I'm a 24 yr old female (5'8", 124 lbs) and started working out 5x a week (cardio using elliptical/treadmill - 35 min and weights alternating upper and lower body - 20 min) in Jan. 2004. I have maintained this regimen ever since. I'm trying to lose 4 lbs and get back to 120 lbs. However, it seems to me like I'm not seeing any results. Why is my weight not budging?? :mad:

My diet's alright...I have a very fast metabolism (and get hungry every 2-3 hours) so I eat about 5-6 small meals a day. I do notice more muscles (and less jiggly fat), esp in my inner thigh area, but I can't seem to get the abs that I want nor the toning that I'm craving. Is there supposed to be no progress in 5 months??? :(

What's going on here? Can one of you "experts" please recommend a diet+exercise routine that you think will work for me without bulking me up? I'm fed up with not seeing results! Thanks! :tucool:

What does your diet look like? Give us an example of the 5-6 meals you would eat on a mormal day.

What does your diet look like? Give us an example of the 5-6 meals you would eat on a mormal day.

Breakfast: 1/2 banana, 1 cup Kashi Cereal (either Go Lean or Good Friends) with a tbs of currants, 3/4 cup skim milk

Snack: Fat free yogurt + 1 cup of baby carrots + some cucumber

Lunch: 2 Turkey slices w/ Fat-free swiss cheese on 2 slices Weight-watchers bread (low calorie = 45 cal/slice) + 1 apple

Snack: Cheese string + 1/2 cottage cheese

Dinner: 1 cup pasta (or brown rice) with tomato sauce and veggies

Snack: 1 cup cherries + 1 cup grapes (or any other fruit) and occasionally microwavable popcorn or 1 cup low fat chocolate pudding or 1 cup frozen yogurt

That's my "on a good day" diet. Here's what I had today (this happens once in a while):

Breakfast: 1/2 banana, 3/4 cup skim milk, 1 cup Kashi cereal, 1 tsp currants, 1/4 cup cottage cheese (1%)

Lunch: Chicken panini (chicken breast + tomatoes + pickles + 2 slices mozzarella cheese + honey mustard sauce on focaccia bread), 1/4 cup cottage cheese + 2 cups frozen yogurt + 1 apricot + handful currants

Snack: 1/2 cup cottage cheese + 1 turkey slice + cheese string

Dinner: 1 cup chicken noodle soup, 2 slices low cal bread, 1/2 cottage cheese, 1 Danone mousse (60 cal), and 1 cup grapes + 1 cup cherries

Do you think I'm eating too much cottage cheese? Please let me know what you think. I'd REALLY appreciate it. Thanks!

I would suggest getting your diet dialed. I know you think your diet is OK, but without some dilligent tracking of calories for a few weeks, it is really hard to tell how many calories you are putting in your body. It is imperative that you begin by knowing how many calories you are ingesting. It is also important to know how they are breaking down concerning carbs, fats, and protiens. You must also concern yourself with WHAT you are ingesting. Eating healthy is another key part to controlling your bodies mass. Eating healthy also allows you to eat MORE food. A bucket of vegetables would probably have the same calories as a ice cream sundae. This might not be what you are eating, but I think you get the point.

Once you have painstakingly tracked food for a few weeks, you build a pretty good idea of what you need to shop for at the grocery store, and what you need to eat daily. At this point you can either back off on the calorie tracking, or continue it until you are crazy..hehe. The cardio is great, but if you are still maintaining weight with your current 5 day cardio workout, then your diet needs some detailed attention.

Now I am no pro, but I thought I would offer my ideas to be shredded and put back into proper place by the pros. :D There are some very intelligent and learned women on this site that cill certainly be able to help you out with ideas as to what their intake is and such.

Good luck on your quest for uber tone and remember: If you are ingesting more than you are burning, you will gain weight. From the sound of your post, you are at your maintenance calories... hence your maintaining your weight. Then again, you might be losing fat and gaining muscle. You said you have seen some progress in that area.

Two sites that can help you out are:

www.fitday.com
www.mybodycomp.com

Set yourself up, dial the diet, check yourself in a week, repeat ad naseum. :nod:

four

I suggest stop looking at the numbers on the scale.

You are at a very low weight for your height, no matter what your frame size.

Maybe try to get your body fat % measured to see what you are at. Focus on that rather than the 4 pounds that you somehow think you need to lose. Maybe post some pictures for us.

I suggest stop looking at the numbers on the scale.

You are at a very low weight for your height, no matter what your frame size.

Maybe try to get your body fat % measured to see what you are at. Focus on that rather than the 4 pounds that you somehow think you need to lose. Maybe post some pictures for us.


It's not a matter of whether or not I'm under or over the "ideal" weight for my height; it's a matter of me wanting to lose the extra 4 lbs. Plus, I thought I could get some decent advice instead of criticism from people like you. Thanks anyway.

I am not an expert, but I believe that I have a good understanding..

You should figure out your basal metabolic rate (BMR). That will give you how many calories you should be eating. Use the Harris-Benedict Formula to figure it out. You might want to think about tracking your calories on fitday.com as Fourteener said, to make sure that you are eating the right amount of calories. You don't want to eat too little!

You said that you have seen some muscle gains, so that means that you are doing somethig right. Remember, as you loose fat your weight may not necessarily change, since you are adding muscle... You should try to stay with clean foods. You also might also want to consider a protein shake..

It's not a matter of whether or not I'm under or over the "ideal" weight for my height; it's a matter of me wanting to lose the extra 4 lbs. Plus, I thought I could get some decent advice instead of criticism from people like you. Thanks anyway.

YIKES! Good luck...

I beleive what Fourteener was trying to emphasize is that the scale weight of 120-124 is not as important as the body composition behind it. For example lets look at a person who is 120 pounds and 40% bodyfat and one who is 120 pounds and 15% bodyfat.

120 / 40% BF= 72 pounds of lean mass and 48 pounds of fat.

120 / 15% BF= 102 pounds of lean mass and 18 pounds of fat.

Now they both weigh the same but due to the much improved body compostion of our 15% person she will look tight and toned. The 40% person will look not very healthy.

During a fitness program that involves weight training, proper diet and aerobic exercise you may not see the scale weight decrease rapidly or at all but you may see changes in your body composition that indicate you are losing fat but retaining or gaining lean mass which is what makes you look toned and in shape. If you work out at a gym they should be able to perform a body fat caliper test for you. Bodyfat is as important to track to get a true indication of your progress.

Bodyfat is as important to track to get a true indication of your progress.

Thanks for your post, I appreciate it. Just wondering if you know what a good body fat percentage is for a woman with my stats. I want to look toned but not overly muscular or bulky (which I know is difficult for woman to achieve, but still).

Thanks!

I did a quick search to see what I could come up with...I'm not an expert about womens fitness (you might want to see what the women on the Women's Forum have to say...) but the consensus of the couple sites I checked said:

Body Type Female
Athlete <17%
Lean 17-22%
Normal 22-25%
Above Average 25-29%
Overfat 29-35%
Obese 35+%

What kind of excersizes are you doing? How much training and of what kind...

Also, I agree with the posters on this topic so far...you need to figure out your diet with a little more depth. Its great that you're eating every couple hours, thats perfect, and it seems you're eating pretty healthy food (although watch the microwave popcorn, hehe!). If your'e lifting make sure you're getting enough protein. Just by seeing your diet example (which isn't much to go off of, so this is only a guess...) my impression is that you're getting too many carbs and possible simple carbs that aren't going to help you as much as complex carbs. Keep posting and we'll help you through.

It's not a matter of whether or not I'm under or over the "ideal" weight for my height; it's a matter of me wanting to lose the extra 4 lbs. Plus, I thought I could get some decent advice instead of criticism from people like you. Thanks anyway.

How did you gain the four pounds? Are your clothes tighter now? It seems a little fruitless to try and get back to 120 pounds simply because you used to be at that weight before. Did you look better at that weight? Did you feel healthier? Did you have more energy? I don't think the members here are really into sabotaging anyone's efforts; I think it's more a matter of checking to see that people's goals are properly in line.

I think the point that WickedFaerie was trying to make is that maybe your goal weight is arbitrary, or no longer suits the person that you are. If your weight has stayed the same since beginning an intense weight training and cardio program, then probably you have replaced some of the fat you had with new muscle. What changes have you noticed in the mirror? Have you taken pictures?

Trinity posted amazing pictures a while back of her progress in her weight training and cardio progra. After quite some times, she was still at the same weight, but had a lower body fat percentage. You don't necessarily need to be lighter to look and feel better.

I don't know what a good body fat percentage is for women, and from past threads, it seems that most women here are just as confused as I am. Search the forums for "body fat" and look at all relevant threads.

It's not so much a caloric breakdown that has to be identified, the diet outline is horrid. Milk, cereal, bread, fruit, pudding, popcorn, etc.

Looks like my bulking diet!

~SC~

It's not so much a caloric breakdown that has to be identified, the diet outline is horrid. Milk, cereal, bread, fruit, pudding, popcorn, etc.

Looks like my bulking diet!

~SC~
Damn, I cant wait until I switch up to SUP2 for bulking... ;-) I have 10 boxes of frosted flakes labeled "FOR BULKING ONLY". I cant wait!!!! ;)

It's not so much a caloric breakdown that has to be identified, the diet outline is horrid. Milk, cereal, bread, fruit, pudding, popcorn, etc.

Looks like my bulking diet!

~SC~

Hi, thanks for the response. Just to let you know, the pudding, popcorn, etc. stuff is only occassional and not part of my daily dietary regime.

I think the ONE thing that I'm DYING to know is what a good dietary regime should look like. You obviously look like you know what you're doing so do you have any suggestions for a female like me who doesn't want to bulk up, wants to lose 4 lbs, and look toned? I would REALLY appreciate any advice in terms of diet and proper foods to eat...this is the area that I'm most confused about. :confused:

Thanks!

Sholezard,

It's very difficult for women to achieve and maintain a low body fat percentage because of our biology. If you take a look at my most recent transformation (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=4180) pics,you'll see that a woman can significantly alter her shape by losing only a couple of pounds. In fact, I lost only 3lbs in 4 months. What probably happened was that my body replaced muscle with fat, resulting in very little movement on the scale. In my first set of transformation pictures (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=3324), I did lose any weight at all, but my body fat percentage dropped 3%.

At 5'8" and 120lbs, your BMI (http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm) would be an unhealthy 18.2. 18.5 or below is considered underweight. From my own personal experience and watching my friends, it will probably be very, very difficult for you to achieve that weight goal. I am only 5'6", and the only way I have been able to get below 125 (for about a week) was when I worked out 6-7 days per week doing weights and 45-60 min intense cardio, and ate a perfectly clean diet of only 1200-1400 calories. The minute I increased my calories to 1700, my weight popped up to 125. It's been bouncing around there, up to as much as 127 lbs, for the last few weeks. All I'm saying is that if you work towards an unrealistic goal, it will take every last bit of your sanity.

It would be very helpful if you posted some photos. It's possible that you don't have a lot of muscle so your body fat percentage is high, or vice versa, but we can't judge that from the numbers. It would explain a lot. (You know what they say: A picture is worth a thousand words).

Good luck :gl:

Sholezard,

It's very difficult for women to achieve and maintain a low body fat percentage because of our biology. If you take a look at my most recent transformation (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=4180) pics,you'll see that a woman can significantly alter her shape by losing only a couple of pounds. In fact, I lost only 3lbs in 4 months. What probably happened was that my body replaced muscle with fat, resulting in very little movement on the scale. In my first set of transformation pictures (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=3324), I did lose any weight at all, but my body fat percentage dropped 3%.

At 5'8" and 120lbs, your BMI (http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmicalc.htm) would be an unhealthy 18.2. 18.5 or below is considered underweight. From my own personal experience and watching my friends, it will probably be very, very difficult for you to achieve that weight goal. I am only 5'6", and the only way I have been able to get below 125 (for about a week) was when I worked out 6-7 days per week doing weights and 45-60 min intense cardio, and ate a perfectly clean diet of only 1200-1400 calories. The minute I increased my calories to 1700, my weight popped up to 125. It's been bouncing around there, up to as much as 127 lbs, for the last few weeks. All I'm saying is that if you work towards an unrealistic goal, it will take every last bit of your sanity.

It would be very helpful if you posted some photos. It's possible that you don't have a lot of muscle so your body fat percentage is high, or vice versa, but we can't judge that from the numbers. It would explain a lot. (You know what they say: A picture is worth a thousand words).

Good luck :gl:


Hi Trinity...thanks for your response. You look great in your new set of photos. Can you possibly give me a breakdown of your daily diet regime? Just so I can get an idea of what proper nutrition is and maybe make some changes to mine.

How did you get that 6-pack? What kind of exercises did you do and did you have to have a strict diet to achieve it?

Thanks and I'll try and post a pic once I get my digital camera (which should be soon!)

My food and training logs are uploaded here:
http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=4180&page=3&pp=20

But now I take a more relaxed approach (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?p=47213#post47213). I don't track calories anymore. I don't even write down what I eat. I simply eat when I'm hungry and stop when I've had enough, and my food choices are healthy. Last night, for example, I made Thai chicken with asparagus. It was delicious, healthy, and full of nutrients from the basil, cilantro, ginger, jalapenos, and asparagus. That said, I don't obsess (anymore) about what I eat or how much. The night before I went out to dinner with my boyfriend at a Turkish restaurant and had warm bread dipped in cucumber-spinach yogurt, lamb with a creamy potato side, and 1/2 a baklava for dessert. My kitchen has things like Fiber One cereal (moves the waste out of your system), Egg Beaters, green beans, grape tomatoes, cottage cheese, salad ingredients, low fat dressing, ketchup, chicken breasts, lean cuts of pork, lamb and beef, Quaker Instant Oatmeal Nutrition for Women, tuna, shrimp, salmon, and whatever fruit happens to be on sale at the grocery store (peaches this week). Subway is great--I get a foot long with everything on it except cheese, mayonnaise or oil. Then I eat half for lunch and half for a snack or dinner.

The most important change I made was I stopped my "addiction" to sweets and broke my habit of late-night eating. That change alone knocks off about 500 extra calories a day. And eating healthfully makes me feel better about myself.

Alright, good to hear you're going to post some pictures. We all want to promote healthy living and a healthy body image here. Hopefully we can give you some constructive feedback after seeing the pictures.

As for what the "perfect" diet looks like..many of us follow whats called a 40/40/20 diet. In other words, 40% of your diet should come from protein (esp. if you're lifting!) 40% from carbohydrates (complex, not simple), and 20% from fats (essential fats, not bad fats). You were looking for an example, and yesterday just happened to be my best day so heres what I ate:
Meal 1:
1 Cup Kashi Go Lean
1/2 Cup Skim milk
Meal 2:
Banana
1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter (not Jif, yo ;))
Meal 3:
Postworkout:
-Whey protein shake and 2 rolls of sweet tarts for dextrose
Meal4:
8oz Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1/4Cup Cottage Cheese
28 almonds
Meal 5:
3 small red potatos
1 3.5oz Alaskan Pollack w/ lemon and pepper (:::insert drool here:::)

Then I went to the bar to play some pool, and I had Johnnie Walker Black Label on the rocks w/ a little soda (I'm in college and this is my FAVORITE drink...so I certainly don't suggest any alcohol for your diet, but whateva..fridaynight!)

Meal 6:
Veggie burger w/ salsa on it (no bun or anything)
12 Brussel sprouts and a cup of Cauliflower
7 shrimp w/ thai chili pepper sauce

Meal 7:
2 slices of Ezekial high protein bread
1 Vegan boca burger
and a banana

Total came to 1793 calories (I try to stay between 1700-1800 for my weight, your calorie number will be diff. from mine)
38.5% Protein
38.3% Carbs
20.7% Fat

As for what the "perfect" diet looks like..many of us follow whats called a 40/40/20 diet. In other words, 40% of your diet should come from protein (esp. if you're lifting!) 40% from carbohydrates (complex, not simple), and 20% from fats (essential fats, not bad fats). You were looking for an example, and yesterday just happened to be my best day so heres what I ate:
Meal 1:
1 Cup Kashi Go Lean
1/2 Cup Skim milk
Meal 2:
Banana
1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter (not Jif, yo ;))
Meal 3:
Postworkout:
-Whey protein shake and 2 rolls of sweet tarts for dextrose
Meal4:
8oz Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
1/4Cup Cottage Cheese
28 almonds
Meal 5:
3 small red potatos
1 3.5oz Alaskan Pollack w/ lemon and pepper (:::insert drool here:::)

Then I went to the bar to play some pool, and I had Johnnie Walker Black Label on the rocks w/ a little soda (I'm in college and this is my FAVORITE drink...so I certainly don't suggest any alcohol for your diet, but whateva..fridaynight!)

Meal 6:
Veggie burger w/ salsa on it (no bun or anything)
12 Brussel sprouts and a cup of Cauliflower
7 shrimp w/ thai chili pepper sauce

Meal 7:
2 slices of Ezekial high protein bread
1 Vegan boca burger
and a banana

Total came to 1793 calories (I try to stay between 1700-1800 for my weight, your calorie number will be diff. from mine)
38.5% Protein
38.3% Carbs
20.7% Fat


Wow, thanks for the post!! Your meals look amazing! I'm also in college and I really don't find time to cook all that much, but I still try to maintain a healthy diet.

Where can I buy whey powder to make protein shakes? Do you just add a scoop to milk or water? Does it taste ok? Is it best to drink one after workouts or before?

I also eat Kashi Go Lean, which when combined with skim milk, gives me about 22 g protein. How much would the protein shake give me? I just don't want to eat more protein than necessary.

I would say lean on the side of more protein...
I've found that its much more difficult to get adequate protein than it is for carbs and fats (although getting the right kind of fats can be a bit tricky..).

I get my whey protein at GNC. Its 20 dollars for a pretty large vat of it. I mix it with milk or water. Its not the best tasting with water, but I think its pretty good with milk. It gets me 23gs protein, and after working out thats really important so your muscles can easily build themselves back up. It saves you money too, because to try to make up for that 23gs I'd have to eat a lot of other food and it would cost more than 20 dollars...

Also, I don't know about your school..I'm really fortunate to have a school that puts a big emphasis on fitness..but we have free body composition and VO2 max tests, as well as free dietician consulting (and we have 2 gyms, and they replace the equipment ALL THE TIME...we just got a new wing with all Free Motion machines!!!)
I've been having the 7point skinfold caliper tests to check my body fat once a month for the past 5 months...its very motivating. If you don't have this option, see if your gym offers it, and if not call around town you can probably find a fitness place or a doctor that will give you the test really cheap.

Sometimes I find that its somewhat of a tradeoff as far as the money issue goes. I'm fortunate to have parents who are more than willing to help me with my fitness goals, but I still get the same amount of money per month from them now as I did when I was eating trash all the time. So sometimes I find that eating healthy is more expensive, and sometimes I find that its less expensive. On the one hand, you aren't buying chips and pop that you use up in 3 days and it cost you lotsa cash...and you're not goin' out to eat all the time and ordering 3am pizza and cases of beer...On the other hand, some of the food I get is rather expensive (pollack, shrimp, almonds, beef jerkey, etc...).

Here are some suggestions of how to get some good food on the cheap:
-Get bags of frozen Tyson chicken. Its like 8-9 bucks for 6 8oz boneless skinless chicken breast, and I just pop one on the foreman and it tastes great, fills me up, gets me 34 grams of proteins, and I rarely go a day without eating one!

-TUNA I dunno if you like tuna, but its hellacheap, tastes good, and its great for protein.

-Frozen veggies. Some people walk past the ice cream aisle and can't resist buying ice cream, I walk past the frozen veggies and I can't resist buying some...I have a steamer now, so thats cool, but either way I have about 15 bags of frozen veggies and I eat them all the time. Easy to make, cheap to buy, super tasty (esp. w/ a little bit of cooking spray..Pam or whatnot)

-I'm a pretty big fan of refried beans. I like to cook up 1/2 a cup of refried beans, and 1/2 a cup of spanish rice (you can find the span. rice in cans in the Mexi section of yer grocery store...not the best for you, but not bad either and it makes a GREAT meal!!!) Different hot sauces mix it up, and also they make Fat Free Taco Bell brand..so when the roommates make their T-bell run at 2am you can cook up some refried beans in the microwave (I don't have a microwave, but you probably do) and you won't be tempted to eat that crap w/ them...you can also get whole wheat tortillas pretty cheap too. I can even get store brand refried beans for like 50cents a can!!

-Peanuts. I can get bags of Garys Peanuts that are like 1.50 and they arent' the best nuts to eat, but its probably better than the microwave popcorn (although I know thats not a daily occurance).

Get skim milk (fat free). Fat free or 1% Cottage Cheese. I'm a big fan of veggie burgers w/ some salsa or thai chili pepper sauce on them, they're kind of expensive but if you think about it...3.50 for a package of 4 of them is like 4 meals (I rarely eat more than one a day) is like .85 per patty. Egg whites or egg beaters are really cheap and you get a BUNCH of protein. Lots of people on these boards make egg white omelets with vegetables and fat free cheese. I just like to throw some pepper on my scrambled egg whites and eat it with some Morningstar sausage patties. haha, I could talk about this forever...but keep us posted on what you eat and we'll keep letting you know whats what.

LemonSong, you've been such GREAT help...I really appreciate all of your advice...you ROCK!! :cool:

Next time I go grocery shopping I'm not going to buy any carbs (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes) and instead, focus on buying high-protein foods such as tuna, shrimp (I usually buy those pre-cooked shrimp rings, which are dirt cheap and give you about 60 shrimp!), salmon (smoked or filets), and egg beaters. I also buy frozen vegetables so I'll try and combine my protein foods with vegetables for meals instead of my usual side of carbs (i.e. whole wheat baguette, low-cal bread, white pasta, brown rice, etc.).

Hopefully I'll start seeing some progress and results with this new change.

Thanks so much again! You've been a true inspiration!! ;)

My advice for carbs:

1- If you see High Fructose Corn Syrup on the label, don't buy it (bread especially...lots of breads claim to be "wheat" bread but they're not).
2- Buy "whole wheat pasta"

3- Eat OATMEAL (dirt cheap and wiiiiiicked to kick off the day)

4- Eat carbs early in the day, they'll give you hella energy.

5- If it says "enriched" anything it means "nutrient-free" ;) Steer clear!


Complex carbs contain whole grains. Simple carbs are things like sugar and so forth...always opt for complex carbs.


I know it seems like its kind of a drag, but I highly suggest that you keep track of what you eat. I'm cutting (like you) and my first phase of cutting was just changing my lifestyle, and now I'm on to my 2nd phase which is taking things really seriously. I keep track of my calorie intake, my protein, carbs, and fat grams. It seems like its a drag, but I really dig it. It makes me feel good to know what I put in to my body during a given day, and know that I didn't overeat. Also, it gives me something to work for...if one day I'm really low on protein, I can look over what I ate and see where I went wrong and try to do some fine tuning. Some people like to use Excel spreadsheets, personally I have a little memo pad I keep in my kitchen and whenever I eat something I write it down (calories, protein grams, carb grams, and fat grams...w/ a seperate category for saturated fats cuz you should try to keep those relatively low although some amount is not only necessary but healthy as well).

At the end of the day, take your protein grams, and multiply by 4 and then divide by your total number of calories to figure out the percent of your diet that came from protein. Do the same for carbs (multiply by 4 divide by total cals). Then for fats, multiply by 9 and divide by total calories. This will give you the percents like I listed on my previous post. Most people on these boards will recommend 40/40/20, meaning 40% from protein and carbs, 20% from fats.

And most important...you'll have days where you slip...happens to all of us, just keep perservering...you can achieve your goals, it just takes time...don't get on the scale everyday (I only do once a month at my fitness checkups) and don't get discouraged if you mess up a meal or a day. As someone on this board said...if you're walking up a flight of stairs and you slip and fall back a few, you don't walk back to the bottom and start all over again, you get yourself up and you keep trudgin' upwards!!
Like I said, its about fine tuning. If one day you get 20/50/30, well then you look back and say "Yo, I need to cut out (insert food here)..." or "I need to move this back earlier in the day" Maybe you'll find that you didn't eat enough for one meal, and it came back to bite you in the ass later on because you were really hungry and overate (this happens tome quite a bit..esp. if I eat a small breakfast). Thats why keeping track is really beneficial.

Its also beneficial to keep track of what kind of weights you're doing. Sometimes I can't see that my biceps (for example) are bigger or stronger, but I know that when i started I was pumping 15s and now I'm pumping 25s...

These things don't change overnight. This is my 5th month of my new lifestyle, and I'm down 5% body fat and 30lbs!! I never started working out for aesthetic reasons (although I did originally think it'd be easier to get a date w/ a good looking body...its not ;)), but when I look in the mirror and I see how far I've come it makes me want to keep going and keep moving forward!

p.s. What school do you go to? (IM me if you get a chance: LemonSong1)

Okay, I have done a lot of thinking and have decided on a diet regime that I think may work. The only thing is that I'm not sure if I'm missing anything (i.e. not getting enough of something, getting too much of something, etc.). Please notice I'm cutting down on carbs though!! I would really appreciate it if someone can tell me whether or not my new plan will work at getting me lean and possibly losing these annoying 3-4 lbs that I want to get rid of. Thanks a million!

7am - workout for 1 hour: 30-45 min cardio and 20 min weights
8:30am breakfast- 1/2 banana + 1 cup Kashi Go Lean cereal + 1/2 cup skim milk OR 1/2 banana + 1/3 cup oatmeal + 3/4 cup skim milk OR egg white + veggie scramble
10:30am snack - 1/2 cup fat free yogurt OR piece of fruit (ie. apple) OR 1 cheese string (60 cal, 4g fat, 5g protein)
12:30pm lunch - grilled chicken breast with salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.) with light salad dressing + tsp nuts OR tuna salad (same fixings as previous salad) + tsp nuts OR turkey slices in salad + tsp nuts
3:30pm snack - 1 cup baby carrots + 1 apple OR 1 cup grapes (or any other fruit) OR 1/2 cup cottage cheese (1%)
6:30pm dinner - veggie burger (no bun) with salsa + steamed vegetable mix OR 1 cup brown rice + salmon filet (or chicken or tuna) + steamed veggies OR 1 cup pasta + salmon filet (or chicken or tuna) + steamed veggies OR egg white omlette + steamed veggies OR shrimp + veggie stirfry + 1 cup brown rice or pasta

Honestly I would be careful of the amount of fruit you consume if you are trying to lose fat. Even though it's natural sugar, it's still sugar.

Just my $.02

Honestly I would be careful of the amount of fruit you consume if you are trying to lose fat. Even though it's natural sugar, it's still sugar.

Just my $.02


So what do you recommend I replace the fruits in my diet with? Please provide me with some alternatives since I really appreciate your advice. How does everything else in my "new" diet look? Is there enough of everything in there?

Thanks!

The new plan seems very well rounded. I agree about the fruits, don't eliminate them but you might want to just cut it down a bit...bananas are great, as for berries I'd say blueberries are your best bet...might want to substitute for veggies where applicable.
I REALLY suggest that you write down everything...it really seems like your diet plan is great, you've got all the fundamentals and you're certainly on the right track, but if you write it down you'll know exactly what you're getting too much of and exactly what you're lacking in terms of protiens/carbs/fats.

www.fitday.com and www.calorieking.com (and there are a few others as well) will tell you the nutritional information for almost every food

You can even track what you're eating right on that site, and its free for everyone. MANY people on these forums use Fitday, and while I track my progress on paper many users find it easier to do online at Fitday. I would say you're on the right track tho, keep up the good work!!

Also, don't overtrain. You say 20min. w/ weights, but what does that mean? Are you lifting heavy weights? Which excersizes? etc. You may not be doing enough, or you might be doing too much...the more info you give to us on these boards, the better off we are in advising you.

Honestly I would be careful of the amount of fruit you consume if you are trying to lose fat. Even though it's natural sugar, it's still sugar.

Just my $.02

The Kashi Go Lean and yogurt are also loaded with sugar.

The Kashi Go Lean and yogurt are also loaded with sugar.

Kashi's benefits are much greater than its measly SIX grams of sugar...and on top of that, if you read the ingredients it comes from the honey they put in it, so its a natural sugar rather than splenda, or aspartme (I prefer natural substances over synthetics..although nothin' wrong w/ splenda or aspartme). The girl wants to create a better diet and drop a few lbs...don't tell her to get rid of the Kashi!! The fiber content and the protein content make it an excellent breakfast food, and on top of that is really low in fat as well making it even more ideal...so yo, don't hate on six grams of sugar!

Also, don't overtrain. You say 20min. w/ weights, but what does that mean? Are you lifting heavy weights? Which excersizes? etc. You may not be doing enough, or you might be doing too much...the more info you give to us on these boards, the better off we are in advising you.

Trust me, Kashi Go Lean/Good Friends are not leaving my diet any time soon...they're too delicious to go anywhere!

I will definitely cut down on the amount of fruit I eat...good advice.

In terms of my workout routine, I train 5x a week for about an hour each time. I do about 30-45 min cardio (which includes elliptical and/or treadmill) where I burn around 430 calories (as the machine says).

For weights, I lift for about 20 min. On days that I concentrate on legs, I do things like hip adductors, sitting leg curl, vertical leg press, squats (using smith machine), leg curl machine V bench (leg extension), multi hip machine, and Roman Chair Back Hyper. I usually do about 3 sets of 10 on each until exhaustion.

For arms I mainly use dumbells (10-12 lbs on each arm) and work most common routines for bicepts, tricepts, etc.

Hope that give you enough information to work with. Thanks again!

Kashi's benefits are much greater than its measly SIX grams of sugar...and on top of that, if you read the ingredients it comes from the honey they put in it, so its a natural sugar rather than splenda, or aspartme (I prefer natural substances over synthetics..although nothin' wrong w/ splenda or aspartme). The girl wants to create a better diet and drop a few lbs...don't tell her to get rid of the Kashi!! The fiber content and the protein content make it an excellent breakfast food, and on top of that is really low in fat as well making it even more ideal...so yo, don't hate on six grams of sugar!

I am not telling anyone to do anything. I am simply pointing out that Go Lean has a lot of sugar whether it is natural or not. This could be one of the contributing factors to those last 4 lbs. Good Friends has less sugar than Go Lean, so in my opinion it is a better choice if her diet must include Kashi. She already has a healthy diet but is trying to tweak it to lose 4 very stubborn pounds. It seems to me that she is going to have to be extremely strict to reach her goal and I was just offering an observation about her diet that might help her reach it.

Without reading any other posts in this thread I would be surprised if your problem isn't too many calories. Everybody is different, but when I'm dieting the calories that I consume to go for about 1800-2000 day (5,11" male weighing 180 lbs) leaves me in a semi-constant state of hunger. If I'm not hungry I'm eating too much. Such is the price I have to pay!

Like the others said, your training isn't the problem it's the amount of high GI carbs (sugars). You're eating a lot of yogurt and fruit, which are ok after a workout, but should be taken very sparingly at other times. When you're cutting, you should almost avoid simple sugars entirely. Get your carbs from whole grains, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, etc. Check John Stone's cutting food logs for more ideas.

You obviously look like you know what you're doing so do you have any suggestions for a female like me who doesn't want to bulk up,
for females to bulk up im pretty sure it takes crazy amounts of training, dont worry about "looking like a man" :lol:

I suggest stop looking at the numbers on the scale.

You are at a very low weight for your height, no matter what your frame size.

Maybe try to get your body fat % measured to see what you are at. Focus on that rather than the 4 pounds that you somehow think you need to lose. Maybe post some pictures for us.


I'll have to agree here.. The scale is the devil. My wife is having the same problem, she's at 115 and can't lose the last 5 lbs. But she looks great... her body just can't do it... but her clothes fit perfect. Now if only I could be that in shape :P

... but her clothes fit perfect. Now if only I could be that in shape :P

YOU CAN BE!!!!
:D :tu:

Could someone post the protein,fat,carbs in this "Kashi Go Lean" stuff. I have seen too many posts of people having problems losing weight and this seems to be one of there main foods. I laugh when I read a slim fast label and anything that carries the label LEAN or LOW FAT I take the time to read the full listing of what it actually has in the box. Most of that atkins approved stuff will kill ya. As a matter of fact most people would do better to simply eliminate any "Processed" food from their diet because of the huge amounts of other worthless crap they put in there. I had to get a bigger fridge because most of what I buy is fresh food (I'm cooking for 5 people now) and can't be put in the cupboard. Meat,eggs,Fish,Seafood,fesh veggies,Nuts,whey and a little fruit. That's 90% of what you should eat, can't make it more simple than that. I am going to add cornflakes to my cheat day though... maby Kashi if its bad enough. :eek:

INGREDIENTS:
Soy Grits, Kashi Seven Whole Grains and Sesame (Hard Red Winter Wheat, Long Grain Brown Rice, Whole Grain Oats, Barley, Triticale, Rye, Buckwheat, Sesame Seeds), Evaporated Cane Juice Syrup, Corn Meal, Corn Flour, Soy Protein, Wheat Bran, Oat Fiber, Corn Bran, Honey, Evaporated Cane Juice, Natural Flavors, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Annatto.

NUTRITION FACTS
Serving Size 52g/1.8 oz. (about 1 cup)
Serving Per Container: 8
Calories 140
Calories From Fat 10

*Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Amount/Serving %DV* Amount/Serving %DV*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total Fat 1g 2% Total Carbs 30g 10%
Saturated Fat 0g 0% Dietary Fiber 10g 40%
Cholesterol 0mg 0% Sugars 6g
Sodium 85mg 4% Protein 13g 20%
Potassium 480mg 14%


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 0% Calcium 6% Iron 10%
Phosphorus 20%

Well, there ya go, total crap. Throw it away and replace it with 1/2 dozen scrambled eggs and if that's the only change you make you will see results in a week. ;)

EDIT: and 6 grams of sugar are you kidding me LEAN is not what that is.

Well, there ya go, total crap. Throw it away and replace it with 1/2 dozen scrambled eggs and if that's the only change you make you will see results in a week. ;)

EDIT: and 6 grams of sugar are you kidding me LEAN is not what that is.


I don't think 6g of sugar is considered bad by any means. Overall, Go Lean is a great source of protein and fibre and is one of the very few cereals that actually keeps my full for 2-3 hours. Plus, it gives me one of the sources of carbs that I need after my workout.

hi there,

if you hit another plateau in a few weeks where u can't lose the last pound, that may be the time to reconsider cutting the kashi, if you don't want to do it at this time. 6g imo is not a lot of sugar . that's only 1.5 teaspoons but i think its important to look over your diet as a whole like other ppl suggested and don't eat too many simple sugars. you are pretty lean as it is so it may be harder to fine tune and every little bit can help. good luck!! :)

I like "Total Protein" for breakfast. Here's the nutritional information from totalcereal.com:

Serving size: 3/4 cup

Total Fat - grams 3.5*
% DV (Daily Value **) Fat 5
Saturated Fat - grams 0
% DV Saturated Fat 0
Trans Fat - grams 0
Polyunsaturated Fat - grams 1
Monounsaturated Fat - grams 2
Cholesterol - mg 0
% DV Cholesterol 0
Sodium - mg 270
% DV Sodium 11
Potassium - mg 75
% DV Potassium 2
Total Carbohydrates - grams 11
%DV Carbohydrates 3
Dietary Fiber - grams 3
% DV Dietary Fiber 13
Total Sugars - grams 2
Other Carbohydrate - grams 6
Protein - grams 13
% DV Protein 10
% DV Vitamin A 10
% DV Vitamin C 100
% DV Calcium 10
% DV Iron 100
% DV Vitamin D 10
% DV Vitamin E 100
% DV Thiamin 100
% DV Riboflavin 100
% DV Niacin 100
% DV Vitamin B6 100
% DV Folic Acid 100
% DV Vitamin B12 100
% DV Pantothenic Acid 100
% DV Zinc 100

INGREDIENTS: WHEAT GLUTEN, WHOLE WHEAT, WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE, WHEAT BRAN, CANOLA OIL, CHICORY ROOT EXTRACT, SUGAR, WHEAT FLOUR, ALMOND PIECES, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, TETRASODIUM PYROPHOSPHATE, MALTITOL SYRUP, HONEY, VITAMIN C (SODIUM ASCORBATE), TRISODIUM PHOSPHATE, COLOR ADDED, BROWN SUGAR SYRUP, ZINC AND IRON (MINERAL NUTRIENTS), VITAMIN E (TOCOPHERYL ACETATE), SUCRALOSE, A B VITAMIN (NIACINAMIDE), A B VITAMIN (CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE), VITAMIN B6 (PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE), VITAMIN B2 (RIBOFLAVIN), VITAMIN B1 (THIAMIN MONONITRATE), A B VITAMIN (FOLIC ACID), VITAMIN A (PALMITATE), VITAMIN B12, VITAMIN D. FRESHNESS PRESERVED BY BHT, BHA AND TBHQ. CONTAINS MILK, ALMOND, WHEAT AND WALNUT INGREDIENTS.

[QUOTE=French Spirit]I like "Total Protein" for breakfast. Here's the nutritional information from totalcereal.com:

Serving size: 3/4 cup

Total Fat - grams 3.5*


What is the caloric content of this cereal? It seems to me that 3.5g of fat is way above the "low fat" diet that I'm trying to work on and it doesnt' seem worthy of a cereal! You can get the same protein content (and much less fat!) with Kashi Go Lean. I think the main point people on the posts are trying to make is that there are better things out there than cereals, even though it may seem like they're good for you. I tend to agree with their advice and will try and change my morning breakfast routine to exclude cereals and include more egg whites, oat, skim milk, etc.

3.5g isn't that much fat, and you diet must include a certain amount of fat in it in order to be healthy...dont' try to avoid fats, just try to eat the right ones!

Just by doing the figures myself I would say its about 130 caloreies...nothin' wrong w/ that cereal IMO, but you're right in saying cereal isn't always the best choice.

3.5g isn't that much fat, and you diet must include a certain amount of fat in it in order to be healthy...dont' try to avoid fats, just try to eat the right ones!

Exactly. You need healthy EFAs (sources: flax oil, olive oil, almonds, cashews, salmon, etc.) as they can actually promote fat loss.

What's the overall concensus on Vector Cereal (meal replacement) among you people? I absolutely love it but I find that I get addicted to it everytime I buy it (i.e. eat more of it than I should or eat it right out of the box). I'm guessing the sugar is doing this to me?