cardio 20min HIT vs 40 min moderate?

[rx123]

22 year old female has been dieting super clean, 1.5 H20 per day, 6 meals for the last 4 weeks

hits each body part 1x per week with weights, 20min hit cardio after weights, and runs for 30 min in am 2X per week

diet consists of egg whites, grilled chicken salads, oatmeal, veggies, chicken, turkey, 12 grain bread, low carb supplement shakes, tuna

each meal has 20-30 grams of protein and she keeps her carbs from 50g to 150g per day

5"7.5 weighs 146, medium frame and i'd say 20% bf main problem areas are the stomach area, butt, and thighs......she was 175 at 33%bf two years ago.....was a vegetarian until nov of 2001

she just started taking ala 250mg 3x per day

she just switched to rep range of 12-30
on weights

she has always been very athletic yet not the size she would like.....currently a 8-10 would like to be a 4-6, she figures she needs to be about 130lbs and 13%bf to reach her goal

she's only 2 months into a new birth control which has caused some bloat even though it's low in estrogen.....she's not sure to stop the bc or not

so far she hasnt really lost a pound? and she's getting a bit frustrated? any suggestion to help out......should she concentrate more on cardio?

thanks for taking the time to read this

 

[rx123]

also uses xenadrine occasionally.....thanks

 

[rx123]

oatmeal with egg whites
chicken breast with veggies
same
turkey burger
chicken with salad
meal replacent post wkout

weights at night
am cardio x2

she gets about 150gr of protein per day she only wants to weigh 125-230

 

[FitFossil]

Is she getting any healthy fats (e.g. flaxseed oil) in her diet? - Helps with fatloss. Just be sure to account for it in her total fat calories.

The birth control pill might be hampering her efforts. I was on a low dose pill myself several years ago, but it turned me into a fat magnet. No matter how hard I trained or how clean my diet, the fat would not budge. Switching to a non-hormonal method made a big difference.

How many times a week is she doing cardio? Too much can be counter-productive to fat loss. For me, making the switch from a heavy cardio 6x week with light weights 3x week to hard and heavy weight training 4x wk really leaned me out. I did not "get big", in fact I lost 2 pant sizes, and butt and legs used to be my problem areas. I still do cardio 4x a week, but never more than 30 min. Twice a week I do HIIT and love it, put some nice definition in my legs.

 

[rx123]

thanks fit fossil...i also believe it may be the bc......should she try a progestin only pill?

 

[FitFossil]

thanks fit fossil...i also believe it may be the bc......should she try a progestin only pill?

I'm not a doctor, so I don't know if a progestin only pill would help. There is a new pill women on the board have said they liked. I'm not sure if it's progestin only, but it supposedly has fewer side effects, including weight gain. It's either Lunelle or Yasmin, I'm not sure which. Maybe try a search on 'birth control' and limit to Women's board.