Newbie!!! Need advice

[Katie1309]

Hiya (any help much appreciated!)

Ive decided to step up the training and see if I can get good enough to compete, been going to gym for years but got to the point where I'm just sorta 'maintaining'. Need help on diet! Whats best for leaning up, what time to eat carbs and what carbs, I'm a healthy eater anyhow (chicken/fish/veg) but need to step it up a notch! 5'4" 67kgs (48kgs lean tissue last check) 27% ish body fat with 36 dd/e chest....natural (Pretty sure these take up a few Kg's!) am planning to see nutritionist and get proper programme but any tips for now would be great! Thanks

[teamfatboy]

Heya and welcome

There'll be plenty of good advice coming from the men and women on the site, but to help us help you, can you please post a current day's eating (Xmas hols aside ) and also, how much/ what kind of exercise you get (type and days per week ) ?

[Katie1309]

Okey dokey well at the gym it usually 20mins on treadmill on an incline with bursts of 30 secs or so jogging - I can run/jog properly as have had recurring knee dislocation so anything high impact is definitely out! Then 30 mins or so weights, 3 supersets upper and lower body. Hence I hurt all over today...so I'm guessing if i wanna train really hard only upper/lower at a time so I can go the next day if I want to. I do Pump on occasion too and Zumba.

Diet is pretty good to be honest, for the most part but I know I'll have to cut out treats and beer! Can I still drink vodka tho?? Here's what I ate yesterday:

Brekkie;

2x weetbix

2 tbsp low fat yoghurt

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup wholemilk

changing to wholemal oats as of today so no more full milk! But sticking with yoghurt and strawberries.

Lunch:

6 small bits tuna sashimi

Sushi rice ball

1/2 cup brown rice

(not all at once!)

Dinner:

Salmon fillet (barbie'd)

Courgette, corn and feta fritters (not much flour in them though)

Snacks:

over the course of the day prob 75gms of mixed nuts.

thanks!

[becbec]

You should try having 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones, it helps increase your metabolism

Brekkie;

2x weetbix

2 tbsp low fat yoghurt

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup wholemilk

changing to wholemal oats as of today so no more full milk! But sticking with yoghurt and strawberries.

Yup, not much wrong with this apart from the whole milk. Infact I ate this for breakfast this morning :grin:

Try cooking your oats with water instead of milk, and have no added sugar yoghurt because you've got your sugar in the strawberries. For breakfast I normally have a meal that consists of carbs and protein

Lunch:

6 small bits tuna sashimi

Sushi rice ball

1/2 cup brown rice

(not all at once!)

Too much rice in here!! Do you like eggs? I normally make myself up an omlette with 3 egg whites and 1 yolk, milk, small can tuna and some veg. My lunch meal is normally some protein with some vegetables

If I were you i'd eat something here too. Something with protein and maybe a piece of fruit if you're feeling a bit tired

Dinner:

Salmon fillet (barbie'd)

Courgette, corn and feta fritters (not much flour in them though)

Good idea with the fritters not having much flour. You don't really need to eat things like bread, potatoes, flour etc at this time of day because you're body never gets the chance to burn them off before bed (unless you go to the gym after dinner). Try having a meal with protein and some good fats (avocado, peanut butter etc)

Hope this helps :grin:

[cantygirl]

Im with Becbec on the increasing your meals comment. If you are 67kg at 5'4", thats kinda stocky. Im your height and feel a little blown out at 63kg. Im wondering if your body fat measures need updating.

If you are thinking about competing, start adding protein into every meal, an easy way to achieve this is by bringing in protein shakes for your morning or afternoon tea. Its easy to throw a tin of salmon or tuna into the salads etc. If you can bring your body weight down slowly a year out from competing, its not such a mad rush at the end. Most people of our height take home trophies competing at 50-53kg so a ball park figure to aim for but like I said, just start chipping away at it, if you think too far ahead, you will think its impossible - its not. Keep us updated. Oh just one other thing, if you are seeking out a nutritionist, be aware that they pretty much don't go the protein with every meal deal, if you can find one sympathetic to bodybuilding, that would be great. All the best.

[Phedder]

You should try having 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones, it helps increase your metabolism

:naughty:

Long read, but well worth it.

From; http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-te ... unked.html - Actual site page has links to peer reviewed articles to support his points.

1. Myth: Eat frequently to "stoke the metabolic fire".

Truth

Each time you eat, metabolic rate increases slightly for a few hours. Paradoxically, it takes energy to break down and absorb energy. This is the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF). The amount of energy expended is directly proportional to the amount of calories and nutrients consumed in the meal.

Let's assume that we are measuring TEF during 24 hours in a diet of 2700 kcal with 40% protein, 40% carbohydrate and 20% fat. We run three different trials where the only thing we change is the the meal frequency.

A) Three meals: 900 kcal per meal.

B) Six meals: 450 kcal per meal.

C) Nine meals: 300 kcal per meal.

What we'd find is a different pattern in regards to TEF. Example "A" would yield a larger and long lasting boost in metabolic rate that would gradually taper off until the next meal came around; TEF would show a "peak and valley"-pattern. "C" would yield a very weak but consistent boost in metabolic rate; an even pattern. "B" would be somewhere in between.

However, at the end of the 24-hour period, or as long as it would take to assimilate the nutrients, there would be no difference in TEF. The total amount of energy expended by TEF would be identical in each scenario. Meal frequency does not affect total TEF. You cannot "trick" the body in to burning more or less calories by manipulating meal frequency.

Further reading: I have covered the topic of meal frequency at great length on this site before.

The most extensive review of studies on various meal frequencies and TEF was published in 1997. It looked at many different studies that compared TEF during meal frequencies ranging from 1-17 meals and concluded:

"Studies using whole-body calorimetry and doubly-labelled water to assess total 24 h energy expenditure find no difference between nibbling and gorging".

Since then, no studies have refuted this. For a summary of the above cited study, read this research review by Lyle McDonald.

Earlier this year, a new study was published on the topic. As expected, no differences were found between a lower (3 meals) and higher meal (6 meals) frequency. Read this post for my summary of the study. This study garnered some attention in the mass media and it was nice to see the meal frequency myth being debunked in The New York Times.

Origin

Seeing how conclusive and clear research is on the topic of meal frequency, you might wonder why it is that some people, quite often RDs in fact, keep repeating the myth of "stoking the metabolic fire" by eating small meals on a frequent basis. My best guess is that they've somehow misunderstood TEF. After all, they're technically right to say you keep your metabolism humming along by eating frequently. They just missed that critical part where it was explained that TEF is proportional to the calories consumed in each meal.

Another guess is that they base the advice on some epidemiological studies that found an inverse correlation between high meal frequency and body weight in the population. What that means is that researchers may look at the dietary pattern of thousands individuals and find that those who eat more frequently tend to weigh less than those who eat less frequently. It's important to point out that these studies are uncontrolled in terms of calorie intake and are done on Average Joes (i.e. normal people who do not count calories and just eat spontaneously like most people).

There's a saying that goes "correlation does not imply causation" and this warrants further explanation since it explains many other dietary myths and fallacies. Just because there's a connection between low meal frequencies and higher body weights, doesn't mean that low meal frequencies cause weight gain. Those studies likely show that people who tend to eat less frequently have:

* Dysregulated eating patterns; the personality type that skips breakfast in favor of a donut in the car on the way to work, undereat during the day, and overeat in the evening. They tend to be less concerned with health and diet than those who eat more frequently.

* Another feasible explanation for the association between low meal frequencies and higher body weight is that meal skipping is often used as a weight loss strategy. People who are overweight are more likely to be on a diet and eat fewer meals.

The connection between lower meal frequency and higher body weight in the general population, and vice versa, is connected to behavioral patterns - not metabolism.

[Katie1309]

Im with Becbec on the increasing your meals comment. If you are 67kg at 5'4", thats kinda stocky. Im your height and feel a little blown out at 63kg. Im wondering if your body fat measures need updating.

If you are thinking about competing, start adding protein into every meal, an easy way to achieve this is by bringing in protein shakes for your morning or afternoon tea. Its easy to throw a tin of salmon or tuna into the salads etc. If you can bring your body weight down slowly a year out from competing, its not such a mad rush at the end. Most people of our height take home trophies competing at 50-53kg so a ball park figure to aim for but like I said, just start chipping away at it, if you think too far ahead, you will think its impossible - its not. Keep us updated. Oh just one other thing, if you are seeking out a nutritionist, be aware that they pretty much don't go the protein with every meal deal, if you can find one sympathetic to bodybuilding, that would be great. All the best.

Yup stocky is prob a good way to describe me I'm def 'medium' frame, I can get my measurements done again that was from a couple months ago and not much has changed. Definitely wanna lose the body fat slowly, no rush to compete yet had though it would take at least a year if not more, thanks heaps for your advice!

[Katie1309]

You should try having 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones, it helps increase your metabolism

Lunch:

6 small bits tuna sashimi

Sushi rice ball

1/2 cup brown rice

(not all at once!)

Too much rice in here!! Do you like eggs? I normally make myself up an omlette with 3 egg whites and 1 yolk, milk, small can tuna and some veg. My lunch meal is normally some protein with some vegetables

If I were you i'd eat something here too. Something with protein and maybe a piece of fruit if you're feeling a bit tired

Dinner:

Salmon fillet (barbie'd)

Courgette, corn and feta fritters (not much flour in them though)

Good idea with the fritters not having much flour. You don't really need to eat things like bread, potatoes, flour etc at this time of day because you're body never gets the chance to burn them off before bed (unless you go to the gym after dinner). Try having a meal with protein and some good fats (avocado, peanut butter etc)

Hope this helps :grin:

Sweet thanks heaps, I cant eat eggs unless they are in fritters or something, which is a bit of an issue....they make me feel a bit ill scrambled or whatever.....so I have to find and alternative! I virtually never eat bread, and Xmas day was the first time I'd eaten potatoes probably all year (apart form fries at the pub - that will stop!) I'll try the 5 -6 meals thing soon if i feel I'm not achieving anything I just find it a bit difficult to do....must get lots of tuna!

[Katie1309]

Quick question, 1/2 cup of wholewheat oats was not enough I was still starving....can I get away with a full cup until I get protein shakes etc?? Still under 400 cals with the yoghurt and strawberries

[PeterDolan]

Is that 1/2 measured dry or cooked?

[Katie1309]

this is where I get confused! It was half cup uncooked?

[PeterDolan]

1/2 cup you're still looking at 53g carbs plus protein and fat equals around 300kcal so for a female, I'd say not to increase the amount of oats

[Katie1309]

okey dokey, will have to get used to it! Probably will start having a shake mid-morning - what does everyone recommend?

[cantygirl]

When I first started having rolled oats, I found it disgusting and not very filling. You will also change to love it. 1/2 cup dry oats, add water and mix till watery and microwave 1 minute at a time stirring in between until cooked to your liking. Add 2 scoops or so of protein powder (i prefer choc), then slice a small banana on top. Over the years I have ditched the banana but initially I needed it. Don't be afraid of carbs, you need them to train hard and keep your blood sugar balanced so that you don't binge eat. Keep your portions under control because its amazing how much you can overeat that way.

[Katie1309]

When I first started having rolled oats, I found it disgusting and not very filling. You will also change to love it. 1/2 cup dry oats, add water and mix till watery and microwave 1 minute at a time stirring in between until cooked to your liking. Add 2 scoops or so of protein powder (i prefer choc), then slice a small banana on top. Over the years I have ditched the banana but initially I needed it. Don't be afraid of carbs, you need them to train hard and keep your blood sugar balanced so that you don't binge eat. Keep your portions under control because its amazing how much you can overeat that way.

Cool idea with protein powder, as I dont eat eggs....funny I had the whole cup this morning and it was too much - cant win! Love banana too so thats cool. K well that's breakfast down pat....now for the rest!

[Grover]

If you feel you are still hungry have a big glass of water.

Make sure you are drinking lots of water - at least 3 litres per day.Stay hydrated

chart your calorie, protein intake daily.you will be surprised (not pleasantly either to start with

Work out your maintenance requirements and then drop 500 cals a day

[Katie1309]

Here's a pic ( not a very good one but will get friend to do it soon ) probably will start a journal too - eek!!!

[cantygirl]

Good on you for putting up a pic, you look your weight and I don't mean that nasty at all. You have good overall balance so losing bodyfat should give you a fab result. Very exciting challenge ahead for you, keep us posted.

[Katie1309]

Good on you for putting up a pic, you look your weight and I don't mean that nasty at all. You have good overall balance so losing bodyfat should give you a fab result. Very exciting challenge ahead for you, keep us posted.

yaye thanks! Will be better pics soon, after a couple kg's has been shave off

[ANGELBRAND]

just curious, did you get your body fat % from scales?

the last time i tried scale i freaked out as it to me i was 18% bf 66k muscle, when i clearly had some weight to loose! always use callipers. =D

[Katie1309]

just curious, did you get your body fat % from scales?

the last time i tried scale i freaked out as it to me i was 18% bf 66k muscle, when i clearly had some weight to loose! always use callipers. =D

no callipers, those scale things are awful! it was 27 or 28%......probably get it measure again next week, kg already gone - probably due to lack of beer! Gonna start a journal too, to keep motivated

[time in motion]

Hi

If I can just offer a wee bit of advice based on my own experience?

Just tackle one thing at a time when it comes to your diet, there's no rush and if you try to change everything at once, it can get frustrating.

Also with the meal frequency thing my experience is eat when your hungry so if you just arent hungry when its time to have your next meal or snack.. dont force yourself to eat it.. you'll only end up feeling sick/fat/bloated and crabby! I find if i eat about 4 times a day thats enough, you'll find what works best for you.

Good Luck