CJ's Coming Off A 3 Year Cut

[CJRoman]

I spend ten hours of my day six days a week personal training others, finding flaws in their programs and breaking their platues. I seem to have left my own training in the dust. I've been eating the same diet for years, a diet very similar to a pre-contest program.

Training Days:
1/2 cup oatmeal w/ SF mapel syrup, cinnamon, Butter Buds, Splenda
1 cup of Egg Beaters (120 cal, 25 g protein) with a plate of broccoli florets thrown in and seasoning, a couple daps of ketchup
A whole lot of coffee with Splenda and skim milk for energy
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1 scoop (25g protein) ON protein powder
1/2 a sweet potato (= 1 serving, 130 cal)
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Possibly a couple bits of chicken or 6 almonds if I cant make it to lunch
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1 large chicken breast with a huge serving of mixed veg (eggplant, broccoli, red pepper, mushroom, tomatoe sauce) that are broiled with low fat Ceasar drissled on top
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A low carb bar OR a 30g protein shake and 8 almonds OR 1 cup of cottage cheese (1%)
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Dinner is either a large chicken breast or eggs again or a large serving of lean ground turkey with a very large serving of veggies
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If the sweet tooth kicks in....a couple bits of Sugar Free Ice Cream OR decaf coffee with Skim OR some almonds


On cardio days the oatmeal and sweet potato are out and replaced with green veggies.

So hear is the thing, I can adise others but am just in such a rut myself!! I would like to start a journal to get some feedback and visually monitor my progress.

I have been trying to really get some considerable size on my legs (especially the tear drop) and basically all over mass. I have kept, on the advise of my first trainer the startchy carbs to only on training days and only pre and post workout to keep my definition and body fat low (or lower!)

In the past month, the energy has been zapped from me and has not returned for weeks. On my no/low carb cardio days I feel sick to my stomach, dizy and drained the second cardio begins and I can not maintain my past intensity (45 min at average of 150-160 bpm 3 times per week). I can not lift with intensity anymore, I'm no longer sore, and weaken quickly. My eyelids have started to twitch uncontrollably

I want some size and cuts on these arms and legs. So I did something very mentally challenging for a female....cut down on the cardio. For the past two weeks I have done two days for 30 minutes. Four days of lifting: Monday-Chest, triceps; Tuesday-Back, biceps; Wendsday-Cardio; Thursday-Shoulders, Abs; Friday- Cardio; Saturday-Legs. Much to my dismay, I feel my abs and inner thighs to have gained fat weight.....in so short a time! I'm hoping most is water weight since I just induced my period (havent had it in years from amenhorrea). Reality is though its probably fat.

I'm thinking of balancing out my diet more.......keeping it at 150 g protein and uping the startchy carbs for energy. I'm not sure how many carbs I need or calories (I've gotten numbers from 1500 to 3000!) Any advice would be great!!!

BTW.....stats as of today are 122lbs, 19% body fat

[bscrusher]

cj you are in deep s___!
you are way overtrained. you need to back off totally and rest. you are headed for severe injury or sickness. stop trying to micromanage every calorie and every minute. take a rest for a few weeks. eat whatever food you crave, no junk food, you should never crave it. than decide what you are going to do different to keep yourself out of situations like this in the future. first rest, right now i doubt you can even think straight.

[Emma-Leigh]

I agree - you need to take a week off!

You should really completely rest before you jump into another cycle of grulling training and diet - take a whole week off (7 whole days) and don't be concerned with diet, training or macro-nutrient ratio's. Just relax and let your body recover!

If you just keep ploughing through these types of serious warning signs you will just do yourself some serious damage and you will be FORCED to rest for a lot longer.

[GymRookie]

I have to agree with cruser and emma. Take a week off and rest the bod, your headed for more problems than you may think.

[CJRoman]

Well, you know what they say....if more than three people say it it must be true!! :-) I have great respect for the people here and the advice so I will be taking it. I've decided to rest the first week in May because I'm starting a new job at totally different hours which will naturally be stressful and I feel choosing that week may alieviate some of the chaos.

I know I should not weight train that entire week but should I continue with cardio? Proper nutrition should also be maintain for resting up and I'm wondering if there are any areas in my diet that I should keep or totally overhaul during that time.

I am also wondering how I should start back up after this time off. I have always been intrigued by BodyRx (anyone ever read it?) It recommends periodization ( cycles of heavy, moderate, and light lifts, training 4x per week) it advocates no cardio I was going to do it on the non-lifting days (good idea??) and has a nutrition program with green foods (lean meats, vegetables...eat as much as you want), yellow foods (starchy carbs...eat in moderation), and red foods (cookies, crackers, cake, sugar........eat only once per week). Any other suggestions for starting back up??

Thank you everyone for your help.

[Emma-Leigh]

Originally posted by CJRoman
I know I should not weight train that entire week but should I continue with cardio? Proper nutrition should also be maintain for resting up and I'm wondering if there are any areas in my diet that I should keep or totally overhaul during that time.
A week off means just that - have it completely OFF!! ;)
No weights, no cardio (well, maybe gentle strolls in the park) and relax on your diet for the week (eat well, eat healthy but don't count or restrict yourself. So if you want cake - have a slice!!).

I would overhaul your diet - you are going to have to put starchy carbs back in there. You can not do low carb/low fats for long periods of time without depleting your body of energy - and you are showing all the signs of being completely run down (weakness, tiredness etc etc). So, on this week get enough quality proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats to replenish your body effectively. That means I would also increase your calories to just above maintainence for the week as well.

[CJRoman]

So I finally, in years, made myself take an entire week off from training and cardio. My eyes have stoped twitching and my knees dont ache.

I'm really committed to getting started again the right way this time. I"ve been doing 4 day/week splits and am considering changing that up to get started. I'd like something with periodization to keep things interesting.

I'm considering Max-OT or HST. I"ve never done full body workouts before though. Does anyone have any recommendations as to a good program to try. I was also seriously considering the program by BodyRx.

I'm fed up with this obessive carbo fear that has me eating 65% protein a day. I'd like to create some balance in my life that (I hope I can do this) allows me to eat some sprouted wheat bread or low carb tortillas without feeling like I've killed my goals.

I have gotten calorie calculations for myself that that range from 1300/day to 2700/day. I'm not sure were to go. I have always had this soft layer over my body, particularly in lower abdoman and upper/inner thighs (like most woman!) that despite doing either hours of cardio and no weights, 50/50 cardio and weights, or four days of weight and two days of cardio never seems to go away. So I'm missing something key here!

As much as I'd like to get rid of the "excess" I think I should focus on building up my muscles (the right way) and maintaining a balanced eating plan......the fat I'm sure will come off in time once I'm living/working out more efficiently and not overtraining.

I have a basic idea of where to start with myself, but as always I'd love to hear some feedback and ideas about what has worked for you guys.

STATS:
Age: 19
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 122
Body Fat %: 20% (NEVER MOVES!! :-) )

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by CJRoman


I have gotten calorie calculations for myself that that range from 1300/day to 2700/day. I'm not sure were to go.

Take a look at this calculator. I am getting almost 1800 calories as your maintenance level using a 155% activity multiplier:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa64.htm

20% bodyfat is not bad for a woman. Anything under 15% is probably unhealthy. Focus on increasing your lean muscle mass. If your weight stays at 122 lbs and you add 5 pounds of muscle, replacing 5 pounds of fat, do the math. You've decreased your bodyfat % to 16%!

[CJRoman]

I started my first day of HST. I'm not sure about this. You are not supposed to go to failure (I've ALWAYS gone to failure) until the last workout of each microcycle. You go 15, 10, 5, negatives each for two weeks. Your supposed to do three full body workouts but this week is crazy so I will be doing either Mon, Wend, Fri Upper Body and Tues, Thurs, Sat Lower. Or Mon and Thursday Upper and Tues and Friday lower.

Not going to failure at 15 reps seems like a weakling workout!! But amazingly, after a week of nothing I think I already feel some tightness (light soreness) in my muscles?!

I also got my bodyfat done at an obesity research laboratory with a fancy tanita scale. It said I was 15% bodyfat. This cant be right. I have no definition in my abs, small saddlebags, inner thigh fat, and a big ole' round butt. Plus after my week away from obsessiveness.....my clothes (pants) are tight. So I"m going to stick with the 20%.

I used the calorie calculator egoatdoor....I got the same readout.

So lets see how I did today:
6:20am 1/2 cup oatmeal with SF syrup (160 cal)
1/2 cup FF cottage cheese (80 cal)
Coffee with skim milk (25 cal)
8:00am Protein Powder (110 cal)
Sweet Potato (150 cal)
11:00am Oatmeal/Egg White Pancakes (300 cal)
2:00pm 4oz chicken and roasted veggies (300 cal)
3:00pm Decaff Coffee with skim (35 cal)
5:30pm 1/2 cup cottage cheese (80 cal)
8:30pm 1 cup Egg Beaters with seasoning (170)
2 lean breakfast sausages (80 cal)
Frozen broccoli (50 cal)
1 cup of roasted veggies (70 cal)
Low carb ketchup for eggs (20cal)
9:30pm 3/4 cup of no sugar ice cream (I KNOW!! :-( ) 200 cal)

Total: 1830
Protein: 140 grams

[egoatdoor]

Originally posted by CJRoman

I also got my bodyfat done at an obesity research laboratory with a fancy tanita scale. It said I was 15% bodyfat. This cant be right. I have no definition in my abs, small saddlebags, inner thigh fat, and a big ole' round butt. Plus after my week away from obsessiveness.....my clothes (pants) are tight. So I"m going to stick with the 20%.

The 15% may still be right, or you may closer to the 15% rather than the 20%. You're holding fat in certain areas and some people are genetically prone to that. In my case( I'm a guy), even in competition shape at 5/6% bodyfat, I still have slight"lovehandles" on my waist and a little strip of fat in lower back. Its where I retain that little bit of fat, but the rest of me is hard and firm. The ab definition may require just a small further reduction in fat ( mine come in 8/9%). And the butt..again, it may be genetics. Just because its "big and round" doesn't mean it is full of fat. Mine is big too, but as hard as a rock.

At 5'2', it is very hard to be "thin" like the long tall lithe models in the fashion magazines. Be content with creating a pleasing proportionate physique given what is realistic for your body structure and genetic make up.

[bscrusher]

cj, i think you are on the right track. remember the reason you have some soft roundness on your butt, inner thighs etc, is, you are a woman. women are supposed to have that. it makes them healthy and beautiful. i know quite a few very intense, strong and lean female athletes that have that female roundness like you describe. the women that do not have it are rare exceptions. women look better with some roundness IMHO. if you continue an effective program, don't starve, and don't overtrain, those soft areas will become more firm, perhaps extremely firm. but most likely your butt and thighs will still look like a female butt and thighs.

[CJRoman]

I'm now in my fouth week of HST (second week of the 10's). The workouts are getting tougher as the weights get heavier. I chose HST because it was for HYPERTROPHY....but I'm not seeing it!

After my week off from no exercise what-so-ever, I was shocked to see my body fat % at 15 with 103lbs of fat free mass, 119 total. After that, training began, diet back on and now after four weeks, my new readout is 17% bodyfat, and 98lbs of fat free mass, same weight. What's going on!!

I'm wondering if this is really the best training program to put on muscle. Anyone had any success on a different, formal training program

bscrusher.....I read your post, do you really only train twice every 12 days? Can you increase mass that way? I added some carbs today (cardio day) and am thinking about getting off this no carb....then carb day rotation. I felt way better in the morning, ending the day with no starchy carbs, did cardio at night 6:00 and was totally spent...no energy. I'm considering replacing my third step class this week (normally do three total) with a yoga class instead....the joints are killing me.

Does anyone know of any meal plans within the BB.com website that arent pre-comp?

[bscrusher]

hi cj, yes i train once a week, for 45 minutes. my goal is not gaining mass, though i do not want to lose it either.
one way you can tell if your program and your metabolism are working right is when you stop lifting for 2 or 3 weeks you lose weight. this is from your muscles beginning to shrink back toward their original size. i should mention that this only works if you have already gained muscle IN ADDITION to what your genetic code and normal healthy lifestyle dictate.
my greatest success gaining muscle, 45 pounds of it, has been by using freeweights only, lifting 2 times a week, in the 5-8 rep range, to failure OCCASIONALLY. no cardio, ever. i was careful to never be hungry and i did not gain any fat. i have always had a very busy and physical life and by carefully resting and cutting down my activity i could make my muscles grow faster.
i think you should leave behind those confusing bf calculations, they will drive you nuts. instead look in your mirror regularly. in the gym concentrate on moving some heavy iron. replacing cardio with yoga is a great idea. remember, ANY activity or stress outside your lifting sessions is going to slow down the growth of muscle. heavy weightlifting tells your muscles to grow big and strong. endurance training (cardio) tells your muscles to stay small. as in all spheres of life, the best solutions are always elegant in their simplicity.