Critique my eats and workouts?

[Emz87]

Hi ladies,

Just looking for some constructive criticism on my workouts as we come into summer - would appreciate any tips/feedback you might have. My aim is lose fat - have recently started a new training program where I've given up my beloved body pump in favour of heavier lifting, and adjusted my diet a little from what I've done previously.

Im seeing fairly good results so far, scale has stayed the same but clothes fit better. Last time I was measured I was at 21% bf, have dropped from 26% earlier in year. I look fairly lean as it is even at that bf, but would like to lose a bit of lady fat from the triceps and thighs!

Workouts: 2 heavy weights session per week, one upper one lower. 4 cardio sessions. Previously was doing 3 weight 3 cardio but found i bulked up too much (particularly in shoulders and traps) rather than leaning out, so trying out more of a cardio focus now.

Cardio is mostly running as its easiest for me to fit into my schedule, previously doing a lot of distance running this year but in recent months doing more intervals work - typical run would be 15-20mins jog/run to steep road or stairs, 15mins intervals up and down the stairs or hill, then 20min run/jog home. Sometimes will do an rpm or make up a cardio circuit (ie mixture of burpees, box jumps and treadmill sprints)

I suspect the advice will be to add in some fat burning low intensity cardio after weights but I just don't have time. (Im not making excuses -truly do work 12-16 hour days at the office). Id have to swap out a high intensity cardio session and do morning or evening easy cardio. But I feel nervous giving up high intensity exercise for a brisk walk or whatever! But if I run, I can't keep my heart rate low enough. Also, is low intensity cardio in the evening any good if I'm all fuelled up with food from the day? If I workout in the evening I usually have a snack at 330pm and workout around 630pm. Mornings I workout 6-7am

My nutritions pretty good although i have ongoing battles with sugar cravings. Im trying a more paleo style of eating to see if that helps.

Would love to hear any of your thoughts! Thanks

[Pseudonym]

Personally, I'd be more inclined to tackle the problem through your diet, rather than adding more cardio to the mix.

What's an average day's diet for you at the moment?

[Emz87]

A usual day is:

730am 2 eggs, bit of vege (baby spinach, tomato) tin of tuna lite (note this is a recent change, previously had been doing 2 eggs w 1pc toast or oats w whey protein and berries). If I've done weights in the am I'll have a bit of whey in water before I go, and add a carb eg leftover kumara or a banana

1030 black coffee, apple, 10almonds

1ish 100g kumara, 100g chicken, mixed salad (spinach, red cabbage, capsicum, carrot)

3pmish protein bar (dr. Carbrite at 190cals or from nzlowcarb at around 130 carbs.) small pc fruit ie nectarine

Anywhere from 7-9pm dinner is protein (usually, chicken, sometimes fish, lean mince prob once a week) a carb (usually kumara, sometimes brown rice, sometimes quinoa or a wrap) and some sort of salad or veg. If I'm working late its either pita pit or wok n noodle, wok n noodles good as you can request brown rice or no rice, extra veges which I often do

I'm only 152cm and around 52kg so bear that in mind if you're thinking that doesn't sound like much. Its around 1300-1400 cals give or take. And in full disclosure that's a good day of eating for me- will often have an extra bit of fruit/larger portion at dinner than i probably should etc. have a bad sweet tooth so sometimes resort to jarrah hot choc. And probably twice a week ill cabe and have a bit of junk - chocolate when working late or chips at a weekend BBQ for example

Thanks for your interest, any feedback appreciated. I think you're right - diet is the key thing here. Hard to keep it up coming into Xmas party season!

[teamfatboy]

Pseud is right, as usual - as the saying goes, abs are made in the kitchen.

My 2c worth - that diet's pretty good, nice and clean.

I used my favorite tool to check, and it would recommend around 2000 calories for maintenance. So, you're potentially running a 600-700 calorie deficit.

Has your weight loss actually plateaued ? or are you still losing weight. If you're not, it'd suggest your body has adapted, and is striving to store bodyfat from within that - possibly at the expense of lean muscle mass.

Knowing that the only way to hit the trouble spots is to lose overall weight, the suggestions I'd offer are:

a. consider carb cycling - developing a meal plan within the same overall calorie count which has more carbs on weights days, less on cardio days. You'll likely perform better on weights, which will assist with lean muscle development, but not suffer too much on cardio days;

b. shake-up the weights routine - for two reasons: firstly, adaptation - the body knows and can handle the same old same old.. and secondly, to work things in a different order. You're currently doing one upper-one lower - consider swapping to eg chest-biceps-quads and back or shoulders-triceps-hamstrings.. for instance. If you've enough 'gas in the tank', you'll likely find that the bigger muscles, like hams and quads, will respond to being worked on different days.

Keep the reps in the 12-15 per set, or higher... the general rule of thumb tends to be 3-5 reps is strength development, 8-10's growth, 12-15 and up's conditioning.

You've clearly already mastered many of the important lessons (numbers on tape measure, not on the scales, post-workout meal, clean eating, regular combination of weights and cardio, HIIT beats low-intensity, etc) so well done, and good luck.

[Emz87]

Thanks, good advice. Might give carb cycling a go, think that help with staying consistent with th diet if I know I can have a bit more carb some days