Hi Jim,
quick question again. if i’m up from 6am-11pm most days, do you think it makes sense to increase my cals from 1200 to 1300 per day as i’m finding it hard to consume only 1200 calories (given that i’ve had about 250 by 10am)? but i am worried i may not lose weight if i increase them…
Also, I was just wondering if you consider the rowing machine at the gym to be a strength training or Cardio piece of eqipment? I would say the former…
thanks, Davinda
p.s – thanks so much for responding to my questions. it makes you stand out from all of the other famous exercise trainers. i really appreciate it!
Comment by Davinda —
August 28, 2009 at 9:42 am
I would slightly increase your calories, but make those calories come from protein.
No, the rowing machine is not strength training, though it is a better option than many of the other cardio machines. A warm up on it would be fine.
Davinda, it’s my pleasure to help you lose weight.
Jim
Comment by admin —
August 28, 2009 at 10:31 am
Jim,
I’ve been following your 1200 calorie a day eating plan along with strength training. However, I am so happy to say that I just found out that I am pregnant! I’m about 5 weeks. Do you think it’s safe to maintain this amount of calories during the first trimester? The reading I’ve been doing has said that the extra “300″ calories doesn’t need to start until the second trimester. But, being that most people don’t adhere to a 1200 calorie day a diet, I’m wondering if more calories would be needed for me?
Also, is it safe to continue strength training (w/SPRI bands) throughout the entirety of my pregnancy if I am otherwise healthy?
Comment by Angela —
August 28, 2009 at 11:59 am
Angela:
First of all, a huge congratulations on being pregnant.
Second, you need to run all this by your doctor, as he or she is the expert when it comes to pregnancy, but here are the questions I have for you:
1. How much weight do you still have to lose? It’s interesting, but for some woman who are overweight, they should gain little to no weight with their pregnancy. If you can believe it, a woman over 200 pounds should gain NO weight when pregnant. I’m not at all saying you are overweight, but just using this as an opportunity to get this info out.
2. How old are you? The older you are, the higher risk the pregnancy.
3. Yes, you may continue to strength train, but must make modifications in the second and third trimester, such as no exercises on your stomach, no going to failure, as that may cut off some oxygen to the fetus, etc.
Please keep me posted as i want you to have a very healthy pregnancy. And remember, by strength training, you are keeping your metabolism up so the weight will then fall right off of you.
JIm
Comment by Jim Karas —
August 29, 2009 at 10:39 am
Hi again Jim,
To answer your questions and then some…….I’m 34, 5′4, and down 4 pounds to 129 since my starting weight of 133. My goal (pre-pregnancy) was to reach 120. But, now even though I’m pregnant, I would like to now just get to 125 by the end of my first trimester, knowing that there is NO WAY I could SAFELY get to 120 during the 6 weeks I now have left in my first trimester, at which point I know is the time that my body does need to start gaining. I feel like this might be okay because all the reading I’ve done says it’s normal to not gain any weight the first trimester because the baby is so small and so are its nutritional demands. And they even say that many women lose weight due to morning sickness and as long as you’re getting your prenatal vitamins, its perfectly safe if that happens (no, I don’t want morning sickness to lose weight–totally not worth it:)
I know to many people it must sound crazy that I want to lose those 4 pounds, knowing that in the not so distant future I will be on my way to at least a 25 lb gain in the end. But that’s 4 pounds less that I’ll have to carry around with me during the second and third trimesters and of course, 4 lbs less that I will have to lose when the baby does finally come.
And you’re totally right about needing to discuss this with my doctor, which I will do and take very seriously what she has to say. However, I have no doubt that you would agree with me that more doctors than not would have chastised me, prior to becoming pregnant, for cutting my calories so low and not doing cardio. So, I’m sort of sad to say that sometimes docs aren’t always that knowledgeable about things. I just think they would tell me to eat way more calories than I really need to, even though I’ve been eating so much good stuff.
Basically all I’ve done to keep that 1200 calories is cut the junk–sweets and processed food. All I eat are veggies, fruits, and whole grains and though not every day, lean meats. I eat about 5 small snacks/meals a day and I’m never hungry. Was I perfect up until the pregnancy? No….going from 1800 calories a day(if I was “good”) with a 45 minute stair climber workout to 1200 calories and weight training alone has not been an easy journey. But, now that I’m pregnant, that same strong desire that drove me to the ice cream section in the grocery store, strangely enough has now turned in the opposite direction. I have never in my life had such a strength and desire to AVOID the junk and it’s because I care about my baby and his or her development. And, I know this may sound crazy but I kind of believe that if I keep sugar out of my system that maybe I’m keeping him or her from being born with that same sweet tooth that I inherited from my mom, who definitely liked her ice cream when she was pregnant with me.
So, with all that being said, my gut tells me that if I eat tons of good food, that happens to add up to a smaller caloric count than what most people eat and I therefore, lose weight because I really am finally able to cut the junk, then I should be okay this first trimester. And hopefully by my second and third I will be hungrier with that growing baby in me and will be eating more…..healthy foods, so I can then begin to start gaining that extra weight that me and my baby need.
Comment by Angela —
August 31, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Angela:
I like your strategy. Just eat the right foods, keep the junk our of your system and totally keep up the strength training as that will keep your metabolism up during the pregnancy.
And for all those reading, 1,200 is NOT too low to shoot for, especially when you are only 5′4″. And your total weight gain she be no more than 25 pounds, so you are dead on with that goal.
Hi Jim,
quick question again. if i’m up from 6am-11pm most days, do you think it makes sense to increase my cals from 1200 to 1300 per day as i’m finding it hard to consume only 1200 calories (given that i’ve had about 250 by 10am)? but i am worried i may not lose weight if i increase them…
Also, I was just wondering if you consider the rowing machine at the gym to be a strength training or Cardio piece of eqipment? I would say the former…
thanks, Davinda
p.s – thanks so much for responding to my questions. it makes you stand out from all of the other famous exercise trainers. i really appreciate it!
Comment by Davinda — August 28, 2009 at 9:42 am
I would slightly increase your calories, but make those calories come from protein.
No, the rowing machine is not strength training, though it is a better option than many of the other cardio machines. A warm up on it would be fine.
Davinda, it’s my pleasure to help you lose weight.
Jim
Comment by admin — August 28, 2009 at 10:31 am
Jim,
I’ve been following your 1200 calorie a day eating plan along with strength training. However, I am so happy to say that I just found out that I am pregnant! I’m about 5 weeks. Do you think it’s safe to maintain this amount of calories during the first trimester? The reading I’ve been doing has said that the extra “300″ calories doesn’t need to start until the second trimester. But, being that most people don’t adhere to a 1200 calorie day a diet, I’m wondering if more calories would be needed for me?
Also, is it safe to continue strength training (w/SPRI bands) throughout the entirety of my pregnancy if I am otherwise healthy?
Comment by Angela — August 28, 2009 at 11:59 am
Angela:
First of all, a huge congratulations on being pregnant.
Second, you need to run all this by your doctor, as he or she is the expert when it comes to pregnancy, but here are the questions I have for you:
1. How much weight do you still have to lose? It’s interesting, but for some woman who are overweight, they should gain little to no weight with their pregnancy. If you can believe it, a woman over 200 pounds should gain NO weight when pregnant. I’m not at all saying you are overweight, but just using this as an opportunity to get this info out.
2. How old are you? The older you are, the higher risk the pregnancy.
3. Yes, you may continue to strength train, but must make modifications in the second and third trimester, such as no exercises on your stomach, no going to failure, as that may cut off some oxygen to the fetus, etc.
Please keep me posted as i want you to have a very healthy pregnancy. And remember, by strength training, you are keeping your metabolism up so the weight will then fall right off of you.
JIm
Comment by Jim Karas — August 29, 2009 at 10:39 am
Hi again Jim,
To answer your questions and then some…….I’m 34, 5′4, and down 4 pounds to 129 since my starting weight of 133. My goal (pre-pregnancy) was to reach 120. But, now even though I’m pregnant, I would like to now just get to 125 by the end of my first trimester, knowing that there is NO WAY I could SAFELY get to 120 during the 6 weeks I now have left in my first trimester, at which point I know is the time that my body does need to start gaining. I feel like this might be okay because all the reading I’ve done says it’s normal to not gain any weight the first trimester because the baby is so small and so are its nutritional demands. And they even say that many women lose weight due to morning sickness and as long as you’re getting your prenatal vitamins, its perfectly safe if that happens (no, I don’t want morning sickness to lose weight–totally not worth it:)
I know to many people it must sound crazy that I want to lose those 4 pounds, knowing that in the not so distant future I will be on my way to at least a 25 lb gain in the end. But that’s 4 pounds less that I’ll have to carry around with me during the second and third trimesters and of course, 4 lbs less that I will have to lose when the baby does finally come.
And you’re totally right about needing to discuss this with my doctor, which I will do and take very seriously what she has to say. However, I have no doubt that you would agree with me that more doctors than not would have chastised me, prior to becoming pregnant, for cutting my calories so low and not doing cardio. So, I’m sort of sad to say that sometimes docs aren’t always that knowledgeable about things. I just think they would tell me to eat way more calories than I really need to, even though I’ve been eating so much good stuff.
Basically all I’ve done to keep that 1200 calories is cut the junk–sweets and processed food. All I eat are veggies, fruits, and whole grains and though not every day, lean meats. I eat about 5 small snacks/meals a day and I’m never hungry. Was I perfect up until the pregnancy? No….going from 1800 calories a day(if I was “good”) with a 45 minute stair climber workout to 1200 calories and weight training alone has not been an easy journey. But, now that I’m pregnant, that same strong desire that drove me to the ice cream section in the grocery store, strangely enough has now turned in the opposite direction. I have never in my life had such a strength and desire to AVOID the junk and it’s because I care about my baby and his or her development. And, I know this may sound crazy but I kind of believe that if I keep sugar out of my system that maybe I’m keeping him or her from being born with that same sweet tooth that I inherited from my mom, who definitely liked her ice cream when she was pregnant with me.
So, with all that being said, my gut tells me that if I eat tons of good food, that happens to add up to a smaller caloric count than what most people eat and I therefore, lose weight because I really am finally able to cut the junk, then I should be okay this first trimester. And hopefully by my second and third I will be hungrier with that growing baby in me and will be eating more…..healthy foods, so I can then begin to start gaining that extra weight that me and my baby need.
Comment by Angela — August 31, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Angela:
I like your strategy. Just eat the right foods, keep the junk our of your system and totally keep up the strength training as that will keep your metabolism up during the pregnancy.
And for all those reading, 1,200 is NOT too low to shoot for, especially when you are only 5′4″. And your total weight gain she be no more than 25 pounds, so you are dead on with that goal.
Again, keep me posted.
Jim
Comment by admin — August 31, 2009 at 3:26 pm