Need Help from Experts, Please!

[skinnyme]

Hi,
I'm 5'7" and weight 148 lbs, at 22% BF. I really want to cut 15 lbs of fat, so I'd decided to keep my calories around 1650. However, I've been reading articles about how a good number for all women to eat around is 1800, do you think I should up to that level? I'm 19, and a college student - so I'm running around campus all the time and also working at a job that requires me to be on my feet (5 hrs/3 days a wk).

I'll be heavy-lifting for about 3x/wk, and HIIT cardio in the morn with an empty stomach at 2x/wk.

A typical day, newly altered (Thanks Daisy_Girl!):

9:15 :: Breakfast: 3/4 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop whey PP, 1 Omega-3 egg, 1/2 cup nonfat yogurt (sweetener) = ~450 calories

11:45:: Snack: 1 container nonfat yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp almonds = ~200 calories

2:15 ::Lunch: whole wheat light bun, turkey burger, lowfat cheese, lettuce/tomato, veggies and hummus = ~400 calories

5:30 :inner: Chicken breast, veggies = ~300-400 calories

8:00 :: Snack: Cottage cheese (1/2 cup), peanut butter 1 tbsp

Total: 1600-1700 calories

I carry a lot of fat on my stomach and back, and it really irks me when I can easily grab hold of it and just sort of pull at it - it's just sort of squishy, so could it be water retention? I've been trying to lose this weight for such a long time - my body just won't let it go!! Can anyone give me any advice on what to do (differently)??? Thanks so much.

 

[Sassy69]

Hi skinnyme

First I'd suggest putting your diet into a calorie counter like fitday.com & get the cals & macronutrient breakdown so you know what you are eating. The breakdown does look pretty decent. i'm about your height & was heavier by 10 lbs (well still am) and at around 22% bf in December. Don't cut your cals but instead eat what you need to eat & the cals will come out correctly.

Here's the thing that tells you that you need to fix somethign -- when you say you've been dieting forever & nothign works. That's when you have to look really closely at what you are doing and respond to Dr. Phil's wonderful question.. "So how's that workin' for ya?"

Is the diet you posted the one you've been following for a long time or is this new? And what about the training? Can you post those details as well? (training)

Then take a look at the Shadow's Project & Project Summary stickies on teh top of the board. Most of the girls here who are posting journals / logs on this board are following that trainign & diet & all are making headway since Jan 1. All of them.

As far as where you are talking about your fat -- don't spend too much time lookign at that -- if that is where you tend to carry your fat, that is there area that is going to look like its losing fat the slowest. You can't "spot reduce" -- instead you lose bodyfat proportionally across your body. If you tend to carry the most fat cells in a certain area, that area will be losing bodyfat but 2% of more is a smaller amount than 2% of less, i.e. you will probably notice bodyfat loss more & faster in areas like your upper body before you see the results in your waist area. But there you need to just keep working at it & dont' panic & that part will start showing the results more prominantly. The key there is to not freak out & get impatient and try somethign totally radical like doign wild cardio or cuttign your cals down to starvation.

Hope that helps you with a place to start! And definitely let us know where you are goign with your next steps! Big bunches of information & support here!

 

[skinnyme]

Thanks for responding so quickly! This forum is so helpful =)

Here is some background about me:

The proposed diet is actually pretty new - I'd just started following it about 10 days ago. However, by "dieting" forever, I mean that I've been low-carbing, restricting and then binging, intaking diet pills (Zantrex, Lipovarin). I used to weigh a hefty amount - about 220, a couple years back, but then I went on Atkins, anorexia-style, and lost a good 90 lbs very fast (the last 50 I lost in 80 days, a lot of muscle, I'm sure). However, I regained the weight very fast also, probably from 130 back up to 170. Since then it's been 2 years, and I've lost down to 145-148 range, but I've been stalled - for the past 8 months, and it's getting very frustrating. I'm wondering if I'd screwed up my metabolism forever?
*I've been able to maintain 145-148 on about an 1800-2100 cal diet. I usually try to eat 1800 max but, as we all know, we cheat ourselves into thinking something is a smaller portion and also conveniently forgetting about the bites of stuff in between.

Before I was also just walking after dinner about 1 hr a day. Only very recently have I incorporated HIIT cardio and weight training.

So my exercise routine is as follows:

Monday: weight training - playing with the machines at the gym - I'm going to start doing high intensity/fewer reps.
Tuesday: HIIT cardio in the morning with an empty stomach (and then 4 1/2 hrs at a job where I'm standing and walking around, however)
Wednesday: weight training
Thursday: HIIT cardio
Friday: none (6 hrs at work, I nearly passed out the second I got home yday) - I count it as a double cardio session, haha.
Saturday: weight training
Sunday: light cardio - probably just walking around. Also will let myself have dessert today.

As for other cardio, I'm in college so I'm always running around campus to get from one class to another.

Hopefully, I'll be able to maintain a 1600-1700 cal diet - I know how to eat well now, actually I hate putting processed crap into my mouth and I love eating good carbs, protein, and fat, and real food (it's funny but sometimes I'll crave broccoli!). I really want to lose these last 15 lbs though - I know I can weigh 130, and I know that a scale shouldn't measure anything, but I'm positive I have a nice 15 lbs of fat that I need to get rid of.

I'm also taking Thermorexin 2 a day(or SAN Tight! 2 wk cycles), Gugglebolic Extreme 3 a day, and I'd just recently purchased Levorex and Glucorell-R (waiting for them in the mail!).

So my questions are as follow:
--> Do you think I'll be able to lose these last 15 lbs in 2 months?
(I'll admit it, I'm a clothing whore and I want to able to wear cute clothes AND look good.)


--> Does my diet/training schedule sound good?

--> Will the fat/skin around my midsection get even more squishier? Should I consider plastic surgery afterwards?
(I don't know, but I definitely have extra skin around my midsection (my bellybutton is a sad face), and I have stretch marks galore.)

--> Have I ruined my body/metabolism forever..? I haven't gotten my period for about 7 months now, and for the last 4 yrs they've come every 4-8 months.

I'm just really sick of looking at my body and wanting to cry, and then do so much restricting and work (like I've even tried eating nothing but 1300 cals of cream cheese all day to take off the fat) and then ending up with nothing.

Any input would be great, thanks!!

 

[skinnyme]

bumpbump =)

 

[skinnyme]

wow.... nobody..?

 

[Sassy69]

Sometimes it gets slow around here on the weekends so you have to be patient. ...

Can you post up your weight training schedule? What you do & how much on each day. (i.e "What is your training split?")

Also I want to help you set your expectations. Like I said earlier, we're the same height, were at the same % bodyfat in December, though I still have about 10 lbs on you. I've been lifting for a long time, have done a couple of natural bodybuilding shows & I've got a decent amount of muscle mass that contributes to my total weight. Also to note, I cut down to 8.6% bodyfat and 133 lb for a show on a diet of 1700 cals.

You don't necessarily have to cut your calories down too far to lose weight, especially if you are in college -- how old are you?? You also dont' want to cheat yourself out of nutrients that you really need while you are a young adult. Like I said, put your meal plan into a food counts program like fitday.com so you know really where you are cals-wise & nutrient-wise.

There are ways you can tweak your diet so you aren't cutting the cals but changing up wha you eat. If you have plateaued, its time to change what you are eating. If you cut your cals while you need that for energy runnign around campus, learning, etc. you are sort of screwing your body out of what it needs to run well. You can change up your carb consumption, change the number of carbs you eat over the course of the week, etc. etc.

Also I don't know what your build is -- I'm what you call "big boned" -- I'm not huge, but I'm not a petite person by any stretch. I competed at 133 lbs, and that included a 6-8 lb loss of water weight alone for a few days around my competition date. That means I was still running nearly at 140 lbs "normally". And to be honest, I felt like shit. I felt like a skinny bag of bones, all my joints hurt and I just hated it. I'd have to lose a lot of muscle to maintain 130 lbs over any period of time. So my point is that don't get hung up on a weight number like 130. You can weigh 140 & be 15% bodyfat and probably wear a smaller size clothes than you might at 130 & a higher bodyfat. The important number is your bodyfat.

Here's a pic of me at that weight ---

 

[Daisy_Girl]

So my point is that don't get hung up on a weight number like 130. You can weigh 140 & be 15% bodyfat and probably wear a smaller size clothes than you might at 130 & a higher bodyfat. The important number is your bodyfat.

Exactly. The scale just measures the pull of gravity on you. Nothing more, nothing less. It is a useless tool of measurement used alone. Add more data points, and THEN use it to determine progress.

Another case study .....

I weighed 132lbs and was 17% BF. I wore a size 6 and was soft with little definition.

I started lifting harder, less cardio. My weight went up to 140, but my BF went down to 15%. I wore a size 2-4 and was harder and more defined.

Which one would YOU prefer ....

 

[jenscats5]

I responded to you in the Diet Forum.....

 

[Sassy69]

Here's the non-plat access to my pic.

http://img220.exs.cx/img220/6066/aug20002sg.jpg