80 pounds GONE - 30 to go .. WHY WONT IT COME OFF? Help pleaseee!!!! :)

Hey all,

So I'm fairly new to this site so bare with me The reason I joined is because my boyfriend has an account on here and the information he has acquired is amazing. he's So smart and dedicated to fitness that I decided instead of bugging him all the time, I'll just ask myself. So here goes ...

4 years ago I weighed 240 pounds. I had the worst diet, absolutely zero exercise and no knowledge about fitness or nutrition what so ever. I started working at Herbal Magic which is a Canadian Weight Loss company. I followed the program there and lost a total of 80 pounds in a year and a half. I have since then kept my weight off. My current weight is 164 and my goal weight is 135. Here's where the problem lays ...

Last December, due to a lot of stress, my weight dropped to 150, the lowest I'd ever been. I felt amazing, but still had a little bit to go. My diet was clean then, and it still is now. I did cardio 5 days a week as well as weight training. January of 2012 is when I started to gain some weight due to again, stress from personal issues, and because of what was going on, my diet got sloppy and training went to crap. I slowly crept back up into the 160's. Not happy at all.

My guy moved in with me at the end of May and tried to help me all he could. He would spend hours on these threads trying to find answers for my problems. He created an IF outline for me to follow. I implemented the IF program and stuck with it for 4 weeks and saw NO change. Weight would fluctuate, but would never budge below 160. Very discouraged, I gave up. I just "did my own thing" for a while. What I mean by that is no eating schedule, no weighing or measuring, eating more carbs than normal, reducing my exercise. Mentally, I needed a break from dieting as I have been dieting for the last 3 1/2 years.

January 1st, I committed myself ... again. God, just reading that makes me sound like a resolution-er, which i am not lol... but it's just a good day to keep track of as my starting point. So, since January 1st, I have fluctuated between 160.6-165. I do cardio 6 days a week (2 of those sessions are fasted). Most of the time it's steady pace cardio, so I know implementing HIIT will help. Something I am not consistent with is weights. I LOVE weight training but the time I can get to the gym it's so damn busy and I hate waiting for stuff that I end up just saying screw it & will do 45 mins of cardio. My diet is not dialed in either as I am unsure of what my body needs for fat loss. Here's my problem .. I can eat 1000 cals and not lose weight, I can eat 1800 cals and not lose weight either. This is what makes this difficult. Do i need to be consuming less than 1000 calories per day? gosh i hope not, I'd pass out lol. As well, I am unsure of the ratio's I should be eating. How much protein, how many servings of carbs. I have a pretty good idea of when to eat certain foods, like carbs in the am and post work out, limited dairy (0% fat plain greek yogurt is my dairy source), usually only do blueberries or grapefruit for my fruit which is consumed early in the day ... veggies are steamed broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, or spinach in my shakes. I don't add sauces or crap to my foods, usually just mustard.... I mean my diet is CLEAN, just need to figure out how much of what to eat. Can't forget the most important part - I even plateau while taking Clen . I just finished a 2 week cycle, (i do 2 on 2 off), starting my dose at 20mcg and increasing by 10 everyday until I get to the max of 120mcg. Even with that, I still cannot break this plateau of 160! grrrr

I am really hoping to get some feedback on what I am doing and any tips, suggestions, or guidance someone could give me would be greatly appreciated! I will be travling overseas in a few short months and to be honest, would like to have made a lot of progression by the end of April, and more importantly, progression to help keep me sane! I am busting my butt daily and results are not coming... it's disheartening, but not enough to make me quit. I want this more than anything.

Thanks again for reading, really looking forward to some suggestions!

Hi Blondee and welcome!

First off that is an amazing weight loss already. Sometimes our bodies just like to settle for a while after the shock of having changed so much. We all get plateau's at some point. To get you moving again can you give us a little further info?

Can you take a look at this and let me know approximately what bodyfat % you are?

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...-Men-amp-Women

I don't mean to be presumptious or offensive on this next point but do you hold most of your excess fat in your thighs? Your booty?

How tall are you?

The diet that lost you 60lbs, was it super low calorie?

Can you write me a typical days diet that you are not losing weight on?

You can only exercise later in the day? Not before breakfast?

Are you sure your clen was legit? Did you monitor your body temperature at all?

HIIT cardio will help you enormously, as will resistance training. Busy gym or not, get hubby to show you some compound exercises using dumbells that you can take off to a quieter corner of the gym to do.

Oh, and no, you most definitely do NOT need to eat less than 1000cals per day:)

Hey blondee!

SteM has you covered.
Just wanna congratulate you on your weight loss.
Amazing...

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Originally Posted by -KJ-

Hey blondee!

SteM has you covered.
Just wanna congratulate you on your weight loss.
Amazing...

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x2..............very well done! and good luck for future goals!

have a personal interest in this thread and it's resolutions by the very experienced nutritional gure's and vet........Common guys give this chic some help.

Thanks for your response SteM! :)

1) I am sitting around 31% body fat at the moment and my fat is evenly distributed between my thighs, booty, and stomach. My stomach is the most concerning for me as I seem to carry the fat around the lower part of my midsection and even when I was 150 pounds, it was still there (mind you, not as noticeable as it is now).My hips and butt are larger than I'd like them to be, however they have gotten much smaller since losing weight and I am happy with that. The progress is slow there, but at least there is still progress, whereas in my stomach... zero progress.

2) The diet that I followed when I lost 60 pounds was moderate as far as calories go.When I was 240 pounds, my diet started out at roughly 1500 calories per day, and then once I wasn't losing 2 pounds per week ( I believe this was around the 200 pound mark), I reduced my diet to roughtly 1100-1300 cals depending on the day. It wasn't some fad diet, it was a diet that consisted of portion control and offered variety from every food group. I contribute my ability to maintain my weight loss due to the healthy eating habits I've learned from doing that program. It taught me how to eat using real food. Since then though, I've tried all different levels of caloric intake and nothing seems to be working.

3) Typical days diet:

Meal 1 - 1/2 cup oats w/ 1 scoop Vanilla Protein and cinnamon
Meal 2 - 1 cup 0% fat plain Greek Yogurt w/ 1 tbsp ground flax seed and 40g of blueberries
Meal 3 - 5 oz chicken or 4 oz tilapia (usually BBQ'd) with 100g cooked brown rice and 100g steamed broccoli (no sauces, consumed plain or with mustard) and 1/2 grapefruit
Meal 4 - usually the same as meal 3 and this is usually my pre work out meal (if i'm really hungry, I'll also eat 2 boiled eggs here)
Meal 5 - PWO Shake - 1 scoop of protein, 1 tbsp flax, 1 scoop powdered greens, 1 cup spinach, 1/3 cup blueberries, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Just by looking at that, something doesnt look right to me ... not enough fats? too many carbs? my problem is I do not know the balance of macros that my body requires to lose weight.... any suggestions or feedback on this diet are welcomed!

4) I can exercise before breakfast, yes, however my thought process is that cardio needs to be done in a fasted state to be as effective as possible. Is this wrong? I would MUCH prefer to weight train in the am and cardio in the pm.

5) Clen was legit... I was always boiling hot and sometimes waking up in the middle of the night covered in sweat. Hands were shaky and pulse was much faster than normal

You're right, busy gym or not, I'm there to get stuff done ... but with that being said, should I train in the am? less busy then for sure. Also, hubby is overseas right now so getting him to show me some compound movement will be a little difficult lol, but there is always tons of sources online where I can learn.

Thanks for taking the time to help, I appreciate it so much and I am anxiously awaiting your feedback!

Thanks -KJ- :)

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Originally Posted by ironbeck

have a personal interest in this thread and it's resolutions by the very experienced nutritional gure's and vet........Common guys give this chic some help.

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LOL. thank you ironbeck! haha. While the acknowledgement is nice and always welcome, you're right, I'm on here to find some answers. With that being said, is there any feedback you can give me?

Let's adress the diet first. Without seeing actl macro's it's difficult to give a definitive answer as to too much of this or too few of that. But, possibly too many carbs, not enough protein.

I would suggest that your TDEE is in the region of 1600-1700cals. So I would probably want to set you around the 1200 calorie mark, maybe a little over, especially if you are going to split your workouts and, therefore, train maybe 10x per week.

I'm also gonna suggest a split of 60/20/20 (pro/carbs/fat). That split and caloric intake can (and should) be adjusted as time goes on. How you split those carbs is up to you, there's only going to be 60g per day. I would personally split them pre and post workout on lifting days. On non lifting days put them where you need them.

Amount of meals is up to you. When cutting I prefer to have fewer meals because they make me fuller than lots of tiny meals. Your food choices are ok but I'd include a whole protein source in your last meal of the day rather than whey. If you can add some omega 3 fish oils to your fat intake that would be good.

Your comments on exercise are correct, your cardio will be best done in a fasted state. That will give you better results than doing it later in the day. Fasted HIIT would be even better!!

Now then, at 31% and 165lbs, if you lose 30lbs of fat and no lean tissue, then that would put you at approx 12%bf. That is super low for a girl. However, we shall see how you go and work it out as we go along.

So all you need to do now, is post up a new diet using the figures detailed, and include macro's for further critique. BTW all of your weights and measurements should be uncooked/raw not in the cooked state.

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Originally Posted by SteM

Let's adress the diet first. Without seeing actl macro's it's difficult to give a definitive answer as to too much of this or too few of that. But, possibly too many carbs, not enough protein.

I would suggest that your TDEE is in the region of 1600-1700cals. So I would probably want to set you around the 1200 calorie mark, maybe a little over, especially if you are going to split your workouts and, therefore, train maybe 10x per week.

I'm also gonna suggest a split of 60/20/20 (pro/carbs/fat). That split and caloric intake can (and should) be adjusted as time goes on. How you split those carbs is up to you, there's only going to be 60g per day. I would personally split them pre and post workout on lifting days. On non lifting days put them where you need them.

Amount of meals is up to you. When cutting I prefer to have fewer meals because they make me fuller than lots of tiny meals. Your food choices are ok but I'd include a whole protein source in your last meal of the day rather than whey. If you can add some omega 3 fish oils to your fat intake that would be good.

Your comments on exercise are correct, your cardio will be best done in a fasted state. That will give you better results than doing it later in the day. Fasted HIIT would be even better!!

Now then, at 31% and 165lbs, if you lose 30lbs of fat and no lean tissue, then that would put you at approx 12%bf. That is super low for a girl. However, we shall see how you go and work it out as we go along.

So all you need to do now, is post up a new diet using the figures detailed, and include macro's for further critique. BTW all of your weights and measurements should be uncooked/raw not in the cooked state.

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This is great advice and guidance. Thank you very much. I will put together a diet and include the macros based on the few suggestions you have given me, and then post on here for some critiquing. Thanks again!! :)

i was secretly adding dextrose to all your food id cook so i could keep ur boobs from shrinking, now that im gone, im sure teh weight will melt off lol.

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Originally Posted by Blondee

LOL. thank you ironbeck! haha. While the acknowledgement is nice and always welcome, you're right, I'm on here to find some answers. With that being said, is there any feedback you can give me?

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I'm sorry, nutrition has never been my strong suit, with work and the gym I can eat up to 5000cals aday, I just try to keep it as clean as possible. Stem will take care of you.

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Originally Posted by ironbeck

I'm sorry, nutrition has never been my strong suit, with work and the gym I can eat up to 5000cals aday, I just try to keep it as clean as possible. Stem will take care of you.

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Yea if u Pm me some recent pics I may n\be able to help lol

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Originally Posted by mockery

i was secretly adding dextrose to all your food id cook so i could keep ur boobs from shrinking, now that im gone, im sure teh weight will melt off lol.

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HAHAHA!!! you little turd. That's why everything tasted so darn good! Weight isn't melting off, boobs are still there, and food is bland... come back and cook for me :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ironbeck

I'm sorry, nutrition has never been my strong suit, with work and the gym I can eat up to 5000cals aday, I just try to keep it as clean as possible. Stem will take care of you.

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omg 5000 cals a day i'd be in heaven. food coma for sure. thanks for the interest though! and humor me please lol, how will me sending you pics help?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blondee

omg 5000 cals a day i'd be in heaven. food coma for sure. thanks for the interest though! and humor me please lol, how will me sending you pics help?

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it wont help u, but it will help him haha

After some good reading on here, I've decided to follow the Beginners Diet for Women as well as the Beginners Training Program for women. Here is an outline of what I will be doing for the next 2-4 weeks:

DIET -

Meal 1:
3 Egg Whites + 2 Whole Eggs + 1/4 Oatmeal

Meal 2:
4 oz Extra Lean Ground Beef + Green Veg (I'll be using broccoli & green beans)

Meal 3:
5 oz Chicken or Tilapia + 70g boiled yams + 1 oz almonds + broccoli

Meal 4:
Same as Meals 1 or 3

Meal 5: Same as meal 2

Meal 6:
3 eggs + 2 egg whites OR 25g whey isolate with 1 tbsp natty peanut butter (will alternate this last meal day to day)

CALORIES: 1560-1755
PROTEIN: 122g-150g
CARBS: 58g-83g
FATS: 78g-113g


TRAINING:

Fasted cardio will be performed 5 days per week as well as 1 PWO cardio session Friday evenings. These sessions will be no shorter than 40 mins duration.
I will also perform a full body workout 3 days a week for the first 4 weeks and then re-evaluate. This is what my workouts will look like;

1. Chest - Cable Flys (3 sets of 12)
2. Shoulders - Dumbbell Lat Raises (3 sets of 12)
3. Legs - Squats (3 sets of 12)
4. Back - Seated Cable Rows (3 sets of 12)
5. Triceps - Cable Pressdown (3 sets of 12)
6. Biceps - Barbell Curls (3 sets of 12)
7. Abs - Roman Chair Lifts (3 sets of 12)

I will rotate the movements so I am not doing the same movement for every body part. Ex - 1st workout for chest will be cable flys, then seated chest press, etc...


This is my off week for my 2 week on 2 week of cycle for my Clen. Starting Tuesday Jan 29th, I will re-introduce clen back into my program. For now, I will continue to take my regular supplement regim of Green Tea Extract, Chromium, ALA, Omega 3's, a multi, CLA, and Calcium.


I am very much open to feedback so please feel free to suggest anything I should be adding or removing to improve my results!

Hello luv
Amazing progress you've demonstrated, there's no doubt there. the lower your BF%, the harder it is to lose fat. just the way it is. but keep it up. Always love to read a great success story!
---Roman

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Originally Posted by Times Roman

Hello luv
Amazing progress you've demonstrated, there's no doubt there. the lower your BF%, the harder it is to lose fat. just the way it is. but keep it up. Always love to read a great success story!
---Roman

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You're too kind! Thank you very much! About the body fat percentage thing, I've heard this to be true, but I don't have a low body fat, in fact, it's a lot higher than I'd like ... but I know the second I figure out my metabolism and the right food/training combo, it'll melt off. Hoping this new diet and training program will point me in the right direction! Stay tuned for progress pics! :)

Good luck!

Nice progress blondee!

It is all about a lifestyle change and it looks that you are making it.

You will learn everything you need to know plus more!

Look, too much fats imo. Other than this, i would gradually work your calories up and hold back on the cardio. I would really hit the weights hard doing upper/lower split 4 days a week. Stick with interval cardio for 20 mins 3 times a week. Low i.tensity cardio could make you burn less fat!!! Too much training along underfeeding will do the same slow your metabolic rate - if you're non-believer look at layne norton's blog on metabolic rate. Lyle mcdonald also covers the topic.

I really would set 1500 cals as the top end of your calories. And I agree with Alex, that's waaaaaaaaaaaay too high in fats, almost 50%.

At 1500 cals your macro split should be approx 200g protein, 100g carbs and 35g fats. At MOST, your fats should be 45g.

Your food choices are good with the exception of your choice of protein in meal 6. Steak, chicken or cottage cheese are much slower digesting proteins than eggs or whey.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blondee

You're too kind! Thank you very much! About the body fat percentage thing, I've heard this to be true, but I don't have a low body fat, in fact, it's a lot higher than I'd like ... but I know the second I figure out my metabolism and the right food/training combo, it'll melt off. Hoping this new diet and training program will point me in the right direction! Stay tuned for progress pics! :)

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:hello: welcome Blondee!!!! Amazing progress and u r in the home stretch!!! SteM is awesome so u r in great hands. Don't forget to take measurements cuz the changes from this point will likely show up more in inches then on the scale!!!

Blonde, why don`t you discontinue this 40 min fasted cardio 5 x week? 2 or 3 interval cardio sessions 20-25 min each on your off days are plenty (later in the process of loosing fat, low intensity cardio could be re-introduced - 20 mins after weights will be a good starting point). You`ll experience some metabolic benefits and better calorie partitioning if you do so. On top of the cardio, 3 weight sessions will do , but you could pick some more demanding exercises like:

1. Squats - the biggest muscle group therefore you should hit it first
2. Deadlift/SL Deadlift - finishing the hamstrings
3. Wide grip pulldown/ Assisted pull-ups
4. Seated cable row/BB row
5. DB press/machine dips
6. Triceps - pick an exercise
7. could skip it if you do 2 heavy back exercises. You can cut the volume on the both back exercises and still do biceps.... your call.
8. Abs

1500 cals will be perfectly split over 4 meals. A few prons - you`ll feel more satisfied, less obssessed with food, feasibility...etc.
You could go for 160 protein /40 for each meal, 150 carbs and 30ish fats. This will leave you more room for customization at a later stage when your progress halts. You will be able to up the protein and lower the carbs (first on cardio only days).
That`s my standpoint though.

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Originally Posted by SteM

I really would set 1500 cals as the top end of your calories. And I agree with Alex, that's waaaaaaaaaaaay too high in fats, almost 50%.

At 1500 cals your macro split should be approx 200g protein, 100g carbs and 35g fats. At MOST, your fats should be 45g.

Your food choices are good with the exception of your choice of protein in meal 6. Steak, chicken or cottage cheese are much slower digesting proteins than eggs or whey.

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Thank you so much for critiquing my diet! It's so helpful. The smallest adjustments will make the biggest difference in my body. I will have to re-vamp my diet tomorrow with that macro split you had suggested. I will then re-post for further critiquing! I really appreciate your help :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alex.mitev

Blonde, why don`t you discontinue this 40 min fasted cardio 5 x week? 2 or 3 interval cardio sessions 20-25 min each on your off days are plenty (later in the process of loosing fat, low intensity cardio could be re-introduced - 20 mins after weights will be a good starting point). You`ll experience some metabolic benefits and better calorie partitioning if you do so. On top of the cardio, 3 weight sessions will do , but you could pick some more demanding exercises like:

1. Squats - the biggest muscle group therefore you should hit it first
2. Deadlift/SL Deadlift - finishing the hamstrings
3. Wide grip pulldown/ Assisted pull-ups
4. Seated cable row/BB row
5. DB press/machine dips
6. Triceps - pick an exercise
7. could skip it if you do 2 heavy back exercises. You can cut the volume on the both back exercises and still do biceps.... your call.
8. Abs

1500 cals will be perfectly split over 4 meals. A few prons - you`ll feel more satisfied, less obssessed with food, feasibility...etc.
You could go for 160 protein /40 for each meal, 150 carbs and 30ish fats. This will leave you more room for customization at a later stage when your progress halts. You will be able to up the protein and lower the carbs (first on cardio only days).
That`s my standpoint though.

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Aside from the advice and guidance that my boyfriend has given me, I think this is the most advice I've received regarding my diet. I've received a lot of congrats and wahoo's, which dont get me wrong, is very nice, but at the same time I'm here for answers. I have been at the same flippen weight for over a year now and enough is a enough. I just came to terms with the fact that my body likes it here and I'll always be 160+ pounds. Hell no. That ain't gonna happen. Had I known to come on this forum and ask, I probably would have been at my goal by now. Oh well, better late than never. Seriously, I am so appreciate of the info you've provided with me. I'll combine that with the knowledge from SteM and Mockery and sweet mother of mercy watch out haha!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GirlyGymRat

:hello: welcome Blondee!!!! Amazing progress and u r in the home stretch!!! SteM is awesome so u r in great hands. Don't forget to take measurements cuz the changes from this point will likely show up more in inches then on the scale!!!

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Thanks love. The scale is gone. See ya! haha. I took a starting Pic (front, side, and back) on Sunday and will use that as my gauge, and yes of course, measurements. So nice to hear that scentence .. "Amazing progress and you're in the home stretch" .. never thought of it that way lol. Thanks again for your kind words!

Well, there must be a reason why you cannot break the barrier of 160 lb.....
If you already eat less than 1000 cals, do cardio 6 times a week for 1 h, lift weights 4 times per week..... what further customization could be done? Starve you to death? NO!
The aforementioned is indicative of partial metabolic damage. And yes, the long duration low intensity cardio might be to blame - if ur body has adapted to mantain 160 lb with 6 cardio sessions a week.....man there`s not much more you could add or cut from.
Your goal would be to revive you metabolism and reach healthy levels - 1500 calories is a good setpoint. FROM THERE> you could work out your diet. Cut 300 cals from your maintanence, do 3 full body workout and two 2 20-25 min interval cardio sessions on non-lifting days.
Hold for 4 weeks and you`ll have a fat-loss result. When you no longer progress add another interval cardio session and hold for two weeks.
When hit plateu once again, cut another 150 calories and hold for 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 weeks you`ll no longer progress, then add two 20 mins steady cardio windows after gym workouts. Later you could add another 20 min , after that work that up to 30 ....... and so on and so on.

I believe you get the idea of progressing and planning? "All out from the begininig" is a huge mistake which is symptomatic for women.

KUDOS TO YOU BLONDEE! AMAZING! Just amazing. Keep up the good work. Since you have gone this far the rest will follow.

Remember:
Stay consistent.
Slow wins this race.

Only thing I might offer is this: I find if I do 2 shorter cardio sessions in the same day then my metabolism really cranks up. For example a fasted cardio in the morning and then another one later in the day. And the second one being a real real high intensity cardio. This works for me when I want to push forward. And sometimes I do 3 cardios in the same day!

But the trick is to find what works for you and then do that since we all react differently to this. If it were easy everybody would do it!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU! YOU GOT THIS!

Blondee, have you had a thyroid test done recently? If not, can you get one done?

And these 40 mins fasted cardio sessions, what intensity do you have planned?

SUPERB JOB SO FAR!
Really, really well done!

Stem will take good care of you, you'll get there eventually, right now its just a matter of time :)

Hey Blondee...

That avi pic is incredible.. That picture there is true motivation!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alex.mitev

Well, there must be a reason why you cannot break the barrier of 160 lb.....
If you already eat less than 1000 cals, do cardio 6 times a week for 1 h, lift weights 4 times per week..... what further customization could be done? Starve you to death? NO!
The aforementioned is indicative of partial metabolic damage. And yes, the long duration low intensity cardio might be to blame - if ur body has adapted to mantain 160 lb with 6 cardio sessions a week.....man there`s not much more you could add or cut from.
Your goal would be to revive you metabolism and reach healthy levels - 1500 calories is a good setpoint. FROM THERE> you could work out your diet. Cut 300 cals from your maintanence, do 3 full body workout and two 2 20-25 min interval cardio sessions on non-lifting days.
Hold for 4 weeks and you`ll have a fat-loss result. When you no longer progress add another interval cardio session and hold for two weeks.
When hit plateu once again, cut another 150 calories and hold for 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 weeks you`ll no longer progress, then add two 20 mins steady cardio windows after gym workouts. Later you could add another 20 min , after that work that up to 30 ....... and so on and so on.

I believe you get the idea of progressing and planning? "All out from the begininig" is a huge mistake which is symptomatic for women.

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That is some excellent advice and I will definitely be incorporating that :) Thanks for all your help!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SlimmerMe

KUDOS TO YOU BLONDEE! AMAZING! Just amazing. Keep up the good work. Since you have gone this far the rest will follow.

Remember:
Stay consistent.
Slow wins this race.

Only thing I might offer is this: I find if I do 2 shorter cardio sessions in the same day then my metabolism really cranks up. For example a fasted cardio in the morning and then another one later in the day. And the second one being a real real high intensity cardio. This works for me when I want to push forward. And sometimes I do 3 cardios in the same day!

But the trick is to find what works for you and then do that since we all react differently to this. If it were easy everybody would do it!

GOOD LUCK TO YOU! YOU GOT THIS!

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awwww thanks SlimmerMe!! what a sweet thing for you to say! That's some great advice on the cardio. I was doing the same damn thing all the time - the stepmonster is what I call it lol. I do it because I actually enjoy it which is important for cardio! However, clearly 45 mins on that beast isnt helping anymore. GOtta switch it up and with all of the wonderful feedback from everyone on this thread, I have lots to go by!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SteM

Blondee, have you had a thyroid test done recently? If not, can you get one done?

And these 40 mins fasted cardio sessions, what intensity do you have planned?

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I've had my thyroid tested twice in the past 6 months. It's fine. I think a lot of my struggles were due to hormones. Last year I went on and off my birth control pill 3 times, spending my body into a tail spin. I would hold crazy amounts of water weight (up to 8 pounds in one day). It was awful. During that time, none of my clothes fit me, not even my gym clothes (all Lululemon/Nike/UA, so they are tight and formfitting.... not something you wanna wear when you're bloated). So with that being said, I didn't work out. I was too uncomfortable & embarrassed to. That was my downfall. My food was always clean and spot on, but clearly haven't figured out my metabolism yet.... I've been back on my pill since November and I'm starting to feel like me again. I still retain water, but not as much. My worst time is around my time of the month, that's a given, but it's not as bad as it once was. Once i figure out this diet and training thing, I know the weight will melt off ... or I'm hoping so anyways ... and the fact that my guy isn't here spiking my food with dextrose helps too lol! (jk mock)

As for my cadio, I've decided to forgo the 40 mins fasted sessions and switch it up. I will be doing 3 HIIT cardio sessions per week (fasted of course), about 20-25 mins in length and on the treadmill, something I rarely use unless I'm doing an incline walk. We will see how that goes for the next 4 weeks and then I will re-evaluate and see what changes need to be made. I'm also going to use your macro split you had recommended to me. Seems like a good split and one that my body will react well to. I don't have a diet put together yet for that split. but I will do it this weekend and post here for feedback. As for right now, I'm keeping the fat low and using sources like avocado, almonds, and natty pb. Carbs I'm sticking around 100g and they are brown rice, oats and whatever carbs is in my broccoli, spinach, and green beans. I've cut the extra lean ground beef and eating now just chicken, tilapia, egg whites, and tuna. Feeling much better with this split and my water weight is slowly disappearing by the day. Training is going well, I like the 3 day full body workouts. Using compound movements for the bigger muscle groups (squats using a smith machine because my form is terrible without one), deadlifts, assisted pull ups, etc.

Appreciate your feedback, it's always welcomed!! :) Anything else you wanna add just let me know!

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Originally Posted by -KJ-

Hey Blondee...

That avi pic is incredible.. That picture there is true motivation!!!

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THANK YOU!!! :) I appreciate your support!

Hi Blondee. I just posted versions of my eating plan in thread diet for my wife. Take a peek if u need some help :)

Re: fasted cardio. If you have time for 49 minutes i would STRONGLY suggest this.

5 minutes warm up

15 seconds absolutely maximum effort
45 seconds rest
(Do this 10 times = 10 minutes)

Change cardio equipment
20mins steady state at approximately 70% max heart rate/rate of perceived exertion(RPE)

30seconds at 85%RPE
30seconds rest
(Do this 5 times)

Essentially you are releasing fatty acids during that 10 minute bout of high intensity intervals. The following 20-25 minutes will help burn those released fatty acids. Otherwise there's every chance that they will resettle in the lower half of your body.

How does that sound?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SteM

Re: fasted cardio. If you have time for 49 minutes i would STRONGLY suggest this.

5 minutes warm up

15 seconds absolutely maximum effort
45 seconds rest
(Do this 10 times = 10 minutes)

Change cardio equipment
20mins steady state at approximately 70% max heart rate/rate of perceived exertion(RPE)

30seconds at 85%RPE
30seconds rest
(Do this 5 times)

Essentially you are releasing fatty acids during that 10 minute bout of high intensity intervals. The following 20-25 minutes will help burn those released fatty acids. Otherwise there's every chance that they will resettle in the lower half of your body.

How does that sound?

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That sounds perfect! 15 seconds all out is way better than 1 minute all out! I also like the fact that I can change machines. I get bored on one for longer than 30 mins, unless it's the stairmill which is why I tend to gravitate to that one. How many days per week should I do this? and is there a certain piece of equipment you'd recommend? I was planning on using the treadmill....