Question for the Girls

[bran987]

Hi girls,

Last night my girlfriend said that she wants to start getting back in shape, but she wants some exercises she can do at her house before she goes back and gets a gym membership and everything. She's gained about 10 lbs. and wants to take it off.

Can anyone give me some suggestions or point me to a thread that has suggested exercises like this? All I can think of are bodyweight squats and push ups. Being a dumb meathead I always use weights so I am clueless here

Thaaaaank ya girls.
-Brandon

 

[Shak]

What's her diet like?

 

[bran987]

oatmeal for breakfast..

turkey sandwich and grapes for lunch..

dinner usually chicken and something else..

I know.. need protein at breakfast and the meals split up more, right? She's a real estate agent and is out of the office driving people around all the time, sometimes she even just drives through fast food at lunch. Any diet solutions for someone "on the go" would be welcome as well.

I've always been of the opinion that something is better than nothing, so I thought at least starting the exercise would be a good idea for now. The part I'm excited about was that it was her idea, I hate forcing people to do things they don't want to do.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

She needs to eat more often and more protein. She can buy the canned protein shakes and protein bars. Try not to have the protein bars to often. I usually cut them in two. Have half as a snack in the morning and the other half as snack in the afternoon.
Oatmeal for breakfast is fine but I would cut bread out in the afternoon. Salads you can have on the go and prepare before hand and you can add chicken for protein. If she prepares her meals for the week on a Sunday then she is more likely to stick to the clean eating. Being unprepared is probably the thing that has her going to drives thrus. Take her weight and x12 then -500 that would give her the amount of cals she needs to eat to loose about a pound a week.
Suggested foods to eat would be:
Protein: chicken breast, turkey (white meat only), fish, strip loin and other lean steaks, cottage cheese.
Carbs: oatmeal, whole wheat breads, yams, whole wheat pasta (avoid carbs after 2 p.m.)
All veggies are good but greens are the best.
Fruit is fine but again avoid them after 2 p.m.
See how her body responds to this diet me personally I can only really drop the pounds if I drastically cut my carbs. Tweak the diet a bit as she sees what her body responds too.
How many days of the week can she make it to the gym to work out?

 

[FitFossil]

She should get some protein in each of her meals, and the more frequent the meals the better. One of my favorite breakfasts is oatmeal with protein powder and a few nuts thrown in. I never eat carbs without some protein.

"Being a dumb meathead I always use weights so I am clueless here..."

Actually, you're right on the money! Women can and should train just like guys if they want any real results. Since women only make 1/10 as much testosterone as men do, their muscle gains will be much smaller and slower.

 

[bran987]

She needs to eat more often and more protein. She can buy the canned protein shakes and protein bars. Try not to have the protein bars to often. I usually cut them in two. Have half as a snack in the morning and the other half as snack in the afternoon.
Oatmeal for breakfast is fine but I would cut bread out in the afternoon. Salads you can have on the go and prepare before hand and you can add chicken for protein. If she prepares her meals for the week on a Sunday then she is more likely to stick to the clean eating. Being unprepared is probably the thing that has her going to drives thrus. Take her weight and x12 then -500 that would give her the amount of cals she needs to eat to loose about a pound a week.
Suggested foods to eat would be:
Protein: chicken breast, turkey (white meat only), fish, strip loin and other lean steaks, cottage cheese.
Carbs: oatmeal, whole wheat breads, yams, whole wheat pasta (avoid carbs after 2 p.m.)
All veggies are good but greens are the best.
Fruit is fine but again avoid them after 2 p.m.
See how her body responds to this diet me personally I can only really drop the pounds if I drastically cut my carbs. Tweak the diet a bit as she sees what her body responds too.
How many days of the week can she make it to the gym to work out?

Thanks for all the suggestions. Makes me hungry

 

[bran987]

She should get some protein in each of her meals, and the more frequent the meals the better. One of my favorite breakfasts is oatmeal with protein powder and a few nuts thrown in. I never eat carbs without some protein.

Actually, you're right on the money! Women can and should train just like guys if they want any real results. Since women only make 1/10 as much testosterone as men do, their muscle gains will be much smaller and slower.

Yeah.. I was thinking about giving her some chocolate protein powder to try in her oatmeal or to drink.. double rich chocolate by Optimum Nutrition tastes just like ice cream shake.

So in your opinion, unless she can get to a gym, there isn't much she can do? No home exercises to speak of?

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Yeah.. I was thinking about giving her some chocolate protein powder to try in her oatmeal or to drink.. double rich chocolate by Optimum Nutrition tastes just like ice cream shake.

So in your opinion, unless she can get to a gym, there isn't much she can do? No home exercises to speak of?

I think there is some home exercise but she needs weights. Cardio there is a lot of good videos. She should buy a set of dumbbells that goes from 5-30 to start of with she can use a workout step or balance ball as a bench. Then you can show her the basics (i.e bench, dead lift squat), also the rubber bands are pretty good. This will work if she is a total newbie to fitness, how ever she will probably end up out growing it. IMO it is best to join a gym.

 

[bran987]

aaaaahhhhh see now that's a good idea! those rubber bands will be a great way to get her started out. is it hard to lay back over a rubber ball and try to bench press???

and are you talking about those dumbells that you can just change where the pin is inserted and the weight changes? they look like rectangle blocks.

(yep, you're right, eventually she will need to join a gym).

 

[velvett]

So in your opinion, unless she can get to a gym, there isn't much she can do? No home exercises to speak of?

She could get resistance bands, and walk/jog outside or rollerblade if she has them. She could practice squating her own body weight and do walking lunges without weight to get the hand of it. The find some kind of box that she can step up on to and off of - which could double as a squat box or a box she do lunges with as well.