Need help with Cardio and Diet....

[playmatesky]

I have been training hard for three months now since my back injury and havent seen a ton of results but some....lost only 5 pounds and 5 percent b/f since then. I am working with a trianer who keeps my heart rate up when I weight train and I do two sessions of cardio a day. I just dont lose weight. I am starting to see my muscles become more defined but it takes so long for me to get there. Right now my diet sucks because I am trying to cut fast for a party. (I know that sounds funny) but true. But after Memorial Weekend, I would like something new to follow and need a little guidance before my photo shoot. I see just how amazing some of you girls arew with helping others get tpo their goals and Im asking...please help me. LOL

Here is where I am now....

5'4
127 pounds
17.5% bf

Goal:
12% b/f
Weight about 118

just to drop a few pounds before the party I am following this:

Diet:
5 egg whites 5 times a day for Mon and Tues
chicken and iceburg lettuce 5 x's a day Wednesday and Thursday
Then for Friday...Egg whites each 5 meals again....Sat and Sun I am off this diet...This is just to drop a few pounds quick....

Im also going to mess with my water right before this and take a diuretic to lean up for the event.

Workouts:

4 days: a week weights...1 body part a week....(working with trainer)
Cardio: 30 - 40 min intrvl running/walk 35 -40 min first thing in the a.m. on an empty stomach
Pm: Cardio: 30-40 min of the Intrl running or stair mill

THis will be over by Memorial Weekend...This is HARD to follow...I need something more realistic. I know that dropping my carbs and calories like this screws the metabolism drastically and believe me it has but it is so short term. (1 week) ...Im asking for somehthing for after this week.


I am thinking of doing this:

Diet:

7am
6 egg whites
1/2 c of brown rice or oats with water splenda and cinnamon

10 am
2 scoops why with water

1pm
3 oz chicken breast with brocolli or a green veggie
Med Salad with cucumber and fat freee dressing

4pm
2 scoops whey with water
or tuna with lettuce

7pm
3 oz chicken or 5 oz white fish with a green veggie

10 pm
2 scoops of whey..


Training:

4 xs a week weights with trainer
cardio: 45 min 6 days a week


What do you think: Also....I hate eggs. I would like to see about omitting egg whites in the morning so Im thinki9ng for the first meal to have oats and a protein shake. Or kashi waffles with lowfat jam and a prot shake. Would this be okay?

I plan to keep a journal along with my progress if it helps to get me there.

THANK YOU!!

 

[Sassy69]

hi girl!

Just to point you to some reading while you're collecting responses here - check this sticky:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

It would help us a lot if you could put your meal plan into a food counts program like fitday.com to get the total cals & protein / fat /carb breakdown. Hard to guestimate total cals & portions to see if you're getting enough or what exactly you are really getting.

 

[playmatesky]

hi girl!

Just to point you to some reading while you're collecting responses here - check this sticky:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

It would help us a lot if you could put your meal plan into a food counts program like fitday.com to get the total cals & protein / fat /carb breakdown. Hard to guestimate total cals & portions to see if you're getting enough or what exactly you are really getting.

---------------------------------

Thanks Sassy...I am checking out fitday to see what my calorie intake will be on this other plan. Im sure Ill have a ton of questions after some more research. Hope thats ok. Ill be back after the journey...Thanks!!

 

[playmatesky]

hi girl!

Just to point you to some reading while you're collecting responses here - check this sticky:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=388278

It would help us a lot if you could put your meal plan into a food counts program like fitday.com to get the total cals & protein / fat /carb breakdown. Hard to guestimate total cals & portions to see if you're getting enough or what exactly you are really getting.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Sassy,

I appreciate it. I have been doing lots of research here. I am just still so confused. I tried Fitday.com and it basically brokedown all my nutrients and everything which is great but I guess I need to know what my number is that I should be trying to get to for a daily calorie intake. And then when broken down prot/carbs/fat
What should those numbers be?
I lost another couple pounds. I am just trying to get my b/f down to 12 or 13 % but I am giving myself until August 5th to do so just becaues it took me like 9 weeks to drop 5 % b/f.
Confusing?

 

[Sassy69]

The point I'm making is that often we don't realize how much or how little we are eating until its put into a food calculator. Getting the total cals helps and also the protein / fat / carb breakdown because you can set your program to be ratios of these, e.g. 40/30/30 50/20/30, etc. Many different approaches to take. But when I look at your list of foods above, its sort of meaningless to me because I dont' know how much it all adds up to and therefore I also can't make a guess at whether or not it is workign for you,. For ex, if your cals are too low, you are probably nutritionally starved and your body metabolism is slowed down and that can help explain if your fat loss has stalled out. If you are looking to increase muscle, you can change your protein intake to a higher ratio, if you are not getting a lot of carbs (which a lot of people do thinkig "low carb diet" actually equals no carbs) and can't figure out why you are tired all the time.

My point is that if we have that we have a place to start our discussion and also have a better idea of where you are coming from and your eating patterns now. Often a person who has never followed a restricte diet has a hard time adjusting to eating plain food. You eat a diet fairly consistent with what I eat for BB competition - very stripped down and simple. That makes the discussion much easier.

I also want to highlight the need to not get hung up on arriving at or maintaining certain numbers on the scale and also bodyfat. These are numbers and not things to live & die by. I raise this point because the scale number is sort of irrelevant if you dont' your % of bodyfat and muscle. I'm 5'7" and I wear a size 2 jeans at 145 lbs. Your typical girl would probably be convinced that she needs to weigh no more than 120 lbs and then cant' figure out why she's got a fat stomach. The bodyfat I note because 12% sounds like a great lean number, but for some people it simply isn't healthy to maintain that low number. Instead as you are heading towards that as a ballpark goal, pay attention to how you LOOK. And dont get hung up on the bodyfat number.

Just trying to cover some of the misconceptions and things that so many girls come to EF with so that we can get to answering your questions. There are no canned answers and guaranteed approaches because you are dealing with an inexact science (nutrition & health) that most doctors dont' have clue 1 about, and each person is coming from a different situation with their own personal set of body chemistry, comfort zones and efforts.

 

[playmatesky]

Sassy,


Ill get a ratio then. I am sorry for being so dense. I understand a clean diet and I am learning what i can and cannot eat without blowing up. Its just the whole ratio stuff and calorie amounts that confuse me. Ill figure it out though.
U r so right about the number issue. I hate when I do that too. My body has been changing a lot and I am very proud of myself. It just takes so long. BUt I will take your advice about the number thing. It makes a lot of sense.
BTW,
I saw your profile.....WOW zers!!! Great job lady!!!!! U r a knock out!

 

[Sassy69]

Thx sweetie!

Trust me ... its a re-education process. THere are no absolutes but lots of basic rules of thumb with many variations, and the whole food / nutrition / fitness thing is counter-intuitive.

I'm just asking to get those numbers - then you'll see how they all fit together.

 

[The Shadow]

Sassy is right on...TWO THINGS THAT ARE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY:

1 - ACCURATE CALORIE ANALYSIS

2 - BODY FAT CLAIPER TEST



...they are the roadmaps for your quest