Need Help for my Wife

[rfrias]

Hi ladies,

My wife gave birth to our wonderful son 6 months ago. She still looks great, but wants to drop about 20lbs. She came to me for help, but I really don't know anything about what women need as far as workout plans and diets so I come to you for help. She is 28 years old, 5'5" and prior to the pregnancy whe weighed 130lbs. Mind you, she was solid muscle with a little padding in the thighs. She was one of those people you love to hate that eat Taco Bell and Ice Cream every day and still have a washboard stomach. Well pregnancy changed that, and now she weighs in at 145. She would like to get below 130 and doesn't know what she should do.

What I would like is some general info about how many calories do you ladies eat a day, and what is your workout schedule like. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[guava]

I'm your wife's height, and I was 130 pounds for a few years between my two pregnancies. I was about 150 for a while before I got married, and, I'm not sure because I don't have a scale, but I think I'm about 120 now.

Is your wife breastfeeding? That's a great calorie burner.

I've never counted calories, but I watch what I eat. Basically, I try to follow the food guide pyramid. While I was pregnant and breastfeeding the rule was I could eat whatever I wanted, except that I had to reach the minimum of each food group before eating anything over the average in any other food group. Usually by the time I got in my fruits and vegetables, I had no room for dessert. On the other hand, many other people have had better success by counting calories.

As for workout schedule most important is to find something that she likes. Aerobics class was best for me for a while because it made me go on a schedule. Now that I'm more disciplined, I prefer the treadmill because I have more freedom to go at my own pace. I'd recommend for her to fit in as much as she possibly can. If it's once a week to start, that's great, on the other hand, seven days per week is not too much either.

Lifting weights can give you a great jump start, because a pound of muscle takes 50 calories a day to maintain, and it looks so much better too. Trinity (I think it was Trinity) posted an amazing picture of herself at the same weight with different body fat percentages. Twice a week for lifting weights is a good start, with dumbbell curls, squats, lunges, tricep extensions, lateral raises, upright rows, pushups, and crunches. If she can do 3 sets of 8 reps, it's time to increase the weights.

[guava]

It was so cool, I had to look it up for you. Here's Trinity's Transformation

[Chopaholic]

Rfrias,

These are some of my favorite online resources, some female-oriented, some gender-neutral:

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights_index_revision.html
http://skwigg.tripod.com/wow/index.html
http://www.hussman.org/fitness/
http://www.bodychangers.com/

Bottom line is: there's not much difference in training men, and training women. Women don't need "women's workout plans" they need workout plans. Women, just like men, need to add muscle mass to aid in fat burning and to add shape to the body. Please don't either of you get caught up in the "toning" and "I don't want to look like a man routine." Women have to work incredibly hard to make signficant muscle growth gains. She's not going to wake up tomorrow in man's body. These changes take time.

A site like Hussman's will help her determine her daily caloric needs, and help her evaluate how much of a deficit she wants to run to loss weight. A pound to two pounds a week is healthy for women, while one to three is healthy for men.

If you have more specific questions, I can try for more specific answers!

[rfrias]

Wow that IS impressive!

My wife isn't breastfeeding anymore, so that hurts a bit, but she did start working out a bit. She takes a bodysculpting class once a week and then does cardio and some weights on her own on one other day.

She has expressed an interest in getting more disciplined, though. That's why I'm looking for some good examples of female routines. I suppose I could put her on Max-OT with me and throw in some cardio days, but diet still leaves me confused for her.

I appreciate your help and thanks for that link. I'll have to show it to my wife for some motivation.

[rfrias]

Whoa! That's a lot of reading. I really appreciate that. I'll let you know if I come up with some specific questions.

It's so funny, as much work as researching this is, I just love it so much I don't care. Maybe I should have skipped law school and become a trainer.