I’m a newby!
I just joined this site and I’m not really sure what this blog is meant for so I guess I will just take a stab in the dark and assume it’s a place for me to voice my concerns and thoughts about my body. Well, let’s see….I have just under a month before my dance tryout and I’m trying to burn as much fat as possible without aggravating my knee that is being difficult (started having shin splints when running and its progressed into a pretty much constant pain) I’ve been using RICE to treat it but it’s hard to heal while I’m working out but I don’t really have a choice in the matter. I have been preparing for this tryout for months and I’m not going to let this little injury stop me!!!! Well back to the point…I have been working out a ton! Cardio in the morning for 45 min to an hour and then I return to the gym and do a 20 min cardio warm up and then do circuit weight training…usually takes 45min to an hour and then I finish with more cardio, sometimes it’s just dancing! This is not something that I would do if I was just trying to maintain my weight but I’m hoping to lose some more fat before the tryout! If anyone has any tips, please let me know. Oh and I’m eating extremely clean! The only thing coming from a package are these low cal, low carb, low everything wraps! shakes of course! WoW! HELP! If this doesn’t work, I don’t even know…..it could just be these Italian genetics! 
Otherwise it’s lean turkey, chicken breast, eggs, low fat yogurt,skim milk, tons of veggies, apples, berries, grapefruit, oats and sweet potatoes. And protein
April 4, 2008 at 2:06 am
Well I was going to say do cardio, but you do that…
then I was going to say do circuits but you do that…
then i was going to say watch your diet but you do that too…
I would honestly have to say focus on the type of cardio you do. I know you are watching you knee but have you tried HIIT?
you can do it and watch your knee like with bike and stair climber…hope you find a better answer. Good luck
April 6, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Just as 1_2 Rage said you seem to be doing the "right things."
Anyway here are some general pieces of advice I have picked up.
1. Definitely look into HIIT. Here is a GREAT intro article about the subject.
http://www.wannabebig.com/article.php?articleid=292
2. You can always gain weight even if you are eating healthy. Losing weight is all about one thing, caloric deficit. Do you know your maintenance level of cals? Goto www.fitday.com and monitor what you are eating everyday and log it into your journal. It is a free website that has a huge database built into it that has nutritional facts for thousands of foods that we eat. So if you notice you are eating say x amount of cals and your body weight is the same then that obviously is your maintenance level. Once you know that cut 10-20% of cals and you’ll be shedding off your fat and lowering your BF% fairly quickly. Reason why you should not cut beyond that amount of cals because you’ll feel lethargic from lack of energy and your body will probably get kicked into a starvation mode. Basically your body thinks it is dying and your body will try to hold onto as much fat as possible.
3. Not sure if you are into supplements but just to throw it out there, if you are interested in a great fat burner look into At Large Nutrition’s Nitor. It is the only one I would recommend. Nitor will help suppress your appetite, while raising your metablism, increases your energy level and speed up the oxidation of fat.You definitely can have a cut without using supplements so it is by no means a must
Anyway best of luck and I hope you get selected in your dance tryout!
April 6, 2008 at 10:37 pm
-Cliff again
One more thing Try to get eat some of those carbs right after your workout! Basically it will raise your insulin level which will blunt cortisol (retention of fat and get your body into repair mode). How long is your longest workout?
Let us know if you make it and what you are dancing for…?
April 7, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Thanks so much for the responses! It’s actually a tryout for NFL Cheerleading, the first cuts (of three) are on April 27th so I will keep you posted! To answer some of the other questions, my workouts can be pretty long from 2-3 hours, considering that I usually do an hour of cardio.Then my circuit weight routine (usually about 40 min), sometimes I do upper body and lower body, then the next day I will rest say lower body and only do upper body. And I also throw abs in there and I stretch a ton because of the dancing. I need to stay flexible!
Is this too much?? And also about the carbs after workout? I used to make sure I had a carb and a protein after my workouts but then someone told me that since I’m trying to burn fat I only need to have protein after. I always have carbs before my workout but haven’t really been having substantial carbs after. I usually will have something like, half a baked chicken breast,mixed veggies (broccoli, caulliflower,carrots) and a protein shake (whey). Also, I was doing the whole calorie counting thing but then stopped doing it because I felt like I was becoming a pretty good judge at knowing when to eat…..but I guess It would be helpful to start doing that again. I try to keep my calories between 1300-1500. usually on the lower end but if I had a really good workout day and I feel hungry, I will eat. The last thing I ‘m looking to do is starve myself. I read that you should never go below 1,000 calories….wich seemed pretty obvious to me, so I figured 1300 would be a good number for me. How scientific of me! If anyone has any criticisms of this, I will not get offended. It’s hard to know what the "right" amount of calories is. There are always conflicting ideas, they say you need the calorie deficit, but at the same time you need to eat to fuel your metabolism. Both are correct, but its just a matter of knowing if your body "needs" those extra calories or not. Well, I’m sure I lost everyone by now because I’m just rambling now. Have a good day everyone. I love this site! I feel like there are people on this earth that I can actually relate to! xoxox-Gina
April 7, 2008 at 1:39 pm
how many times a week are you working out? 45 minutes of cardio and twenty minutes of cardio, and Cirtcuit training plus more cardio…. on 1300-1500 calories?
Based on your weight and Body Fat percentage I calculated a BMR of 1462 calories that’s just laying in bed all day. Add a "Moderate" activity modifier onto it and it comes up as 2266. Considering all the working out your doing I think you’re probably not eating enough to really fuel your workouts.
April 7, 2008 at 3:33 pm
IThanks for the response and the research, I see what your saying, I just don’t think I could lose weight eating 2266 calories a day. I have lost 10 lbs since the end of January. This seems to be a pretty gradual weight loss. If I was deprieving my body that much, wouldn’t I be losing more weight, I also must account for the fact that I have gained muscle weight too so I have probably lost more than 10lbs. I don’t know….I don’t claim to be an expert but I do read a lot and keep my eyes and ears open. I am willing to eat more and see what happens, but I’m weary of doing that when my dance tryout is just 3 weeks away. Anybody else have an opinion on this matter?
April 7, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Have you had your Bodyfat% measured? if you’re losing bodyfat and not lean muscle mass by all means continue what you’re doing. I’d just hate to see a large portion of the 10 lbs you lost actually be Muscle. The timing of your weight loss is definately slow and healthy.
Your workout sessions sounded pretty intense that’s why I busted out my BMR calculator. I’m no expert myself it just seems that 1500 is low. (2266 would be a maintenance level of calories, to lose fat you’d want to eat about 300-500 calories less)
Hopefully some additional posters will stop by with more knowledge… cause I totally understand you being weary of upping cals this close to your tryouts.
April 7, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Thanks….I will look into it. Yes, I just had my body fat measured last week and it was 17%, Ithe last time it was measured before now was about a year ago and it was 21%. Also, I read oxygen magazine and I look at the meal plans and they seem to be pretty low cal. I think the highest i would want to go would be 1700.
April 7, 2008 at 10:29 pm
I’ll comment in the order you have responded with.
I cannot really comment on what is “too much” without actually knowing the circuit routine you are doing. I don’t think you are lifting heavy or anything that rigorous to warrant concern. That being I hope you are getting plenty of sleep, which will aid recovery and keep cortisol levels down. Stretching is great, not enough people do it to prevent injury. As a general rule, assuming you are within bounds of your daily carb intake which I don’t think you are counting the grams you are consuming anyway, carbs before, during and immediately after workout are good. I’ll include a shorthand scientific explanation in a “footnote” if you are interested. Anyway carbs immediately post workout will get your body back in recovery mode.
I’m curious that since your “cutting mode” from January to the present are you gaining strength? Aka. Are you lifting heavier weights or capable of pushing out more reps? Roughly grams of protein are you consuming a day? Protein as you know is key to buiding and maintain lean body mass. I don’t go by FDA suggested values because IMO they are way under valued. I’m curious because in my mind your body is way under cal count like what wal3l3it and I am afraid that your loss in weight is mostly muscle? Just to get my time frames in order your said you last measured your body fat a year ago (Apr 07 or is that December 07?) and you started your cut end of Jan/feb 08. I will reserve my judgement until I know more info. Definitely consider tracking on fitday for a little bit because it will see if will also tell you if you are deficient in any particular area. That being said roughly every percent of fat of your body is between 1.3-1.5 pounds) so if you dropped 10 lbs that does make sense in that you did lose 4+% in BF. Anyway take what I say as a grain of salt. Your body is amazing in the sense that it will tell you what works and doesn’t work. Not to say your body is not amazing. Ah nm haha.
Footnote:
Cortisol is considered to be a catabolic hormone to skeletal muscle. What that means is that cortisol stimulates muscle protein degradation and inhibits the protein synthesis in your muscle fibers. Lowering cortisol is also linked to the release of growth hormones which lead to muscle hypertrophy or in short gains in strength/muscle. Anyway your post-workout drink with carbs will flood your body with nutrients and raise insulin levels. Insulin blunts fat loss via enzymes that shuttles fat to mitochondria. When insulin is bound it tells the body not to burn fat. We don’t’ want that. For the same reason that is why sports drink like Gatorade or poweraid contain carbs/sugars like dextrose or maltodextrin. I can go more in depth, but I am afraid I will bore you to death, and you’ll miss your workouts or even worse the tryouts. ;p
April 7, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I wish there was a way you can just subscribe to a blog entry. It is pretty annoying to manually click my way through to this post. haha
April 8, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Ok, so I am using fitday to calculate everything so that way I can tell you exactly how many grams of everything I eat in a typical day.
Yes, I’m gaining strength. I lift heavier and I have more endurance too.
As far as protein I would say atleast 100 grams, soon I will know exacts…thanks to fitday.
Also, you have it correct with the dates on the bf measuring. I plan on geting tested again in a few weeks time just too make sure I’m headed in the right direction.
I was taking this cortisol supplement for a little while. I bought it at costco and it says its supposed to help regulate your cortisol levels, not sure if that addresses the issue you were referring to but I see what you are saying about why the body needs carbs/sugar after working out. I usually make a protein shake with whey protein and some kind of fruit. If I add a carb like say a yam….is that enough carb/sugar post workout?
Thanks so much for all your detailed explanations. Its nice to know that there are good people out there who are willing to help a dumb blonde like me.
April 8, 2008 at 11:17 pm
No problem, I am glad to be of help. I received help in the past so, of course trying to contribute back.
This site can be an iffy place…one wrong turn and you may scared off from ever back!
Anyway if you are gaining strength on a cut then no reason to really change your "routine."
If you get tired of fitday don’t worry I KNOW it is a pain in the ass enter everything you eat in a day. You only need to really measure out a week worth of consumption to get a decent gauge of what you eat on average. When you get that week down check out the report section and you’ll have a better sense of your diet.
As far as protein definitely aim for 1g for at least lb of body weight. Only exceptions would be if you have kidney problems or possibly prone to kidney issues in the future. Basically you are on a high protein diet (high compared to "America’s standard" but nothing if you look at this forum) and people will tell you that high protein causes too much stress on your kidneys. Anyway studies have shown that there is no such thing as too much protein or that there are any known dangers to high protein diets unless you have a family history of kidney problems or have a undiagnosed kidney problem. In that scenario the high protein diet could make things worse, so in that case contact your physician.
I don’t think it is necessary to have it checked again as you are gaining strength. Unless it is some dance requirement to have a specific level of bf% but I doubt that as they probably just eyeball "fitness." You ever watch "making the team?" it was a show a year or so back I don’t remember where they chronicled the journey in making the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad. Interesting and funny stuff.
I would not take cortisol supplements. It is naturally occuring and will constantly fluctuate as a processes of your body. If you feel ill do you need to do anything to get your body to attack whatever bacteria/virus you have? No, similarly as you burn up your glycogen stores in your muscle (energy) your body will have the cortisol level rise. People typically like a 2 to 1 carb to protein gram ratio for PWO shake. Your yam is more than sufficient.
I don’t need to tell you this but you aren’t dumb, you just don’t know. I wasn’t born with this knowledge, I had to learn as I go as well
Although I will agree that you are blonde.
April 9, 2008 at 5:45 am
Thanks! So smart and funny too.
After entering a days worth of foods into fit day, I’m realizing maybe I eat more than I think . I never really took into account all those veggies. Now that I see the report, I’m curious as to what the appropriate ratio of carbs,proteins and fats is. My days stats are like this:
1454 calories
47 grams fat
177 grams carbs
101 grams protein
My guess would be more protein and less carbs? You don’t have to answer, I feel guilty about all this. I’m so demanding! lol I can research and hopefully find out the "right" answer.
And yes, I loved that show! DCC! So intense, I love that they all get sent to boot camp. I wish someone would send me!
April 9, 2008 at 5:52 am
Back already! I found this!
40-50% Carbs, 25-35% protein, 20-30% fat. Under 2500 mg of sodium and over 25 grams of fiber
April 10, 2008 at 1:21 am
Again no problem I am happy to help. It is great to able to be a part of the “journey” to healthier and hopefully happier lifestyle.
As for being smart and funny, well….if the
shoe fits ?. Haha, thanks.
Don’t focus too much on ratios or percentages, as while they are decent indicators, you can very easily manipulate the numbers. They are far too dependent on the number of overall calories you are consuming so we’ll just ignore them. If you want me to give examples I can.
So a slight addendum to what I suggested in an earlier comment. Before I said you should aim for at minimum 1g of protein per lb of body weight, what I should have said was per lb of lean body mass(LBM). So your LBM is 111 lbs (134 weight x (1-.0.17(BF%)). So aim for at least 111 grams of protein and remember this is just the minimum you should have as many people who exercise go as high as 1.5-2g per pound. 1 gram per lb of lbm is more than adequate though.
Cals, just stick to what you are doing and are comfortable with. Honestly based upon your activity level I would think it is pretty low but I understand your desire to hit your mark by the given deadline.
Typically though I just go by what your calories are where you are no longer gaining or losing any weight. I know it is isn’t scientific but it is the only sure way I know. Then after that like I said before I’ll cut 10-20% and go from there. I have read that other people take their body weight and multiply it by 15 to get their maintenance cals. In your case it would 2010 (134×15) and you would be on a near 25% cut. I don’t like this but it is a way. Whatever method you do end up having, each pound of body fat is 3600 cals. So let’s say you have been just as active before you went on a diet and you didn’t lose weight until you went on the diet (probably not true but hypothetically let’s consider this). So if you are on a 500 cal deficit that means each week you would be at a 3500 cal deficit. This means that every week you would be losing .97 lbs of fat and that means after 3 weeks that is 2.91 lbs of fat. Say your LBM stays the same that should mean that after 3 weeks you should be at 15.1 BF% and your weight around 131. You don’t really need any of this info until after you decide what level of weight you want to stay at. I don’t think it is that simple though. Anyway if there was any area you’d want to research that I am not sure about, cals would be the area.
Fat is good. Fat is great even. Fat just gets a bad rap because people just see body fat and think it is the same thing as dietary fats. Aside from being tasty we need fats for good health. Fat is used in the production of hormone-like compounds called eicosanoids that help regulate blood pressure, heart rate, blood vessel constriction, blood clotting and the nervous system. Fat keeps your skin and coat nice and shiny (good dog!), pads your organs, and insulates your body. Also you need fat to metabolize vitamins like A, D, E and K or else all the good stuff in your veggies will not be absorbed ?. Lastly fats are important for testosterone production and yes girls have testosterone too! We all know how great testosterone is as it helps you gain muscle mass, partitioning (which helps you lose fat), the control of inflammation and of course can influence sex drive. This where usually gives a big fist pump and shouts out yes; feel free to take a moment to do so, haha. Now before everybody starts chugging vegetable oil for the fat we all know that everything is good in moderation.
You should aim for 0.5g of fat per lb. of lbm. In your case it will be 55.5g It would be great if you could get an even 1/3 split among monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats but for most people is way too complicated to even attempt. For clarification purposes:
Monounsaturated fats: olives, olive oil, avocados, peanut oil, cashews, almonds peanuts, and other nuts
Polyunsaturate: corn, soybeans, safflower, cottonseed oils, and fish.
Saturated: whole milk, butter, cheese, ice cream, red meat, chocolate, coconut milk, coconut oil, etc.
I’m sure you have heard of trans fats and I’m sure you do a good job at avoiding all the fast food and commercial snacks. You eat clean. Oh and if you don’t already pick up some fish oil from costco. Stepping back away from exercise, in terms of general health the two Basic supplements EVERYBODY should be using are a multivitamin and fishoil.
Basically all you really need to worry about are protein and fat as they are essential for your health. On off days keep protein the same, lower carbs and up fat.
Carbs. Typically people aim for 1.5-2g per lbm and you are well within that range(167-222g). You are really active so don’t’ sweat it. Oh and stay hydrated!
Last note on diet. Remember as your body fat% changes and as you lose weight your LBM will change. Obviously adjust your 1+g of protein per lbm 0.5g of fat accordingly
Fiber, well I don’t see many lifters get too concerned about fiber levels. It is great for cleaning out your system and will help you stay “full” but don’t really worry about it. Sodium is an area you shouldn’t be too concerned about although If you are really scared about your appearance before the big day bodybuilders do manipulate their sodium levels to shed water weight for competitions…….
As for the show it was definitely pretty good. Probably the only time I wished I was a hot cheerleader. That sounds weird but I’m REALLY into sports(especially football) and the cheerleaders as you recall got to play football drills with the team! There will never be a time when a bunch of pro players will find me and ask if I want to play football?. Also one of the girls who made it went to my HS. I didn’t really know her as she was a year younger but I knew her brother so it was a bit surreal to see her on tv.
As for boot camps, shows like "Biggest Loser" only make me wish I could just pause real life and be in a boot camp. I honestly would not mind at all the rigors of just eating and exercising all day long. Plus you come back like in a few months looking ridiculously good. I really love working out, my mind just goes blank as I focus on my routine. I seriously love the gym…..if only…
Anyway time to sleep. Night Gina.
-Cliff
April 10, 2008 at 1:33 am
After thinking about it a little I realized I didn’t answer the original question of does your caloric intake fit your activity level. Again I feel you are short but I am not sure, I will check with my friend who knows more and get back to you on that.
April 17, 2008 at 1:00 am
Wow didn’t realize it already has been a week. i sort of forgot and was busy with some things. Apologies. Anyway my friend hasn’t been in the gym for a while so earlier in the week I consulted somebody I know of from another forum. Anyway she thought you are doing too much and not eating enough.
You can check out her look here:http://builtblog.wikidbody.com/2007/04/11/pasty-white-in-the-gym-november-2006-end-of-cut-pix/
She definitely knows her stuff (I know nothing in comparison to her knowledge) and has done it all before. Since your tryouts so close and since you are doing well as is I figure it wouldn’t be that good to just shake up everything so close to the deadline. Anyway if you want to contact her I have her e-mail. I won’t post it on here since this blog is public(not sure if she wants it out) but can send a private message with her e-mail if you want it and she will go over your training/diet in great detail.
BTW nice anxiety profile pic ;p
June 1, 2008 at 7:56 am
Hi! Not to disagree with the other posters but for someone (me too!) who has problems with knees, you shouldn’t be doing HIIT. At least not until your knee heals or you no longer have the problem.
To burn the fat most effectively, you want the INTENSITY to be maxed for YOU. I will give you an example. Every once in a while I try to do HIIT and get my treadmill up to say speed 7 on and off. But then I pay the price with my right knee. When I’m done I look at the calories expended on the display and it says say 400.
But how come when I put the incline on the max and set the speed to only 3 and I look at the display when I’m done, the calories expended for the same amount of time is 500 not 400. It is the total overall intensity times the duration that is important. Not intensity OR duration alone.
But hey, you have to prove everything for yourself. Don’t take our words for it. HIIT or not. Try everything and use what’s best for you!
Here’s a great web page talking about this. I sure learned!
http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2008/04/2_cardio_mistakes_youre_still.php
Best wishes to you!!
Paddy
