I am exercisinig and dieting properly?!
Question: I am exercisinig and dieting properly?
I'm a 22 year old female. I'm 5'0 and about 105lbs. My goal is to tone up especially my abdominals.
I work out 4 times a week Monday-Thursday by doin cardio classes for about an hour each day. After that I hit the gym and do some workouts on my own like abs, planks, lunges, back extensions, leg lifts...
its hard to say what my diet is exactly but I try to make a lot of tuna sandwhiches with hardboiled eggs. I JUST bought those jars of powder for protein shakes. I just drank one today after my morning workout. If i work out twice a day, is it okay if i drink it again? Like i did cardio class this morning. Then later at night I played indoor badminton lol! anyway I LOVE cereal, I have the fiberplus cinnamon oats and yogurt crunch. BUT i also go out to eat to places like chipotle, noodles&co, portillos (lol its big in the midwest serves hot dogs italian beef burgers), and panera. I mostly need to know what kind of foods I should avoid? AH staying healthy is hard! lol my guilty pleasure is dessert. Its so hard for me to say no to ice cream, cupcakes and cake. Please give me advice and tips. I REALLY appreciate it!
<3
Answers:
Oh, god, please avoid the packaged "health" foods like protein shakes and energy bars!
Look, you should treat yourself some days. You should have cake sometimes.
It's what you do all the time that matters. Focus on vegetables, whole grains (not what they serve at Cinnabon, LOL), lean protein, and fruit.
Don't just do crunches. Sounds like you know a lot about exercise but do back exercise too. The muscles in your back affect your core. They work with your abs to keep you stable and upright.
Find a place to track your calories, exercise, and nutrition.
Mm... I find this for you. http://seekitnow.info/36627/back-extension
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It sounds to me like you're on a pretty good track. You're definitely getting your protein, which is great! I would definitely suggest fruits and vegetables, and a variety of whole grains. Staying away from the "bad" food is hard at first...but after a couple of weeks of healthy eating and exercise, your body actually starts to feel and react differently, and you will start craving healthy food! Until then, may I suggest for dessert blueberries, raspberries and strawberries with whipped cream, or frozen yogurt. There are also those slimfast bars that are supposed to taste like dessert, but they never did anything for me. I'm not sure what the deal is on those protein drinks, and how many you're supposed to drink. If I were you I would drink 1 a day, and then if you work out again, make yourself a banana-blueberry-yogurt smoothie.
Extreme healthy eater.
The best tip I can give you: eat anything and everything you want. There is no type of food that will make you fat or skinny. If you want a chocolate mousse, then have one. If you want a steak, then go for it. If you deny yourself something, you will fail in controlling your weight and shape.
the key is moderation. Satisfy the taste for anything, but limit how much you eat of it. Total denial of any kind of food is setting yourself up for failure.