Noelle's blog for 1-Apr-08

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Hello Everyone! Well I guess this is my first entry! Hopefully I'll be here to stay and with results :)  I am a 33 year wife and mom of two.  I have been exercising about 2 years now 4-5 days a week, but mostly cardio.  After reading everything I think that I know what the problem is now that I never lost any weight (did loose a few inches). I was doing about an hour of cardio a day with calories mostly between 1200-1400.  Soooo, I'm going to try cutting down my cardio and start a weight training program!!  Also do my best to follow the diet plan, though I admit it will be hard to mentally eat that much - it's just been ingrained in me for so long to not eat that much. Anywho...I don't have the ability/time to go to a gym (closest one is 30 min away, *sniff, sniff*) so I will be starting out with all freeweights (I do have a barbell/weights too).  I have done some work with them in the past but not much.  Can anyone tell me if it is ok to do the exercises that use a weight bench on an exercise ball instead?  I also thought I would start out with the 3 days/week full-body program, low volume that Mike shows as an example.  It doesn't seem like a whole lot but I've never lifted to fatigue everytime so I'm sure I should see some sort of results :) Oh, and in case anyone has any advice (I'd love to hear it!!) I am 5'5" and weigh 130 lbs.  I look OK in clothes (I think) but have little to no tone... Hope all is well with everyone and here's goes nothing!!! :)

Comments for this blog entry.

mike on 1-Apr-08

Welcome, Noelle! You can definitely use the exercise ball as a replacement for weight bench for exercises like the dumbbell press. You probably won't be able to lift as much, but the exercise ball will force you to use your core muscles to stabilize yourself while you perform the dumbbell press. So instead of a very intense chest workout you get an intense chest workout + bonus core workout. It's a good tradeoff in your situation. Also, unless you've been doing excessive cardio before (more than an hour every single day), then you can keep your existing cardio routine and simply add the low-volume weight training three days per week. Finally, if 1200-1400 calories is much more than what you are used to, then you don't need to jump into it all at once. You can slowly transition from your existing diet to the new one over a week or two. Looking forward to seeing your progress here!

theothermike on 2-Apr-08

Welcome!  good to see a new face around here.  You will find a fair amount of support here. Good luck and hang in there.  Perseverence pays off!

bigbubba on 2-Apr-08

We're tough... but fair. Welcome aboard.