New Member seeking advice fat loss, etc

[Haematological]

I'm taking a week off from lifting, so I have a lot more time on my hands to devise a new workout/nutrition plan. I've been lurking around here, reading different threads, and thought I would post my own. Any advice would be appreciated!

I'm 24, female, 5'4, and around 155lbs. I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is, although I've entered my measurements into calculators online which say around 20%. My measurements are as follows:
Chest: 34; Arms: 13.75; Hips: 36; Waist: 27; Thighs: 25; Calves: 16.5; Forearms: 10.5; Shoulders: 41; Neck: 13.5

My overall goals are to reduce body fat, while always maintaining/building muscle mass.

I recently went on a 2 week super low-carb, high-fat diet consisting of mostly chicken, salmon, lean ground turkey, grass-fed beef steaks for protein; a variety of different veggies like spinach, broccoli, kale, green peppers; and almond butter, natural pb, olive oil, and various cheeses for fats. No sugars at all, not even fruit.

Having completed this diet with no cheating whatsoever, and with no budging of the scale or visible progress, I've decided to carb cycle and log my foods. I'm aiming for around 1800 calories, 175 protein, and 60-70 fat depending on whether it's a low/high carb day.

I lift heavy 5 days a week, focusing on a different muscle group each day, and try to incorporate super sets as much as possible. I then do 30-45 minutes of cardio, alternating between interval, plyometrics, and steady state.

I'm pretty sure I'm hitting a plateau. I've been at 155 for at least six months, although some of that was definitely recomp.

 

[Rachel...lol]

Hi - welcome. Your numbers don't seem to add up to me; with your height and your weight, and your measurements. You've said what your goals are (to lose BF), but you've also said that you've been at a plateau for 6 months. Maybe if you give more of your background that would be helpful. You speak as if you have good understanding/experience with bodybuilding and your measurements sound like you have a small waste and then some muscles (and 175g of protein is a decent amt for a 5'4" woman) . I'm not saying I know anything - I'm just saying that SuperQT and other mods on the forum will like to know a bigger picture, that could be a good place to start. Also your splits, MACRO breakdown, etc - standard things around here needed to give good advice.

 

[RottenWillow]

I'm 24, female, 5'4, and around 155lbs. I'm not sure what my body fat percentage is, although I've entered my measurements into calculators online which say around 20%. My measurements are as follows:
Chest: 34; Arms: 13.75; Hips: 36; Waist: 27; Thighs: 25; Calves: 16.5; Forearms: 10.5; Shoulders: 41; Neck: 13.5

My overall goals are to reduce body fat, while always maintaining/building muscle mass.

I recently went on a 2 week super low-carb, high-fat diet consisting of mostly chicken, salmon, lean ground turkey, grass-fed beef steaks for protein; a variety of different veggies like spinach, broccoli, kale, green peppers; and almond butter, natural pb, olive oil, and various cheeses for fats. No sugars at all, not even fruit.

Having completed this diet with no cheating whatsoever, and with no budging of the scale or visible progress, I've decided to carb cycle and log my foods. I'm aiming for around 1800 calories, 175 protein, and 60-70 fat depending on whether it's a low/high carb day.

I lift heavy 5 days a week, focusing on a different muscle group each day, and try to incorporate super sets as much as possible. I then do 30-45 minutes of cardio, alternating between interval, plyometrics, and steady state.

I'm pretty sure I'm hitting a plateau. I've been at 155 for at least six months, although some of that was definitely recomp.

Hey there, welcome.

Ok lots of info there, which is good. But I need to ask for more.

Do you have clear, specific, measurable goals? Your stated goals are vague, but I don't know if means you don't know them or just didn't get into them in detail in your post. What's your top priority, what's second?

I'd suggest you disregard that bf number you got from an online calculator. Better to not know your bf level than to rely on a inaccurate one. Check out the bodyfat measurement thread I created few days ago in this forum. It would really be helpful in implementing your carb rotation to know your lean body mass. Once you know your lean body mass, go here:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...-calculator-katch-mcardle-formula-665955.html

Now you will have a well informed kcal range to build your carb rotation schedule. You'll get better progress and with less effort if you know your path.

As for the diet you ran two weeks, it sounds pretty well optimized for muscle building provided you ran a moderate caloric surplus. (Only thing I would change is the cheese) You didn't run it nearly long enough to see the anabolic benefit of it though. If your goal was fat loss your caloric range or implementation evidently wasn't right, either too high, too low, or too static.

What supps do you take now?

 

[Haematological]

Thanks so much for responding!

I'm not sure which numbers don't add up to you, maybe you can specify?

Anyway, I've been working out for about 2 years now, and have been slowly recomping my body from about 175lb. I'm actually not too sure about my starting weight, as I was pretty afraid of the scale. I did a lot of research about workouts, and got my ass in the gym. Now I'm lifting like crazy, but not exactly at my goal weight/body fat. I think I've been in a plateau for maybe 2 months in terms of body fat/muscle gain, but my weight has remained the same for about six. As I said, this is partially due to recomp.

While the exercises change every week to hit muscles differently, my split as of the last month has been:

M: Back/Shoulders supersets (pull-ups, dumbbell/barbell rows, lat pulldown, T-bar or other machine; shoulder press, lateral raises, rear delt exercise)
T: Biceps/Triceps supersets (barbell curls, alternating dumbbell, cable or concentration curls; close-grip bench, skull crushers or kickbacks, cable pushdowns)
W: Legs/Glutes (squats, romanian deadlifts, curls, extensions, leg press, lunges, etc)
Th: Off
F: Chest/Abs (flat bench, incline, flyes, push-ups
Sa: Legs (same as W, but different exercises)
S: Off or cardio

As for diet, I listed macros in original post. Were you looking for more specific information? Are the calories and macros in the right range?
Also forgot to mention supps: women's multi, fish oil, pre-workout, and post-workout whey protein.

 

[Haematological]

Hey there, welcome.

Ok lots of info there, which is good. But I need to ask for more.

Do you have clear, specific, measurable goals? Your stated goals are vague, but I don't know if means you don't know them or just didn't get into them in detail in your post. What's your top priority, what's second?

I'd suggest you disregard that bf number you got from an online calculator. Better to not know your bf level than to rely on a inaccurate one. Check out the bodyfat measurement thread I created few days ago in this forum. It would really be helpful in implementing your carb rotation to know your lean body mass. Once you know your lean body mass, go here:


Now you will have a well informed kcal range to build your carb rotation schedule. You'll get better progress and with less effort if you know your path.

As for the diet you ran two weeks, it sounds pretty well optimized for muscle building provided you ran a moderate caloric surplus. (Only thing I would change is the cheese) You didn't run it nearly long enough to see the anabolic benefit of it though. If your goal was fat loss your caloric range or implementation evidently wasn't right, either too high, too low, or too static.

What supps do you take now?

I tried doing those calculations again (thanks for the direct links). I got 23% body fat, 2381 BMR based on moderate exercise level, and 2650 based on very active. So 30% reduction of calories based on those numbers would leave me in the range of 1666-1855 calories per day.

 

[RottenWillow]

I tried doing those calculations again (thanks for the direct links). I got 23% body fat, 2381 BMR based on moderate exercise level, and 2650 based on very active. So 30% reduction of calories based on those numbers would leave me in the range of 1666-1855 calories per day.

If you don't already have one, get yourself an inexpensive $25 to $35 digital food scale that displays in both grams and ounces. Use that and the food count thread I just bumped for you to ensure you are actually staying in your kcal range.

Also, I'm not sure a range so narrow will be the best implementation of rotation. It's effective b/c it prevents your body from finding homeostasis (keeps it guessing in other words), so you want the cals to vary at lot. You might want to raise that ceiling by 100 calories.

 

[Haematological]

I agree, the food scale is a very important tool for tracking calories. I'll just have to be very disciplined with tracking everything.

The reasoning behind carb cycling would be to avoid homeostasis, and keep my calories somewhat dynamic. So I'm doing 2 days low carb (30-90 g), 1 day high (200+), and 1 day medium (115-130g). On high carb days my calories should be significantly higher. This will hopefully provide a healthy fluctuation, while also maintaining calorie goals, and keeping macros in a certain range.

I never answered regarding measurable goals. I don't necessarily have any numbers or measurements in mind, as my goals revolve primarily around what I see in the mirror. I do, however, want to see the numbers on the scale start to decrease at some point. But if my body decides it wants to continue recomping and build more muscle, that's fine by me for now. I'm not on any serious cutting regimen, as I worked very hard to build the muscle I have, and would prefer to slowly trim down.

I think my goal right now would be to track everything I put in my mouth, log it, and review it in a few weeks. I also want to switch up my lifting routine from higher rep to lower rep, keep super setting as much as possible, and ease into another push for morning fasted cardio.

 

[musclemom]

I've got a question, what are your lift numbers looking like? Are they going up or staying the same?

 

[Haematological]

I've got a question, what are your lift numbers looking like? Are they going up or staying the same?

Good question. I was able to maintain my gains throughout my 2 week low carb diet. A week ago my friend convinced me to slap a plate on each side for bench press, which I was able to bust out with 4 solid reps, and two additional forced reps. Three weeks ago I was also able to do 135 lb ass-to-grass squats for 12 reps, and felt like I could do way more with my legs except for my limited ability to support that kind of weight with my upper body. Although my energy was shot, I tried to at least push myself with the weight as a trade-off for intensity and low rest.

So I would say I'm improving my lifting numbers. And I think a low rep scheme should help this. I've found switching rep schemes every two months or so helps with gains and results.

 

[musclemom]

If your weight is staying the same but you're seeing steady increases in strength and your clothes are (even slowly) getting looser, then you're gaining muscle and losing fat, even if it's very, very slow.

What you need is a proper BF test, either caliper or dunk.