hello

[lilmrsmexican]

Hello everyone I am new here. I am 34 and i have 2 kids(17,13)
I live in NC
I recently had to have two surgerys and lost 25 lbs. Now I just need to figure out how to keep it off. I am a member of a gym.

[Puddles]

It'll be a combo between diet and exercise. Can you give us an idea of what you're eating and how you're training in the gym?

Congrats on loosing 25 lbs! :)

Hope you're recovering quickly from the surgeries. What kind of surgery did you have?

[space mountain]

welcome to SM.. youll meet some great people here !! have some fun ..peace

[lilmrsmexican]

i basically do alot of cardio and i really dont eat alot and what i do eat is low fat i have had to do that basically of my surgery i had my galbladder removed and i also have an ulcer. I my first surgery was to have my last ovary removed.

[Irishgirl]

It's a misconception that not eating alot is a good way to help you lose weight. You need to eat, just eat healthy. Chicken, fish, lean beef, oats, veggies, brown rice....and it's another misconception that fats are bad...lowfat items tend to be higher in sugar, which is going to hinder your losses too. You need to get "good fats"....saturated fats are the ones you want to stay away from. Olive oils, natural peanut butter, nuts...they have the good fats you need.

Congrats on your progress, and I'm sure you'll get alot of good info here!

[Irishgirl]

oh, and a few things I forgot.....Weight training, and eating small meals every few hours rather than the general "three meals a day" will help increase your metabolism. Weight training will increase your muscle tone which will make your clothes fit better, and you lose inches, but not necessarily pounds, so don't depend on the scale to measure your loss. And most importantly, you won't bulk up and be "too big" from just lifting heavy weights. I promise :)

[gymratin]

also proper water intake will speed up your metabolism
welcome
gym

[gymratin]

i better clarify that im not a female and i hate to butt in, but water intake is often overlooked
gym

[Puddles]

I dug into some old documents I'd saved and hope this will help...

I keep my diet simple. I've found that having less choices in foods in the house make it much easier to keep on track. I like to cook in large quantities, this way we will have the food already prepared, which becomes convenience food! Read the labels of everything you buy...you will be surprised at how they sneak carbs and fats into things. Don't mix fats and carbs in the same meals. Eat every 2-3 hours. I use nonstick pots and pans and the only fat I add to my food is olive oil. I grill most of my meats...usually covering them in spices or marinades...A1 steaksauce is my recent favorite...they have like 5 different flavors now. I keep my carbs to under 120 a day...my cal's are usually low, around 1200 to 1400 with about 70% of it coming from proteins (eggbeaters, chicken, tuna, salmon, beef). I will eat canned salmon (boneless) right out of the can. Tuna comes in little pouches and I keep them at work so I always have protein on hand, I'll empty it into a paper bowl and top it with yellow mustard and a rice cake on the side. Breakfast is usually some oatmeal with splenda and cinnamon or an eggbeaters veggie scramble. Drink lots of water...a gal. a day would be great. Skip diet sodas...they're loaded with sodium which will make you retain water.

Doing cardio is fantastic but lifting weights will really help you out. As you put muscle on your body your metabolism will increase allowing you to burn more callories without even trying.


Here's a sample of what I eat:

Breakfast:

2 big cups of coffee with about a cup of skim or 2% milk and fat free coffee mate and splenda. (This isn't the best thing to do, but I gotta have my coffee in the morning!)

and about 1-2 hrs. later...

A protein shake (lean body for her with water)

or

A piece of multigrain bread.

or

oatmeal (1/2 cup raw, made with water, cinnamon, and splenda, nuked for 1 to 1 ½ min.)

or

egg beaters (you can add in omlet veggies like onions, green peppers, mushrooms, etc. and light sprinkle of lowfat cheese.)


Snack (some days, not all days):

about 2 to 4 oz. grilled chicken or lean steak burger, depending on how hungry I am

Lunch:

4-6 oz. Protein on a salad (grilled chicken, burger, canned chicken, tuna, salmon) with about 2 tsp. lowfat raspberry walnut vinnagrete dressing or mustard. If I didn't have a snack, sometimes I'll add a piece of multigrain bread and sometimes I’ll skip the salad part and just have it as a sandwich if breakfast was protein and not carbs.

Snack:

2-4 oz. protein (chicken or burger) on a night when I'm home

or

Publix lowfat artificially sweetened yogurt

or

protein shake (on a night I've gone to the gym)

Dinner:

4-6 oz. protein with veggies, usually broccoli

Snack:

If it's late and I'm still hungry I'll have a rice cake or a piece of multigrain bread or a little more protein, depending on what else I've eaten during the day. Sometimes I’ll have a Publix lowfat artificially sweetened yogurt.

Water: I drink 3/4 to 1 1/4 gal/day, the more the better…should be at least a gallon.

I average one cheat meal a week...sometimes pizza, sometimes something healthier, sometimes something worse.




(Below is an example of how I was lifting when I first started, hope it helps give you an idea of some good stuff to start with.)



Day 1 - Back/Triceps

Close Grip Pulldowns
90/12, 90/12, 90/12

Hammerstrength High Row
90/12, 100/12, 100/12

Skull Crushers on Smith Machine
20/12, 25/12, 25/12

Lying Tricep Extension Dumbell
8/12, 8/12, 10/12

Cable Tricep Pulldown
20/12, 20/12, 20/12

T-Bar Rows *
25/12, 25/12, 25/12

* or

Gravitron Wide Grip Pull-Ups
Lowering assistence gradually…3 sets of 12 or until failure…usually struggling around 10th rep.

Day 2 - Abs, Shoulders & Forearms

Rotary Torso
Right to Left 60/12, 60/12, 60/12
Left to Right 60/12, 60/12, 60/12

Nautilus Ab Machine
80/12, 80/12, 80/12

Side Bends (no weight)
Right Side 25, 25, 25
Left Side 25, 25, 25

Rear Delts on Reverse Pec Deck
50/12, 50/12, 50/12

Nautilus Overhead Press
60/12, 60/10, 60/12

Dumbell Shoulder Laterals
10/12, 10/12, 10/12

Dumbell Wrist Curls (just added in)
Inner 10/20, 10/20, 10/20
Outer 10/15, 10/15, 10/15

Day 3 - Chest & Biceps

Incline Dumbell Flys
20/12, 22.5/12, 22.5/12

Smith Machine Flat Bench (or Olympic Freeweight Flat Bench…just learning)
50/12, 50/12, 50/12

Cable Crossovers
30/12, 35/12, 35/11

Hammerstrength Curl
35/10, 35/6->25/4, 25/10 (heavy)

Standing Dumbell Curl
15/12, 15/12, 15/12

Cable Curls with EZ Curl Bar
50/12, 50/12, 50/12

Day 4 - Legs

Hack Squat
50/12, 50/12, 50/12

Leg Extensions
95/12, 95/12, 95/12

Hip Abduction
65/12 80/12 80/12

Hip Adduction
110/12, 125/12, 125/12

Seated Leg Curls
95/12, 95/1,2 95/12

Seated Calf (both legs at the same time)
90/12, 90/12, 90/11

Free Motion Calf
Right 400/9, 340/12, 360/12
Left 400/9, 340/12, 360/12
Was finding a good weight…360 or 380 seems best.

Butt Blaster
50/12, 50/12, 50/12

Day 5 - Abs Only

Nautilus Ab Machine
80/12, 80/12, 80/12

Suspended Leg Raises/alternate sides or middle
3 sets until failure…usually around 25-30 reps each set…I fail because I get weak suspending myself up on my arms.

Crunches
3 sets until failure…usually 30-35 reps each set.

[lilmrsmexican]

thank you for all the good advice i will start doing better real soon

and i do try to drink plenty of water!!!!!!!!!