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need a radical change, but not sure what to change?
i. I'm a 37 year old female athlete (not competing) who's having a very very hard time losing bodyfat. For the past 12 months, I"ve been on progressive training programs, gradually adding cardio and consistently lifting heavier weights. I am strong. I am in good cardiovascular shape. But I consider myself huge. I'm about 150 lbs, 20-21 percent bodyfat, and a US size 10 (size 8 in clothes from some of the chain stores, such as Banana Republic), but size 12 in some clothes from European upscale designers.
I have also experimented with eating more, and gradually reducing kcals. I hired an online trainer to design 6 months worth of meal plans, and a personal trainer, and performed each training session to the best of my ability. I ate very close to meal plans - I'd say about 80-90 percent compliance, on average.
My diet consisted of egg whites + whole egg and spinach for bfast.
Mixed greens, some veggies, protein and a few nuts for lunch
Simlar for dinner, perhaps with 1-2 tsp of olive oil, coconut oil or flax.
When my kcals were higher, I was also eating 2 protein shakes per day - scoop of protein powder, 1/2-1 cup frozen berries, 1/2 cup yogurt, flaxseed and Greens+, a powder supplement.
I lost about 1 percent bodyfat (by calipers) while eating this way for 6 mos, cycling kcals gradually down to about 1100 kcal/day. I have not seen any decrease in bodyfat in the mirror.
I am now considering doing a more severe ketogenic diet and giving up weight lifting (in favor or Pilates-type work). I have powerful, large muscles, and I feel that lifting heavy weights gives me a look that I don't much like.
I'm really scared to do keto, though, because I've never eaten much fat in my life, and also because I have a problem "picking" at carb foods, such as bread crusts and cookies. (I never eat one whole, but may have 1/2 cookie a day and up to one slice of bread /day in "picks"). I am hoping that by eating higher amounts of fat, my carb cravings will diminish. But I'm not sure.
You nailed it in your last paragraph. Up the fats!
Give it a couple of weeks, but I bet your carb cravings will diminish with consistently larger amounts of healthy fats.
First off, in case you haven't noticed, we're all very big on fish oil here. Start with that. (Not for cravings for for overall health!) Perhaps this and a second tablespoon of olive oil each day (this is just a suggestion to begin, not an "absolute" for results!)
Also, how is your water intake? That can be a big factor in body composition changes too.
One last thing: check out www.turbulencetraining.com
(Craig is also a member here and is great about answering questions regarding his products!)
Don't be afraid to give a stricter ketogenic diet a try, it's only a big deal if you think of it that way. It's a great way to curb your carb cravings (and kill the picking habit) and to teach you to eat higher fat.
What are your skinfolds like? Do you have the exact measurements? You can PM them to me, I would like to take a look.
Your calories are pretty low. Abandoning weights might not be the best option. You might want to cut down on volume big time (like do 2x5 or 3x3 or something like that in a full body routine) and up the intensity and frequency of HIIT sessions. There is a always a way to get better. if you are not following a specific plan to get better, you won't. Aren't you a member over at the PN forums?
How long has it been since you have taken a week and eaten at your projected maintenance caloric intake? I am assuming that it would be in the ballpark of 1800-2000 calories depending on your PA.
Often times when people stagnate with fat loss on a diet it's because their body has adapted to the lower calories...the way to reverse that trend is take a week and eat at maintenance....when you get back on your diet your metabolism will be picked up and you'll start dropping again. 9 times out of ten, if that does NOT happen after you honestly eat higher maintenance calories, then being evaluated for hypothyroidism might be somthing to check into.
Oftentimes a person will actually shed fat the week they increase their calories...some water weight gain initially but when that insulin starts stimulating the stimulatory neurotransmitters..those are what drive the metabolism...
I have a perfect example of this. I was preparing for my contest and six weeks out as much as it killed me and scared me kind of, I took what I call a download week. A week of complete rest from training, and maintenance calories. I had posed withmy coach the tuesday before I started this, and then came back for my next posing session a week later, after eating like 1750 calories and NO training...not even cardio. She made the comment to me (I was SHOCKED) that never had she seen anyone make such fat loss progression in one week than she was seeing right there with me! So, give it a shot, I think you will be pleased with what you find!
As far as suppressing your appetite...this is a problem I deal with more often than not. I have often heard that higher fat intake works wel (it certainly has at times with me when I have cycled in some higher fat days here and there) But as much as it kills me to eat smaller amounts more often, it is the one of the best ways to keep calories in check and NOT be hungry all the time..and I mean like every two hours eating....HOWEVER!!!!!......
Do not worry about that for just ONE week...just go ahead and eat maintenance. Your body will probably thank you and start working over time on fat loss for you again! Good luck and feel free to ask any more questions.
Thanks so much to all who have replied! I'm grateful.
On fish oil - I take supplements daily, and I actually don't eat any red meat and very little poultry, so my diet is quite heavy in fish already.
I ate at maintenance (and above) about 5-6 months ago for a couple months. I gain slightly on anything above 1500 kcal. But my weight doesn't go up a lot, just so that my pants are tighter. As I progressed downward from 2000kcal a day to 1100 kcal/day over the course of 6 months, I added in "refeed' days every week - nothing crazy, just more good food. I always felt better after these meals, but nothing happened with my bodyfat composition.
Recently, I had knee surgery and had to take a week off. I stayed about the same, weight-wise, but was naturally less hungry. I'm unable to leg work at present, but I do very intense cycling workouts, including 2-3x/week HIIT, and a couple of less intense days.
During my 6 month program, I started eating 5x a day, which was super tough. Now I eat 3 meals plus 1 snack, and I find that my body responds better to less meals for some reason.
I guess I'm trying to figure out now how/whether to try full keto, and what giving up lifting would do....
For the past month, I've been cycling 5 days a week, for between 30-45 minutes, and 3x week weight lifting using the video system "P90X", which involves a lot of push ups, pull ups, and dumbbells for shoulders/arms. It's tough.
I agree with Ian about Turbulence Training (the link is in his post). There has been a lot of success using that program. Or you could pick up New Rules of Lifting (there's an amazon link for it in the sidebar on the main page of the forum). The fat loss routines have worked for others who have done them (you can check the training log section for that).
Your diet is probably ok, it's your training that's letting you down.
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I did NROL Fat loss 1 and 2 from March to May last year. (it is a great book, i agree). got stronger, but not leaner. P90X is traditional lifting, but it's at home, so I use a pull up bar, heavy dumbells, and do several different kinds of push ups. It's actually a fairly well designed program. I've been lifting for enough years that I can tell if a program is thorough.
(Also - right now, I can't do traditional leg work because I had knee surgery 1 month ago and my knee is still not good.)
I know picking is a problem. Perhaps I just need to be more disciplined. Ugh. ... I will have to increase fats and see how it goes.
need a radical change, but not sure what to change?
Perhaps this and a second tablespoon of olive oil each day (this is just a suggestion to begin, not an "absolute" for results!)
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