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Maybe I'm not doing the right stuff?
ok so, i have a stationary bike. i just got it 7/7/09 and i've been using it every day. the first day i went for 8 miles and today i did about 4. my question is, how much weight could i lose by the start of school, 9/8/09, if i bike anywhere from 4 miles? should i do more? what should i eat? also, is 5 pounds a week too much to lose? if so, what is the maximum weight to lose in a week?
*im a vegetarian, so if youre going to make meal suggestions (i would like that :]) please no red meat or bird. thanks!
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Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Fitness?
5 lbs a week is too much to lose unless you're seriously overweight. A reasonable maximum to shoot for is 2 lbs a week. That means you need to burn 7000 calories more than you consume over the course of the week. If you try to lose too much weight too fast, your body will go into starvation mode and you will start to gain weight!
What you want to do is figure out how many calories your body burns to keep you alive: your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate)
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If you wanted to maintain your weight, you'd eat that number of calories. If you wanted to lose, you would have to either work off extra or eat less.
My suggestion is to start tracking calories. I use a website that allows me to input my food intake and exercise, and shows me the difference between the two. I think you have to be over 18 for this one, but there are probably others out there.
www.myfitnesspal.com
As for meal suggestions, stay away from highly processed foods. Stick to fresh fruits and veggies and whole wheat grain products.
A couple of my favourite vegetarian meals (I'm not actually a vegetarian, but I can't be bothered to cook meat all the time):
Grilled portobello mushroom burgers:
Brush a light coating of olive oil on portobello mushroom caps and some red pepper quarters, then throw them on the grill for a while. Put them on a whole wheat burger bun spread with hummus or avocado and some alfalfa sprouts.
Here's a recipe I recently discovered (and LOVE!). It uses salmon, and you didn't mention if you eat fish or not. If you don't, it still makes a pretty awesome salad. I just substituted other items for the particular brand (like a raspberry vinaigrette for the mango vinaigrette)
Salmon with Mango Couscous Salad:
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I don't know about you, but I hate steamed vegetables with a fiery passion. They're so bland! Instead, I grill just about everything that can go on a barbecue. Zucchini spears, asparagus, red peppers, even pineapple! Just brush the vegetables with a thin coating of olive oil, and let 'em go.
Oh, and avocados are a wonder food. They're high in everything good, and they're super satisfying. You can spread them on anything, or eat them straight from the peel, or make guacamole (yum).
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Hey there.
How much weight you lose depends on your calorie balance. Of course exercise helps a lot, and it has countless health benefits, but in the end your diet makes or breaks it.
In regards to how much you can lose, well that varies a bit. Extremely obese adults can push their weight loss above the typical 2 pound/ week recommended max. I dont know how over weight you are, but I can see you are 14 according to your data. In general at your age its not very good to stress the system too much (since you are growing). I would tentatively suggest one pound a week.
So, your exercise routine sounds ok. I dont know how long this takes you, but to get optimal cardio benefits I would say you should train at least 4 times a week, for over 20 minutes, at a pace where you could still just carry a conversation. You can go longer of course, and more frequently, but this is just to get the best cardio benefits for your system.
In terms of food, stick to wholesome non processed foods. Base your meals around a good protein source. In your case, that could be low fat dairy products, egg whites, fish, beans (all sorts but soy are particularly good), lentils, tofu.
If you get most of your protein from plant sources, make sure you eat varied each meal (including secondary sources like nuts, seeds, etc) since plants are incomplete protein sources.
Moderate your carb intake to match your activity level. Carbs are something we tend to over eat on. Also, eat most of your carbs before periods of activity rather than afterwards.
I think google can do a better job than me for coming up with vegetarian meal options. Even though i was a vegetarian for many years, I was not a picky eater, and I am not sure that what I ate would go down well with everyone :)
Just make sure that 1. you dont overdo the carbs, 2. you limit saturated fat BUT include small amounts of essential fatty acids daily 3.have a negative calorie balance 4. exclude empty calories from junk foods, stuff with sugar added etc.
Good luck
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