Miss Muscle, thank you for the direct answer. You've told me exactly what I needed to hear and I'm much less anxious hearing that you have such conviction in one vs. the other. For diet, I'm under 1500 calories per day during the week: I should have asked your weight, bodyfat, height, etc. 1500 doesn't seem like enough. After I know your weight I can give you a better range of calories to consume . You'll probably need at least 1800 to rev up your metabolism.
hard boiled egg whites for breakfast, a shake or bar for lunch (or a salad) and then dinner which is always either 99% FF turkey burger or chicken or I have a couple cans of tuna on a salad. I see only 3 meals in there....I know you have snacks but you should have at least 5 meals per day with a protein source at each meal.
always have fresh cooked vegetables with dinner (corn, cauliflower, green beans). Good....definately keep that up!
snacks are always either fresh fruit or raw vegies. Friday night we blow it out - - pizza, chinese or whatever Excellent....kick start your metabolism and thyroid.
and then on sat or sunday I may have one meal with a bit of starchy carbs like rice or pasta (but very little). Only one? Do the other meals consist of just veggies? What do the other meals have? And I see no fats in your diet....get in some. Nuts, nut butters, salmon, oils, avocado, etc.
For excersize, I lift every day for about 45 minutes (cables and dumbbells) Be sure to get a good variety of exercises and definately have some squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc.....I'm sure your husband can assist you on this though.
and then do cardio (run 5-6 miles or do elliptical for an hour, depending upon if my knees hurt) and then 3 days a week I also do a power class for an hour with dumbbells (lunges, curls, etc, on the step with weights). You might be overdoing it on the cardio. Is it steady state? HIIT? For your goals I suggest cardio 4-5 days per week including 2-3 sessions of HIIT. Include the power classes as cardio.
Sometimes, I'll lift for 45 minutes, do an hour on the elliptical and then do a class - - that's 3 hours and I'm not even trying to be in competitive shape, I just want to look lean, athletic and healthyI would take out the hour on the elliptical for your purposes....but doing this once in awhile isn't going to kill you. ...... Once again, Miss Muscle, thank you for your help and responses....