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 Women's Discussion Board
 I am so frustrated...
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| Author | Topic: I am so frustrated... | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder 
Posts: 63 |
what am I doing wrong? I weighed about 120-125 lbs a month ago and I weigh 127 today! I don't own a scale- I hate them!!!! But I saw one at the gym and I was curious cause I've been working hard and have been very disciplined. My diet 60%carbs 25% protein and 15% fat having 1200-1300 calories a day. WORKOUT cardio 6x a wk for 40-60 minutes(40on weight days and 60 on other days). weighttraining 3x a wk upper body every muscle worked on 2 sets(12-15 reps) weights from 30-50 lbs. lower body 2-3 sets weights from 50-70lbs(15 reps) I have one rest day. Another trainer told me to do 10 lbs less and more reps and sets. A gnc saleswoman told me to do less reps less sets but with the heaviest weight I can endure 5x a wk w/ cardio early in the morning if any. I'm also taking xenadrine 2 caps twice daily. I'm 5 ft 2 or 3 inches tall. I want to lose fat and inches...I don't want mass. I feel like my shoulders have grown too much. I want to fit into a size 3 again and I'm barely fitting into my size 5 jeans right now. still frustrated, lala     | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 71 |
Dont stress over 2 lbs!! Weight can fluctuate 2#'s from so many different things. All scales are different too, if your going to weigh you need to do so on the same scale at the same time every time. You could be carrying some extra water...Get your bodyfat done and take your measurements and YES, get off the scale!! | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder 
Posts: 1237 |
For starters, my weight fluctuates by 1-2 pounds depending on what time of the day it is.....you could be holding water, getting your period.....gaining muscle!!!!....who knows---never go by the scale, go by the mirror---anyway, don't sweat it----give it a few days & see if it goes down.... | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder 
Posts: 565 |
Maybe you gain some muscle but on 1200-1300 calories a day I doubt it(most likely just holding some extra water)
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 170 |
I have gained 4 pounds in one day before. I had to stop weighing myself so much. Now I do it about once every 2 weeks. The worst is when you weigh yourself in morning AND at night. (Thats whaen I had the 4 pound gain). Freked out so much, weighed myself again next morning.. was down the 4 pounds again. Scales are the work of the devil. Dont pay so much attention to em.. or they'll get ya! | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 63 |
But why have'nt I lost weight? Prior to this year I was weighing about 110.Exercise was minimal and diet was pretty good. I've always been a healthy eater, I just lost it on a new job and gained 20 lbs in about 4 mo. What should I change in my diet and w/o? I'm thinking of changing it to 40/40/20 instead of 60% carbs 25%protein and 15% fat. I might change to weight training heavy weights 1-2 sets with 10-12 reps 5x a wk. lala | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 1235 |
First off...stay away from all scales...no good. 2nd- Cardio in the morning is always good 3rd- You can change your ratios of change the time of day in which you consume them...high carbs more early on if you need them for energy for the day, but evenening you last meal should be mostly protein and fat, maybe some fibrouse carbs like brocolli or cauliflower 4th-Drink plenty of water..helps to cleanse and remove excess water believe it or not.....check your sodium intake...if still retaining water try adding some caffeine,dandelion, or uva ursi to help give your body a boost in draining... | ||
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Cool Novice 
Posts: 27 |
I think too many people believe that light weight with more reps will trim you down. It's not always true. I'd change the weight training portion of your workout. First do adequate warm up two or three sets without tiring the muscles (ie. 30 reps at your warm up weight won't let you get enough reps/weight at your work sets). Then do 3 or 4 sets of 6 to 8 with as much weight as you can handle. Don't look at the clock. Take your time until you thoroughly work the muscle. When you take around 2 minutes between sets you can handle more weight. More weight will tear down the muscle fiber better than a light weight will. A torn muscle takes longer to heal than a muscle that's just fatiqued from doing a lot of reps with a lighter weight and will therefore burn more calories. I trained lots of people and women especially will always argue that they don't think this will work because of the heavier weight. The difference between getting bigger or thinner with this type of training is how much you eat. Train like this and restrict your calories and you should lose weight. Try it! It works. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 63 |
A little confused... You mean 5 - 7 sets in total...in one day? 3-4 sets that are light and 2-3 sets that are heavy. lala | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 459 |
Ummm, really though, you are WAY too low on calories! Shit, Im mean WAY WAY WAY too low. With the volume of exercise your doing, you are setting your body up for a major backlash of muscle loss and fat gain. Your body is most likely not getting enough calories to support what you are doing as far as cardio and workouts, and youll start to experiance a lot of things like water retention, fat gains and muscle catabolism. No one should go under 1800calories a day without serious drug assistance. Forget what anyone says about workout weight or reps, no matter what you do youre going to be breaking down your muscles and not giving them adequate nutrients for repair. Not to discourage you, but the weight gain will most likely be from fat! Your body is in a state where a message has been sent to it that its nutritional needs are not being met, and in all reality, your body thinks it may be facing a situation of starvation. At this point your body will become more efficiant at partitioning fat off into fat stores and will start breaking down lean muscle tissue to create extra amino acids to fuel the organs in your body. The higher carbs will create an environment ripe for the creating of fat from excess glucose and the low calories are slowing your metabolism to a crawl. BUT!!!! You are at a point right now where you may be able to take advantage of this error and turn it tn your favor! Immediatly up your calories to 1800. Turn the tide more in favor of protien over carbs. Try to get 40% from carbs, and stick with mostly fiborous carbs (some complex early in the day). Get some flawseed oil or evening primrose oil to get healthy fat back in your diet and to signal your body that fat is present and it doesnt need to stock pile it. Eat meals VERY frequently. Every 1 1/2 or 2 hours if at all possible (make em small meals). This will restimulate your metabolism by giving you frequent protien feedings (there is up to a 25% metabolic increase when protien is consumed). Back off the cardio for gods sake! mabye every other day, or 3 days on 1 day off. You are literally eating your muscle alive! Less muscle equals less calories needed to fuel the body which equals slowdown of metabolism which equals more fat needing to be stored which equals a desire for more cardio and extreme dieting which equals less muscle which equals... its a vicious circle. You can easily get where you want to be, but your going about it all wrong! It will backfire on you big time. Ive helped women get down to a size 2 or below... But dont be afraid to put on some muscle, it will help you lose fat, and in the end a size 3 or 4 may end up appearing smaller than a size 2 on a more fit body... | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 121 |
Monster, VERY helpful post! You've helped more than one with those words. I think I've been too focused on protein and have neglected the importance of carbs. (I've been so afraid of adding to the pre-existing fat.) I've been totally frustrated with my lack of progress over the past three years. I've always wondered if it was my diet that was wrong and I think the little light finally clicked on over my head!! It's amazing how a person can hear the same thing over and over and finally it clicks!! Thanks! | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 459 |
...I live but to serve... Really, its a common mistake that most people make at one point or another. Its just like reverse common sense Hell, Im glad I could help! | ||
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Novice 
Posts: 2 |
This is my first ever post on this board,but that is great posting by Monster.Also cycle your calories....don't eat the same amount every day. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 167 |
I know that this is a woman's discussion board, but not much action is going on in the other boards. I just thought I could help. As far as training goes, what are your goals? If you want to build muscle mass you shoud train with lower sets, but with heavy weights and low-medium reps. If you want to just get toned medium number of sets per body part with light-moderate weight and use high reps. The idea of changing your carb/protein/fat ratio to 40%/40%/20% is a great idea. It's ok to use a scale, but getting your body fat checked every 2 weeks would probably be a better idea to rate your progress. Also monitor what you eat. If you eat vegetables like celery, which has more sodium than any other vegetable will cause you to retain water. It's not a bad thing, but this may add few pounds of weight, but the weight is not permenant. Good luck with your training. ------------------ -HB- | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 26 |
Take Monster's advice-IT IS SO TRUE!!!-Excellent post Monster!!! You are doing to yourself what I did to my body. And I have been paying for it. I have begun to turn it around though because as Monster said-if you begin now- you will reverse the problem. Good luck! | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 46 |
Monster's suggestion of eating more total calories is well founded... 1200 calories is very restrictive and most likely sending your body into a starvation mode, which as he mentioned will slow down your metabolic rate (basically your body is trying to store fat for energy when you starve it again) Another sympton I have noticed especially in women beginning to work out... yes, your shoulders may have gotten a little bigger... mainly this is because you are building a little bit of muscle, and fat takes longer to burn off (or if your metabolism is low, may not burn off at all) As most serious lifters will tell you, it isnt easy to pack on mass, so don't worry about it... but you have to be patient through the period where your muscles fill out and the surrounding body fat is burned off... what you should find eventually, is you will be about the same size (arms, legs, etc) and the places where you "pocket" fat will reduce (such as waistline, hips, etc) There is variation for each individual of course, but having trained hundreds of people, I see at least 90% go through that cycle (the Oh My God, I am getting bigger! phase) Hope that helps ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 121 |
Every time I look in the mirror I'm praying for the, "Oh my God I'm getting bigger," phase!!  |
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posted September 29, 2000 03:25 AM