hello I'm new

[shyjewels]

Hello my name is Julia and I am new to this site, but not new to lifting. I am 22 years old and have been lifting for 6 years. I'm looking to cut but don't know how to go about it maybe somebody can give me some sound advice. Here are my stats:
Height 5'10"
Weight 147.5
Overall body fat 14%
21.83 lbs. fat mass
125.67 lbs. lean mass
My diet looks like this. For breakfast, I have a protein shake with about 20 ounces of milk and 2 scoops of protein powder. Lunch consists of a sandwich wrap with meat, veggies, cheese and a detour protein bar. Dinner is usually a whole chicken breast, vegetables, and potatoes or stuffing. After dinner snacks are usually nuts (chashews and macadamias) and a protein shake.
My husband says that I am eating too little but he's just saying that because he's a hog and I don't eat as much as him. I'm thinking that maybe I eat too many carbs? I go to the gym four days a week and do 20 minutes of cardio on the stairmaster each day after lifting weights so I didn't think the extra carbs would hurt. Here are some pics of me:

 

[Firecracker]

Welocome to the board! You came to the right place!!!
Have you ready the stickys above (new to EF Women's Board, Shadows projects?) Start there. It's the best way to learn about the board and get familiar with what's going on. Oh and, Shadow is the bomb, he rocks!!!!

Best of luck to you!! Glad you're a part of EF!

 

[buffgrl23]

If you are looking to cut some suggestions I would make would be to cut out the milk with your protein shake and just mix it with water. Also the detour bars taste good but are pretty high in calories. The bars that I like that are lower in calories are Myoplex Lites. I would also say to add more fruits and veggies. You could also up your cardio. I only have energy to do about 20 minutes after my lifting. So I do cardio in the morning on an empty stomach before work. This has been the best way for me to cut some weight and body fat.

 

[jenscats5]

Hi & welcome!! Niiiiiiice pics!! You look great already!! Won't take you long.....

Read thru "Shadow's Project" for a basic diet to follow....

For cutting your calories should range between: 1480 (148lbs x 10) & 1776 (148lbs x 12). The 10-12 range is a standard range for cutting. A good ratio to follow is 40/30/30 for P/C/F.

Look thru a few ladies' logs at your leisure to see different meal choices. Some are following S's project to a Tee and some aren't. Any quesitons, please ask!! Glad to have you here!!

 

[habitualhealth]

Yes welcome welcome!

 

[The Shadow]

Heyyo

 

[Sassy69]

Hi Julia & welcome to the boards! This is definitely a good place to start. First when you say "cut", can you be very specific about what you want to do? Are you looking to reduce bodyfat further and to what goal and for how long would you intend to maintain at that level? Or more to build mass? You are already fairly low bodyfat and it is hard to maintain, and not necessarily healthy to maintain below 12 %. By building more lean muscle mass and reducing unwanted fat you can definitely create a tighter look.

My first suggestion is that you are probably not eating enough and what you are eating can be cleaned up a little bit. I would start by putting what you are currently eating into a food counts program like www.fitday.com (its free!) so that you know *really* what you are eating, calories / protein / fat /carbs. That way you can speak specifically about too many carbs / not enough fat / not enough protein, etc.

Can you post up what that comes out to as far as cals, etc? Then we can help give some guidelines. Optimally you would want to split out your cals for the day into 5-6 small meals instead of breakfast / lunch / dinner. You are really only eating 4 meals and 2 of them are protein shakes. I might replace at least one of them w/ real food. And I would also put a starchy carb in your first meal because that's when you need the quick energy to get going in the morning.

To give you a direction of where I"m going w/ my suggestions, look at the Shadow's Project & Project Summary stickies at the top.

You've go a nice build and some nice guns goign there. I think we can help you sculpture that to a much tighter look. And probably mostly with diet.

Welcome aboard!

 

[nycgirl]

WELCOME!!! K! for you.

 

[Miss24k]

I think everyone has covered it, so I'll just say welcome

 

[necia]

Welcome To Ef. You'll love it here. Everyone really cares and helps the best to their ability.

Necia