New to this, please advice

[Marge]

Hello,

I am a 40 something woman, 5'3 and 120 lbs. I am starting to lift weights and doing abdominals, also exercises to keep my butt firm and probably add a bit more volume, also to my calves. I already have a routine to start of 30 mins of exercise and I am already sore, this is my third day, so I will work on improving or modifying my exercise routine. I am new to all this and I have only done Yoga in my life. My meals are for breakfast a vegetable/fruit juice or yougurt with seeds or oatmeal, lunch sometimes a sandwich, sometimes a whey protein shake, sometimes I skip alltogether and dinner chicken with salad or some other meat. Would this sort of meals be enough to build some muscle mass?
Please advice as I am lost.

[gicantor]

No problem it will get moved to the proper section.

And don't skip meals. Eating is your friend! Provided it is the correct foods.

[Marge]

LOL. I was looking for a newbie forum and this is the only one I found.
No, I am not wanting to use steroids.. lol
Sorry

[MuSuLPhReAk]

Moved it to the Women Bodybuilding and fitness section.
Understandable mistake though. I will restructure the forum soon to make things more clear. Welcome to CBB.

[gicantor]

LOL. I was looking for a newbie forum and this is the only one I found.
No, I am not wanting to use steroids.. lol
Sorry

We figured as much;)

[Marge]

Thank you Musclephreak :D

[ubcpower]

I would have 5 small/med size meals instead of just 3 for the day. This will increase your metabolism and keep the furnace burning so to speak. As far as your meals, make sure you break up your Macronutrients (Protein/Fats and Carbs) evenly in the meals. You may want to leave out carbs in your last meal before bed. But your "breakfast" meal does not seem to have any protein in it....Try for Whey Protein Isolate or Egg Whites for that one. I would advise against eating bread too as there are better carb choices imo such as brown rice, oats, yams, sweet potato. Also make sure you get in some quality fats , especially in that chicken at salad dinner. Ex. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Natural Peanut butter, Almonds...etc

Maybe try tinkering with something like this:
Meal 1: Oats, 1/3 cup frozen berries, 1 scoop whey protein isolate or 1 cup egg whites, 1 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil or 1/4 cup of almonds or nuts of some kind

Meal 2: Shake- Whey Protein, 1/4 cup oats and 1tbsp Natty PB or Oil (Blended with ice)

Meal 3: Salad with 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil , 1 chicken breast (Careful with the dressing)

Meal 4: Same as meal 2

Meal 5: 1 Chicken Breast or 4-5 Oz of Lean Red meat or Fish, Green Salad and 1tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

If thats you in your avatar feel free to come to my gym in vancouver and we can discuss this more in person ;) Jk

[Marge]

Thank you very much UBC power, very helpful, indeed.
Yes, that's me in the avatar in August. Have not changed much. Thank you for the offer but i live a bit far, in Kamloops :-(