desperately seeking.....more answers...

[FitFossil]

Mikki,

Are you taking any medications? Any hormonal birth control such as the Pill, Depo-Provera? What you've described happened to me while I was on the birth control pill. I tried all the low-dose pills and they all did the same to me (as well as turn me into a highly emotional shrew)..

I agree with the others and say definitely go to the doctor and get your thyroid and hormone levels checked - and a complete physical while you're at it. Just because you've hit 30, doesn't mean it's all down hill - the best is yet to come!

If anything comes back on the low side of normal (like a lot of women's thyroids seem to), and your doc just poo poos it or tells you to eat less and exercise more, find a more sympathetic doctor. It sounds like you're working hard and doing everything right, not like a lot of women who just want a pill to fix it. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

you all rock!
I am going to make an appointment and have blood work and an overall physical...the polycystic ovaries is something i actually considered...not really sure why.
I don't seem to have any of the symptoms but better safe than sorry. I am not taking birth control or any other type of hormone therapy.
I am also going to resume documenting meal times and thorough evaluation of my meals and workouts. That way i can rule out any chance that what i *think* i am doing is not in line with reality

I can't wait to find the answers!!! with your help of course

thanks

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

on behalf of GettinThere

she is having problems posting and asked me to post this on her behalf
********************************************
Since mikki is a friend of mine and we are having the same sort of concerns, I wanted to post my “shtuff” too, so maybe we can help each other with all of the suggestions we’re going to get

Stats: 5’3”, 120#, approx 17-18% BF

Typical Menu:
Meal 1: Labrada Low Carb MRP w/Flax Oil
Meal 2: Human Dev. Tech. Protein shake (21g protein, 10 carb) and a piece of fruit
Meal 3: Tuna sandwich on whole wheat, small salad with veggies
Meal 4: same as #2
Meal 5: usually chicken breast with brown rice and broccoli or something similar
Meal 6: same as 2 & 4

After typing this out, I realize I probably need more real food...I have a small appetite, so it’s so much easier to slam a shake and not worry about actually eating.

Training:
Monday: shoulders (my weakest area, so I hit them as hard as I can) 20 min cardio—alternating running/walking on treadmill and abs, if I remember
Tuesday: Legs, cardio if I can even walk/ abs if I didn’t remember the day before
Wednesday: cardio or rest...depends on leg soreness
Thursday: chest/tris...cardio and abs
Friday: back/biceps..cardio if I haven’t done it consistently during the week
Saturday: Cardio/abs

I usually do about 3 exercises per body part-- 2 warm up sets and 3 work sets is about average and about 10-12 reps each set. On the last work set I go heavy enough that I can only get about 6 reps. On the last set I definitely go heavy enough to need a spot.

Water: about a gallon or so a day.

Supps: Creatine, protein, MRPs, vit. A, C, E. Adipopkinetix & Gugguls Mon-Fri. Protein shake immediately after the gym.

I’ve gained about 5# with the creatine, which is what I wanted. I’ve cut all my dairy except Cottage Cheese & have one free day a week. Although I have made some improvement and the cellulite is decreasing, I personally feel I am not where I want to be. I am still trying to gain more size, but also lose some fat. I am not fat, or overweight...I just have this ideal of how I want to look. I’m on my way, just not there yet and need to know how I can get there. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Side note: I have had blood work done recently and everything is a-ok...

 

[Sassy69]

I'm just going to toss in some comments as I'm potentially going through the same issues - I followed a high protein (e.g. protein at every meal) diet w/ low carbs for a competition last summer - lost 20 lbs and 8% body fat in 4 months. Got sloppy after the competition, gained the 20 lbs and 8% bf back in less than a month (ok, some of it was water weight). Then lost 15 lbs and 4% bf in 3 months for another competition, but with more protein, more carbs, heavier training and less cardio. After THAT competition, got sloppy again, gained 20 lbs, 7% bf within a month.

NOW... 6 months later, still the same (+/- 5 lbs). Training & cardio like a mofo, following a similar diet still.

I'm stuck. The high protein diet just isn't cutting it and my metabolism is stuck. Tried all sorts of thermos, etc, etc, etc. Changed up the diet a little, trained harder, higher reps, lower weights, longer cardio. No results. Actually got fatter. No sloppy fat - just thick.

So I went to a holistic nutritionist for a re-eval of my diet. She is having my cut way back on the protein, all natural food - no protein mix for a while. The whole idea is to let my body get back to "efficient metabolism" instead of trying to force it to do certain things (e.g. training & cardio) on this diet that I've been using for a year.

BTW, the approach the nutritionist is taking is based on the Blood Type diet. I'm an O blood type. According to her, O types are prone to hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia. Carbs are bad for us (i.e. lots of cardio is needed to lean out), wheat-based stuff is really bad, oatmeal is bad, pork is bad. Don't need piles of protein and eggs only 4-6 times per WEEK (I eat eggs at least 2x per day!)

My "old" diet is posted somewhere on the Women's board, like "Learning something new every day". My current dietary breakdown is now:

Protein: 25%
Carbs: 55%
Fats: 20%

I'll see how it works for the next few weeks....

 

[GettinThere]

There have been several times where my blood sugar is pretty low and I have often wondered about my thyroid. I asked my doctor about that a few years back and she said that I'd be fat if it was too slow. Hmmm, I'm sure there are more symptoms than that!
I have also been told that it's really hard to get that "dream bod" when you're not real far off. However, I would think that a consistently diet & intense workouts for the past year would produce more results than what I've seen. I guess like Mikki said, I'm looking for more of a return on my investment. I admit, my workouts pretty much sucked until last year when I made a decision to really get in shape. I would go 3-4 times a week, but never pushed myself more than 75%. I always looked decent and everyone thought I was on greta shape, btu you know what you look like when the clothes come off right girls? Not at all what I want to look like...So, here I am with Mikki busting my ass for a very small return on the investment. Just hoping someone out there can take a look at what I/we've been doing and help steer us in the right direction.

 

[chabbah]

Sassy - I was fascinated to read about the blood type diet you are following. I wonder if you have consulted the same nutritionist I saw about 8 years ago who helped me with my low blood sugar attacks. He based his advice around my blood type (I'm also an O) and gave identical advice to what you have heard. Anyway, I was able to get my blood sugar problems well under control by following this approach.

The funny thing was, I went to him because I had heard that he was a homeopathic doctor who could advise vegetarians (I was a vegetarian at the time). Instead, he told me that because I am an O, I need to eat some animal products on a daily basis. He also told me that I would show allergic reactions to wheat products and eggs. All on the money.

I too experienced similar problems after dieting down last summer for a fitness show. I did the high-protein, low-carb diet with success but had a very bad and rapid rebound. I recently went to an RD who is also a sports nutritionist, and she has helped me to get on track with my diet. I'm losing bf -- not as fast as I did last year -- but it's coming off just the same, and I feel great. I'm actually eating two fruits a day now, where I wasn't eating any before, and having more carbs than I thought I could have and still lose bf.

Good luck on your new approach, and let us know how you do!

 

[Sassy69]

Thx g/f! I had read about the Blood Type diet, but sort in the same context of ready about any of the "latest" diets. However the premise makes sense. And frankly I'm very good at the traditional bodybuilding diet - I think it actually works pretty good if you are coming from a "normal" metabolism (i.e. you haven't done any extreme dieting in a while). But after the shock of limited calories and cycling carbs, etc. its SOOOOOOO important to get back to that "normal" metabolism.

I've tried every other way of artificially "forcing" my body to lose body fat (ephedrine, etc. etc. etc) and it just isn't working. So the holistic approach with a complete chemical purge and back-to-basics eating will HOPEFULLY do the trick. And keep the cardio going with good lifting. One challenge is going to be doing my workouts w/o a thermo.... Just plain old feels weird.

If I get good results after a week, I'll let you know!

~ sassy

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

more questions....

i keep reading that you can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time unless you are a "beginner"
could this be my problem? that is what i have been trying to do for a year and i wasn't exactly a "beginner" to begin with.
I am not quite sure i understand exactly how to eat/train, etc for the different "goals" especially since i *thought* that more muscle meant more fat loss...
I understand bulking and cutting but apparently not how to implement it
any reading suggestions or "plans"?
do i focus on cardio and lower caloric intake for a period and then lifting and "normal" caloric intake ?

i think i think too much

thanks

 

[BigEasy]

I am studying the topic of fat reduction and anabolism right now. It is amazing how few studies (none) have been performed to try and quantify what it takes to accomplish these two goals concurrently. True to science, we try and obtain one goal at a time by manipulating as few variables to achieve the desired goal. It appears that no researcher has figured out that fat loss AND anabolism are almost always required to achieve LONG TERM overall fitness.

It is generally accepted as true that trying to diet AND gain lean body mass (LBM) is VERY difficult, and VERY slow for the average person. There are indications that it CAN be accomplished however, especially when using anabolic steroids. With AAS it is somewhat easier, but still requires that one know their bodies tolerance for carbs, AND it's minimum required carbs for gains. To undertake a calorie deficient CKD diet with steriods AND try and put on LBM, is tricky for most people. But, you may be the 1, out of who knows how many, that can eat garbage AND get ripped, cut, and loaded down with LBM! (Then again, you probably would NOT be reading this thread if that described you.)

Keep your diet and routine SIMPLE, but varied, for as long as it continues to give you the losses you want. Using CKD, ECA/ECY, and rapid fat loss plans at first when you have more than a few % BF to lose is COUNTER PRODUCTIVE to the long term goal. And if you use all the big-gun weapons up front, you will find they become less effective and you have little in your arsenal when you get to those last few stubborn % of BF. Remember, your body IS a machine that is supposed to self-adapt to it's environment. That means it is constantly trying to figure out what is the BEST <most conservative> metabolism level based upon available fuel. Supposedly, after about five days of being in ketosis or on a low calorie diet, the body begins to adapt by slowing down and requiring LESS FUEL for a given activity. This means we have to work HARDER to burn the same amount of fat. Further, the greater the calorie deficit we create in our diet, the greater the body response will be to slow down the metabolism. To make things worse, the body resists attempts to lose fat using a calorie deficient diet and wants to burn stored sugars, muscle, etc BEFORE burning fat! It usually takes 5-14 days to see appreciable fat loss, and then some people will stair-step their loss instead of a smooth declining curve of loss. So there will be a big bump down, then steady for a week or so, then another bump, and so on.

Sorry for the loooong post, but I have even more "stuff" that I have dug up if anyone is interested. I don't want to bore everybody with things you probably already know or hog the thread either.

BE

 

[Temple]

BE - I love long informative posts so let's hear it!!!
Also could you copy and paste part of that to the beginners thread as well as any other appropriate info?