Plateau

[fitnesschic]

Spatt, I want to make sure I understand what you are saying...

You eat 1400 cals a day and you gain weight if you eat more and lose if you eat less? If you lose weight is it muscle or fat?

I think I am eating under my BMR and I'm not losing.

Let me ask you this....do you think i should eat 1400-1600 day day and try to burn 400-800 cals a day? and I will lose bf?

 

[fitnesschic]

Sorry Spatt, didn't mean to offend you.

I'm just trying to understand what is working for others since what I'm doing is working.

 

[makedah]

Fitness, we're ALL SAYING THE SAME THING! Eat more calories per day than you are eating now. Clearly, continuing to further cut back your calories isn't working. The fact that you can't "understand" that you should eat MORE than your BMR and your desire to keep wanting to crunch numbers and come up with perfect formulas makes me think you have an eating disorder and that you just don't want hear what we are saying.

 

[b fold the truth]

Do I have to eat more to lose weight? Will an extra slice of pizza help me to shed those pounds?

Just kidding Spatterson...I totally agree with what you are saying. Hope everyone is listening to what you are saying...

B True

 

[FitFossil]

Sounds like too much cardio combined w/too few calories. Body is in catabolic/stress/starvation mode. Fat loss stops and muscle loss starts. Been there done that - thought I should cut cals more and up cardio, but just got fatter and weaker. It didn't seem fair.

Not until I increased cals and weights and decreased cardio did fat come off and stay off.

Any chance you're doing cardio right before weights?

 

[Temple]

I'll give this a ditto.....

Increase cals to around 1800
Rotate the carbs
Increase your protein intake drastically
make sure you get some flax or nat peanut butter
60 min moderate intensity cardio 4x wk
do this for 4 weeks and then we can adjust as necessary

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Everyone is Different.....

FitnessC -

I'm also new to this board, like you, but have been working out for years (including being a personal trainer)!

Everyone here is right, even though it seems so backwards .... that you have to eat MORE to lose weight! But it's so ahrd to say exactly what will work because everyone is different - different metabolisms, different workouts, different ideas of what is considered a "hard" workout, etc.

The program you are using to calculate your BMR is an ESTIMATED number. It doesn't know you from me from spatts from anyone else. I imagine it is taking your height, weight, age, and plugging the numbers into a formula. Well, your gentics might not fit that formula. Learning what works for you is through trial and error, we all have had to do it. It is a pain - and takes months, if not years, to figure out YOUR best food/exercise ratio. The only thing you can do is change one thing at a time and see what that does for you (and give it 4-6 weeks to see changes) and keep modifying from there.

Forgive me, I can't remember if you mentioned this, but how long have you been training? It does take time - about 4 weeks to lose 1% of BF (for the average person). So be patient!

THAT SAID.....It seems like you do need to add a little more food - maybe one more meal of a protein, complex carb and some fat. As far as more protein, in order to lose BF and gain muscle, estimate about 1g of protein for each lg of body weight. And for carbs, the more complex the better, the less starchy the better. In general, I think it is better to go for lower Glycemic Index carbs.

Not sure this made any sense, I do tend to babble....

 

[Daisy_Girl]

I'd freak out....

Very true - 1% VERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYY slow for most *serious* worker-outers (yes, I invented a new word...!) And I would jump off the closest bridge if I saw results that slow.

The reason I used that general number - and usually do to random people who ask "how often do you work out? What do you do? how long have you been working out?, etc....." (like what I do will automatically work for them!) Without knowing FC's intensity level for cardio and/or weights, who knows how hard/easy she is taking it! Everyone has a different interpretation of what is "hard". Without knowing her personally, and what her workouts consist of, I chose to estimate LOW percentages.

Now I need to go concentrate on getting MY BF down again......ugh....

 

[fitnesschic]

Over the last couple of days (since I posted the thread) I have been following the advice given, although mentally it has not been easy. I have been eating more....
Friday I had 1627 calories. My ratios were 27% C (112 g), 35% P(145 g) and 23% F(42 g). Resistance trained and 30 min cardio
Saturday I had 1500 calories. My ratios were 28% C, 34% P and 24% F. Very clean eaten as usual (if you want to know what I ate just ask). Took an plyometric, agility, iron pump course today (That was very challanging!)

I ate about every 3 hours.
I'm looking for some feedback on my diet

I do train with a high intensity. It may not be as hard as some of you since many are professional body builders. I do maintain a fairly petite build. Up until recently I had maintained 20% bf at 114 lbs for several months(that was 92 lbs of LMB, I didn't think that was bad for some 5'2). I had wanted to get the bf lower but nothing was happening. So then I decided to cut my calories (really knowing better but felt like i didn't have any more time to work out so I'll cut calories) Then i went up two pounds! I don't know about you ladies but when you're 5'2 two pounds feels like 10! I thought i must not be burning off more than I'm taking in if I am staying the same. I'm coming around to understand the "starvation mode."

I am a mesomorph and have been somewhat bulky at one time from training very hard and didn't feel as feminine as I wanted( I read a different thread where women that say that really piss most of you off, sorry just being honest). I have good muscular development everywhere except my bi's and tri's. They just look fat.

Thanks for the feedback so far and look forward to more.

 

[Bikini Mod]

I am only 5'3" and I completely understand EVERYTHING that you are saying but you are not understanding what we are saying and you won't for some time. How do I know? BEEN THERE, DONE THAT!

I can completely appreciate you not wanting to be "bulky" and "manly-looking" so don't take this the wrong way. But I have been as big as 138# at 12% bf (size 3) and was NEVER mistaken for a man. I currently earn my living as a go-go dancer so while there are always a minority of "threatened" assholes the vast majority of men who watch me dance are absolutely enthralled by my physique.

What you fail to realize is that you have such a small amount of mass and feeding your body so little calories YOUR BODY WILL NOT CHANGE - NOW HOW - NO WAY!

Listen to the advice that Spats is giving. She has given VERY DETAILED info about diet, etc on this thread. If you heed her advice YOUR BODY WILL CHANGE..... AND NOT INTO A MAN'S.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A FEMALE WHO DOES NOT USE MALE HORMONES TO SUDDENLY BECOME MANLY LOOKING BECAUSE SHE PICKS UP 10 POUND DUMBBELLS!!!!!!

Good luck FC and just ignore all of the negative messages that have been engrained into your brains. They are ALL LIES that have been perpetrated by the industry in order TO KEEP YOU FROM REACHING YOUR GOALS! Why? Because then you won't feel the need to buy the latest supplement or video, book, or gadget!