Trying to lose weight.....what exercise.....

dantheman2010

Hi all

Myself and my partner have decided to try and lose some weight.

I am 28 and she is 24, but we havent done much exercise in a while.

I recently started jogging in the mornings but think I started off with too much too soon.

So today I am starting all over again and going to look at going for a mile to 2 mile jog every other morning, coupled with a 2-3 mile quick bike ride in my lunch break at work 2-3 days a week.

However, I do sometimes suffer from shin splints, so this morning it was the pressure on the front of my legs which caused me to stop the jogging and walk the next 1/2 mile of my course. How do I eradicate these shin splints?

I would probably prefer to ride my bike for 4/5 miles rather than jog but as I dont have a garage or shed it is a bit of a pain, so I keep my bike at work.

Also is 3-5 miles on a bike as effective as 1-2 miles running?

I am just concerned that 1-2 miles isnt enough to lose weight albeit increasing my fitness, but I am not sure my shins will allow me to run for longer than this.

Our diets have to improve, especially at the weekend. We had been getting into the following habit but have let it slip recently but getting back in it today;

BREAKFAST -

Shredded Wheat
Water/OJ

MID MORNING -

Banana

LUNCH -

1 ham & lettuce sandwich on wholemeal bread

MID AFTERNOON -

1 apple
2 oranges

DINNER -

Lean meat such as turkey breast
Vegetables or salad
Potatoes/pasta/rice
Pint of water

So the diet on most days isnt too bad, but this suffers a lot at the weekend but we have said to ourselves we will only have a maximum of 1 takeaway a fortnight.

I have also been told that potatoes should be cut from the diet because of the carbs but have also read that carbs provide the most energy for runners. So not sure on that one? Perhaps just opt for red potatoes??

Sorry for the long post, but I am getting so much conflicting info, all I want is to do a bit of exercise so my fitness is up and eat better so I lose some weight.

I currently weigh 15st 4lbs (I dont look fat) but ideally I want to be down to 14st. I am 6ft tall and its just my love handles and stomach which I dislike.

Any advice etc would be great.

Thanks

Padstow

I find weight training to be the best for shaping the body. A good rower like concept would cover CV and tone muscle, no pressure on your shins.
Remember the more muscle, the faster you will burn calories so that occasional take away won't have much impact.

dantheman2010

I have also read that some of the fruits I am eating is not so good for me as they are high in carbs?

I have no room for a rower, sadly.

murphydog999

Hi, you don't need to worry about ditching potatoes, pasta etc because of your 'running,' you are getting more than enough carbs from the rest of your food. In fact, rather too many from sugar and starch, all these will be converted to glucose, and then partly due to lack of exercise, converted to fat.

Talking about fat, there seems to be very little in your menu. It's very important - fat will not make you fat - but it will if it's combined with carbs; think chips, doughnuts etc. It will keep you fuller for longer and keep your body satisfied.

DO NOT use ANY manufactured spread or oil, use only natural fats like butter, olive oil or animal fats for cooking.

Your first efforts should be to ditch the fruit juice (pure glucose), lower your fruit intake to berries only, and big-up the veg. - especially green leafy types and mushrooms, cauli.

Ditch heavy carbs/starches at dinner time (rice, pasta, potatoes), if you really can't do without initially, have a small amount with lunch.

Introduce egg-based dishes for breakfast, to lower the amount of cereal you have.

This will get you on the right track. Eating as much natural, non-processed, pre-made produce will help big-time. If you pick something up in the supermarket and it's got more than 3 ingredients in it, or you don't know what the ingredients are, put it back where it belongs - on the shelf. It will do you no good, esp. products marketed as low-fat, low-calorie etc, as they are filled with nasties like sugar derivatives which will make you fatter!!

Anyway, hope that's a help! Re. exercise I take it you are looking for some cheap options, jogging is certainly one of them, but not very effective. Constant, repetitive movement on a hard surface (esp. if you are overweight) won't be particularly enjoyable; fast walking over a more rugged terrain, or an incline, or indeed your cycling is more beneficial.

Circuit training is one of the best ways to loose weight, gain muscle and tone, it's a quick and efficient way of total training, and if you can find a class to get you started it would help. If you could look into personal trainer costs for a few sessions to get you pointed in the right direction? then with a small investment of maybe a kettle bell, a few hand weights and a gym ball you could quite easily train at home.

dantheman2010

Thank you for this.

Why would I have to cut down on the shredded wheat? I was planning on taking some hard boiled eggs to work for a mid morning snack.

Such as -

BREKKIE - Shredded wheat and water
MID MORNING - 2 x hard boiled eggs
LUNCH - Wholegrain salad wrap or salad
MID AFTERNOON - Apple and some blue and blackberries
DINNER - lean meat + veg or salad (and possibly some red potatoes/wholemeal rice/wholemeal pasta).

What do you think to this?

murphydog999

Because it's pure grain, very carb based and nutritionally bland. Why would you have it with water, not milk?

You need to add some protein at lunchtime, otherwise you'll be starving.
The apple would be better with some cheese (the protein will lower the rise in the glucose) in the morning, better still the cheese with some nuts; the eggs - if you need them - in the afternoon. The berries with some full-fat greek yogurt (NOT flavoured) anytime.

You've still added starchy carbs to your dinner. Not good.

PS Whether grains are wholemeal or white, they have the same effect on your glucose levels. There's very little difference between red or white potatoes, starch-wise.

dantheman2010

Thanks

I meant the drink would be water rather than OJ, not that I would have them with water rather than milk.

So if I switched it round and had the apples in the morning with some cheese, what else other than cheese? Is a daily dose of cheese not fattening? Also why full fat in the greek yoghurt?

I take it the starchy carbs you mean the potatoes, pasta and rice, I put 'possibly' as I am keen on cutting them out if needed, so basically just stick to the lean meat and veg or salad?

Time wise I would prefer to stick to the shredded wheat in the mornings (also for the fiber for my bowels), however the main parts I need some help with are mid morning and mid afternoon.

So suggestion is apple and cheese mid morning and then the eggs and berries mid afternoon, or possibly eggs with the lunch and berries mid afternoon. What other things are good and easy for a mid morning or mid afternoon snack?

murphydog999

I think I'll PM you if you don't mind! Unless anyone else finds it useful, this is getting into a 2-way conversation.

dantheman2010

Thanks that would be great.

There_Goes_Trouble

murphydog999 wrote: »

I think I'll PM you if you don't mind! Unless anyone else finds it useful, this is getting into a 2-way conversation.

I'm finding it useful! Please keep going!

teffers

My shin splints were caused by poor arch support in my trainers. As soon as I got some with decent arches they went away.