Girly Question re: Fat Loss

[PawWax]

Hi all -
Not to go into detail right now, but I have been EXTREMELY frustrated at dropping fat.

Can bc pills (low estrogen) be the cause of fat retention? Working out 3x a day and eating >1000 cal is impossible, but the only way I lose. The pills are the only possible obstacle I can see.

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[treilin]

Hi all -
Not to go into detail right now, but I have been EXTREMELY frustrated at dropping fat.

Can bc pills (low estrogen) be the cause of fat retention? Working out 3x a day and eating >1000 cal is impossible, but the only way I lose. The pills are the only possible obstacle I can see.

Thanks for your opinions!

Have you had a full blood screening done to determine that this is the cause?
How well do you know your birth control pill?
Also... Working out 3X a day, and eating 1000 calories a day you have put your body into starvation mode. You need to post up more then your 4 sentence intro for us to give you more advice. How old, age, food intake, macronutrient split, work-out regimen, current BF if known, GOALS.
start here:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

 

[PawWax]

Have you had a full blood screening done to determine that this is the cause?
How well do you know your birth control pill?
Also... Working out 3X a day, and eating 1000 calories a day you have put your body into starvation mode. You need to post up more then your 4 sentence intro for us to give you more advice. How old, age, food intake, macronutrient split, work-out regimen, current BF if known, GOALS.
start here:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

Oh, no I'm not doing that now! LOL. Like I said, it's impossible.

Full blood screening, nothing wrong. This is the only pill I can take due to migraines, so it's either on it or off it.

37 yrs, 150 - 155 lbs. BF unknown - at least, I don't trust our Taniata scale - Probably somewhere in high 20's. At the moment I'm in the last semester of a Master's degree, so my workout has suffered this spring, but when I was tracking it most carefully it was weights MWF rotating upper/lower days, cardio 5x/week (typically 25 min sprints, but changes). Diet typically around 1600, clean. I've been tracking it for several years via spreadsheet and have tried everything from about 2200 cals down to 1000, and I just don't lose until it gets down to 1000. That's not enough for me. 2200 is way too much - I can hardly force myself to eat that much. So it typically falls around 1500-1600. Typically aim for P 50% C 30% F 20%. If I lower my carbs too much for too many days in a row I get migraines.
Multi V, CLA, Calcium. Can't do caffeine.

After tracking for so long, I am convinced it is not my diet, and varied workouts work better than a fixed routine, but fat still doesn't budge. At best I can get to mid 20's, but asI said I don't trust my scale.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

List SPECIFICALLY what you normally eat, and we can likely help you. List like this:

Meal 1 - 6am
1/2 cup oatmeal made with water
splenda
1 scoop Nitro Tech Protein

Meal 2 - 9am
16 Almonds
1/2 cup regular Cottage Cheese

Meal 3 - 12pm
3 oz plain Chicken
Green Beans (unlimited)
1 tbsp Olive Oil


Also, list what a typical week's workout is like. Include mode, duration and intensity. For weights, include exercise choice and weights used.


This may seem tedious, but if you truely want helpful input, we need to see it.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

BTW, it COULD possibly be due to the pill, as individual results may vary. I was on low dose BCP a couple years ago and got to sub 15%. I actually gain fat easier when OFF BCP than when on it.

Have you tried the mini-pill? It has no estrogen in it.

 

[PawWax]

It is a mini-pill - Ortho Micronor, progestin only. My online research indicates it's one of the pills that can cause weight gain.

These are typical good days:
Description Calories Protein g Carb g Fat g
Porridge w/ Splenda 145 6 25 2
12 oz soy milk 180 9 18 5.25
3 Tbsp Flax Oil
.75 oz Peanut butter 126 5 4 11
tortilla bread 234 6 40 5
chicken breast 86 17 0 1.7
bacon (3 slices?) 109 6 0 9
lettuce, tomato, mayo 35 0 2 3
Bison, ground, pan broiled 405 40 0 26
small sweet potato 206 3 49 0
Nectar 90 23 0 0
1616 calories total

Porridge 145 6 25 2
1 tbs brown sugar 40 0 13 0
Orange juice - 10 oz 140 2 33 0
1 hardboiled egg 78 6.3 0.6 5.3
.75 oz peanut butter 126 5 4 11
tortilla 234 6 40 5
grilled chicken 142 27 0 3
romaine
tbs low fat cheese
1/2 c rice 121 2 27 0
chicken breast 142 27 0 3
Nectar 90 23 0 0
1258 calories total

Tons of water. A "bad day" on the weekend may involve a glass of wine or beer and sometimes something like a hamburger, but no crap like cheetos or anything. Lotsa tuna, sometimes sushi. Almost always get 10 am meal, but not hungry in afternoon. So maybe 4 meals / day.

Fiance's a Muay Thai instructor (two golds for his boys at the Arnold this year! Woohoo!) and personal trainer, so I know my workout sure isn't lacking. Had my weight routine checked out by an - ahem - impartial trainer as well. Fiance keeps telling me it's diet, but if I clean it up any more I'll be living off tuna.
Not aiming for competition, just looking to drop 20-30 # fat, gain back about 10 muscle. (current degree should be done end of May, trying to set up new schedule to start in earnest again then). Don't seem to have much trouble gaining muscle.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

But WHEN are you eating all this? How are the meals broken up? What does a typical day look like?

 

[powderguy]

Oh sweetie, you are starving yourself and your body is holding onto evey calorie because it thinks it wont be getting any more... You need to either cut back on the working out or eat ALOT more

The more you eat, the higher your metabolism will become, and the easier it will be for you to drop fat...

 

[PawWax]

But WHEN are you eating all this? How are the meals broken up? What does a typical day look like?

8 AM
Porridge 145 6 25 2
1 tbs brown sugar 40 0 13 0
Orange juice - 10 oz 140 2 33 0

10 AM
1 hardboiled egg 78 6.3 0.6 5.3
.75 oz peanut butter 126 5 4 11

12 PM
tortilla 234 6 40 5
grilled chicken 142 27 0 3
romaine
tbs low fat cheese

6 PM
1/2 c rice 121 2 27 0
chicken breast 142 27 0 3
Nectar 90 23 0 0

Maybe another protein drink or berries or something in the eve.

Powder guy - I understand the concept behind that, what i'm saying is it's not working!

At the moment, that's my diet and I'm not working our much, as I said due to school, and my weight has gone UP. I have tried as much as 2200 cals while working out and still didn't lose - by then I feel like barfing from eating so much.
So I've tried lots of training/lots of calories, lots of training/low calories, and
low training/low calories - the only thing left is to pig out! LOL (just kidding).

Really - I've got spreadsheets back to 2003 and have not found the miracle combo. That's what led me to suspect the bc pill. My diet surely isn't perfect, but I think it's pretty good compared to some. At least not bad enough that I couldn't lose SOME weight.

Through all 2004 I was between 140 and 145, 2005 saw me go up to average about 150, now I am between 150-155. The workout has been lame since probably last Sept / Oct, so I realize that will throw things off, but for the new schedule I'm just trying to figure out where the problem is.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

You are certainly NOT eating enough. Your body is using muscle for energy because you are going too long between meals.

I mean seriously - you are going from 12-6pm without food. And then from 6pm to 8am? That is 14 hours without food. This is murder on results.

You need to eat every 3 hours. Break up your meals into 6 small meals. You need to eat at 8am, 11am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm and 10pm. At least.

Look at the sample diets in the sticky at the top of this board - "Links to Top Threads", they will show you food choices, as well as timing. You will see a world of difference once you implement this.

it is not always about changing CALORIES, but about TIMING. I could eat 1500 calories in one meal - but it will not give me results. I need to split the meals up throughout the day to keep the metabolism going all day. With the schedule you are on, your metabolism is at a standstill - you are not feeding it properly.

 

[PawWax]

Will give it a try, Daisy_Girl! I can't change my 11:30 - 12:30 lunch time though due to work.

How many cals do you suppose should I be eating if 1600 isn't enough? Do I just up in 100's until something happens?

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Like I said, I am not sure you should necessarily change the caloric intake right now - fix the timing of meals, and you will likely see results.

No big deal on changing lunch. Eating at 8am and then at 11:30am is fine. Just make sure that you eat every 3-4 hours all day. Break the calories up into 6 small meals.

 

[PawWax]

thanks

 

[2dagym]

You are 37 and also taking a bc pill....I believe that's inevitable weight gain, unfortunately.

Let me speak to you from an "over 40" point of view which you will be approaching in 3 years. At your age, you are probably seeing a natural slowing of your metabolism. It creeps up on most of us sometime after 30. I'm 48 now and can tell you I started noticing a weight gain mid to late 30's. I was into aerobic classes and concerned about my weight so I hadn't changed anything. I did actually decide to do anything about it until I hit 40 and that's when I picked up my first real dumbell.

You say you are not working out at present due to other obligations. I would highly suggest you evaluate your schedule and try to find some time to get some type of workout in. If you are in fact suffering from the middle age curse of a slowing metabolism, you need to up your activity, preferably adding a good concrete weight training program to assist you in building lean muscle which will in turn, boost your metabolism. Cardio for fat loss, yes, but the weights is the key to quickening your metabolism. You should find in doing so (weight training), that your diet woes will be easier to work through (IMO).

Best of Luck to you pawwax!!

 

[Sassy69]

Yea, I think in your case the meal times are not helping you. Definitely going below 1000 cals will starve u down for a little bit, but very soon will just start bogging down your metabolism & your life in general.

You can also do things like manipulating your carbs - i.e. not eating the same amount of carbs at the same times of day all the time - you can carb cycle. You can do lots of things. Sorry I can't comment much on this tonite cuz I'm beat - but def read the sample diets that DG points to. Also The Shadow Project is another diet that worked for several girls here.

 

[PawWax]

Unfortunately there is absolutley no room in my schedule, at least for another month. Trust, me, my dog has been bugging me!
Yeah, 2dagym, and I always weighed under 135 before starting them.

But that doesn't mean I'll give up. BTW - I can't go below 1000 - even 1100 is tough, I can only do it for a couple of days, really. I'm around 1500 usually.
But I'll look into carb cycling, Sassy, and I started reading the Shadow Project last nite!

 

[Gymgurl]

I'm 40 and take the pill. I lost 60 pounds taking the pill and have kept them off for 2 years.....so depends on the pill...I do know for me the bf% is harder to get down ..I'm 21% so for 40 and 3 kids I'm not to unhaapy

 

[PawWax]

Cardio for fat loss, yes, but the weights is the key to quickening your metabolism. You should find in doing so (weight training), that your diet woes will be easier to work through (IMO).

Oh, don't worry. I love lifting!

 

[2dagym]

Yes, from what I've seen I think we all love the lifting here! It definately keeps my energy levels elivated and my state of mind too