sorry for being repetitive....but I'll try here too

Kimenem

Kimenem

Cathlete
Cathe - I just started using your workouts about a month ago and I must say that I LOVE THEM. Right now, my goal is fat loss. I've worked for years but let my eating get the best of me the past few years. Currently, I do your Muscle Max workout 2x per week and cardio 4 more days. I also do a Pilates lower body the days of MM. What I'm wondering is how can I incorporate Butts and Guts? Would I use it for the lower body segment on my weight days? It's pretty long but is doing it alone just 1 day per week enough too see reults? I don't know if I'd have enoiugh time in the day to do that plus another for upper body. Abs and lower body are the areas I want to focus on most but I don't want to completely ignore upper body....though I'm not as motivated to work it alone. I usually do Low Max a couple of time a week as well. Would doing that 1 day and Butts and Guts the next be too much? Does any of this make sense????? THANKS!

Kim
 
Hi,

Here are some suggestions. First, get your eating under control:)

Then maybe once a week you could do the MM upper body premix and add in B&G standing only instead of the pilates. Or you could make a circuit out of low max and that's been posted here before. You can do a search for some ways people have modified Low Max. Circuits using weights for lower body only burn lots of calories for me. If you can't do that, I would give up one day of cardio or do only 20 minutes and then add in the B & G leg work. Personally I think weights do so much more for the lower body than cardio. After doing p90x, I realized that lots of cardio is not the answer. Since you are just getting started, consistency is probably key and once you find that you are consistent, you can really start to fine tune your workouts. To answer your original question, I do think that doing B & G once a week will initially give you results. Once your body becomes used to it then you will have to modify some to continue to get results.

Tracy
 
Hi, Kim!
Don't worry about being repetitive, if you posted in "Ask Cathe" for Cathe's attention, and here to get feedback from forum members. That's exactly what you should do.

For fat loss, I think diet is about 80% of the key (YMMV), so make sure that whatever positive steps you make with exercise and consistent activity, you don't counteract by eating a fat-promoting diet. Emphasize nutrient-dense foods that are low-to-moderate in calories.

As for incorporating Butts and Guts: here are a couple of suggestions you can play with, changing things up from week to week as you figure out which works best for you:
Change from doing MM twice per week to doing it once per week, with separate upper and lower body workouts on two other days of the week. B&G would, of course, take the 'lower body workout' spot.

You could stick to MM (with the following modifications) 2x/week, doing the entire workout once, then one time doing B&G standing work as the lower body workout and adding on the MM upper body premix (there is one, isn't there? I haven't done MM for a while). You could add the B&G floor work after the full MM workout, at least as another option to try.

Another suggestion for fat loss: make one of your workouts an interval workout, as interval workouts are supposed to be better for calorie burning and for efficient fat loss than are steady-state cardio workouts.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Another problem is that I try to do my workouts in the morning (5am) and usually I only have about 1 hour. MM is aloready longer than that and adding the B&G Floor work might take too long. I also posted on the rotation board for FitnessFreak to try and help with a rotation. I'm slowly adding Cathe workouts but right now I only have LM, MM, B&G (on the way) and Cardio Fusion (on the way). I love them though so I'm thinking that as long as I'm using them somehow....it's got to be better than nothing. I often wonder what I'd look like if I continued what I'm currently doing and just cleaned up my eating. Sweets are my downfall.
 
Kim,
The general wisdom is to keep changing your workouts, and mixing them up. Cathe offers so many different workouts, and many people here like to use lots of them and keep changing frequently. But I'm like you. I tend to pick my favorites and just keep doing them. I like being very familiar with the routine, so I don't have to think about it. I think for people like us, it's best to just stick with what you love for as many weeks, or even months, as you like. Then change to something else and do that for the same period. In the end, any routine that suits your preferences is the best routine, because that's the one you'll stick with.
Nancy
 
>The general wisdom is to keep changing your workouts, and
>mixing them up.

What's nice about Cathe's workouts (with the exceptions of some earlier ones) is the premixes that combine the workouts in different ways, so you can 'mix things up' by using the same DVD in a different way.

Also, when you're just beginning to workout, a workout can 'last longer' than when you are more fit, as your body takes longer to adapt. I've read recommendations that 'new exercisers' can stick to a routine for 8+ weeks and still have gains (YMMV), while some more advanced exercisers have to change things every 2 weeks to see any gains. (And weight workouts 'last' longer than cardio workouts, IMO, because you can change the workout just by increasing your poundage).
 
That's what gets so confusing...trying to change things up. I've been working out for years. I used to do Taebo, The FIRM and more recently, Turbo Jam. I'm new to Cathe though. I love Low Max but feel like if I don't do the whole thing (no premixes) then I'm not getting full benefit. But nothing is going to work until I fix my eating. I feel like that is a daily battle.
 
> But nothing is
>going to work until I fix my eating. I feel like that is a
>daily battle.
It is something we have to deal with daily---just think, we eat at least 3 times every single day! But think of it as a 'challenge' more than a 'battle,'or as a daily choice. When faced with two options, choose the better one.

Try making one change at a time. Getting rid of one food that is not that good for you and replacing it with one that is, or eliminating a bad food choice, or addiing a positive food choice. Add a new 'positive behavior'every week.

For a start, if you are drinking pop/soda of any kind, replace it with water (or if that's too bland for you right now, with water flavored with a flavored stevia).

Eliminating all high fructose corn sweetener/syrup/sugar from your diet can by itself help you lose some weight, as HFCS can actually increase appetite, especially for sweets. Eliminating it also automatically eliminates lots of not-so-good-for-you processed foods.

Another step could be making sure that any packaged foods you buy that are naturally high in carbohydrates contain at least 2 grams of naturally-occurring fiber per serving. That automatically cuts out a lot of processed grain products (cookies, crackers, chips) that aren't whole grain (just make sure the fiber occurs naturally, and isn't added to the product, which is kind of a 'cheat').

Starting each meal with something raw, particularly a BIG salad at lunch and dinner, is another thing you might try. It will not only help your body by providing it with enzymes to aid digestion, but will help fill you up with nutrient-dense, lower-calorie foods, so you won't be as hungry for more calorie dense foods later in the meal.

HTH
 
Kathryn - Wow..thanks for the input. I only drink diet pepsi, which I know I should also cut out. But have maybe 1 can per day. Other than that, I like the Propel fitness water and the Crystal Light packets you can add to water for flavor. Would either those work? I've never been one to drink a lot of plain water.
 
Kimenem,
Sure, water is better than diet pepsi or Crystal Light. In my opinion, the primary reason to drink water, or flavored seltzer, instead, is because Crystal Light, for ex., is soooooo sweet, it gets your palate used to that oversweetened taste. So, when you eat, say, an orange, it doesn't taste as sweet as it should compared to what your palate is used to. I'm going to venture to say here that those Crystal Light packets are the worst offenders. I still drink some diet pepsi, and have no weight problems. I would suggest trying to stick to the Propel water most of the time, and just have an occasional diet pepsi. Kathryn probably won't agree, but I think one diet pepsi per day is just fine for now. As Kathryn mentioned, change should be gradual. It takes time to change your palate preferences.
Nancy
 
> I like the Propel fitness water
>and the Crystal Light packets you can add to water for flavor.
> Would either those work? I've never been one to drink a lot
>of plain water.

They probably both have either artificial sweeteners and/or artificial ingredients in. I wouldn't recommend them for optimum health. Plain water (or water with a squeeze of lemon---very good for you--and a bit of agave or honey or stevia) would be best. You CAN get used to the taste of plain water. I've learned to love just water, and can taste the difference between different types. (tap water around here in undrinkable, IMO. The best bottled water is Fiji, but it's expensive---though probably about the same as the artificial-stuff-added waters.).

If you're not ready for that, then perhaps pick up some Emergen-C packets, and use 1/2 of one per bottle of water. I've seen them in Walgreens pharmacy and Walmart. Emergen-C contains vitamins (though taking too much vitamin C can give you diahrrea, which is why I suggest 1/2 pack per bottle of water) and comes in different flavors (I like the "Super Orange"). Start with 1/2 pack, then go to 1/4 pack, then to plain water.
 
>
>What do YMMV amd IMO mean?

YMMV: your mileage may vary (what works for one person might not work for another)
IMO: in my opinion (also IMHO: in my humble opinion, but I'm not into false humility, LOL!)
 
> I only drink diet
>pepsi, which I know I should also cut out. But have maybe 1
>can per day. ..
>I've never been one to drink a lot
>of plain water.

If something isn't working for you, a change can be good.;-)
 
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