hints and tips on gym exercise motivation HELP

[felicitywish]

Hiya people

I've started going to the gym 4/5 times per week for the last 4 weeks but I’m not seeing much change and don’t know what I'm doing wrong, I'm power walking on the tread up to 28 min now I have increased from 15min over last 3 weeks and upped my speed/rate (I can only manage 30sec run 3 min interval’s at the mo). Weight's I'm doing sets of 20 legs, arms and pulley thing (sorry don’t know terms) also cycling for 20 min- I've been doing crunches at home and other mat exercises. Ok I've never exercised before but though I may see some changes, I need any advice on what I could be doing wrong, and nutrition help (I do not believe in pills or drinking vinegar so that pointless advice for a beginner no offence intended to anyone). Oh not to forget swimming at least 3 weekly sessions and increasing my lengths every time as never been a strong swimmer. I do not want to be muscle woman just burn the fat the weights me down but it ink maybe I’m not doing the right exercises for this to happen . I don’t want to pay for a personal trainer at the moment, maybe I will need to in time but I want to continue as I am. I am so new to this and I am not expecting miracles over night but I thought I would start to feel and see some changes. I’m not dieting but being careful with food intake and cutting down on fats, choc and naughty foods etc I’m getting married next year and really want my new super sexy body to be a gift to my new husband to be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and any recommendations you may have. Thanks ME

[taxico]

what's your BMI and have you had your body fat measured?

do you want to lose weight, become lean (ie, fat off) or sculpt body?

coz i don't think there's a magic exercise regime that can give you all 3 in a short period of time simultaneously.

there's a gym-guru somewhere in this forum, i think his nick is KSL or something. (i've been away and it's 3am for me right now)

go poke around for someone's avatar that is a beefy grey muscled body. bugging him via PM may get you some good advice.

don't tell him i told you to do so!

[pakjohn]

Your mind is the first thing that has to be trained.... It's tough to get in shape and even harder to maintain it if you're mind isn't right.

The one thing that gets me motivated is my mp3 player! I sneak up on my work outs on days I don't feel like working out. I always begin my work outs with 10 minute fast walk on treadmill set at 10 percent incline. I tell myself if at the end of 10 minutes I'm not motivated I'll quit. 8 times out of 10 the treadmill combined with some hip hop or rock fires me up. lol! You can google for work out playlists and find what people work out to. It really makes a difference. Stay away from audio books or relaxing music, you don't need interesting stuff, you need adrenaline pumping music.

I eat several times a day, small amounts. Reduced starch, sugar and fats but didn't eliminate them. No soft drinks, period! Love coffee though, black and strong. My favorite is beef rendang, pedas talur, gado-gado and nasi, I just eat small portions and know that in a couple hours I'll be hungry again. Eat a lot at one time and your body wants to store it, skip meals and your body wants to store the next meal that comes along... no good! Favorite snack is crunchy peanut butter with soft raisins in it.. not too many raisins though, they're pure sugar.

I concentrate on doing the exercises correctly and not as concerned on how much I can lift or how long I can run. Form is important because you achieve better results if you can isolate the muscles a specific exercise is designed to strengthen. I would recommend you either team up with someone that can help you develop a routine or hire a trainer for 5 sessions. Tell him or her up front you want them to develop a work out routine you can take away and do on your own. They won't mind...

For what it's worth, I'm 52 and didnt' start exercising until late in life and had a lot of bad habits to overcome. It took about 3 months to get my habits formed, and about six months to see big changes. I add to my work out by learning to play tennis with my wife. If you concentrate on building the correct habits, you're success will surprise you. Remember these are habits you need to keep the rest of your life!

Good luck and give us an update?
Pak John

[leangwen]

Hiya people

I've started going to the gym 4/5 times per week for the last 4 weeks but I’m not seeing much change and don’t know what I'm doing wrong, I'm power walking on the tread up to 28 min now I have increased from 15min over last 3 weeks and upped my speed/rate (I can only manage 30sec run 3 min interval’s at the mo). Weight's I'm doing sets of 20 legs, arms and pulley thing (sorry don’t know terms) also cycling for 20 min- I've been doing crunches at home and other mat exercises. Ok I've never exercised before but though I may see some changes, I need any advice on what I could be doing wrong, and nutrition help (I do not believe in pills or drinking vinegar so that pointless advice for a beginner no offence intended to anyone). Oh not to forget swimming at least 3 weekly sessions and increasing my lengths every time as never been a strong swimmer. I do not want to be muscle woman just burn the fat the weights me down but it ink maybe I’m not doing the right exercises for this to happen . I don’t want to pay for a personal trainer at the moment, maybe I will need to in time but I want to continue as I am. I am so new to this and I am not expecting miracles over night but I thought I would start to feel and see some changes. I’m not dieting but being careful with food intake and cutting down on fats, choc and naughty foods etc I’m getting married next year and really want my new super sexy body to be a gift to my new husband to be. Any advice would be greatly appreciated and any recommendations you may have. Thanks ME

not sure if this is a bit too late but you will want to try adding resistance training. also try HIIT instead of the normal cardio you are doing. you have to make good nutrition choices also..

[felicitywish]

Hi all

Thanks for your feedback. I have given in to the idea I do need a personal trainer, to assist with nutrition and an excise plan that will suit me. I have searched the internet but I am very nervous as it seems they all offer the hard sell and not much else (also come across a lot of advise to request work outs outside, how many clients they have n hours they have done in the last year or so etc it’s all very scary as they don’t seem to regulate PT in Singapore) I dont want to give them a full interview and I feel nervous doing so as I dont have a clue when it comes to fitness routines.

Before I part with my partners hard earned cash any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.....

I dont want to join a gym as we have one in the condo and it seems a shame to not use it, also from what I have been reading outdoors is good too, to implement change in routine so a mixed work out.

My wedding is creeping up on me and my motivation is zero I am now down to the gym 2 days per week if I can muster the enthusiasum and then again thats only out of feeling guilty with myself, eating habits better but no change in weight

cheers ppl any advise would be met with smiles

[justewayiam]

gymming is good, it'd be better if you could top that off with a good diet

improve your metabolism rate, you can try consuming stuff like vitagens, yakults, etc. they're good for skin too.

do some research and you'll be benefit richly, trust me!

[hermanchauw]

gyou can try consuming stuff like vitagens, yakults, etc. they're good for skin too.

Err, they are laden with sugar.

[Tenzin]

Your mind is the first thing that has to be trained.... It's tough to get in shape and even harder to maintain it if you're mind isn't right...

Totally agree with Pak John. We only need motivation when our desire is not strong enough to adopt the 'never give up' attitude. =D

As long as your energy output (exercise) is more than input (food), you are going to slim down.

My suggestion is to be careful what you eat while you are at it. There are a lot of food with pesticides, and preservatives nowadays when the climate is wrecking havoc to crops, and the pollution of the atmosphere, added to the increased radiation from the thinning ozone.

Never stay up after 3am daily, since 11pm-3am is the time frame for your liver to work in sleep to remove the toxic in your body.

I did not observe these and more, and the few years of gym training have been accompanied by serious illness.

I am speaking from experience.

Good luck!