Need some Help & Support

[toots13]

Hi, I have admired many of you. Your fitness experience and advise that you share with others. I used to be an endurance athlete and competed in marathons and cycling competitions. I've now been weight lifting and I love it! I am trying to get a nice musclar, lean look. I must say it's a rare to see that in running & cycling. Anyway, I would like to change my ways and take off a bit of fat I have collected and have more lean muscle. I would really appreciate any advise and help. I am 33, 5'2 & a 1/4. I weigh 111. I usually weight train 3-4 days a week and incorporate cardio 6 days a week. Okay, I know this attributes to part of my problem. I eat a dessert after dinner. It stems from when I would train for competitions. We would have some really tough workouts and dessert became my reward. Sounds horrible, I know. I want to change this habit that has effected me for a few years now. I will start from Tuesday Jan. 18. In A.M. I can't digest alot before cardio.
AM 6:30 1/2 c Only 8 soymilk
1/4 scoop Dymatize Elite Protien
1 tsp Barlean's Essential Women Oil
2 Tbsp SF Jello Pudding

Cardio: Biketrainer (Rear wheel of bike fits onto TREK Fluid Trainer) US Postal Cycling Team trains on these, just FYI - Total time 1 Hour 20 min. - 20 min. warm up, 5 min heart rate 155-160, 5 min heart rate 161-164, 5 min heart rate 164-170, 5 min just spin x 2, then cool down.

10:00 1/3 c Multigrain oatmeal
1/4 scoop protien
2 tablespoons soymilk
2 teaspoons Molly Mcbutter, Equal & cinnamon

12:45 2 oz. tuna
1 low carb tortilla
1 Tbsp FF Miracle Whip
6 strawberries
1 cup broccoli & carrot mix

2:35 1 small Pure Protien Bar, 180 cal, 5 fat grams, 3 carb, 20 protien

4:00 Weights: Back, Legs & Abs
Lat pulldown 4 sets 12 reps
One arm DB row 3 sets 12 reps
Bent over row 3 sets 12 reps

Hacksquat 4 sets 12-15 reps
Leg curl 3 sets 12 reps
Leg ext 3 sets 12 reps
Stiff legged DB deadlift 3 sets 12 reps
DB squats 3 sets 12 reps

V-Ups 3 sets 20-25
Crunches 3 sets 20-25

6:20 2 oz. tuna
1/4 c black beans
1/4 c salsa
1/2 c green beans
1/2 c broccoli slaw
1 1/2 serving baked Tostidos corn tortilla chips

AND THEN... I hate to even admit to this BUT 1 98% FF, No Sugar Added Blue Bunny ice cream sandwhich, 1 98% FF, No Sugar Added Fudge Klondike Bar, 1 cup chocolate soymilk & 1/4 c Puffins cereal. Alright...I layed it all out on the table, now to make the change. PLEASE help me with any advise. Thank you.
Toots13

 

[Sassy69]

Well first, welcome aboard toots! It certainly doesn't sound like you are "fat" but maybe you are making that transition from an 'endurance' body to something more typical of the non-endurance athelete? I can understand the challenge of trying to change your mind set in how you eat & train. I did a couple BB shows in 2000 - 2002 and drove my family crazy with their fear that I was going to "get big" and that I should be "be normal". Some habits die hard.

Its hard to talk about specific things about your diet with only a partial day's list. Some general comments:

- Figure 1-1.5 g of protein per lb of your bodyweight --- then divide that number by 5 or 6 depending on how many meals you eat across the day. That's how much protein each meal should contain.

- Note sure about why you have all the soymilk. I can't drink any type of milk & milk tends to be primarily just a sugar. There are better things to eat.

- The Tostidos should be tossed out of the diet if you are looking to cut.

- Same w/ the ice cream.

- Preferably don't make protein bars a daily part of your diet. Real food is always better and a good whey protein mix is better than the bar because bars have a certain amount of processed "stuff" to hold the bar shape together. THey are good for when you are caught w/ no food or travelign or as an emergency option. Otherwise better to plan ahead and have less processed results.

- Couldn't do a macro nutrient break down because it doesnt' look like this is a full day's menu -- something basic like a 40/30/30 split might be something to focus on. You aren't heavy so you don't need to be ridiculous in teh amount of carb u cut and you want to make sure to get enough fats.

- All that cardio you do is going to impact your ability to build muscle. You need to consider some type of modification to that. Prob no more than 4x/week.

- Lifting - You might want to split out your bodyparts to different days. Esp the big muscle groups like legs & back. I've mixed back & bis, chest & tris, legs, shoudlers & rear delts. Or even 1 bodypart /day. I don't have the energy to do somethign like back & legs w/ the intensity that I like.

As far as your urge for dessert, the best thing you can do for yourself is schedule that stuff for one special cheat meal or cheat day per week instead of every day or randomly. Diet will always get you results more than training & cardio. And diet results come w/ consistency & moderation in portions & amount of processed food.

Does that give you some ideas about where to make changes? Also you can get some really good sample diets on the Shadow's Project stickie at the top of this board. Or for that matter you can probably look at any of the "<someone's screen name> 2005" threads for ideas.

 

[toots13]

Thanks Sassy! Sorry I've been MIA. I was visiting my family over the week and weekend. Thank you for the insight and I will take a look at the thread suggested. I will post changes I've made after I have a chance to re-evaluate everthing. I'll get back to you, soon. Again, thanks a million.