The Never-Ending Struggle.........or?

[Leulsa]

Ok, I have FINALLY deceided to stop reading and start writing. I go through everyones journals daily and find things where I'm like yeah that sorta applies to me but not really that but we're the same height...So I'm making my own, that way it all applies to me : ) Hopefully I can get advice from all you ladies who obviously know a lot more than I do.

I am 20 years old 5"9 and 163 pounds. I am of medium build and quite athletic looking. I started going to aerobics classes about 4 years ago and lost a lot of weight through that to about 150. Then of course gained it all back. I've been up an down ever since, doing everything from accupuncute to extreme crash dieting to try to loose weight. I love to excercise whether it be aerobic classes of lifting weight. I seem to only do one or the other at a time but have recently started doing both and jogging.

My goals are to loose fat. I dont really have a set weight, I just want to get to a point where I'm happy and I dont feel like ok I made it to here now just 5 more pounds...then 5 more pounds..then 5 more pounds...Im thinking that that would be about 20 pounds.I gain muslce quite easily and want to keep it while loosing the fat on the outside.

I also want to get my diet in check...years of eating nothing then binging have left me with a pretty slow metabolism..and i still obsess about everything I do or do not eat. I have started carb cycling in my own little way for the past two weeks a low carb day on my cardio days would look like this:

7:30 - whey w/water upon waking
8:00 - 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup cottage cheese
workout
12:30 - whey w/water
13:00 - 4 egg whites, musrooms, onion
13:45 - Atkins shake
16:00 - 2 hard boiled egg, can of tuna
17:30 - whole chicken breast

If im still hungry ill eat more cottage cheese with sum nuts..
My high carb days are on the days I lift and I usually just try to eat my bodyweight in carbs and make sure my protein is around 200g.
My cals usually fall round 1500-1900

Supplements :

whey protein
multi vitamin
fish oil
San TIGHT! (just started this week, they make me SO hungry!)


My routine is the following

Monday : Arms ( Bis, Tri's, Chest, Abs)
Tuesday: 1 hour step class
Wednesy : Lower Body (Hamstrings, Quads, Glutes)
Thurday : 1 hour kick-box class, abs
Friday : same as monday
Saturday : rest
Sunday : Some form of cardio

I would usually have run before breakfst on mon, wed, and fri but am thinking that I am overdoing the cardio and trying to cut down.

I would LOVE to get any feedback to what I should or shouldnt be doing. If it looks like I'm on the right track?

Thank-you for any advice

Lena

[freakeefranky]

hi n welcome!! i'm no expert, but i think 1500-1900 cals is too little for u. I eat about 2000 cals and i'm 5 feet! you need carbs in ur diet! this article explains it http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/venuto1.htm

but basically, depleting ur body of carbs is going to make u store it more easily when u actually go back to eating carbs, so losing weight will be temporary only! AND.....u start craving the carbs,which i'm guessing is why u binge. I'm bulimic and i have the same problem. by eating more carbs, i've actually been able to control my bingeing n purging cycles.

Also, when ure not eating enuf cals, ure metabolic rate slows down / u start burning muscle (because muscle requires more energy to sustain than fat), which YOU DON'T WANT!

i think someone else has to help u out with ur diet,but i think ur goal to change for the better is AWESOME! good luck!

[surfrchick3]

Welcome!!
I look forward to reading your journal
The ladies here are awesome!

[ChocoChick]

7:30 - whey w/water upon waking
8:00 - 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup cottage cheese
workout

Switch these two and add some oatmeal (or other complex carb) to the pre workout meal (you can put it in your shake)

12:30 - whey w/water

Drink this immediately after your workout and add a hi GI carb to it.

13:00 - 4 egg whites, musrooms, onion

Add a complex carb and some veggies

13:45 - Atkins shake

Eliminate this. Eat enough at the meal previous to satisfy you for 2-3 hours.

16:00 - 2 hard boiled egg, can of tuna

This is too much protein in one meal. How about 1 egg, 1/2 can tuna and some fibrous veggies? Possibly even a complex carb

17:30 - whole chicken breast

Add some fibrous veggies here.

Cottage cheese and some nuts before bed would be a good idea.

Try to balance out your meals. It's fine to cut back complex carbs in your last meal (or two) of the day, but for the more part, you want to keep your meals pretty evenly balanced, i.e., not 10g of protein in one meal and then 60g in another.

Monday : Arms ( Bis, Tri's, Chest, Abs)
Tuesday: 1 hour step class
Wednesy : Lower Body (Hamstrings, Quads, Glutes)
Thurday : 1 hour kick-box class, abs
Friday : same as monday
Saturday : rest
Sunday : Some form of cardio

When do you do back? Shoulders? How about a split like this:

Chest/Triceps
Back/Biceps
Legs/Shoulders

Always work from largest muscle group (i.e., chest) to smallest (i.e., triceps).

[Leulsa]

Thanks for the responses. Im going to try to incorparate more carbs in my diet. I think I just get hung up on doing somthing ONE way or focusing on little things that I dont leave room for variation. Its a bad habit or trying to have complete control over an aspect of my life.

I just had breakfast with
.5 cup oats
1 cup raspberries
1 egg white

and its was yummmy! ive really been missing out..

Training wise I'm debatting whether to say work all upper/ lower body or is it "better" to split up the muscle groups...?
I kinda feel once I start working say my biceps I end up doing my tris and chest as well....Any thoughts?

Im been trying to give mzself one day a week to have a cheat meal and I look forward to it all week but then when the day finally rolls around - I dont even crave it or want to cheat....Anyone else experience that? Its a good feeling..

[ChocoChick]

.

I just had breakfast with
.5 cup oats
1 cup raspberries
1 egg white

Much better, but have at least 4 egg whites to give you some protein in this meal.

I kinda feel once I start working say my biceps I end up doing my tris and chest as well....Any thoughts?

You can do upper/lower/upper or a split like chest/tri, back/bi, legs/shoulders. If you do Upper/lower/upper you will do the reverse the following week, i.e.:

Week 1 : U/L/U
Week 2: L/U/L

Just be sure to work big muscles first. Chest comes before biceps or triceps.

[Leulsa]

Ok so my day looked like this
8:30 - .5 c oats, 2 egg whites, .5 scoop of whey, 1 c. blackberries
(very yummy breakfast)
12.00 - whole wheat bin with a soy sausage
13:15 - weight traning back, glutes, quads, shoulders ( 45 min )
14 :15 - whey with water, medium apple
17 : 30 - 1 c brown rice with i cup diced chicken, tomatoes, 2 egg whites and .5 cup cottage cheese
20: 30 .5 cup cootage chese, i scoop soy protien, i tbs peanut butter

I feel as if I always start my days right but then kinda get side-tracked so any suggestions or tips on how to change my diet would be great. Should i cut bread out of my diet? And what are the thoughts on fruits? I seem to read everywhere that they should be avoided when trying to loose fat...

Thanks for the help

[ChocoChick]

Ok so my day looked like this
8:30 - .5 c oats, 2 egg whites, .5 scoop of whey, 1 c. blackberries
(very yummy breakfast)
12.00 - whole wheat bin with a soy sausage
13:15 - weight traning back, glutes, quads, shoulders ( 45 min )
14 :15 - whey with water, medium apple
17 : 30 - 1 c brown rice with i cup diced chicken, tomatoes, 2 egg whites and .5 cup cottage cheese
20: 30 .5 cup cootage chese, i scoop soy protien, i tbs peanut butter

I feel as if I always start my days right but then kinda get side-tracked so any suggestions or tips on how to change my diet would be great. Should i cut bread out of my diet? And what are the thoughts on fruits? I seem to read everywhere that they should be avoided when trying to loose fat...

Thanks for the help

Try to even out your meals. Right now, most (almost all) of your protein is in your 1730 meal. Bread is ok as long as it is whole grain but sweet potato or brown rice would be better (I see you already have brown rice in your diet).

The other thing is to time your meals a little better. Something like

0830 breakfast - oats, 4 egg whites, blackberries
1130 lunch - sweet potato, soy sausage, cottage cheese
1230 (light pre-workout food) - .5 scoop whey protein in milk
1415 post workout - whey protein shake in water, apple
1530 post workout meal - Brown rice, broccoli, chicken
1800 dinner - fish, spinach
2100 evening snack - cottage cheese, walnuts

Also, eat your veggies!!!!

[Leulsa]

Ok so im trying to improve my diet a bit and make it more balanced.

today was the following :

8:30 - 1 cup raspberries, .5 c oats, 2 egg white, 1 scoop whey
10:00 - upper body workout (tris, bis and chest) 20 min elliptical trainer, 20 min stairclimber - I was full of energy today : )
11 :30 - whey w/water
12:30 - .5 c brown rice, 2 egg whites, 1 cup chicken breast, red pepper
14:30 - .5 c cottage cheese and small apple
16:30 - fat free/sugar free yoghurt
19:00- half a sweet potato, roasted chicken, lettuce, tomatoes
21:30 - .5 c cottage cheese with 1 scoop soy protein and one tbs pb.

So whatcha think?