[yourmom55]

Hey you! I need some help and any advice would be great...
I'm about 5'7 and weigh 145... I play d1 college soccer and have been told by my coach that I need to "tone" up and lose weight:mad:... we lift to a week right now but in 2 weeks we go to 3 times a week and practice... but I need to lose weight... any advice?
Also, in a week or two I'm most likely getting surgery on my knee... so I won't be able to do any fitness for a month at least... any advice on how to keep weight off?
And any tips on how to lose weight in the thighs and butt?

[kp2171]

If you are having surgery, you must talk to your doctor about what is acceptable for rehab. Walking, swimming, stationary bikes, ellipticals are all low impact... and your doctor might actually encourage you to do some workout to rehab and stregthen your knee.

Obviously even a little weight loss can help place less pressure on the knee. And if you don't have good shoes, get some from a shoe store in town that caters to runners and athletes.

So your doctors orders are your first concern. Talk to him or her about how to rehab. Any suggestions I make here are subject to your physicians approval.

Swimming is low/no impact. If you aren't interested in doing lots of laps in the pool you can still do a lot of movements with resistance just moving in the water.

There's a decent amount of pilates that can be done with low impact, and you can modify your positions if your knee is an issue by using an inflated ball.

If your knee was OK id suggest more. Jumping rope is a killer workout. It really, really sucks. But is effective. Did I mention that it sucks? But its not low impact... just something to consider when you are 100% again.

Pilates dvds are great, low impact, and can rip you into shape if you really focus and keep at it. I prefer to walk, hike, do weights, etc... but I do pilates twice a week... it strengthens your core, which is critical for sports and for avoiding injury. Stott pilates is great, and I can link you up to their site and what id suggest, but you can also get dvds usually for free from a local public library. It's a good way to try out different routines without spending the cash up front. Most of my workout dvds are tae bo and pilates.

Try to do your workouts early in the morning if you can, even if that means going to bed earlier and getting up earlier. Morning workouts crank your metabolism up for the first part of the day, when you are likely eating. Also, getting that workout done early means you did it, its over, and there's no putting it off... even if its just a 45 minute walk in the AM, if you then do another workout after classes with your team, it gets you more calories burned. But I'm a big fan of doing whatever you can do to do some workout early so your metabilism burns those consumed calories throughout the day. It really makes a difference, I think.

Don't know about your diet... smaller portions more often is often a good move, even if you just start taking a little less, especially when you cannot workout so much. A small breakfast, a small snack late morning, reasonable lunch, a small snack at afternoon, and then a very reasonable dinner. Eating a big meal at the end of the day makes no sense... but an athlete also need calories, so try spreading food out a bit in smaller amounts if you can.