A few questions for the Pros

[girlfromPA]

Hi! I'm new to this site and am THRILLED I found it. I'm not even sure at this point how I stumbled upon it. Anyway, I am an avid exerciser but I still have problems with a few things and I was hoping someone might be able to help me out.

A little about me, I'm 26 next week, 5'5" and 132lb and 10.4% BMI. I go to the gym usually 5 times a week, as schedule permits, and try to make up for a missed day on the weekend, as schedule permits. I lift on one day (right now I'm doing total body super sets light weight/high rep) and do cardio on another. I also have a routine from my trainer to work on leg strength through sprinting and other resistance exercises in order to keep my inflamation prone knees strong and flexible. I developed this problem while training for the Marine Corps from all of the running and I don't want the problem to come back. It's a step up from my physical therapist's routine but isn't heavy lifting so I usually do it before I run as a warm-up. I also watch what I eat pretty closely. I think I'm going to start better counting calories now but I generally eat about 1300 to 1600 calories a day and 3 liters of water plus vitamins, antioxidants, and fish oil supplements. Most of my calories come from organic fruit and vegetables and protein shakes w/milk and I only eat locally raised free range and steroid free meat. Yay for living in the country.

Anyway, my problem is that I seem to have hit a plateau for fat loss and I don't think I look that great. I still have belly fat hiding my abs I mean they're kind of there but they could be way better and I have fat on the inside of my thighs that I hate and it doesn't seem to go away. I was looking around here but there's a lot of information and I'm not sure what to take in and what to ignore. I was looking at the HIIT stuff, is that OK for women to do? It seems to talk about body builders on the site but I have a similar goal, getting cut. If so it sounds like it might be what I need as I am now training for the FBI and the PFT has sprinting a 300M on it. The Marine Corps doesn't sprint so I haven't done it in a while. I was also wondering if I do HIIT can I also run too as I still have to run long distances for my PFT's. I'm not a runner and keeping my body able to run for a while took a lot of work and I'd like to stay there. Other than that I lift to stay toned not huge as I'm a girl and I'm already kind of big muscled from gymnastics all my life. I have trouble finding clothes that fit right as it is. My forearms and biceps are big and my middle is skinny so smalls fit great in the middle and are usually tight on my arms. I'm hoping that if I can rev up my body fat loss this might not be such a problem. I'm more interested in being skinny and toned than big and muscly. I'm sorry but that's just not hot. I don't think I missed anything, let me know if I did, and I hope someone can help me here.

[Adonis]

Welcome to EF!

I am going to recomend a couple of books.

1 - (The future of sports nutrition) Nutrient Timing, by John Ivy and Robert Portman

2 - Body Opus - Dan Duchaine

Hope that is of some help. nutrient timing is an excellent book!

[Adonis]

HIIT is a great idea for the ladies!

[Insex]

Welcome to EF girlfromPA. Are you actually from Pennsylvania? lol

Doing HIIT sessions would help strip off some more body fat from you. High-Intensity Interval Training offers the benefit of burning a huge amount of Calories in a short amount of time. So you're less likely to burn up precious muscle during a HIIT session rather than an endless cardio session.

Most importantly, what's your diet like on a typical day? How many meals do you eat throughout the day? What you eat, and when you eat it is very important for fat loss.

[girlfromPA]

Originally Posted by Insex

Welcome to EF girlfromPA. Are you actually from Pennsylvania? lol

Doing HIIT sessions would help strip off some more body fat from you. High-Intensity Interval Training offers the benefit of burning a huge amount of Calories in a short amount of time. So you're less likely to burn up precious muscle during a HIIT session rather than an endless cardio session.

Most importantly, what's your diet like on a typical day? How many meals do you eat throughout the day? What you eat, and when you eat it is very important for fat loss.

Yes, I am.

Anyway, I am still learning more about nutrition so maybe you can help me out here.

In the morning I drink one liter of water mixed with Alkalive Green (Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, Kamut Grass, Organic Alfalfa, Organic Spirulina) take my vitamins, fish oil, antioxidants. I drive to work while I digest that, as I have a small stomach and that's a lot of water at once. When I get to work at 8:30 (It's a 20 minute drive) I drink a protein shake (8oz w/ 1% milk) and eat a small banana or 8-10 Strawberries when they're in season. I have an 8oz protein shake for lunch and an apple and an orange. I have Protein at 3 before the gym at 5 and usually a couple whole wheat crackers, then for dinner usually baked or grilled chicken breast with a small salad with spring mix greens, cherry tomato, and feta cheese and balsamic vinegrette dressing (homemade) and some sort of steamed vegtable, either zuchini, green beans, brocolli, or something weird from the farm. Later I have more fruit either strawberries, blueberries, and black berries, kiwi, orange, or Mango and I take another multivitamin and fish oil and antioxidant. I drink in total 3 liters of water a day; One in the morning, one through out the day and one before, during, and after I workout.

[Insex]

Ok, so your schedule looks something like this:

Wake up: 1 liter of water with Alkalive Green (Wheat Grass, Barley Grass, Kamut Grass, Organic Alfalfa, and Organic Spirulina), vitamins, fish oil, and antioxidants.

8:30 AM: Protein shake and a banana or strawberries.

Lunch: Protein shake, apple, and orange.

3:00 PM (before workout): Protein shake and whole wheat crackers.

5:00 PM: Workout.

Dinner: Chicken, salad (spring mix greens, cherry tomato, feta cheese, and balsamic vinegrette dressing), steamed vegetables (zuchini, green beans, or brocolli).

Snack: Strawberries, blueberries, black berries, kiwi, orange, or mango with another multivitamin, fish oil, and antioxidant.

Correct me if I wrote down anything wrong in the above paragraph. Also, I have a few questions for you:

You say that you perform a workout that your personal trainer gave you. Is this diet also from your personal trainer? If not, then who recommended this diet to you? Also, in your last post, you mentioned that you have a "small stomach". Are you just saying that because you have a petite figure? Or did you priviously have a medical procedure done on yourself, like getting your stomach stapled?

Before I go on about your diet/workout regimen, I just want to make it clear that I'm not a doctor, certified personal trainer, or licensed dietitian. Anything that I say should not be regarded as professional advice. For professional nutritional advice, you would need to see your doctor or a licensed dietitian.

I think your diet could use a little tweaking. You seem to consume a lot of protein shakes. By 3:00 PM, you have already consumed 3 protein shakes, and very little food. Remember, protein powders are synthetic. Meaning, they're made in a factory, not in nature. It is better to get your main source of protein from real food, not synthetic products produced in a factory. It's ok to still consume that protein shake before or after your workout. Not everyone has the convenience to bring an entire kitchen and some chicken breast with them to the gym. That's why we use protein powders instead. But at every other time when you're away from the gym, you should try to consume whole foods instead of protein shakes. What foods are rich in protein? Milk, eggs, chicken, meat, fish, beans, legumes, brown rice, and tofu are a few examples.

Also, you consume a good amount of water per day--3 liters. However, 1/3 of the entire amount you drink for the day is consumed first thing in the morning. That's an awful lot of water to pound down all at once. Maybe try spreading out your water intake more by consuming a 1/2 liter first thing in the morning then the other 1/2 liter a couple hours later.

I know your goal is to trim off some fat, but you hardly have any carbohydrates listed on here, and you don't eat much of a breakfast. Vegetables are a good form of complex carbohydrates, but I don't see other complex carbohydrates like wheat, oats, barley, grains, or something that will add more fuel to your workouts. By the time you workout at 5:00 PM, the only real foods that you have consumed by that time are a bunch of fruits and a few crackers. In this list you have, you don't eat the most fulfilling foods until after your workout, at dinner time. Also, you workout later in the day at 5:00 PM, which means you're almost starving yourself until after your workout. The bulk of your Calories consumed are coming in after your workout. It's really important that you get enough Calories in you the hours before you hit the gym. Right now, you're struggling with trimming off that last little bit of fat because you are almost starving yourself during the first half of the day. Then you workout at 5:00 PM with barely anything in your stomach. You body is holding on to all the fat it has right now, because it's afraid its not going to get any substantial amount of food. That's why our body's store body fat: it's our backup energy supply during times of need, like during a famine. Just as I suggested earlier that you spread out your water intake, you should also spread out your overall Caloric intake, and try to eat something fulfilling for breakfast before work. Like a some oatmeal, a bowl of cereal, or some eggs. Please eat something.

Lastly, if you consume a well balanced diet which is composed of all the macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fats) then you won't need to buy a multivitamin/multimineral pills anymore, because you'll be getting all of the micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) from your diet. Plus, you are already getting a lot of vitamins and minerals from that drink you consume first thing in the morning, and from the fruits and vegetables you eat throughout the day.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but when I have so many ideas flowing through my head, it's difficult to keep it short. I hope that helps you get started with your endeavor. In the meantime, you should have a look at our Nutrition & Weight Loss forum. It's full of great information, many of which would be beneficial for you at this time. You can find it here:

http://www.extremefitness.com/forum/...splay.php?f=13

Hope that helps.

[Italianangel]

Everything he said.....teehee!!! I had to give you a rep nudge for this one, very nice.
Linda