Best way to lose fat and gain muscle...

[Angelwater]

Hey girls!

I'm new to this forum. Joined because I am looking to take my workouts to the next level. I have been on and off at the gym.....on and off with my diet. I want to get into an awesome workout routine that will really get me into shape.

I've been pretty good for the past two weeks in regards to my diet and excercise-noticed some results and today I'm starting the ECA stack. (I was on it before, but didn't really notice any results. Was taking 2x a day for about 2 weeks. Now I will be taking 3x a day...will that make much of a difference???)

Can anyone give me suggestions as to what is the best way to lose fat and gain muscle??? Thanks alot!

 

[*Bunny*]

Hiya and welcome

Please read Sticky at the top of the board...

http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

 

[The Shadow]

Read The Sticky On Shadoes Project Summary And The Shut It Sticky

 

[*MissFit*]

3 ECA stacks a day? what kind of stack are you taking.. seems like alot

 

[Sassy69]

The ECA is a SUPPLEMENT! If your diet & training aren't in line, a thermo or 3 isnt' going to have a chance to show a difference. Don't increase the amount off the bat because you may just be hitting your system w/ lots of stimulants. More isn't better.

Start w/ the "Are you new to the Women's Forum" sticky at the top & let's take a look at what you are working with as far as diet & training before worrying about the thermos.

Best way to lose fat & gain muscle ... Eat & Eat!

Welcome to the boards girl!

 

[Angelwater]

Thanks everyone for all your replies!!!

Ok. What happened before when I was on the stack 2x a day, is that I was on and off with my workouts and dieting was VERY bad....a whole lot of junk food!!! YIKES!!! So luckily I didn't gain any weight...but didn't lose any either. Noticed a little bit of shaping up, but not the results I wanted.

For the past two weeks I have gotten my workouts and diet on the go. I have a schedule now and it's working out pretty good. That's why I'm starting back up with the ECA stack, because now I'm in a routine in regards to working out...and my eating has DRASTICALLY improved.

This is what my ECA stack is comprised of.

24 mg Ephedra (not illegal here. YAY!) haha
200 mg Caffeine
325 mg Aspirin (with stomach guard)

A male coworker of mine that is into fitness and training is helping me out, but I really like the idea of this forum. He suggested that I take this stack 3x a day.

 

[Angelwater]

Ok girls, here are my stats:

Weight: 136-138lbs
Height: 5'4 and 3/4

Calves: 13 inches
Thigh: 18 "
Hips: 38.5 "
Waist: 29 "
Chest: 35 "
Arms: 10 "

Do 30 minutes Cardio a day
Do 20 minutes BASIC/BEGINNER pilates a day
Have a 5 day muscle schedule

Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Chest & Calves
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Triceps/Biceps

*I do 12-15 reps and 3 sets of each.

Next week I am starting triple drop sets(was doing these before)
Will be doing (depending on the muscle) 8-10 to 10-12 reps
Between the first set of exercises will be doing 3 minute sprints on the treadmill or eliptical.

No medical concerns.

I am eating mostly fruit and vegetables....chicken...2 protein shakes a day...one first thing in morning, and 1 after my workout...carb in morning (such as oatmeal) and after workout.

My goals are losing weight/inches and building muscle/toning & tightening ie. NO jiggles!!

 

[Sassy69]

Ok girls, here are my stats:

Weight: 136-138lbs
Height: 5'4 and 3/4

Calves: 13 inches
Thigh: 18 "
Hips: 38.5 "
Waist: 29 "
Chest: 35 "
Arms: 10 "

Do 30 minutes Cardio a day
Do 20 minutes BASIC/BEGINNER pilates a day
Have a 5 day muscle schedule

Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Back
Day 3: Chest & Calves
Day 4: Shoulders
Day 5: Triceps/Biceps

*I do 12-15 reps and 3 sets of each.

Next week I am starting triple drop sets(was doing these before)
Will be doing (depending on the muscle) 8-10 to 10-12 reps
Between the first set of exercises will be doing 3 minute sprints on the treadmill or eliptical.

No medical concerns.

I am eating mostly fruit and vegetables....chicken...2 protein shakes a day...one first thing in morning, and 1 after my workout...carb in morning (such as oatmeal) and after workout.

My goals are losing weight/inches and building muscle/toning & tightening ie. NO jiggles!!

Can you get your bodyfat tested? The diet generally looks good, but can you break it down to each meal, how much and when you eat? And also so you *really* know how many cals / prot / carb / fat that you are consuming? You can do this on a food counts program such as www.fitday.com.

 

[Angelwater]

If I get this tested while on the stack.....will it effect my results??? Becuase I know some sort of wave is sent through your body that measures the amount of water in it....and the stack affects how much water is in my body...doesn't it???

 

[Sassy69]

You are talking about using a tanita scale or, damn , can't remember what they are called, but yes they measure bodyfat based on bioimpedence. Just so you know, these things measure bodyfat slightly differently than calipers and they can easily be set off by the amount of water in your body. If you can get your bf measured with calipers doing a skinfold measurement, it is going to a be smaller number than the electric measurement -- those measure not just the skinfold bodyfat, but also the internal bodyfat (which you HAVE to have around your organs -- has very little to do with how skinny or fat you are). But the numbers are often misleading.

Even if you can buy the calipers and have someone else do it for you (hard to reach some of the pinch points by yourself..).

If you use the bioimpedence measure, another thing you can do with it, as long as you are in the same state when you have it done, i..e at the same time of day and generally like before you train, after not having guzzled a bunch of water, didnt' load sodium that day or whatever, and also if you are consistently taking the ECA. Then get the reading and then go by the CHANGE in the reading as you progress, say every 2 weeks. That way don't worry so much about the actualy reading (because it will be higher than what several of us usually refer to as our bodyfat % which is taken most likely w/ the calipers doing skin fold pinch), but it will give you a relative measure of how much bodyfat you are losing over time.