I have never asked for advice on here before, so here it goes. I hope I am not too lengthy, I will try to be brief and to the point.

I have been steadily working out for 3 years now.

Gradually I would advance in my routines, and switch things up with my cardio and weight training.

I know I am still needing to cut fat before I can really get into the building of muscles.

My routine basically consists of 5 days at the gym, sometimes 2 or 3 days on, 1 day off, etc. And I start out by warming up with cardio for 5 or 10, weight train for an hour, and then hit the cardio and do intervals on the tread/ellip/stepper/spinning for 30 minutes and then 15 more minutes on another machine of my choice. I switch this cardio up every time.

My meals ever day are pre-made for the most part, snacking is random:

Meal 1: Oatmeal w/ rasb.'s or splenda brown sugar or banannas, or cereal with banannas, eveything with FF milk.

Meal 2: An apple and/or protien bar

Meal 3: Pre-made meal of egg whites, turkey, and brocolli or beans

Meal 4: (pre workout meal) Usually jst an energy drink for muscle pumps, or a protein shake with carbs/300 calories. Something to work off of.

Meal 5: Pre-made meal that is the same, sometimes dessert is Nat. PB, or grapes.


I try not to eat more for my last meal, but sometimes I squeeze in a bowl of cereal again because I am hungry. I carry a glallon of water every where I go every day. So I try to drink as much of that as I can.

I am pretty intense in the gym. I do work pretty hard. But my results are kind of slowing down. I think I am overtraining and not eatting right somewhere........so I started doing the two day on and 1 day off routine. It might be that I am getting tired or not wanting to hit the gym because of lack of something somewhere. And I have been bad on my splurge/cheat nights.

I have to admit, I'm not looking worse, so to speak. Only feeling jiggly in areas where I forget to do certain exercises (butt- need to do more lunges every week).

Does anyone have any friendly advice to throw at me? I don't like to go by the scale, but I have been hanging around 165 for like, forever now. And I am 5'8. Not overweight or anything. Just well built and use to lift too heavy. So the muscle is certainly not my MAIN focus right now, just fat loss and THEN focus more on heavier weights and less cardio. Cardio is my main focus right now.

Phew. Sorry so lengthy. =)

Diet is key, If I'm cutting I cut back on carbs and calories and some fats. I workout 6 days a week and rest only one. I find jogging at least a 1/2 hour a day is the best way to help cut the fat, of course with proper diet. My main cutting routine is to ride my bike for a 1/2 hour and then jog for another.

Good luck and stick with it!

Thank you for the advice. I need all the advice I can get1 =) Today is leg day and i have a lot to look forward to! Legs for over an hour, and a spinning class for cardio. I think I may need crutches tomorrow!:rolleyes:

Your situation reminds me of what Jedi is/was going through. You're doing everything right but you're just not getting the results you want. Browse for her posts to get some tips.

It doesn't sound like any small tweaks would make a very big difference. I'm not really sure what to suggest. All you can do is experiment with various routines that introduce something completely and suddenly different: a dramatic change in macronutrient split or meal timings, type of training, calorie zig-zagging, etc. Maybe a couple of short bulking and cutting cycles or a fast? Try doing cardio on ONLY non-lifting days, or try something crazy like eliminating cardio for a couple of weeks and just doing lifting, or eliminating lifting and just doing cardio.

I think if you do something that's out of your normal routine, it might be enough of a shock for your body to start using its fuel differently.

:gl:

First thing I noticed, you didn't mention timing of your workouts/meals. What you eat is just as important as when you eat it in relation to when you go to the gym.

Second, your cheats. You do realize it's entirely possible to stunt your progress with an overly indulgent cheat meal? It can take days for your body to recover and begin to progress again (I've personally noticed lingering effects of cheat meals up to five days later). Try cleaning up your cheats, restrict yourself to no more than ONE reasonable cheat meal per week.

You might also benefit from taking a week off. Relax, let your body heal, and pick back up in a week's time. If you've been working out with this dedication and intensity for three years, your body may simply have adapted to the exercise you're doing. Have you considered changing your diet? Your exercise? I'm also not a fan of cardio and lifting in the same gym session. In my never humble opinion, if you are spending more than 60 minutes in a gym per session, you're overtraining and/or not training hard enough in your time there. I'm a big fan of short, intense workouts with minimal rest periods and moderate weight/sets. But I change that up very frequently so that my body cannot adapt.

Just some things to consider.

-R

:tu:I think then I will do this: Yesterday was leg day and I also did the spinning class. I am nice and sore today. So I think i will just do my back and abs today, nice and good......and then a good HIIT session on Friday.

Can anyone send me a link to where they explain in detail what HIIT is? And is that, in your opinion, what I need to do for fat loss? I like to do long 45 minute sweaty cardio sessions. I am use to intervals of running at 7.5-8.0 mph on a treadmill for 30 and a cooler session for 15 on another machine.

Thanks everyone! =)

Can anyone send me a link to where they explain in detail what HIIT is? And is that, in your opinion, what I need to do for fat loss? I like to do long 45 minute sweaty cardio sessions. I am use to intervals of running at 7.5-8.0 mph on a treadmill for 30 and a cooler session for 15 on another machine.


HIIT is easy, but people try to make it too complicated.

Basically, for your work intervals, you go all out. Don't worry about heart rate, just worry about putting maximum effort in. Recover at a slow speed, then repeat.

Starting out go for something like :30 work and 1:30 recovery. Maybe 5-7 intervals. Once you get to where you are doing 10 intervals, you can start upping the work intervals and reducing the recovery intervals.

Damn, and wouldn't that be embarrassing if I went up to 9.0mph and tripped on the treadmill from going that fast!?:o

I will do that tomorrow =). Thanks for the advice!

P.S. I use to run uphill (15% grade) on 1:00min on and 1:00 recpvery for 20 minutes. But that started to build a lot of backside muscles. And I got burned out on it. Is that the same thing? It was NOT the easiest cardio I have ever done! It killed me and took a while to get use to the "pain" involved and get over the mental anguish. Its hard tp push yourself to run uphill like that straight with intervals. Ugh. I don't miss it.

lift heavy weights for 6-12 reps ,all free weights compound exercises ,minimize isolations and machines as much as possible.

So, in other words, how much cardio should I be doing here a week? I would say my BF% is still somewhere between 20 and 23%. I would bet anyway. You wouldn't think so if you saw me. But somehow it is. So I would like to trim this fat on top of all my muscle. Personally, I kNOW I look big and muscular because of all the underlying muscle. But running might kill my knees. =(

Just a thought...

You might try incorportating two cardio sessions a day. In the morning do some HIIT and then at night add a jog or bike at a slower pace. I've found that fat disappears when I do 2 sessions a day. Your eating has to be in check, because i've also found that muscle can vanish as well. Here's an article that outlines HIIT and another thread that might be useful. Good luck!


http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=weight.loss&category=abs.diet&conitem=ca718c37f2728010VgnVCM200000cee793cd____

http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=36735&highlight=HIIT

Sounds like your talking about me....Same story...same height, same weight....won't budge. I have hit it really hard with the diet (fitday.com)...I log everything in and try to stay 40p,40carbs,20 fat! I also think your overtraining (like me). I want it so bad but I think I was doing too much. I cut my cardio down for the summer (basically just walking and running every other week or so). I think it made a huge difference now because now I have shocked my body with cardio again and I beginning to see some changes. Its very hard for me not to get on the treadmill or go out and run thinking that will help me loose more but I think with all the lifting and cardio everyday my body just got use to it and became stuck. Right now I my schedule looks like this
Monday- chest and triceps
Tuesday -back and biceps
Wednesday-shoulders and abs
Thursday- legs
Friday-Off
Saturday- Run (today I'll run 10)
Sunday-off

I am currently at 18% body fat last time the trainer did it. The process is going slow but my goal is to be about 155. Keep me posted sounds like we are in the same boat. Good Luck:tucool:

Let me clarify...I am also training for a half marathon coming up...usually I don't run that far. Usually just 4-6. I forgot to add that on Tueday I usually run a fast 1-2 miles and Thursday I'll do some sort of light cardio for 40 minutes and then run a long run on Saturday. I use to lift everyday, do 45 minutes of cardio and then walk for an hour at night. Way to much in my opinion...so I dropped back on cardio, tightened up on the diet, started lifting heavier and I'm on the road to getting thinner (I hope).

I feel that you need to eat more to feed all the workouts you are doing. Your diet does not seem to have any veggies in it. You are doing around 45 minutes of cardio per day. At a casual pace thats about 700-1000 calories or so burned. Thats just an estimate but it's probably around there.

With that, you lift weights which would count for a couple hundred calories. It looks like your only intaking around 1500 or so a day at best. You seem to be working off at least 1000 of those everyday which leaves very little for your bodies vital functions, like your brain, heart, liver, etc. They will have no choice but to get their feul from your muscles. If they use your muscles for fuel, then this will just be a viscous circle for you. You will seem to eat less, work harder and look fatter. Those last pounds won't come off no matter what you do.

I did the same thing so you are not alone. You should look closely at eating more and you will see the results that you want. Good luck.

You are doing around 45 minutes of cardio per day. At a casual pace thats about 700-1000 calories or so burned. Thats just an estimate but it's probably around there.



mm:confused:it really depends on your weight... if i do around 45 mins of casual pace cardio i wd only burn around 400 calories!!!

The only thing that seemed to help me has been decreasing cardio (doing mix of HIIT and MISS), increasing lifting (as heavy as i can go with compound lifts) and carb cycling , in my case doing the anabolic diet (high fat low carb 6 days a week with one day carb up) but even this seems to have been temporary as i have regained when trying to return to maintenance cals..

in way :gl:

mm:confused:it really depends on your weight... if i do around 45 mins of casual pace cardio i wd only burn around 400 calories!!!

Yeah it is completely different from one person to the next. Now that decent heart rate monitors are not that expensive, there's no reason not to measure the exercise Calories.

Regardless of the actual numbers of calories burned during the 45 minute cardio session, the fact still remains that the diet has no nutritional balance and there are not enough calories in it.

angley:

for three weeks try cutting out all breads/oatmeals/cereals and replacing them with fruits and vegetables for your carbohydrates of sugar and fibers.

for one slice of bread i would eat a tomato and 4 carrots. stuff like that. lots of broccoli, spinach, apples, oranges, plums, etc.

i think you'll see better results by switching up your diet. the fact that you said 'lunges' in your first post tells me that you are on the right track already with your training. do more full body workouts 3-4 days a week and fewer isolation days. just my .02 ;-)

welcome to the board. enjoy your stay. welcome to health <3

Regardless of the actual numbers of calories burned during the 45 minute cardio session, the fact still remains that the diet has no nutritional balance and there are not enough calories in it.

The diet definitely needs improving but as for number of calories I really couldn't say. I also don't have the OP's stats... for example to lose fat I have to lower cals to 1400-1600, this may also be true for the OP.

I agree with Jedi. We would need more info.

Kree-Kree,

I will keep you posted. Sure DOES sound like we are like, twins in this situation. The only diffrence was that I wasn't walking when I got home for an hour, I was doing like, isolated small workouts in my room with my weight set, or lunges or ab workouts. Late at night before i go to bed.


So, if I can't have any carbs and cereals.......what am I suppose to eat for breakfast? And in order to workout as hard as I do....don't I need SOME carbs? Phew, this sounds brutal! What do you guys eat for breakfast then? If I can't eat the carbs, there's no way I will be able to consume as many calories as I need to by the time I get to my 4:30 workout!:eek: I'll be a freakin Zombie dragging my feet! And that cute new personal trainer will think I have some sort of foreign illness on me!

I don't know what kind of stats you need, but I am stuck around 160-165-170 (It fluctuates, and a lot of that is contributed to water since I drink a gallon a day almost).

I don't know what BF% I am at right now, because every time my personal trainer checked when I got to the gym, it was after I was almost done drinking my gallon, and he was measure me at 25%. Made me angry. And it was before my sweaty workout too. So I never thought it was acurate.

I am also 5'8. Last I checked, I should consume around 1500 calories or 1600 a day. Not sure if that has changed or not. Today I just had a bowl of oatmeal and strawberries, will have almonds and an apple for a snack, then my premade meal of egg whites, chicken and green beans and kidney beans for lunch, then a 110 calories protein shake pre-workout, and a protein shake after the workout to replenish carbs.....then another premade meal for dinner.

Did you look at logging all your food into fitday.com ? I still eat my carbs but I try to limit them for breakfast and after my workout. Then my carbs come from broccoli, carrots or a piece of fruit for lunch. My favorite breakfast I have are Mya's pancakes she recommends in the recipes (.5 cup of oatmeal, .5 cup fat free cottage cheese, 3 egg whites, cinnaomon, vanilla and 2 sweet and lows...blend in the blender and pour like pancakes YUMMY! Thats 279 calories 45p,46 carbs,9 g fat) then I work out, after I'll have an EAS shake and a piece of fruit, lunch is two California veggie burgers from Costco on a piece of WW bread, snack is 1T of natural PB on a Latortilla wrap, dinner is 6 oz of chicken and some broccoli, bedtime snack is 1 cup of FF milk with a scoop of protein powder (averages out to be about 1600-1700 calories 40,40,20) I am really trying to stay lower with calories right now because even with all the working out the weight doesn't seem to drop unless I stay lower calories. This week I'm going to try to increase the protein even more and see what happens. I know for one thing I drink to much diet coke and not enough water. I'm going to try and work on that as well. My trainer has me at 18-19% body fat right now. I think it comes down to calories...some how stay low on calories and eat lots of protein. I totally believe its diet because God knows I'm working out enough (Monday- trainer, Tuesday-fit class, ran fast mile, Wednesday- walked for an hour, Thursday- lifted Friday- off , ran 11 miles on Saturday and 3.1 on Sunday). Keep me updated since we're on the same boat. Log into Fitday and figure out your calories, fat, protein and carbs and see if that helps. Keep me updated-K

Wondering how your doing? Its going very slow for me. Down 2 pounds!:D Seems like my body wants to stay at this weight and I'm really having to fight.

You can send personal messages to me if you want Kree-Kree =). I dont mind.

Slow as mollasses. (sp?) As usual. I keep remembering that I have stayed at 165 for over a year, and its frustrating. I have so much more muscle, and I know I need to alternate my cardio and weight lifiting days. But I am having a hard time weening myself off of that habit. I am slowly getting better. If I get bored or don't want to go home, I tend to do too much at the gym. Tomorrow I will make it back day only. And Saturday will be cardio.

But when I looked in the mirror at my backside, and my legs.......legs are getting toner, and waistline is slimming. Its the switching up of the cardio thats doing it I think. And also trying not to overtrain and spend less time at the gym. Amazing how spending less time and alternating does this to the body. You THINK your goiing to get fat, when it won't. Guess its all pshychological.:lol:

Ang