Beauty & Grooming  Discussion Forum

Hi Sandhya

Hope u remember me...last time when I spoke to u..I was weighing
75kg..Currently I have reached to 67kgs but my goal is 60...
As per ur advice I lost this weight mainly by walking and doing all
house hold activities..I have a 11month old baby and I have stopped
bfeeding..I have been a on and off visitor of gym( once or twice in a week)..and i used to do only treadmill for 30 minutes (inclination 5 and speed about

6.5mph...with warm up and cool down 5 mins each)..and then cyvle just for 10 mins..
I used to burn about 250 cals during this time...Iam a stay at home mom( gave up my job for baby)...
My husband contributes nothing in household chores..its all me totally...Though Im active through out the day (evenings i walk with my kid in park for 20- 30 mins)...
I think I have reached a plateau..where my body is not responding and there is no further weight loss...I really want to go to gym..but thats possible
only in the mornings when my husband and baby are both asleep or bfore my husband leaves for work..So can u please answer my queries..

1) I hear a lot about stretching, resistance training , circuit training,strength training etc..can u pls explain what these exactly are and how can I
incorporate them in my work outs..(our apartment has a gym..thats not very sophisticated ..a treadmill,cycle,multi gym and some dumb bells....
with no instructor)...so how can I do some of the above mentioned trainings with these equipments..can u pls mention soame site where I can get good info abt it..

2)Ur replies have really motivated and inspired me a lot..so I want to lose weight and and become strong and energetic...not fragile..since Iam
planning to return back to work..and with no family support I need lots of stamina.to accomplish all these...But the problem is the only time Im able to
figure out to go to gym is in early morning..When I go..I just have a cup of milk bfor i leave...I notice that I get tired and once Im back I find it tuf to
carry out my usual activities..sometimes my entire body starts paining and Im not able to go to gym for the next 2-3 days..So my question is
what sort of food can I have bfore working out.. I get up 6.30am and go for work out at 7..can I have a regular bfast (im a south indian and have 3 idlis in morn)

3)Should we take any vitamins supplements to beat the fatigue or is it just enuf to eat a good meal..My meals comprise of fresh fruit and veges..I eat a 2000
calorie diet..with very less oil and no snacks..

4)I want to burn atleast 300-400 cals per day...so can u pls help me form a exercise routine so that with the above said equipments I cud accomplish them..
I can spend only 40 -45 mins in gym..



sandya replied. Raashi,
fist congratulations on losing all that weight. Really-really proud of you. Now in answer to your questions :

1. One should always supplement with vitamins siding with caution that you don' t get to eat everything everyday. So, add a multi-vitamin to your diet on a daily basis.

2. I agree, even i get tired going for a workout in the early morning. And i think that is due to lack of sugar in our body. On the other hand when you workout after about 2 hrs of having a meal then you feel good.

so, the solution for you would be to eat a nice and healthy breakfast before 1 hr of hitting the gym. This way, you are allowing the sugar to metabolise in your body before making it work so hard. Now, your breakfast has to have moderate amts of sugar, lots of protein and fibre. Take a pick of any Kashi cereals that are available in the market and you get the best of everything. OR idli' s is just fine, but without any spicy chutneys b' cos that can lead to heartburn. So, have idli' s with little ketchup.

3. When working out, take plenty of water to keep you hydrated all the time. Better yet, add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt to the water and drink this while working out. If you don' t like the taste of water this way, then add little lemon to it and make it a lemonade. This gives you all the essential nutrients(sugar, salt and vitamin C) in the purest forms and will keep you from burning out.

4. Also, i noticed that your workout at the gym is way vigorous. An inclination of 5 would kill your knees(atleast for me) and running at 6.5 mi/h, then WOW, i don' t know how your body is able to take it. This would have been good news if you weren' t complaining of body aches so much. But since you are, then i recommend to tone it down a little bit. Be kind to your body, you still need to live for another 70yrs i suppose. Now, inclination of 2 to 3 is good. And running at this inclination at 6.5 is also good. Your other parameters for warm up and cool down sounds good to me.

5. Diff between the various workouts

circuit training : Is incorporating various activities in your program. Like walking, running, strength training, cardio, resistance etc..

Strength training : is basically weight training. Meaning lifting weights(free or machine) to tone your body. The idea behind this is, when you lift weights, you are burning your fat and building muscle. So far so good. But the problems with this i found are many. Being a veg, if you are building muscle then you need to consume lots of protien, but if you don' t and replace the protein with sugar then you are on a slippery slope to failure. I' ll tell you why. When you eat sugar to build muscle, then the body goes haywire since it gets a sugar jolt to metabolise more sugar in a day than you regularly consume. Second, when you build muscle, it doesn' t necessarily look very good on a woman who wants to look atleast a little feminine. I love looking feminine and imagine looking muscular in a salwar-kameez or a sari for that matter. YIKES. And last but not least is when you do stop the weight training, then imagine all the muscle turning into fat, but only imagine it 10 times faster than what is took you to become fit in the first place. Fat to muscle takes a long time than muscle conversion to fat. So, remember all this before you take up any rigorous strength training programs.

On the other hand a moderate strength training program never killed anyone but always remember to include protein in your diet.

Streching : includes yoga, pilates, taek-wan-do, karate etc..(very systematic, rhythmic and symmetric building of the body' s core strength). I do myself for 1 hr, 3 days a week. Extremely stress relieving and energizing. Would give a thumbs up to this.

Resistance training : Imagine walking without any wind. And now imagine with wind blowing in your face. This is resistance in layman terms. Now the resistance can come in many ways : wind, surface(grass, clay, beach sand, concrete). You get the picture. When you pull on elastic bands, that' s resistance. Imagine a person rowing a boat. That' s resistance. When you increase the incline on your treadmill, that' s resistance. Anyting defying gravity is resistance.

Hope that answers all your questions. Again i' m really glad that you are making all the right changes in your life to achieve what you want to achieve. I' m glad to help in any little way i can. Good luck.