AboutJoe Gunn Expertise Master's Degree with majors in Exercise Science and Psychology. Teach college courses in weight training, jogging/fitness, and wellness. Expertise include strength training, long distance running, sprinting, general fitness, weight loss, and nutritional education.
Experience Over 30 years as a personal trainer of athletes as well as average individuals.
Organizations Certified strength and Conditioning Specialist with the the National Strength and Conditiong Association. Certified Club coach with the United States Weightlifting Association. Certifed Level II long distance coach with the USA Track & Field.
Education/Credentials M.S with majors in exercise science and psychology
Question I am a 31 year old female who is trying to lose weight in a healthy way and I am trying to make sure that I am doing things right. I have a M.S. in Exercise Physiology and so I am pretty educated on the exercise side of things, but I hear so many different things about nutrition that I am afraid I am going about this wrong. I have been married for 5 years now and that along with working and having an hour drive to and from work, has led me to not make the best choices for food and exercise. I decided about a month an a half ago that I am fully committed to getting back to a great healthy weight for myself. I am only 5'1" tall and I weigh 160 as of now. I know, yuck, right. Even when I was slim and healthy, I weighed 130. It is really hard for me to get lower than that because of my build. I feel really good at 130 and so I have made that my goal. Over the last month, I have lost 5.5 pounds. I am decently happy with that but part of me wonders if I could be losing slightly more. I have been exercing 5-6 times a week doing Jillian Michael's DVD's at home. She is tough and I need someone with a tough additude to help motivate me. I have been alternating my routine between a 30 minute very intense workout that incorporates strength and cardio, and also two other DVD's. One is 50 minutes long that is more cardio based, the other is 50 minutes long that is more strength based. I recently started a routine where I do all three workouts twice (this takes 6 days) and then take off the 7th day. This seems to be doable for me and is pretty intense. As for eating, I have been sticking to between 1,200 and 1,400 calories a day with most days coming in at 1,300. One day on the weekend, I may get a few more calories because my only "cheat" that I have been doing which is a few coctails once a week or once every other week. On the day that I have coctails, I only eat 1,000 calories to allow for the drink calories and I stick to either Barcardi and Diet as my drink or an MDG 64 beer, both of which are 65 calories a piece. On these days, I may end up having between 1,500 - 1,700 calories. During the week when I am only eating 1,200 - 1,400 calories I try to make healthy food choices. I eat things like egg white sandwiches with low-fat cheese on flatbread or whole grain bread, weight control oatmeal, Subway's 6-inch turkey sandwich with veggies, for dinner I eat grilled or baked chicken or fish and veggies. Sometimes I have brown rice. For snacks I eat fiber bars, low-fat cheese sticks, veggies, apples, and sugar free pudding. I take a multivitamin and Omega 3 fish oil daily. Does it sound to you like I am eating enough in order to maximize my weight loss?? I am a little disappointed that I haven't lost 8 pounds this last month instead of 5.5. However, I don't want to up my calories and find out that was not the way to go. I am also a little confused as to why my commercial grade Tanita that I use for work, (I am a wellness coach), says I have been losing lean mass along with fat mass....Is this a sign that I am not eating enough??
Answer Hey Heather, sounds to me like you are really on top of your fitness and nutrition. I would look closely at my workouts and estimate how many calories you are actually burning in your workouts. Then look at things like your BMR and RDEE to see how many cals you need and work from their. Not more than a 500-600 cal deficit per day counting your workouts. Not too worry too much about rate of weight loss which can vary due to multiple variables thay are difficult to control all the time. I would check my % body fat to see if I was losing muscle mass which is very possible with low cals and hard exercise. You know this stuff just apply what you learned in school to yourself....all the best , Joe
