Is this a healthy diet and workout schedule and how can I improve it?

[MissDanna]

My workout schedule usually goes like this:

Monday-nothing, sometimes 20 min jogging

Tuesday-1 hour of horseback riding

Wednsday-1 hour and a half PE lesson

Thursday- 1 hour of ballroom dancing

Friday, Saturday and Sunday 20 min jogging

On a normal day I eat:

Breakfast- oatmeal or cereal with fruit and milk and orange juice

Lunch- Sandwich or pasta

Dinner- some kind of meat/fish with rice or potatoes and vegetables

I rarely have snacks but it's usually some kind of nuts, fruit or a small candy bar.

I eat between 1200 and 2500 calories per day I weigh something like 135lbs and I'm 5'8 1/2 I'd like to maintain that weight or maybe loose a bit so that I can fully enjoy myself on holidays

So is this good? can I improve anything?

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Firstly, stop calorie counting. It does nothing other than create unnecessary restrictions. Also, don't judge progress by weight, judge it by appearance.

Secondly, your diet. Sounds good, I'm assuming it's semi-skimmed milk you have with breakfast? Try to cut out the snacks (nuts are okay as long as theyre not salted). To do this, drink more water, not only will this increase your metabolism, it will reduce your apetite and prevent grazing. You can also replace the bread and rice with wholegrain versions as well as leaving the skins on the potatoes. Oh and don't have too much fruit, remember they're heavy in sugar.

Thirdly, If you want to lose weight or tone up then do at least 20 minutes of cardio PER DAY (activates your 'fat afterburners') oh and don't worry, the horse riding certainly counts. This basically just means that on Monday's that "sometimes" turns to an 'always'.

As for anything else, try to cut sodium (mainly salt) rich foods, this lowers the eater retention level of your muscles, giving a leaner appearance. Also, allow yourself one or two days a month to have a 'treat day' (you eat what you want, when you want) this helps you stick to a diet by breaking the monotony of it - note; the treat days MUST be planned in advance, otherwise it won't work and you'll lapse into snacking every day. Finally, look out some multivitamins, you can't go wrong with those.

Those are just some tips, everything else looks good.

[MissDanna]

thanks a lot :) is it better to have these 2 big treat days a month or could I also have treat meals once a week, like a piece of pie, cake or some kind of big dessert?

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Well, twice (or once) a month is the much stricter option and more suited to bodybuilders and such. Seeing how you're just looking to tidy up a bit then I'm quite sure once a week would be fine. (if it's once a week limit yourself to one treat instead of a whole day of them)

[MissDanna]

ok I'll do that :) and on Mondays I usually only come back from school at about 5, so that would mean, either running at 5:30 am or later at about 6pm, we usually have dinner at around 7, so should I go in the morning or in the evening?

[TheGoodTheBadTheHOT]

Ah that's one thing I forgot to mention.

Exercise in the mornings if possible. Do it as your first thing, even before eating, to get the best results. The metabolism is highest here and the body is more willing to adapt.

[Lifesbeautiful]

WOW! ha ha That's a really good workout! I would love to do dancing and the horseback riding! You are really doing great. All in all, the only thing in your diet that isn't super healthy for your body is the pasta and the potatoes because they are starchy and potatoes turn into sugar in your body. Otherwise, everything looks really great! Kudos! Keep up the good work! :)

[MissDanna]

hahaa my favorite days :) I can easily skip the potatoes but I just love pasta! I could eat tons of it xD

[Lifesbeautiful]

Pasta IIIIISSSS YUUMMMM! hehe :D <3 OLIVE GARDEN! hehe :D

[MissDanna]

i think I need to move to italy I could eat pasta everyday for every meal :D

[Lifesbeautiful]

:D haha! Italy would be a very beautiful place to live at! You could see all of the vineyards and try out the different cheeses! You should and then marry an Italian tanned man who can cook pasta for you every night! ... Oh and you could horseback ride through the vineyards together! :D ha ha <3

[MissDanna]

sounds like paradise hahaa :D I really love cheese too, yeah I think I'll do that ;) too bad I chose spanish instead of italian at school though xD

[Lifesbeautiful]

haha Yes too bad! :D You could always learn though ;) ... or your man can teach you. lol

[NellziiBabii]

Your diet and workouts sound great and fun :) but one of the key components of losing weights is: to lose weight you need a lower intake of calories so wen you excersise your body uses the energy stored in the fat therefore burning fat. So maybe walk or run a little more try 30 minutes 4 days a week? Have a fun holiday:)))

[MissDanna]

thanks :) it's only in 2 months so I still have time to loose a bit of weight and I have been able to increase my running time :)

[NellziiBabii]

Good luck I'm trying to look good in summer too :)

[peace-love-couture]

Your workout routine sounds really diverse and very fun! Haha, I'm jealous. Keep that up

Your diet sounds healthy.

I don't know what you drink, but eliminate liquid calories and you could begin losing weight. Liquid calories being fruit juices, cokes/sodas/pop etc. Drink more water.

[MissDanna]

yeah :) I enjoy my workout routine too, the jogging can get boring at times and the horseback riding made my thighs a bit big for my taste but other than that it's cool :)