Walking program needed

Question
I put on several pounds, was a 145 now I'm 165, I'm 5ft8in. I gained my weight from being on a depovera shot for 9 months. For some reason, I cant seem to shed the weight and its been a year (as of last march) when I quit the shots. I generally eat healthy meals and walk 15 minutes an evening during work hours (overnight shift). I'm not asking for a quick fix. I know its going to take time to get back to my old self. Any suggestions for someone who works the overnight shift and has only 2-15min breaks to spare. I say this as I am usually too exausted by the time I get off work at 8am. I tried winsor pilates but they aren't upbeat enough. I don't mind billy blanks boot camp videos but they really drain me. I have a desk job and I'm sure this contrinubes to my metobolism. I was always fit through high school and I'm only 25 now. This is the first sit down job I've had. I am worried how far to push myself. I quit smoking last april. I don't want to hurt myself running. Even when I do these walks at night I get my heart pumping fast and a bit out of breath. I know I'd feel better if I lost a few pounds. I also suffer from not sleeping well during the day hours, frequent heartburn and some headaches. I have a previous whiplash injury, which still hurts often and I do have a strain fracture in the third bone above my tail bone area. My upper back often hurts from being hutched over at the desk. Suggestions would be great or a walking/weightloss plan.
Thanks
Deana Renee  

Answer
Hi Deanna! It's Lanny. I have had depo-provera shots too and yes they can put on the pounds. Here are some tips for right now then I have a few more questions:

1) With only two 15 minute breaks to walk it has to be fairly intense. You can do this by walking hard the whole time and vigorously pumping your arms (we call this power walking) or you can interval train power walking. Interval training just means an easy segment followed by a harder segment. For example: one minute easier power walk followed by one minute hard power walking- you can choose the intervals according to your fitness level.

2) Even though you have a sit down job there are some things you can do  to keep moving/burn calories:

* Every so often do 8-10 standup/sitdown squats (just standup in your chair and sit down).

* Get up out of your desk whenever possible and just move around for a brief time. If there are stairs take a quick break and walk up and down a flight of stairs.

* To get a little arm strength there are two isometric exercises you can do quickly at your desk: 1) grab fingers and pull out as hard as you can- hold for 10-15 seconds
2) Push palms together as hard as you can-hold for 10-15 seconds

* Take occasional deep breathes to relieve tension and oxygenate your system.

* To get some abdominal work at your desk just tighten your abs and hold for 30- 60 seconds whenever you can.

The above should get you started. Since you have minimal amount of workout time you will have to have great nutrition to take off the body fat. You said you eat healthy. If you send me another question with a brief description of when, how often, and the types of foods you now eat I could tweak your diet a bit.

Do you have any of the following symptoms: difficulty sleeping, nervousness, trouble losing weight, sluggishness, anxiety, depression, headaches, fluid retention etc... If so you may have an adrenal dysfucntion. There are some simple things I could recommed for this as well as a couple of websites.... Have a great day... Lanny Schaffer... Exercise Physiologist/Personal Trainer... The International Fitness Academy... [email protected]