Red squirrel: I need your help!

[dick0375]

Red squirrel,

I am looking to make a change in my game plan. I have been sorting through all the information regarding dieting and it seems like the below diet is working for a number of women:

M1: 5 egg whites, 1 whole egg
1/2 grapefruit
3 oz. chicken or turkey
1 fish oil cap
M2: Shake w/ strawberries, 1 tsp of flax oil
M3: 6oz. chicken, turkey or fish
2c. green veggies
1 fish oil cap
M4: Same as 2
M5: Same as 3
M6: 6 egg white omelet

On Monday and Thursday, replace your 6th meal with this:
6oz. sweet potato
1 med. banana
1/2c. oatmeal
1c. green veggies

I want to shed pounds for good (no regaining of weight and then some) and look sculpted, lean and firm - body fat of 12-13%. I do not have any goals of fitness competition, but I want a life change and I am fully committed to any regimen you have to offer. Here are my stats and my exercise/diet regimen currently:

Weight: 157-160

Body Fat: estimated to be 20% (I am naturally muscular)

Cardio: moderate intensity 6X per week for 90 minutes or more

Weights: 6 X per week - few exercises with high reps and moderate weight (20-30 minutes) targeting key body parts (squats, lunges, bicep curls, lat raises, shoulder/back exercises)

Diet: eat 4 meals and 1 snack (whey protein drink) - 40g lean protein at each meal (about 180 per day) and 25-40g complex carb per meal - very clean: no salt or condiments (excpet use of 0-cal butter spray)

Water: 4 quarts/day (sometimes use crystal light)

Will the above diet you proposed and my current exercise practices work to shed body fat? Again, I understand that results take time and it is not the scale that counts, but how you look and feel. I am just at a loss for what to do! I have been on a plan now for 7 weeks and I do not see changes in the mirror or in my clothes. I know that the key to weight loss is the diet. I really want to find a plan that works and works quickly and efficiently. (I am willing to omit fruit to see even better results)

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated! I just want my self-esteem back!

Thank you,

D

[redsquirrel]

I will tell you that you as well are not eating nearly enough.

The above diet I laid out may work well for you. And you can use as much salt as you want. Salt just makes some people retain a little water, but does not hurt your diet effectiveness. I also think you need to eat at least 40 more grams of protien/ day. By doing 90 minutes of cardio 6 x/wk, AND weights, I have a feeling you may be burning muscle instead of fat, which is what happens when you're not eating enough and doing tons of activity.

As for your 12-13% BF goal, it's a good goal, but it is very difficult to achieve and maintain. One of my BBer friends (female) who is doing Nationals this weekend stays at about 12-13% in the offseason. Honestly, a better range for you would be around 15%...and then maybe diet down to 13% in summer.

[redsquirrel]

One more thing-

Try splitting up your cardio sessions if possible.

For example: do 30 min AM on an empty stomach, and 15 minutes at the gym after your workour. You will give your metabolism a jump start twice in one day.

[dick0375]

So, you would recommend trying the diet, but adding more protein and cutting down the cardio to 45-60 minutes per day (with split workouts) with continued moderate/light weight training?

Right now I'm buring around 1000 cals alone with cardio + BMR of 800 for total burning of 1800. I'm eating around 1300, so that does create a caloric deficit of 500 (500 X 7 = 3500 cals/week or 1 lb. of fat). If I add more protein there will not be as great a deficit and not as much loss.

D

[redsquirrel]

Originally posted by dick0375
So, you would recommend trying the diet, but adding more protein and cutting down the cardio to 45-60 minutes per day (with split workouts) with continued moderate/light weight training?

Right now I'm buring around 1000 cals alone with cardio + BMR of 800 for total burning of 1800. I'm eating around 1300, so that does create a caloric deficit of 500 (500 X 7 = 3500 cals/week or 1 lb. of fat). If I add more protein there will not be as great a deficit and not as much loss.

D

If you add more food, the protein I recommended, I can bet you will see more change in your body than if you continue on your current diet. Yes, you are adding more calories, but you are providing your muscles with the necessary nutrients they need to maintain your current muscularity, not continue to burn it. Once you preserve the muscle you have, you should be able to burn more fat. Right now your body is burning MUSCLE for energy, NOT your fat stores because you are starving your body.

And yes I would cut the cardio to a max of 1 hr/day. And 1300 calories isn't high enough to maintain your activity. Drop the carbs as well. Your body has to burn the carbs first to get to the fat stores. You need to up it to at least 1400, a good portion of the increase coming from lean protein

[dick0375]

O.K. I think I got it now - if I understand correctly I am to try the new diet you posted (6 mini meals) plus more protein - right?? Keep up the moderate/light weight training and cut cardio to 1 hour - right??

As for the oils I too am confused like gammachick:

The diet says 3 fish oil capsules per day after M1, M3 and M5 (EPA = 180mg, DHA = 120mg)
Suggested 1-2 capsules per day on bottle

Your diet says 2 flax capsules per day after M2 and M4 (1000mg - palmitic = 54 mg, oleic = 165mg, linoleic = 144mg, alpha linoleic = 550mg and flax = 1mg)
The bottle recommends only 1 capsule per day

Will these products and using recommeded portions on bottle be sufficient? (both purchased at GNC)

I hope to report back to you soon that I am seeing great results. Thanks again for all the help! I can do the dieting and exercise, I just need a plan laid out for me. You are great and I trust you!!

D

[redsquirrel]

You are hearing me correctly. Only change I would make is to not have the 6th meal. We are shooting for as much loss as possible. Your fasting time needs to be 12 hrs, so if you have dinner at 8pm, you eat breakfast at 8 am.

Don't go by what the bottle says. The bottle info is for people who use fish oil to help supplement their daily intake, mostly for health reasons. Eat the fish oil as I instructed above. Eat the flax at your 1st shake meal, not at the 4th. Healthy fats help many people LOSE fat, so give it a shot.

[dick0375]

So, just to clarify for hopefully the last time- then I can give you some peace and quiet:

(weight: 160, bf 21-22%)

60 min cardio, moderate weight training

M1: 5 egg whites, 1 whole egg
1/2 grapefruit
3 oz. chicken or turkey
1 fish oil cap

M2: Shake w/ strawberries, 2 flax capsules

M3: 6oz. chicken, turkey or fish
2c. green veggies
1 fish oil cap

M4: Shake

M5: 6 oz. of meat, 2c of veggies and 1 fish oil cap

You mentioned I need to eat more protein:

Where does the extra protein come in to play if I don't have a 6th meal? Do you mean that I should eat the extra protein as a 6th meal only and to not make the substitutions on Monday and Thursday with the oatmeal, sweet potato, banana etc.?

Any alternatives to grapfruit? How many strawberries? Ok to omit using strawberries?

Is it ok to rotate the meals? (i.e. start the day off with a shake and then eat some egg whites later in the day)

I am so excited to start this new plan tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What changes should be made during maintenance eating after a loss of weight? Same exercise too?

Just curious, but I would love to know how you became interested in fitness? What kind of regimen you follow? I could talk for hours about this topic and I enjoy being in the company of others who are as enthusiastic.

[dick0375]

final advice

So, just to clarify for hopefully the last time- then I can give you some peace and quiet:

(weight: 160, bf 21-22%)

M1: 5 egg whites, 1 whole egg
1/2 grapefruit
3 oz. chicken or turkey
1 fish oil cap

M2: Shake w/ strawberries, 2 flax capsules

M3: 6oz. chicken, turkey or fish
2c. green veggies
1 fish oil cap

M4: Shake

M5: 6 oz. of meat, 2c of veggies and 1 fish oil cap

Where does the extra protein come in to play if I don't have a 6th meal?

Any alternatives to grapfruit? how many strawberries?

I am so excited to start this new plan tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just curious, but I would love to know how you became interested in fitness? What kind of regimen you follow? I could talk for hours about the topic and I enjoy being in the company of others who are as enthusiastic.

Last edited by dick0375 on 11-17-04 at 01:38 AM

[redsquirrel]

Originally posted by dick0375

You mentioned I need to eat more protein:

Where does the extra protein come in to play if I don't have a 6th meal? Do you mean that I should eat the extra protein as a 6th meal only and to not make the substitutions on Monday and Thursday with the oatmeal, sweet potato, banana etc.?

Any alternatives to grapfruit? How many strawberries? Ok to omit using strawberries?

Is it ok to rotate the meals? (i.e. start the day off with a shake and then eat some egg whites later in the day)

What changes should be made during maintenance eating after a loss of weight? Same exercise too?

Just curious, but I would love to know how you became interested in fitness? What kind of regimen you follow? I could talk for hours about this topic and I enjoy being in the company of others who are as enthusiastic.

You have the diet down, for the most part. Go ahead and leave that 6th meal in there. For some reason I thought you have only been eating 4 meals a day. I re read your info, and see you've been eating 5. Follow the exact diet as listed above except for the minor changes I made w/ the oils.

Do not change the grapefruit. Oddly enough, grapefruits actually possess certain fat burning properties. The only other thing you can eat besides strawberries would be blueberries.

Try not to rotate your meals. It is a good rule of thumb to stick with a specific regimen. MAYBE once a week you can rotate your meals around, but no more. You especially need to start your day off with a solid meal.

Don't worry about maintenance. But it's not much different than this. Basically complex carbs and breakfast and lunch.

My husband and I both have competed in BBIng comps before. We both won our weight classes at our state shows. He is the one who got me into it. I have been working out for 5 years.

As for what type of regimen I follow, I am currently eating 4 meals a day. I know it's a Cardinal sin to many, but after my show I looked at pics of myself from 1 yr ago, and I hated the way I looked now. So now I'm trying to diet some of this muscle off....not something many of us try to attain. LOL

My weight training right now is high rep, w/ moderate to lower weights, and 20-30 min of cardio 5 days a week. 3 days a week I do a 20 min PM session of cardio after my last meal.

[dick0375]

Hey red,

So far the diet has been going great, but I do have some more questions.

I've been re-reading some of the other diet advice threads and I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough. Do you think this diet provides enough calories? (looks to be around 1500 w/o oils- if I added correctly)

Weight ~ 160
BF ~20-23%
LBM = 123.2
Fat = 36.8
Total cals to mantain weight = 1440

I don't feel deprived and I'm never hungry and I actually feel like I eat too much (sometimes I have to force myself to finish the food and then I feel sick with that awful bloated, lethargic feeling). These signs would all seem like I'm eating too much, but from a caloric standpoint I'm just wondering if I should add more cals considering my stats and the fact that I am doing an hour of cardio + 20 min of weights 6 days a week?

Also, in the evening after the 5th meal I'm just not that hungry - in this case is it ok to substitute a single scoop of powder for the 6 egg whites?

I've been eating the grapefruit, but I haven't added strawberries to my shake b/c they cost so much at the grocery store. Is it ok to omit them?