Can't move this flab! Advice?

[aandd]

I'm 33, 144 lbs, 33.1% BF (ugh!)

I do 20 minutes of cardio (single setting) 3 times a week, lift weights on a 3 day split 6 days a week, and pay moderate attention to diet. My protein is about 40%, and my fat is a little high. A typical day is:

proten shake 1st thing in AM
1 serving oatmeal
workout
protein shake immediately following
chicken salad (chicken, 1/2 apple, 1 tbsp fat free mayo, bed of lettuce) for lunch
myoplex bar for a snack
chicken salad or low fat frozen meal for dinner
sugar free jello/fat free whipped topping for snack.

I drink 75 oz of water a day, and had been having one diet coke w/ splenda after I drink all my water. My trainer nixed that for me because my hydration level was under 50%. So now I have my diet coke w/splenda every other day or every 3rd day.

I'm not a big fan of tuna, cottage cheese or PB, so my protein is limited to chicken and shakes.

I dropped about 6 lbs in the beginning, and haven't been able to move that OR my BF since. I'm getting more than a bit furstrated.

For cardio I'm doing the stationery bike for right now. I'd like to move to the elliptical eventually, but can't do more than 10 minutes MAX on it right now. It depresses me that I'm so damn out of shape, so I decided to stick to the bike until I get my endurance built up, then move back to the elliptical.

My goal is to do a competition, hopefully within a year. Eric the trainer thinks I could prolly do it in 6 months, but I'm feeling so discouraged that I'm not even aiming for 2005 anymore.

Any advice for me?

 

[*Bunny*]

I'm 33, 144 lbs, 33.1% BF (ugh!)

I do 20 minutes of cardio (single setting) 3 times a week, lift weights on a 3 day split 6 days a week, and pay moderate attention to diet. My protein is about 40%, and my fat is a little high. A typical day is:

proten shake 1st thing in AM
1 serving oatmeal
workout
protein shake immediately following
chicken salad (chicken, 1/2 apple, 1 tbsp fat free mayo, bed of lettuce) for lunch
myoplex bar for a snack
chicken salad or low fat frozen meal for dinner
sugar free jello/fat free whipped topping for snack.

I drink 75 oz of water a day, and had been having one diet coke w/ splenda after I drink all my water. My trainer nixed that for me because my hydration level was under 50%. So now I have my diet coke w/splenda every other day or every 3rd day.

I'm not a big fan of tuna, cottage cheese or PB, so my protein is limited to chicken and shakes.

I dropped about 6 lbs in the beginning, and haven't been able to move that OR my BF since. I'm getting more than a bit furstrated.

For cardio I'm doing the stationery bike for right now. I'd like to move to the elliptical eventually, but can't do more than 10 minutes MAX on it right now. It depresses me that I'm so damn out of shape, so I decided to stick to the bike until I get my endurance built up, then move back to the elliptical.

My goal is to do a competition, hopefully within a year. Eric the trainer thinks I could prolly do it in 6 months, but I'm feeling so discouraged that I'm not even aiming for 2005 anymore.

Any advice for me?

Hey girl... don't get discouraged, you're 'trying' and that's a great start

I would definitely plug your foods into fit day to see exactly what you are eating...

Sassy said it best here - Click me

1st impressions...
- Cannot tell your Fat intake in your diet layout (seems low actually)
- My main protein source is chicken and shakes, which is FINE
- If you're not getting any more results, you need to tweak your DIET & training
- Drink at least a gallon of water a day (128 ounces)
- Are you doing any interval training with your cardio? or just 20 min. at the same pace to get it out of the way?
- Can you replace the Protein Bar with actual food?

Good luck with your goal, you came to the right place

P.S. How tall are you? small/med/large frame?

 

[Sassy69]

Hey Girl welcome!

It is doable. When you stall out its time to take a look at what you are doing for diet & training & recovery. Diet is by far the most important for getting results. If you aren't fueled correctly, the rest doesnt' matter.

Check the "START HERE" sticky at the top and that will give you the steps to help get started at evaluating where you are.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Welcome!

Without know exact amounts, it looks to me as though you are not eating enough. That is an awful short list of food. It would help if you break it down more into exact amounts, meals, times, etc.

Check out the stickies at the top of this board. Especially the one that says "links to top threads" - it will give you LOTS of links to sample diets, etc. You can use these diets to help develop one for yourself. The diets there are guides to help people see what a clean diet is made of - the food choices, the timing, etc. Using those diets can guide you towards developing on of your own. Plus, you can see the format used - how the actual breakdown of everything can help people give you advice.

In addition, your caloric intake should be about 10xbody weight to 12x body weight. That should be your range. You say you weigh 144 now? So your caloric intake range should be between 1440 - 1728. Plug your daily food intake into www.fitday.com and see what you come up with.

 

[musclemom]

I'm 33, 144 lbs, 33.1% BF (ugh!)

I do 20 minutes of cardio (single setting) 3 times a week, lift weights on a 3 day split 6 days a week, and pay moderate attention to diet. My protein is about 40%, and my fat is a little high. A typical day is:

proten shake 1st thing in AM
1 serving oatmeal
workout
protein shake immediately following
chicken salad (chicken, 1/2 apple, 1 tbsp fat free mayo, bed of lettuce) for lunch
myoplex bar for a snack
chicken salad or low fat frozen meal for dinner
sugar free jello/fat free whipped topping for snack.

I drink 75 oz of water a day, and had been having one diet coke w/ splenda after I drink all my water. My trainer nixed that for me because my hydration level was under 50%. So now I have my diet coke w/splenda every other day or every 3rd day.

I'm not a big fan of tuna, cottage cheese or PB, so my protein is limited to chicken and shakes.

I dropped about 6 lbs in the beginning, and haven't been able to move that OR my BF since. I'm getting more than a bit furstrated.

For cardio I'm doing the stationery bike for right now. I'd like to move to the elliptical eventually, but can't do more than 10 minutes MAX on it right now. It depresses me that I'm so damn out of shape, so I decided to stick to the bike until I get my endurance built up, then move back to the elliptical.

My goal is to do a competition, hopefully within a year. Eric the trainer thinks I could prolly do it in 6 months, but I'm feeling so discouraged that I'm not even aiming for 2005 anymore.

Any advice for me?

There are many, many people more qualified than myself to answer you, but the short answer ... be patient, start eating a wider variety of whole foods (have you ever read the ingredients on processed food labels!) and drink more water!!!

To explain: I can't point you exactly where I read it, but I clearly remember reading that you need to expect at LEAST 6 months before you start seeing more dramatic changes in your body. I'm in the same boat as yourself, I'm carrying too much body fat and not too long ago I was getting very, very frustrated and realizing that I need to think in terms of the long haul helped me readjust my perspective. You didn't get to 33% BF overnight, it doesn't go down overnight, either, and if you're trying to build muscle AND lose bodyfat, that's a tough juggling act! The other thing, how is your BF being measured? I nearly threw my scale (which supposedly measures BF via electrical impedence, HAH) out the window last week, I threw it in a closet instead. Trust a mirror, trust the fit of your clothes, trust a tape measure, trust calipers properly used. Are you seeing progress? Are you getting stronger? Don't base your mental state on body fat percentages and numbers on the scale.

In terms of your endurance, I have an elliptical trainer and I loathe the buggerly thing ... the trick is you have to keep bashing away at it, 10 minutes today, 11 the next time, 12 the time after that (or even if you're only going up 30 seconds). I had to build up to 45+ minutes five times a week, and I started from 3 minutes max. Some of us have a real battle and it is what it is. I wasn't capable of building endurance for the elliptical by doing any cardio EXCEPT the elliptical (I chalked it up to the fact that I'm a former pack a day+ for 12 years smoker).

The food thing ... again, speaking for myself, I'm so over food, it's fuel, that's it. Who cares how it tastes as long as I can choke it down? That's me, that philosophy doesn't work for everyone, but I have a lot of dietary allergies, I can't afford to be picky about what I can/need to eat. You have your one cheat meal a week, the rest of the time you eat to fuel the machine and if your diet is too limited your body won't be getting the nutrients it needs and again, that contributes to BF %.

You need to up your water, to nearly double.

Be patient, don't give up, think in terms of the long haul. Don't just do this for a competition, do this for YOU.

 

[*Bunny*]

^^^ GREAT POST

 

[Sassy69]

Initially I found the elliptical thing to be my biggest enemy, particularly the Precor. Now I own one & love it. IT is definitely a conditioning thing to adapt to & develop endurance on any of these machines. I still consider the step mill & spin classes to be my biggest nemesi.

 

[aandd]

Thanks for the replies. I have an account at Fitday, but I lost interest in it after a week or so. I KNEW everyone was going to suggest it, and briefly thought about charting a day or two before posting, but decided to jump in anyway.

As for height/frame: I'm 5'4" with an average build. My average weight before kids and lard was about 125.

I CAN replace the protein bar with food. I'm just a sweet addict, and that satisfies my snacky urges. I'm powerless against chocolate. LOL.

use the "random" program doing cardio. Would that be considered interval? It changes resistance like every 20 or 30 seconds.

I will work on upping my water. I had read that 1/2 of your body weight was your suggested intake, and that anything over like 120 ozs was detrimental.... is that not so?

I'll post my fit day results soon.

 

[*Bunny*]

anything over like 120 ozs was detrimental....

Guess I'm in big trouble then..

 

[aandd]

Here is a link to my fitday.com chart. I had to get all my food out of the cabinets and drag it back to the computer room to input. LOL. Ummmm, don't look at the previous days I have input. I was on a different diet and not really working out then.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJournals.html?Owner=Aandd

 

[Sassy69]

Thanks for the replies. I have an account at Fitday, but I lost interest in it after a week or so. I KNEW everyone was going to suggest it, and briefly thought about charting a day or two before posting, but decided to jump in anyway.

As for height/frame: I'm 5'4" with an average build. My average weight before kids and lard was about 125.

I CAN replace the protein bar with food. I'm just a sweet addict, and that satisfies my snacky urges. I'm powerless against chocolate. LOL.

use the "random" program doing cardio. Would that be considered interval? It changes resistance like every 20 or 30 seconds.

I will work on upping my water. I had read that 1/2 of your body weight was your suggested intake, and that anything over like 120 ozs was detrimental.... is that not so?

I'll post my fit day results soon.

Here's a couple threads about the water discussion:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379487&highlight=how+much+water

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378310&highlight=how+much+water

 

[fmorrow6]

I'm not the best person to respond to this, but apparently the first. YOU NEED TO EAT WOMAN!!!!!! 792 cals?? U R A STARVIN MARVIN!!!!! You should be eating almost TWICE that much!!!!! And u definately need to up your protien and good fats.... Just my $.02. Sassy, where are ya?.......

 

[fmorrow6]

oh wait, am i retarded or what. Thats just until right now. Todays food...Scratch that.

**bangs head against a wall***

 

[aandd]

Thanks for the links. I'm a member at ediets, and during the boot camp challenge, it was presented to us what I quouted above. They didn't provide sources that I remember, and I didn't double check for myself since getting to 75 ozs a day was such a challenge in itself. LOL. I was too grateful that they said it wasn't necessary to research it.

I bought a 90 ozs thingy today, and will work up that... on my way to 120 ozs. Ugh.

 

[PaganPunkstress]

some really good info here.