Firstly, you have decided to change your life around and eat healthy and start exercising - CONGRATULATIONS to you, you have taken the first step into improving your body and mind, one high five goes to you, step 1 complete!
Step 2 do some research on how to change your diet to suit you and your needs or go to see a Nutritionist
(like i did), everyone is different so a lot of trial and error will go into this "eating clean" for you to see what works best for you as an individual. What necessarily works for me wont work for someone else.
I have mentioned plenty times before "diet" is 80% and exercise 20%, well for me anyways, if I eat right I don't have to kill myself every day in the gym but obviously closer to comp if I want to see results quicker, well I MOVE my ass in that gym and I have no piggy meals or cheat meals, whatever you call it but many of you are not prepping for comp you are training for life so LIVE!
Step 3 when it comes down to wanting to lose weight and exercising...
A big number like 25kg (what I lost) can seem very daunting, what I reckon you do is set smaller goals like 10kgs at first and then once you are in it and have the hang of it you can set the next goal. When looking at a figure of 25kg vs. 10kg your mind immediately goes Whoah I cant do that, its impossible that will take so long etc and it starts the whole excuse process - I have been there I know!
As far as exercising goes, I am not sure how advanced any of you are but for the beginners in the gym, if I could give any advice it would be the following:
Do
30min cardio for the first week for 5 days
45min cardio for the 2nd week for 5 days
50min cardio for the 3rd week for 6 days
1hr cardio for the 4th week for 6 days
Cardio I mean walking, running, orbitrek, stepper, walking/running outdoors, hiking, cycling etc - just get your heart rate to 125-135 NO lower and NO higher as you want to keep it at fat burning zone. I found for me doing my cardio in the morning on an empty stomach helped me drop fat quicker as it takes from your fat stores rather than taking the energy you need for the exercising from the food you have eaten during the day.
Then after you have done that week 5 you bring in a bit of weight training, so:
Week 5-8
Carry on with your cardio as above and 3times a week do weight training ( choose which days you want to incorporate the weight training on) - doing only two sets per exercise at a weight where you can complete 12-15 reps the first set without struggle and 10-12 reps the last set and feel challenged but not in pain.
Your weight training Routine for above should Include:
1 chest exercise - Dumbbell Chest Press
1 back exercise - Lat Pull downs
1 bicep exercise - Bicep Curls
1 tricep exercise - Tricep Pulldowns on cable machine
1 shoulder exercise - Dumbbell Shoulder Press
2-4 exercises for your legs - leg extensions, leg curls, squats and walking lunges
If you make all those workouts happen, then add ONE more to the week the next week etc. And so on. The goal is not to torture yourself, but to allow your mind, body and life to catch up to, and get used to your new thinking. Too many changes all at once is harder on you mentally than most people will admit, and that can cause relapse...slowly wins the race!
Then once you are ready and your fitness levels are up and you are able to start more weight training then train like below - so week 9 onwards...
Monday: 1 hr cardio and abs exercises or do the 15 min Ab class at Virgin active if you belong to Virgin
Tuesday: Back and Biceps and 30min cardio
Wednesday: Chest and Triceps and 30min cardio
Thursday: Legs and Glutes
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Shoulders & Abs and 30min cardio
Sunday: 1 hr Cardio and Calves
* Have a look at my previous blogs for my exercise routines for each muscle group and if you are unsure of how to do the exercise, look on Google image, if I am unsure I search on there and it shows me how to do the exercise, then I don't feel like a fool in the gym.
I find too often that girls give up because of lack of results but they seem to overlook the common mistakes they make when it comes to training etc.
- Plan - set a REALISTIC goal and get your eating plan sorted and make sure that your exercise program is right for the goal you have in mind.
- If you are trying to lose weight 1kg a week is healthy and realistic. If you expect more than that you are going to set yourself up for disappointment. If you lose fast you gain fast so the slower you take to lose the weight the better for you in the long run - you are speaking to the master of Yo-Yo dieting here.
- STOP climbing on the scale every week, weigh yourself every 2 weeks and remember muscle weighs more than your fat!
- Envy - Each and every one of us is different, we are unique! Your progress will never be the same as the person gyming next to you or even gyming as hard as you and eating exactly what you eat - WE ARE DIFFERENT and that is something you ALL need to wrap your minds around - so resist the temptation to compare yourself to the person next to you.Joe Soap has his own strengths and weaknesses too they just not like yours!
- Boring Routines - you have to change this up regularly to keep your body guessing, so often I see the same person, on the same treadmil doing the same walking on the same gradient and the same incline and I see no changes...this is because your body adapts and you hit a plateau so be sure to ass variation to your training.
- Do not starve yourself this is not going to help you lose weight and it wont give you the energy you need to train, starve yourself and watch your body hold onto that fat for the energy it needs to survive.6 Small meals a day. Eat clean, train mean and get lean ladies!
- Over exercising = burnout! Everything in moderation even exercise and if you starting out 30-40min a day is more than enough...CHILL OUT we know you want to lose weight but we do not want to rush you to hospital, we want healthy happy people.
- Training the same muscles everyday - yes I know you have a saggy bum and a wobbly tummy and you so badly want to get rid of them but doing these exercises everyday isn't going to help you need to give your muscle groups a chance to repair and grow so don't train the same muscle group two days in a row.
