Need advice from the Knowledgeable ladies on this board

[aliah]

Hello to all,

My name is Aliah, i'm a new member at EF and I need some advice. I'm a 21 yo female, 5'6, 137 lbs, (i don't know my bf%).....and I;m stuck in a rut. I started working out for the first time in Nov.2002. I did 30 min cardio every morning on an empty stomach, and i did my weight training 3 times a week. I also reduced my caloric intake by 500 cals, but i didnt really pay attention to the protein/carb/fat proportion at that time.

I started at 160lbs, and by January 2003, I was down to 140. I FELT GREAT! I had lots of energy, I was felt stronger, you could see a difference in my upper body, abs, waist.... clothes were looser. Then, realizing that I wasnt getting enough protein, I started a 60% protein/30%carb/10%fat diet, hoping that it would help me reach my goal. I've stuck with this since January, same cardio and weight training routine; problem is, I havent lost anything since . What really pisses me off is that although you can feel how big and strong my biceps/delts/quads/ab muscles are....you can't really see them unless I flex because they are covered with a layer of fat.

My goal is to lose the fat, continue to gain strength (over time)....and maybe one day compete (reading the posts on this board, YOU LADIES ARE A REAL INSPIRATION to me...keep up the good work).

A ketogenic is not something I want to start right now, just because i've tried it before and i couldn't foce myself to eat so much fat (plus i'm a student, and its not very convenient for me)
I've started doing a three-day split (arms/chest, back/shoulder, legs) for my weight training and doing cardio twice a day, morning and evening after weights. But I don't know anymore.....

Any advice on training/diet would be greatly appreciated.
yours truly,
Aliah

 

[JJFigure]

What kind of food are you eating? How many kcals/day?

 

[aliah]

I eat ~1100 Calories per day; roughly 165 g proteins, 83 g carbs and 13 g fat ( that's a 60-30-10% split). Protein sources are mainly lean red meat, chicken, turkey, lots of tuna, egg whites as well as as Designer Whey protein shakes and cottage cheese w/ lo fat yogurt every once in a while, just to make my daily 60% protein. The only carbs that I eat is oatmeal for breakfast, the rest from green veggies, salads. On the regular, I think I eat pretty clean, but once in a while, maybe once a week or on the weekends, I'll have a cheat (within limits of course) or I'll eat out. Do you think my one cheat day is whats keeping me from my goals?

By the way, I dont use any supplements other than multivitamin and vitamin C.

Aliah

 

[aliah]

Oh, before i forget.....I eat 5 meals a day and try to spread it out so that I have some protein with each meal.
Also, when I do cardio, i try to keep my heart rate between 130-150 bpm (my THR)

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I don't think it is the cheat meal - I think it is the low calories. Your food choices look good, but 1100 cals? And doing cardio 2x a day? Your body is STARVING baby!

Why cardio 2x a day? Why not do 1x a day and just increase the intensity a bit? Try interval training?

 

[Puddles]

Hi, aliah, welcome! You said that your weight is stuck for a while, but are your pants still getting bigger at all? My weight's been stuck for months but I've been adding muscle and loosing fat, very slowly, but it's happening. I know because my pants size continues to go down and I've used callipers to measure bf%. Albeit very slow at times, are you sure you're not continuing to loose fat and just replacing it with muscle? Fat loss will slow down as you get leaner too. I also agree that for the amount of work you're doing the cals seem low. I believe our bodies go into starvation mode and metabolism slows down when the cals are kept too low.

 

[aliah]

I don't see a change in fat/muscle;ppl who are close to me have told me that they've noticed an improvement, but I think its because they've just noticed it now . About the cardio twice a day, i wanted to increase my metabolism at the end of the day, because other than the times when I'm working out, I'm sedentary (usually sitting in the library studying).
Really, its the fat thats bothering me right now. It's like although I've made improvements in my lifestyle, I don't feel like i've gotten anywhere because there's still a considerable amount of fat on my body (mostly lower body, but some upper body as well).....you feel me? I'm willing to experiment/try a different approach, but i don't want to sacrifice the work i've done so far. I'm not sure how to go about it.

 

[TEXgrl]

throw away your scale and concentrate on your body measurements instead. muscle weighs more than fat. when i started training, i was around 165 dropped to around 140, then plateaued and i'm back around 155 give or take, but i'm inches smaller than i was at 165 or even 140.

 

[JJFigure]

You could try a different macronutrient breakdown - if you stay on the same diet all the time, i.e., same level of kcals and macronutrient breakdown, your body will adjust and the diet will quit working. One thing you definitely should be doing is rotating your kcals. For example, I'm cutting on the anabolic diet, and Mon - Fri I eat 1500, and Sat and Sun I increase my kcals 25%. I'm also debating cycling in a week or two at a higher level of kcals, since I'm doing a fairly long diet cycle. That way, my body never thinks its starving and increases my leptin levels to try and get me to eat. Your fat levels are pretty low for the amount of carbs you are intaking - how are your energy levels? Are you hungry a lot?

One thing you could try is Spatt's cutting diet (since you're not interested in low carb), where you rotate your carb levels throughout the week. Again, it's all about shaking it up and keeping your body guessing.

 

[JJFigure]

And yes, 1100 kcals is pretty low. Lowest I'd go is 10xbodyweight, but since I'm pretty active, I haven't had to go below 11xbodyweight.

 

[SouthernBell]

I would say drop the cardio to once per day and focus on weight
training. You have made remarkable progress from 160 to 137 is great. But believe me your body will plateau,. Maybey you are still losing fat , but slower, and gaining muscle, resulting in the numbers not moving.

Take it slow, It is a slow process. Keep up the good work, I am sure you will accomplish you goals.


love

 

[FitFossil]

Gradual fat loss is best, and the lower your bodyfat gets, the fat loss gets even slower. Have patience, but if you feel like your progress is stalling, it's time to make some changes, since the body is so adaptable. It's great you're eating 5 meals a day, with each meal containing protein.

A diet of only 10% fat seems pretty low to me. Getting sufficient essential fats is important for many bodily functions. Not only does it help you feel full longer, but your body needs fat to burn fat. Add some fish oil pills to your diet. (They're not as bad as they sound!) Once your body is comfortable that you'll feed it sufficient essential fatty acids, it'll be more willing to part with stored body fat. Try increasing fat to 20% and drop protein to 50%.

Cardio every day, much less 2x/day is overkill. It may temporarily give you an energy boost, but you'll gradually run your body into the ground. Too much cardio will put your body in catabolic (muscle burning) mode, and lower your metabolism. I'd opt for fewer, shorter, and more intense sessions. I'm a big fan of interval training.

 

[valerie]

Great advice here!!

Calories are much too low. Why not do a search on carb cycling? Lots of ladies doing that and getting good results. Would go for higher fat %,FF mentioned fish oil, which is an excellent source of the hard to find omega 3's. Look for one with a high % of epa and dha-should be listed on label. Flaxseed oil is good too and maybe easier to find. Best is the kind found in the refrigated section of your health food store. Good luck and welcome aboard-valerie

 

[lovelyivy]

Hey aliah!

Definitely take the advice these ladies give! I asked questions of them a couple weeks ago and following their advice have made a great deal of progress in a really short time (I realised I can see my abdominal muscles REALLY clearly now- not to the level of a JJFigure quite yet, but the best my abs have EVER looked. Stretch marks on my hips that I have had since I was fifteen are going away or MUCH less visible as my thighs/butt sloooowly get smaller, all because of a simple increase in protein. Amazing!).

I have been losing fat fairly steadily for the past couple of weeks and I NEVER drop my calories below BWx10.

Of course I am also taking a thermogenic supplement, which speeds up the process of fat loss (cycling NYC with Xenadrine).