Personal trainers, diet experts. I have a fitness v.s diet question?
Question:
Ok, so I have a really fast metabolism, b4 the baby I could eat whatever I wanted & it didnt matter, but I was also fairly active anyway. I nvr went to the Gym, but I walked alot & usually walked rather than takin any transport & within a month of havin the baby I was in my old clothes, excepting the bottoms, Im wearing my baggy jeans which r now tight (but all my old clothes were super tight anyway)
So at the moment Im not watching my diet very much in regards to fat content & I have one beer & lemonade every night as my treat when I relax & I usually have some chocolate during the day & mayb another soda aswell
This isnt out of character 4 me from what I did b4, but my exercise is probably down 50-60%
I am slowing down my recovery arent I?
Answers:
You don't say how old you are but you're heading for trouble, I can assure you! I was once an athlete with a sweet tooth; my sport gave me a fast metabolism and I could eat chocolate for England. I even sometimes ate choclate for breakfast - I was that bad! As I aged however, my ability to burn off the calories faded, and yours will too. I'm now at the stage where *anything* unhealthy just isn't worth the trouble it takes to keep it from becoming body fat. The diet you speak of is definitely something that will have to change not only if you want to keep your figure but if you want to protect your heart and general health. I know it's not much for what many people eat but I can promise you it's enough for the weight to slowly and *imperceptibly* creep up.
The VITAL thing to understand about exercise and body weight - and this is something that NO programmes or fitness regimes impress on the public - is that exercising does VERY LITTLE to reduce weight. The reason for this is the amount of calories in the foods we eat. For example, did you know that 1 pound of fat contains 4000 calories and that to burn 4000 calories take 4 HOURS on the treadmill or exercise bike? Very few people *could* spend 4 hours working out even if they knew this. What people usually do (and these are the people we often envy for their regimes) is do a 30 minute work out each day. The actual benefit of such small periods of exercise is not fat burning but an increased metabolism. Note though, that it won't compensate for unhealthy eating - believe me, I've tried! You must eat *perfectly* AND do a little regular exercise each day to stay in trim. Overweight people need to make a LIFESTYLE change because the amount of fat on their bodies is so great that they'd be in the gym till doomsday to *exercise* it off - and that's if they are only eating 2000 calories per day!
So, to get the extra weight off, count your calories! Women can have 1500 per day, men 2000. NOTE - this is to *maintain* your weight, NOT to lose it. To lose weight you'll need to be aiming to have somewhat less than 1500 calories per day. As a woman, never have less than 1000 per day. Starving oneself is a very common mistake people make when they want to slim; all it does is *slow* your metabolism down i.e. your body slows down the rate at which it burns the calories!
Ideal programme: In *calories*, eat a large breakfast (fit for a king), a medium dinner (fit for a prince) and a light supper (fit for a pauper); going to sleep on a full stomach is bad because while you sleep, you're digestion process slows right down so that all you do is wake up with a full stomach onto which you'll add more when you eat during the day! By eating *regularly*, you tell your body it needn't store food, so your metabolism runs at its optimum rate. Complex carbohydrates deliver their food value slowly, which means you don't get hungry so quickly. I eat a full pasta meal for breakfast and I can easily go until 4pm until my dinner.
To help stave off hunger, drink plenty of water (we tend to drink too little anyway) and snack on boring old fruit (it's a shame I know, but make good habits now because you'll be glad of them in later life when the doctor says stop eating this and that - or DIE!).
You're unlikely to be able to over-exercise just because you were pregnant; remember we were once wild animals that had to have the capacity to run for our lifes and fight and this included the females even *when* pregnant. It's always a good idea to speak to your doctor before taking on any exercise and/or dieting regime however; I have no idea what medication you might be on, if any.
maybe a little. its only been 6 weeks since you had the baby. i would give it another 4 weeks. you wouldnt hurt to go for a walk everyday. go for a walk with the baby.
Yes. You know you are.
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