Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Hi, I am new here I weigh 133 on my good days and 136 on my bad days I am 5'8 and 28 years old. I am trying to tone I have been lifting weights walking about a mile a day right now. I have been at it for about 3 weeks. I have to go slow because I had major surgery this past year, in fact 8 surgeries in 9 months. Now my diet is what I am concerned about my husband is a bodybuilder and tries to help, but I would like to know if we are both on the right track. My calorie intake is an average of 1450 a day and I have 2 slim fast drinks a day. I was wondering what my carb intake should be vs my protien. I hate red meat but I am trying to eat it I can eat it about once a week. Chicken is great it is just red meat I have a problem with.Besides Carbs vs Protien I also need help with some butt excercise and abs. I hate lunges. My abs are already shaping but I have sagy skin from having 2 kids can anywoman tell me if this will ever go away. It sort of did after my first child but not all the way. I want a hard stomach and have always done situps. Although they are forming really fast now days for some reason maybe I just needed to work harder for them.
Need some advice please
- Thread starter HOLLY28
- Start date
newgirl-chargeback
New member
Welcome Holly. At 133-136 and 5'8 -- I am not sure you should call them bad days. That is still fairly slim for someone of your height. I am sure you just would like to add some muscle and lose some bodyfat.
I mean the following in the nicest way possible. THROW THE SLIM FAST AWAY. Sorry to yell! There are better shakes out there with better source of protein and carbs. If you do not like the protein only shakes that have almost zero carbs, try Ultramet.
As for beef -- you need not eat it if you are averse to it. Chicken is wonderful and easy to prepare. Eat about 1.5g of protein per bodyweight (I believe the correct formula is 1-1.5g per lbs of bodyweight)....someone else will post as well so they can correct me if I am wrong about it.
As for carbs, make sure they are complex carbs....sweet pototes, old fashioned oats, brown rice.
As for protein vs. carbs... I guess it would depend on what your ultimate goal is. If you are going to compete then I will let those more qualified answer your question.
If you are just trying to get into better shape, I believe that anything extreme will be too hard to follow and you will lose interest. I generally eat protein at every meal -- no excpetion. I do not worry too much about the balance of protein vs. carbs at the moment as I am not dieting down or trying to lean out over building muscle.
Also make sure your meals are split into 5-6 a day.
As for exercises, squats are great for the glutes....lunges I hate to say are also wonderful...is it all lunges you hate -- or just walking lunges? You can do lunges on the smith machine instead. For abs, hanging legs raises done super slowly without using the hip flexors is excleent. I do crunches holding some weight....using the smallest and slowest of movements to keep the muscle contraction at its best.
There is someone here, fitfossil who has some great advice. Look for some of her posts....she has shared alot of what she has done and made it easy to understand.
Good luck.
I mean the following in the nicest way possible. THROW THE SLIM FAST AWAY. Sorry to yell! There are better shakes out there with better source of protein and carbs. If you do not like the protein only shakes that have almost zero carbs, try Ultramet.
As for beef -- you need not eat it if you are averse to it. Chicken is wonderful and easy to prepare. Eat about 1.5g of protein per bodyweight (I believe the correct formula is 1-1.5g per lbs of bodyweight)....someone else will post as well so they can correct me if I am wrong about it.
As for carbs, make sure they are complex carbs....sweet pototes, old fashioned oats, brown rice.
As for protein vs. carbs... I guess it would depend on what your ultimate goal is. If you are going to compete then I will let those more qualified answer your question.
If you are just trying to get into better shape, I believe that anything extreme will be too hard to follow and you will lose interest. I generally eat protein at every meal -- no excpetion. I do not worry too much about the balance of protein vs. carbs at the moment as I am not dieting down or trying to lean out over building muscle.
Also make sure your meals are split into 5-6 a day.
As for exercises, squats are great for the glutes....lunges I hate to say are also wonderful...is it all lunges you hate -- or just walking lunges? You can do lunges on the smith machine instead. For abs, hanging legs raises done super slowly without using the hip flexors is excleent. I do crunches holding some weight....using the smallest and slowest of movements to keep the muscle contraction at its best.
There is someone here, fitfossil who has some great advice. Look for some of her posts....she has shared alot of what she has done and made it easy to understand.
Good luck.
I was reading through this post thinking "Wow - great post here". Then I see my name in print 
- thanks for making my day!Holly28,
Welcome and stick around, there's lots of good people and info on these boards. As for my "training philosophy", I am neither a bodybuilder nor fitness competitor - I just want to look like one and be the best athlete my body can be - actually my look is somewhere between fitness model and fitness competitor, and I learned from these boards. I just enjoy the training lifestyle and living vicariously through the real competitors by reading their posts.
Surgeries or not, it's good to take things slow, to avoid injuries and/or burnout. As far as bodyfat loss, you'll have a better chance of keeping fat off if you drop it slow and steady, so as not to be detected by your body's "diet radar". Incorporate as much real food as possible into your diet. If you hate red meat, you certainly don't have to eat it. There are plenty of other sources of lean protein - chicken, turkey, seafood, eggs, beans, etc.
As for protein/carb/fat ratio, everyone does it a little differently, you have to experiment to find what works for you. It's also good to change the ratios sometimes to keep your body on its toes. I think mine is like 40% pro/40% carb/20% fat, but it varies. I do think if you are trying to gain muscle, it's important to get sufficient (clean complex and fibrous) carbs, as they are your muscles' preferred form of fuel. Carbs have been getting a lot of bad press these days. It's the simple white/sugary carbs you want to avoid as much as possible.
As you are able (and get clearance from your doctor), your workouts should become progressively challenging. When you say you want to "tone", I'm guessing you want more firmness and definition and less bodyfat. Be warned, people on Elite hate the word "tone" because it reminds us of pink dumbells.
All kidding aside, the traditional women's toning workout of high reps and lights weights won't significantly change your body composition. Most of us here train as hard (or harder
) than most men. That's because we have less testosterone in our bodies to build muscle. We also do less cardio than the majority of other women in the gym (who don't lift), because we know too much cardio can be detrimental to muscle growth, and muscle is our ally when it comes to fat loss. Welcome and visit often!
Welcome and stick around, there's lots of good people and info on these boards. As for my "training philosophy", I am neither a bodybuilder nor fitness competitor - I just want to look like one and be the best athlete my body can be - actually my look is somewhere between fitness model and fitness competitor, and I learned from these boards. I just enjoy the training lifestyle and living vicariously through the real competitors by reading their posts.
Surgeries or not, it's good to take things slow, to avoid injuries and/or burnout. As far as bodyfat loss, you'll have a better chance of keeping fat off if you drop it slow and steady, so as not to be detected by your body's "diet radar". Incorporate as much real food as possible into your diet. If you hate red meat, you certainly don't have to eat it. There are plenty of other sources of lean protein - chicken, turkey, seafood, eggs, beans, etc.
As for protein/carb/fat ratio, everyone does it a little differently, you have to experiment to find what works for you. It's also good to change the ratios sometimes to keep your body on its toes. I think mine is like 40% pro/40% carb/20% fat, but it varies. I do think if you are trying to gain muscle, it's important to get sufficient (clean complex and fibrous) carbs, as they are your muscles' preferred form of fuel. Carbs have been getting a lot of bad press these days. It's the simple white/sugary carbs you want to avoid as much as possible.
As you are able (and get clearance from your doctor), your workouts should become progressively challenging. When you say you want to "tone", I'm guessing you want more firmness and definition and less bodyfat. Be warned, people on Elite hate the word "tone" because it reminds us of pink dumbells.
All kidding aside, the traditional women's toning workout of high reps and lights weights won't significantly change your body composition. Most of us here train as hard (or harder
) than most men. That's because we have less testosterone in our bodies to build muscle. We also do less cardio than the majority of other women in the gym (who don't lift), because we know too much cardio can be detrimental to muscle growth, and muscle is our ally when it comes to fat loss. Welcome and visit often!newgirl-chargeback
New member
FF -- I meant what I said...I read your posts and think you have always posted solid advice and share very generously.
Glad it made your day.. trust me, your posts have very often made mine.
Glad it made your day.. trust me, your posts have very often made mine.
Radical Ice
Member
As for the saggy skin, I did some searches here on Elite and other boards to find the answer to that question for my girlfriend. She lost a lot of weight over the past 2 years and has lots of "loose skin"... A nutritionist, a personal trainer, and a plastic surgeon all told her that surgery (tummy tuck) is her only alternative. However, in the searches, it seems that some women tighten up with diet and exercise alone, but some don't. Maybe it's just relative to the amount of stretching/damage done to the skin from obesity or pregnancy... or even genetics. She'll continue the low-carb, Yohimburn, cardio program for a while longer and see how far she can get without surgery.
Don't give up, Holly. You may be one of the lucky ones who's skin tightens up quite nicely over time...
Don't give up, Holly. You may be one of the lucky ones who's skin tightens up quite nicely over time...
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