Hello there
- Thread starter Rosalin
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MrNiceGuy1
New member
Hello Rosalin, welcome to the forum and good luck with your health and fitness goals.
Eating clean and exercising regularly should help you achieve what you wish over the coming months.
Eating clean and exercising regularly should help you achieve what you wish over the coming months.
Do you have a diet and exercise plan in place? Those two are going to be the key. I would say the diet half even more than the exercise half! Look forward to hearing from you!
Hi there!
I have a gym schedule and I go about 3 times a week. I also go to school/internship/work on my bike. I dont have a set meal plan. I usually eat a banana for breakfast, 2 crackers or 2 slices of bread with either thin slices of chicken breast or ham for lunch. If I feel like snacking i eat vegetables or an apple. I usually dont get to decide what to eat for dinner because I still live at home. But dinner is usually alot of vegetables and some rice or patatoes. Sometimes a piece of fish or meat. Also I only drink water. Aimimg for 2 liter a day. I decided to cut all the sugary snacks and fast food out of my diet. Yeah i think thats about it haha
I have a gym schedule and I go about 3 times a week. I also go to school/internship/work on my bike. I dont have a set meal plan. I usually eat a banana for breakfast, 2 crackers or 2 slices of bread with either thin slices of chicken breast or ham for lunch. If I feel like snacking i eat vegetables or an apple. I usually dont get to decide what to eat for dinner because I still live at home. But dinner is usually alot of vegetables and some rice or patatoes. Sometimes a piece of fish or meat. Also I only drink water. Aimimg for 2 liter a day. I decided to cut all the sugary snacks and fast food out of my diet. Yeah i think thats about it haha
MrNiceGuy1
New member
I don’t wish to be the bearer of bad news, Rosalin, but your intended dietary intake simply isn’t sufficient to support level of activity. As such, your body will hold on to the excess that you wish to eliminate, leaving you frustrated in the process.
While the removal of simple/refined carbohydrate from your diet is a sensible choice, you need to be incredibly astute with dietary intake, consuming sufficient calories to meet TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), while allowing the intensity of exercise and daily activity to create the deficit needed to burn excess energy stored in body fat.
As such, consult BMR/TDEE calculators to gain a clearer idea of how many calories your body requires, based upon measurements (age/weight/height) and level of activity.
Concerning diet, although you may consider yourself to be otherwise, even at 132lbs, you’re still incredibly slight, Rosalin. To ensure that calories are burned from fat and not muscle, you need to ensure that consumption of protein and complex carbohydrate each account for around 40% of daily intake and that healthy fat accounts for 20%.
A banana for breakfast simply isn’t sufficient to set you up for the morning. Instead, replace this with 2 soft boiled eggs and two slices of wholemeal toast or a protein shake (made with dairy-free milk) if time is short, while opting for a 40g serving of un-salted nuts as a mid-morning snack. A sandwich for lunch is a sensible option, but a bean/quinoa salad should also be considered to break up the monotony of sandwiches each day, in addition to providing greater fulfilment.
By all means, snack upon an apple or vegetables in the afternoon, since the natural sugars in the apple, for example, will provide you with energy upon hitting the gym, after which you should begin to re-fuel and replenish with another protein shake before settling down to your evening meal.
While the removal of simple/refined carbohydrate from your diet is a sensible choice, you need to be incredibly astute with dietary intake, consuming sufficient calories to meet TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), while allowing the intensity of exercise and daily activity to create the deficit needed to burn excess energy stored in body fat.
As such, consult BMR/TDEE calculators to gain a clearer idea of how many calories your body requires, based upon measurements (age/weight/height) and level of activity.
Concerning diet, although you may consider yourself to be otherwise, even at 132lbs, you’re still incredibly slight, Rosalin. To ensure that calories are burned from fat and not muscle, you need to ensure that consumption of protein and complex carbohydrate each account for around 40% of daily intake and that healthy fat accounts for 20%.
A banana for breakfast simply isn’t sufficient to set you up for the morning. Instead, replace this with 2 soft boiled eggs and two slices of wholemeal toast or a protein shake (made with dairy-free milk) if time is short, while opting for a 40g serving of un-salted nuts as a mid-morning snack. A sandwich for lunch is a sensible option, but a bean/quinoa salad should also be considered to break up the monotony of sandwiches each day, in addition to providing greater fulfilment.
By all means, snack upon an apple or vegetables in the afternoon, since the natural sugars in the apple, for example, will provide you with energy upon hitting the gym, after which you should begin to re-fuel and replenish with another protein shake before settling down to your evening meal.
Hi there.
Could you please elaborate on this bit of advice some more?
It seems to me you're saying you need to eating the same level of calories as you're TDEE... which would imply maintenance.
But then in the very next thought you say you need to let exercise and daily activity create the deficit.
Exercise and daily activity are PART OF total daily energy expenditure.
You can't have "consuming sufficient calories to meet TDEE" and "allowing the intensity of exercise and daily activity to create the deficit needed."
MrNiceGuy1
New member
That’s exactly what I’m saying, Steve.
As I’d stated, even at 132lbs, Rosalin remains incredibly slight, so she needs to ensure that sufficient calories are being consumed to satisfy TDEE, taking into consideration that she’s exercising three times a week and cycling to and from her place of work/study.
Given that she’s already working within a fine margin, if Rosalin seeks to maintain/improve the shape, tone and endurance of existing muscle mass, she should aim to consume sufficient calories to support such an aim, something she’ll struggle to achieve if running a calorie deficit through dietary intake, particularly if her gym exercise includes HIIT.
To suggest that dietary intake is reduced as low as BMR, for example, could prove detrimental to Rosalin’s cause, since her current level of activity is likely to demand more calories than her body is willing to sacrifice.
Instead, by maintaining close to TDEE, she should allow the intensity of her exercise to burn excess calories (stored in fat), thus, ensuring that her body receives the nourishment that it requires, in addition to providing her muscles with the shape/definition and improvements in body composition that she desires.
As I’d stated, even at 132lbs, Rosalin remains incredibly slight, so she needs to ensure that sufficient calories are being consumed to satisfy TDEE, taking into consideration that she’s exercising three times a week and cycling to and from her place of work/study.
Given that she’s already working within a fine margin, if Rosalin seeks to maintain/improve the shape, tone and endurance of existing muscle mass, she should aim to consume sufficient calories to support such an aim, something she’ll struggle to achieve if running a calorie deficit through dietary intake, particularly if her gym exercise includes HIIT.
To suggest that dietary intake is reduced as low as BMR, for example, could prove detrimental to Rosalin’s cause, since her current level of activity is likely to demand more calories than her body is willing to sacrifice.
Instead, by maintaining close to TDEE, she should allow the intensity of her exercise to burn excess calories (stored in fat), thus, ensuring that her body receives the nourishment that it requires, in addition to providing her muscles with the shape/definition and improvements in body composition that she desires.
Hello,
Thank you so much for the advice, it's very helpfull. I understand what you are saying especially about breakfast. But the thing is thats really hard to eat for me in the morning, if I eat too much I will feel sick. I even struggle to keep that single banana down but I know I cant skip breakfast. Also I dont use ptotein shakes because I dont have a blender but mostly because I dont know much about protein powders and shakes. I think I will ask one of the trainers at the gym about it before I attempt to start making them myself. Thanks again
Thank you so much for the advice, it's very helpfull. I understand what you are saying especially about breakfast. But the thing is thats really hard to eat for me in the morning, if I eat too much I will feel sick. I even struggle to keep that single banana down but I know I cant skip breakfast. Also I dont use ptotein shakes because I dont have a blender but mostly because I dont know much about protein powders and shakes. I think I will ask one of the trainers at the gym about it before I attempt to start making them myself. Thanks again
Couple of things to chew on...
1) You don't HAVE to eat breakfast. There are very few rigid rules in the game of fitness so don't force things that don't seem to fit right off the bat. Yes, I'd say eating breakfast is better than not in most cases... if I were forced to choose one or the other. But the beautiful thing is we're not forced to choose. We can opt for what suits us best right now.
Eating breakfast or not eating breakfast isn't going to make noticeable differences in progress assuming your daily totals are equal.
So long as you're not allowing hunger to mount to a level where you're losing sense of control (ie, you don't score points by letting hunger grow and grow!)... then you'll be good.
2) There's nothing magical about protein shakes, but they are a viable supplement to a whole foods diet for those who struggle to get sufficient protein in. There's not much to know as they're not all that complex. Assuming no allergies, I'd go with a whey, casein, or egg protein powder and just start experimenting. You can mix it straight with water or milk. Or you can work in smoothies. There are endless recipes online. Just youtube smoothies and I'm sure you'll find many options. My go to is fat free milk, fat free yogurt, natural peanut butter, vanilla whey powder, and a frozen banana. I'll even throw kale into it from time to time. Very tasty! And of course the amount of ingredients I'm putting in are dependent on my calorie/nutrient goals.
But if your'e in the states, I'd shy away from asking trainers for nutritional advice. Sadly, the bulk of them aren't even knowledgeable enough to be instructing people on their exercise believe it or not.
Hi there!
You're right I dont HAVE to eat breakfast but since I have a pretty a physical intensive intership that starts early in the morning I do think its good to eat breakfast. Even if it's hard sometimes. Thank you for the advice about the shakes and health in general! I will look into some tasty recipes I dont live in the states tho haha
You're right I dont HAVE to eat breakfast but since I have a pretty a physical intensive intership that starts early in the morning I do think its good to eat breakfast. Even if it's hard sometimes. Thank you for the advice about the shakes and health in general! I will look into some tasty recipes I dont live in the states tho haha