File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Hey /fit/
I'm confused about some things, so I hope you can help me out.

Right now it seems like I'm all fat and no muscle. I'm a woman, 20 yrs old, 5'7", and about 155 lbs. I could lose weight by eating few calories, but I want to do this the right way.

I want to get "toned" and lose some of this god awful fat. My plan was to do some cardio in the morning and work on the bad areas... thighs, abs, triceps. I'd like to get in shape by August or September so I can be healthy and actually wear clothing that doesn't make me look like a soccer mom with a dry vagina.

Here's what I need to know:
How many calories should I be eating?
How much protein do I need? My doc has said I can't eat meat btw.
What are the best foods to eat? No eggs plz.
Should I do cardio and my ab, thigh, and triceps workouts in the same day?

I'm po' so I do not have access to a gym. I do have an exercise bike, jump ropes, hand weights, and a bar for chin ups. I can get some other stuff that doesn't cost a fortune.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
So you want to work out.

There are three very basic components: Exercise, Diet, and Rest. Regardless of gender, weight, height, whatever, you're going to want to do all 3 of these properly if you want to lose weight, bulk up muscle, tone, anything.

Exercise burns calories and builds muscle. You obviously burn more calories if activity is more strenuous, but keep in mind that if you're just starting out sprinting for a minute burns less calories than keeping up a jog over a half hour. Exercise builds muscle by making miniature tears into your muscles (this causes soreness), which are mended and rebuilt after exercise, during rest.

Two main types of exercise: Cardio, and lifting. Cardio is designed to burn calories, while lifting generally builds muscle. Any cardio works - as long as your heart rate's up and you go as long as you can, you're building up stamina. These exercises are roughly equivalent, depending of course how much effort you put into each:

60min Recumbent Bike
60min Jogging, flat surface
60min Weighted Powerwalking, inclines
30min Jogging, inclines
30min Normal biking
30min Aerobics
20min Jump Rope
20min Running, flat surface
15min Running, inclines
15min Jumping Jacks
15min High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Keep in mind you can easily mix and combine these workouts for an overall better burn based on your own shape.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
Now that your heart rate is up, you can go into lifting. Look up an anatomy or a basic fitness book to get an idea of how your muscles work. Muscles are only 'exercised' by contracting, which is why all muscles are paired. When lifting, you have to work out both muscles in a pair and keep it balanced, or else you can have one of those fuckups where you're hunched over because your trapezius isn't strong enough to lift your bulked up pecs.

Before lifting, do some quick stretching. Stretching will reduce soreness and reduces the chance of a full muscle tear, especially if you don't know what you're doing.

Find a bunch of combination exercises (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm) with free weights, and combine those into a workout with isolation exercises based on what muscle group you want to focus on. Push-ups and pull-ups are the standard for full-body exercise. Squats, full situps or crunches work as well. Lifts are divided into sets of 'repetitions', where you can do (for example) three 'sets' of 15 'reps' of a bicep lift. Generally you want to gradually increase your total amount of reps as you get stronger. If you're looking to bulk up, increase the amount of reps in a set while either decreasing the number of total sets you do or using heavier free weights. To tone and lose weight, increase sets and decrease reps/use lighter free weights.

Now after you've worked out, you need to rest. Your muscles will be sore, sore muscles do not build if you keep working them out. Muscles need time, protein, and carbs to mend all those small tears I mentioned earlier, so lifting again within the next 12 hours is a waste of time and can damage your muscles.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
The ideal workout schedule for most people is a daily cardio exercise to get your heart rate up and burn calories, followed by stretching. After stretching, do weight lifting every *other* day to tone muscles or bulk up. If you're not sore and tired, you can at least do some cardio that day. STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE. Missing a day leads to missing the next day leads to slippery slope leads to weighing 400 pounds and benching 90. You can NEVER AFFORD TO MISS A WORKOUT.

Finally, diet. There is quite frankly no need to fuck around with hippie food or any of the 'low fat' 'low carb' garbage you see. Cut out all junk food and fast food, cook things yourself or at relatively healthy restaurants, and most importantly WORK OFF ALL YOU EAT. You can chow down on steaks every day as long as you do enough exercise to work it off, i.e. don't overeat. Stay away from fried stuff, fast-food, HFCS (sodas in particular). Chow on steaks, healthy burgers, fruits, vegetables, rice, mashed potatoes, whatever.

Happy working out, and remember ultimately it's willpower that loses weight, this is just a guide to using it. Ideally, you'll have a friend or significant other giving you some motiviation, either by insulting your fat ass or giving you treats.

And remember, this is a general guide. Some people will tell you to lift before cardio, some people will tell you to use barbells exclusively or machine circuits. All I'm saying is that this worked for me, and I used to fit the profile of most anons. It may not work for you, the best workout would be something tailormade by a personal trainer.
>> Anonymous
Thanks for the copy and paste.

But unfortunately it looks like that plan relies heavily on lifting. I don't have access to a gym and I can't buy lifting equipment.

I honestly want to know how many calories I need and how much protein I need based on the workouts I'm doing. I've tried to find a definitive answer on what my calorie and protein requirements are, but it seems there's no general consensus on these issues.

I'd also love to know how much weight is safe to lose within a week. I've read that it's 2lbs, 3lbs, not 2lbs, etc. That is why I am confused.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
>>179763

Free weights are cheap and they're all you need.

As for diet, usually I tell people just to keep eating what they're eating and increase their calorie burn in the meantime.

I think the rule of thumb is >5% weight lost in two weeks = unhealthy. Or something like that.
>> Anonymous
>>179782
So I just keep on eating 1900-2000 cals a day?
All I have been eating is junkfood which is why I gained like 5lbs since last year.

I've heard about protein/fat/carb ratios, but don't know much about them.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
>>179792

Oh wow, junkfood.

2k calories is fine. What matters is the difference between calories in and out, and if you're not on a starvation diet.

Stay away from stuff with HFCS, deep fried, that sort of deal, and you're fine. I chow steaks pretty often and haven't come out the worse for wear.
>> Anonymous
your doctor did not tell you you cant eat meat you dumb bitch

unless she is a stupid filthy hippy
>> Anonymous
>>179819
I was thinking about eating between 900-1300 calories. What should I shoot for? Apparently I burn 1600-1700 if I'm sedentary.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
>>179843
Terrible idea. Starvation diets make the body go into 'conserve energy mode' and you'll end up regaining all the weight when you go back to a normal diet.

High calorie intake, even higher exercise output, and you're fine.
>> JESUS
>>179843
You'll screw up your metabolism, eat more.
>> Anonymous
>>179847
>>179849
So no less than 1800-2000 right?

While doing that how long will it take for me to not be a fatass any more?
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
>>179852
Depends on how well you stick to your exercise regimen.

Burn 2500 calories a day and you'll drop your weight within a month and a half.
>> Anonymous
>>179853
Is there a chart or something that shows the amount of calories burnt in specific exercises?

I'll exercise like a motherfucker if I can good results within a few months.
>> Hammerknife !7ITukp3Pj2
>>179854
http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

Plenty of them out there, none are perfectly accurate. Handwave guesstimate it, but if you're not bone-tired at the end of a workout you're doing it wrong.
>> Anonymous
>>179858
Cool, thanks. I can probably get in an hour or more of fitness a day.

I've also considered playing Wii Sports (specifically boxing) to get myself in the "workout mood." Would this also burn somewhat of an adequate amount of calories? I don't expect it to, but I thought I'd just ask.