amirite is bang on the money
1. you need to eat to lose weight. Have 6-8 small meals a day, gradually decrease meal size throughout the day. Don't eat simple carbohydrates close to bed. Try for low GI carbs near the end of the day, but try not to eat many carbs at night. simple sugars pretty much go straight to fa is the energy isn't used, complex carbs release energy over a period of time, so if you eat porridge before bed, you'll have carb stores in your muscles/liver rather than fat stores from sugars
What I typically eat in a day
breakfast: porridge/4 poached eggs on toast(1/2 yolks)
snack: fruit/cottage cheese/chicken/2 boiled eggs(one yolk)
snack
rotein shake with fat free soy milk
Lunch: tuna salad/chicken sandwich
Snack: fruit/cottage cheese/chicken/2 boiled eggs(one yolk)
Snack: protein shake with fat free soy milk
Dinner: some sort of meat and vegetables
Dessert: ice cream or 2 pieces of dark chocolate
usually there is some more stuff in there, but this is a good template, imo
2. drink a butt load of water- all your cells chemical reactions occur in water. you need to be well hydrated to maintain optimum efficiency. You should drink enough so your urine is JUST colourless. (approx 2L a day plus another L on workout days)
3. Don't over do it: if you set unrealistic goals you'll most likely not reach them and this can be a boner killer, demotivating you. aim to get the the gym 3-4 times a week and try to increase your incidental exercise (get off the bus a stop early, take the stairs etc) This way you can be consistent and you're more likely to see results. If you don't feel like going to the gym, MAN UP and make yourself go. You'll feel better afterwards.
4. your workouts: (amirite IS right.)
do weights first (your muscles used stored proteins and carbs so you can, basically, burn fat during cardio.. basically)
5-10 minute cardio warm up
weights (approx 30 min)
-
with weight training try and do 3-4 sets of 20-25 reps. 1-6 reps is strength, not recommended for a beginner. 8-12 is hypertrophy (getting bigger, don't worry cos girls can't get big even if they do hypertrophy, no testosterone) and >20 is endurance. you want to go to failuer, so until you physically can't do anymore.
split up your muscle workouts by day i.e.
monday- back biceps
- reverse flys, bent over row with different hand positions, negative chin ups, seated row, bicep curls, hammer curls etc
if you have a weak lower back you might want to try 'chest peels' lie on the ground face down, don't use your hands and peel your chest off the ground as far as you can, squeeze your butt while you do it. you should feel you lower back working.
tuesday- chest shoulders triceps
dumbbell flys, negative push ups, bench dips, chest press (try super setting chest press and dumb bell shoulder press, you'll die) tricep kick backs/push downs
wednesday rest
thursday- legs/abs
super setting or drop setting is good for legs, i've found
super set: leg press, 25 body weight squats, 10 body weight lunges each side x3
calf raises
abs: super set, also: 1 minute hover, 30 russian twists, 20 crunches/pulse ups x3 (use a 2kg medicine ball for twists and crunches)
friday: rest (go out with yo friends, yo)
saturday: cardio
sunday REST
cardio - 30 min (aim for whole body machines like the cross trainer and rower)
on cardio days aim for 45-60 minutes of cardio, switch between arms and legs i.e. 15 minutes bike, 15 minutes rower, 15 minutes stepper, 15 minutes crosstrainer using mostly arms. this gets blood pumping all over the body and burns more calories.
5. Don't cut any foods out!
If you feel like ice cream, have ice cream. If you deprive yourself, you'll only binge later on. moderation is key. don't cut out fats or your hair will fall out and you'll get orange blotches on your skin from carotein (sp?) build up (i know from experience. it's gross)
according to the ADA, a low fat diet is 30g of fat a day. aim for this (30-40g) but from unsaturated fats- peanut butter, nuts, fish, olive oils
6. SLEEP
you need atleast 8 hours of sleep a night.
you burn more calories sleeping than you do watching tv.
ummmmmmm... hope this helps, YO
this is such a long post...
p.s. don't count calories and don't weigh yourself regularly. go by how you feel. measure yourself once a month instead to track progress