Looking for any advice/guidance

[Asuaries]

Hi all! First post for me as I usually just browse and read.

Recently, I have been dabbling in the world of heavy lifting. I found out last year that the only thing in the gym that I was actually enjoying was challenging myself with heavy weights. I have always hated cardio and never could get addicted to it, no matter how hard I tried.

I am a young one, 26 ,but with a few set backs with my body. I am hypothyroid (diagnosed Dec 2010) and being treated with 120mg (4 grains - if you want older terms) daily - I will not touch Synthroid with a ten foot pole.... Also, I dislocated my knee cap in 05' while side lunging and had lateral release surgery. That led to a 20 pound gain due to being laid out for about 2 weeks. Needless to say, that 20 pounds, loves me too much and doesn't want to leave.

Shortening this: I am 5'6", 160 lbs and body fat of 26%. Extremely sedentary desk job as an Account Exec for a background check company.

Tried Clen last fall with a rebound effect as I didn't supplement properly with Taurine (I am going to be honest, I obviously did a hack job at the research). Would try again, but with further research, I am seeing it might not be wise for me with my hypothyroid. Of course, I am on Armour, but I am not sure if that would compensate enough?! I searched all over forums, but I would get conflicting responses, so I am taking the safe route and not running the clen cycle.

I eat pretty low carb as my body seems to not tolerate an amount over 150 grams well. I get insane bloating with a high carb intake and all that comes with it. My macro ratio is usually 40/30/30 and some days I move to 50/25/25.

This is where the problem lies. I have done quite a number on my metabolism as I was struggling to lose this "weight" and didn't know about the hypothyroid situation, I just thought I was not doing something right. Now, please be kind, for I was about the total instant gratification and didn't seek the healthy alternatives.
I have done the "hCG diet"... with the 500 calorie intake for 21 days last year.. Gained it all back of course (and no, it was not because of poor eating, it was just that my body had simply adjusted to that caloric intake and naturally bringing it up, caused the sluggish metabolic rate to hold on to everything it could). I, again, did this before my hypothyroid dx and I am sure that I can attribute a portion of my hypothyroid to the SOB of a diet. Lesson learned.

I recently tried phentermine, but then saw that I was losing weight because I my appetite was reduced to 900 cals a day (and that was force feeding) and I quickly stopped due to knowing that my weight loss was catabolic and I didn't want to reach a homeostasis of 900 calories. Not doing that again to my poor body. What am I doing now? Calorie cycling... anywhere from 1200 - 2000. Varies almost every day. Higher on weight training days and lower for the HIIT days (just started implementing the HIIT - was strictly weights up until last week). I am still tweaking this system, but I am not losing fat, I am completely maintaining.. which is not what I would like.

Diet looks like this and doesn't vary too much from day to day. (I track on Livestrong daily).

Morning 7am: 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal with 1/4 scoop Jay Robb whey
3 Egg whites with 1 TBSP of reduced fat Sargento cheese

Mid-morning snack (10:30 am) : Fage 0% Greek Yogurt - 1 cup w/ 1/4 scoop whey
2 Tbsp LoveGrown Simply Oats Granola

Lunch (1:30pm): 3.5 oz chicken breast with fresh green beans

Afternoon snack (4:00pm): Low-fat cottage cheese with 12 raw almonds

----Workout 5:30pm - 6:45pm -----

Dinner (7:15pm): lean lamb chop 3oz with steamed broccoli

Evening treat (8:30pm): Either Fage with Jay Robb (6 oz of the yog and 1/4 scoop of whey) OR an Asian pear with a tbsp all natural - just peanuts, peanut butter. I usually have a piece of fruit 2x a week...

Supplements:
chromium
l-tyrosine
l-lysine
l-carnitine
l-glutamine
CLA 5,000 through the day
6 gels of Fish Oil
magnesium citrate
B12
B-complex
Vitamin D (deficient) 5,000
taurine
potassium


I am looking to cut my body fat and I am turning my back the scale. This is a huge thing for me as I had always known to be so reliant on that damn number, but now, I am using a tape measurer as my gage.


I tried my first ECA (sans the debated aspirin) this morning. I am thinking, I might need to work up to the full 25mg eph dosage.. I think maybe the 12.5mg per dose for now..

Purpose for posting this version of War and Peace?

-Answer-: Would love to hear any advice on how I could better any of this routine I have here. Any hypothyroids out there? ECA stack a horrid idea for me? Any diet adjustments you see? Dairy a horrible idea for what my goal is (even if my body tolerates it just fine?!)? Any other supplements you might recommend?

 

[trex74]

Hi,
Just wanted to welcome you. I don't have any knowledge about hypothyroid and how to deal with that. I guess I am completely biased against taking drugs like clenbuterol, ephedrine, and phentermine, so I wouldn't recommend them or have any thing worthwhile to share about them, but to each her own.
Anyway, my two cents is that if you are self-admittedly intolerant to carbs, that 150 grams is not very low. I thought low carb was under 50 grams. Have you tried timing your carbs so your only intake is after your workout?

 

[Asuaries]

Thanks for the feedback Trex! Really any is appreciated!

I seem to have about an average total of 50-70 net carbs a day. I just tend to notice that my body doesn't like me going over a certain amount (the 150 gram number seems to be the threshold) or I start retaining water amongst other gastro issues. Absolutely lovely. I know.

I haven't really tried timed my carbs. The closest to timing would be having my oatmeal in the morning to balance the cortisol increase upon waking. I would be interested on what you would suggest.

Thank you for the welcome!

 

[trex74]

Just taking your carbs after your workout is what I meant.
I think you will see some change from adding in the HIIT. If you are sweating a lot and putting in the effort you will notice results.

 

[TheSystemHasFailed]

Welcome.

I would recommend you have some in the morning, some porridge and about 200ml of orange juice, then a banana before workout, and some more after workout.

Other than that, if you are trying to stay fairly lean, stick to alot of protein and some salads. See how you react to that. What your current stats if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Asuaries]

Trex- I hope so! Ugh! I just can't stand cardio... so boring! I used to do spinning classes that were an hour plus and didn't shed fat. But, that is different than HIIT.

TheSystem- I am 5'6", 160 lbs. Measurements are 38 bust/ 29 waist / 41 hips . Preeeeetty curvy, but it semi-suites me. I posted a recent picture on my Profile for further reference. I am lucky in that I was born with the genetics that distribute my weight quite well. Doesn't seem to go to one specific location but to more all over. My mother is the same but she is 5'8" and 190, but you wouldn't guess that due to how she carries it. She also has thyroid issues as well as being pre-diabetic (my fear!).

I am terrified of bananas and juices though. I must admit. I am worried that that amount of fructose could send me on an insulin rollercoaster if I don't get a protein or fat amount to slow that digestion down... Hence, why I tend to stay away from fruits. I am not diabetic.. but I did see that when I went in for my thyriod blood work in December... that I had a glucose reading of 66. AND - I wasn't fasting, I had eaten Barbara's Puffins Original cereal maybe 2 hours before the appt.. Oddly enough, my doc seemed to skip right over that.. and went straight for the thyroid and low vitamin D levels. That was my last day eating cereal for breakfast. I might toss in Fiber One bran in my Fage greek yogurt, but it is in small amounts.

 

[caligirl85]

Welcome to EF! I'll throw my thoughts in for you as well, for another view point to consider.

I'm not well versed in things like ECA stacks with hypo either but my best advice to you, would be consistency and patience. It can take a lot of time to get your metabolism back firing again and personally, I'd stay away from the stimulants and give yourself at least a good solid month or two of consistency in both diet and training, before adding something like that back in.

I think HITT is a good addition and will definitely help with fat loss. I would also keep your calories up and not go under 1500-1600 minimum. You need to get your body used to eating again and get it working for you, instead of against you. As for dairy, I don't personally think there's anything wrong with it, if you fit it into your macros. You want to be able to find something you can maintain as a lifestyle too. I do know people who cut it out when dieting but if it works for you and you can fit it in, go for it. I really believe, though, if you keep your calories a little bit higher and give yourself some time, things will start to move again for you. It may just take a bit longer.

Anyway..a few more thoughts for you.

 

[TheSystemHasFailed]

Trex- I hope so! Ugh! I just can't stand cardio... so boring! I used to do spinning classes that were an hour plus and didn't shed fat. But, that is different than HIIT.

TheSystem- I am 5'6", 160 lbs. Measurements are 38 bust/ 29 waist / 41 hips . Preeeeetty curvy, but it semi-suites me. I posted a recent picture on my Profile for further reference. I am lucky in that I was born with the genetics that distribute my weight quite well. Doesn't seem to go to one specific location but to more all over. My mother is the same but she is 5'8" and 190, but you wouldn't guess that due to how she carries it. She also has thyroid issues as well as being pre-diabetic (my fear!).

I am terrified of bananas and juices though. I must admit. I am worried that that amount of fructose could send me on an insulin rollercoaster if I don't get a protein or fat amount to slow that digestion down... Hence, why I tend to stay away from fruits. I am not diabetic.. but I did see that when I went in for my thyriod blood work in December... that I had a glucose reading of 66. AND - I wasn't fasting, I had eaten Barbara's Puffins Original cereal maybe 2 hours before the appt.. Oddly enough, my doc seemed to skip right over that.. and went straight for the thyroid and low vitamin D levels. That was my last day eating cereal for breakfast. I might toss in Fiber One bran in my Fage greek yogurt, but it is in small amounts.

Ah I see. Ok, that makes sense, in which case I would start the day with some oatmeal and half/low fat milk, with either some eggs or a protein shake.

Be looking for 4/5 meals a day, decreasing your carbs as the day progresses. Alot of people advise against carbs after 8pm, which I would agree to, except if you have been training. You have to have some carbs post workout to restore your glycogen levels, I prefer usig a mix of fast and slow digesting such as maltodextrin and instant oats. Finally, make sure you are drinking plenty of water each day to keep yourself adequately hydrated to perform at your best.

In terms of training programme, HIIT is something I would advise. Mix it up, so if you train 3 days a week, spend one day mainly weights with a cardio warm up, or classes, or swimming, mix them together depending on your preference. Doesn't matter what you do, as long as you get the intensity right, you will shed weight.

A good plan for HIIT is circuits of weights, pick 3-4 exercises and do them back to back with high reps. Alternatively, with cardio, try a 2 min walk warm up, and then sprint for 1 min at 80% max, and walk again for 1 min. Once you get this down, only walk for 30 secs in between runs. Do this for between 10-20 mins, and this technique has been shown to keep your body in a higher fat burning state for longer after you have finished working out.

I hope that helps.

 

[Asuaries]

All very good advice. I sincerely appreciate it.

Do you recommend HIIT before or after weights on the days I do both..?

 

[TheSystemHasFailed]

All very good advice. I sincerely appreciate it.

Do you recommend HIIT before or after weights on the days I do both..?

Definitely after. I read a scientific study that showed if you do HIIT cardio before weights, it decreases your lifting performance. Feel free however to do a 5min row or cross trainer before to just get the blood pumping before weight circuits or your lifting programme. Good luck, if you need any more help feel free to PM me.