Wedding Dresses Boutique

My plan – feedback?

Question:

Ok, so I’ve been sorta up and down wrt diet and exercise in the last few months. Some stressful work times combined with vacations made it difficult for me to stay focused and motivated. But I feel rather motivated now, and I have a pretty good plan (I think) and I’d love to get some feedback on it. I currently weigh about 161 lbs. My heighest weight ever was 173, which I hit in 2001. During the fall of 2001, I dieted and exercised myself down to 154, but then went off plan and gained much of that back. I got up to about 170 last fall, and again dieted and exercised down to my present weight of 161. Right now, I work out Tues/Thurs and Sat/Sun. On T, T and Sat, I do weight lifting + about 40 minutes of cardio, usually treadmill – fast pace (3.5+ mph with an incline – heart beat between 140 and 150). On Sunday I just do the 40 mins cardio with no weight lifting. I joined efitness.com and got workouts from them. I selected biceps, triceps and shoulders as areas I really wanted to focus on (I’ve got to wear a strapless dress in October for my wedding ). Here’s the routine they’ve spelled out for me today: 5-10 minutes warm up (I usually do 5 minutes on the treadmill) Kneeling side leg kicks                 2 sets of 12 reps Barbell wide stance squat             2 sets of 12 reps (haven’t done this yet, so not sure about weight) Dumbell Flat chest fly                   2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell wide grip upright row    2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Barbell close grip upright row       2 sets of 12 reps  (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell concentration curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Machine Tricep Extension            2 sets of 12 reps (I usually do this on the lowest setting of the machine, which is 20 lbs) Standing calf raise                        2 sets of 12 reps Cable Kneeling Rope crunch        2 sets of 12 reps  (haven’t done this yet, so not sure     about weight) Dumbbell double biceps curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Barbell Military press                    2 sets of 12 reps Machine dips ….And that’s a sorta typical routine. Of course sometimes there are more leg and ab work. But mostly it’s very focused on arms and shoulders. I realize that you can’t just say "oh that’s perfect" or "do 3 sets instead of 2!" but I thought in general some of you could give me some feedback on this routine/schedule. Also, I am trying to stick to 1600 calories per day (although last night was a binge and I ate about 2500 calories…oops). I used to adjust my calories based on whether I worked out or not (so if I burned 300 calories working out, I’d eat an extra 300 calories to bring my intake up to 1600), but I don’t think that really helped so much. I’m just going to try to stick to 1600 no matter what. Is that a good idea, or should I adjust on days that I burn calories through workout? Oh yeah, efitness.com gave me a goal weight of 134, so that’s what I’m going to try for. I’m 5′5" with a medium build (also somewhat curvy). Sorry for the long post. Thanks for taking the time to read it if you got this far Cheryl 173/161/134

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, so I’ve been sorta up and down wrt diet and exercise in the last few months. Some stressful work times combined with vacations made it difficult for me to stay focused and motivated. But I feel rather motivated now, and I have a pretty good plan (I think) and I’d love to get some feedback on it. I currently weigh about 161 lbs. My heighest weight ever was 173, which I hit in 2001. During the fall of 2001, I dieted and exercised myself down to 154, but then went off plan and gained much of that back. I got up to about 170 last fall, and again dieted and exercised down to my present weight of 161. Right now, I work out Tues/Thurs and Sat/Sun. On T, T and Sat, I do weight lifting + about 40 minutes of cardio, usually treadmill – fast pace (3.5+ mph with an incline – heart beat between 140 and 150). On Sunday I just do the 40 mins cardio with no weight lifting. I joined efitness.com and got workouts from them. I selected biceps, triceps and shoulders as areas I really wanted to focus on (I’ve got to wear a strapless dress in October for my wedding ). Here’s the routine they’ve spelled out for me today: 5-10 minutes warm up (I usually do 5 minutes on the treadmill) Kneeling side leg kicks                 2 sets of 12 reps Barbell wide stance squat             2 sets of 12 reps (haven’t done this yet, so not sure about weight) Dumbell Flat chest fly                   2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell wide grip upright row    2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Barbell close grip upright row       2 sets of 12 reps  (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell concentration curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Machine Tricep Extension            2 sets of 12 reps (I usually do this on the lowest setting of the machine, which is 20 lbs) Standing calf raise                        2 sets of 12 reps Cable Kneeling Rope crunch        2 sets of 12 reps  (haven’t done this yet, so not sure     about weight) Dumbbell double biceps curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Barbell Military press                    2 sets of 12 reps Machine dips ….And that’s a sorta typical routine. Of course sometimes there are more leg and ab work. But mostly it’s very focused on arms and shoulders. I realize that you can’t just say "oh that’s perfect" or "do 3 sets instead of 2!" but I thought in general some of you could give me some feedback on this routine/schedule. Also, I am trying to stick to 1600 calories per day (although last night was a binge and I ate about 2500 calories…oops). I used to adjust my calories based on whether I worked out or not (so if I burned 300 calories working out, I’d eat an extra 300 calories to bring my intake up to 1600), but I don’t think that really helped so much. I’m just going to try to stick to 1600 no matter what. Is that a good idea, or should I adjust on days that I burn calories through workout? Oh yeah, efitness.com gave me a goal weight of 134, so that’s what I’m going to try for. I’m 5′5" with a medium build (also somewhat curvy). Sorry for the long post. Thanks for taking the time to read it if you got this far Cheryl 173/161/134

Don’t know about your weight routine – it’s a lot different than mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not adequate.  To me, it looks like alot of isolation exercises, and not much compound stuff.  You really want to work on lower body too, because those are the biggest muscles in the body, and you can make big gains there as far as adding muscle mass.  As for calories, I’d shoot for the 1600 all the time, since you want to lose weight and that’s 10 x bodyweight.  With the weights, make sure you’re getting a good amount of protein – I won’t say you have to have 1g per lb of bodyweight, but get at least 100g per day. determined p.s. – if you’re brave, you could post your weight routine at mfw…

Response:

<snip Don’t know about your weight routine – it’s a lot different than mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not adequate.  To me, it looks like alot of isolation exercises, and not much compound stuff.  You really want to work on lower body too, because those are the biggest muscles in the body, and you can make big gains there as far as adding muscle mass.

Good point. Now what’s a compound exercise? </newbie As for calories, I’d shoot for the 1600 all the time, since you want to lose weight and that’s 10 x bodyweight.  With the weights, make sure you’re getting a good amount of protein – I won’t say you have to have 1g per lb of bodyweight, but get at least 100g per day. determined p.s. – if you’re brave, you could post your weight routine at mfw…

Dunno if I’m that brave… Cheryl

Response:

<snip Don’t know about your weight routine – it’s a lot different than mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not adequate.  To me, it looks like alot of isolation exercises, and not much compound stuff.  You really want to work on lower body too, because those are the biggest muscles in the body, and you can make big gains there as far as adding muscle mass. Good point. Now what’s a compound exercise? </newbie

Well, I’m a newbie too, only slightly less new than you …  But compound is an exercise that uses more muscles together, rather than isolating a single muscle – like bench press, rows, dips, chin ups, squats, deadlifts, etc.  Work more muscles in less movements…  Hopefully someone will be able to elaborate on this for me. determined

Response:

Cheryl, Looks like a pretty good fitness plan.  I just like to add – if your not overloading your muscles you won’t see any progress.  Make sure you’re able to increase either the weights or reps from week to week to keep overloading the muscles.  Personally, I believe at least one hour of aerobic exercise a day is ideal.  For great info and a talk radio show, try www.drmirkin.com  you can call in with q’s. Dr. Mirkin says that the day after you’re strength workouts you should feel a little sore.  Personally, I’m still working on this. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Ok, so I’ve been sorta up and down wrt diet and exercise in the last few months. Some stressful work times combined with vacations made it difficult for me to stay focused and motivated. But I feel rather motivated now, and I have a pretty good plan (I think) and I’d love to get some feedback on it. I currently weigh about 161 lbs. My heighest weight ever was 173, which I hit in 2001. During the fall of 2001, I dieted and exercised myself down to 154, but then went off plan and gained much of that back. I got up to about 170 last fall, and again dieted and exercised down to my present weight of 161. Right now, I work out Tues/Thurs and Sat/Sun. On T, T and Sat, I do weight lifting + about 40 minutes of cardio, usually treadmill – fast pace (3.5+ mph with an incline – heart beat between 140 and 150). On Sunday I just do the 40 mins cardio with no weight lifting. I joined efitness.com and got workouts from them. I selected biceps, triceps and shoulders as areas I really wanted to focus on (I’ve got to wear a strapless dress in October for my wedding ). Here’s the routine they’ve spelled out for me today: 5-10 minutes warm up (I usually do 5 minutes on the treadmill) Kneeling side leg kicks                 2 sets of 12 reps Barbell wide stance squat             2 sets of 12 reps (haven’t done this yet, so not sure about weight) Dumbell Flat chest fly                   2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell wide grip upright row    2 sets of 12 reps (8 lbs dumbbells) Barbell close grip upright row       2 sets of 12 reps  (8 lbs dumbbells) Dumbbell concentration curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Machine Tricep Extension            2 sets of 12 reps (I usually do this on the lowest setting of the machine, which is 20 lbs) Standing calf raise                        2 sets of 12 reps Cable Kneeling Rope crunch        2 sets of 12 reps  (haven’t done this yet, so not sure     about weight) Dumbbell double biceps curl         2 sets of 12 reps (10 lbs dumbbells) Barbell Military press                    2 sets of 12 reps Machine dips ….And that’s a sorta typical routine. Of course sometimes there are more leg and ab work. But mostly it’s very focused on arms and shoulders. I realize that you can’t just say "oh that’s perfect" or "do 3 sets instead of 2!" but I thought in general some of you could give me some feedback on this routine/schedule. Also, I am trying to stick to 1600 calories per day (although last night was a binge and I ate about 2500 calories…oops). I used to adjust my calories based on whether I worked out or not (so if I burned 300 calories working out, I’d eat an extra 300 calories to bring my intake up to 1600), but I don’t think that really helped so much. I’m just going to try to stick to 1600 no matter what. Is that a good idea, or should I adjust on days that I burn calories through workout? Oh yeah, efitness.com gave me a goal weight of 134, so that’s what I’m going to try for. I’m 5′5" with a medium build (also somewhat curvy). Sorry for the long post. Thanks for taking the time to read it if you got this far Cheryl 173/161/134

Response:

Good point. Now what’s a compound exercise? </newbie p.s. – if you’re brave, you could post your weight routine at mfw… Dunno if I’m that brave…

…  suggest you visit http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html and http://www.trygve.com/mfw.html and http://www.trygve.com/mfw_faq.html

Response:

Cheryl, Looks like a pretty good fitness plan.  I just like to add – if your not overloading your muscles you won’t see any progress.  Make sure you’re able to increase either the weights or reps from week to week to keep overloading the muscles.  Personally, I believe at least one hour of aerobic exercise a day is ideal.

An hour of aerobic exercise a day?! I think I’d rather be fat For great info and a talk radio show, try www.drmirkin.com  you can call in with q’s. Dr. Mirkin says that the day after you’re strength workouts you should feel a little sore.  Personally, I’m still working on this.

Does that soreness stick around even after you’ve been lifting for awhile? It’s not a problem now. I’m a bit sore after most of my strength training workouts. But I always assumed that would go away with time. Cheryl

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Cheryl, Looks like a pretty good fitness plan.  I just like to add – if your not overloading your muscles you won’t see any progress.  Make sure you’re able to increase either the weights or reps from week to week to keep overloading the muscles.  Personally, I believe at least one hour of aerobic exercise a day is ideal. An hour of aerobic exercise a day?! I think I’d rather be fat For great info and a talk radio show, try www.drmirkin.com  you can call in with q’s. Dr. Mirkin says that the day after you’re strength workouts you should feel a little sore.  Personally, I’m still working on this. Does that soreness stick around even after you’ve been lifting for awhile? It’s not a problem now. I’m a bit sore after most of my strength training workouts. But I always assumed that would go away with time.

You don’t need to do an hour of cardio per day for optimal health.  30 minutes of ANY activity that raises your heart rate every day is great.  If you are trying to gain stamina or endurance, obviously that is a different goal, but for overal cardiovascular health, moderate increases in heart rate from walking, playing, gardening,etc.  all count towards cardio exercise. And no, after you’ve lifted for awhile, soreness can be non-existant. Soreness is NOT a useful indicator of strength gain OR progress.  Being able to lift more weight or do more reps is a better sign of progress. determined

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – <snip Don’t know about your weight routine – it’s a lot different than mine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not adequate.  To me, it looks like alot of isolation exercises, and not much compound stuff.  You really want to work on lower body too, because those are the biggest muscles in the body, and you can make big gains there as far as adding muscle mass. Good point. Now what’s a compound exercise? </newbie Well, I’m a newbie too, only slightly less new than you …  But compound is an exercise that uses more muscles together, rather than isolating a single muscle – like bench press, rows, dips, chin ups, squats, deadlifts, etc.  Work more muscles in less movements…  Hopefully someone will be able to elaborate on this for me. determined

Determined has it right.  Those are compound exercises.  You get a lot more bang for your buck (well, return for time spent) with those than with isolation exercises like curls and triceps extensions and such. Isolation exercises have their place, for strengthening specific muscles and for the sort of muscle sculpting that bodybuilders do, but for weight loss you’re probably better off spending more of your time on compound exercises.   If no one has said this to you, you can’t spot reduce.  For example, all the triceps exercises in the world won’t make your triceps any smaller; they’ll just build a little muscle in your triceps, which will actually make them a bit bigger.  All the crunches in the world won’t shrink your stomach; they’ll just make your ab muscles a little bigger.  So don’t do isolation exercises because you want to reduce the body part in question; that’s not what weighlifting is about. I see someone else referred you to http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html.  I’ll second that.  It’s a great site that can teach you a lot. Chris

Response:

I’m concerned about a couple of things.  Aiming for a goal weight is the first one: you may not lose weight when you start to build muscle.  Will this discourage you if you lose no pounds in the first month?  What if it’s 5 pounds of muscle gained and 5 pounds of fat lost?  A better idea is to track your body fat lost.  I track mine using a cloth tape measure, my weight and the website http://www.biofitness.com/bodyfat.html. Next, you want to do spot reduction on your arms and shoulders.  I totally agree that nice shoulders and arms will look better in a strapless dresss, but you wont’ get the muscle definition until you get the flab off of it.  You can do that by using your quads, hamstrings and gluts, in other words, you can make your upper arms look better by doing squats!  (Seriously, it revs your metabolism more and burns more calories to work thos big muscles.) Next, I’m worried about the stress on calories.  It’s important to watch the calories, but I’ve found that I also have to watch the macronutrient content.  Are you giving your body good fuel with those 1600 calories or crap?  If you drink soda pop to fill in 200 of those calories you’ve got an entirely different diet than eating 200 calories worth of salmon.  I don’t know what the exactly perfect ratio is, but you need to have at least 25% of your calories from protein and probably around 25% of your calories from healthy fats.  That only leaves about 50% of your calories for carbs, most of which should be things with fiber.  This pretty much means you’re cutting out refined flours and sugars just because they won’t fit in the calorie budget for your remaining carbs! I’m glad you have decided to do a routine with squatting.  It takes a bit of courage to try it at first, but then you’ll belong to our select club of women who squat.  We worship Mistress Krista and welcome new flankies to the club.  :-) Are you doing an entire body routine or a split routine, i.e., working all the body parts three times a week or doing all the upper body one day, the lower body the next, etc?  If you’re doing a two-way split then I suspect three days of weight lifting is not enough for the low reps you’ve got.  If you’re doing a full body workout three days a week then I suspect you might not have had enough rest on some of your muscles. Have you checked out the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips?  He teaches you to do a 12 week "transformation" using diet and exercise that gives really amazing results.  I’m following that program and I’ve lost over 30 pounds of fat since I started doing BFL.  Don’t be scared by the sight of the manly musclehead posing on the cover – it’s really a book for people exactly like YOU.  (Your fiance might be willing to join you in it – it appeals to men as well as women.) One last point, while I’m critiquing: are these changes you’re making just to look good in a wedding dress, or are these changes you’re making so you can have a healthier body and you plan to treat it thus for ever after? Lyle McDonald said that there’s only one true weight loss formula: 1.) Eat less 2.) Exercise more 3.) Repeat 4.) Forever Just food for thought.  :-) Wendy

Response:

Cheryl, The trainers I know and Dr. Mirkin say that you should be a little sore the next day if you want to improve.  You have to slightly injure your muscles so that they heal and get stronger. Why don’t you try calling Dr. Mirkin on his radio show – it’s free and fun.  He really is one of the foremost experts on fitness.  Re: One hour cardio – if you find an exercise buddy, it goes much faster.  Also, sports can be fun – I used to play tennis and racquetball.  The human body is meant to move! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Cheryl, Looks like a pretty good fitness plan.  I just like to add – if your not overloading your muscles you won’t see any progress.  Make sure you’re able to increase either the weights or reps from week to week to keep overloading the muscles.  Personally, I believe at least one hour of aerobic exercise a day is ideal. An hour of aerobic exercise a day?! I think I’d rather be fat For great info and a talk radio show, try www.drmirkin.com  you can call in with q’s. Dr. Mirkin says that the day after you’re strength workouts you should feel a little sore.  Personally, I’m still working on this. Does that soreness stick around even after you’ve been lifting for awhile? It’s not a problem now. I’m a bit sore after most of my strength training workouts. But I always assumed that would go away with time. Cheryl

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m concerned about a couple of things.  Aiming for a goal weight is the first one: you may not lose weight when you start to build muscle.  Will this discourage you if you lose no pounds in the first month?  What if it’s 5 pounds of muscle gained and 5 pounds of fat lost?  A better idea is to track your body fat lost.  I track mine using a cloth tape measure, my weight and the website http://www.biofitness.com/bodyfat.html… Lyle McDonald said that there’s only one true weight loss formula: 1.) Eat less 2.) Exercise more 3.) Repeat 4.) Forever Just food for thought.  :-) Wendy

Great advise Wendy.  Cheryl, I notice that when I put weight training into my work out I tend to gain some weight but I lose fat.  You may see your self lose weight and then start to gain muscle which will cause you to gain some weight.  However, the more muscle you have the more calories you will burn.  So keep on lifting and you will see an imporment, not only with you body but your energy leve.  Good luck Cheryl. JenB

Response:

The trainers I know and Dr. Mirkin say that you should be a little sore the next day if you want to improve.  You have to slightly injure your muscles so that they heal and get stronger.

I don’t particularly agree with this comment about soreness.  I am usually sore only if I undertake a new exercise that I haven’t done before, or take a few weeks off from something and come back to it. And I make gains regularly.  And I have two trainers — one an Olympic athlete, the other the PT manager at my gym — who say this is how it works for most people.  The one exception I’ve found to this is the traps, which are relatively small muscles that get a lot of use in Olympic weightlifting.  My traps are sore after almost every workout, but not terribly so.  As an example of the opposite, my quads are never noticeably sore after squatting — even max days — unless I’ve been away from squatting for a few weeks. It’s true that lifting at an effective level causes slight muscles tears, but this doesn’t necessarily result in post-workout soreness. Chris Why don’t you try calling Dr. Mirkin on his radio show – it’s free and fun.  He really is one of the foremost experts on fitness.  

Who is this Dr. Mirkin?  I’ve never heard of him before.   Re: One hour cardio – if you find an exercise buddy, it goes much faster.  

It’s hard for a lot of people to find an hour for cardio, and I think not essential.  You can get more out of 30 minutes of interval training than and hour of steady-state treadmill walking or bike riding.  It is important to keep pushing yourself if you want to improve your stamina and fitness. Also, sports can be fun – I used to play tennis and racquetball.  The human body is meant to move!

No doubt about that one! Chris

Response:

I’m concerned about a couple of things.  Aiming for a goal weight is the first one: you may not lose weight when you start to build muscle.  Will this discourage you if you lose no pounds in the first month?  What if it’s 5 pounds of muscle gained and 5 pounds of fat lost?  A better idea is to track your body fat lost.  I track mine using a cloth tape measure, my weight and the website http://www.biofitness.com/bodyfat.html.

I don’t see what’s so wrong with aiming for a particular goal weight. Sure, I understand that the scale might not be the only indicator of success, but having a target goal weight to reach for motivates me. I do however, see your point about tracking bodyfat. The Y offers bodyfat testing. I may do that soon. Next, you want to do spot reduction on your arms and shoulders.  I totally agree that nice shoulders and arms will look better in a strapless dresss, but you wont’ get the muscle definition until you get the flab off of it.  You can do that by using your quads, hamstrings and gluts, in other words, you can make your upper arms look better by doing squats!  (Seriously, it revs your metabolism more and burns more calories to work thos big muscles.)

I never said I wanted to spot reduce. I said I wanted to work on my arms and shoulders. I know you can’t spot reduce. But I’ve always wanted a stronger upper body…not just for looks. But to be able to, you know, carry stuff! However, I really like the point you make about using other muscles to build bigger muscles and lose weight. I’m thinking that I might take the emphasis off of upper body and just go for a total body work out for awhile (at least until I lose a good amount of fat). Then, once I’m closer to goal, maybe I’ll focus more on the muscles I’d really like to get strong. Next, I’m worried about the stress on calories.  It’s important to watch the calories, but I’ve found that I also have to watch the macronutrient content.  Are you giving your body good fuel with those 1600 calories or crap?  If you drink soda pop to fill in 200 of those calories you’ve got an entirely different diet than eating 200 calories worth of salmon.  I don’t know what the exactly perfect ratio is, but you need to have at least 25% of your calories from protein and probably around 25% of your calories from healthy fats.  That only leaves about 50% of your calories for carbs, most of which should be things with fiber.  This pretty much means you’re cutting out refined flours and sugars just because they won’t fit in the calorie budget for your remaining carbs!

 I am trying to balance my diet with regards carbs/fat/protein. I didn’t mention all that because that’s not the area of my plan I was looking for feedback on. I just wanted to be sure that the overall number was good. Are you doing an entire body routine or a split routine, i.e., working all the body parts three times a week or doing all the upper body one day, the lower body the next, etc?  If you’re doing a two-way split then I suspect three days of weight lifting is not enough for the low reps you’ve got.  If you’re doing a full body workout three days a week then I suspect you might not have had enough rest on some of your muscles.

I was doing entire body routines. Point taken. Have you checked out the book Body for Life by Bill Phillips?  He teaches you to do a 12 week "transformation" using diet and exercise that gives really amazing results.  I’m following that program and I’ve lost over 30 pounds of fat since I started doing BFL.  Don’t be scared by the sight of the manly musclehead posing on the cover – it’s really a book for people exactly like YOU.  (Your fiance might be willing to join you in it – it appeals to men as well as women.) One last point, while I’m critiquing: are these changes you’re making just to look good in a wedding dress, or are these changes you’re making so you can have a healthier body and you plan to treat it thus for ever after?

I plan to lose weight for the wedding, then forget about it and gain at least 200 lbs over the next five years. Then I figure it’ll be time for my second wedding by then, so I can slim down again. Ha. No, seriously, these are lifetime changes I want to make. Looking good in a wedding dress is just a temporary carrot. I want to get stronger and leaner forever. Lyle McDonald said that there’s only one true weight loss formula: 1.) Eat less 2.) Exercise more 3.) Repeat 4.) Forever Just food for thought.  :-)

Yeah, I already knew that Cheryl

Response:

I don’t recall your age.  I see a lot of young people who want to spot reduce 10 pounds by _____ and think that’s how you maintain your body – by abuse most of the time combined with intermittant excessive amounts of attention.  Pardon if I misapplied my advice!

That’s ok. I’m 29, and hoping that I’ll be in better shape in my 30s than I have ever been before. Honestly, I used to set goals like "lose 10 lbs by x time" all the time…and that hasn’t worked so well for me. I ended up not eating enough in a desperate attempt to finish in time, and then quitting once I got close to goal b/c it was just too hard. I honestly want to do things differently this time. I want exercise to become a permanent part of my life. I’ve actually started to enjoy it, so that’s encouraging By the way, where in Michigan are you?  I was raised in Tecumseh and Ann Arbor.  I live in the frosty snow-covered Great white North now, but frequently visit Lenewee County.  (I’ve been to the Y in Adrian!)

I live in East Lansing, but I am very familiar with Lenawee county. My parents live in Blissfield, and my father pastors a church in Adrian. I’ve also spent a decent amount of time in Ann Arbor. That’s a great town (aside from their unfortunate connection to that OTHER public university in this state…) So what frosty Northern area are you in now? Cheryl

Response:

One last point, while I’m critiquing: are these changes you’re making just to look good in a wedding dress, or are these changes you’re making so you can have a healthier body and you plan to treat it thus for ever after? I plan to lose weight for the wedding, then forget about it and gain at least 200 lbs over the next five years. Then I figure it’ll be time for my second wedding by then, so I can slim down again.

LOL!  I do love it when people are self-aware!  :-) Ha. No, seriously, these are lifetime changes I want to make. Looking good in a wedding dress is just a temporary carrot. I want to get stronger and leaner forever.

I don’t recall your age.  I see a lot of young people who want to spot reduce 10 pounds by _____ and think that’s how you maintain your body – by abuse most of the time combined with intermittant excessive amounts of attention.  Pardon if I misapplied my advice! By the way, where in Michigan are you?  I was raised in Tecumseh and Ann Arbor.  I live in the frosty snow-covered Great white North now, but frequently visit Lenewee County.  (I’ve been to the Y in Adrian!) Wendy

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Chris, Well, I haven’t been sore after my workouts either, but then again I haven’t improved much.  No doubt a trainer would help, if I had the $$$. Re Dr. Gabe Mirkin – he’s written the best selling sportsmedicine book of all time, he’s written many chapters in school textbooks on fitness, etc. etc.  Ever hear of RICE to treat sports injuries?  He invented the term and the treatment. I found his radio show very entertaining – you can access it via the web.  He also has archives on numerous health and fitness topics.  When he was younger he was also a very good marathon runner.  Check it out for yourself at www.drmirkin.com  Finally, I agree with you that intensity of cardio is more important than duration.  Lucky me, I have the time to do 1 hr 15 minutes of cardio daily – meaning I can eat more!  Also, frankly, I’m addicted to it at this point. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The trainers I know and Dr. Mirkin say that you should be a little sore the next day if you want to improve.  You have to slightly injure your muscles so that they heal and get stronger. I don’t particularly agree with this comment about soreness.  I am usually sore only if I undertake a new exercise that I haven’t done before, or take a few weeks off from something and come back to it. And I make gains regularly.  And I have two trainers — one an Olympic athlete, the other the PT manager at my gym — who say this is how it works for most people.  The one exception I’ve found to this is the traps, which are relatively small muscles that get a lot of use in Olympic weightlifting.  My traps are sore after almost every workout, but not terribly so.  As an example of the opposite, my quads are never noticeably sore after squatting — even max days — unless I’ve been away from squatting for a few weeks. It’s true that lifting at an effective level causes slight muscles tears, but this doesn’t necessarily result in post-workout soreness. Chris Why don’t you try calling Dr. Mirkin on his radio show – it’s free and fun.  He really is one of the foremost experts on fitness.   Who is this Dr. Mirkin?  I’ve never heard of him before.   Re: One hour cardio – if you find an exercise buddy, it goes much faster.   It’s hard for a lot of people to find an hour for cardio, and I think not essential.  You can get more out of 30 minutes of interval training than and hour of steady-state treadmill walking or bike riding.  It is important to keep pushing yourself if you want to improve your stamina and fitness. Also, sports can be fun – I used to play tennis and racquetball.  The human body is meant to move! No doubt about that one! Chris

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So what frosty Northern area are you in now? In in Massachusetts.  It’s exactly the same lattitude as Lansing, but you get more ice and humidity where we get more arctic temperatures and glacial amounts of snow.  We’ve had snow cover for three full months now.  I still have three foot drifts of snow in some places.  The sidewalks haven’t been clear of ice in at least two full months.  The snow banks on the edge of the road make it impossible to see at rural intersections.  Parking is a nightmare with all the curbs covered in four foot snow walls and parking lots filled with glacial mountains piled in a corner (that is approaching 30% of the parking lot.)

Where in Mass.?  I used to live in the Boston area — first Cambridge, then Woburn, then Wilmington. Your weather doesn’t sound a lot different than ours in Northern Virginia this winter!  We’re having yet another storm tonight.  And they’re not good at it down here! Chris

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So what frosty Northern area are you in now?

In in Massachusetts.  It’s exactly the same lattitude as Lansing, but you get more ice and humidity where we get more arctic temperatures and glacial amounts of snow.  We’ve had snow cover for three full months now.  I still have three foot drifts of snow in some places.  The sidewalks haven’t been clear of ice in at least two full months.  The snow banks on the edge of the road make it impossible to see at rural intersections.  Parking is a nightmare with all the curbs covered in four foot snow walls and parking lots filled with glacial mountains piled in a corner (that is approaching 30% of the parking lot.) I’m sick of snow.  Sorry for ranting.  (snow is predicted for tomorrow.) This is where Jay Jay gets to chortle, by the way. Wendy

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Well, I haven’t been sore after my workouts either, but then again I haven’t improved much.  

I don’t think that’s likely a cause and effect relationship.  Probably you’re just not using a training program that’s right for you.  Have you ever posted here what you do?  If not, maybe you could and you might get some useful — or at least interesting — feedback.  (I apologize if you have; I sometimes skim.) No doubt a trainer would help, if I had the $$$.

Yeah, well that is definitely a factor.  I’m fortunate to be able to afford it, but I do give it a pretty high priority; I’m not out buying designer clothes or BMWs . Re Dr. Gabe Mirkin – he’s written the best selling sportsmedicine book of all time, he’s written many chapters in school textbooks on fitness, etc. etc.  Ever hear of RICE to treat sports injuries?  He invented the term and the treatment. I found his radio show very entertaining – you can access it via the web.  He also has archives on numerous health and fitness topics.  When he was younger he was also a very good marathon runner.  Check it out for yourself at www.drmirkin.com  

I’ve heard of RICE, definitely, but not Gabe Mirkin.  I’ll check out the web site. Finally, I agree with you that intensity of cardio is more important than duration.  Lucky me, I have the time to do 1 hr 15 minutes of cardio daily – meaning I can eat more!  Also, frankly, I’m addicted to it at this point.

Well, it’s great that you enjoy it.  But the extra amount that it allows you to eat is related to intensity as well as to duration, as both influence calories burned.  And for me the benefit of doing cardio is not just enabling weight loss; it’s improving my cardio fitness and endurance.  To do this, it’s important to get the intensity and do intervals and stuff.  Long, lower-intensity cardio just works your body in a zone it’s already adapted to, and doesn’t build cardio fitness.  (I’m not suggesting you’re doing this; I don’t recall if you’ve said what sort of cardio you do.) Chris

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