Blupaw'z Journal

[blupawz]

I'm new to everything and need some motivation so... here i am trying to keep an online journal.
I joined a fitness class this year, so all we do is work out, learn about nutrition and all that other fun stuff. Last year i worked out in the school fitness centre off and on... and i decided i wanted to be a body builder and possibly become a fitness trainer..

I am 16years old, 5'8" and currently 149lbs. Which before i joined this class i was 144lbs - so i dont know if i gained fat or muscle.

Measurements:
Chest: 40inches
Waist: 34inches
Hip: 40inches
Thighs: 34.5inches
Biceps: 11inches
Calves: 23inches

My workout for fitness class (due on monday) stands as:
--Day One--
Warm-Up
Squats
Cardio 20mins
Hamstring Curls
Calf Raises
Leg Extensions

--Day Two--
Warm-Up
Bench Press
Cardio 20mins
Bicep Curls
Tricep Pressdown
Shoulder Press

--Day Three--
Warm-Up
Deadlifts
Cardio 20mins
Lat Pulldown
Pec Flys
Lower back Ext.

3 sets of 5/6 reps... later on i'll post how much of what i can do.

Okay. The diet thing is going to be really hard to go on - since my house doesnt really have a whole bunch of healthy food... my mom is against the idea of me wanting to train and... she wont get any of the healthy stuff... anyways:

Breakfast:
Frosted Flakes Cereal with 2% milk.
Banana.

Lunch:
Pizza Pop x2 (Pepperoni and bacon..ouch i know)
Dr. Pepper - can - (courtesy of mother dearest. I have to finish the dr. pepper before she'll buy anything else)

Supper:
Spagetthi (regular) with meat sauce in a 4 cheese sauce... the one that comes in the jar...
Orange juice.

So fitness today was a real bummer. The girls are avoiding me - see they only want to work on "muscular endurance" and flexability, which is cool, but heaven forbid a girl wanting to get involved in body building. My motivation at the moment: to prove to them i can do this - that i can reach my goal. We'll see what happens. It's hard for me to do anything without anyone supporting me - since my family is against it - my friends look down on it... i can do this.
Would be nice to know some people are out there that support a 16yr old's decision to do this.

**future professional bodybuilder**

[BuffedWildCat]

HELL YEAH!!! You go girl! :)

We'll help you along. I was once in your shoes, when I was a teenager is when I first saw bodybuilding and fitness competitions on TV and ever since then I wanted to look like one of those fitness competitors and wanted to go into some kind of fitness career field. Years later when I told my family I was really into lifting, the first reactions I got were things like, "you're not gonna start looking like Chyna are you"? Geesh. So I do know where you're coming from.

So okay let's get the ball rolling starting at the top.

I think you may want to redo your measurements, preferrably have someone else measure you cause some of those measurements look hokey. For instance my thighs are 23 inches so that would mean your calves are as big as my thighs and I HIGHLY doubt that. And I don't think that your waist and thighs are the same size around, I also doubt that either one is that big around, not at 5'8" and 149 lbs. The others are believeable.

Hmmm, tell ya what, instead of my trying to pick apart (critique) your training and diet, I'll instead post my diet and training guidelines for beginners and let you take a look at that and see where you fall short. If you have any questions feel free to ask. :)

NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR REDUCING BODY FAT:

1. Eat every 2-3 hours, balanced meals of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Exception: you don't necessarily have to eat carbohydrates with your last meal or two of the day, you CAN just eat protein and fat. Unless it's post workout (post strength training), then you NEED to eat some carbs.

2. Try to keep the protein intake in each of your meals consistent. If you are resistance/strength training, eat a minimum of your bodyweight in grams of protein, divided up equally into each of your meals.

3. Don't be afraid of fat, you NEED fat in order to BURN fat. You need to turn your body into a fat burning machine. In order to do this, you keep your carbs fairly low (30-40 grams per meal is a good rule of thumb) and your fat intake moderate. As in, the lower your carbs, the more fat you should be consuming.

4. Avoid sugars and over-processed foods like the plague. Read your labels, avoid food with sugar listed in the ingredients.

5. Avoid processed foods, like those in boxes/packages and also anything made with white flour. White flour is over-processed. Also anything that says, "enriched" avoid it as well, it basically means over-processed.

6. Eat as close to nature as you can. In other words, the closer the food to how it occurs in nature, the better for you it is, and ESPECIALLY for fat burning.

7. Avoid starchy carbs like corn, bread (esp white bread), pasta.

8. For your last meal or two of the day, consume only green veggies for your carbohydrates. Generally for your last meal you should consume less carbohydrates and more fat.

9. Last but not least, do NOT cut your calories too low. For starters I wouldn't even drop ANY calories. I would eat maintenance calories (eat normally) and just focus on cleaning up your diet (get rid of drinking sodas, etc) and getting consistent with a good macronutrient ratio (protein, carbs, fat). Some examples of good cutting ratios (percentage of total calories) are: 40P/30C/30F, 40P/25C/35F, 40P/20C/40F, or 35P/35C/30F etc.

10. A good website (free) to help you keep track of your calories, protein, carbs, and fat is: www.fitday.com

Here are some good choices for foods to eat, conducive to burning fat and/or staying lean. If the food you are eating is not on this list, I would question it.

PROTEINS

Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
Tuna (water packed)
Fish (salmon, seabass, halibut)
Shrimp
Extra Lean Ground Beef or Ground Round (92-96%)
Venison
Buffalo
Ostrich
Protein Powder
Egg Whites or Whole Eggs
Ribeye Steaks or Roast
Top Round Steaks or Roast (aka Stew Meat, London Broil, Stir Fry)
Top Sirloin (aka Sirloin Top Butt)
Beef Tenderloin (aka Filet, Filet Mignon)
Top Loin (NY Strip Steak)
Flank Steak (Sir Fry, Fajita)
Eye of Round (Cube Meat, Stew Meat, Bottom Round , 96% LeandGround Round)
Ground turkey, Turkey Breast Slices or cutlets (fresh meat, not deli cuts)
Soy Burgers
Low-fat cottage cheese

SLOW BURNING/COMPLEX CARBS

Oatmeal (Old Fashioned or Quick Oats)
Sweet Potatoes (Yams)
Beans (pinto, black, kidney)
Oat Bran Cereal
Rye Cereal
Grape Nuts
Brown Rice
Farina (Cream of Wheat)
Multigrain Hot Cereal
Whole wheat or Spinach Pasta
100% Stoneground Whole Wheat Bread

FIBROUS CARBS

Green Leafy Lettuce (Green Leaf, Red, Leaf, Romaine)
Broccoli
Asparagus
String Beans
Okra
Spinach
Bell Peppers
Brussel Sprouts
Cauliflower
Cabbage
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Green or Red Pepper
Onions
Pumpkin
Garlic
Tomatoes
Zucchini

FRUIT

Apples
Grapefruit
Peaches
Strawberries
Blueberries
Raspberries
Lemons or Limes

HEALTHY FATS

Natural Peanut Butter
Olive Oil or Safflower Oil
Nuts (peanuts, almonds)
Flaxseed Oil

BEVARAGES

Crystal Light
Green Tea
Other Tea (without sugar)
Coffee (without sugar)

CONDIMENTS

Mayonnaise
Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
Reduced Sodium Teriyaki Sauce
Balsamic Vinegar
Salsa
Hot Peppers and Hot Sauce
Chili powder
Mrs. Dash
Steak Sauce
Sugar Free Maple Syrup
Chili Paste
Mustard
Extracts (vanilla, almond, etc )
Low Sodium beef or chicken broth
Plain or reduced sodium tomatoes sauce, puree, paste)
Stevia (natural sweetener)

Written by:

"BuffedWildCat"
Body Solutions Personal Trainer

GENERAL TRAINING GUIDELINES FOR BEGINNERS

1. Always start with big the muscle groups first. For example, always do chest before triceps and shoulders, always do back before biceps.

2. Work each body part once per week with the exception of abs and calves, you can work them 2- 3 times per week if you'd like.

3. Allow at least 48 hours before you work the same muscle group again. Never train a sore muscle.

4. For big muscle groups, I recommend at least 3-4 exercises per muscle group and 3-4 sets per exercise. But use your best judgement, if it’s too much then cut back until your training level increases.

5. For smaller muscle groups, I recommend at least 2-3 exercises per part, 3-4 sets per exercise as these groups are also worked when you exercise the big muscle groups.

6. Work each muscle group to failure on each set with the exception of warm-up sets. Failure means you cannot physically perform another lift/rep. For beginners who are just learning the proper form for each exercise movement, I recommend you pick a weight that you cannot physically lift more than 18 reps. Once you master the proper form of the lift, I recommend you lift to failure in the 8-12 rep range (meaning you cannot physically perform a 13th repitition/lift).

7. Take 1-3 minutes rest between each set of 8-12 reps. Generally the heavier you lift, the more rest time you should allow between sets. If you are lifting in the 11-15 rep range, you can take as little as 45 seconds rest.

8. Make up your training split based on how many days per week you can go to the gym and how long you want to spend there. Personally, I wouldn't try to do more than 2 body parts per session if you can help it. Reason is cause it's very difficult to maintain your intensity/energy for more than two body parts. If you are really giving it all you got, you will most likely find it quite difficult to still have the energy to train that third body part.

9. Never do cardio before lifting weights, ALWAYS do cardio AFTER weight training and PREFERABLY on a separate day altogether.

10. Don't overdo it on the cardio, cardio is WAY overrated in terms of burning fat. DIET and weight training (muscle) is what's gonna burn the fat for you. For starters, I'd only do cardio twice a week for no more than 30 min. I recommend high intensity interval training if you're up to it. If you are pretty out of shape then obviously your “high” intensity interval will not be as high as someone who is already conditioned.

EXAMPLE OF A TRAINING SPLIT

Monday - back & abs
Tuesday - chest & shoulders
Wednesday - cardio
Thursday - legs, calves
Friday - arms
Saturday - off
Sunday - cardio

Note: Please check with your doctor before beginning any exercise program. Also, please realize that this is not the ONLY way to train especially depending on your fitness goals. In any case, I hope this helps you and good luck achieving your goals!

Sincerely,

"BuffedWildCat"
Body Solutions’ Personal Trainer

[blupawz]

beautiful!! thank you so much. and you're right about the wrong measurments i dont know how i screwed up (maybe the measuring tape was backwards or something).
or.. i measured both of them at the same time *blushes* but the thickest part of one thigh is 18inches.
Thanks for your input, i'll try to work out how i can eat every 2-3 hours and what to eat later tonight.


Although, the guy that works with our fitness class - he told me that i need way more protein and to get my carb's from fruits and veggies... i can work with that..

we also did this thing in fitness class to calculate how much fat we need to take in each day (divide your weight in half).
Also instead of going on...supplements right away, is taking centrum okay?

I remember seeing chyna, i wanted to be just like her in every single way when i was younger lol. i just read Terry Bollea's (Hulk Hogan) biography just the other day and it was soo awesome.

anyways, i'm going to go work on my diet now. Thanks a bunch for the info.! And MsFit was right in her post, that it is hard to find truthful information for women bodybuilders.

Later!

[BuffedWildCat]

Originally posted by blupawz
beautiful!! thank you so much. and you're right about the wrong measurments i dont know how i screwed up (maybe the measuring tape was backwards or something).
or.. i measured both of them at the same time *blushes* but the thickest part of one thigh is 18inches.

Yeah, that sounds more like it. ;)


Although, the guy that works with our fitness class - he told me that i need way more protein and to get my carb's from fruits and veggies... i can work with that..

He's probably right. Most people when they first get into this aren't eating near enough protein. Carbs from fruits and veggies is good, don't forget other fiberous, slow burning carbohydrates like oatmeal (not the sugary packets, the old fashioned stuff), sweet potatoes, etc.


we also did this thing in fitness class to calculate how much fat we need to take in each day (divide your weight in half).
Also instead of going on...supplements right away, is taking centrum okay?

Interesting, I hadn't heard of that one. I think it's probably just a general rule of thumb. I figured it out and if I'm taking in 2200 calories in 4 meals a day (cause I sleep so long, heh) at my usual macronutrient ratio of 40%P/30%C/30%F then it actually does come out pretty close. It doesn't work on higher cals though if I want to stay at a 30% ratio.

Taking centrum would be great, I recommend to everyone that they take a multivitamin.


anyways, i'm going to go work on my diet now. Thanks a bunch for the info.! And MsFit was right in her post, that it is hard to find truthful information for women bodybuilders. Later!

Yep. Unfortunately. That is one reason I became a personal trainer, to dispell the myths and EDUCATE as many women as I can about how it REALLY works! :)

[marek]

hi Blupaw,

So cool that u want to get into fitness training as a career. There are lots of options in the field. As for your personal diet as a teenage this site has some excellent articles geared toward your age group and sex. Check out all that, there is a huge data base of info here. In my opinion your diet and training needs to be based on your activity level and interest. You have to make goals and set plans to begin with and stick with them. If it does not work or something then you readjust goals and plans. I would say your diet as given is pretty bad. ALos since you are younger you need a full range of foods from all food groups i believe. You do not need sodas, too much in fried foods(french fries), excess sugars(deserts), all these foods contribute to poor nutition for teenagers. With a proper plan and healthy low fat, low sugar diet and a doable workout plan you will see some results.

[egoatdoor]

Blupaw'z,

I admire your motivation and willingness to do the right things here in spite of the negative atmosphere around you. Keep the faith and you will be successful!

I'm a guy but I can relate to what you are going through. I started training at age 21, skinny as a rail, in a family of junk food eaters, smokers and couch potatoes. It finally got to the point where I had to buy my own groceries and cook my own meals because what everyone else was eating was totally unacceptable.