Hi guys,

I'm 5'2" and am currently 20lbs overweight. I have a small frame and used to weigh like 90 lbs. So, this extra 20 lbs is alot for me. I have just got a gym membership and have an appointment for a fitness evaluation.

Could any of you recommend a way to pace myself so that I don't get burnt out. The last time I tried to get into fitness, I went crazy. I'm one of "those" people, it's all or nothing with me. I did stairmaster for 30 minutes, then I'd do treadmill (jogging at about 5 mph) for about 45 minutes. This wore me out-completely. Within 3 weeks, I'd abandoned by workout, my joints and muscles were constantly achy and I felt unbearable fatigue.

I thought getting a fitness evalutation would be helpful but I also thought I'd seek support from some of you who are more experienced at this sort of thing.

Out of Shape,

Piper

Hello Piper !
First I'd like to say that 20 lbs overweight is not that bad!! The quickest and healthiest way that I know how to lose weight is by using a combination of weightlifting and cardio combined with a balanced diet. I use these techniques and they work bigtime!! I recommend that you workout with weights Monday Wednesday and Friday and on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday, ride a stationary bike or do any cardio activity that you enjoy for 20 to 30 mins. I'll give you A good workout routine that I use. Monday I do chest triceps and shoulders. Tuesday is back biceps and Abs and Friday is legs. As far as Diet is concerned, in order to lose weight, you have to create a caloric deficit (meaning that you need to burn more calories per day than you consume) A good way to do this is to multiply you weight by ten in order to get a starting point of the amount of calories that you should eat per day. For example, I weigh 200lbs so when I try to lose weight, i multiply my weight by 10 200 x 10 = 2000 so my intake per day for weightloss would be 2000 calories per day. I also recommend that you eat 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day every 2 to 3 hours. This will raise your metabolism and will keep your insulin levels in check. Try to have a portion of protein and carbs at every meal. Also keep in mind that it is not healthy to lose more than 1 - 2 pounds per week. If you find that your loosing more weight than this per week ,you'll need to add calories but if you find that you are not loosing weight, you will have to subtract calories. I hope that this helps!!!