1st post, comments please, 5ft 11 gal!

[spaghetti86]

Thought I would post this with the rest of you girls, see if I get any more help and comments. :-)

Hi everyone,

Have been lurking here for quite a while now and thought it was finally time I posted.
I have been lifting on and off since October 2005 I think. But I finally want to get serious and see some changes in my body.

Here are my stats -

Sex - Female
Age - 20 (21 on the 6th January 2007)
Height - 5ft 11inchs (I got a long body)
Weight - approx 178lbs (it varies up and down a few pounds)
Body fat - don't know, any guesses?
Aim/Goal - My main goal is to lose some lb's and % and to get more lean in the process, so keeping any muscle I have.

First weight goal is to get to 170lbs. Going to make smallish goals.
I have included some pics, so please comment and any suggestions will be taken on board.

My workout is like this -
Mon-Shoulders, Traps + Abs + Cardio
Tues - Back, Triceps + Abs + Cardio
Wed - Rest/Maybe some cardio
Thurs - Chest, Biceps + Abs + Cardio
Fri - Legs + Abs
Sat - Rest
Sunday - Cardio

My cardio consists of a mixture of - Stepper, Jogging, Walking, Jump Rope and Boxing on my punch bag.

As for my diet I haven't really got a solid one worked out yet. As of tomorrow I will be starting night work. 10pm - 6am and sleeping at some point in the day, hopefully I won't be doing this for too long though. Is just to keep the £'s coming in. Erm so here is the meal plan I'm using at the minute - by the way im vegetarian but i occasionally eat fish.

1. Serving of healthy cereal + skimmed milk
2. Wholemeal Pitta bread with tuna, sometimes extra light mayo, serving of low fat pretzels and a low fat cheese string (I tend to do weights in morning at the min so this would be post workout meal)
3. Serving of nuts or protein shake
4. Fish or Quorn/Soya with vegetables
5. Glass of skimmed milk or Protein shake

So any suggestions on that would be great, and any one who's on nights I would love to know your diet (cutting one please!)

Ok well thats it for now. I will try and get a back picture up as its kinda hard to take on your own with only a small narrow mirror!

thanks for reading. :-)

ps. please excuse the mess on my bed, I hadn't made it yet :-D

__________________

[arose70]

Hello!

I'm 6' and about 175 and my bf is about 23-25% I think (after the holidays !). You are leaner than I am so I'd put you around 20%...but everyone holds bf differently so I am kinda of telling you that if I were 20%, I'd look like you do now. If that makes any sense at all?!

How many calories is that per day? Doesn't seem like much?

[spaghetti86]

Originally Posted by arose70

Hello!

I'm 6' and about 175 and my bf is about 23-25% I think (after the holidays !). You are leaner than I am so I'd put you around 20%...but everyone holds bf differently so I am kinda of telling you that if I were 20%, I'd look like you do now. If that makes any sense at all?!

How many calories is that per day? Doesn't seem like much?

Hi! Thanks for your reply. Yes that makes sense lol Like it says in my thread, I am making small goals for myself weight wise, like my first goal is to get to 170, then I'll make another smallish goal when I get there etc.
Erm it works out to be about 1500-1700 calories I think. It was just something I found when looking at a transformation of someone, and they said it had worked well, and i quite fancied giving it a try. Cos i do love cheese and pretzels lol
What is your diet like?
Maybe you could give me a few pointers?

[arose70]

I eat more! There are only a few girls here that are over the 5'10" mark on here so when you see someone say they only eat 1500-1700 cals for loss they are usually a bit shorter than you. Lots of girls also eat more than that and lose easily (even being smaller). I can eat about 2200 and still lose...and I maintain at 2500.

I would add a bit more food to your diet. I'd start at 2000 cals for maybe 3 weeks and see how your body reacts. If you maintain then you know you can drop it down to about 1700...if you are losing then keep it at 2000 and you won't risk a slow down of your metabolism. This will help when you reach those last few lbs...it will be easier to drop cals from 2000 than 1500!

As for cheese and pretzels, I say, if you enjoy them that much then eat them in moderation. You can still easily lose fat and still enjoy the foods you love .

My diet is heavily carb based because I really like carbs and can lose fat easily while eating them. I also can't handle meat every day of the week so I use protein shakes (probably more than I should), yogurt, or just come to terms that my protein intake for the day will be lower.

Your meal plan looks good with just a variation or two...

For breakfast I would add a protein source, especially because this is your pre workout meal---a few eggs, a shake, cottage cheese.

I'd make meal 2 be your protein shake and a complex carb (oats) OR a piece of fruit.

Meal 3 is now your original meal 2 which looks good .

Meal 4 rocks the house.

Meal 5---I'd stick to the milk plus some fat...so nuts, pb, avocado, etc.

[sunshine1101]

I don't know that I can help much but first wanted to tell you kudo's on the goal setting.

I am not a very good one for setting goals and I have always done little goals because I reach them and quickly and then can move on to the next one. It works for me.

The calories seem kinda low for your height, weight etc. Unfortunately I don't have much experience with being a vegetarian but just looking I would say you were at least more down around the 1500 calories phase. I am only 5ft 4.5 and I eat 1500 to start my competition diet and then it goes down from there. To hang on to your muscle you still need to eat enough calories. Try looking it up each item on www.calorieking.com and see what total it gives you for a good indication. I would aim more for the 1700 and keeping it clean

m1 carb, protein source
m2 protein source and maybe a small amount of fat such as pb or almonds
m3 prot, carb and green veggies
m4 prot and veggies
m5 protein source
m6 protein source, veggie and even another salad on top of the veggie
m7 prot source and small amount again of good fat such as a nut or small amount of pb added to a shake.

This is a little bit of how I structure my day and then eat every 3 hours.

Sorry but I hope maybe this helps just a little.

[sunshine1101]

OOPS sorry. You got an answer right before mine. Good info in there.

[spaghetti86]

arose70 - Firstly thank you for commenting again! I have started counting calories/keep tab of my food on fitday, so I will aim to make it 2000ish. I read somewhere that for maintanence calories you do your weight in pounds times 12. Which would equal 2,136 for me, so yea I'll start at 2000.
I did find I was still hungry with only the 1500-1700 calories, we have much longer limbs to feed hahaha
Ok I don't no whether I mentioned I'm going to start working nights soon, so that will mess up my eating pattern a bit. I think I will still try and have breakfast in the morning (which will be when I get home from work, 10pm-6am) then I will lift, so yea Ill add a protein shake there, then after workout protein and a piece of fruit. Then I'll probably still be up in time for meal 3. but i dont know yet. I guess I will have to change it around a bit.
Unless I assume I'll sleep in the middle of the day. Get up at 6-7pmish, and then have breakfast, lift, have post workout meal, go to work for 10pm, then I have two half an hour breaks, so I can have/take my meal 3 with me, maybe meal 4 aswell depending how full I am, can't work on a full stomach (its a physical job) then have what ever meals left 4+5) when i get home.
Ok im waffling sorry lol

sunshine1101 - Thanks for your input aswell!! I must say you are very inspiring, and I would never have guessed you are 40!!! I can only hope I look that good when I'm your age!! Keep it up girl!!

I will combine both of your comments and let you know my new plan.
Thanks again

Any more comments anyone?

[sunshine1101]

Go get em girl and oh by the way. I meant fitday.com not calorieking.com oops again. (I think it's my low carbs) LOL

[spaghetti86]

Originally Posted by sunshine1101

Go get em girl and oh by the way. I meant fitday.com not calorieking.com oops again. (I think it's my low carbs) LOL

LOL well thats good cos thats the one I'm using!!
Will post my new plan once I get it figured out.

[arose70]

Your job is physically demanding?? Don't be afraid to increase cals more then if you start to get hungry at 2000 .

10-12 x bodyweight is for cutting usually . 15x bw is maintaining.

[spaghetti86]

Originally Posted by arose70

Your job is physically demanding?? Don't be afraid to increase cals more then if you start to get hungry at 2000 .

10-12 x bodyweight is for cutting usually . 15x bw is maintaining.

Yea it is a physical job. Went for my induction today, just got back actually. Is very overwhelming. So many people!! Start work on sunday night.

Hmmm ok so 10-12 is cutting,. and 15 is maintaining.

1,780 - 2,136 for cutting
2,670 for maintaining. that seems a lot, but i could eat that amount easily with out thinking twice lol

ok thanks for help. going to sit here and use the other info u sent me to work out diet. now i no i can either buy a ready meal at work to eat at the early hours when im on break, or i can take food in and store it in the fridge they supply. will help me decide.

will let you know finished product, see what you think


spag.

[Superman187]

Nice and beefy arms.

[spaghetti86]

Originally Posted by Superman187

Nice and beefy arms.

Cheers!!
Was working biceps long before got proper weights set :-)

[fee]

hey, I'm a vegetarian too

my typical cutting type diet will usually consist of (I can't tolerate most carbs, and most soy products):

cottage cheese, peanut butter

unsweet soymilk, banana, whey protein

raw milk cheese, peanut butter, cottage cheese.

egg whites, raw milk cheese.

plus lotsa veggies and 2-3 tablespoons of unrefined virgin coconut oil.