How much exercise do you do?

Hi All.  I am female 5'3 and currently 139lbs.  I am looking to get down to the 120-125lbs range.  I have a history of eating disorders and I am looking to do it the right way this time.  My rough target for now is going to be 1500 calories per day, but I'm not going to count them religiously like I was before - it drives me crazy.  I made a list of foods I can have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  After years of doing this, I basically know how many calories are in everything and I will be around the 1500 calorie mark. 

However, I also have a history of over exercising.  I techinically have no idea what a normal level of exercise is, so I'm hoping y'all can help me out.  How many hours do you do a week?  I want to get back into long distance running, so I'm thinking 4 days of running and two spin classes a week.  On two of the days I am also adding strength training including upper body, lower body and core.  To me this doesn't seem like a lot - I'm used to doing 1.5 hours a day everyday and then some. 

Right now I have set it up so that it will look somewhat like this: Monday - easy run 3-5 miles, Tues - Weights/Cross training for warm up, Wednesday - easy run 3-5 miles, Thursday - easy 3 mile run in the morning and spin class at night, Friday - Weights/Cross training for warm up, Saturday - easy run - start with 4 miles working up to 10 miles, Sunday - cross training (spin class, elliptical, or just walking).  The reason that I don't think that this is enough is because on days like Monday, Wednesdays, Saturdays when the runs are short (under 6 miles), I'm also used to doing 35mins on the elliptical before and I want to cut this out.  So like Monday, I will only do a 3 mile run, which would be about 30 mins plus cool down, but I don't think that this will be enough.  The schedule I put above totals to about 5 hours of exercise per week to start, working up to 7 hours.  I'm sorry this is so long and drawn out, but I don't want to get burned out again, and don't have any $$ to get a trainer. 

Original Post by kate6288:

Hi All.  I am female 5'3 and currently 139lbs.  I am looking to get down to the 120-125lbs range.  I have a history of eating disorders and I am looking to do it the right way this time.  My rough target for now is going to be 1500 calories per day, but I'm not going to count them religiously like I was before - it drives me crazy.  I made a list of foods I can have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  After years of doing this, I basically know how many calories are in everything and I will be around the 1500 calorie mark. 

However, I also have a history of over exercising.  I techinically have no idea what a normal level of exercise is, so I'm hoping y'all can help me out.  How many hours do you do a week?  I want to get back into long distance running, so I'm thinking 4 days of running and two spin classes a week.  On two of the days I am also adding strength training including upper body, lower body and core.  To me this doesn't seem like a lot - I'm used to doing 1.5 hours a day everyday and then some. 

Right now I have set it up so that it will look somewhat like this: Monday - easy run 3-5 miles, Tues - Weights/Cross training for warm up, Wednesday - easy run 3-5 miles, Thursday - easy 3 mile run in the morning and spin class at night, Friday - Weights/Cross training for warm up, Saturday - easy run - start with 4 miles working up to 10 miles, Sunday - cross training (spin class, elliptical, or just walking).  The reason that I don't think that this is enough is because on days like Monday, Wednesdays, Saturdays when the runs are short (under 6 miles), I'm also used to doing 35mins on the elliptical before and I want to cut this out.  So like Monday, I will only do a 3 mile run, which would be about 30 mins plus cool down, but I don't think that this will be enough.  The schedule I put above totals to about 5 hours of exercise per week to start, working up to 7 hours.  I'm sorry this is so long and drawn out, but I don't want to get burned out again, and don't have any $$ to get a trainer. 

 

2 words exercise bulimia

I realize that lilsmiter, I'm trying to get over it, that's why I'm asking.

Hehe, I guess if that is the case, then I have exercise bulimia, too. 

Not to be trite, but there is a lot more that goes into an ED diagnosis than reading a single post about a proposed exercise plan.  Since none of us are Kate's doctor, we haven't sat down and found out all about her history and circumstances, we cannot very well give her a diagnosis.

That being said, it is possible to exercise too much.  You want to find a proper balance between what your body needs to stay healthy, and what is too much to maintain without affecting other aspects of your life (like being social, doing school work, etc.).  You also have to avoid over training.

For one person 3 hours might be that magic number, and for another 7 hours might be right.  The one thing I noticed first about your schedule is that you don't have any rest days.  Rest days can be pretty important to avoid over training. 

Only you can know for sure when you are pushing yourself too hard.  But I would at least give yourself one day off a week.  Good luck!

kate, i totally hear you.  you probably have heard the first thing i'm going to say:  people recovering from exercise bulimia should stay away from exercise.  that said, i'll continue:  i think your exercise plan sounds pretty good.  i think your evil thoughts are beginning to permeate, though, so you really have to shush them before they win over your routine.

3 miles a day for running sounds appropriate, spin class twice a week.  two days of strength training.  that doesn't sound like it's overdoing it.  if if if you up it to 5 mile runs, eat an extra 200-300 calories.  make it a rule:  if you don't eat the calories, then you don't run more than 3 miles next session around (that way, you can curb some of the bulimic tendencies). 

setting limits is also something you can do pretty easily.  make an appointment for 1.5 hrs after you get to the gym, so that there's no way you can over do it).  or make yourself call someone at a certain time.  or set your watch or cell phone to start beeping.  and if you have an extra cookie one day, you don't get to exercise more.  sticking to a limit is really essential for exercise bulimics (otherwise you may just end up eating a box of cookies and staying there all day...)

i wish you the best of luck in recovering and staying fit and eating right and making the healthy choice.

Thanks for the replies.  Obviously setting limits is a problem for me, that's why I was asking how much exercise others do.  I have no idea whats too little and whats too much.  Well, I guess I do know that 2 hours a day is too much.

Hi Kate,

I workout on the elliptical trainer at my gym 3X/week for 45 min., I bike to/from school daily (20 min total), and swim once per week for about an hour. I do yoga for about 10 minutes before bed each night, and I try to take an early morning walk at least once a week before classes. I am not sticking to a plan, I just do what's fun and healthy. I used to run more but I have asthma that is still being managed and the elliptical trainer seems to aggravate it less. Good luck with your workouts, just make sure your having fun! If you think you might be prone to overdoing it, maybe you could find a workout buddy. 

I have to remind myself that working out does not come before taking care of my family and my mental health so I limit myself to one hour at the gym 5 days a week.  So I make the most of my hour and it has been working for me. 

I exercise between 2-5.5 hours a day at swim practice.

Sounds like a healthy plan to me.  30-45 min of cardio 3-4 times per week, plus weights 2-3x per week, plus a healthy diet.  It might be a good idea to find a "couch to 10K" plan, which will space out your running so you can avoid injury.  Then you can fill in the off days with some weight training.  Just make sure you're exercising because you WANT to, not because you NEED to. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to be helpful.

But, I'm still losing weight, so I'm on a 1200 calorie limit for myself. 5'2", 113 pounds.

I run five and a half miles at least twice a week and do step aerobics for two or three times a week (depending on how much running I do), basically an hour-ish of cardio type exercise 5 days a week.  

So far, this has worked really well for me.  I'm not tired.  I'm not hungry and I'm not wearing myself out.  :)  

Good luck to you with your endeavors.  I really hope you're able to make some good choices this time around and don't overdo yourself. 

I think you are right on for creating a plan for yourself and establishing the guidelines ahead of time.  I am a pretty serious worker-outer (in a healthy way), so your plan does not seem like too much to me.  Your calories do seem a little low, especially for when you start with the longer runs, but everyone is different.  I am working out for about 7-8 hours a week currently, and losing weight on 1700-1800 calories per day (I weigh 113 right now and am 5' tall). 

The part of your post that interested me is you were talking about burnout.  One thing that I would suggest is to incorporate one day off per week where you just do something unstructured for recovery - such as hiking, an easy swim, or yoga.  You can also schedule every 4th week as a recovery week where you cut back on your schedule by about 20% - so if you were working out 7 hours weekly, you would work out for 5.5 hours during the recovery week.  This is something that runners and triathletes do when training for an event because the body needs recovery time to get stronger.  I take my day off for by brain too - it's nice to have a day where I don't have to do anything if I don't want to.

ETA: I have been doing this type of schedule for at least 2.5 years.  In the summer my volume does increase quite a bit, but I have yet to get totally burned out.  I treat it as a lifestyle choice rather than a way to lose weight, and I think that helps.

You guys have posted some really great responses, thank you!  I understand that everyone is different, but I have a tendency to become compulsive, as in OCD.  This compulsion lead me to exercise roughly 11 hours a week.  It did take over my life, b/c I had to be in the gym morning and night!  I don't want that anymore, but its hard to fight the compulsion.  I took the month of December off and have just started walking.  I want to start on a new plan in January to get my mileage up again to possibly run another marathon in the fall.  I do know about recovery weeks and I know I should take rest - its hard!  Come to think of it, two years ago I believe I had a plan I could live with.  I worked out 5 days a week with Mondays and Fridays off.  However, now I feel that I need to workout everyday for some continuity - but I was pushing myself too hard everyday.  I usually have a race that I am training for, but at this point I just want to find a workout volume that works for me without pushing for a race.  I do want to run the MCM Marathon next year (I defered this year due to injury), but its too early to start training.  I feel like I need a goal though!!!  Its killing me.

Hi Kate,

I started cc when was in a similar situation. I am 5'2 and I found myself weighing about 136 after I'd had an emergency appendectomy in June. My pre-surgery weight was about ten pounds less - 125ish. I don't have a history of ED and so I thought sharing my experience and plan might give you a reference point as you plan.

To lose the weight I began doing some Ellen Barrett workouts that were on the fitness channel. I could only do the cardio portion, which is about forty minutes, but I did that every day. In addition I tried to make sure I moved more by walking and standing. I restricted my calories to about 1300 to give me a deficit of about 400 calories a day. As the weight came off, and I got stronger, I started back at the gym and began using the elliptical machine for thirty minutes approximately four times a week. The weight came off in about two and half months. I'm now at 125.

The plan you described above is much more aggressive, but your calorie intake is higher, too. I am currently working to lose another five pounds and I've upped my calories to around 1500, but mostly I'm aiming for a four to five hundred daily deficit. I'm doing the elliptical four or five times a week for forty-five minutes, doing some strength training, and the at home dvd thing once or twice a week. I'm losing between .5 and 1 pound a week.

As I compare my workout to yours I am wondering how much you are aiming to lose each week? You seem on target to lose two pounds or more a week - that seems high given your particular history.Have you had a chance to discuss a healthy weekly target with your physician? I wish you all the best as you work toward reaching your goal in a safe and healthy manner!

 

I workout 8-10 hours a week. It's not too much given my goals. It all depends on what your goals are. If it is just to lose weight, you can get away with a lot less exercise than if you are trying to win your next marathon. Your schedule sounds fine. A pretty good way (by no means teh only way or the best...) to tell if you are over training is to monitor your resting heart rate. Take it first thing in the morning. The trend should be fairly stable (if not decreasing as fitness improves), but if you notice it going up, you may be overtraining. Keep in mind one day of elevated heart rate is not necessarily an indicator of overtraining (it could be you just had a crappy night sleep), but a trend of an elevated heart rate is!

How much exercise is appropriate for you depends on you. The one suggestion I can make for you is to take one day off a week. This gives you body time to rest and will help prevent overtraining. Otherwise, you workout plan sounds reasonable.

I excersise regularly. I play hockey 3 times a week, I count that as my cardio and then at home, the days I dont have hockey, I do either 25 or 45 minutes of Gunner Petersons Core Secrets to tone up a bit.