Some advice pleeeaasseee...

[punkin2004]

here's the deal...i'm getting married in march, so, i have approx. 4 months to get in shape. i am considering moving it to may, which that will give me a good 6 months...i'm not looking for quick fixes, blah, blah, blah...but i do need some advice as to how to get where i want to be...i sooo do not want to be a fat bride...i feel, it only happens once (we hope) and i want to look and feel the best i can.

i will give you the run down on me...i am 29, 5'3", 155 lbs (BLAH) and slowly getting back into the swing of things...but i have finally made up my mind, i have to start this NOW...i don't even want to go try on dresses now cause i know anything i do try on, i won't like...5 years ago, when i met my fiance, i weighed 120, worked out everyday, eat fairly decent...that went to shit...lol.
i'm not gonna' give you a play by play on my "diet" because frankly, it's shit...
i have gotten into the habit of eating 1/2 cp. oatmeal and 3/4 c. total protein in the morning...and banana, 2 T PB, and almonds for my first snack, but most of the time after that, it goes downhill...i eat whatever and whenever...
as for my weigts/cardio, i'm trying to do HIIT 3-4 times a week for approx. 20 min., 30 min. total...
weights i really have no structure...
i do 2 bodyparts a day, say 3-4 times a week (that too is not ALL the time), i usually do 2-3 exercises per body part, and around 8-12 reps depending on the weight...i do try to increase my weight as i go through the sets...usuallly at least 3 sets.
i work 3 days a week, 12 hrs at a hospital and sometimes it's really hard to be able to eat all my meals...

i need somebody to basically lay it out for me...do this for weights, eat these things at these times...although i'll tell you right now, i can't stand eggs...lol...i burned myself out on them way back when.
if anyone can help me (sassy, daisy, whoever else) i would sooooo appreciate it. i've made up my mind to be committed to this starting now.
i would like to lose at least 30 - 35 lbs....do you think this is feasable (the right way) in 4 months? or should i stretch it out till 6 months?

i am totally at your mercy...if any questions, jsut ask, and i'll tell...
thanks so much...
j

 

[randk]

moving the date just because of your weight is not a good enough reason in my humble opinion. the day will be beautiful and you will be radient no mater what. but good luck in your quest for the perfect bride.

 

[Sassy69]

I agree. Your wedding should not be a day you dread.

As far as diet, etc. I might suggest starting w/ something like Daisy's diet & schedule. It seems like you know how to do it, you just need to do it. Let me tell you something dieting. If you want to make serious results happen, you need to be focused. It is all about looking at that goal on whatever day it is out there and make no excuses about getting there. For years I had done the working out thing but never really understood about how to diet until I started preparing for my first bodybuilding show. Some days it was REAL hard, but I had made that commitment to do it. And I was also on a tight schedule so there was really no room for any of this 'oh a little piece of pizza 1x/week won't kill me" stuff. But I had the goal seared into my mind. Instead of worrying about "oh i'm hungry" or "O God, not another piece of chicken", it was all about how did I feel today compared to yesterday. And not in terms of "O I look fat" or "I feel fat" or whatever. I looked at all the things that I should expect to see improve from a diet standpoint e.g.
- did my "stomach alarm" go off at the same time as yesterday?
- do I feel more energetic today?
- do I still taste "asparatame" aftertaste from all the diet cokes I was tryign to get myself off of?
- am I hungry yet?
- am I starving?
- did I drink enough water?

I tried to focus on those little differences day to day and each meal itself simply because a "feeding time". This took my attention away from the daily temptations but also kept me focused on the goal. When the day to day becomes weeks, then I could start looking to see if I saw real results in bodyfat loss, more energy, better sleep, better skin, clearer mind, etc. Sometimes I also had to suffer through a couple low-carb days until a re-carb day. Sometimes it just gets old. But then I started to ask myself if an m&m now would be worth the way it feels to have a tight ass & some veins popping out, or better than my clothes fitting even better? NO QUESTION THERE!

For me, I really had to "get into it" and I did it. Even if you don't lose the total amount of weight you want, you can make amazing changes in your form and appear to be a lighter weight. The weights you want I think are possible if you are 150% tight on your diet & training, but even if you set your sights at say 20 lbs, which is completely doable in that time frame, along with the 'toning' from training & the diet, you will, I think, still be very happy. But you need to set that goal in your head & not panic about your progress.

 

[punkin2004]

thanks soooo much, sassy...
i have four days off a week, so i can definately stick to the diet on those days, but what about work? i mean, somedays i can get all my meals in, but others, it's just hectic and i barely have time to eat lunch. any suggestions on those days? heres a few other questions i have:
are mrp bars really good for you?
is cardio 4x week good enough?
can i do my cardio/weights on same days?
reason i ask is on the days i do work, i don't get home until 8:30...i'm wiped out especially if i have to work the next day. so, it's just easier for me to work out on my off days...

as far as diet: is the total protein cereal acceptable? it has maybe 1 g. sugar in it and i just add splenda. how about the following diet:

1 - 1/2 c. oats w/splenda/raisins
3/4 c. total protein w/splenda & strawberries

2 - banana
2 T. peanut butter
almonds

3 - 1 chicken breast
1/2 c. jasmati or wild rice
1 c. broccoli or salad

4 - ???? any suggestions here? protein shake?

5 - chicken/salmon/turkey/lean beef
green beans
salad

6 - 1/2 c. cottage cheese

i have to make the diet fairly simple or else i won't stick to it...eat the same shit day in and day out...but how often should i "switch" it up a little?

thx again!!!! ur awesome.

 

[Sassy69]

i have four days off a week, so i can definately stick to the diet on those days, but what about work? i mean, somedays i can get all my meals in, but others, it's just hectic and i barely have time to eat lunch. any suggestions on those days?
- You can make those your "off days" or just cardio or whatever. Correspondingly, I would suggest you make these also lower carb days. Since you won't be burning as much energy, you don't need as much. This could be like skipping the carbs in 1 of your meals. It sounds like you still need your calories on those days, so you might try replacing the calories that you are skipping from the carbs, and replace it w/ the same amount of calories but from good quality fats, e.g. almonds or oil + vinegar on a salad. You can try those days just skipping the carbs & don't worry about the fats just to see how you feel. If you feel wiped out, then include the fats & see if that makes a difference.

heres a few other questions i have:

are mrp bars really good for you?
- They work great if you have abolutely no other options for "real" food or you don't have time to eat or you are just on the run. But they are processed and probably not the best option to make as your regular meal. Also watch the calories in some of the different brands - some are basically just candy bars.

is cardio 4x week good enough?
- Sure. It sounds like you do a lot of runnign around as it is.

can i do my cardio/weights on same days?
- Sure! Better to do your cardio AFTER the training though. Or if you can swing it, you can even do cardio first thing in the morning (e.g. on an empty stomach) and train later in the day. This is what I usually do. I don't usually make it to the gym until after 7.

reason i ask is on the days i do work, i don't get home until 8:30...i'm wiped out especially if i have to work the next day. so, it's just easier for me to work out on my off days...

as far as diet: is the total protein cereal acceptable? it has maybe 1 g. sugar in it and i just add splenda. how about the following diet:

1 - 1/2 c. oats w/splenda/raisins
3/4 c. total protein w/splenda & strawberries
- Oatmeal already has like 27 g of carb in it. What is the purpose of the cereal? Its just more carbs and worse yet, they are processed carbs. (I guess its not "bad" - but the whole "net carbs" thing sort of weirds me out ... real food is always better.) A better protein source might be 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites, even a hunk of chicken or I often have some turkey burger grilled up.

2 - banana
2 T. peanut butter
almonds
- Personally I keep my meals seperated by proteins + fats and proteins + carbs (don't mix the fats & carbs). Bananas are good potassium sources, but I actually think sweet potatoes are better. Also I think you're getting plenty of fats in 1 meal w/ JUST the PB or JUST the almonds. Not both.

3 - 1 chicken breast
1/2 c. jasmati or wild rice
1 c. broccoli or salad

- Good

4 - ???? any suggestions here? protein shake?

- Yep - quick & easy. I keep a container of protein mix at work & a shaker (any juice container or what have you) and mix it up as needed. Isopure, for ex is a good protein mix for this because it mixes up very well just by shaking your container w/ water. Stuff that requires a blender just doesn't work for on-the-go.

5 - chicken/salmon/turkey/lean beef
green beans
salad

- Good

6 - 1/2 c. cottage cheese

- Good. Also if you find you are still hungry after that as your last meal, you can throw in some fats which will slow down the absorption of the carbs/protein & then you still have something in your system to "run" on for a little bit longer.

i have to make the diet fairly simple or else i won't stick to it...eat the same shit day in and day out...but how often should i "switch" it up a little?

Switch it up as you need to. You can get a "food counts" book (lists the cals, fats, carbs, proteins, salt, other stuff for any food you can imagine, often even by brand name!) that helps you pick choices that meet your calories / macronutrient breakdown for the day. Me personally, I can eat the same menu for 6 weeks at a time, then I just can't look at another chicken breast. Actually the "South Beach Diet" book has some great recipes in it if you want to get fancy & diverse! The point is that whatever you choose to do HAS TO FIT YOUR LIFESTYLE or you won't do it.