I'm stuck and need help

H

hes79

0
I have been working out for years but lately have gained weight. I eat healthy food <rarely fast food, and if that it's subway..the 6 under 6 selection>. I have been doing cardio 6 days a week and some weight training. I don't know if my diet needs to change or what?? But it's depressing not to see any results and work pretty hard. I've been doing about 40 minutes on the elliptical and running about 1.5-2 miles several days after that about 3-4x a week too. I am open to any tips anyone can give. I don't eat chips or candy...mostly because I feel guilty.
ht: 5 ft 6 .5 inches
wt: 141
age: 26 y/o female
My goals are to lose about 10 -15 pounds of fat (especially around the midsection) and gain more lean muscle mass. I don't want to be skinny..just in great shape. I am so tired of feeling like crap when I look in the mirror. I just need soemone to help me?? I don't know what I'm doing wrong??
also-I swear when I turned 25 I started to gain weight in the ab-flab region a little easier-what gives?
 
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Well, it is a bit difficult to assist you without knowing what you would eat on a normal day. Also you metioned that you do "some" weight training. That is kinda vague. If you can post what your normal day's diet looks like and how often you weight lift, then we can supply you with better info :)
 
Like jpc1058 said it is pretty hard to tell you w/o knowing what you are eating. When you say rarely fast food, how often is rarely? Just let us know what you eat and we can better help you.
 
I might have fast food once a week, and if I do it's a 6" sub from subway, either a chicken breast, or turkey with losts of veggies, sometimes cheese and no dressings. I put mustard and a horseradish sauce I found that is fat free. Usually, my breakfast is a whole grain cereal that has benefiber added with skim milk and a banana. If I have a mornign snack its a protien bar or a peanut butter granola bar. Lunch is either a lean meant (chicken or fish) with veggies and or fruit...or a microwave meal (like southbeach) b/c I work in a hospital and sometimes it's very hard to sqeeze in a lunch. If I have a snack in the afternoon it's usually yogurt (yoplait light & creamy 100 cals) or an apple and soemtimes both. Dinner is usually chicken/fish with veggies. Veggies are usually brocolli or asparagus and a baked potato the size of a peach. There is honestly little variety in what I eat...mainly because on a tight scedule what I eat is always easy to make. Sometimes for a treat I have 94% fat free kettle corn or sometimes maybe once a week a glass of red wine.

the workout..
cardio:
Elliptical..usually as long as it takes to un 500 calories
3 times a week I run about 1.5-2 miles at varied speeds

other than that I'm doing squats/lunges/deadlifts/calf raises/butterfly squats with weight
also..calf raises, hammer curls,ect.
The program that I've been doing is out of the body sculpting bible for women. It's okay b/c before I just used machines and free weights and never did squats/lunges due to my knee that used to be worse. But other than that I'm not too thrilled with the results. I used to be much heavier at 160 at 5'6". I had gotten down to 128 at one point adn now I'm 140. Some of the people I work with think I'm too concerned with the fitness or weight stuff..but I am not happy if I'm overweight. If you want I can keep a diet log but it's pretty much the same. Sometimes my husband and I have a cheat day on Sunday, usually during the evening (everynow & then we just get Chinese).
 
Well, when you eat your breakfast and snacks make sure to include protein with those carbs. That's the one thing I can see off hand. How many calories do you think you're getting per day?

teresa
 
I added it up lately and it's around 17-1800, but I have been monitoring the intake more because I was afraid that I wasn't taking in enough calories on some days. Do you think that having a really bad eating disorder in highschool and the first year of college would have permanantly screwed up my body and metabolism? I am okay now but it has taken alot of work to get here. After I was "sick" I went through and almost reversal period where I was constantly binge eating and went from like 110 to 160 in maybe a year and a half. Granted that was 5 or so years ago but my sister suffered from the same problem and we both eat a good diet now ( hers is really on point now) and exercise whenever we can. I am just frustrated. Do you think that maybe I should consult a nutrtionist or exercise physiologist if I have access?
 
Do you do full body weight training? I saw hammer curls but that's all I saw for upper body in your routine. You do a LOT of cardio though...do you ever think it might be too much?

Wow, your cycle was just about like mine. I had an eating disorder through college and onto my late 20s. I'm 28 now and just got over it a year ago. That year after I got "better" I overate constantly. Now that I'm back on track I think that I'm still storing fat. Not a ton but more than I usually do. I'm just having faith that it'll even itself out soon. How long ago did you stop your eating disorder?

People that have had or have eating disorders are often harder on themselves than "normal" people. I am constantly critiquing my body and my husband always tells me I'm crazy. 5'6" and 141 pounds is not heavy by any means! I'm 5'4" and 133.

Isn't that funny how eating disorders run in families? My mom never had any problems but my sister and I both did. I just thought that was interesting that your sister had the same problem as you because my sister and I were the same.

Anyway, yes, if you can go to a nutritionist you should. Be picky though and maybe try and find someone that has worked with people with eating disorders before.

teresa
 
The eating disorder started at the end of my junior year fo highschool..and it started with binging and purging. I started using ipecac syrup and eventually the smell alone would make me vomit. This turned into not eating and was really bad my freshman year, I would literally eat 10 pretzels or the equivillant and that's also when I started to drink some in college. I got down to a size zero at Abercrombie and it was sad, but at the time I thought I looked great. My sister was following in my footsteps but I don't think my mom really understood how serious it was. I think she was just happy we were skinny.
I love my mom dearly, but all her body image problems spilled over on us. I remember having to follow her on our bikes as she ran and having to watch videos on fat kids and crying because I didn't want to be a fat kid. Realistically, looking at pictures I was a normal healthy little girl. We weren't allowed sugar cereals, real soda or much junk food. Which makes sense when I started hoarding and hiding food from everyone and eating in secret.
I have been "okay" for about 4-5 years but still have those days very rarely where I have eaten something that I shouldn't have and feel so sick and guilty I end up throwing up (3X in the last 1.5 years). I know I may never be back at 100%, but I am trying.
I don't know if I'm overdoing the cardio, but it relaxes me. I guess that's how I escape. It feels better to be able to talk about this stuff, as crazy as it sounds. I know I am hard on myself. But I think al stems from my mom constantly telling me my thighs (or other parts) were huge and asking how I could be happy like that.

Should I cut down on some cardio? The only problem is that I'll feel awful. I tell people I'm trying to get in shape for a pt test but the truth is I just don't want to be the fat girl again. Do you ever still feel like that?
 
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Oh, I definitely feel like that! I wrote in another post that I went to a therapist for my eating disorder and finally admitted that I would rather be DEAD than fat. There's something messed up about that!!

That's really sad about your mom though. When my husband and I got engaged and I knew we would have kids some day was when I finally decided I had to get this stuff under control because I don't want my kids to be the same.

Anyway, if you don't feel like you're overtraining (feeling irritable, exhausted all the time, etc) keep up the cardio. Make sure you're eating enough to make up for it though. That's important. You need to get enough calories in but make sure that they are healthy calories!

teresa (p.s. check your P.M.)
 
Today was an off day. I didn't splurge to much and enjoyed some pudding. I don't think it was too bad and tomorrow it's to the gym and a better diet. Should I have a cheat day on a day that I work out and just eat a healthy diet on an off day??? If I try small meals how many meals should I incorporate protien into?? Good luck to everyone this next week and thanks for any tips.
 
Protein needs to be in every meal. I aim for at least 15 grams in every meal.

Cheat days need to be however you decide. I used to do them on a day that I worked out but now I do them on the day I don't work out because it's just a nice day to relax from everything.

Pudding isn't really very bad for you though and that's a good attitude to have! :) Enjoy your "cheat foods" and don't feel guilty about them!
 
I could eat my own body weight in pudding....I did the small meals today..I added the calories up and ate 1660. At first I didn't htink that I would like it, but honestly liked the fact that if I was a bit hungry I'd eat again in a few hours..maybe it's my inner piglet??

This is the workout part so far:
Elliptical at varied levels for about 50 minutes

Bench press w/ assist bar: 15 lbs 4X
Hammer curls: 20 lbs 4X
shoulder press 10lbs 4X, on 4th set a superset w front (lateral?) raises
back row 4X
skull crushers 4X, 40lbs x2, 50 lbs, 60 lbs
this triceps things sort of like 7's..not sure what it's called
squats 10 lbs..4X
dead lifts 10 lbs 4X
crunches, leg lifts, side planks, 3 sets as many as possible & 30 seconds each side.

How does that sound? I'm trying to get advice, and tomorrow is going to be a leg day. Also, I had surg. a bout 2 months ago so I might be a little slow going with weight/increases.
 
Haha, well I guess my inner piglet likes that too because I love eating so many times in a day!

How many reps are you doing in a set?

How long were you at the gym because it seems like quite a bit of time?
 
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