Advice on Meal plan and Exercise

[getnshape]

I'm 41 and my youngest is 27 mo old... I need to get back in shape and need help with a meal plan and exercise. My goal is to get fit/toned and lose about 15 lbs. TIA

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

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@getnshape wrote:

I'm 41 and my youngest is 27 mo old... I need to get back in shape and need help with a meal plan and exercise. My goal is to get fit/toned and lose about 15 lbs. TIA

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Be reasonable and realistic.

Set weight loss goal amount to 250 cal deficit, or 1/2 lb weekly.

That way you only lose fat weight, not muscle weight. Don't want that at all when you get older, unless you enjoy yo-yo dieting by losing muscle mass.

Meal plan - eat less than you burn of foods you can adhere to realistic portion sizes of.

That deficit option takes care of eating less, just log your foods, perhaps figuring out what needs to be left out.

Maybe 250 cal is some sugar soda and it's easy to leave out right now. Or bag of chips, or something easy.

Maybe you can't have a bag of chips around though, because you'll devour the whole thing - in which case leave them out of the house - or figure out why you do that if you even want to enjoy them again.

Exercise - resistance training for best body transformation.

What do you have available to use besides body weight?

[iMike · Accepted solution]

The best advice I can give you before you pick a meal plan ... study your current meal plan for about a month.  Sign up for My Fitness Pal or The Daily Plate or use the calorie tracker on your FitBit Dashboard ... be honest with yourself and track everything.  A month's worth of data will provide you with enough information to see trends.   You'll be able to spot your habits and more easily identify food triggers.

As for exercise, start with small goals.  If you average 8,000 steps per week, make a goal to hit 10,000 and keep it at 10,000 for a few weeks before moving on to a new goal.  Small goals are more achievable and you take away the disappointment of failing at a large goal.

[getnshape]

thanks for the reply, I have weights, 3, 5, 10 20 lbs, skipping rope, exercise ball, and resistance rope. 

My weakness isreally desserts..(and I love to cook and bake) so I will do my best to skip eating dessert...  I do not drink pop or sugary drinks. 

I will commit  to two days /week weight training (on my own)  and thinking that I will incorporate squats and open for suggestions.

And a 3rd day/ week of some sort of cardio class.

[awood08]

I love the elliptical and the recumbent bike. But I limit myself to those only 3 times a week. The other 2 days I work out I do a cardio class at the gym. I do weights every single day, focusing on a specific area each day. That way I don't try to skip my weight days. It works well for me that way.

My weakness is bread so I went with low carb 😉