Hi All,

I’m new to your forums. I am so glad I find them!! They have been a tremendous amount of help to me in the short period of time I’ve been reading them. I’m REALLY new to all the exercise and nutrition stuff so please excuse my ignorance on some stuff in my post. I still have lots to learn! :D This is my first post.

I’m a 32 year old female. I’ve been overweight for the last 13 years. I use to weigh 180 and now I weigh (get ready to gasp)…. 330. I’m 5’ 7” tall. Chalk it up to ignorant eating habits, using college and graduate school as an excuse, and going from a waitress job where I was always exercising to a desk job where I never exercised. I have basically had blinders on for over a decade and have just recently taken them off and am ready to deal with what I’ve done to my body. :o I wasn't born this way and I don't believe in having a surgery to fix my mistakes. I know that I'm capable of losing the weight if I just stay off the couch and in the gym!

For the past 1 ½ months I have been going to a nutritionist and exercising at the gym. My nutritionist has me on 1500 calories a day. I’ve lost 20 lbs so far. I started exercising slowly this time b/c my previous attempts had me burning myself out really quickly then I’d get frustrated and quit. This has been the longest time I’ve ever been committed which I think is a good sign! I went for 1 day a week at the gym then 2 days then 3 days and now I’m at 4 days a week. My goal is to end up at 6 days a week. I do the treadmill for 60 minutes then switch to the bike for 30 minutes so a total of 90 minutes 4x a week. I have a Polar HRM that puts my target HR between 121 – 161. I average out at around 143 to 145 each exercise session. According to my HRM my total calories burned for each session is around 1498 cals with 45% coming from fat. I know that weight training and training nutrition is my next hurdle to figure out. I realize the importance of both. I have a bowflex that I just bought and hope to use it 3x a week. I don't like using the weight room at the gym b/c too many guys are there! At this point I don’t want to burn excess muscle but fat loss is a major priority right now.

I have a couple questions.

1. Does that calorie burned number seem accurate? I’m not doing HIT because for a person of my weight I don’t have to get too HIT at this point. Just doing moderate is enough I think.

2. I’ve read so many conflicting ways to get my target heart rate. Does 121 – 160 with an average of 145 seem accurate? Here’s how I calculated it: According to Sally Edwards the HRM guru. I did moderate walking for 1 mile then took my heart rate (manually b/c I didn’t have my HRM yet). I came up with 151 then added 50 to that for my activity level (moderate) = 201. 201 @ 60% = 121 and 201 @ 80% is 161. Totally off the mark?

3. I’m a night owl and usually work out from 9:30 – 11:00 at night. I then go home, take a shower and go to bed. Is this really bad? I know I should work out in the morning but isn’t working at anytime better than not at all?

4. Does this cardio routine seem like a logical/good first step? Am I at least headed in the right direction?

Sorry about the long post! And thanks in advance for your advice!

wow. well congratulations on the cardio...sounds like your putting in the effort!...keep it consistant and youll have your goal in no time.

sounds like your eating FAR to less... i weigh 170lbs and when im cutting im on around 2400 calories...

you would be much better off eating more, especially with that amount of cardio!

You've already lost 20lbs. so you must be doing something right. Good for you.

The cardio sounds like a lot but if it's working and you can stay focused for that long then go for it!

Seeing a nutritionist is a great idea.

Weight training. Your goal is to workout 6 days a week and currently you're doing four at the gym. Why not hop on that bowflex the other two days and start with a very basic routine. Like chest, back, abs and legs. Use the same start out slow theory.

Working out at night: The best time to workout is when it fits into your schedule and you can make it a part of your daily routine. Sound like you've done this too so I wouldn't worry about it.

You're doing great. Keep going, hang in there and give that bowflex a try a couple days a week.

Oh and keep posting your progress here, you'll get a bunch of feedback. :tu:

Congratulations and good luck.

Congrats on your fantastic progress! Your exercise routine sounds like a butt-kicker. I'm sure your nutritionist knows what she's talking about with regard to the 1500 cal diet. Us chicks just don't need as much food as the guys, even at the same weight. Our metabolisms are slower and we have far less muscle mass to burn the energy with, so I think you are good there. I certainly wouldn't recommend eating less than that tho'. Did she tell you what to eat, specifically? Your losses will probably slow down eventually and then diet will be much more important. I personally have learned so much about diet in the last six months.

The objective is to keep blood sugar on an even plane. When we consume too much carbohydrate with nothing to slow it's absorption (good fats or fiber), you get a responding insulin spike. The insulin is what causes it all to be stored away really fast as fat. Then our blood sugar is low and we are hungry again in an hour or two. Most people know that, but it often surprises people to know that juice, which ought to be healthy right? "liquid fruit", sabotages them in this way because it spikes blood sugar. So does a lot of other stuff.

Some basic truths are:
Drink lots of water.
Eat some lean protein and good fat at every meal or snack. The fat will slow the absorption of the sugars. Good fats are nuts, olive oil, avocados, olives.
Eat salmon and tuna often. They are another source of good fat.
Make sure the bulk of your carbs come from fibrous, nonstarchy veggies. The fiber helps slow absorption of sugars. Brocolli, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes (technically a fruit, I know), squash, green beans etc. Not peas, carrots, potatoes, beans (surprise!), corn. Those are calorie-dense relative to their nutrient value.
Milk is your call. Some believe that the lactose is broken down to glucose very fast, resulting in an insulin spike, while others believe that it promotes weight loss. So who knows.
Eat fruit only once a day, if at all. And make it whole fruit. No applesauce, for instance. Anytime you process a food into smaller bits, you increase the speed with which it gets into your blood.
Limit the intake of other calorie-dense foods to small quantities of oats, 100% whole wheat bread, brown rice, and sweet potatoes which are more complex and broken down more slowly than other sources.
If you are lightheaded, have trouble thinking, or feel weak or nauseous an hour or two after eating then you had too much carb relative to the protein and good fat. Have some protein and you'll feel better.

The guidelines I've laid out are pretty strict, but start from there. I was having a lot of trouble regulating my blood sugar (diabetes runs in my family so I have to watch it, or else I'll have it too eventually) and when I used these guidelines, it was amazing to me how much better I felt. Diabetes, heart disease, increased weight, etc. all starts with diet (and activity too, of course). It all comes down to eating the way we were designed to eat. Making it taste good to our spoiled palates is the next trick.
Hope this helps.
:gl:

If you need some inspiration, check out this lady. I can't remember her name, but WOW! She made this transformation in 2 years.

If you need some inspiration, check out this lady. I can't remember her name, but WOW! She made this transformation in 2 years.

I know her. That's Pam Brown. Here's her web site: http://www.pam-brown.com/

She is very inspirational.

Yeah Pam Brown, thanks AMR.

Thank you to all that have replied. I really appreciate it!

Ansett - Pam Brown definitely is an inspiration! That is incredible!!! I will check out her website and read about her success. Thank you so much for the specific food advice, it helps out A LOT! I feel that I am incredibly lucky to be as well off as I am considering my size. <knock on wood> Diabetes runs in my family. My grandma died from complications related to it. Before my father passed away from cancer he had to control his diabetes through diet. Even through my pregnancy I didn't develop it so I've been really fortunate. I just don't want to push my luck any more. And, of course appearance plays a major role too!

I am quite surprised with myself in terms of my exercise. I never imagined that I could do cardio for 90 minutes at a time. I burn my own music cds so I have the tunes to keep me going. I focus on my breathing and heart rate and nothing else around me. Before I know it the time is gone. I'm actually starting to enjoy it. I will add the bowflex to my weekly routine and concentrate on building more muscle.

Seeing my nutritionist (I see her every 3 weeks) has helped both with food stuff but just as importantly with accountability. I've only seen her twice so far but the difference was amazing. As soon as I walked out of her office the first time I was more aware of the nutritional value of stuff. Before, I would go to a restaurant and order whatever, not really caring to know the calories, etc. But now I actually have a calorie/fat/protein book that I carry around with me so that I'm ready to go anywhere and make wise decisions. Before, I had the mentality that what I didn't know wouldn't hurt me but boy was I wrong. I feel motivated now to educate myself before I put something in my mouth. Afterall, I work really hard in the gym. I don't want to blow it at dinner!

When I see her again we're going to re-evaluate my diet. Before I got the heart monitor I was quoting my cardio workouts at burning around 500 cals per session. I was way off base from the 1498! So she may want to add different types of food. Below is the basic layout she gave me. It doesn't vary much from day to day b/c I really don't need a variety of food in order to stick to it. As time goes on though I may need more variety.

Breakfast - yogurt
Lunch - turkey sandwich
with tomato and lettuce
on whole wheat bread
baked lays
Mid PM snack - half banana or small apple
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
Dinner - green veggie
4 oz. of any poultry (fish, turkey, or chicken)

There is typically a window of 2 ½ hours between when I eat dinner and when I workout.

Hi. Looks like we're in a somewhat similar situation; as you can read in my online journal, I'm not too far from my starting position of 340 lbs, and a lifetime of being out of shape. As a fellow newbie, the only advice I would presume to give is in reference to your third question:

I’m a night owl and usually work out from 9:30 – 11:00 at night. I then go home, take a shower and go to bed. Is this really bad? I know I should work out in the morning but isn’t working at anytime better than not at all?

As I'm not your physician or any kind of expert, I couldn't say for sure, but I have, more times than I can remember, turned my screwy schedule and night-owliness into a crutch for not exercising at all. If I had to take a guess at it, based on what I've learned, it's that exercising anytime IS better than none at all, especially when you're still a beginner. If you absorb a lot of expert opinions that tell you that you must or must not exercise at a certain time, you might start to tell yourself, "Well, maybe I should wait until next week; I'll try to get my sleep cycle (or schedule or whatever) worked out first."

Whatever you decide, I highly suggest staying with this board, and especially starting an online journal. It's been working for me so far! Bon chance!

Breakfast - yogurt
Lunch - turkey sandwich
with tomato and lettuce
on whole wheat bread
baked lays
Mid PM snack - half banana or small apple
2 tablespoons of peanut butter
Dinner - green veggie
4 oz. of any poultry (fish, turkey, or chicken)

There is typically a window of 2 ½ hours between when I eat dinner and when I workout.


First congrats on starting the process of getting fit, as you go thru the initial phases it will at times get tough but after a few months you will feel so great it's like nothing else in the world.

I have a few suggestions. First, maby get a second opinion from another nutritionist. The reason I say this is because I dont like the looks of the diet you posted. Specifically Breakfast, It is the most important meal of the day and yogurt is not a very good food to diet on. It has too much sugar in it compared to the protein content. I don't like the "Baked Lays" as potatos are starch that converts to sugar as soon as you eat it. I don't like the "whole wheat bread" to many carbs compared to the protein content of the meal. I think you should be having a mid morning snack based on protein and low carbs with no sugar as you are going way to long starving your system by only eating yogurt, I would think you would be starving by lunch because of the insulin spike the yogurt gives you at breakfast.

On the workout at night, I would try switching dinner with the workout, when you get home do the workout and then have a protein drink and then 1 1/2 hours later have dinner.

In the HR department, normally you would take 220 - age times .70 for 70% of your max heart rate to give you 131 BPM, I think you are pushing the cardio a bit hard going to 161 and going for too long, keep it under 45 min or you start to burn what muscle you have. I do 45 min at 125BPM in the morning before I eat.

I also stress a cheat meal each week to keep your metabolism runniing in high gear especially with what seems such a low calorie diet. Think of food as protein,fat,and carbs. Calculate what your diet above is giving you in those macros and you will see that diet is just off the mark.

Remember too, you don't want to as you say BURN OUT again. If you start feeling burned out after 2 weeks take a few days off and recover, focus on your diet during those days off and then start it up again.

Good luck on your new found quest, It's going on 6 months now for me and I went from 235 to 192 and I am in way better shape at 46 than I was at 36 and I am still learning new twists on both diet and exercise and my views do change as I learn more and experiment with my own body but that's what I think based on my experience at this time.

...I dont like the looks of the diet you posted. Specifically Breakfast, It is the most important meal of the day and yogurt is not a very good food to diet on. It has too much sugar in it compared to the protein content. I don't like the "Baked Lays" as potatos are starch that converts to sugar as soon as you eat it. I don't like the "whole wheat bread" to many carbs compared to the protein content of the meal. I think you should be having a mid morning snack based on protein and low carbs with no sugar as you are going way to long starving your system by only eating yogurt, I would think you would be starving by lunch because of the insulin spike the yogurt gives you at breakfast.
I hesitate to second guess a professional nutritionist, but those were my thoughts exactly. The yogurt and baked lays really have me scratching my head. I suspect the nutrtionist is trying to create a "normal" diet which would include some kind of chips to go with the sandwich. While the baked lays are better than fried, I think I'd try to eliminate them completely. Despite being baked, they can't have a lot of nutritional value.

I don't know that yogurt is all that bad but I believe I'd be starving by lunch time if that's all I had for breakfast. Why not a small bowl of oatmeal and maybe a cup of milk? The complex carbs in the oatmeal would make it a little easier to make it to lunch time. I believe I'd ask the nutritionist for the reasons behind the yogurt.

First, I will like to congrat's you on the good job you are doing right now. Keep on going you are on the good path and it will pay, that's for sure.

Ansett has bring you such great advise regarding foods.

One thing that help me every time it is time to eat is asking me that question: Am I going to have a meal or a snack.

Your best friend is a meal.

A meal is: a protein source + low carbs +(or) good fat ( usually good fat don't like to match with carbs) + veggies. When I'm not following those guide rule, Hum..... :( That's not pretty good, for my progression, my body want a meal and not a snack.

A snack: is like having a yogourth only :( Not good idea
or only some fruits :( Not good idea

Well yogourth and fruits are good on a cut, but not alone.

So everytime I eat, I make sure that I am having a MEAL.

And then it cames the timing of the meals, usually we like to stick on low carbs for the first half of the day, and then the second half of the day increase good fatty acids and limiting carbs aborption all that with always having a good source of protein, at each meal.

These are some basic guide lines, but once again, no one react the same, some people keep carbs lately and it works for them, so that's okay. It's all depend of how YOUR body react. There is no perfect diet, listen to your body and see what it is best for you. Trial and error, will happen, and it's okay, it's a learning experience, and you eventually will know what is best for YOU.

As long something is working, don't brake it. Time, patience, trial, experience is all about.

Good Luck

Depends on the yogurt and what else you are eating. If you take 1 Cup Lowfat Yogurt (Dannon), 28.4g or Allthewhey protein, and fruit (Kiwi is most nutrient dense) then you can have a pretty balanced 40-40-20 snack. It all depends on what kind of diet makeup you are on. Also, counting carbs, proteins, and fats is definitely a neccesity, but never forget macronutrients. You can eat a 40-40-20 diet and still be missing a lot of nutrients.

Always remember you should eat things you enjoy or you will fall off the wagon quickly. Experiment and see what works for you. Some use cheat meals and some don't, some cut dairy and some don't, etc... Find your path and stick to it. After all, education is part of the journey. Good Luck!

I think 1 cup of plain yogurt has about 4 grams of carbs in it so I'm assuming it doesnt have more than 4 grams of sugar in it if it has any sugar in it at all. The sugar in yogurt which comes from milk is probably lactose and lactose is eated by the bacteria added to the milk to create yogurt. I'm not a 100% sure on this but I think I have read it somewhere.

Depends. Stay away from store brand Yogurts in general b/c they usually have higher sugar content. Lowfat yogurts will have more carbs and plain will tend to have less. I think Plain Dannon has 13g carbs of which 12 are sugar and Lowfat has 19g of which 16 are sugar. These numbers are pretty close. Remember, the most important lessons about diets are don't rely on any one food for nutrients, moderation and balance. With education comes better choices, but we are only human so make sure you are happy with your decisions at the end of the day!