Hi,

I just joined the community last week. I am trying to lose about 10 pounds and create a more toned body. I have a tendency to be impatient and want fast results and when I don't see them I give up. I hate exercising but I am forcing myself to get on those machines 5 days a week, having a tv on the elliptical machine helps b/c I can watch my shows when I'm working out. Is 40 minutes enough a day enough for exercise? I am also putting myself on a restricted calorie diet. Any advice or suggestions from success stories would be awesome!

Thanks!

Jenn

If you want better results, do 90 on the elliptical instead. That's what I started off w/ doing and it worked great for me. As for caloric intake, a good number to aim for is 1200.

Welcome to the site.

40 is not bad for being on the elliptical. I would also throw some kind of weight training in there to help with the process.



That's going to be to low for her with the training she is doing thats for sure.

I agree with C I -- I'd increase the amount of time spent doing cardio, but I'd also consider doing other forms of cardio: walking, running, even jumping rope. That keeps the boredom from setting in.

And Nate's suggestion to try some weight training is dead on! I didn't really notice any significant changes in my shape until I started. I was losing weight, but becoming 'skinny-fat' or flabby. Once I started weight training 3 or 4 days per week, my body really started toning up nicely.

I love weight training so much now--because I keep seeing results--that I have a hard time on the cardio-only days!

Agree, I left that part out. 90 mins on one machine would make me go crazy!

Good suggestions Kristen

Well, I exercise everyday w/ at least 2 hours of walking plus cardio and that seems to be enough to keep me going w/o feeling hungry. Just takes getting used to. Not sure how tall Jennifer is though.

Don't you also weigh 105? Are you 4'11"?

1200 calories is pretty much starving yourself, there are far healthier and safer ways to go about losing weight, cutting your caloric intake by 40% is not one of them.

Also, it's important that you don't necessarily focus on always accumulating time on the cardio machine. The only true indicator to how hard you busted your ass is how your ass feels henceforth, not how long you swing those stupid bars. 90 minutes of elliptical may be for all intents and purposes the rough cardiac equivalent of a 50 minute run at a brisk pace.

40 minutes a day 6 days a week (I assume) is sufficient to engage in weight loss. That's got to be somewhere around 1500-2000 calories right there, provided she eats reasonably and doesn't starve herself, she should lose roughly 1 lb a week, something far more reachable.

Well yes, that's why I was asking how tall she is, since I'm 5 feet. The reason I suggested 1200 calories is because I've read that is the minimum amount women should eat w/o screwing up their metabolism.

I've read that the minimum women should eat is 1200 plus how every much they are burning off with exercise. So if you're not doing any exercise, then 1200 could be okay (not recommended) and if you are exercising that you should be eating more. If you are only eating 1200 and burning about 500 a day, then you're only really getting 700 a day which sounds scarily low to me.

But I'm not too sure about any of this as there's lots of conflicting information out there. Instead, I just focus more on eating healthy and not starving myself. If I'm super hungry I'm better off eating something then instead of trying to hold off.

1200 calories is about the absolute minimum a woman can eat, and still possibly get healthy levels of the essential macro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals. If anyone is eating that little, you better be awfully small to begin with, not be training seriously for any sport or competition, and paying very close attention to your nutrition, likely taking a supplement or two. Otherwise, yes, this level will definitely mess with your health and/or metabolism.

Only going by whether your stomach tells you your hungry or not can be deceiving. Just as you can feel hungry when in reality you've had enough, you can also feel satisfied when in fact you are lacking.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

I am 5 feet tall so I am a small girl! 1200 calories seems to be doing fine for me so far. I've tried eating less than a 1,000 calories a day (over a year ago) and I turned into a witch because I was starving myself. I am trying to do more of a grazing diet then eating large amounts in one sitting.

I've been weight training with my exercise. I alternate legs and arms and always do crunches every day. I am hoping once I get into a more permanent routine I will up my workout time. I enjoy using the elliptical machine b/c it burns the most amount of calories for me in the shortest amount of time (compared to the treadmill or bikes). I burn about 300 calories in 40 minutes on the elliptical. Should I be aiming to burn more calories?

Thanks for all of your help, it is greatly appreciated!

Also, I like to enjoy a cocktail or two on the weekends. Any suggestions for a drink that is low in calories? I've heard club soda and vodka isn't bad.

Bloody Marys are a healthy choice for alcoholic drinks as well. I think that 300 is a good amount of cals to burn each day for cardio. I prefer the elliptical too over the treadmill since it's easier on the joints.

I had to play with my calories for a long time until I found what worked best for me. In order for me to keep losing about 1 pound a week, I have to end up at the end of the day with 1500 calories--net. Which means that some days I have to eat 2500+ calories! And I definitely become even more bitchy than usual when I don't eat enough. And I stop losing weight to boot! My age may have something do do with my metabolism, or having twins, because I never had to eat that much a few years ago. I would probably murder someone if I only had 1200 calories each day!

bling bling

Ditto on the lite beer. I'm more of a Coors Lite girl myself, though.

If I'm really craving the liquor, some rum or whiskey with diet coke suits me just fine. Or, good old fashioned shots of tequilla, no salt and no chaser. Still very calorie dense, but without all the extra sugar and crap in the usual mixers.

Unfortunately the only beer I like is Sam Adam's Summer, Cherry Wheat, Blue Moon, and Wachusett Blueberry... probably not lite on the calories. I'm more of a mixed drink/martini girl!

Welcome to the site!