Help me please, no results!

[clarebear]

Hello,

I am posting in a couple different forums to get as much advice/info as I can.
My goal is to lose size in my middle. I just want to lose inches and get a flat
stomach. I am EXTREMELY frustrated, as I feel I am doing all the right things
and I have only gained weight and size. Weight 1 yr ago -135. Weight now 150, Height 5'8", Age 23. No reason for me to have gained weight, I have been more healthful the past couple of years than ever before in my life. Doctors don't know what happend either :confused:

Here is my current workout plan:

Sun- Cardio 30 interval running on treadmill
(Alternating 40 seconds at 8.5 mph, 1.5 min at 6.3 mph)
Mon- Weight train lower body, abs
Cardio 30 min interval running
Tues- Weight train upper body, abs
Cardio 30 min interval on eliptical trainer
Wed- Cardio 30 min interval running
Thurs- Weight train lower body, abs
Cardio 30 min interval on elipitcal trainer
Fri- Weight train upper body, abs
Cardio 30 min interval running

Occasionally I will skip a Sunday because of work. This has been the past 2 months workout plan. Before that, I just did regular cardio, no intervals. 2 years I have been working out consistently.


Here is my diet, past 2 months:

bfast- 1 cu multigrain cheerios OR 1/2 cu grape nuts
1/2 cu milk 2%

lunch- 1.5 cu salad(spinache, endive, romaine, etc)
1.5 tbls dressing(regular stuff)
3/4 cu refried beans OR red beans
1/2 cu shredd mozz/chedd cheese
OR 1/2 ham sandwich no condiments

snack- 2 slices carb control bread (8 fibers)
1 tblsp peanut butter
thin spread of strawberry "butter"
AND/OR a pear OR some musk melon
AND/OR some nuts
AND prune juice

dinner- chix breast
peas
OR
chix noodle soup
small handful goldfish crackers
OR
chinese style veggies
1 cu cooked rice (this maybe once a week)

Once a week I allow myself a treat of pizza or eating out. I do not eat junk food or fast food. Before I started this diet, I ate normal, around 1600 cals, but bigger meals and not as goodof food. Mac and cheese and burritos and stuff. I tend not to eat a lot of meat because I just don't have a taste for it. As I said before, I have seen no results from my efforts. I am very frustrated, sad. To top it all off, as much fiber as I have added to my diet, I go DAYS without pooing, and when I do its like a clay brick. Anyway, just thought I should add that. Please I am at my wits end about what to do. Thanks in advance for any help!

Here are my pics now, please be kind



Clare

[Cort]

So, exactly how much calories are you getting now? Roughly even? That really doesn't look like enough food. You counting carbs, protein, and fat intake? For the amount of work you are doing you might need to eat more of the good stuff, like another meal or two added in. If you don't feed your body enough to compensate for all that work, it wont be able to maintain added muscle, and the fat is easier for your body to maintain, so the muscle can go first. Try to get a post-workout snack of some kind...something high in protein w/ some carbs.

I'd also say it may be better to split cardio to days that you don't lift, since it may limit the results. Just get in a 5-10 min jog for a warm-up and go at the weights.

As you gain muscle you might notice weight gain because the muscle is heavier, so it is probably better to just go by the mirror and bf%. Any before pics?

[Octagon]

Some general thoughts...

First, forget about a year ago. You can't judge whether your current plan is working based on weight you gained over the last year. What matters is how things go from here on.

I would seriously consider keeping a detailed food log for at least the next few weeks. Estimating or eyeballing portion sizes isn't always a terrible idea but you've got some real calorically dense traps in there (peanut butter, nuts, cheese, beans) so measuring everything might not be a bad way to go either.

Fitday.com has a free online food logging option that many of us use and it's really handy once you get used to it. It's really nice to be able to see your daily intake broken down by protein, fat and carbs and the graphical format makes it really easy to see where the bulk of your daily cals are coming from.

Also try to stay away from prepared foods like chicken noodle soup or canned beans and the like and if you go with stuff like that make sure you pay close attention to the labels.

Make sure you drink tons of water every day (that might help with the relatively higher fiber content recently too, btw).

Stay away from juices. They're not all bad but fresh fruit is a much better, more nutritious, more filling alternative.

As for meat, well, there are definitely a lot of good alternatives to red meat. Skinless chicken breasts are great, fresh or frozen fish works well (provided you don't bread it and deep fry it, of course) and even some of the veggie meat alternatives are more than acceptable.

And most of all, be patient.

Real, sustainable results will take a little time and they don't always show up first on the scale.

[Lady C]

I would change your routine to a three day split; chest/shoulders, back/triceps & legs/biceps. I would continue to do the cardio on days in between the weight days. This will allow you to do some more concentrated work on some of the larger muscles. This would mean your workout would look more like;
Mon-Chest/shoulders
Tue-Cardio - HIIT
Wed-Back/triceps
Thur-Cardio - HIIT
Fri-Legs/biceps
Sat-off
Sun-Cardio-low intensity,in the zone.

Next, I would change your diet. How many calories are you intaking?
I see you are not doing too bad but there are some better choices for some of you meals.

Suggestions;
Eat more frequently (5-7 times a day). Every three hours max.
Eat more quality of carbs at breakfast - oatmeal or eggs and high quality toast
Eat a protien and a carb for all your meals - snack=cottage cheese and piece of fruit. You need a snack between breakfast and lunch and one between lunch and dinner.
Eat more veggies. raw is best, slightly steamed is next best.
Eat less starchy carbs.
Between which meals do you workout? This will change what you eat and when.

I would cut out all of your starchy carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, crackers) and only eat them around the workout until you cut to the level you want. Totatlly cut out the crackers, they have no nutritional value. Replace all of these "I need to feel full carbs" with carbs from veggies. I would cut back on the cheese and butter or eliminate them as well - again no nutritional value.

I would do as Octagon said and keep a food log of exactly how much and what you ate for at least three days. Then using Fitday or some other calculator figure out how many protein, carbs and fat you are actually eating. Everyone is surprised how much they are eating when they do this exercise. It is real important to understand what a "portion" is using the eyeball method or actually measuring out 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.

How is that? Do you have some more questions?

[atherjen]

Everyone else pretty much covered everything here, some GREAT advice! heed those words well!
just wanted to welcome you to DF ClareBear and the best of luck! awesome people here always willing to help

[AnnaD - TX]

Keep taking in all this information from people on the board, magazines , trainers etc. Just keep trying and dont give up! Damn, 5'8 you are lucky!!

[SurfinAmy]

Hello there! I am also 5'8", currently weigh 10 pounds more than you. I am also using fitday.com - love it!!! You HAVE TO check it out, it's great!
Try to get more protein so you can add muscle. Also, I agree with the others, forget the scale! I don't even own one. The only reason I know what I weight is because I decided to step on a scale at one of the houses I clean!
I went from a size 16 to a size 10 with no cardio at all (unless you count all the houses I clean) just by watching the diet (LOTS of protein, veggies, fruits, cottage cheese (sprinkle with Mrs. Dash - it's so yummy), yogurt, milk, whole wheat bread, and oatmeal) and lifting weights - I REALLY think that building more muscle is crucial to losing fat & that is what I would focus on. You're gonna need lots of (good) fuel to do that!
It's gonna make you a fat burnin' machine woman!!!!
(smile)
-Amy
P.S. This guy has a great section on abs on intense-workout.com Worth a read

[clarebear]

I think the first change I will make is to get more protein. Unfortunately, I cannot eat fish either, I just HATE it make me throw up. Eggs too. I know I sound picky, its not just that I don't like them but they literally make me gag.
Anyways, so my only real protein intake comes from a chix breast which isnt even every day! And some red beans.

My question now is what are the best protein supplements for women? Im looking for bars, shakes, cans etc. Something I would be able to eat at work without a blender would be best for me, since I have to snack regularly while I'm there. Today I tried a Kashi Go Lean Bar. It had 13 g protein, but all the choices at teh store seem to have so much sugar. Is that still ok? Anyways, more protein will be my first goal. Monday I will probably start trying to write down my foods.

Thanks, Clare

[Lady C]

Protein choices; cottage cheese, canned chicken, lean burgers or even some lean pork is fine. I can't recommend a bar because they are ALL glorified candy bars. Would you eat tuna fish? You might want to hard boil some eggs and just eat the whites. Try it, you might like it. My husband would not touch yogurt, oatmeal or cottage cheese (he would rather die first) before we changed our lifestyle. Now he really loves the stuff! I used to hate cheese as a kid and tried it one day and thought that I was totally crazy all those years.

Morningstar Farms (a Kellog's Company) makes some great soy products. I really like the breakfast patties and the garden burgers (ones with waterchesnuts). The chicken patties aren't too bad either.

There are good combinations of vegan ways to get a complete protein. Make sure you are mixing the grains and beans and such in order to get it. It is tougher to do, but it is possible.

You have to decide how important this is. It is extremely important to get enough protein and not too many of the wrong carbs.

[clarebear]

Thank you Lady, thats what I also thought about the 'bars'. lol I forgot about canned chicken! I like that stuff. Is it ok to put mayo in it? Or melt some cheese on it? I really like cheddar, marble jack, etc cheese, what is your opinion on these? I like cottage as well and will start to have a couple bites with each meal. My husband helped me with this body calculator thing and it said i should be getting about 150 g protein a day! WOW! I had no idea. So whatever I dont get from food, I am going to get from my husbands protein shakes. It is whey protein, Champion Nutrition. Ill start with one or two scoops a day in 4 oz milk. The milk will help me get extra cals i am going for. Here is the info on the protein

Serving Size (scoop) 1
Servings Per 71
Calories 130
Fat Calories 20
Total Fat (g) 2
Sat. Fat (g) 1.5
Cholesterol (mg) 35
Sodium (mg) 160
Potassium (mg) 350
Total Carbs (g) 4
Dietary Fiber (g) 1.5
Sugars (g) 2
Proteins (g) 23

It sure is a lot harder to eat more cals than i thought, thank you so much
for your advice.

Thanks, Clare

[Cort]

stupid me, you just said you were taking whey, whoops :

[atherjen]

Originally Posted by clarebear

Thank you Lady, thats what I also thought about the 'bars'. lol I forgot about canned chicken! I like that stuff. Is it ok to put mayo in it? Or melt some cheese on it? I really like cheddar, marble jack, etc cheese, what is your opinion on these? I like cottage as well and will start to have a couple bites with each meal. My husband helped me with this body calculator thing and it said i should be getting about 150 g protein a day! WOW! I had no idea. So whatever I dont get from food, I am going to get from my husbands protein shakes. It is whey protein, Champion Nutrition. Ill start with one or two scoops a day in 4 oz milk. The milk will help me get extra cals i am going for. Here is the info on the protein

Serving Size (scoop) 1
Servings Per 71
Calories 130
Fat Calories 20
Total Fat (g) 2
Sat. Fat (g) 1.5
Cholesterol (mg) 35
Sodium (mg) 160
Potassium (mg) 350
Total Carbs (g) 4
Dietary Fiber (g) 1.5
Sugars (g) 2
Proteins (g) 23

It sure is a lot harder to eat more cals than i thought, thank you so much
for your advice.

Thanks, Clare

Hey again Clare! Im glad to see that your getting the advice needed!

-that looks like a decent protein. You could either add skim milk or go with 1.5scps if you wanted. you could also add some fruit to it(strawberries and chocolate go good). or some healthy fats like peanut butter (with chocolate its great!).

-no mayo on your chicken, too high in unhealthy fats. is you go with cheese, go with low-fat cheese. Salsa is great on chicken too.

[cursor]

Here's reference to the Morningstar products:
http://kelloggs.com/cgi-bin/brandpag...139&company=23

[clarebear]

ok what about wild rice or fat free miracle whip? any suggestions for dips for raw veggies? Thanks, Clare

[atherjen]

wild rice is a great choice!
fat free miracle whip has added sugars, so beware.
Ill post some recipes for veggie dips in the recipe section for you!

EDIT: Clare, I just put 3 dip recipes in the recipe section for you to try out!