# Getting in shape?



## premedtim (Oct 14, 2006)

What do you guys suggest for getting in shape if someone isn't overweight but they have a moderate body fat percentage? So I need to shed fat, gain muscle, but not lose weight if that makes sense since I'm 5'5 and 123 pounds.

I've started doing cardio today but I have a history of stress fractures (was discharged in Army basic for three stress fractures in each leg plus shin splints) so I'm trying to take it as easy as possible to start and am just doing a 5 min warmup walk, 4 sets of run 2 min, walk 3 min, and then a 5 min cooldown walk but I don't think cardio by itself is going to significantly gain muscle...if anything, I think it's just going to be a "stop loss" against an increasing body fat % and of course keeping the cardiovascular system healthy. 

Any tips & hints for working out and what to eat for gaining muscle & dropping fat will be greatly appreciated!


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## cmitchell93270 (Oct 14, 2006)

Well cardio is good to start droping the bf%, but diet is a major part. Lean meats, vegies, whole grains and soon on and not in three meals a day spread it out to five to six small meals. If you can do some weight trainning, light trainning for your legs cuz of past problems. Touching back on the cardio are you useing a treadmill or an oliptical? and intervals like you've been doing about 20-30 min and if your looking to gain more muscle 20mins or less


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## premedtim (Oct 14, 2006)

cmitchell93270 said:


> Well cardio is good to start droping the bf%, but diet is a major part. Lean meats, vegies, whole grains and soon on and not in three meals a day spread it out to five to six small meals. If you can do some weight trainning, light trainning for your legs cuz of past problems. Touching back on the cardio are you useing a treadmill or an oliptical? and intervals like you've been doing about 20-30 min and if your looking to gain more muscle 20mins or less



5-6 small meals a day to keep metabolism burning constantly right? Lean meats I'm assuming means chicken & fish, veggies is self explanatory...what exactly would whole grains be? Like nuts, cashews, almonds, etc.? Whatabout stuff with carbs like rice or starch such as spaghetti? I'm going to be able to do some weight training in like a month when I get my school loans (hopefully) so I can get a gym membership but probably just cardio until then. I'm just doing it outside, not doing it on a machine. And yes, it's on asphault, trust me I don't plan to be doing it very long...once I get the gym membership I'm switching to an elliptical.


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## cmitchell93270 (Oct 14, 2006)

premedtim said:


> 5-6 small meals a day to keep metabolism burning constantly right? Lean meats I'm assuming means chicken & fish, veggies is self explanatory...what exactly would whole grains be? Like nuts, cashews, almonds, etc.? Whatabout stuff with carbs like rice or starch such as spaghetti?



Meats - fish,boneless skinless chicken, and lean hamberger meat
Whole grains - whole grain wheat bread, oats,
Nuts - small snaks with little or none of the extra flavorings
Carbs - rich, potatos, spaghetti, pasta - these will of course be your energy and you can also use a good carb/protien/fat ratio when you start your weight training

i used a simulair diet with a mixed protien powder to replace 2 or 3 of my meals, with cardio and weights i lost about 60lbs in 3 or 4 months but i was very very hard on my cal intake. Good luck with your training and I hope this info helped you out.


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## premedtim (Oct 14, 2006)

cmitchell93270 said:


> Meats - fish,boneless skinless chicken, and lean hamberger meat
> Whole grains - whole grain wheat bread, oats,
> Nuts - small snaks with little or none of the extra flavorings
> Carbs - rich, potatos, spaghetti, pasta - these will of course be your energy and you can also use a good carb/protien/fat ratio when you start your weight training
> ...



Great, thanks for the info!


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## Celtictigeress (Oct 14, 2006)

Oh and if you do protein shakes... my personal mixture

GNC has Muscle milk strawberry...get that and the nesquick strawberry powder ONE to TWO tablespoons added to muscle milk makes it actually quite tastey and is great as mal substitution ect...

If you rally hate running or biking I use DDR for my cardio

another "Meal Idea" I use for protein if you like cream cheese 3 peices of lunch meat ham turkey ect, a thin slice of cream cheese roll it three of those rolls equals roughly 200 calories..for water I use the GV walmart brand on the go drink packets theres no calories they dont taste half bad....

Lipton also has a decaf cold brew, make a pitcher take and add 3 packets of equal or four (sweeten to taste) per bottle and fill with the cold brew and that too is like drinking water

I have lil cheats every which way in my diet heh


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## akflightmedic (Oct 15, 2006)

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/ - (link updated by moderator)


Put out by the federal government, it is free and easy to use.

Has all the information you need as far as calories and diet mixtures.


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## DT4EMS (Oct 15, 2006)

DO these and it will change your life.

http://www.cbass.com/Furey.htm 

I roll out of be in the morning and do the "basics" from the "Royal Court". 


I hit the weights in the evening.


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## Epi-do (Oct 15, 2006)

Given your leg problems, once you get your gym membership, what about swimming?  It is a great cardio/low impact workout.  Depending upon what I am doing for the day, I swim anywhere between 1-3 miles/workout.  Typically, if I plan on running or doing weights, I will swim a shorter distance than if I am only going to swim for the day.

Good luck with getting in shape!


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## JimH (Oct 21, 2006)

*Getting In Shape*



Epi-do said:


> Given your leg problems, once you get your gym membership, what about swimming?
> 
> I was about to suggest that, I have a chronic knee injury, and running is out, so I started swimming. Now up to 2 miles after weights.
> It gives a great aerobic workout without the stress of running.
> At the club I belong to, they also have an aqua fitness course- I have not done it, but it looks good using water resistance.


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## EMSPlace (Jan 28, 2007)

I do my workouts at about 5pm. I have to say being consistant is a big part of it. Sure you can run a lot one day, then take a week off, but then you gain nothing. If you work out a good program that fits your needs, then you should be golden.


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## premedtim (Jan 29, 2007)

Talk about resurrecting an old thread, lol. Thanks for the input though!

I figured consistency was better than anything else so I kind of just work out whenever. Some days I go in the morning, some at night, it just depends. I've been working out for about a week and a half so far, just doing pushups, situps and a walk/run program of 5 min warmup walk, 4 sets of run 2 min walk 3 min, and then a 5 min cooldown walk....and inbetween the days I do cardio on, I'll still go to the gym half the time and just walk for half an hour or an hour like I did today because I figure it won't kill my legs but my heart will thank me for it.

Since it's like four or five months before I finish my EMT class, I'm just going to take it slow and build up to running 20 minutes every other day at a good pace and getting some strength training in there so I've got some muscle on me too which'll help with lifting. So far so good!


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## EMSPlace (Jan 29, 2007)

Haha woops, I did not look at the thread start date.:blush:


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## premedtim (Jan 29, 2007)

EMSPlace said:


> Haha woops, I did not look at the thread start date.:blush:



Happens to the best of us.  always a good topic anyways!


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## GaEMT (Feb 2, 2007)

Depending on your age, 30 minutes or so at 75-80% maximum heart rate, 3-4 times a week will benefit you greatly.     That with dietary changes like the ones mentioned will send the fat to packing.   I have lost 55 lbs oer a couple of years and have completely quit smoking.   NO fast food except for the occasional Chik Fil A      Was originally training to run the Disney Marathon in January, but an injury postponed that and now am set to head to Atlanta on 25 of March for the ING Georgia Marathon.    Just decide you want to do it and then make it happen.....take baby steps, not leaps.    Good Luck


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## Alexakat (Mar 2, 2007)

I have problems with my knees too.  They don't hurt so much, but when I squat, they make horrible cracking noises.  

I swim, cycle and have just taken up TaeKwonDo.  I've never been a runner...too hard on the knees & joints.


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## eging1451 (Mar 2, 2007)

I'm 18 and I just started working out. I'm building muscle pretty fast. I really need to work on cardio tho... it's bad news.


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