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

[mikki(hbdywi)]

I just read the post "help for all beginners" and it is awesome
Altho i am still frustrated and confused....Tuesday was my one-year anniversary of being back in the gym after about 5 years.
I have changed EVERYTHING about the way i live in the last year and yet my clothes are getting tighter and i am getting FATTER.
I just don't understand...doing everything "right" and i can't fit into clothes that were fine, if not loose a year ago when my diet consisted of pretty much anything i wanted whenever i wanted(overeat/undereat, etc)...liquid intake consisted of diet coke and beer for the most part. Exercise was something i "used to do" or did once in a while.....
My lowest bodyfat reading ever was about 18% and that was without exercising and now i am at about 22-23% if not more WITH eating 5-6 times a day, lifting, and doing cardio.
I have no problem building muscle and common sense tells me that muscle burns fat.
i would think that after a year something would "give"...and not just the seams on my jeans LOL
My boyfriend keeps telling me that "you are getting older"...uhm...i am only 31 and i doubt my body just decided "oh hell i am over 30 better go to shit".
Is it all just catching up???
In the last few months i have cut out dairy, processed carbs, sugar, and high GI carbs.
I eat enough "good fat" (udos oil and nat PB), enough chicken to cluck, black beans, brown rice, asparagus, broccoli, MRP (myo-lite), etc....
I have increased my weights, increased my cardio, played with diet, taken therms, not taken therms...still getting fatter
I know this post sounds like a huge pity party for one and i HATE to sound like a whiner but i really am confused and frustrated.
any ideas on what i could be doing "wrong" because i really think i have done my research and implemented it.....and should have seen some sort of progress in fat loss and size in a year? would it take over a year to correct a f'd up metabolism???
could i be fooling myself into thinking that i am truly doing everything "right" and i am not???

physical stats:
5'2.25"
125 (was 120ish or less a year ago)
22-23% bf (afaik..most of it being from about bra-line to mid-thigh)

sorry to whine any insight, advice, or kicks in the teeth are definitely welcome!

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

i guess i am just whining
i just want to see a return on my investment

 

[melissa001]

I'm with you...

I totally know where you are coming from...Please...can someone help us?

Very frustrated....

 

[Temple]

Have you had your thyroid tested?
Do you measure your food?
Please post exactly what you eat and how much
Your training program
Your cardio schedule
The more info you give the better we can help you.

 

[Sassy69]

I hear ya sista!

A funny thing is that when you start paying attention to what you eat and your workout, etc., you REALLY become aware of how things are changing. For better or for worse. You have tried somethings that haven't worked. Time to evaluate these things and take a different approach. In the past I have been able to lose weight with formatted diet & workout regimens, though when I deviate from these once my short terms goals have been met, I start getting fat again.

Another funny thing is that your body is a dynamic thing and when you set up a particular way of eating or doing things, it will adapt and potentially stagnate. So you have to shock it - same concept as changing up your lifting routine every 6-8 weeks, else the improvements slow down and maybe stop.

Start by quantifying where you are now. Go to a doc and get a blood workup, and definitely include thyroid. You can check out some of the thyroid threads on this board because when your blood tests come back and it just says that your results "normal" relative to the specified reference range, this doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't an issue. (See the Sassy's Blood Panel (http://209.11.101.244/forum/showthread.php?threadid=16203&highlight=Sassys+Blood+Panel) thread for a sample of blood work results).

Then post your workout & diet as Temple said. I successfully competed in a novice bodybuilding competition last summer with fantastic results from diet & training, though I've since "blown up". I've been following a clean diet and training, trying different things w/ cycling carbs, etc., diff thermos, etc. and still stuck. I'm having a nutritionist review my diet right now. For the level of training & cardio I"m doing, I should be losing weight. Making good mass gains, but not fat loss. So its gotta be the diet. My blood work says I'm pretty healthy so that's been basically eliminated. So its gotta be the diet. I've been following a low carb, hi protein diet for more than a year. Its like my metabolism is stuck and I can't kick it back into gear.

Hopefully I can get it fixed and see some results!

Let us know what you are doing now and get the brilliant minds on this board to throw in their opinions!

Good luck!!!!

~ sassy

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

nope haven't had thyroid checked....
on to the gory details


typical days food intake:
meal 1 - myoplex lite mixed with water and/or nat PB & udos
meal 2 - 3oz chicken, 1/2C brown rice or 1/2C blackbeans
meal 3 - 3oz chicken, 1/2C brown rice or 1/2C blackbeans with asparagus or broccoli
meal 4 - protein only shake* and oatmeal
gym **see below
meal 5 - (within an hour of the gym) myoplex-lite, or chicken and rice OR beans, with asparagus/broccoli
meal 6 - protein only shake (not always consistent on this )

* about 110 calories and 26g of whey protein

these days i am more inclined to omit the blackbeans and rice and go for the veggies and chicken...

Gym shtuff:
lifting-
I eat within an hour and a half of GOING to the gym, and within an hour of returning.
i change my routine almost every workout...some days i will use mostly freeweights to work the same muscle groups and then the next time mostly machines...i get mentally bored real easy and have been told that i am overly "adaptive" (which would be fine if i was needing to survive in the wild )
some weeks i do fullbody workouts 3x a week, going heavier on alternating parts throughout the week...other weeks i split into "push/pulls" (back/bis, chest/tris/shoulders, legs) I do abs every other day no matter how i split it up...
i don't have my "log" here with me right now but i basically do a minimum of 2 exercises per muscle group, increasing weight per set...sometimes i do 3 sets with even reps and sometimes i do 5 sets with descending reps. I do my best to confuse myself LOL
I rest between 30-45 seconds... a bit longer on leg exercises.
Cardio -
i do it AFTER lifting, if it is a non-lifting day i make sure it has been at least 3 hours since last eating and i hit some abs first.
this also varies...bike, eliptical, recumbent bike, treadmill....usually 30 minutes either way...sweating like i am supposed to

Water-
enough to have my coworkers just assume that i am in the bathroom when i am not at my desk
1-1.5 gallons

Supps -
taking glutamine, therms (currently hydroxycut..that i cycle...go off of it on the weekend), multi-vitamin.

logically the above is all "sound" to me but i could be too close to the situation?
i mean i could see getting all frumpy and clothes not fitting if i was out boozing it up eating za everynight
like above...want a return on the investment that is about it.....anything else?

 

[mikki(hbdywi)]

one more thing.....

i am really consistent and give it my all UNTIL i get all mental and frustrated but even then i am not HORRIBLE.....
just thought i would throw that in there for "accountability" and reality check....

 

[strongchick]

I'm NOT qualified to answer...but I thought I should post my thoughts...


My body is particularly sensitive to higher GI carbs...so much so that I know IMMEDIATELY when I've eaten a little to much because I start to swell up and feel bloated...in addition...my abs hang over my belt.

I know from reading this forum that I must continually fight against my body's ability to adapt...so while I've "eliminated" hi-GI carbs....meaning....

NO rice, potatoes, bread or beans for as many days in a row as possible...just a protein and lots of veggies...and if I feel headachey or low on energy...I eat oatmeal and ONE higher GI carb at one meal. I don't eat this carb at the same time of day, either. When I do add significant carbs (remember, you can't do the same thing week in week out) I eat these at different times and in different amounts...like carb cycling...but more instinctive...so for example...I eat higher GI carbs at one meal day one, two meals day two, and three meals day three, then only veggies for carbs day four, and start over again. Right now, since I've lost a lot of fat and I've been doing this for 8 months....I'm cycling carbs over a 6 day period, with a cheat day once a week, then back down to low glycemic carbs etc etc.

You might also want to try a different ECA type supplement...Thermicore I hear is good...but I use Adipokinetix from Syntrax because my body got real tired of ephedrine shakes...and I just found it more effective for me.

If this stops working for me, I'll probably give in and get more scientific...I'll start counting grams per pound and what not...but for now...the approximation and instinctive way is more interesting...Just seeing how many days you can go in a row without a starchy carb is interesting in and of itself...I'm amazed at just how bitchy I get when I'm "challenging" myself!!!


I try to think of this as a game where I get the best of my body. That's what keeps me from being depressed. Mind over matter.

Again...I'm in no way qualified to advise...I'm just posting my personal experience. People here have commented that I should eat more when I've posted my diet...I'm glad I did that because even though I was cycling carbs, my caloric intake was too low....what I've learned is that what you eat is extremely important.

...I'm sure one of those kind and well-versed women will give you good advice soon.

 

[Temple]

MS....Bikinimom...where are you????? This gal needs your help!!!

I would get rid of the full body workouts and go to a 4 day split, back/bi chest/tri/shoulder hams/glutes quad/calf
Cardio 4x per week 1 hour am empty stomach
Are you putting up enough weight that you need a spotter? The lean mass started coming when I went heavy enough that by the last rep of the last two sets I needed help to get it up.

 

[blondey]

It sounds like you are doing everything right so I can imagine how frustrated you must be!

Go to the doctor and get a hormone check! Just a simple blood test and speciffically ask them to check your LH/FISH levels.

I don't want to freak you out - but one thing that pops to mind is that you may have PCO or polycystic ovaries. There are a number of symptoms that point to it like:

Painful periods, missed periods, irregular periods, breakouts around the jawline, dark hair growth on your chest face etc. (even minor facial hair) and also weight gain that no matter what you can't shake.

You may have one of the symptoms above, all of them or none - but it's worth getting it checked out as there are drugs that you can take to help stop the LH levels that cause you to hold and put on weight. Same kind of things was happening to a friend of mine who was working out she has PCO - but keep in mind you may not have it - but it's worth finding out.

The other reason may be as another reply has said your body doesn't work well with certain food groups. If you have a nutrisionalist he should have been trying you on different kinds of diets - if he hasn't find another one! There are so many different combinations and what works for me - may not work for you etc.

Hope everything turns out well xx