My Daily Routine…Please help!

[Truth0306]

It's Sunday, I haven't been feeling good at all today. I think I'm getting a cold so I did nothing today. I never left my bed really.

Breakfast

Oatmeal
w.w. toast

Lunch

rice cakes
f.f. cream cheese (I haven't made it to the store yet to get the better)
5 fig newtons

dinner

grill cheese sandwich (I already know I was dead wrong for this one)
diet pepsi

So tomorrow is a new day I'm back in my eating good and exercising. I said I was gonna start working out in the morning but I'm not feeling well so I know I'm not gonna be able to get up early in the morning and work out. I'll wait til tomorrow evening.

Question? Is working out in the morning better than the evening after work? Can I do cardio twice a day or is that too much? Like 30 min before work and like 30 after?

 

[jenscats5]

So tomorrow is a new day I'm back in my eating good and exercising. I said I was gonna start working out in the morning but I'm not feeling well so I know I'm not gonna be able to get up early in the morning and work out. I'll wait til tomorrow evening.

Question? Is working out in the morning better than the evening after work? Can I do cardio twice a day or is that too much? Like 30 min before work and like 30 after?

I would not recommend cardio 2x a day?? Why would you want to do this??

I do my cardio 1st thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Then I lift in the afternoon, on the days I do lift (4x a week)

Again, too much cardio can hinder your progress. Let the way you eat do the work for you. If you're going to do cardio 2x a day, say 3 days a week - when you plateau will you do cardio everyday?? You're setting yourself up to burn out quickly.

 

[Truth0306]

I don't know why I was thinking twice a day, it just sounds like something that would speed up the fat burning process. I think I'm getting too excited so I'm trying to do too much at once.

I love cucumbers, is that good to go along with my diet? Would that count as one of my vegetables? I usually eat them with vinegar or a lite Italian dressing.

Also, I'm sick (just a cold), someone told me I shouldn't work out until my body is 100% back to normal because working out will only make me sicker, is this true?

jenscat thanks for the advice.

 

[jenscats5]

I don't know why I was thinking twice a day, it just sounds like something that would speed up the fat burning process. I think I'm getting too excited so I'm trying to do too much at once.

I love cucumbers, is that good to go along with my diet? Would that count as one of my vegetables? I usually eat them with vinegar or a lite Italian dressing.

Also, I'm sick (just a cold), someone told me I shouldn't work out until my body is 100% back to normal because working out will only make me sicker, is this true?

jenscat thanks for the advice.

Actually doing that much cardio can SLOW down your progress as opposed to speeding it up -- be patient (hard to do!) and let your eating plan do most of the work. Aim for 3 sessions of HIIT cardio per week & maybe 1 of steady state -- like a walk or maybe 1 day with yoga/pilates.

As for working out with a cold -- if you don't have a fever and aren't sneezing a lot or phlegm-y -- then you should be ok. If you find when you get there after 10 minutes you can't continue - then go home.

 

[Sassy69]

"speed up the fat burnign process" --- "fat burning" is mostly diet. And its not really about forcing your body thru all sorts of time spent exercising. Its more about getting your body to run as efficiently as possible. Its a perfect biochemical machine. It *wants* to run efficiently. If you try to force it to do something, it will work for a while, but you will experience some sort of rebound or shut down after a while if you are asking it to run "too hard" with not enough recovery time or not eating enough so it determines it doesn't have a sufficient supply of "fuel" -- it will slow down to accommodate the supply it feels it has available.

A "fit" lifestyle is finding that happy medium where your body can run efficiently all the time with no excess and no shortage.

Cardio 2x/day won't really get you much. Focus on improving your diet before getting carried away with time spent exercising.

 

[Truth0306]

Thanks Sassy and Jenscat...

OK, everybody keeps stressing to me the importants of my diet. I read all the stickies but I want to make sure I'm clear on what I need to eat.

This is basically a list of what I've gotten from everybody and what I've added because of my own preference, please let me know if there's anything on here that I should not be having in my diet. Here is goes:

green vegetables that I like:

Broccoli
cucumbers (not sure if this is good for me/high in protein??)
green beans

meats high in protein that can be included in any meal:

turkey
chicken (boneless chicken breast)
fish (baked/any particular kind?)

ok now these are the things that I want to add to my diet, I wanna make sure they are good for me first, I don't want to be doing this for months and be doing the shit all wrong!

baked potato

I can't believe it's not butter (for vegetables & potato)

mrs. dash (salt supplement)

lite cottage cheese

crackers (any kind ok to eat??)

I don't like eating eggs so what can I substitute for breakfast for my protein oatmeal?

tofu (I grew up on this stuff so I like it)

2% milk?? or should I be getting fat free??

2% cheese (my biggest weakness is cheese!!!) can I keep this in my diet somehow, is there a kind to get that's not bad for me?

some kind of rice other than boring brown rice?

carrots (I know these are good for me)

peanut butter (what kind tho?)

I love fruit!!! So what kind of fruit is good for me?

Lite mayo (once in a while for sandwiches)

tuna fish (do I make it with the lite mayo? if not what can I put in it?)

I think that's it. I'll add more later. I understand that's a lot to break down for me so I'll be happy if someone can just answer a couple for me. I am a junk food, fast food Queen so eating healthy is brand new to me that's why I am so lost. I would greatly appreciate anybodys help with these questions.

 

[jenscats5]

Thanks Sassy and Jenscat...

OK, everybody keeps stressing to me the importants of my diet. I read all the stickies but I want to make sure I'm clear on what I need to eat.

This is basically a list of what I've gotten from everybody and what I've added because of my own preference, please let me know if there's anything on here that I should not be having in my diet. Here is goes:

green vegetables that I like:

Broccoli
cucumbers (not sure if this is good for me/high in protein??) There's no protein in cucumbers
green beans
Also: dark greens like spinach, lettuces, collard greens, kale, etc

meats high in protein that can be included in any meal:

turkey white meat or low fat ground is ok
chicken (boneless chicken breast)
fish (baked/any particular kind?)
Some cuts of beef are ok

ok now these are the things that I want to add to my diet, I wanna make sure they are good for me first, I don't want to be doing this for months and be doing the shit all wrong!

baked potato or sweet potato

I can't believe it's not butter (for vegetables & potato) Check the trans fat listing on the label + the sodium/sugar content
mrs. dash (salt supplement)

lite cottage cheese Get 1% fat

crackers (any kind ok to eat??) Whole Wheat Triscuits or wheat thins

I don't like eating eggs so what can I substitute for breakfast for my protein oatmeal? You can have a protein shake or stir in the protein powder into you oats after cooking. Or eat hard boiled eggs.

tofu (I grew up on this stuff so I like it)

2% milk?? or should I be getting fat free?? FF would be better

2% cheese (my biggest weakness is cheese!!!) can I keep this in my diet somehow, is there a kind to get that's not bad for me? If you HAVE to have cheese, get a dry cheese like Parmesan or a VERY HIGH quality cheese that you have in small amounts. Try to limit it to only 1x or 2x a week, tho. Cheese is not very dense -- there are a LOT of calories in a very small amount, so it won't fill you up or anything.

some kind of rice other than boring brown rice? Brown is best, white has really no nutritional value.

carrots (I know these are good for me)

peanut butter (what kind tho?) All natural PB or All natural almond butter. Ingredients should be peanuts/almonds + salt only.

I love fruit!!! So what kind of fruit is good for me?

Lite mayo (once in a while for sandwiches) Keep it to 1 tblsp.

tuna fish (do I make it with the lite mayo? if not what can I put in it?)

I think that's it. I'll add more later. I understand that's a lot to break down for me so I'll be happy if someone can just answer a couple for me. I am a junk food, fast food Queen so eating healthy is brand new to me that's why I am so lost. I would greatly appreciate anybodys help with these questions.

Check this article for fruits, timing of fruits, etc.
http://www.parentsurf.com/p/articles/mi_m0KFY/is_7_22/ai_n6170379

If you're not on a competition diet, you have a lot more leeway. Keep it as naturaly as possible, no processed foods. The healthier foods you choose the more of it you can eat!

 

[Truth0306]

Hey Jenscat you actually responded to all of that!! Thanks a whole bunch.

So cucumbers is dead weight huh?

I think I'm gonna print out your responses so I can use it when I go shopping this weak otherwise I'll forget.

So I can add about a tablespoon of lite mayo to my tuna fish.

I love wheat thins so that's good, I can eat them as a snack w/ the cottage cheese.

I will limit my cheese intake to once or twice a week. Actually cottage cheese should be enough anyway.

Thanks again Jenscat

 

[jenscats5]

Hey Jenscat you actually responded to all of that!! Thanks a whole bunch.

So cucumbers is dead weight huh?

I think I'm gonna print out your responses so I can use it when I go shopping this weak otherwise I'll forget.

So I can add about a tablespoon of lite mayo to my tuna fish.

I love wheat thins so that's good, I can eat them as a snack w/ the cottage cheese.

I will limit my cheese intake to once or twice a week. Actually cottage cheese should be enough anyway.

Thanks again Jenscat

Try the cottage cheese with chopped tomato on top or sliced almonds.....

As for the cucumbers, they're fine -- just not as a protein source.....

Just try to find crackers (WW) with no trans fats or hydrogenated oils -- you want to definitely avoid that stuff.....

And cottage cheese can be used to top a baked potato -- it melts & it's pretty good with broccoli.

And Mrs Dash makes all kinds of flavors -- good stuff!!

 

[Sassy69]

For competition or really aggressive dieting, people generally stick w/ the green leafy veggies and no fruit. However since you aren't talking competition diet, more color in your veggies is good - but still putting more emphasis on the green leafies. The "sweeter" the veggie, the more simple sugar there is in it (e.g. carrots, tomato) so you want to not go overboard with these. The variety is good because your body uses all the stuff in them. If you exclude them completely from your diet you are missing some of the enzymes & things that are part of a good diet and used by the body for shuttling waste out, and just sort of keeping things moving.

Same with fruit - definitely go for fruit vs. fruit juice. Commercial fruit juices are nothing but sugar. Grapefruit, kiwi, strawberries are low GI foods (low fructose) and also help w/ digestion and provide enzymes.

But all of the above in moderation.

Protein-wise - fish is great baked, broiled or grilled. White fish like orange roughy, tilapia, cod. Salmon is also a good fat source.

Breakfast foods -- you don't have to be stuck w/ just "breakfast food" --- if you consider your first meal of the day as "Meal 1" instead of "breakfast" -- then you can eat just about anything as your protein source. E.g. 4 oz chicken, ground turkey patties, etc.