[font color=purple]Hi again Sunflower,[/font color=purple]
[font color=green]I am about 5'1 also, and I find that to lose about 1lb per week with 5 or 6 days of exercise, I need to average roughly 1500 calories daily. You may have more lean muscle than I do and therefore may require more calories. If that is the case, I think averaging 1700 per day sounds appropriate. Definitely use your own good judgment on this one. You know your body. Do not by any means starve yourself. There is a great thread about calorie staggering, a process by which you consume a different number of calories each day but maintain a consistent weekly average. For example, if you chose 1700 as the weekly average, your pattern might look something like this:
Sunday- 1500
Monday- 1700
Tuesday- 2000
Wednesday-1500
Thursday- 1700
Friday- 1300
Saturday- 2200
Here is a link to the thread:[/font color=green]
http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?...ic_id=79564&mesg_id=79564&listing_type=search
[font color=green]Whatever you choose to do, I’d definitely journal your calories. Not obsessively lol- unless you enjoy that. You can jot down what you eat on a little notepad and tally it up at the end of the day.
Also, some people say that losing weight is just about calories in v. calories out. Healthy eating really makes a difference in how you feel, your exercise performance, and your hunger level. If you like sweets, you can always have a treat on your high calorie day. Whatever works for you. If you feel like you are on a strict plan rather than a way of life, maintenance will be tough.
As I’m sure you are aware, all the other basics like drinking enough water, 5-6 small meals/day, and getting enough sleep apply.[/font color=green]
[font color=magenta]Moving on to cardio, 2-4 sessions per week should suffice. I generally aim for 3 cardio sessions at half an hour to 40 minutes a piece. I try to get into 2 intense interval type workouts such as KPC, and the other is usually walking. If you enjoy walking and spinning, you can easily include higher intensity intervals. If you are walking for half an hour, for example, you could warm up for 5 minutes at 2.5, kick it up to 3.5 for another 5, do a one or two minute interval of fast walking or jogging at 4.5 or 5mph, and repeat that cycle minus the warmup. You can also experiment with inclines. If you do want to include Cathe’s step workouts, you can start with doing half. Basically, do what works for you. If you prefer not to do intervals, do what you have been doing, just be sure to consistently do cardio each week.[/font color=magenta]
[font color=blue]Now for strength training…
The general recommendation is to hit each body part twice per week. I usually go for 3 because I love weighted workouts so much. If you like PH & MIS, start with those. You could do PH 2x/week + MIS 1x or vice versa. After two weeks of that you may want to eliminate one of those and through in Bootcamp or IMAX to mix it up. Push yourself to lift heavy and use good form, but don’t overdue. After an intense weight workout, I usually need a rest day or light cardio day.[/font color=blue]
[font color=red]So, if I were starting, I might do a rotation like this:
Sunday- Power Hour
Monday- Walking
Tuesday- MIS
Wednesday- Body Max- 6 min warmup + 24 min stepping or All Step- 6 min warmup + 21 min stepping
Thursday- Spinning
Friday- Power Hour
Saturday- Rest
I am not a genius with rotations as some of the other ladies are, so you might want to check out the Rotations forum.[/font color=red]
[font color=teal]Wow this is a long post! I’m hoping this info will give you a jump start, but never substitute these things for your own good judgment.
Definitely keep me updated on how it’s going![/font color=teal]
I am so going overboard with the colors.
[font color=purple]Gina[/font color=purple]
