Meribeth, Cathe, Someone... I am a newbie and need advice

[RachelD]

I just recently started working out, I am using the firms and would like to start incorporating some cathe videos. I would like to lose weight and tone muscles and give my body a good shape. My problem is, I don't know how many calories I should be eating, which rotation is best, what i should be doing cardio or strenght training. My problem areas is my butt and inner/outer thighs. I have bought some protein powder because I feel I just can't get enough protein to maintain muscle. Where should I start and what should I do? I really don't have a whole lot of fat to lose, but there is some. Most of what I need to lose is my trouble areas. I am really sorry for rambling but I need help.

Thanks
Rachel

 

[kali1]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-02 AT 00:21AM (Est)[/font][p]Hi Rachel!

First of all - WELCOME!! Please don't think you're rambling - we enjoy seeing new posts, believe me

As for food, well, I'm not following a specific diet. I'm eating cleaner and making sure I'm eating proteins and veggies. For excercise, a combo of cardio and strength is always a great choice. BTW, which Firms do you have? If you haven't purchased Cathe's vids yet - Power Hour + DVD is a great place to start. It has Power Hour, MIS and Body Max. It's a great set.

For rotations, check out this site:

http://www.fitnessvideofanatics.com/


Good luck and again, welcome to the Forum!

Kali

 

[Janick]

I'm personally a big fan of the CTX series (on DVD). It has a flavor of different forms of cardio: hi/lo, kickboxing, step and circuits. A great lower body muscular endurance workout (Leaner legs) and one of the best upper body splits on the market. Second vote would go to the PH DVD.

As for eating, I'm a lifetime member of WW. Although I still do count my points, I try to eat as clean as possible (I'm not always successful though) and eat 5-6 mini meals a day which include a serving of protein rich food, veggies and/or fruit and whole grains (I eat 1-2 fruits a day, but 5-6 veggie servings daily).

Janick http://www.clicksmilies.com/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif

 

[Maribeth]

Hi, Rachel,
The number of calories you will need is based on your activity level and your resting metabolic rate. There are some equations that estimate resting metabolic rate, but the estimates are fairly rough--they fail to take into account muscle mass--but they can give you a place to start.

I also don't like the recommendations on protein intake based on body weight--instead, I loosely follow a 25% protein, 25% fat and 50% carb plan. I don't obsess at all about every morsel I eat, either.

Based on your goals, I would strongly recommend that you focus your attention on strength training. The more lean muscle mass you build, the higher your metabolic rate will be, which, in turn, will decrease your storage fat--as long as your eating habits don't cancel out the increase.

The specifics of your training program will depend on your body type and muscle fiber density as well as how much body fat you would like to lose.

Let me know if I can help.
Maribeth