Dietary Advice Please!

[cezza30]

Heya

I'm looking for a little advice if that's ok.

I'm having a rubbish old time with my attempts at getting to a healthy weight / bodyfat. I feel like I've been in this place so many times over, and it's really starting to get me down. I don't want to hear myself saying the same things over and over again anymore, and know that I need to shake things up and do something that works for me rather than sticking with the same 'tried and failed' routine.

I'm just under 5'8" and currently weigh in at around the 154lb mark first thing in the morning. This has been my 'stable' weight for the last few years, but in that time I have gone up and come back down again many times, but have never got past this. Over this time, it feels like there has been no progress on the bodyfat front. I store fat heavily around my lower stomach, hips, bum and thighs, with very little on my upper body.

My exercise at the moment consists of more cardio than anything else which I know needs to be rebalanced. I currently try to run 10km two or three times a week, with a boxercise session on another day. I have slipped out of going to the gym which is something I am going to get back into, and so I'll be adding a weights routine back into this as of this week. I have been doing some strength training at home, made up of squats, lunges and some upper body training with dumbbells.

My cardiovascular fitness is fairly good, and improving all the time. My strength is not what it was, so this is something I need to look at, but I'm not weak overall. My core strength however is weak.

I haven't been in a good routine of late, and instead have been fitting in my workouts around everything else. I have been keeping to my overall quota that I'd like, but haven't been as structured as I could' been recently.

In terms of food, a typical day for me would be something like the following:

Breakfast: probiotic yoghurt drink, slice of wholemeal toast and some fruit (eg. handful of grapes, an apple).

Mid-morning; fat free greek yoghurt and a few walnuts

Lunch: jacket potato, tuna and salad, or cous cous with chicken and salad.

Mid-afternoon: protein shake

Evening Meal: chicken / fish with vegetables

Overall, I'm getting about 1500 calories a day and am drinking water throughout the day. I have coffee now and again, black with one sweetener, but never more than one a day. If I get hungry in between meals, I have some sunflower seeds to hand but I rarely reach for them if I'm honest.

I tend to steer clear of pasta because it makes me feel really bloated and sluggish, and I don't like eggs, but other than that I'm pretty much open to most foods.

I have recently stopped taking the contraceptive pill to see if this was having an effect on my weight etc. Since stopping I haven't seen any real change in terms of weight / bodyfat, but I feel so much better than previously. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I just feel better. I want to go back with a birth control method soon, but will be looking at the other options outside of hormonal tablets.

I have a fairly low blood sugar level which as of yet has not been attributed to anything in particular. I have had regular blood tests, and the results are always low, regardless of whether that test was done having not eaten for hours, or straight after eating. I underwent lots of tests around this, but my doctor hasn't pinned this down to anything. I've never really 'felt' the effects of having a low blood sugar as would normally be the case - I don't feel dizzy, hungry, shaky etc. This is something that is pretty much going nowhere in terms of diagnosis, as my doctor has the attitude that I'm not suffering or dying so we should just leave it be, but I'm not sure that this is the correct thing for me to accept.

Anyway, in a big nutshell, that's me. I might have given you many irrelevant facts, but I'm just putting it all out there so you see the whole story!!

This is what I've been doing for quite a long time now, and it's getting me nowhere. My fitness has improved and I've recently completed my first 10k race, so I can take some positives from the exercise side of things. I know my routine is not perfect so I need to address that, but I'm thinking I need to do something different with my eating too as my current mealplan is just not doing anything for me.

I've been in this place too many times, and it's obvious that despite my efforts I'm doing something wrong as I'm getting nowhere. Any thoughts on what needs to change would be most appreciated!!

Thanks x

 

[RottenWillow]

Heya

I'm looking for a little advice if that's ok.

I'm having a rubbish old time with my attempts at getting to a healthy weight / bodyfat. I feel like I've been in this place so many times over, and it's really starting to get me down. I don't want to hear myself saying the same things over and over again anymore, and know that I need to shake things up and do something that works for me rather than sticking with the same 'tried and failed' routine.

I'm just under 5'8" and currently weigh in at around the 154lb mark first thing in the morning. This has been my 'stable' weight for the last few years, but in that time I have gone up and come back down again many times, but have never got past this. Over this time, it feels like there has been no progress on the bodyfat front. I store fat heavily around my lower stomach, hips, bum and thighs, with very little on my upper body.

My exercise at the moment consists of more cardio than anything else which I know needs to be rebalanced. I currently try to run 10km two or three times a week, with a boxercise session on another day. I have slipped out of going to the gym which is something I am going to get back into, and so I'll be adding a weights routine back into this as of this week. I have been doing some strength training at home, made up of squats, lunges and some upper body training with dumbbells.

My cardiovascular fitness is fairly good, and improving all the time. My strength is not what it was, so this is something I need to look at, but I'm not weak overall. My core strength however is weak.

I haven't been in a good routine of late, and instead have been fitting in my workouts around everything else. I have been keeping to my overall quota that I'd like, but haven't been as structured as I could' been recently.

In terms of food, a typical day for me would be something like the following:

Breakfast: probiotic yoghurt drink, slice of wholemeal toast and some fruit (eg. handful of grapes, an apple).

Mid-morning; fat free greek yoghurt and a few walnuts

Lunch: jacket potato, tuna and salad, or cous cous with chicken and salad.

Mid-afternoon: protein shake

Evening Meal: chicken / fish with vegetables

Overall, I'm getting about 1500 calories a day and am drinking water throughout the day. I have coffee now and again, black with one sweetener, but never more than one a day. If I get hungry in between meals, I have some sunflower seeds to hand but I rarely reach for them if I'm honest.

I tend to steer clear of pasta because it makes me feel really bloated and sluggish, and I don't like eggs, but other than that I'm pretty much open to most foods.

I have recently stopped taking the contraceptive pill to see if this was having an effect on my weight etc. Since stopping I haven't seen any real change in terms of weight / bodyfat, but I feel so much better than previously. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I just feel better. I want to go back with a birth control method soon, but will be looking at the other options outside of hormonal tablets.

I have a fairly low blood sugar level which as of yet has not been attributed to anything in particular. I have had regular blood tests, and the results are always low, regardless of whether that test was done having not eaten for hours, or straight after eating. I underwent lots of tests around this, but my doctor hasn't pinned this down to anything. I've never really 'felt' the effects of having a low blood sugar as would normally be the case - I don't feel dizzy, hungry, shaky etc. This is something that is pretty much going nowhere in terms of diagnosis, as my doctor has the attitude that I'm not suffering or dying so we should just leave it be, but I'm not sure that this is the correct thing for me to accept.

Anyway, in a big nutshell, that's me. I might have given you many irrelevant facts, but I'm just putting it all out there so you see the whole story!!

This is what I've been doing for quite a long time now, and it's getting me nowhere. My fitness has improved and I've recently completed my first 10k race, so I can take some positives from the exercise side of things. I know my routine is not perfect so I need to address that, but I'm thinking I need to do something different with my eating too as my current mealplan is just not doing anything for me.

I've been in this place too many times, and it's obvious that despite my efforts I'm doing something wrong as I'm getting nowhere. Any thoughts on what needs to change would be most appreciated!!

Thanks x

Can you give me some blood sugar numbers? What your fasting and after meal numbers? If you're fasting is above 90 that's not a big deal.

As you're a runner, I expect you know the difference between fat burning zones and cardio zones. If you wish to use running or any cardio type activity for fat loss you know you probably need to keep your heart rate below 120 bpm to maximize the fat burning effect. Is it possible your running keeps you above that level?

What are the macro breakdowns on those yoghurt drinks? Potatoes don't have a great GI rating either. Baked, with the skin intact, would be the ideal way to consume them.

 

[cezza30]

Thanks for the reply, sorry took so long to come back to you.

I haven't had a blood test in a little while, but last time I had them done my average fasting level was around 1.7 mmol/L, and the after food level (approx one hour after eating) was about 3.3 mmol/L.

When I run on a treadmill I always ensure that I keep my heartrate above a certain level, but I don't actually measure this whilst running outside, which is the majority of the time. I would think that I am keeping my heartrate in the right zone by my perceived exertion etc, but maybe it would be worth actually measuring this to ensure I'm right. Will look into this thanks.

The breakdown of the yoghurt drink is 29 calories - 0.1g fat, 3.7g carbs, 2.7g protein. I do have the potatoes baked with the skin intact, although I don't eat the skin of the potato itself when eating out.

Thanks for your help x

 

[slat1]

How much sugar is in the yogurt? Sugar is what I have to keep away from at all costs.

 

[cezza30]

How much sugar is in the yogurt? Sugar is what I have to keep away from at all costs.

3.3g per serving. I suppose with the fruit as well I'd be having quite a bit of sugar with this first meal of the day.

Thanks x

 

[musclemom]

As RW pointed out, at a quick glance, your diet is heavy on carbs, particularly higher glycemic carbs (yogurt, fruit, toast and I'm assuming the potato is a white one). What about changing up your diet to higher protein and reduce/eliminate the high glycemic carbs? Added benefit, that should help further with stabilizing your blood sugar. Also, are you consuming any fats, particularly of the healthy variety (i.e., evening primrose oil/flax/hemp/nuts)? Some women will have a tendency to "hoard" fat if they're not taking in sufficient dietary fat. Finally, for your level of activity 1500 calories might not be sufficient, you might be closer to starving and again, your body just hoards every calorie it can.

Another thought is to totally change up your workout routine. One thing you could do is place the emphasis on HIIT cardio instead of steady state. Placing a strong emphasis on a serious weight training routine will change your shape (but you can't do it with little 5 lb. weights, it has to be a weight that you can't lift for more than 10 or 12 reps, I only mention that because most people don't have that kind of equipment at home) but it would be better if you weren't doing regular long distance running while trying to build serious muscle, they're almost diametrically opposed activities (whereas running and boxercise are essentially cardio on top of cardio).

From my point of veiw, at nearly 5'8" 154 isn't overweight. I guess I'm wondering what your fitness goals are. Do you want be a runner or do you want to achieve a certain physical look? If changing up your diet (think 40% cal. from protein/30% of cal. from carbs and 30% of cal. from fats, actually tracking calories and macros and perhaps tweaking the calories) doesn't change your shape then you need to try a new workout regimen.

Just throwing some ideas out there