VC in 2011

[Chillicat]

Though 40 metres would be more than enough IMO

[VampireChick]

Ha it does look a bit that way actually!

Yes I'll be back into it soon - at least nothing is broken and all the extra cardio is probably doing me good anyway with the fat loss etc

Cheers guys

[VampireChick]

So I thought I'd attach a pic of my fancy new short-cast. I'm allowed to take it off for showers but that's about it................FOR THREE MONTHS!!!

So currently going through a bit of a 'what now??' phase. I can still keep up with cardio and training on abs and legs. But have had to give up boxing and now wondering what else I can take up to keep me sane. My partner suggested I train for a half marathon perhaps?

So basically my training consists of two leg sessions per week plus 4/5 cardio sessions + abs. I'm able to do some exercises with shoulders (delt machine etc) but nothing major.

[VampireChick]

Just realised that I seem to start every sentence with 'so'.

[Chillicat]

Oh no that totally sucks

[teamfatboy]

3 months? Bummer

Still, there's options... there's the Scorching Triathlons if a half-marathon doesn't appeal. If it does - pick one from Cool Running.

The three months will pass soon enough - just in time to start a conditioning programme for the 2010 bb comp season

[VampireChick]

Cheers TFB Will check that out. And you're right - I think I'll just work on getting my fitness up, body fat down and get back to building in 3 months time.

[becbec]

:poked:

[VampireChick]

:poked:

Sorry BecBec, have been a tad lazy on the old journal! Since I've been doing bugger all weights I thought my journal might be a bit boring. But I'll give an update anyway

Have still been working out and toying with different cardio options. It's looking a bit like this each week.

M: Legs and abs

T: 45m jog level 10

W: 20m xtrainer, 20m jog level 10

T: Legs and abs

F: 45m jog with varying levels

S: 10m skipping, 30m jog

S: Interval hill jogging - 40m

So today I'm going to job down Brooklyn hill and do interval run/sprints on the way back up. I'm a tad nervous!

Eating has been pretty standard - a typical day is

M1: Oats + yoghurt

M2: Fruit

M3: 3C Veg + tuna

M4: Nuts

M5: 200g Chicken + 2C veg

M6: Protein shake

To be completely honest I seem to be struggling with any weight loss/fat loss when this is probably the strictest I've been. I don't understand why so would appreciate any advice (esp from Chillicat considering her success). Saturdays have been a bit of a cheat afternoon which I might need to cut (Lunch = sushi, dinner = homemade pizza) but I thought I was doing enough cardio to compensate. Obviously not. I'm thinking I might be snacking here and there without noticing?

[rose]

Hey VC, re fat loss, how many calories is that? Have you calculated maintenance calories?

Diet looks too strict IMO. M2 and M4 are not meals and it looks like you're light on protein throughout the day too. Doesn't look like you're eating much fat either. I wouldn't necessarily worry about macros down to the last detail, but it does look like your calories are too low for the amount of activity you're doing. You could try calorie cycling. One day eating at maintenance, 2-3 days below maintenance. It's a good plateau busting method.

[steak]

yeah thats right...the body will hold onto everything its got if you try to starve it which makes fat loss very hard indeed. Get you maint cals and work just above for gains and just below for loss but make sure you let the body have enough to run on or its goes into "survival mode"

I got a heap of links if you want..just PM 8)

[VampireChick]

Cheers Rose and Steak My trainer put it together and he calculated to be approx 1600 cals, although my maintenance would be 1800 cals. I'm a tad relieved that you're saying they're too low - I'd die if I had to cut more cals!

I'll PM you now Steak

[Chillicat]

I've definitely found the maintenance minus 500 calculation to be too low and haven't made as much of a loss when I decrease calories by such a lot, except in the first week which is to be expected. I found that the scales certainly play nicer with me if I've upped that by a couple of hundred or so, so more like maintenance minus 200-250 seems to be working better for me. Increase calories and lose weight - go figure!

[VampireChick]

I've definitely found the maintenance minus 500 calculation to be too low and haven't made as much of a loss when I decrease calories by such a lot, except in the first week which is to be expected. I found that the scales certainly play nicer with me if I've upped that by a couple of hundred or so, so more like maintenance minus 200-250 seems to be working better for me. Increase calories and lose weight - go figure!

Interesting - so how many cals are you on now? I've done a calculation and if I got with the 200 method off maintenance, I should be on 1900 daily. That seems quite high to me. Do you cycle CC?

[ThePman]

I've definitely found the maintenance minus 500 calculation to be too low and haven't made as much of a loss when I decrease calories by such a lot, except in the first week which is to be expected. I found that the scales certainly play nicer with me if I've upped that by a couple of hundred or so, so more like maintenance minus 200-250 seems to be working better for me. Increase calories and lose weight - go figure!

Girl bodies don't seem to like straight calorie restriction so much I've found.

Yall seem to do a ton better by restricting and then regularly bumping the cals up for a day or two. And also cardio seems to be almost a must, vs. just eating less, though that's probably due to lighter calorie requirements on average so you need more activity to really create a deficit

[VampireChick]

Right, I received a very informative email from Steak, and with Rose's and CC's suggestions on top of that I've come up with a new plan (And an extra plan to ditch my trainer - he was encouraging me to drink every week!!).

Calories before daily = 1700

Calories now = 1900

New Diet:

M1: Pre-workout shake

M2: 1/2 C Oats, 4 egg whites

M3: 85g tuna + fruit

M4: 185g tuna + 2C green veg

M5: 50g chicken

M6: 200g chicken, 2C green veg

M7: P.shake before bed

Every 3 days I will add 200 cals including a carb source. So probably add 1C cooked rice or kumara with lunch. I tend to dab a dash of olive oil on my salad at night too.

[VampireChick]

Yall seem to do a ton better by restricting and then regularly bumping the cals up for a day or two. And also cardio seems to be almost a must, vs. just eating less, though that's probably due to lighter calorie requirements on average so you need more activity to really create a deficit

Cheers Pman - I'll give that a go for the next few weeks and stick with my 4/5 days of cardio. You're right tho, my body seems to hate plain old calorie restriction.

[Chillicat]

I've definitely found the maintenance minus 500 calculation to be too low and haven't made as much of a loss when I decrease calories by such a lot, except in the first week which is to be expected. I found that the scales certainly play nicer with me if I've upped that by a couple of hundred or so, so more like maintenance minus 200-250 seems to be working better for me. Increase calories and lose weight - go figure!

Interesting - so how many cals are you on now? I've done a calculation and if I got with the 200 method off maintenance, I should be on 1900 daily. That seems quite high to me. Do you cycle CC?

Just did a reply and then it went all funny and didn't post. So here's take 2!

I have been working with 2 different maintenance amounts, so unsure which is the best to go with - so I went with the lowest. They were around 2150 and 2350, so a bit of a difference between the two. I started by doing 500 less on the lower one, so around 1650, which worked for the first week, then nothing for 2 weeks.

I also got peckish around that time, and found myself eating a couple of hundred calories a few days in a row, and then the next few days my weight dropped by half a kilo. So now I've been sticking to around the 1750-1850 cals per day.

As for cycling, I've been carb cycling. No specific plan with that, but generally it's 3 days of low carb (20-30g) then a day or two of medium carb (60-100g). One time in the last 5 weeks I did a very high one, one pizza night, that was around 200g carbs! But generally a medium carb day every few days is good enough for now.

I've been working to keep calories fairly consistent on a day to day basis, with perhaps slightly fewer on weekends when I'm not working out. That's normally my danger time when I'm out of my work routine and so munch out more than I need to. But if I need to eat, I eat. I'm not going to deprive myself and have trouble sleeping because of my grumbling tummy!

[VampireChick]

Cool - I feel like I'm on the right track now

I really need to work at keeping clean - I was averaging 2/3 cheat meals but I'll cut it down to one. Most probably a pasta dish since that's what I'm craving most these days. mmmmmmmm =P~ =P~ =P~

[Chillicat]

I think part of what helps me to stick to it is that I eat a proper dinner every night. Tonight was chicken mussaman curry (light coconut milk!), and tomorrow is italian meatballs - but no rice or pasta for me for the moment - bed of spinach. I find it easier to stick to shakes, sludge and eggwhite omelettes and things during the day when I know I have a nice home cooked evening meal to look forward to. But since I'm not aiming to compete, I don't see any need for doing the grilled chicken breast and broccoli thing for dinner. I'll leave that to the really serious. I want a realistic life change, not a bland diet!

[ThePman]

I think part of what helps me to stick to it is that I eat a proper dinner every night. Tonight was chicken mussaman curry (light coconut milk!), and tomorrow is italian meatballs - but no rice or pasta for me for the moment - bed of spinach. I find it easier to stick to shakes, sludge and eggwhite omelettes and things during the day when I know I have a nice home cooked evening meal to look forward to. But since I'm not aiming to compete, I don't see any need for doing the grilled chicken breast and broccoli thing for dinner. I'll leave that to the really serious. I want a realistic life change, not a bland diet!

I really think going overboard on food restriction is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. It only leads to cravings, and sooner or later you'll break down.

That's why I'm big on calories, instead of "eating clean" (which doesn't mean much if you think about it). As long as you're not going overboard with junkfood and meet daily goals for calories, you're not "messing up" your diet - and you're that much less likely to go on a binge, IME.

[VampireChick]

Great, I wont feel so guilty about those canned tomatoes at night then

[VampireChick]

I tried to have a stab at interval training today, and tried the body4life technique. So for 30 minutes I did the following:

Level 8 1 min

Level 9 1 min

Level 10 1 min

Level 11 1 min

Level 12 1 min

Then started back at level 8.

I felt like vomiting when I was done so I figured I was doing the right thing? I have really weird legs (my feet point outwards) so I can't really do massive sprints (I have the fear of falling over!).

Does this technique sound about right? I felt pumped after it.

[rose]

I've definitely found the maintenance minus 500 calculation to be too low

Yup, 500 is too much IMO. Most I'd ever cut is 300.

Cool - I feel like I'm on the right track now

Good stuff Miss

[teamfatboy]

I tried to have a stab at interval training today, and tried the body4life technique. So for 30 minutes I did the following:

Level 8 1 min

Level 9 1 min

Level 10 1 min

Level 11 1 min

Level 12 1 min

Then started back at level 8.

I felt like vomiting when I was done so I figured I was doing the right thing? I have really weird legs (my feet point outwards) so I can't really do massive sprints (I have the fear of falling over!).

Does this technique sound about right? I felt pumped after it.

You were clearly giving it heaps - so the only true litmus test is

a) whether you can sustain it over a number of weeks; and

b) whether it gets the results you need :nod:

Just my 2c worth - what I've used (which is a variant on something Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong's trainer wrote) is 10m of 30s on, 30s off (so 10 cycles) then 10m of 45s on, 15 off, then 10m of 60 on, 15 off... really going flat-out. I can get jelly-legs and stars in my eyes from that :shock:

The original article can be found here