Journal for a new year

[workout queen]

Over the last year, excessive exercise (mainly cardio) coupled with an inadequate diet caused me to lose too much weight and body fat (5' 3", 100-105 lbs, 10% body fat) such that my body started to stubbornly hold onto fat afterwards and I lost a lot of my muscle tissue. I have regained some muscle mass but oddly, my body is still clinging onto fat mainly in my abdominal area and face. I realize that I need to eat more in order to increase my metabolism and faciliate fat burning. I want to gain more muscle mass and normalize the fat distribution in my body with a goal BF of 15-18% and weight of 105-110 lbs.

Currently, I work out around 4 times/week:
Usually 5 minute warm-up
Shoulders or back/chest or triceps/biceps or lower body (45 minutes)
abs 15 minutes (3 times per week)
cardio 35 minutes (3 times per week)

Yesterday (workout 11:30-1:10 pm)
Lower body:
Squats, deadlifts, walking lunges, quadriceps, leg press, calves (seating and free standing on steps)
abs 15 minutes
cardio 30 minutes

Diet:
9 am: 1/3 cup oatmeal, 5 egg whites, coffee, 1 tbsp ground up flaxseed
1:30 pm: 1/3 cup oatmeal, grilled fish, vegetables (bok choy, bean sprouts, carrots), 1 cup low carb soy milk
4 pm: 1/3 cup all bran cereal, 1 cup 1% cottage cheese, 1 tbsp almond butter
7 pm: 1 cup miso soup, large salad (mesclin mix) with avocado, grilled chicken and white fish, olive oil and balsalmic vinegarette dressing
10 pm: whey protein powder in 1 cup of low carb soy milk
11:30 pm: 1 glass of white wine (it was new years)

Diet (today):
10am: 1 egg, 4 egg whites, 2 small slices of low fat cheddar cheese, 1 slice of whole wheat flax bread, coffee, few slices of fresh pineapple
1 pm: 1 slice whole wheat flax bread, large salad with 2/3 cup 1% cottage cheese, 1/2 cup tuna, avocado, olive oil and balsalmic vinegarette dressing
4 pm: 1/3 cup oatmeal, 2/3 cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed


Workout (tomorrow)
Warm-up 5 minutes
Back/Chest
Incline bench press, push-ups
One arm lat pull-ups, lat pulldowns, seated rows, bentover bar pull-ups
abs 15 minutes
cardio 30 minutes

[workout queen]

Diet (continued from yesterday)
Meal 4: 7 pm - 1/2 cup soba noodles, stirfried chicken and fish with lots of vegetables, broth soup
Meal 5: 10 pm - 1 c ff cc, 1.5 tbsp almond butter, 1 cup low carb soy milk

I can tell that my upper and lower body are getting stronger but I still hold a lot of extra fat in my lower abdominals. Could this be all fat or a combination of fat, water and bloating? I know that when you are underweight for a long period of time, your body goes through all these weird symptoms when it is trying to recover.

Today:

Meal 1: 1/3 cup oats, 5 egg whites, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 1/2 medium grapefruit, 1 cup of coffee

Workout (see below)

Meal 2: post workout shake: 1 scoop whey protein, 1 med banana, 1 cup low carb soy milk
Meal 3: 2 small slices flax rye bread, lots of salad with 1 tbsp olive oil and balsalmic vinegarette and dijon mustard, tomato, broiled chicken breast, few slices avocado, 1 cup skim ff milk
Meal 4: 1/3 cup oats, lots of salad with same dressing as above, broiled chicken breast, few slices avocado, 1 cup miso soup
Meal 5: 1/2 cup ff cc, 1.5 tbsp natural peanut butter

Workout: total time of 1.5 hour
warmup 5 minutes
back/abs
wide grip machine assisted pullups 3x15
seated wide grip pulldowns 3 sets 12-15 reps (50-60 lbs)
seated low cable rows 3 sets 12-15 reps (50-60 lbs)
bent over reverse grip barbell rows 3 sets 15 reps (40 lbs)
one-arm dumbell rows 3 sets 15 reps (20 lbs)
lower back bent over lifts (not sure what it's called)

abs: 3 exercises to target entire abs, obliques and lower
3 sets 15-20 reps

cardio 30 minutes HIIT bike
stretch and cool down

Not sure what I should work out tomorrow on. Is it too much to do biceps/triceps if I did back today?

Thinking of adopting a 3-4 day split for the week. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I should split my workouts and how many cardio sessions I should do? I don't want to lose any more weight (except for my lower ab pouch) as I'm quite lean everywhere else and want to still build muscle elsewhere.

Something like:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - upper body (shoulders, chest), abs
Wednesday - lower body (mainly glutes, hamstrings), cardio
Thursday - rest
Friday - upper body (back), abs, cardio
Saturday - lower body (calves, quads), cardio
Sunday - upper body (biceps/triceps), abs

[Helene]

Hi workout queen, I'm doing a 4 day split and it looks like that:

monday: Chest-triceps
tuesday: Cardio
wednesday: Back
thursday: Cardio
friday: Shoulders-Biceps
saturday: Legs
sunday: Off

I like to do the biggest muscles by themselves (legs and back) because they are alot of work.

Also, I think you have to much volume for your back. For the big muscles (back and legs) I usually try to stick to 4 exercices and for the smaller ones, (chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps) 3 exercices is good. 3-4 sets per exercice. Don't forget, more is not better.

I don't know how you can do 30 minutes of cardio after a big leg day like that!

[workout queen]

Thanks for the feedback.

I'll try the following then,
Monday - shoulders, abs, cardio
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - arms, cardio
Thursday - legs, abs
Friday - rest
Saturday - back, abs, cardio
Sunday - rest

How many cardio sessions should I do to burn body fat without compromising too much muscle gain? Is it better to do it after weight training on on its own on another day?

[newntrying]

Me too, I am struggling with muscle gain vs. fat loss. Though I am on the opposite spectrum with 26% body fat. Wish I could provide advice...

[Helene]

I think cardio is best done when you can actually do it. I do it on seperate days because after a lifting session of about 1h, I juste don't have the energy to have a good cardio workout.

[workout queen]

Yesterday: OMG, I was so hungry the entire morning even though I ate so much.

Meal 1 (8:30 am): 1/3 c oats, 5 egg whites, 1 tbsp ground flaxseed, 1 cup ff soy milk, 1 cup coffee
Meal 2 (10:30 am): 1 slice flaxseed rye bread, 1/2 c ff cc, 1 tbsp almond butter, 10 almonds
Meal 3 (1 pm): large salad with mesclin mix, tomatoes, few slices avocado, grilled chicken, 1 tbsp olive oil and balsamic vinegarette each, 1 slice flaxseed rye bread
2 pm - still hungry, 1 cup ff soy milk
Meal 4 (4:30 pm pre-workout): 1/3 cup all bran cereal, 1/2 c ff cc, 10 almonds
Meal 5 (6:45 pm post-workout): 1 scoop whey protein, 1 cup ff soy milk, 1 small banana
Meal 6 (8 pm): 1/2 cup soba noodles, grilled chicken, 1.5-2 cups steamed vegetables, 1 bowl chicken broth soup

Workout: 5-6:30 pm
chest: push-ups, incline bench press, decline bench press (free weights)
3 sets 15 reps
abs: leg lifts, oblique twists, decline sit-ups
cardio 35 minutes (eliptical trainer)

Am I eating too much? Why am I SOOOO hungry in the morning and feeling like I have no energy?

I think I am eating pretty clean and not excessively. I can feel significant muscle gains mainly in my upper body and legs but I still carry an unusual amount of abdominal fat (compared to the rest of my body).
Would my body continue to cling on to fat if it felt that I wasn't eating enough based on my energy needs but I really do think that I'm eating enough. I just want to see my abs again!

[workout queen]

Decided to take a rest day yesterday as I was so tired and didn't want to get stuck in the snow driving (yes, there was supposed to be a storm here yesterday in Toronto). Also, didn't want to battle with all the new sign-ups at my gym as everyone has set new year's resolutions to start working out. It should be a life long committment and not just a transient resolution at the start of every year.

Meal 1 (7:30am): 1/3 c oats, 5 egg whites, 1tbsp ground flaxseed, 1 cup coffee
Meal 2 (10:30am): 1/3 c oats, 5 egg whites, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 tsp almond butter
Meal 3 (1:30 pm): 1 cup low fat soy milk, large romaine salad with tomatoes, few slices avocado, broiled chicken, balsalmic vinegarette, 1 slice flaxseed rye bread
Meal 4 (4:30 pm): 2/3 cup ff cc, 2 tbsp soy nuts, 1/4 cup raspberries
Meal 5 (6 pm): waiting for dinner so hungry couldn't wait: 1/2 ww pita bread (very small slice), 1 small piece chicken breast, steamed vegetables
Meal 6 (7:30 pm): lots of steamed vegetables, stirfried chicken, tofu, soup
Meal 7 (10:30 pm): 1/2 c ff cc, 1 tsp natty pb

Today, woke up at 9:30 am

Meal 1 (10 am): 1 slice ww flaxseed bread, 5 egg whites, 1 tbsp natty pb, fruit, coffee
Workout 11:30-1pm
Meal 2(PW shake 1 pm): 1 medium banana, 1 scoop whey protein powder, 1 cup ff soymilk
Meal 3 (2 pm): 1/2 medium yam, 1/2 tin tuna, 1/3 c ff cc, few slices avocado, soup
Meal 4 (7 pm): going for steak

Workout: legs
leg press 3 sets, 15 reps (45 lbs each side)
hamstring curl, barbell sqauts, barbell lunges, seated leg extensions
all 3 sets, 15 reps
calves (walking up stairs 20 stairs, 20 reps)
cardio 30 minutes speed walking, high incline