5'-0" 40-yr old female needs menu help

[lynnkeen]

I've been on a weight training program since September (laid out by a certified trainer) and realize that I might be doing better if I more properly fuel my body. I'm looking for a 5-6 daily meal plan of about 1200 calories. I'm a 5'-0" female, weighing 178 with 34% bodyfat (stats are per measurements by my trainer).

Can anyone help?

Thanks!
Lynn
www.lynnkeen.com

[cursor]

Lynn emailed me earlier this morning. Since then, we've shot several emails back and forth. With Lynn's permission, I'm going to reconstruct some of the information that we've been exchanging, in hopes that others might benefit from the interchange. Details to follow in subsequent posts.

[cursor]

While Lynn's trainer has not made nutritional recommendations, she has warned her against dropping down below 1200 calories a day. I've let her know that she should be shooting for a substantially higher amount of fuel for her activity level.

She's working out six days a week, alternating upper and lower body days. On each of the six days, she's performing 30–40 minute aerobics (stationary cycling) with heart rate at or above 164.

Monday, Wednesday & Friday
l o w e r – b o d y
o Lower Ab Press
o Paramount Rotary Torso Twist w/3 black plates
o Thigh Machine 30lbs 2 sets of 15 reps (works inner and outer)
o Calf Press 70lbs 3 sets of 20 reps (i have HUGE calves - always have)
o Leg Curl 10lbs 2 sets of 15 reps
o Glute Press 3 plates 2 sets of 12-15 reps
o Leg Extension 12.5 lbs 2 sets of 15 reps
o Free squats 10-12lbs 2 sets of 15 reps using sports blocks

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
u p p e r – b o d y
o Lower Ab Press
o Articulating Bridge 2 sets of 10 reps
o Crunches 2sets of 20 reps
o Back extension w/ shoulder blade squeeze 2 sets of 10 reps
o Double/Single Lat Roll 45lbs 2 sets of 10 double/20 single/10 double
o Standing Row 30lbs 2 sets of 20
o Pushups (off of a low table - like a coffee table) 25 reps
o DB Chest Flys 10lbs 2 sets of 15reps
o DB Tricep Press - Skullcrusher 10lbs 2 sets of 15reps
o Shoulder Flys 10lbs 2sets of 15 reps
o Standing Straight Curl 15-20lbs 2sets of 15
o Standing Pressdown 10lbs 2sets of 15

[cursor]

With respect to personal and family diet, Lynn says:

My typical daily diet is this:

I get up and am at work at 5:30 a.m. I typically eat around 7:00 and then take my meta system supplement around 8:00 (I'm taking the Ultra).

Breakfast: (7:00 a.m.)
2 eggs (either boiled or fried with two slices of bacon)

I'm a webdeveloper by day so I sit all day long (and while sitting I take the opportunity to drink the 1 Liter size of water)

Lunch12:00 noon)
I'm lucky if I get it at all....don't typically have any

Dinner (5:00 or 6:00 p.m.)
Since I have a teen I typically will make something like:
Spaghetti w/ meatsauce—VERY LOWFAT CHILI (90% lean ground beef, Delmonte tomatoes w/ mild green chilies, light kidney beans)
Lean Cuisine lasagna w/ broccolli

We get very few veges, and my family hubby and daughter (everyone but me are skinny as rails)

I typically don't eat after 7:00 p.m. because I have to be in bed by 8:30 to get up so early. SO as you see not enough food, not enough of the right food. And not enough time to eat it.

My response: Judging by your lean body mass and your activity level, you should most likely be consuming at least 2200 calories (balanced). Right off the bat, I'd recommend that you look at the 2000 calorie meal split and see how it looks in terms of volume. Can you handle that much?

If you are now at 178 lbs @ 34% body fat, I would guess that a reasonable and balanced goal would be to slide to 145 lbs @ 16% body fat over the course of the next 20 months. That would be safe and, most likely, permanent. Breaking it down, that means that you would lose 37 lbs of fat, while gaining another 4 lbs of muscle—resulting in a net body weight loss of 33 lbs. Your final lean mass would be 122 lbs.

[cursor]

Offering training advice without supplying nutritional data is simply irresponsible. To prescribe and activity without ensuring that the client has proper fuel is insane. What's the point of paying a trainer in hopes of getting optimal results?

Oh well ... I'm not a certified trainer, and I'm not a licensed dietician, but I can provide you with balanced, optimized, and sensible fitness information. My recommendation is that you save your money and excuse your trainer. It's like hiring a gardener who has all the equipment, but doesn't know diddley (or won't offer any expertise) about proper plant fertilization.

I was just looking over your workout routine, and a couple of things smack me right in the face (ouch!):

² You're doing way too much exercise
Can you say . e r o s i o n ?

²You're not resting enough between sessions
Muscle grows after you leave the gym, not during (and only if you give it enough rest and balanced nutrition). Depending on how the muscle is stressed during workout, it may need as much as a week (perhaps more) to rebuild the torn microfibers (that's how muscle grows). If you interfer with the growth/healing process, then you're defeating the whole process.

²Areobics six days a week will destroy your muscle gains
Muscle is not gained by doing aerobics—as a matter of fact, its a fairly catabolic activity. Certainly doing aerobics with an malnutritioned body is the absolute worst situation.

²Aerobics shouldn't be done with lifting
Aerobics should be separated from lifting by at least eight hours. You can't serve two masters—the activities clash and the intensity and benefits of one will suffer because of the other.

²Abdominal exercises every day?
You're spending way too much time and effort on some of the smallest (albeit not insignificant) muscles in your body. For superior fat loss, emphasis should be placed on your largest muscle groups.

[lynnkeen]

WOW! I didn't realize. Any suggestions?

Based upon my work schedule?

I'm up at 4:00 and in the office at 5:30 a.m.
I get off of work at 2:30 and can be at the gym by 3:00.

How can I work it more effectively

[cursor]

Oooooooo
I love a clean slate.

2000 calorie meal split
07:00 AM – meal 1 -- 381 calories [ 33p – 31c – 14f ]
10:00 AM – meal 2 -- 381 calories [ 33p – 31c – 14f ]
01:00 PM – meal 3 -- 476 calories [ 33p – 67c – 08f ]
-----> workout
04:00 PM – meal 4 -- 476 calories [ 33p – 67c – 08f ]
07:00 PM – meal 5 -- 286 calories [ 33p – 13c – 11f ]

You can see that because of your workout later in the day, the meals are arranged so that you have a reasonable amount of nutrition just before you head to your workout, then again immediately after (when your muscles are screaming for replacement nutrition). Additionally, you'll want to keep your dietary fat levels low pre/post-workout so that nutrients quickly digested and can be absorbed into you bloodstream easily.

For that last meal of the day, avoid starchy carbohydrates. Sticking with fibrous vegetables that are low in carb density, but bulky enough to offer a feeling of fullness and satisfaction. You know, don't you that was Mick Jaggar's problem ... he never did understand that very basic principle, consequently he kept on saying, "I can't get no ... satisfaction ..."

[murphomat]

cursor's 100% right: you are overdoing it big time

try a split, like lift 3 days a week and do cardio 3 days a week. for example.

mon:
3 back exercises
2 biceps exercies
2 abs exercises

tues:
intense cardio (you probably shouldn't go for longer than 20-25 mins if your pulse is that high i.e over 80% max)

wed:
5 leg exercises
2 shoulder exercises

thurs:
intense cardio

fri:
3 chest exercises
2 triceps exercises
2 abs exercises

sat:
intense cardio

sun:
rest

play around with different set and rep numbers as well as different exercises till you find something that works for you (I usually do 3 sets of 8 reps for each exercise but that may not work for you)

with this split you should only be in the gym for 45 mins at a time so you can maintain intensity without becoming overly catabolic.

Try not to fall into the trap of thinking "if I need more gains, I should be working harder" your body will change, but it needs sufficient recovery intervals

[lynnkeen]

I see that you have broken down the caloric intake to a time that will fit my schedule...that's AWESOME! Would you have a sample of what those meals would be? So that I can prepare appropriately?

Any suggestions on how to change my workout routine to meet what you suggested in your earlier post?

Thanks!
Lynn

[cursor]

As far a workout plan goes, I particularly like this format. It's what is called a 3-day split routine—meaning that you work all of your muscles in three separate sets. Working each muscle set once per week should provide you with quality results. That means that each muscle gets optimal rest before being blasted again.

Another important point is to lift as heavy as you can, while maintaining proper form. You can learn proper form by evaluating that animated clips at exrx.net.

Monday : chest + shoulders
dumbbell bench press
dumbbell fly
dumbbell shoulder press
dumbbell shoulder (lateral) raise

Tuesday
Aerobics for 30 minutes

Wednesday : back + triceps
cable lat pull-down
dumbbell one-arm row
dumbbell triceps extension
zbar triceps extension

Thursday
Aerobics for 30 minutes

Friday : legs + biceps
dumbbell squat
dumbbell stiff-leg deadlift
dumbbell biceps curl
zbar biceps curl

Saturday & Sunday : rest (aaahhh...)

Start with 2 sets of each exercise. Make sure that you don't just look at the pictures, but additionally fully understand the descriptions.

With respect to lifting intensity, you will experience the swiftest progress if you use weights for each exercise such that you can only perform from 5–8 repititions per set. If you can push yourself and do 9, then make a written note (uh... you are maintaining a log, right? ) to increase the weight (for that exercise) next time.

If you regularly perform reps from 10–15, then you simply will not be gaining muscle as fast as you could (nor losing the fat)! The more muscle you can build, the hotter your metabolism will be. All the time that you are not working out (even when you're sitting on you duff), your muscles are cranking away at repairing themselves from the intensity of the former workout. That process will burn far more calories than time spent doing aerobics.

Make sense?

[lynnkeen]

Boy! This seems so much more sensible than what I've been doing! AND... it won't keep me at the gym ALL THE TIME!!!!

I'll give it a try.

L.

[Amkey]

So Cursor,
does this mean I should not be doing my ellipitical machine for 25 minutes and then go directly to weights? I work out 3 nights a week and I start off with 25 minutes on the machine and then i go do my weights. That has worked for me so far but I am looking to loose a little quicker. If i do not do the machine the same night I do the weights then my work out will only last like 30 minutes if even that long. Lynn sorry to jump in on your thread but I had to ask
Amk

[lynnkeen]

Sounds to me like he's saying to increase your aerobic time and do the weights every other day.

Lynn

[cursor]

Hi lynnkeen. There is a sample 2000 calorie meal plan that I've already put together that uses 5-meal split. Additionally, if you want some more information on intelligent modifications to meal splits, you may want to devour this whole thread.

Some nutritional food data has been posted on vegetables, fruits, and meats. For some smart techniques on properly using carbs, you may find this interesting.

[cursor]

If I were to do 25 minutes on my elliptical trainer before weights, then my lifting would suffer. I would be limiting my potential. If your weight lifting session would then only 30 minutes long, then you have two choices: (1) bulk up your routine, or (2) simply tweek it some so that you are lifting efficiently (and hence maximizing) during those 30 minutes.

In order of importance and fitness efficiency: (1) nutrition, (2) resistance training, and (3) aerobics.