stuck in a rut

[xtinaunasty]

About a year ago I went on a diet for about 4-5 months without a cheat. I know now that it was too restrictive but at the time I lost a lot of weight. When I couldn't take it anymore I started to eat semi-normal again and gained tons of weight back in like a month (went from 120 to 140) so I dieted down again to 113 and now I am hovering around 117. I can't seem to make anymore progress, even though my diet has improved immensely and I cheat once a week. My results have come to a screeching halt even though I change my workout often. I'm worried that maybe my body is used to the "constant" dieting.

I know that if I worked to put on some muscle it would increase my metabolism. However, I REALLY don't want to gain a lot of fat (unfortunately, I'm an endomorph so it is probably bound to happen). Have you guys ever heard of a female running a short bulking type diet? What do you recommend that would shock my body into getting results again?
Thanks

BTW, stats: 23, 117, 5'3", BF ??

[steve0]

Bump

[MuckDog]

your stats sound fine to me but of course feeling different about yourself is another thing

do u eat many carbs? i have to avoid them at most costs - i have just enough to satisfy muscle growth

[xtinaunasty]

your stats sound fine to me but of course feeling different about yourself is another thing

do u eat many carbs? i have to avoid them at most costs - i have just enough to satisfy muscle growth

i have carbs in meal 1 and my two pwo meals. thats it. i totals about 80-90 carbs a day with a cheat day once a week...i dont really go overboard either.

[steve0]

i have carbs in meal 1 and my two pwo meals. thats it. i totals about 80-90 carbs a day with a cheat day once a week...i dont really go overboard either.

80-90 carbs a day is still pretty low, even for a female, IMO, maybe you should double that, per day, carbs dont make you fat if you take down the right kind, i recently upped my carb intake and am feeling a whole lot better and im fuller and stronger than i have been in a while, exspecily if your doing cardio a few times a week you need to up that carb intake cardio deplets glucose, you gotta remember carbs are the main source of energy and if your working out 5-6 days a week you need em, it took me a while to figuer that out.....duh......but since i have uppedd my carbs from 180 to 300 per day im getting mad pumps i gotta stretch between sets now i never really did that before, i would revamp ur diet a bit and post it up, i know its a bitch but you gotta change ur diet as your body changes, and sometimes that means upping carbs,, i also think we need a complete diet guru to answer this one,,im mean hat do you do when your body is stuck in a rut, and cheat meals and changing ur workouts just dont do it anymore????, my guess is like i said reajust ur diet to fit your needs listen to your body, you can tell when you feel week and frail that it's prolly a carbohydrate problem

[chuck89gt5.0]

Try doing a bit more cardio and see how that works.....I am currently doing cardio twice a day at 40 min each

[steve0]

Try doing a bit more cardio and see how that works.....I am currently doing cardio twice a day at 40 min each

cardio twice a day is a complete wast, your burning off to much muscle, diet is key to any exercise program, or body composition

[xtinaunasty]

i know i should up my carbs some. i will work on my diet and post it up. i do cardio now 6 days a week 45-60mins (4 out of those 6 days are on an empty stomach, the other two are in the afternoon) when i was doing cardio 2x a day at 45 mins each i got a lot smaller...but i think i just looked flat, i didnt lose any fat. i know ill gain some weight but it may be good for my body to carb up a little. ill give it a try. thanks

[steve0]

7:00am: 45-60 minutes of cardio on an empty stomach (usually use the elliptical machine) 5-6 days a week

8:30am: Meal 1 (Pro/Fat, 30 minutes after morning cardio)
Protein shake with 1 scoop protein (whey) mixed in crystal light, 1TbspUdo’s oil
239 Cal, 25g Pro, 14.5g Fat

11:00am Meal 2 (Pro/Carbs)
8 Scrambled Egg Whites with 2 Tbsp salsa and 1 Tbsp vinegar, ½ cup cooked oats
244 Cal, 29 Pro, 21 Carb

2:00pm Meal 3 (Pro/Fat on rest days, Pro/Carb on Training Days)
1 can of tuna with 1 Tbsp olive oil and lemon juice. (Rest Day Meal)
242 Cal, 25 Pro, 17 Fat

6 oz Chicken Breast and ½ cup brown rice with broccoli (Training Day Meal)
290 Cal, 41g Pro, 34 Carb, 1g fat

4:00pm P.M. Workout:
Weights and Hot Yoga

Day 1 – Back
Day 2 – Shoulders
Day 3 – Hot Yoga
Day 4 – Arms
Day 5 – Rest
Day 6 – Hot Yoga
Day 7 - Legs

6:00pm Meal 4 (PWO)
PWO Nutrition 1 ½ scoop Protein in Crystal Light with 30g dextrose
268 cal, 37 Pro, 30g Carb

8:00pm Meal 5 (Pro/Fat)
6 oz. Chicken Breast 1 cup Broccoli, 1 oz Almonds OR 1 Tbsp Natty Peanut Butter OR ½ Avocado
325 Cal, 38g Pro, 15g Carb, 16g Fat
340 Cal, 42g Pro, 15g Carb, 16g Fat
270 Cal, 41g Pro, 12g Carb, 9g Fat

10:00pm Meal 6 (Pro/Fat):
1/2 cup 1% Cottage Cheese with 1 Tbsp Udo’s Oil
225 cal, 16g Pro, 3g Carb, 15.5g Fat


In addition:
Coffee in the morning (black with sweetener)
Water throughout the day
Will add more green veggies to meals as needed for fibre
Broccoli can be substituted with Spinach, Asparagus, Bok Choy, Cucumber
Chicken can be substituted with Flank Steak or White Fish
Avocado can be substituted for 1 oz Almonds or 1 Tbsp Natty Peanut Butter
Will add a handful of seeds for fibre as needed
Cheat Days will alternate between clean and bad cheat days depending on my progress and sanity


Supplements:

Daily Multi Vitamin
Vitamin C
Calcium
L-Carnitine
Taurine – Once I start clen
Potassium – Once I start Clen
Cinnamon extract – Once I start Clen


this is what SexyKitty is eating ans she looks pretty good IMO you can find her pick in the member pic forum hope this diet help's

[xtinaunasty]

i looked at her pics and she has quite a bit more muscle than me...and her carbs are around 90 also...? but i may PM her and ask her advice. im working on a new diet now.

[xtinaunasty]

maybe ill do a clean cheat instead of a regular one...just healthy carbs

[steve0]

mm i guess it is hittin 90 didnt realize that

[ttuprincess]

I would suggest carb cycling.
1 day high carb ( 150grams)
1 day medium carb 80 grams
1 day NO CARB ( this doesnt include carbs from veggies)

[xtinaunasty]

i was thinking of doing this...but i tried this once before and on the days where i would have high carbs i would be MORE hungry and i wanted to eat every carb in sight! it may be different if i eat low gi carbs. before, i was eating yogurt and bread and stuff.

[ttuprincess]

thats what i used during comp prep when i hut a rut it helped so much I started losing over 1.5 % bf a week

[xtinaunasty]

wow...awesome! i will definitely give it a try. thanks again

[xtinaunasty]

[mitch911]

how do u set up a carb cycle diet ? like how does it go out of 7 days

[ttuprincess]

high
med
NO
high
med
NO
cheat day

[IronFreakX]

ummm...no, more like:
low fat , mod carbs , high pro

[ttuprincess]

ummm...no, more like:
low fat , mod carbs , high pro

um no hes asking about a carb cycle.. this is the one i used when i contest dieted and lost a lot of fat off of once i hit a platue.. mod carbs may not work for everyone... as well as carb cycling may not work for everyone, but its somethign she could try
I was afraid of this kind of diet but once i hit my wall, and had tried evedrything else this was the only thing that worked for me, my body holds onto every carb in sight

[mitch911]

cool i think im going to try this out as i feel my fat loss is slowing down ..been dieting for 3 months so my metabolism may have came to a hault...how do u manage 0 carbs on a workout day tho ? and also think it be better to have no cheat meal in this diet seeing how u are constantly staggering ur cals daily

[xtinaunasty]

good question...i was wondering this too cuz i thought the purpose of a cheat day was to shock your body. but you arent you already doing this with the carb cycling?

[ttuprincess]

i made sure my 0 carb days were not on leg days... thats the only day i need more energy

as for the cheat, i only had 1 every 2 weeks or so, thats how my trainer set me up, but i was also on a 1300 cal diet

[xtinaunasty]

damn thats low...i can see a cheat being beneficial in that situation.

[ttuprincess]

yeah it was low.. it was killer but it damn sure worked

[xtinaunasty]

how long did you go that low? were you in a show? how far out did you cut out your cheats?

[mitch911]

what are the days set up liek tho ?
high carbs 2x bw?
med carbs at bodyweight?
low none?

[steve0]

um no hes asking about a carb cycle.. this is the one i used when i contest dieted and lost a lot of fat off of once i hit a platue.. mod carbs may not work for everyone... as well as carb cycling may not work for everyone, but its somethign she could try
I was afraid of this kind of diet but once i hit my wall, and had tried evedrything else this was the only thing that worked for me, my body holds onto every carb in sight

Yes she was carb cycleing for a contest, thats why i dont know if it would be a good idea, maybe you should cycle carbs for a 3 weeks see what happens, also during carb cycle what do you do with ur PWO say ur takeing down whey and dex after lifting do you still take that ???

[xtinaunasty]

Gerkie66 told me about this on another thread and i totally forgot about it. she told me ttuprincess gave her some advice on this as well so i am assuming it is her method...here is the link to that thread:

how does my diet look?

[xtinaunasty]

Yes she was carb cycleing for a contest, thats why i dont know if it would be a good idea, maybe you should cycle carbs for a 3 weeks see what happens, also during carb cycle what do you do with ur PWO say ur takeing down whey and dex after lifting do you still take that ???

hmm...thats a good question. i was just going to have my cardio only days on the no carb days. on med carb days i can still get my dex no problem. i will give the carb cycling a shot but i dont think i can survive on 1300 cals. ill probably just cut out the cheat day.

[steve0]

arent you carb cycling when on ur off days or days you dont lift when you dont take down the DEX????

[xtinaunasty]

well, i do cardio 6x a week and weights 4x...so there's only one day that i wont be working out in some form,and i plan on having one of my no carbs days that day. as far as cardio only days, i will substitute other carbs for the dex or subtract it all together. im still working on the layout, but so far i have this:

Day 1: no carb (as little as possible), AM cardio + abs
Day 2: med carb (80g), AM cardio, PM Chest/Bis
Day 3: high carb (150g), AM cardio, PM Legs + calves
Day 4: no carb, OFF
Day 5: med carb, AM cardio, PM Shoulders + abs
Dau 6: high carb, AM cardio, PM Back/Tris
Day 7: med carb, AM cardio + calves

I had to adjust the cycle order a little cuz i took out the cheat day and replaced it with a medium carb day

[chuck89gt5.0]

cardio twice a day is a complete wast, your burning off to much muscle, diet is key to any exercise program, or body composition

Of course diet is about 80% of cutting....but some people like myself need lots of cardio. My metabolism is prolly slower than 99% of the guys here.
I know of a handful of pros who do cardio twice a day also a few close friends who compete and look great do twice a day.......so no its not a complete waste.

You must remember what works for one person doesnt mean it will work for another, everyones body is different!

[mitch911]

well, i do cardio 6x a week and weights 4x...so there's only one day that i wont be working out in some form,and i plan on having one of my no carbs days that day. as far as cardio only days, i will substitute other carbs for the dex or subtract it all together. im still working on the layout, but so far i have this:

Day 1: no carb (as little as possible), AM cardio + abs
Day 2: med carb (80g), AM cardio, PM Chest/Bis
Day 3: high carb (150g), AM cardio, PM Legs + calves
Day 4: no carb, OFF
Day 5: med carb, AM cardio, PM Shoulders + abs
Dau 6: high carb, AM cardio, PM Back/Tris
Day 7: med carb, AM cardio + calves

I had to adjust the cycle order a little cuz i took out the cheat day and replaced it with a medium carb day

150g doesnt seem to high thats like only ur pwo and ppwo meals

[xtinaunasty]

well i have been doing 80-90g for the past few weeks, so i dont wanna go too high just yet

[ttuprincess]

honestly i did not use dextrose PWO, My body hangs onto every single carb I injest or even see.... so i opted to take out my dextrose PWo and just have whey, seeing as I wsa working out at 10 pm every night due to school and work


X: no i never steped on stage, my show was cancelled 3 weeks out, I plan on doing it one daybut right now my life has not settled back to where I am in the mind set to get on stage as a competitor. But I did get all the way there, on my 3 week out I was actually doing my dry run of the week before contest. My Prep pictures are in the female questions forum.

[xtinaunasty]

wow you looked awesome...but i dont ever think i could do that diet. that looks brutal. your "high" carb day was like 35 carbs...? unless you had carbs in your protein shakes. i envy anyone that can stick to something like that for 2 months. you rock!

thanks a lot for your help, i am still working out the kinks in my diet plan...i will post it soon. does my workout split look okay? what kind of rep ranges do you do and how long do you spend lifting each day?

[ttuprincess]

split looks nice! I love hot yoga!

[mitch911]

35g as a high day ...wow this would make me lightheaded cranky and most likely in bed 24/7