rephrase of freshmen 15

collegeliz

sorry should have been more specific.
I have gained 10 pounds over the past 2 years. I have come to the conclusion that i have been eating the right foods but have been eating large portion sizes and not working it off. I have now decided to change my eating habits, smaller portions and have started working out. I love cycling and would like a good workout routine for cardio/toning. I thought putting this in the womens forum would be helpful because its seems to be harder for me to lose weight, especially on my thighs and buns area (i am pretty sure it's like that for all women) and thought another women could give me a good plan. The bikes at my rec center come in two forms sit up and lounge and both go from 1-12 in levels. For how long, the intensity, and how many times a week would be great as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated, liz

Iona

Hi Liz,

Thanks for the further information. If long term weight loss is your goal you might also want to think about adding resistance training. Not only is this great for your bones, but also it'll help you maintain lean body mass while you lose excess fat. It's hard to say which equipment is best for you, and on what level you should be riding. Which do you feel more comfortable on? And which machine, subjectively speaking, gives you the better workout.

Do you have access to a heart rate monitor which could help you work out the intensity of your riding? If not, and you're relatively new to working out, then I'd suggest you aim for 4-5 rides a week, for anywhere from 30minutes to an hour. As you build a base you can begin to add some more structured sessions: intervals, longer sessions, etcetera. You might even think about riding outside.

Also, as a general rule of thumb (and this is very general), you should eat between 15x your weight to maintain weight, and to lose weight between 10-12 X weight.

Hope this helps.

Alex

www.simplybeyoga.com


I have gained 10 pounds over the past 2 years. I have come to the conclusion that i have been eating the right foods but have been eating large portion sizes and not working it off. I have now decided to change my eating habits, smaller portions and have started working out. I love cycling and would like a good workout routine for cardio/toning. I thought putting this in the womens forum would be helpful because its seems to be harder for me to lose weight, especially on my thighs and buns area (i am pretty sure it's like that for all women) and thought another women could give me a good plan. The bikes at my rec center come in two forms sit up and lounge and both go from 1-12 in levels. For how long, the intensity, and how many times a week would be great as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated, liz[/QUOTE]