New female user looking for help with diet before starting clen

[prettypoodle]

After lurking for months, I finally decided to join and am looking to start clen within the next 2 weeks but first, I was told that I should come over here and see if you guys could help me tweak my eating habits first.

First of all, here are my stats:

Height? 5'9"

Weight? 230

Age? 22

Bodyfat? 30%

Goals? reduce body fat to 22-24% and lose at least 30 lbs

Training exp? Cardio routine? I do a moderate amount of intense cardio (always after 5pm, btw), including teaching kickboxing and spinning class 3 times a week in addition to 2-3 days of light/moderate strength training.

Diet? Admittedly not the best and probably where most of my weight loss issue lies... I have a sweet tooth and have been known to get my protein from a cheeseburger rather than tuna . When possible, I try my best to eat clean and stick to high protein (approx 150g), moderate carbs (100-110) and low fat (<55) a day. I try to eat several times a day, but my schedule sometimes makes that a little difficult.

About 6 months ago, I found myself getting frustrated because I'm obviously pretty active and while I started to see and feel my body get stronger, I wasn't seeing any fat come off. I went to a nutritionist who helped me lose 20 lbs in about 45 days, but the diet was so strict (no red meats, low sodium, no refined sugar, baked/boiled chicken and fish, 5 meals a day, no food after 8 pm, etc) that it was impossible for me to stick to it for any extended length of time, hence why I regained all of the weight back so quickly.


I welcome any and all advice you guys could give to me. As I said earlier, I really don't do well with very restrictive diets, but I'm well aware that I need to make some changes and am serious about improving my eating habits and my body.

Thank you so much!

[baseline_9]

Ok gd for getting over here

Post ur ur exact current diet, including times when u eat etc...

Also ur exact training routine

If u dont have a plan, make somthing up that we can work with

[baseline_9]

We can help you

You will be eating lean red meat

You will be eating after 8pm

The diet will be strict

The training will be strict

You will be doing fasted cardio in the mornings

U WILL get where u wanna get!


U in or out?

[gbrice75]

After lurking for months, I finally decided to join and am looking to start clen within the next 2 weeks but first, I was told that I should come over here and see if you guys could help me tweak my eating habits first.

First of all, here are my stats:

Height? 5'9"

Weight? 230

Age? 22

Bodyfat? 30%

Goals? reduce body fat to 22-24% and lose at least 30 lbs

Training exp? Cardio routine? I do a moderate amount of intense cardio (always after 5pm, btw), including teaching kickboxing and spinning class 3 times a week in addition to 2-3 days of light/moderate strength training.

Diet? Admittedly not the best and probably where most of my weight loss issue lies... I have a sweet tooth and have been known to get my protein from a cheeseburger rather than tuna . When possible, I try my best to eat clean and stick to high protein (approx 150g), moderate carbs (100-110) and low fat (<55) a day. I try to eat several times a day, but my schedule sometimes makes that a little difficult.

About 6 months ago, I found myself getting to frustrated because I'm obviously pretty active and while I started to see and feel my body get stronger, I wasn't seeing any fat come off. I went to a nutritionist who helped me lose 20 lbs in about 45 days, but the diet was so strict (no red meats, low sodium, no refined sugar, baked/boiled chicken and fish, 5 meals a day, no food after 8 pm, etc) that it was impossible for me to stick to it for any extended length of time, hence why I regained all of the weight back so quickly.


I welcome any and all advice you guys could give to me. As I said earlier, I really don't do well with very restrictive diets, but I'm well aware that I need to make some changes and am serious about improving my eating habits and my body.

Thank you so much!

Hey, welcome to the board! So you're a female at 5'9, 230lbs - and your goal is to lose around 30lbs? As a point of reference, i'm a 5'11 male and weigh 190lbs. Not trying to make you feel bad or discourage you in any way, just trying to understand the goal, because it would seem that you need to lose quite a bit more then 30lbs based on those stats. Also, i'm willing to bet BF is higher then 30%.

No matter, the plan will be the same regardless of the goal being to lose 30lbs, 40lbs, 100lbs, etc. whatever.

We need to find your maintenance calories - i'm willing to bet they're somewhere around 2000 or so. Chances are you're eating much higher then this - if you could post up an example of a typical day's diet, it would be very helpful. Do you currently weight train? If not, let me know because we will need to get you on a plan.

Please answer the above and then we can get to work. In the meantime, me along with some of the others here have been helping another new female member - EnvusChick. Check out her thread in this section, you may benefit quite a bit from reading it.

[SlimmerMe]

Eating "after" 8 pm? to lose weight? hmmmm.....I always thought the other way around....this is interesting

[gbrice75]

PS - please don't start clen in 2 weeks, it'll be a total waste. Let's get a solid diet and training regimen in place first, we'll be able to make the clen go SO much further that way, trust me.

[gbrice75]

Eating "after" 8 pm? to lose weight? hmmmm.....I always thought the other way around....this is interesting

Time of day including right before bed isn't all that important. What IS important is what you put in your body at a given time of day - that's what makes all the difference. Some lean protein right before bed is a great idea. 25g of carbs generally isn't. That kind of thing....

[prettypoodle]

Breakfast (when I have time to cook): 2 eggs plus an extra egg white with onions, peppers, low fat mozz on 2 pieces of multi grain bread and 2 cups of black coffee.
Breakfast (when I don't have time to cook): Some sort of granola bar or cereal with 3/4 cup 2% milk, 2 cups of black coffee.

Typically, I do not have a mid morning snack, but when I do, it's greek yogurt with some sort of fruit, or a spoonful of peanut butter with a bottle of water.

Lunch: Usually either a turkey sandwich or a green salad with balsamic vinegar and either chicken or tuna. Bottle of water or seltzer.

Afternoon snack: Again, usually don't eat one. But I do drink a lot of water throughout the day (because I'm usually hungry...)

By now its around 4:30/5 and this is when I head to the gym... so it's usually been about 3 hours since I last ate anything.

Dinner/After the gym: I'm ravenous and eat a huge meal, consisting of some sort of protein (usually chicken) and probably too many carbs (a lot of brown rice or a whole baked potato, a couple of pieces of bread, etc) plus a salad.

Dessert: Frozen yogurt or a couple pieces of fruit.

Now this is my idea of "clean eating" i.e. when I'm really making an effort to watch what I eat. I eat pizza and french fries and ice cream not every day, but definitely enough for me to mention it.

Now on to my training.

M-W-F: I do an hour of intense cardio, either cardio kickboxing or spinning late in the day. I don't do any strength training on these days because I think my legs get enough of a workout from these classes that I teach.

T-Th: These are my strength training days. I train my legs heavy, doing high reps of squats (@120 lbs), leg curls (@40-60 lbs), lunges (20 lb dumbells in my hands), leg press (@150lbs) and seated calf raises (@230-250 lbs), sometimes both days. I don't do ab exercises (I'm probably wrong, but I think it'd be foolish to work on defining muscles in an area that is covered in a layer of fat) and I've been working on building up my upper body strength which is seriously lacking. To put it in perspective, I can do like, 3 girly pushups... horrible, I know. I do the rowing maching for about 20 minutes, but sometimes I feel like that's more cardio than an upper body workout. After or before whatever strength training I do, I do 15 mins of light cardio (jogging or elliptical) to arm up or cool down.

[baseline_9]

There are problems with your diet and they need to be addressed

Just to let us know ur level of comitment can you express it in writing..

are u 100% in or 50% in?

You have quit before with a program when it got tough, will you crack under a 100% all in program?

Do you need a toned down 75% effort program?


Im not taking the piss, this is serious and very important IMO when taking on clients

[prettypoodle]

Hey, welcome to the board! So you're a female at 5'9, 230lbs - and your goal is to lose around 30lbs? As a point of reference, i'm a 5'11 male and weigh 190lbs. Not trying to make you feel bad or discourage you in any way, just trying to understand the goal, because it would seem that you need to lose quite a bit more then 30lbs based on those stats. Also, i'm willing to bet BF is higher then 30%.

No matter, the plan will be the same regardless of the goal being to lose 30lbs, 40lbs, 100lbs, etc. whatever.

We need to find your maintenance calories - i'm willing to bet they're somewhere around 2000 or so. Chances are you're eating much higher then this - if you could post up an example of a typical day's diet, it would be very helpful. Do you currently weight train? If not, let me know because we will need to get you on a plan.

Please answer the above and then we can get to work. In the meantime, me along with some of the others here have been helping another new female member - EnvusChick. Check out her thread in this section, you may benefit quite a bit from reading it.

It's certainly possible that the trainers at my gym were wrong, but when I used the hand help BF monitor about 6 weeks ago, my bf was at 30%. I was certainly surprised, as that does seem pretty low for my weight. Back when I was seeing the nutritionist, he said my maintenance calories were 2500 a day, and said to eat 2000 day in order to lose about 1.5 lbs a week. I did even lower than that (1700 a day), but found myself starving all the time, no matter how well I spaced out my meals/snacks and how much water I drank.

I set my goal at 30 lbs (with an ultimate goal of 55 lbs) just to make it seem more doable for me. I think it'd be more motivated if I set reasonable smaller goals rather than one, large goal. Also, I'm not looking to get too small as I think image wise, I look and feel the best around 170-180 lbs. If I go below that, I start to lose my lady lumps, which is not what I want. I have a large frame and prefer to have a bit of weight on me, just not this much haha.

I've posted my current diet and workout details below. I certainly appreciate you being frank with me and hope that you continue to do so.

[baseline_9]

I agree with GB that at ur weight and height i would guess that ur BF is higher

[baseline_9]

It's certainly possible that the trainers at my gym were wrong, but when I used the hand help BF monitor about 6 weeks ago, my bf was at 30%. I was certainly surprised, as that does seem pretty low for my weight. Back when I was seeing the nutritionist, he said my maintenance calories were 2500 a day, and said to eat 2000 day in order to lose about 1.5 lbs a week. I did even lower than that (1700 a day), but found myself starving all the time, no matter how well I spaced out my meals/snacks and how much water I drank.

I set my goal at 30 lbs (with an ultimate goal of 55 lbs) just to make it seem more doable for me. I think it'd be more motivated if I set reasonable smaller goals rather than one, large goal. Also, I'm not looking to get too small as I think image wise, I look and feel the best around 170-180 lbs. If I go below that, I start to lose my lady lumps, which is not what I want. I have a large frame and prefer to have a bit of weight on me, just not this much haha.

I've posted my current diet and workout details below. I certainly appreciate you being frank with me and hope that you continue to do so.

hand held BF monitors are useless

Skin fold is the best way

However i dont think we need to know that ATM

We need to get u at least eating healthy and regularly, same for ur cardio and weight training

[prettypoodle]

There are problems with your diet and they need to be addressed

Just to let us know ur level of comitment can you express it in writing..

are u 100% in or 50% in?

You have quit before with a program when it got tough, will you crack under a 100% all in program?

Do you need a toned down 75% effort program?


Im not taking the piss, this is serious and very important IMO when taking on clients

I am absolutely 100% in and am truly willing to make whatever changes I need to make. I am not a robot so I am sure that I may have moments of weakness where I foul up on my diet, but all I ask is that I am put back on the right track after a set back rather than being tossed aside as someone who isn't serious. This will be a serious and permanent lifestyle change for me. I remember how exciting it was to see changes happening to my body, and I want to feel that excitement and sense of accomplishment again. I know I can do it, I just need some guidance and a little bit of patience.

[baseline_9]

I am absolutely 100% in and am truly willing to make whatever changes I need to make. I am not a robot so I am sure that I may have moments of weakness where I foul up on my diet, but all I ask is that I am put back on the right track after a set back rather than being tossed aside as someone who isn't serious. This will be a serious and permanent lifestyle change for me. I remember how exciting it was to see changes happening to my body, and I want to feel that excitement and sense of accomplishment again. I know I can do it, I just need some guidance and a little bit of patience.

Well that is good to here, we can not punnish you and push you to hells door. LOL only kidding

But seriously its going to be tough getting where u wanna get, once ur there its easy, only if u do make those life style changes

GB is hot in this section and seems to have the time to help so if he wants to take this one, its his.


A few questions that need to be addressed tho...

Can you do some sort of Fasted Morning cardio on a regular basis ( Exercise bike in morning as soon as u wake up for 30 mins, 4-7 x per week)

Can you implement a diet plan where u eat 5-6 times per day at regualr intervals?


If so i would start by performing cardio 4-7 times per week, fasted in the morning

eating as follows

MORNING CARDIO HERE

07.00 - Lean Protein with some fats, no carbs (Eggs is a good choice)

10.00 - Lean protein with some carbs (Chicken and rice)

13.00 - Lean protein with some fats(Lean Beef and Broccoli and salad)


16.00 - Pre weight training? Lean protein with some carbs (Chicken and rice)

WEIGHT TRAIN HERE, next CARDIO TRAINING

19.00 - Maybe a post work out shake, whey protein in water

22.00 - Lean protien with some fats (Chicken and EVOO and broccoli etc...)


This is a really basic guide, literally thrown up in a min, but u get the idea of how it is layed out, it has a purpose, u eat this then for a reason etc...

It has structure, and that is what u need to get used to

[tbody66]

wow... okay, so many things that confuse and concern me about everything you are stating, however I am going to give you credit for posting a thread here for us to help you, and try to work with whatever you will allow us to work with. I can honestly say that it seems as if you are not fully commited to doing what is necessary to make what should be obviously needed differences in your physical condition. I understand you are only 22 years old, but you have already shown a consistent pattern of letting food rule your life. I'm going to agree with GB and base, obviously, and ask that you set your goal at losing 60lbs of fat before using the clen. This being said, your diet is terrible, but you are going to get great diet help from GB and base. Your workouts were not specific, other than the leg portion, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say you have been working on getting your upper body stronger. Not that it really matters, since that needs to be completely re-vamped as well. You will definitely decide you will cook your breakfast every morning, as your non-cooked breakfast is not an acceptable choice, and that you will pre-pare all of your meals and eat what and when you are told. Since you are doing cardio after 5 it is a good thing that it is after not having eaten for 3 hours, since that is how long it should be if you aren't doing them first thing in the am totally fasted. Your weight training should be a total body routine that will be identical every day you train until we get to a target weight that allows us to modify it to your goals at that time. We are here for you, but please give us your totally and complete best. We must have your total honesty, but it is very dis-heartening to work with someone who really doesn't care if they stick with a program or not. We will want you to succeed even more than you want to, and we have the knowledge and experience to help you get there as fast as anyone.

[gbrice75]

It's certainly possible that the trainers at my gym were wrong, but when I used the hand help BF monitor about 6 weeks ago, my bf was at 30%. I was certainly surprised, as that does seem pretty low for my weight. Back when I was seeing the nutritionist, he said my maintenance calories were 2500 a day, and said to eat 2000 day in order to lose about 1.5 lbs a week. I did even lower than that (1700 a day), but found myself starving all the time, no matter how well I spaced out my meals/snacks and how much water I drank.

I set my goal at 30 lbs (with an ultimate goal of 55 lbs) just to make it seem more doable for me. I think it'd be more motivated if I set reasonable smaller goals rather than one, large goal. Also, I'm not looking to get too small as I think image wise, I look and feel the best around 170-180 lbs. If I go below that, I start to lose my lady lumps, which is not what I want. I have a large frame and prefer to have a bit of weight on me, just not this much haha.

I've posted my current diet and workout details below. I certainly appreciate you being frank with me and hope that you continue to do so.

All understood. I'm all for short term goals - I just wanted to make sure 30lbs wasn't the big picture. I spin too and know first hand that it can be a leg workout as much as it is cardio - that would lead me to believe that you need to tone down your leg workout (strength training wise) because you are most likely overtraining your legs. Plus, that would free up more time for upper body work which you said yourself is lacking right now.

The row machine is meant more as cardio then strength training, which is fine because you do want plenty of cardio. I'd say a hour a day as many days as you can do it. Mix up lower intensity stead state cardio with HIIT. Get your upper body workouts in - use dumbells for everything, do some basic press movements for your chest and shoulders, some arm work is fine too although you don't want to beef up your arms i'm sure... also definitely get some pull exercises in for your back. We can work on a specific plan if you want.

I think you can and should work your abs, even if just once a week. Yea, sure they're covered by a layer of fat NOW - but when that comes off, wouldn't it be nice to already have somewhat developed abs? It's a big rookie mistake, and then when people lose the fat they don't understand why their stomach still looks kind of soft - that's just undeveloped abs.

Diet comments below

Breakfast (when I have time to cook): 2 eggs plus an extra egg white with onions, peppers, low fat mozz on 2 pieces of multi grain bread and 2 cups of black coffee.
Breakfast (when I don't have time to cook): Some sort of granola bar or cereal with 3/4 cup 2% milk, 2 cups of black coffee.

Let's make it ONE whole egg, and 3-4 whites. can you handle eggs enough to stick with this? Drop the low fat cheese, and i'd say drop the bread too - do the egg as an omelette. Instead of the bread, have 1/2 cup whole oats - sweeten with splenda and cinnamon. If you don't have time to cook, then the next best/quickest thing is a protein shake - and you can still do the oats, because quick-oats are done in a minute and a half in the microwave. Granola and/or cereal + milk isn't a good balanced breakfast - almost no protein at all, and highly processed carbs

Typically, I do not have a mid morning snack, but when I do, it's greek yogurt with some sort of fruit, or a spoonful of peanut butter with a bottle of water.

You need to - start eating every 2.5 - 3 hours. Greek yogurt is fine - make sure it's plain fat free. Again, you can sweeten with splenda - i do and it's pretty decent. instead of fruit, add berries. If you want, you can add some granola here but make sure it's really high quality organic or something like that... i.e. not quaker brand. A spoonful of peanut butter isn't equivalent to a meal, so drop it. Keep the water, the more the better

Lunch: Usually either a turkey sandwich or a green salad with balsamic vinegar and either chicken or tuna. Bottle of water or seltzer.

I'd rather see you stick with the green salad and chicken or tuna (no mayo, right?). keep away from the bread. Here you can add a bit of olive oil for some healthy fat, maybe 1-2 tsp

Afternoon snack: Again, usually don't eat one. But I do drink a lot of water throughout the day (because I'm usually hungry...)

Great about the water, but you NEED to eat. Especially on your weight training days, get a pre-workout meal in. Lean protein and 20g or so of complex carb. You can't expect to have an intense training session if you're running on fumes. Plus, you said you're starving in a caloric deficit - but this is the 2nd time you've stated that you may not eat at this time of day - of course you're starving!

By now its around 4:30/5 and this is when I head to the gym... so it's usually been about 3 hours since I last ate anything.

not anymore

Dinner/After the gym: I'm ravenous and eat a huge meal, consisting of some sort of protein (usually chicken) and probably too many carbs (a lot of brown rice or a whole baked potato, a couple of pieces of bread, etc) plus a salad.

It's not a bad time for carbs, in fact it's a good time - but make good choices. Replace the baked potato with sweet potato, forget brown rice - do something like lentils or beans instead. Quinoa is another great option. Also get your fiberous green veggies in

Dessert: Frozen yogurt or a couple pieces of fruit.

No more dessert, for now. Have a serving of nuts if you're really hungry - it's getting late in the evening and the chances of carbs being stored as bodyfat are increased

Also - get a meal in right before bed. Do you like cottage cheese? It's a great choice (casein protein, slow digesting), lean red meat is the best choice but most can't stomach that before hitting the pillow. Hopefully you like cottage cheese, go with full fat for this meal

Now this is my idea of "clean eating" i.e. when I'm really making an effort to watch what I eat. I eat pizza and french fries and ice cream not every day, but definitely enough for me to mention it.

Honestly, this is your problem more then anything else. Ok, not every day - but how often would you say? Please be honest

Now on to my training.

M-W-F: I do an hour of intense cardio, either cardio kickboxing or spinning late in the day. I don't do any strength training on these days because I think my legs get enough of a workout from these classes that I teach.

Agreed - which is why i'd like to see you tone down your leg workouts and work more on your upper body

T-Th: These are my strength training days. I train my legs heavy, doing high reps of squats (@120 lbs), leg curls (@40-60 lbs), lunges (20 lb dumbells in my hands), leg press (@150lbs) and seated calf raises (@230-250 lbs), sometimes both days. I don't do ab exercises (I'm probably wrong, but I think it'd be foolish to work on defining muscles in an area that is covered in a layer of fat) and I've been working on building up my upper body strength which is seriously lacking. To put it in perspective, I can do like, 3 girly pushups... horrible, I know. I do the rowing maching for about 20 minutes, but sometimes I feel like that's more cardio than an upper body workout. After or before whatever strength training I do, I do 15 mins of light cardio (jogging or elliptical) to arm up or cool down.

Comments above in bold

[prettypoodle]

wow... okay, so many things that confuse and concern me about everything you are stating, however I am going to give you credit for posting a thread here for us to help you, and try to work with whatever you will allow us to work with. I can honestly say that it seems as if you are not fully commited to doing what is necessary to make what should be obviously needed differences in your physical condition. I understand you are only 22 years old, but you have already shown a consistent pattern of letting food rule your life. I'm going to agree with GB and base, obviously, and ask that you set your goal at losing 60lbs of fat before using the clen. This being said, your diet is terrible, but you are going to get great diet help from GB and base. Your workouts were not specific, other than the leg portion, so I'm not sure what you mean when you say you have been working on getting your upper body stronger. Not that it really matters, since that needs to be completely re-vamped as well. You will definitely decide you will cook your breakfast every morning, as your non-cooked breakfast is not an acceptable choice, and that you will pre-pare all of your meals and eat what and when you are told. Since you are doing cardio after 5 it is a good thing that it is after not having eaten for 3 hours, since that is how long it should be if you aren't doing them first thing in the am totally fasted. Your weight training should be a total body routine that will be identical every day you train until we get to a target weight that allows us to modify it to your goals at that time. We are here for you, but please give us your totally and complete best. We must have your total honesty, but it is very dis-heartening to work with someone who really doesn't care if they stick with a program or not. We will want you to succeed even more than you want to, and we have the knowledge and experience to help you get there as fast as anyone.

I don't think I let food rule my life... I don't over eat or anything... it's that I don't eat enough and when I do eat, it's usually not the right things. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have much knowledge about nutrition and what I should be eating to fuel my body and how to work out... no clue, and that's why I came here to get help from people who know what they're talking about. I'm definitely serious and fully committed to making changes and wouldn't waste my time (not to mention everyone elses) if I wasn't; you guys tell me what to do and I'll do it. You say I should wait to use clen until I've lost 60 lbs of fat... but after 60lbs of fat loss, I'd already be at my ideal weight. Do you think it'd be best to just lose all of the fat naturally, or lose say 40lbs of fat before using clen for the last 20? Like I said earlier, my ideal weight range is 170-180, just with a healthy BF (22-24%)

Baseline- I can start running early in the morning before classes but on certain days, I don't know if I'll realistically be able to eat so frequently simply because I have no where to store it. If I replace 2 of my day time meals with some sort of protein shake, would that be ok? If not, I'll find a way to get all of my daytime meals in.

Gbrice- So much great information, thank you so much, wow. That many eggs won't be a problem and I've never had cottage cheese to say if I like it or not, but I've heard it's gross so I'll stick with the lean red meat which I don't eat enough of anyway. And honestly, I eat crappy food like, all day at least once a week but no more than twice. It's usually on the weekends when I sleep in later, go out at night and find myself eating and sleeping really poorly. This also got me to thinking that I should cut down on the alcohol... I drink once a week, but I know that it adds up.

As for my upper body/core workouts, if you'd be willing to help me with a plan, that would be great. I always think that in order to see results, I need to go for the higher weights as opposed to 5lb dumbells, but I'm probably wrong about that. As for toning down the leg workouts, will I lose any of the muscle and tone I've developed if I stop working them so hard? My legs are really strong, really tight and I'd hate for the one really developed part of my body start to disappear.

[tbody66]

I don't think I let food rule my life... I don't over eat or anything... it's that I don't eat enough and when I do eat, it's usually not the right things. I'll be the first to admit that I don't have much knowledge about nutrition and what I should be eating to fuel my body and how to work out... no clue, and that's why I came here to get help from people who know what they're talking about. I'm definitely serious and fully committed to making changes and wouldn't waste my time (not to mention everyone elses) if I wasn't; you guys tell me what to do and I'll do it. You say I should wait to use clen until I've lost 60 lbs of fat... but after 60lbs of fat loss, I'd already be at my ideal weight. Do you think it'd be best to just lose all of the fat naturally, or lose say 40lbs of fat before using clen for the last 20? Like I said earlier, my ideal weight range is 170-180, just with a healthy BF (22-24%)

Baseline- I can start running early in the morning before classes but on certain days, I don't know if I'll realistically be able to eat so frequently simply because I have no where to store it. If I replace 2 of my day time meals with some sort of protein shake, would that be ok? If not, I'll find a way to get all of my daytime meals in.

Gbrice- So much great information, thank you so much, wow. That many eggs won't be a problem and I've never had cottage cheese to say if I like it or not, but I've heard it's gross so I'll stick with the lean red meat which I don't eat enough of anyway. And honestly, I eat crappy food like, all day at least once a week but no more than twice. It's usually on the weekends when I sleep in later, go out at night and find myself eating and sleeping really poorly. This also got me to thinking that I should cut down on the alcohol... I drink once a week, but I know that it adds up.

As for my upper body/core workouts, if you'd be willing to help me with a plan, that would be great. I always think that in order to see results, I need to go for the higher weights as opposed to 5lb dumbells, but I'm probably wrong about that. As for toning down the leg workouts, will I lose any of the muscle and tone I've developed if I stop working them so hard? My legs are really strong, really tight and I'd hate for the one really developed part of my body start to disappear.

I say lose 60lbs of fat, based upon the belief that you are currently higher than 30%, and that at your age and height 170lbs still seems to be overweight, now if we are wrong about our assessment then we can adjust our thinking, I do not know where 22-24% bf is the ideal for "healthy", I've always been of the opinion that 18% was that for females, also a flaw with "my ideal weight" so much if this could be body type specific, which none of us would know without pictures. The workouts are not going to need to be "toned down" too much, and your focus will be on losing fat, the proper and healthy way. If you eat the way you are supposed to eat then you will maintain your muscle mass during this cutting phase. I also do not know if you are performing your exercises properly, I can show 230lb, grown, muscular men how to "PROPERLY" perform lunges without weight and they cry after the first set. If you are performing lunges with 20 lb dumbbells in each hand I have to, by nature, question how properly they are being performed. Nothing involving eating and training smart will cause you to lose good gains. It is nearly impossible to attempt to achieve multiple goals at the same time, we all agree that the best approach for you to take is to get your diet inline, immediately, lose bodyfat while keeping your muscle and then adjusting your exercise program to develope the specific aesthetically appealing body you are looking for.

Your workout should be a total body routine working from largest to smallest muscle group
Warm up - Jump rope for 2 minutes straight
Your rep range is to be muscle group specific, it also is a "range" which means you go to failure on every set, if you can't perform the exercise properly to the bottom number, the weight is too heavy, go lighter, and if you can perform the exercise properly for more than the higher number, the weight is too light, add weight.

Squats 3 sets 15-20 reps perform these all by themselves, little rest between sets (90 secs)
Stiff legged deadlifts 15-20 reps supersetted with standing calf raises 3x21 (7/7/7-toes in/heels out-toes out/heels in-toes and heels lined up) the seated calf raise removes the gastrocnemius muscle from the exercise, if you are only going to perform one type of calf exercise they need to be with the knee not bent, you can also do toe presses on a hip sled machine, or smith machine or some such, just keep the legs straight
Pulldowns 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with flat barbell Bench Press 3 sets 12-15 reps
bent rows 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with Incline Bench Press 3 sets 12-15 reps
Military Press 3 sets 12-15 reps Supersetted with Crunches 3 sets to failure
Upright rows 3 sets 20-25 reps supersetted with hanging leg lifts 3 sets to failure
Barbell Curls 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with skull crushers 3 sets 12-15 reps
If you want a cool down here that is fine, 15-20 minutes of cardio is acceptable.

GB suggested keeping your exercises limited to dumbbells, I will suggest otherwise until I know that your body is strong enough to handle the dumbbells in perfectly proper form. I recommend you perform this specific schedule, charting the weights you use for each exercise, for the next 7 weeks, then we will re-evaluate. If you do this strictly and stick with the diet suggested you will be incredibly pleased with what you see in the next two months. We will have a much better idea of how to recommend, or not recommend, your use of clen at that time. Show us you can stick with something, that is going to be difficult, for those two months!

[prettypoodle]

Squats 3 sets 15-20 reps perform these all by themselves, little rest between sets (90 secs)
Stiff legged deadlifts 15-20 reps supersetted with standing calf raises 3x21 (7/7/7-toes in/heels out-toes out/heels in-toes and heels lined up) the seated calf raise removes the gastrocnemius muscle from the exercise, if you are only going to perform one type of calf exercise they need to be with the knee not bent, you can also do toe presses on a hip sled machine, or smith machine or some such, just keep the legs straight
Pulldowns 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with flat barbell Bench Press 3 sets 12-15 reps
bent rows 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with Incline Bench Press 3 sets 12-15 reps
Military Press 3 sets 12-15 reps Supersetted with Crunches 3 sets to failure
Upright rows 3 sets 20-25 reps supersetted with hanging leg lifts 3 sets to failure
Barbell Curls 3 sets 12-15 reps supersetted with skull crushers 3 sets 12-15 reps
If you want a cool down here that is fine, 15-20 minutes of cardio is acceptable.

GB suggested keeping your exercises limited to dumbbells, I will suggest otherwise until I know that your body is strong enough to handle the dumbbells in perfectly proper form. I recommend you perform this specific schedule, charting the weights you use for each exercise, for the next 7 weeks, then we will re-evaluate. If you do this strictly and stick with the diet suggested you will be incredibly pleased with what you see in the next two months. We will have a much better idea of how to recommend, or not recommend, your use of clen at that time. Show us you can stick with something, that is going to be difficult, for those two months!

Just to be sure, I do these everyday? And on the days that I teach my classes, should I do this workout before or after? Also, how much weight do you recommend I start with when I do these? 20, 30 lbs (or is that something I'll need to personally figure out)?

Within the next day or two, I'd like to post a sample menu for a week just to see if I have the right idea about what I should be eating and how much. Thank you all so much for your help so far... I'm excited to get started.

[gbrice75]

Seems to be too many people advising you - I don't want you to get overwhelmed or confused with all of this (sometimes conflicting) info, so I will bow out with everything but your diet which i'll continue to help you with if you want it.

Let's see that sample menu when you have it ready, and we'll sort it out from there. Please include time of day for each meal, time of day where your workout fits into the schedule, and all macro nutrient information for each meal - listed as protein/carbs/fat/total calories. It's a pain but necessary if we're to have any idea of how much you're actually eating. Guessing doesn't work in this game, ballparking is risky at best. We need to be as accurate as possible.

Looking forward to helping change your body!

[tbody66]

Just to be sure, I do these everyday? And on the days that I teach my classes, should I do this workout before or after? Also, how much weight do you recommend I start with when I do these? 20, 30 lbs (or is that something I'll need to personally figure out)?

Within the next day or two, I'd like to post a sample menu for a week just to see if I have the right idea about what I should be eating and how much. Thank you all so much for your help so far... I'm excited to get started.

No, you will only strength train every other day, or more specifically three days a week, off days from teaching if possible, m-w-f, or t-th-sat, either is fine. Again find a weight you fail at between the target rep range.

Post up that menu for the diet boys to fix.

[BG]

You need to dedicate yourself to your diet PERIOD. Once that is done, your cardio and training will do the rest. But you need to commit 100% to your diet, you must pre-make food for times when you cant eat or find a real good meal replacement shake. You need to be eating more times a day in smaller quanities. You need to stop being lazy and put some effort into what you eat or you will always be fat no matter what you take. Just fyi, many that use clen to lose weight that dont have a proper diet going for months before put on more weight after they stop then when they started.

[scotty51312]

Poodle good to see you moved over here to the diet section from AAS Q&A. You're in the right place. GB's already got you sorted for your diet. As far as training goes I see lots of suggestions here. Advice here is normally good and most people make valid points about training but sometimes when you get to many opinions it starts confusion so take the advice you get here combine what you can and make your own routine. Take a look at GBrices cutting log he gets about 20 new opinions a day. I'm looking forward to following your progress.

[SlimmerMe]

PrettyPoodle...Lots of luck!.. and I hope you reach your goals!!!

[prettypoodle]

Days 1, 3, 5 and 7

Breakfast:
1 egg
1/2 cup egg whites
1 oz green pepper
1 oz red onion
bananna
2 cups black coffee
(260 cal, 32.7g carbs, 20.6g protein, 5.7g fat)

Morning snack:
2/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup strawberries
(155 cal, 11g carbs, 11g protein, 8g fat)

Lunch:
1 cup mixed greens
3 oz chicken breast
balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
(250 cal, 8g carbs, 27g protein, 13g fat)

Afternoon snack:
apple
(126 cal, 33g carbs, 1G protein, 0 fat)

Pre-gym:
I want to do a protein shake here, but don't know which kind to get, so I left nutritional details out

Dinner:
3oz 95/5 ground beef patty, no bun
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
1 baked sweet potato
(356 cal, 16g fat, 28g protein, 25g carbs)

Grand total: 1147 cal, 42.7 fat, 109.7 carbs, 87.6 pro

Days 2, 4 and 6

Breakfast:
1cup egg whites
1 oz green pepper
1 oz red onion
low fat fruit yogurt
2 cups black coffee
(375 cal, 48.4g carbs, 37g protein, 3g fat)

Morning snack:
1 cup instant oats w/ stevia and vanilla extract
(159 cal, 3g fat, 29g carbs, 6g protein)

Lunch:
1 can tuna
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
(307 cal, 15g fat, 1g carbs, 42g protein)

Afternoon snack:
handful of almonds or other nut (approx 1 oz)
(162 cal, 14g fat, 6g carbs, 6g protein)

Pre workout:
1/2 cup steamed edamame with sea salt
(94 cal, 4g fat, 8g carbs, 8.5g protein)

Dinner:
3 oz chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
1tsp soy sauce
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 3 tsp olive oil
(422 cal, 19g fat, 24g carbs, 30.5g protein)

Grand total: 1425 cal, 108.4 carbs, 121.5 pro, 54 fat

I'm sure it needs some modification, so please suggest away, I just wanted to see if I was on the right track ( I'll be doing an hour of cardio on an empty stomach 1st thing in the am and have a feeling my breakfasts could be better).

I've read a lot about flax seed, whey and casein, but I'm not sure what the right way to incorporate them into my meals would be. I was wondering if nut butters, (almond and peanut butter) along with fruit would be good options to substitute in as snacks. I also know I need to add in a small portion of red meat right before I go to bed, but wanted to know if there were any other substitutions for that (aside from cottage cheese).

[scotty51312]

Days 1, 3, 5 and 7
Ok I'm sure gbrice will wanna take a look at this and when he gets online he'll chime in with anything i dont get to
Breakfast:
1 egg
1/2 cup egg whites
1 oz green pepper
1 oz red onion
bananna
I wouldn't use fruit here as a morning carb when you're trying to loose wieght. 1/2 cup of oats would be good. If you cant stand the taste then put a tsp of no sugar added preserves in them
2 cups black coffee
Coffee is a great way to start the day but your body becomes accustomed to it after a while its a good idea to take time away from caffiene once in a while
(260 cal, 32.7g carbs, 20.6g protein, 5.7g fat)

Morning snack:
2/3 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup strawberries
(155 cal, 11g carbs, 11g protein, 8g fat)
this one is ok i don't mind the barries as much here
Lunch:
1 cup mixed greens
3 oz chicken breast
balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
(250 cal, 8g carbs, 27g protein, 13g fat)
a small amount of complex carbs might be good here
Afternoon snack:
apple
Apples are pretty much nothing but fructose and water with some fiber. Pretty much void of other nutrition. Some tuna with leafy greens and a little vinagar and just a touch of olive oil would be good here
(126 cal, 33g carbs, 1G protein, 0 fat)


Pre-gym:
I want to do a protein shake here, but don't know which kind to get, so I left nutritional details out
I'd save the shake for post workout its when your body absorbs the most nutrients. Before the workout eat something small around 15gs of protien and 20g's of complex carbs. Your post workout meal would be an excellent place for a shake before dinner. Try to balance your shake with some carbs by adding some ground up oats

Dinner:
3oz 95/5 ground beef patty, no bun
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
1 baked sweet potato
(356 cal, 16g fat, 28g protein, 25g carbs)
This is an excellent meal after a work out to replenish glycogen stores

Grand total: 1147 cal, 42.7 fat, 109.7 carbs, 87.6 pro

Days 2, 4 and 6

Breakfast:
1cup egg whites
1 oz green pepper
1 oz red onion
low fat fruit yogurt
Not a fan of the yogurt. Complex carbs whenever possible
2 cups black coffee
(375 cal, 48.4g carbs, 37g protein, 3g fat)

Morning snack:
1 cup instant oats w/ stevia and vanilla extract
(159 cal, 3g fat, 29g carbs, 6g protein)
not bad but lacking protien. 1/2 scoup of whey protien added to the oats will bring that right up. Vanilla protien goes good in oats
Lunch:
1 can tuna
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 2 tsp olive oil
(307 cal, 15g fat, 1g carbs, 42g protein)
Good meal
Afternoon snack:
handful of almonds or other nut (approx 1 oz)
(162 cal, 14g fat, 6g carbs, 6g protein)
Decent snack as well

Pre workout:
1/2 cup steamed edamame with sea salt
(94 cal, 4g fat, 8g carbs, 8.5g protein)
id try to up the portion to 3/4 cup
Dinner:
3 oz chicken breast
1/2 cup brown rice
1tsp soy sauce
1 cup spinach salad
with balsamic vinegar and 3 tsp olive oil
(422 cal, 19g fat, 24g carbs, 30.5g protein)
looks good once again
Grand total: 1425 cal, 108.4 carbs, 121.5 pro, 54 fat
the macros seem pretty good for now once you add a protien source before bed they will vary a little bit.

I'm sure it needs some modification, so please suggest away, I just wanted to see if I was on the right track ( I'll be doing an hour of cardio on an empty stomach 1st thing in the am and have a feeling my breakfasts could be better).

I've read a lot about flax seed, whey and casein, but I'm not sure what the right way to incorporate them into my meals would be. I was wondering if nut butters, (almond and peanut butter) along with fruit would be good options to substitute in as snacks. I also know I need to add in a small portion of red meat right before I go to bed, but wanted to know if there were any other substitutions for that (aside from cottage cheese).

you can also do cassien protien shakes before bed. But you're heading in the right direction. Gbrice feel free to step in and make any comments i've left out or anything you don't agree with.

[bigslick7878]

Boy we got a challenge on our hands here folks after reading the first 10 posts or so.

[gbrice75]

Way to many people advising the poor girl - can only lead to confusion. I'm not going to go over or undermine anything Scotty's already said, so i'm going to step out of this thread. I'll monitor it of course, and if anything glaring comes up, i'll chime in.

Prettypoodle - once you get your post count up (can't remember if it's 50 or 100), feel free to PM me if you feel I can help you in any way.

[SlimmerMe]

^^^ only 25 post needed

[LBSOMEIRON]

Boy we got a challenge on our hands here folks after reading the first 10 posts or so.

The ONLY challenge is the challenge of getting some people to sit tight and refrain from posting.

The girl's head HAS to be spinning....

If it's not, mine is for her.....

Geezus.....A girl hits the diet section and it's a free for all.

[gbrice75]

Geezus.....A girl hits the diet section and it's a free for all.

LMAO and you KNOW that's what it is!

[prettypoodle]

Way to many people advising the poor girl - can only lead to confusion. I'm not going to go over or undermine anything Scotty's already said, so i'm going to step out of this thread. I'll monitor it of course, and if anything glaring comes up, i'll chime in.

Prettypoodle - once you get your post count up (can't remember if it's 50 or 100), feel free to PM me if you feel I can help you in any way.

You've been a great deal of help so far and I'd love it if you would reconsider and keep helping me. I understand that there's been a lot of information thrown at me and you don't want me to get overwhelmed (which I kind of am), but it's all been excellent advice so I don't mind taking the time to sort through it all so that I understand.

I'm going to go grocery shopping today so if you could just let me know if I should avoid nut butters and fruits for my snacks and also, are all protein shakes the same? If not, do you have one you recommend? I'll be eating my diet with Scotty's revisions and in addition to cardio in the am and my classes, I'll be doing the workout that tbody suggested for me 4 times a week on the days I don't teach my classes. I'll check in every 10 days or so with any progress or questions that I have.

Thank you all so, so much.

[gbrice75]

You've been a great deal of help so far and I'd love it if you would reconsider and keep helping me. I understand that there's been a lot of information thrown at me and you don't want me to get overwhelmed (which I kind of am), but it's all been excellent advice so I don't mind taking the time to sort through it all so that I understand.

I'm going to go grocery shopping today so if you could just let me know if I should avoid nut butters and fruits for my snacks and also, are all protein shakes the same? If not, do you have one you recommend? I'll be eating my diet with Scotty's revisions and in addition to cardio in the am and my classes, I'll be doing the workout that tbody suggested for me 4 times a week on the days I don't teach my classes. I'll check in every 10 days or so with any progress or questions that I have.

Thank you all so, so much.

Always happy to help, didn't mean to sound like I was 'abandoning' you, but like you said - I didn't want to wind up doing you more harm then good.

Follow these guidelines, and you should be ok:

Try to eat a meal (forget the word snack from now on) every 2.5 - 3 hours

Be sure to have a lean protein source in every meal (I will list some good choices)

Have either a healthy fat source or complex carb in each meal, but try to avoid both in the same meal as much as possible

This is just me, but I generally like to keep my pro/carb meals in the 1st half of my day (and around workouts), and my pro/fat meals later in the day when energy requirements are usually lower

One part of Scotty's advice that I will disagree with is meal 1 - I would most definitely have carbs in this meal instead of fats. After a fast, your body will put the carbs to good use - if there were 3 meals/day that I would have carbs in, it would be meal 1, and my pre and pwo meal.

Also, when I get home from work I will post up something that I often post for newbs. Not saying you're a newb, but just about anybody can benefit from this. In the meantime, here are some good food choices for your shopping list:

Proteins - chicken breast, turkey breast, lean steak (sirloin, top round, flank), lean ground beef (93/7 or better), bison meat, just about any white fish, shrimp, scallops, crab, lobster, eggs, greek yogurt (we'll talk about other fish like salmon later), cottage cheese

Complex carbs - starchy - Sweet potato, yam, lentils, beans (not baked beans in the sugary tomato sauce), quinoa, ezekeil bread, flourless organic pasta, oats

Complex carbs - fiberous - broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, kale, green lettuces, spinach, brussell sprouts, green beans - pretty much any leafy green veggie

Healthy Fats - any nut butter, but make sure it's natural (no added sugar, etc), nuts, avacado, eggs, salmon and other oily fish (these are perfect protein/fat meals all in one), etc

Instead of fruits, stick with berries - they are lower GI then just about any fruit. I love them with my oats.

I'll post up the thorough list later tonight (saved on my home PC)

[Damienm05]

What a cluster fvck! Just listen to Gbrice for now (no disrespect to anyone else). Feel free to PM him (sorry to volunteer you so readily GB but it's for the best) if you have a specific question - I would also be happy to answer any such questions via inbox.

[LBSOMEIRON]

LMAO and you KNOW that's what it is!

Hey PP - I'll offer my assistance when you are ready for to tackle your posing routine.

I'll let GB handle the diet side of things.

[tbody66]

You've been a great deal of help so far and I'd love it if you would reconsider and keep helping me. I understand that there's been a lot of information thrown at me and you don't want me to get overwhelmed (which I kind of am), but it's all been excellent advice so I don't mind taking the time to sort through it all so that I understand.

I'm going to go grocery shopping today so if you could just let me know if I should avoid nut butters and fruits for my snacks and also, are all protein shakes the same? If not, do you have one you recommend? I'll be eating my diet with Scotty's revisions and in addition to cardio in the am and my classes, I'll be doing the workout that tbody suggested for me 4 times a week on the days I don't teach my classes. I'll check in every 10 days or so with any progress or questions that I have.

Thank you all so, so much.

Clarification, you should only be strength training three days a week, not four, with at least one full day of not lifting between, so: lift-don't lift-lift-don't lift-lift-don't lift-don't lift, repeat!

[gbrice75]

What a cluster fvck! Just listen to Gbrice for now (no disrespect to anyone else). Feel free to PM him (sorry to volunteer you so readily GB but it's for the best) if you have a specific question - I would also be happy to answer any such questions via inbox.

Np bro, i'm here to help wherever I can.

Hey PP - I'll offer my assistance when you are ready for to tackle your posing routine.

I'll let GB handle the diet side of things.

LoL you saw my thread LB, you think i'm ready? =P

[tbody66]

Where'd you go, did we scare you off?

I'm sure you are just applying the new diet and training tips and will be posting some positive results very soon.

[gbrice75]

Where'd you go, did we scare you off?

I'm sure you are just applying the new diet and training tips and will be posting some positive results very soon.

^^^ this

[Times Roman]

5' 9" 230lb female kick box instructor?

is this true?

I think I'm in love! =)