New and looking for advice!!

[ncgirl21]

Hello Everyone!!

I'm new to the board, just been looking around for a few days!! Tons of great information btw!!

Currently, I am trying to cut fat. I'm 5'8 and around 145 (in the picture I've attached I was about 140 but due to school/stress/life in general I gained back some ) I would like to get to 125-130. I hold most of my fat in my lower body and I can see cellulite on the back upper part of my legs .

Currently, I've been keeping my carbs low, my fats higher (I fell victim to the low fat hype) and my cals vary. I try to keep them 12-1600 a day, but sometimes 1800 just gets in there . My carbs are around 50 (a good bit from veggies too!!) fat's up there and protein is = to or greater than body weight everyday. I think I function better with a low carb diet because it gets rid of the urge to binge when I eliminate certain things.

Just looking for some advice- and feel free to be brutally honest, I can take it!!

 

[jenscats5]

I can't see the 2nd 2 pics as they come up very tiny.....

But in the first, you look great!!

 

[dzulboy]

120 at 5'8? you want to be freaking twiggy thats way to freakin thin

 

[monwa]

I personally think you look good! However, I believe the quickest way to burn fat is to increase your cardio workout. that should help burn all over as well as up your metabolism. I think running is great, but other forms such as rollerblading and so forth are great too! good luck~ :0)

 

[Fantômas]

are you seeing no progress with what you're doing now? or just looking for suggestions and whatnot? Sounds like you're on the right track to me.

 

[ncgirl21]

This is what I plan on doing. I'm going to try this diet for four weeks. Let me know how it looks.

I'm going to break this down into 4 two week cycles. Cycle one will start today and last until July 27th. No scheduled cardio will be preformed EXCEPT two leisurly walks per week the night before my high carb day.

Cycle two will start on July 28th and last until August 10th. Two cardio sessions per week will be added in addition two the two leisurly walks/workouts on the night before my high carb day. The two additional cardio sessions will be HIIT performed on the treadmill.

Cycle three will start on August 11th and last until August 24th. Cardio will be increased again. I will still do two HIIT sessions per week, a workout the night before my high carb day and will add in one 30-60 minute medium intensity workout per week.

Cycle four will be begin on August 25th and last until September 3rd. This is a short cycle because I will be leaving on that day for New York, so that's the reason for the name DEADLINE. During this cycle I will do pre- breakfast cardio every morning which will be HIIT and then a 30-60 minute workout every night. So cardio will be done 2x daily except for on September 3rd- that day it will only be done that morning.

For weight training I will use a 4 day split with one day consisting of a total body workout. This will remain the same throughout all four cycles.

Monday: Quads & Abs
Tuesday: Shoulders/ Triceps/ Biceps
Wednesday: Hamstrings & Abs
Thursday: Back/ Chest
Saturday: Full Body Workout

Okay, now on to diet

Carbs will be kept low, no more than fifty a day (complex). Calories will be pretty low as well, around 1300. Protein will be kept high and fat will be moderate. I'll have two high carb days a week. On these days calories will go up to around maintenance so I'm going to try around 1800. Carbs will be high this day, around 200, fat will be minimal and protein will be a little less than 1 gram per pound of body weight. High carb days will be either on Tuesdays and Saturdays or Wednesdays and Sundays.

 

[Sassy69]

How "intense" are your training days? Are you lifting heavy? Doing low or high reps? Challenging yourself? Are you seeing an increase in your lifts or your reps, i.e. are you seeing progress in your training? Dieting is one thing, but the training will help you change your muscle to fat ratio to remove the sags & make you look leaner.

 

[ncgirl21]

With weight training, I lift kind of in the middle. I lift heavy enough to where I can really feel it, but I lift light enough to where I can do 10 reps. Should I go heavier?

 

[Step]

5'8 and you want to be 125 pounds? I should weigh 110, and I'm 5'2". 125 is way too thin for someone who is 5'8. I don't think you need to lose weight, I think you need to just get toned up. If you want the anorexic model look, go for it, but you seriously need to reconsider what you think your "ideal" weight is.

 

[Sassy69]

With weight training, I lift kind of in the middle. I lift heavy enough to where I can really feel it, but I lift light enough to where I can do 10 reps. Should I go heavier?

If you can do 10 clean reps w/ good form you are probably doing OK. I guess I don't know what it means "to where can really feel it" -- I usually leave my training sessions physically exhausted. I usually gauge my weights by whether or not I can make it to 12 clean good form reps. If I can do that, then I'll raise the weight by 5 lbs (or whatever is a reasonable increment for that body part). Then I'll work back up to 12 reps. If I can make it up to 15 reps, time to raise the weight again.

Do you feel it the next day or the day after that? What I'm getting at is the need for intensity - then you should start seeing the "loose" parts tighten up.