Need a plan! Help!

[Tyness]

Over the past year, I have gained more weight than I would like. Not a lot has changed, but with age my metabolism has slowed. I am not satisfied with my weight at this point.

My biggest problem is exercise. I used to love to run, when I was in high school but now I have no time. I am a full time student, married, work full time, and am preparing for graduate school. I would like to get up early to exercise, but I have no motivation in the morning! I often dont get to bed early enough because of my busy schedule, which means I cant get up inthe morning. I dont know when to exercies. I dont have time or money to join a gym. There is one at my school but my school is a ways drive, I am only there a few days a week ALL DAY and would have no energy after class. I know a bunch of excuses which is why i need HELP!

I need a plan to exercise. I need to be eating a meal plan as well, that has worked for other veg*ns. It is hard to follow some other popular ones as a veg. Help!!!!!!!!!

[ficbot]

I have had great success with using the plan in Chris Freytag's excellent book "Prevention: Shortcuts to Big Weight Loss." The book is a great buy because it has more than 30 workouts in it. The idea is that instead of doing one thirty-minute workout each day, you do two or three ten-minute ones throughout the day. So maybe you get up ten minutes early (instead of thirty minutes early) and do some strength work, then do a ten-minute walk at lunch, then do another cardio or maybe a yoga or something before bed.

I found when I count my activity in ten-minute chunks, I wind up fitting in a lot more exercise. It is easy to just do a little yoga or a few strength moves and before you know it, ten minutes are up. If you have time to do them all together, that's great, but you can get good results just by staying consistent and doing a little here and there.

[tree_huggur]

i agree with ficbot, great plan by the way! to get up for school i set my alarm clock at a distance by my bed so i have to get up (but lately i've adapted) and turn it off.

[31770]

I don't think there are any "shortcuts" to weight loss...

And I'd also really like to point out that no one should ever really be interested in weight loss (unless your a fighter cutting down to make weight for a fight)- it's about FAT LOSS. If you really want to lose weight you could cut off a limb, right??? You really want the fat gone, and you want to keep all the muscle you can- basically b/c muscle burns more calories compared to fat.

But anyway, losing FAT is HARD, and takes a lot of work and dedication to do properly. It's not some "fad" thing that you can do for a few weeks and stop. It is realy a change of lifestyle. You have to make gains and then HOLD them- of course making the gains is harder than holding, but it's still work. No offense to Ficbot, but when i was trying to lose, there was no way that 10 min 3x a day would do ANYTHING for me... I (and a lot of other people, most people in fact) don't have the genetics for that. I think the harsh reality of it is that if you really want to lose the weight, you have to be prepared to get up 30 minutes early and work HARD:hamster:.

It also requires eating right, and not cheating.

I could go on forever, but I could send you some literature that helped me if you'd like, PM me...

[RedSox28]

I disagree with the bulimic pumpkin. 10 minutes 3 times a day will do wonders for you if you are a sedentary person. You'll burn calories, maybe 100 to 200 a day. So if you do that and cut out eating 400 useless calories in the day (if you are overweight, you can find 400 useless calories EASY), that would be 600 calories a day less that what you intake and not burn off. 3500 calories in a pound, so every 6 days you lose a pound! Woohoo! It's not dramatic, but by Christmas you will have lost 11 pounds! Now, on the weekends, if you COULD get up early and find 30 to 40 minutes of intense working out on both Saturday and Sunday, that will burn an additional 800 calories a week, which is almost another 3 pounds by Christmas. Slow and steady wins the race.

[paramore35]

look around on the internet plenty of veg diets out there

[31770]

I disagree with the bulimic pumpkin. 10 minutes 3 times a day will do wonders for you if you are a sedentary person. You'll burn calories, maybe 100 to 200 a day. So if you do that and cut out eating 400 useless calories in the day (if you are overweight, you can find 400 useless calories EASY), that would be 600 calories a day less that what you intake and not burn off. 3500 calories in a pound, so every 6 days you lose a pound! Woohoo! It's not dramatic, but by Christmas you will have lost 11 pounds! Now, on the weekends, if you COULD get up early and find 30 to 40 minutes of intense working out on both Saturday and Sunday, that will burn an additional 800 calories a week, which is almost another 3 pounds by Christmas. Slow and steady wins the race.


By definition, aerobic means "with oxygen." For fat to be burned, oxygen must be used. For oxygen to be used, the activity must be sustained for a prolonged period. If an activity is intermittent in nature it’s not aerobic – it’s anaerobic or sugar burning. For the purposes of this program, "aerobics" is any cardiovascular activity that’s rhythmical in nature, involves large muscle groups (namely your legs), and, here's the kicker - can be sustained continuously for long periods of time (at least 20 - 30 minutes and up to as much as 60 minutes). Walking, jogging, bicycling, stair climbing, rowing, cross-country skiing and elliptical exercise all fit the bill perfectly.

Certain types of exercise are far more effective than others when it comes to measurable “real-world” fat loss. Tennis, golf, basketball, racquetball, house or yard work, or any other intermittent activities or sports are not efficient for fat burning because they are anaerobic. I’m not saying they don’t help at all, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t do them. What I’m saying is that these types of start/stop activities should not be your first choice when your goal is maximal fat loss – they should be considered recreation first and fat burning exercise second. Short bursts of activity burn primarily carbohydrate for fuel. Fat can only be used for fuel in the presence of oxygen and oxygen is only used in longer duration aerobic activities. The question is; does it matter if you’re burning fat or carbohydrate for fuel? The answer is yes and no. Any increase in your activity level, regardless of whether it burns fat or carbohydrate predominantly, will have some impact on fat loss. However, it’s been my experience that to achieve low body fat levels, you need to burn as many calories from fat as possible by performing longer duration exercise at a moderate to moderately high intensity level.
Cardiovascular health benefits, such as decreased blood pressure, decreased blood cholesterol, lowered resting heart rate and increased aerobic capacity can be achieved with as little as 12-20 minutes of cardiovascular activity. However, if you stop after only 20 minutes, you’re not burning enough total calories to have much impact on fat loss.

Most body types need to do aerobic exercise continuously for at least 30 minutes to burn a substantial amount of fat. Thirty to forty-five minutes continuously per session is recommended duration when your goal is fat loss. Sixty minutes should be the maximum. Beyond 60 minutes per session, you tend to reach a point of diminishing returns and increase the likelihood of injury, over-training and adaptation. If you’re limited in time and long 30-60 minute cardio sessions are not an option, then it would be most productive to increase the intensity of the time you do have to maximize the calorie burning effects. This way, a 15-25 minute aerobic session can produce a substantial expenditure of calories.

Why do so many “gurus” in the books and on TV talk about these “supershort, super- easy” aerobic workouts? The answer is simple: “Quick and easy” sells, long and difficult doesn’t sell. It’s all about marketing and the almighty dollar. If an author or promoter of a product can convince you that you can achieve your dreams with a minimum of effort, their sales will skyrocket. A wise person knows nothing good ever comes fast and easy.

[31770]

[...] the bulimic pumpkin. [...]
:lol:
by the way, that was funny!

[Tyness]

I appreciate all the advice..and information that I never heard of. I am not overweight I am in a healthy range, I just want to stay there and get in shape.
I decided to start running again. I used to love it and time has just gotten away from me. So I am scheduling it. I have to start slow so I dont hurt myself. But eventually I will be running strong!
Thanks again all!

[Licence]

If you can't find the time, then I say that's an excuse because everyone has the same exact 24 hours in a day. And people who lead very busy lives, studying, working, whatever, but still find the time to exercise, they all have the same number of hours in the day as you do.

So if you're serious about exercising, its not about finding time, because believe me the time is there, its about transforming the way you live so that instead of trying to fit exercises around your schedule, your exercises BECOME part of your schedule.

[Tyness]

It is easy to preach over others lives, but it is not a god idea until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

[Licence]

It is easy to preach over others lives, but it is not a god idea until you have walked a mile in their shoes.

Yeah ok, more excuses...whatever.

Jeez, I was only trying to give you some advice and you come back with that. That has really pissed me off.

[Tyness]

I suggest you learn some anger management techniques if reading a few words on a computer screen really made you angry.

There are differences between excuses and explanations Mr./Mrs. Perfect.

There is also a difference between offering advice and criticism.

[Licence]

I know a bunch of excuses which is why i need HELP!


There are differences between excuses and explanations Mr./Mrs. Perfect.

You admitted yourself they were just "a bunch of excuses". :confused:


There is also a difference between offering advice and criticism.

I fail to see where I criticised. Maybe there were some hard truths that you found unpalatable.

FYI I received the exact same advice 2 years ago that I gave you, however I took that advice positively - you can see the results from a thread I made called "Progress Pics" on this board, so I have been there and know what it takes to succeed.

All I said in my original post was that instead of trying to fit exercises around your schedule, your exercises should BECOME part of your schedule. I am genuinely confused and sorry that my advice was taken in such a negative way. Good luck anyway.

[Tyness]

Sorry If i sounded rude. I have been very sick this past week and everything I have read comes off negative. I know you did not mean to sound negative.

I agree with you that exercise does have to become a part of the schedule. I guess thats easy for some and not so much for others. Ug!

[Licence]

Hey no problem.

I guess sometimes advice you think will be helpful just isn't.

I guess we're all different, and all have bad days. I must have been having a bad day when I saw your reply too!

[31770]

awwww... isn't it nice that you two made up!!?!?!?