the elliptical machine? Very easy on the joints and you can get an excellent cardio work out. I would suggest joining a gym so you have access to a wide variety of cardio and strength training equipment. Plan to be at the gym for about an hour five or six days a week. Use the elliptical at a high intensity for 20 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes. Alternate the intensity by adding in some sprints periodically, it will really help you burn the fat.
You said you wanted to get toned, which is a BS word. What you want to do is build some muscle and the only way to do that is with strength training. Without going into a bunch of details here, you're going to have a pretty tough time doing this at home with a couple of dumbbells. If you really have no idea where to start, research some weight training online or even schedule a session with a trainer at the gym. They will be able to get you started on a routine. As long as you stick with this, the fat will drop off in no time.
Thanks for the advice! I will look into making some of these minor, but important changes.
Last edited:
theleip
2
OKay from what I gathered, and I never say this, I think your calories on AVERAGE might be a little high for you to get good fat loss churning based on your workouts/daily activity. Now if you kick up your training program then this is a great caloric range for you.
As far as your diet it isn't bad at all. Unless you are trying to get competition lean I think you will find success, just make sure overall you focus on good protein intake with EVERY MEAL and good fats.
Training is the area you need to really fix. Now if you have a serious joint/muscle problem you need to get it looked at and figure out what you can do. I do not feel comfortable advising you too much on a program if you are dealing with an injury. That being said if you get the okay to go forth into a program here is what I recommend as a general starting point for all...
2-3 days a week of Full Body resistance training focusing on compound movements. 6-8 exercises overall for the large muscle groups (ie: 1 exercise for chest, 1 for glutes, 1 for upper back, etc.)
3-4 days of aerobic training working on a continuing increase of intensity and possibly working towards HIIT.
The main thing to remember is every workout you should reach a point you didn't in the previous, no two workouts should be the same as far as your results.
You do that, pick up the pace of your workouts, really get some intensity in there and you are golden and shedding that fat!
Some great advice given already but just thougth I'd expand on it a little.
If you are down to losing your last 5 pounds then your calories are definitely too high. Your BMR is around 1400 and so I think with the activity you're doing you'd be lucky to be breaking even over the course of the week.
What I would like you to do though is to get yourself a journal and write down absolutely everything you are consuming in fine detail. You can still eat low-fat and put on weight so portion size is very important.
Exercise is very important toward the end of your journey so like the others have mentioned I would definitely look at that. As a general rule I advise people to keep their heart rate over 120bpm over the course of the session. Obviously if you have a base fitness level then higher is better.
With clients with injuries I like to use Compound Circuits. Like Leigh P. said use compound exercises (one's where more than one joint moves), but do them in a circuit format (eg. do one set on chest then move on to one set of back, then one set on legs, and so on). As you won't have the localised fatigue of doing exercises back-to-back you will be abe to get your heart rate right up as you'll be working these large muscles non-stop.
Ray
If you are down to losing your last 5 pounds then your calories are definitely too high. Your BMR is around 1400 and so I think with the activity you're doing you'd be lucky to be breaking even over the course of the week.
What I would like you to do though is to get yourself a journal and write down absolutely everything you are consuming in fine detail. You can still eat low-fat and put on weight so portion size is very important.
Exercise is very important toward the end of your journey so like the others have mentioned I would definitely look at that. As a general rule I advise people to keep their heart rate over 120bpm over the course of the session. Obviously if you have a base fitness level then higher is better.
With clients with injuries I like to use Compound Circuits. Like Leigh P. said use compound exercises (one's where more than one joint moves), but do them in a circuit format (eg. do one set on chest then move on to one set of back, then one set on legs, and so on). As you won't have the localised fatigue of doing exercises back-to-back you will be abe to get your heart rate right up as you'll be working these large muscles non-stop.
Ray