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[Sassy69]

Hey my name is Nikki and I am new to this forum.. Looks pretty cool. Lots of information and support. Looking forward to being a part of this..

Welcome to EF!

 

[LuluDeren]

Hi Everyone!

I'm LuluDeren-lol (after my fav actress' *Louise Brooks* most famous role in Pandora's Box, and one of my fav filmmakers *Maya Deren*)

My stats are: 130 pounds, 5'6" and I'm not sure what my BF% is but I suspect it to be high as I've this nasty ab roll I need to get rid of.

I've been trying to do at least one 45 minute cardio sequence per day and have been adding a second session every other day, within the last week. I live in the boonies so the only access I have is a Total Gym and one barbell with some weights. I usually do two body parts everyday (two days off) but I don't think I'm getting the best bang for my buck (I plan to start reading all the stickies regarding routines).

I am trying to keep to 6 small meals a day (three meals are protein shakes) spaced out three hours between each meal. I am supplementing with milled flax seed and olive oil. I'm struggling with using tuna for at least one meal (not a hugh tuna fan). I also use acidophilus for digestive help.

It's been a dream of mine to one day compete and I'm trying to get a great life changing routine (exercise and nutrition) to really get me motivated...time for sticky reading. I do have a purely aesthetic question regarding comps. Although I will continue my fitness journey...I've had stretch marks since I was 12 (had an incredible growth spurt concurrent with the onset of menses). I've tried everything and nothing works. Is it realistic for me to think I can compete with such scars?

Thanks Ladies for listening!

 

[Sassy69]

Hi Everyone!

I'm LuluDeren-lol (after my fav actress' *Louise Brooks* most famous role in Pandora's Box, and one of my fav filmmakers *Maya Deren*)

My stats are: 130 pounds, 5'6" and I'm not sure what my BF% is but I suspect it to be high as I've this nasty ab roll I need to get rid of.

I've been trying to do at least one 45 minute cardio sequence per day and have been adding a second session every other day, within the last week. I live in the boonies so the only access I have is a Total Gym and one barbell with some weights. I usually do two body parts everyday (two days off) but I don't think I'm getting the best bang for my buck (I plan to start reading all the stickies regarding routines).

I am trying to keep to 6 small meals a day (three meals are protein shakes) spaced out three hours between each meal. I am supplementing with milled flax seed and olive oil. I'm struggling with using tuna for at least one meal (not a hugh tuna fan). I also use acidophilus for digestive help.

It's been a dream of mine to one day compete and I'm trying to get a great life changing routine (exercise and nutrition) to really get me motivated...time for sticky reading. I do have a purely aesthetic question regarding comps. Although I will continue my fitness journey...I've had stretch marks since I was 12 (had an incredible growth spurt concurrent with the onset of menses). I've tried everything and nothing works. Is it realistic for me to think I can compete with such scars?

Thanks Ladies for listening!

Hey girl! Welcome to EF! For starters at 5'6" and 130 lb I seriously doubt you are "fat" -- people have a very skewed vision of what "bodyfat%" means - its a ratio of bodyfat to lean muscle mass - just from your description I'm going to guess you have a small bone structure and probably have less muscle than more fat -- a bodyfat measure, if taken w/ a calipers and done on 7-10 skinfold points is a calculation based on several different points on your body -- your stomach / waist area isn't an accurate indicator of your total bodyfat %. I'm also able to keep a lower % bodyfat even tho I look "thicker" because I have a pretty decent amount of muscle w/ my bodyfat - so its just a number but it does give some guidance.

If your goal is to compete, I'm going to guess you mean figure and not bodybuilding? Can you clarify that in case I'm going down the wrong path? For either its more than just a matter of dropping bodyfat - the point is to have a nice base of muscle and to have a symmetric & aesthetic distribution of fat & muscle across your body. I.e. lots of girls are able to lean out on their upper body but will be thicker in the hips simply because women tend to carry a greater concentration of bodyfat in their hips / waist / ass / thighs because of estrogen. THat's just part of life. So that means you can do 2 things - you continue to train your upper body to build a wider lat spread and better delts to create the illusion of balance between upper & lower body, and continue w/ the diet & cardio because it just takes longer to drop the higher concentration of bodyfat.

It sounds like you eat well, however I'd be really interested to see your specific meal plan, and then if you can put it into a food counts program like www.fitday.com so you can see the actual total calories as well as the macro nutrient breakdown -- % protein , fats & carbs. Also I'd probably toss at least one of those protein shakes & eat some real food instead. Its very possible despite what looks like a good diet & trainign that you aren't eating enough protein to support building muscle and the cardio, particularly if you are doing 2 sessions / day, that you may be burning muscle.

Can you post up specifically what you are eating along w/ the total calories & % proteins , fats & carbs and we can probably find some really easy ways to tweak it. BTW you don't need to live off tuna....! There are some fantastic recipes in the RECIPE THREAD sticky on this board as well.

As far as your stretch marks - I know plenty of moms who have had 2+ kids & competed. That's probably the least of your concerns as far as competition. I woudlnt' even sweat it. A clue about competition -- there are hundreds of competitions every year with hundreds of competitors at all levels. If you choose to do a show, make the first show for YOU. Don't worry about winning or losing - just make it for you. Your first time around is sort of like going thru the whole process once to strip away all the fat & everything just to see what God gave you to work with. It exposes your weak parts -- everyone has something that can be optimized - whether its more mass in general, better cutting, build up your delts, cut down your glutes, whatever - don't set yourself up to live or die by that first show. If you don't win it pretty much means nothing- I know lots of girls who go thru the whole prep thing, get on stage, have to deal w/ the stage fright, etc. and maybe don't win, and then feel like shit about themselves -- not worth it. Absolutely not. Just getting on stage is an accomplishment 99.9% of the world can't do. So keep that in perspective. If you want to do it, make it a goal and pursue it. Don't let it consume yourself or make you put aside other things that shoudl be important while you do it -- you can literally lose friends and get yoru family mad at you going thru the process because it is a very extreme sport - Definitely suggest reading up on my thread "So you want to compete..." to get a better idea of whats going on with competition. It is absolutely doable, but just keep it in perspective.

Did I say welcome to EF?

 

[LuluDeren]

Wowza! Thank you, Sassy69! You've given me more info and suggestions to go on then I've EVER received before!!

I'll get my meal diary into the fitday program as you've sugggested. I do know i have no idea what my daily protein/carbs/fats %'s are. The program should help me to figure out a better plan of action. I'll definitely check out the recipe forum....I found a recipe for a tuna shake lol, seriously, it includes V8 juice.

Yes, I'm thinking figure and would like fitness but I'm not the most coordinated person on the planet..lol. I'll read through your thread on comps.

Thank you so much, Sassy, you are great encouragement.

 

[Sassy69]

omg .. tuna shake???


There are sooo many better ways to stick to a diet.....

Glad you found a couple places to get started with - there's a whole pile of good info here -- check the stickies at the top of this board -- best info on here are all refereneced in those. Then ask questions -- if you want to start tracking what you are doing, set up your own journal thread (like most of the girls on here ) and get to where you wanna go!

 

[LuluDeren]

omg .. tuna shake???


There are sooo many better ways to stick to a diet.....

Glad you found a couple places to get started with - there's a whole pile of good info here -- check the stickies at the top of this board -- best info on here are all refereneced in those. Then ask questions -- if you want to start tracking what you are doing, set up your own journal thread (like most of the girls on here ) and get to where you wanna go!

Thanks again, Sassy!

I was just reading your 'Compete' sticky (wonderful advice) but my pc's only loading half pages (yikes, I guess 4kbps is not a very fast hookup ), and likes to crash everytime I post!#?*#@! LOL

Also, I set up a fitday diary and will start a progress thread as you've suggested.

Thank you and all the ladies here at EF for providing some invaluable information and access to sites I would never have found otherwise.

 

[kkdotcom]

Hello Everyone! I am new as of 2-3 weeks ago and I've been trying to sort everything out and learn/teach myself things already posted on this website without having to bug anyone with questions. I'm 24, 5'2, and 134 lbs. I will find out my other stats later. But I am very excited about starting out (i'm a rooke at this ) and I think this website will be an awesome source of information!

 

[~peaches~]

I am new here, but not new to fitness. I started training three years ago, and enjoy every minute. I am currently coming out of a one year bulk , between divorce and moving five states away from home, I lost my motivation.I have been back at training for a month now, and muscle memory is a good thing!

 

[*Bunny*]

I am new here, but not new to fitness. I started training three years ago, and enjoy every minute. I am currently coming out of a one year bulk , between divorce and moving five states away from home, I lost my motivation.I have been back at training for a month now, and muscle memory is a good thing!

peaches

Motivation is there with muscle memory, finds you when you need it most.

 

[imystify]

Hel.low!

some names here look familiar. I promise to behave. Off to have a nosey around.