Plateau :(

Macha

Hey guys,

I was wondering if you could help me with my diet/fitness regime.

Im 5'9, 11 stone and have been for the past 3 months.

Im trying to get down to 10 stone. My main aim at the moment is my weight coz im pretty happy with my strength & stamina.

Im aiming at about 1500-1700 calories a day, 40%carb 30%protein & 30% fat.

I go to the gym 3 times a week, 40 minutes free weights & abs, then 30 minutes on elliptical trainer & then 20 *painful* minutes on the stair climber thingy machine.

What am I doing wrong?!

Dragan

Whats your diet like, in that what are you eating and when?

Macha

Morning: porridge & soya milk & some fructose. Some Udo's Oil (ick)

Snack: low fat sweetner yog (Irish yoghurts) & piece of friut

Lunch: Either wrap with turkey, tomato & peppers (plus fruit & yoghurt) or some type of chicken salad with chickpeas or kidney beans

Aft snack: fruit

dinner: This is a tricky one coz my bof is vegetarian so I find it hard to get a low carb form of protein. I have tofu coming out my ears. But anyway:a sitr fry or chickpea curry or fajitas or sweet potatos w mixed beans in a tomato sauce

snack: fight temptation to devour chocolate & go for fruit instead

BrianD3

11 stone @ 5 foot 9 is a grand weight and in fact many would consider this to a bit too light/skinny.

So it's hard to understand why you want to drop down to 10 stone.

g'em

it really is a healthy weight to be. Chances are, if you've been doing weight training for a while you'll have lost some body fat and gained muscle (heavier than fat, your weight will go up). So, maybe your weight is just bothering you but physically you look fine (which is highly likely at that weight for your height- I'm 2 inches smaller and a few pounds heavier but slim from the training I do)?

Dragan

To add to the last two post, your diet is pretty decent as well.

Macha

ok thanks guys


Just wanted to double check that low intensity cardio over a long time is better at fat burning than HIIT?

g'em

hehe, bit of a 'discussion' about that going on here...

personally, I'd spend more time doing weights, and make sure you're really pushing yourself with them. Swinging a pink dumbell around for a few minutes isn't going to get good results. Heavier lifting will. It'll tone you, improve your posture, make you stronger and less prone to injury, increase you metabolism even while resting. tbh, weights will do more for you than cardio ever will

Macha

hey! i dont swing around pink dumbells! I think Im the only girl who ever goes into the weights room in UCD.

what do you think about HIT weight training? Or should I mix it up as recent post by dragon (I think) suggests?

Dragan

taconnol wrote:

I think Im the only girl who ever goes into the weights room in UCD.

Look G'em , you've found a friend!!!

g'em

taconnol wrote:

hey! i dont swing around pink dumbells! I think Im the only girl who ever goes into the weights room in UCD.

don't worry, just joking!!! There's a couple of girls round these parts who do weights in UCD, Seraphina's the only one I can think of off hand.

Personally I'd go for a mix of HIT and LIT. Actually I go for whatever I feel like doing. If I'm tired or if my legs are sore from weights I take it a little easy, do a 50-60 minute LIT session. If I'm energetic, or its a cardio only day I like to break a serious sweat and do HIT. I chop and change depending on how the ood takes me, but I always do something. There's nothing that'll demotivate you more than boredom with cardio.

g'em

Dragan wrote:

Look G'em , you've found a friend!!!

I know... it's quite an emotional moment for me actually...

taconnol... click on the link in my sig and I'll tell you all about weight training for the laydeez

Macha

cool thanks g'em

t-ha

Dragan wrote:

Look G'em , you've found a friend!!!

Yeah me too! Good work Taconnol!

*Although there's only one girl I see in there alot and you're not her :mad: , but I guess you could go there during the ten minutes while I leave to get water and post internet messages (hey you're right g'em - I don't do any work!).

Oh, BTW soy and tofu are evil... and can you pass this message on to your b/f;

Macha

I would love to but I would then be boyfriendless. He's fairly militant about the whole thing (ie. Level 5 vegan that doesn't eat anything that casts a shadow). Whenever we go food shopping together and I put some chicken in my basket, I feel a burning sensation in my back - it's his evil laser-eye stare that burns through concrete & steel.

Well I wouldn't say that Im in the weights room ALL the time. Just 2 evenings a week & sat mornings.

NOw im going to go totally off topic. WHy don't gym instructors talk to people who are doing stuff wrong, like squats with knees over toes,etc? Or even to people who appear to be dangerously thin (One girl in UCD looks like she would snap if you touched her)...?

Dragan

taconnol wrote:

WHy don't gym instructors talk to people who are doing stuff wrong, like squats with knees over toes,etc? Or even to people who appear to be dangerously thin (One girl in UCD looks like she would snap if you touched her)...?

Nothing wrong with doing squats knees over toes, it can actually be pretty dangerous to try and force them to stay behind if your doing some big weight as it can put a huge amount of pressure throught the knee joint. (( though generally speaking, if your muscles are strong enough to do some big weight, then your ligaments will be strong enough for a bit or knee over toe action! ))

All in all, when it comes to squats the only concrete rules are hells down, head up, arch your back and try and stay upright.

Everything else is really a matter of body type and limb lenght.

Oh yeah, and Instructors don't help because the most likely don't realise, or don;t care.

Oh yeah, and a poem about squats! robbed form some site somewhere i think.

Down the road, in a gym far away
A young man was heard to say,
"No matter what I do, my legs won't grow!"
He tried leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses too.
Trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he'd do!
From the corner of the gym where the big guys train,
Through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain,
Where the big iron rides high, and threatin' lives,
Where the noise is made with big forty-fives,
A deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees,
A very big man with legs like trees,
Laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack,
Chalked his hands and monstrous back,
Said, "Boy, stop lying and don't say you've forgotten!
Trouble with you is you aint been SQUATIN'!!"

bob04

In my oponion i dont think your eating enought to loose the weights.. try to eat ever 3 hours.. protein/efa's..

Keep carbs to a minimum.. breakfast/pre and post training...

You do your cardio directly after a weight session?

Do u take whey before you do the cardio? If not your probobly buring muscle for energy...

If u wanna loose more fat the options are:

am cardio on l-glutamine
green tea with breakfast
a good eca stack
if your doing cardio straight after weights..take a whey shake to stop yourself going catabloic

jester77

You should focus more on your BF% and not on your actual weight.
Do you know what your BF% is and do you keep track of it?
You may not have hit a plateau, you could still be adding muscle while losing fat.

Also do you know what your maintenance calorie level is, you may not be eating enough.
Calculate your BMR here using the Harris Benedict formula:
(male) BMR = 66 + (13.7 X weight in kgs) + (5 X height in cms) – (6.8 X age in yrs)
(female) BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kgs) + (1.8 X height in cms) – (4.7 X age in years)

I would class you as morderately active, so multiply your BMR by 1.55.
The result is the roughly the numbers of calories you need to maintain your current weight!

If you want to lose 1lb a week then that is 500kcal, subtract that from your maintenance level. You should keep track of your weight and BF% reguraly so that you can adjust the numbers until you get them to suit your body.

g'em

bob04 wrote:

a good eca stack

1. too advanced and unnecessary for what the OP wants

2. do you really want to go advocating banned substances on public board? stacking, while very effective, should be done as part of a controlled regime and only when you know exactly what you're doing.

And so long as the OP is eating a protein rich diet (which seems to be the case) and given the limited amounts of weights involved, whey isn't really necessary imo. But green tea is a defenite thumbs up.

bob04

Since when is an ECA stack a banned substance?

Do you not think that cardio directly after a weights sessions leads to catabolism?

g'em

ephedrine is prescription only in the UK and Ireland. variants of ephedrine like pseudophedrine and ma-huang are used in otc drugs and supplements.

and I do agree with you, but the OP is only doing very limited weights and so will probably only need carbs to keep going- the glycogen levels will not be thoroughly depeted from low intensity weights. eating a good protein/ carb meal an hour or so after the gym will be fine.

bob04

Ok no problem.... once its low intensity he will prob be ok

g'em

bob04 wrote:

Ok no problem.... once its low intensity he will prob be ok

ah.. i see the mix-up.. HE is a SHE!!!

bob04

Right.........mmmmmmmm

Apologies mate...

Macha

ah jeez, even when you say you have a boyfriend the default is male! ah well...

so green tea, eh?why does that help weight loss? what about white tea?

Also, to be a total novice, what sort of whey shakes are available, prices, etc?? Dont know a thing about them

bob04

Really sorry.. must have missed that point!!!

Benefits of green tea:
It contains catechin which is a strong antioxident in its own right, but, more importantly is a thermogenic ageent and has been demonstated to help weight reduction
It also contains other antioxidents in high levels
It is lower in caffeine than black (traditional) tea

However I strongly recommend stewing the green tea bag for a long time (5 mins) to get as much of the benefit from it as possible

As for whey.. if you go to www.fitnessireland.ie you can get 3 tubs for 150 euro.. which should last you a long long time...

Bob

Dragan

bob04 wrote:

As for whey.. if you go to www.fitnessireland.ie you can get 3 tubs for 150 euro.. which should last you a long long time...

Or four tubs of Pro X for only 160.,:D

Macha

but wont the whey shakes increase my calorie intake and therefore inhibit weight loss?

In UCD they told me my BF% was 18 but I dont believe that for a second.

bob04

120 calories per scoup will not make that much of a difference...

Once you create a colorie deficit. you will lose weight...

How many meals are you eating a day?

How was ur bodfat measured in the gym? Machine or calipers?

Macha

yeah thats true..

Daily calorie intake is aimed at 1500, but probably around 1700. Having done all those calculations, I should be losing BF.

Body fat was de ol' unreliable pinch test, off bicep, tricep, back (through t-shirt) and hip. I carry most of my weight on thighs & butt so I think it's higher than 18%

bob04

Through the t-shirt wont make is as accurate...

If it was done with the calipers it will prob be accurate enough....

What do you want to get ur bf% down to?

How many meals a day are you eating?

Are you taking dairy products.. eg full fat milk, cheese etc?

Do u wanna post up ur diet and times???? Maybe i can help?

Dragan

taconnol wrote:

Morning: porridge & soya milk & some fructose. Some Udo's Oil (ick)

Snack: low fat sweetner yog (Irish yoghurts) & piece of friut

Lunch: Either wrap with turkey, tomato & peppers (plus fruit & yoghurt) or some type of chicken salad with chickpeas or kidney beans

Aft snack: fruit

dinner: This is a tricky one coz my bof is vegetarian so I find it hard to get a low carb form of protein. I have tofu coming out my ears. But anyway:a sitr fry or chickpea curry or fajitas or sweet potatos w mixed beans in a tomato sauce

snack: fight temptation to devour chocolate & go for fruit instead

She already did dude.

g'em

taconnol wrote:

yeah thats true..

Daily calorie intake is aimed at 1500, but probably around 1700. Having done all those calculations, I should be losing BF.

Body fat was de ol' unreliable pinch test, off bicep, tricep, back (through t-shirt) and hip. I carry most of my weight on thighs & butt so I think it's higher than 18%

OMG, bf 18%, you're 5' 9", 11 stone and you aim for 1500 calories a day?!??! woman you're crazy!!!!

that's far too little for someone of your size and weight. you can figure out your daily calorie requirements here..

it really does sound like you're not eating enough tbh..

Macha

never thought i'd quote myself but there's a first for everthing.

taconnol wrote:

Morning: porridge & soya milk & some fructose. Some Udo's Oil (ick)

Snack: low fat sweetner yog (Irish yoghurts) & piece of friut

Lunch: Either wrap with turkey, tomato & peppers (plus fruit & yoghurt) or some type of chicken salad with chickpeas or kidney beans

Aft snack: fruit

dinner: This is a tricky one coz my bof is vegetarian so I find it hard to get a low carb form of protein. I have tofu coming out my ears. But anyway:a sitr fry or chickpea curry or fajitas or sweet potatos w mixed beans in a tomato sauce

snack: fight temptation to devour chocolate & go for fruit instead

bob04

Apologies...

My heads recked here doing my thesis!!!!!

In my oponion your not eating enough meals...

Try to eat every 3 hours... any longer in between meals and your body will store extra fat because it will think you are starving yourself...

I would also add in more protein with ur meals.. eg eggs, chicken, fish etc...

And the meals that you are not eating fish, suplement your EFA's with some udos oil....

When do you train?

Macha

no no! my BF ISNT 18% that's just what they said in UCD, but like I said, they measured areas that I dont carry a lot of fat on.

Man you guys are quick replying!

g'em

bob04 wrote:

I would also add in more protein with ur meals.. eg eggs, chicken, fish etc...

And the meals that you are not eating fish, suplement your EFA's with some udos oil....

OP doesn't eat meat/ fish.. boyfriend is vegan... read a little

g'em

taconnol wrote:

no no! my BF ISNT 18% that's just what they said in UCD, but like I said, they measured areas that I dont carry a lot of fat on.

Man you guys are quick replying!

yes, yes we are its better than working..

but still, 11 stone for your height is by no means overweight. Like I said before, a good weight program will quicken up your weight loss and increse your metabolism so your body is better at breaking down the food you do ingest

bob04

She says her boy friend is vegetarian.. not her!!!

Macha

I train 2-3 days during week, evenings. And then Saturday morning.

g'em

g'em wrote:

boyfriend is vegan...

bob04 wrote:

She says her boy friend is vegetarian.. not her!!!

um.. yeah I know..

Dragan

While i kinda understand there intentions living with a Veg, even a friend who is a Veg can be a total pain in the ass.

Everytime i used to cook a mate i lived with would give me ****. One day, i freaked out, went into a big tirade about how i could do what ever i want, and if i wanted eat meat then that was my right.

His parting shot was "You are what you eat" (( trying to imply i was an animal i suppose , but does this not mean he should have loved me ))

My reply ( i was cooking a steak )

"So your saying i'm cattle, and your veg. Now **** off or i'll eat you!!!"

bob04

So there is nothing stopping her eating meat.. shes not a vegeterian....

g'em

bob04 wrote:

So there is nothing stopping her eating meat.. shes not a vegeterian....

but she finds it hard to eat meat when her bf doesn't like it, which I can totally understand.

Macha

Well technically there's nothing stopping me eating meat but the practicalities of cooking two dinners a night are a pain.

Also he makes me fell INCREDIBLY guilty when I eat meat & it all ends in an argument.

Reyman

Change Bfs! That one sounds like a waste of time!