@mwas Does the burn mean you cannot lift anymore? The idea is to lift as much as you can to the point where your reps are within say two of failure. So let’s say I do ten bench presses at 70 lbs with quality form but I cannot do more than two more-like I could not lift a 12 th time or if I can, my form is shit. This is failure.
@mwas If you plug in your details to a TDEE calculator you'll get a few different options. Based on what you've said your maintenance calories around 2,668/day. This is what you would need to eat to stay at the same weight you are now.
If you want to lose weight you should aim to be in a deficit. In your case you could start to aim for around 1700-1800kcal/day. On that you will lose about 2lb/week. As you lose weight your calorie requirements will go down so adjust accordingly.
It is possible for you to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time but you'll need to really focus on your diet. A common saying is you can't outrun a bad diet. Given that you're a t2 diabetic you should look to reduce your carb intake as much as possible but you'll need to keep an eye on blood sugar so you don't go hypo.
Given that you've got a bad knee you might want to cut out the jogging for a while and find something lower impact. Swimming, rowing or cycling are great cardio options. Personally I love spin classes and it has been a great way to build my cardio fitness and build leg muscle.
Pilates is another great option if your gym offers it.
@angelbaby35 I had a micro disectomy years ago so know all about the pain you are in, it is no joke.
Good on you for keeping on moving. try and do more than 30 mins a session, you get out what you put in.
I see a lot of overweight folks at the gym who look like they are just going through the motions on the machines for a few mins without ever breaking a sweat. they do something for 5-10 mins and then move onto another machine and repeat. This to me suggests they get bored easy, they look dis-interested and don't seem to get any results, its almost like they are on community service or something. They are probably burning a couple of hundred calories tops, then filling the calories right back up with a sports drink FFS.
The weight loss is going to be mainly from your diet. i would also recommend a some easy strength training, but only body weight exercises at this point considering your back.
@angelbaby35 YES! It's all about having a calorie deficit and cardio is a great way to help with that. I am using the myfitnesspal app as well and my base is 1570 cal/day. It's not really that hard.
Breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal w/sugar
Lunch is a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich. Small bag of chips and an apple or orange
Dinner is either chicken breast, steak, pork chops or fish with (usually) steamed broccoli and a salad.
I linked the app with my phone and smart watch so any calories I burn during the day or by running get added to the base. I am consistently losing 1-2 lbs a week. Unfortunately I am having a problem with my hip so I had to stop running which sucks because it makes it a little harder. I switched over to weights because I have lost enough that I want to see some definition as well as the hip.
Just FYI, swimming is supposed to be amazing cardio with almost zero impact. If I had access to an indoor pool I would be doing that to save my hip and still get the cardio.
@angelbaby35 You can lose weight eating nothing but twinkies and never doing any exercise - as long as your caloric intake is less than your caloric use.
1600 calories is almost certainly an unhealthily small amount of calories to be taking in a day. Please speak with your doctor or a nutritionist before trying that.
@danny4mission It’s definitely different for everyone, and I am not a doctor, but 1600 is so low I’d be surprised if that’s sufficient for any adult above 5’, especially one who’s trying to exercise regularly. That’s why I hope they speak with someone qualified instead of relying on their fitness app.
@lechy Checking in as a 4'11" woman! My post-exercise maintenance is ~1750. If I was a man with the same stats, it would be at least 2k. Women specifically have significantly lower calorie requirements than men largely due to hormones and muscle mass, and the actual numbers can be quite a surprise for someone not familiar with them. What OP is eating is a normal deficit for someone of her composition.
@angelbaby35 Genuinely don't think 1600 is too low amount. Just plugged your info into a TDEE calculator, and for light exercise, it estimated your maintenance at ~2k calories per day. A 400 cal deficit is a little less than 1lb per week.
@angelbaby35 MyFitnessPal is software, not a human. It doesn't care about your health, it's just crunching numbers. Talk to a professional with some training.
@beachgj Im a 5’7 200 lb male. I am very active. I went to a dietitian and she put me on 1740 to lose weight. None of these numbers sound too low to me.
@angelbaby35 I also have history of disc herniations and I am a firm believer that strength training has helped sooo much! I still do for my daily walks and sometimes bike, but lifting weights has been so beneficial for my body. I’d see a personal trainer for a few sessions if you can to get some pointers and tips on how to lift properly to avoid injury. But it can definitely be done!
