The last 10 lbs

[lynda25]

I think I have reached a plateau and am not sure what to do get off the last 10 lbs. My workouts are great and I am pushing myself to limit. I know its what I am eating. Does anybody have any advice of how to get that last little bit off. I am 5'5 and 140 my bf% is 16%. All of the extra weight seems to be carried right on my hips. I do all the right workouts given by my trainer. He just keeps saying that it will come off. Its been about 5 months and I am not seeing any difference either in the mirror or on the tape measure. My hips are at 38.5 inches. Please any advice could help.

[Krissypoo]

Post your diet and training routine, then we can help you.

[ajhegg]

Hello...I'll join this club! *lol* I'm in the same boat having trouble losing the last 10lbs. It's true what the say about muscle weighing more than fat. It definetly does, but I'd still like to lose that last 5-10 whatever! :-) Let me know what you find out what works for you!!! I'm curious!

Anita

[lynda25]

I will post my diet and workout routine soon. I have little time right now.

[iNatalia]

May I jump in?

I am 5'9
143lbs (6 mos ago was 180lbs)
35/28/37

Work out 6 days a week. Weightlifting+cardio. Plus start each day with 30-45 minutes of intense stationary bike riding)

Diet:

6 meals (small portions) a day...
protein+complex carbs at each meal...
multivitamin

I am very satisfied with my progress, but I want to do it right and get the opinions of this wonderful and respected forum on how to achieve the look of Margaret Diubaldo...I hear she's 5'9 as well Seems like the 'booby fat' was first to go. I wish it was my legs and stomach........

Seriously, I have no professional training. All I know is from the fitness magazines and listening to my body.

Thanks in advance!

[iNatalia]

bump........

[Helene]

May I jump in?

I am 5'9
143lbs (6 mos ago was 180lbs)
35/28/37

Work out 6 days a week. Weightlifting+cardio. Plus start each day with 30-45 minutes of intense stationary bike riding)

Diet:

6 meals (small portions) a day...
protein+complex carbs at each meal...
multivitamin

I am very satisfied with my progress, but I want to do it right and get the opinions of this wonderful and respected forum on how to achieve the look of Margaret Diubaldo...I hear she's 5'9 as well Seems like the 'booby fat' was first to go. I wish it was my legs and stomach........

Seriously, I have no professional training. All I know is from the fitness magazines and listening to my body.

Thanks in advance!

I think you are overtraining.
Maybe it's time to slow down and reassess your goals.
What's your diet exactly and what's your workout? Are you lifting heavy?
Why so much cardio?
The majority of fat loss is done through heavy lifting and diet..

[iNatalia]

I think you are overtraining.
Maybe it's time to slow down and reassess your goals.
What's your diet exactly and what's your workout? Are you lifting heavy?
Why so much cardio?
The majority of fat loss is done through heavy lifting and diet..

Helene, thanks for your reply. My diet goes something like this:

1st meal:
3 egg whites+spinach omelette (or protein shake/ or Nature Valley bar/ Yogurt)

2nd meal:
Some kind of fruit

3rd meal:
raw veggies in a whole wheat wrap (or turkey sandwich on a whole wheat bread)

4th meal:
brown pasta+tuna in water (or brown rice+chicken breast/ or tuna+green beans)

5th meal:
Protein shake (or bar) plus nuts

6th meal:
Kashi cerial (or chicken+sweet potato/ or salad)

Lifting:

For my shoulders, chest I lift 20lb dumbels (do machines, too)
Squat very little (bad knees) - 60lbs. But do 90lbs on leg press machine. Hams - 60 lbs.
Bicepts - 20 lbs dumbels.
Back - pull down 70-80lbs

It seems that doing lots of cardio reduces body fat quicker for me....

In 6 mos. I managed to shape my body pretty well. Legs, abs look much better, but it seems like the fat that is left on my thighs and abs is too stubborn to go

I still loosing weight (slowly) - I weighed at 141lbs this morning. Just need to tighten those tighs and tummy.

[Helene]

Helene, thanks for your reply. My diet goes something like this:

1st meal:
3 egg whites+spinach omelette (or protein shake/ or Nature Valley bar/ Yogurt)

2nd meal:
Some kind of fruit

3rd meal:
raw veggies in a whole wheat wrap (or turkey sandwich on a whole wheat bread)

4th meal:
brown pasta+tuna in water (or brown rice+chicken breast/ or tuna+green beans)

5th meal:
Protein shake (or bar) plus nuts

6th meal:
Kashi cerial (or chicken+sweet potato/ or salad)

Lifting:

For my shoulders, chest I lift 20lb dumbels (do machines, too)
Squat very little (bad knees) - 60lbs. But do 90lbs on leg press machine. Hams - 60 lbs.
Bicepts - 20 lbs dumbels.
Back - pull down 70-80lbs

It seems that doing lots of cardio reduces body fat quicker for me....

In 6 mos. I managed to shape my body pretty well. Legs, abs look much better, but it seems like the fat that is left on my thighs and abs is too stubborn to go

I still loosing weight (slowly) - I weighed at 141lbs this morning. Just need to tighten those tighs and tummy.

Okay how long have you been weight training for?
I don't really understand what you do...do you do a full body workout 6 times a week?? What exercices, how many sets and reps do you do for each body part?

What I see here is not eating enough, too much cardio and not enough weight lifting. Do you know approx. how many calories you are eating? The more muscle you have (heavy lifting), the more you burn calories at rest and the more your metabolism is elevated. Too much cardio burns muscle and that's not what you want. So too much cardio + not eating enough = Extreme caloric deficit = Very hard to build muscle. Muscles need energy to survive.

Here are stickies and websites I suggest:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=659486

Website geared towards female:
http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/index.php

Website with exercices demonstration:
http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html

Your diet is not bad but there isn't enough food and your meals are not balances. Each meal should contain at least 20g of protein, a good carb and/or a good fat.

Can you give me more detailed information on your training, read the stickies and I can critique your diet more as we go on. Also, which meal is your post workout meal?

[iNatalia]

Okay how long have you been weight training for?
I don't really understand what you do...do you do a full body workout 6 times a week?? What exercices, how many sets and reps do you do for each body part?

I've been weight training for 6 months now.

Monday:
Morning cardio - 30 mins on bike
Quads, Hams, calves, glutes (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each)
Abs (3 different exercises. 3 sets of max reps.)
No cardio at night


Tuesday:
Morning cardio - 30 mins on bike
Chest (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.)
Shoulders (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.)
Cardio (30 mins on eliptical)

Wednesday:
Morning cardio - 30 mins on bike
Quads, Hams, calves, glutes (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each)
Abs (3 different exercises. 3 sets of max reps.)
No cardio at night

Thursday:
30 mins of bike in the morning
Back (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.)
Bicepts (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps.)
Abs (3 different exercises. 3 sets of max reps.)
Cardio (eliptical - 40 mins)

Friday:
Morning cardio - 30 mins on bike
Quads, Hams, calves, glutes (3 different exercises. 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each)
Abs (3 different exercises. 3 sets of max reps.)
No cardio at night

Saturday:
Abs (3 different exercises. 3 sets of max reps.)
and 40 minutes of eliptical

Sunday: rest



Do you know approx. how many calories you are eating?

I am not sure, but each meal I consume I'd say between 150-200 Cals.

Each meal should contain at least 20g of protein, a good carb and/or a good fat.

That's what I try to achieve at each meal.

Also, which meal is your post workout meal?
post workout I usually have some protein (tuna/chicken/turkey with green beans or mixed veggies). Sometimes it's a boal of high protein cerial, like GoLean by Kashi).

Thank for taking time to reply!

Thanks again

[Rezaday]

Hi,
I'm also having that problem with those last 10lbs which is very frustrating to me. It seems like my fat cells just don't want to let go of the fat. Im training for a competition in June 2006. I'm 5'2 125lbs at 13.1%bf Here is a sample of my diet:
Meal #1 2eggs +3/4 oatmeal
Meal #2 protein shake (Soy)
Meal #3 30z of turkey breast from deli + 3rice cakes+ cumcumbers
Meal #4 protein shake (Soy) +carrots approx~15
Meal #5 30z lean hamburger meat+ 3/4cup beans
Meal #6 30z lean hamburger meat +3/4 rice
I workout 6days a week it goes like this:
5min warmup
weights (4 exercises)+abs+calf's
60min cardio with heart rate monitor at my target heart rate.
Any suggestions????

[mblo17]

Hi,
I'm also having that problem with those last 10lbs which is very frustrating to me. It seems like my fat cells just don't want to let go of the fat. Im training for a competition in June 2006. I'm 5'2 125lbs at 13.1%bf Here is a sample of my diet:
Meal #1 2eggs +3/4 oatmeal
Meal #2 protein shake (Soy)
Meal #3 30z of turkey breast from deli + 3rice cakes+ cumcumbers
Meal #4 protein shake (Soy) +carrots approx~15
Meal #5 30z lean hamburger meat+ 3/4cup beans
Meal #6 30z lean hamburger meat +3/4 rice
I workout 6days a week it goes like this:
5min warmup
weights (4 exercises)+abs+calf's
60min cardio with heart rate monitor at my target heart rate.
Any suggestions????

I think you need more good fats in your diet and do less cardio! I'm currently training/dieting for my 1st comp in July and I have already went from 20% to 17.5% since January(125 lbs to 119). I'm doing a high protein, lower carb and higher fat diet and I am seeing some GREAT results! I haven't been doing any cardio, but just started this past week for 20 min, 2x a week at low intensity strictly for O2 for my muscles. I have relied strictly on my diet and heavy weight training to lose body fat and I'm so happy with the results so far!

I also recommend tracking your macros in fitday.com and post them for us to see. From what I see, you might need to decrease carbs a little, but make sure you up the fat, don't go low on both. I hope this helps. Good luck.

[SexyStack]

Yea, I'm 5'4", 141 lbs, (I'm a fatass) lol, but yea, my hips are huge. I have lost weight in them, it's just one of the last places. Just keep eating right and exercising and the weight will come off. Don't get discouraged,...you're awesome! I have found that running and pilates helps...they're my favorite.

[Rachel_n_SD]

i recently started carb cycling and im getting good results from it. im really new to it so dont wanna give any recommendations as to what kind of cycle to try, etc, but once you start eating more and doing less cardio, if that doesnt work for you , maybe give it a try...

[Rezaday]

Thank you Mjay for your suggestions. I wish you luck as well. If at all possible can you post a sample of your diet?

Thank you SexyStack, your aweosome too.

[mblo17]

Thank you Mjay for your suggestions. I wish you luck as well. If at all possible can you post a sample of your diet?

Thank you SexyStack, your aweosome too.

Sure I can. I pretty much stick with the same stuff every day, it's easier that way, but I'll change up my protein and veggies, but I usually stick with green leafy lettuces for my salads, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and tomatoes.

Meal 1 - 1/2 c oats, 1/2 tbsp flax oil, 1 scoop of tasteless Whey protein pwdr

Meal 2 - 1/2 c lowfat cottage cheese, 1/2 c strawberries, 1/2 oz of raw almonds

Meal 3 - either 1 can tuna or 1 chicken breast, 2.5 c green leafy lettuce w 1/2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar or 1 c of broccoli or above mentioned veggies,
1 tbsp of natural pb on a salt free, whole grain rice cake.

Meal 4 - 6 hardboiled egg whites, 1/2 c strawberries and 1/2 oz of raw almonds

Meal 5 - chicken breast or tilapia cooked with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil or just cooking spray, fresh garlic, pepper. 1 cup of mixed veggies(broccoli & cauliflower) or brussel sprouts. I also sometimes have an egg white omelete(1/2 c of liquid eggwhites)and then I'll add 1 whole egg for fat and I'll throw maybe a slice of deli turkey breast and 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes or I'll have 4 oz of lean ground turkey w/a small amount of taco seasoning over a bed of lettuce and tomatoes and a small apple for carbs before workout. I'll usually do the apple with the fish & chicken breast too rather then brown rice, but sometimes I do brown rice as well.

Meal 6 - pwo - whey protein shake made w/water and either 1/2 to 1 small apple or 1/4 -1/3 c of oats. I try to eat a little more carbs on the days I'm training big muscles such as back and legs.

My cals for the day usually end up around 1500-1600, approx 50g of fat,
100-120g of carbs & 150-160g of protein per day.