Hello all...

I recently started to get back into shape and was wondering if you could "critique" my new plan. I used to run competitively (long distance) when I was much (MUCH) younger (i.e. 13 years ago) and have really gotten out of the loop over the past number of years. I have a pretty active lifestyle, although lately it has been suffering as I have not been working as much. I am really looking to tone up my upper and lower body. I would really love to have some great looking muscles up top and some trimmer legs! In any case, I eat pretty well... I avoid wheat/gluten and dairy for allergy reasons, but have only really recently cut out the dairy so still working on that one. I mostly eat...steamed veggies/salads with meat of some type, brown rice pasta (if i do eat pasta), brown rice/white rice very occasionally (i.e. once a week/2 weeks) rice cereals with no sugar, and milk substitutes like almond "milk". I also tend to snack on fruit, almonds...plain corn chips and potato chips very rarely. I eat out about once a week...usually Indian food and will stick to rice and veggie dishes with no ghee/butter and meats with gluten free sauces. I'll usually drink a few glasses of wine of the weekend.

My weight is currently about 120-125 lbs and I am about 5'5 and a half.

I received my membership about two weeks ago and have been at the gym about 4-5 times a week over the past two weeks. I usually do cardio for 30-45 mins (usually really brisk walking at 4.0 speed with an incline of 6-7), and then weights for about 30 mins (upper body, stomach, lower back and upper legs). I really enjoy walking at this fast pace, but funny enough, I don't enjoy the running like I used to when I was much younger. Because of this, I think I will stick with the powerwalking like I have been until I build up enough stamina to run like I used to.

What do you all think about this new "plan". I really want to know if I will truly see results with this plan, and what type of results will I see...and when? Also, how many days off should I take in between working out. I'm really starting to enjoy my time at the gym more and more and would probably find a reason to go everyday if I could. Any tips or insights?

Many thanks!

You seem to have too little protein. If you're going to be active and want muscle tone you need to get at LEAST .8 grams per pound of bodyweight. To prevent fat gain, the calories added in protein will have to be deducted from somewhere else, so just change up your ratios a bit.
Your workout plan sounds fine, but you might want to swap the order you do weights and cardio in. If you do weights first, you still have glycogen available for energy and have less risk to form. Then as you do your cardio afterward, your body will be able to make use of fat for energy if it needs it (the body cannot use fat for fuel during anaerobic activity). You need at least one day rest from resistance training, but cardio is still acceptable if you're up for it. So I'd aim for 3x a week for weights and 3-5 days of cardio, depending on how you want to do it. Since it's fairly low intensity, you don't have much risk to your muscle mass. Just make sure you eat something as soon as you get home.
I'm not sure if by 'toning' you mean you need to build muscle or if you need to lose some fat, but you will need to adjust calories toward one goal or the other. That will play a big part in how long it will take to see results.

Hello all...

I recently started to get back into shape and was wondering if you could "critique" my new plan. I used to run competitively (long distance) when I was much (MUCH) younger (i.e. 13 years ago) and have really gotten out of the loop over the past number of years. I have a pretty active lifestyle, although lately it has been suffering as I have not been working as much. I am really looking to tone up my upper and lower body. I would really love to have some great looking muscles up top and some trimmer legs! In any case, I eat pretty well... I avoid wheat/gluten and dairy for allergy reasons, but have only really recently cut out the dairy so still working on that one. I mostly eat...steamed veggies/salads with meat of some type, brown rice pasta (if i do eat pasta), brown rice/white rice very occasionally (i.e. once a week/2 weeks) rice cereals with no sugar, and milk substitutes like almond "milk". I also tend to snack on fruit, almonds...plain corn chips and potato chips very rarely. I eat out about once a week...usually Indian food and will stick to rice and veggie dishes with no ghee/butter and meats with gluten free sauces. I'll usually drink a few glasses of wine of the weekend.

My weight is currently about 120-125 lbs and I am about 5'5 and a half.

I received my membership about two weeks ago and have been at the gym about 4-5 times a week over the past two weeks. I usually do cardio for 30-45 mins (usually really brisk walking at 4.0 speed with an incline of 6-7), and then weights for about 30 mins (upper body, stomach, lower back and upper legs). I really enjoy walking at this fast pace, but funny enough, I don't enjoy the running like I used to when I was much younger. Because of this, I think I will stick with the powerwalking like I have been until I build up enough stamina to run like I used to.
What do you all think about this new "plan". I really want to know if I will truly see results with this plan, and what type of results will I see...and when? Also, how many days off should I take in between working out. I'm really starting to enjoy my time at the gym more and more and would probably find a reason to go everyday if I could. Any tips or insights?

Many thanks!
If you don't mind me asking, how did you KNOW that you had a dairy and wheat allergy? Did you go get tested? If you did or didn't, what were your symptoms?
Thank you

Thanks for some of the replies. A few questions (and a few answers). First of all, I think I am getting enough protein in my diet. At least I have today! I don't know how accurate it is, but I have been tracking my food intake on "fitday.com" and I have taken in about 156gm of protein today (mostly tuna). However, I will definitely watch it in case I am getting too little. I used to be vegetarian, so I have a tendancy to still cook a lot of veggie meals, although I do incorporate some type of meat/fish in at least one of my meals...sometimes more. Also, how many calories should I be taking in? I am looking to both lose fat and gain muscle...so I am not sure how many cals. I should really be taking in. I really don't restrict my food intake, but am a pretty healthy eater to begin with.

As for the milk/wheat allergy. Yes, I was tested and I have celiac disease and am lactose intolerant (and dairy also gives me wicked rashes and congestion when I eat it, too).

You're right. If you're getting ~150 grams protein, that's definitely enough. You just didnt really mention that in the first post. :)

Unfortunately muscle gain and fat loss are opposing goals because you need a caloric surplus in order to build muscle mass and a caloric deficit in order to burn fat. You can certainly tone and maintain exisiting muscle while losing fat or stay lean while building muscle but it's fairly tough to do both. Do you know how many calories you're getting a day now? (via FitDay?)

I'm getting about 2000 calories a day. Yesterday I was actually way under and today I've had about 2080...something like that, i can't quite remember. I'd say I usually hit about 2000 a day (I've only started tracking my food intake). The fitday site says I should be comsuming something like 2500-2600 a day. I've seen ranges between 1800 and 2600, which is a huge difference, and which is why I'm a little confused. Ideally, I'd like to lose fat around my flabby areas (which are many... I have a lot more flab than I used to!) and tone up in those areas so I can see definite muscle definition.

Well, 2500 might be a maintenance intake, but that seems a bit high. For your stats there's no way you'd lose weight eating that much. I'd say it's a lot closer to 1700-1800 if you want to lose fat. As a little of the fluff comes off and you tone up the muscles you'll see more definition. Then if you want to build more actual muscle mass you can up your calories a bit, and I'd change up your workout so you can be sure the higher caloric intake will be going for muscle gain rather than fat/storage.
One other thing to note... I don't know what your meal timing looks like, but try to make sure that you're not eating anything carby within 4-5 hours of going to bed. That can increase the likelihood of fat storage from calories that the body can't burn right away and as the metabolism slows for the night, it never gets a chance to use them and storage is the only other option. Just a tweak that may help. :)