PLEASE DO NOT SKIP READING THIS! YOU WILL BE ASKED FOR THE SAME INFORMATION IN YOUR FIRST POST ANYWAY!
Everyone who comes to the EF Women's Board for the first time is coming with their own particular situation. Maybe you are just getting into the fitness lifestyle? Maybe you have been following a program and have stalled out? Maybe you are just browsing? Maybe you are 3 weeks out from your first figure competition? Maybe you are an experienced IFBB Pro?
There's so much information here but there are a couple of things you can do to help us answer your questions and get to know you as well as tell us what brought you here. It is very hard to provide useful information if we don't have a context for the questions and statements that you make in your first few posts so please consider doing and including the following:
1) Read the stickies at the top of this board. They are priceless as an introduction to the many facets of the world of women's fitness. You won't find better information in an encyclopedia.
- Links to all the really great & common questions & discussions:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363631
- "10 Ways to F--- Up Your Diet" -- This is a short and to-the-point EXCELLENT exposure of those common sense things that can derail your diet:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4955757&postcount=1
- Excellent diet and training programs many of the EF Ladies are currently following:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369796
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=369449
- Some **really** useful exercise sites for those "what exercises work x muscle group?" or "WTF is a Smith Squat" questions:
http://www.exrx.net
[ur]http://www.e-weightloss-fitness.com/resources.shtml[/url]
- RECIPES! NO! You don't have to be miserable with your diet and still get results!
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=364088
2) In your first post please include:
- your stats: weight, height, bodyfat%
- your goals -- what are you trying to accomplish?
- your current training & cardio schedule
- your current meal plan, including with each meal, portions, what you are eating and when you eat.
- any salient medical concerns
3) Consider putting your meal plan into a food counts program like
www.fitday.com (FREE!) so you can have a real and accurate idea of what exactly you are eating. This will give you the total calories and macronutrient breakdown (% protein / % fat / % carbs) of your diet.
4) GET YOUR BODYFAT TESTED! Weight is just a measure of the earth's gravitational attraction to you as an object on it's surface. It is one data point in quantifying your physical existence, but WHAT MAKES UP THAT WEIGHT is more important. You are made up of lean muscle mass and bodyfat. Getting "lean and toned up" is the result of how the two work together. Bodyfat is only half of it....
5) TAKE PICTURES! This is how you SEE the progress you are making. Weight and bodyfat are one thing, but how you look is also an important way to track progress and really appreciate even the little signs of progress. Let it all hang out & then revel in your results!
6) If you want, start a training & diet log -- look at any of the several that are on this board to see what and how many of us are tracking and sharing our progress. The support that comes with this as an open forum can be the missing piece of your activities in the fitness world that make the difference for you!
7) ASK ASK ASK!
8) RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH!
Knowledge is power, so EMPOWER YOURSELF because it is YOUR BODY and YOUR LIFE!
9) And just enjoy the girl power!
Here's a late addition to this post -- one of the most common misconceptions about diet / nutrition is that you have to eat to lose bodyfat. The following is an excerpt I put in a thread started by a new gal coming to EF & wondering why the training is stalling out:
The simplest thing to remember is that you have to EAT TO LOSE BODYFAT! Your body is a nearly perfect biochemical machine that WANTS to run efficiently. Its like fueling a Ferrari w/ high grade gasoline -- filling the tank when its empty, replacing the oil, etc, running it like it loves to be run at high speeds takign sharp corners and looking all sexy, running down all of its fuel and various maintenance items. Then replacing those items with exactly what it needs, cleanest sources available and in just the right amounts for optimized operation. BUT if you have all of that and then throw some mud in the gas tank, expect this amazing machine to run like crap. Thus you get the "plateau" you don't feel as energetic or vibrant any more, your results start to crap out and then you start to feel frustrated with all of your time in the gym because nothing seems to be working.
Its easy to fix - clean the mud out of your gas tank. Get the good quality gas. Change your oil. Basic stuff to get you started:
- Keep your processed food intake to a minimum - this includes Cheerios, ice cream, Ritz crackers, and yes, even wheat bread. Avoid "white" carbs -- i.e. white bread. Replace with good starchy carbs -- potatos, yams, brown rice (though I don't eat much of this), oatmeal (not the quick-oats but the old-fashioned oats, and not the flavored stuff that comes in packets either). Peanut butter - use Natural PB -e.g. Smuckers. The regular stuff has lots of sugars & stuff in it.
- Eat protein at every meal. Chicken, fish, steak, turkey, eggs
- Drink your weight in ounces of water (e.g. i weigh 150 lb, i drink 150 oz water) -- keeps you hydrated and your system flushed, helps to carry out the waste/ by-products of your body's daily processing functions
- Fats - make sure you get some fats -- almonds, natural PB, fish, Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) pills, flax seed oil are all options
- Eat 5-6 smaller meals - seperated by 2-3 hrs -- this is because your body can process proteins / fats & carbs from one meal wihin that time -- same as filling the tank on the Ferrrari, running it at top speed across I-75 from Miami to Ft Myers (across the FL peninsula east to west) to burn up all the fuel, and sitting for your next meal in another 2-3 hrs.
- Save your junk food for a single cheat (or call it a "reward" ) meal or day after staying clean for a week. Its good to throw some junk in your system so it is able to process it occassionally -- i.e. if u eat 100% clean all the time, eventually your body has a hard time processing junk like too much salt, dairy, too many carbs, etc. and it just isn't fun. So every 5-7 days throw in some junk. Not a lot of junk, but some junk. IT also helps you keep from going nuts on a tight diet and also gives you room to plan your socializing.
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