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Weight training question/intro
Hi everyone! I'm new here. You can call me Sessions. 
I am working on building some muscle tone in order to help me lose weight and feel better. I am currently on a 1200 Calorie diet and I do a quick 30-minute work out every morning before work. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I do strength exercises; Tuesday and Thursday I do cardio exercises. I do 5 minutes of stretching at the start and 5 minutes of cool-down at the end, so 20 minutes of actual work.
I have a question about weight lifting. Last night DH and I went bowling. We were there for like 2 hours, played 4 games, and I alternated between a 10-pound and 12-pound ball. I had no problems lifting that thing and hauling it down the alley, lol. But this morning (or any morning) I do my work-out, and I'm hardly able to lift my 5-pound hand weights and I CAN'T do any sort of lifting with the 8-pound weights, I can only carry them at my sides. WTF? Why can I throw a 12-pound ball with three fingers but can't lift an 8-pound weight with a full hand?
Re: Weight training question/intro
A. It sounds like you aren't eating enough.
B. I strongly advise against stretching before warming up. It is a good way to injure yourself.
C. When bowling you don't use even close to a full range of motion and the swing helps lift the ball for you.
How long have you been exercising?
Ditto the things robinsokj said.
Also, what weights do you normally use? Is 5-8 lbs the norm? Are you sore at all today from your bowling extravaganza?
We'll just not tell H about this little fact, m'kay?
I also agree a 1200 calorie diet is not enough for someone that does cardio 3 days a week and strength training 2 days a week. 1200 calories is for someone this is trying to lose weight through dieting only (calorie counting). You need more calories to fuel your workout. With working out 5 days a week you should never eat less than your BMR, figure that out first and use that as a base to stay above.
I agree with PP swinging a 10 or 12 pound ball is more about the momentum of the swing that allows you to do that easily. If you are using 5lb weights at home and are feeling that is a good weight for you then don't worry about it. You will be at 8lbs in no time. Remember when you are lifting weights you want to pick a weight that challenges you. You pick a weight that you can lift for 3 sets of at least 8-10 reps, but you should not be able to easily lift 15 or more reps. If you can lift a weight easily for 3 sets of 15 reps you need to move up in weight. I started out lifting 5 lb weights, at 3 weeks I moved up to 10lbs to challenge myself. A month after that I was able to move up to 15lbs. After 2 weeks I am still only able to do 3 sets of 10 reps, so I will be on this weight for a while.
In regards to warm up you should be doing moves that warmup the muscles you are about to work out, not stretching. I do a 5 minute warm up before I lift, this is my warmup: 30 sec. arm crosses, 30 sec. jumping in place (imagine jumping rope), 30 sec. marching place raising my knees up pretty good and moving my arms that I am twisting my core, so I am warming that all up good. Then 30 sec. of large arm circles and finally 30 sec. of jumping jacks. That is 2 1/2 minutes, so I repeat all 5 moves for a total of 5 minutes of warmup. After lifting I do a cool down stretching.
You are doing great keep up the good work.
You definitely need to be eating more. Get lots of protein. Also, as pp's said, don't stretch. When I do squats for instance I just do a few deep squats with little to no weight to warm up. Save stretching for after your workout.
Glad I posted!
robinsokj: A. It sounds like you aren't eating enough.
I went and recalculated my BMR given my workouts and it's about 1875, so to create a 500-Calorie deficit per day with my workouts averaging about 125 Calories burned, I should be eating about 1500 Calories per day. Which would explain why I'm so mother lovin' hungry, LOL. I will start adding in those 300 Calories today.
robinsokj: B. I strongly advise against stretching before warming up. It is a good way to injure yourself.
I will definitely start doing some warm-ups like regenab's and push the stretching to the end. It's funny, I was always taught to start off stretching in PE and such.
robinsokj: How long have you been exercising?
I used to exercise all the time in college, but on this routine it's only been about 3 weeks. And it's my first ever real attempt at any sort of weight routine.
raynes: Also, what weights do you normally use? Is 5-8 lbs the norm? Are you sore at all today from your bowling extravaganza?
I started week 1 with cute little 2-pound walking weights just to get into the routine, but 5-pounds is my norm now. And yes, I was sore from bowling, haha. Still a tad bit sore today in some places.
regenab: You pick a weight that you can lift for 3 sets of at least 8-10 reps, but you should not be able to easily lift 15 or more reps.
In that case, I'm definitely at 5-pounds. I get to about rep 12 and feel like I'm gonna die, lol. I think I'll try 3-10s instead of 2-15s and see how that feels.
You guys are awesome!
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You're still so early in the game. Don't be so hard on yourself.
And old school PE stretches have for the most part all been nixed. No stretching before your body is warm, and ballistic stretches (the bouncy ones) are HORRIBLE for you.
Just keep it up and you'll see the weights increase and things will get easier. Until you make it hard for yourself again, then the cycle continues