Sport Losing the Last Ten: Nutrition Help Needed!

Sport Fitness
M

motivate_me

0
Hey guys, here is my issue:

I need to lose about ten pounds of fat, and build about ten to fifteen pounds of muscle instead. I am female, 28, 5'0 and weigh 105 lbs. Low weight, but I have a lot of body fat that could use toning.

I work out four or five days a week, combination of strength training, yoga, spinning and kickboxing.

I'm vegetarian, so lean protein is a challenge...I substitute with protein powdered shakes, dairy (skim milk, cheese, yogurt) and lentils. I eat carbs in moderation, and have plenty of fruit and vegetables. I do snack on junk items here and there (every couple of days or so) and go to restaurants to eat...i try to eat the healthiest while I'm out but obviously, it's not as healthy as making something at home half the time.

Now I've been struggling with this "last ten pounds" for a long time...the fat iis just stubborn and not going. Granted, my eating habits could be much improved...I thought of Weightwatchers because it is pretty effective in dropping weight, my sister is on the program and I've been on it before as well.

The problem is that with their program, I could only consume 18-22 points per day (roughly 900-1200 calories). I could eat anything I like, as long as I limit myself to that caloric content. Which is fine, but I won't be able to stay within it easily...my protein shake alone is worth 9 points: close to half of the day's point value. Because I work out intensely, I don't know if it's even healthy to eat this little.

Any ideas on what I could do?

If I just cut out eating the occasional junk crap...muffin today, croissant on Saturday, few chips and couple of drinks Monday kind of thing...can I lose the weight even though I'm not fitting Weightwatchers daily points system?

Thanks for reading and for your advice.
 
You need to figure out your diet numbers, and know how many calories you're eating. Check out the sticky at the top of this nutrition forum called "Nutrition 101". It'll help you set up your numbers.


I'm not a huge fan of weight-watchers. What they do support-wise is obviously what some poeple need to lose the weight, but I'm not a fan of their points system. Learning about actual calories and macronutrients will serve you in the long time, not counting points.

Diet is key to fat loss. You'll have to tighten that up if you want to see improvements. Also, what kind if strength training are you doing? Make sure you focus on compund movements like bench presses, squats, rows, etc. Lifting weights will also help in the fat loss process. Cardio is just to burn extra calories, thus creatig more of a deficit to compliment your diet. Strength training will help to retain muscle mass, so hopefully the majority of what you lose will actually be body fat.

Hope this helps :)
 
Alright well the problem here is your weight. You want to lose 10 lbs of BF but want to gain 10 lbs of muscle. The issue here is that once you drop your last 10 lbs of fat, you will need to up your calorie intake to help you build the new muscle. This will come with additional body fat, which you'll just have to lose again later. I would say a better plan would be to start lifting heavy, up your calorie intake a bit and put on some muscle. Stick with doing some cardio, yoga, kick boxing in addition to your lifts.

It sounds to me like you need to really tighten down on what you're eating and really start getting some heavy weights up. 10-15 lbs of muscle is no small feat and will require you to eat more food than you're used to. This will require some time (months), some very healthy eating with lots of protein and adherence to your diet and workout plans.
 
Thanks guys! I'll read the Nutrition 101 as well for some more info.

I don't lift weights or do reps on weight machines...I do strength training exercises that I put together from Women's Health magazine...so lots of pushups, squats, lunges, planks etc and lots more that are hard to label but work more than one muscle group at a time. Most of the exercises call for the use of 5-10 lb weights, I use 10 lbs, sometimes 12.

Here's an example of the kind of stuff i do:



I make sure to hit all muscle groups, and take a day to recover...on the day off I do cardio. I do 2 or 3 sets of 15 reps.
 
motivate_me said:
Hey guys, here is my issue:

I need to lose about ten pounds of fat, and build about ten to fifteen pounds of muscle instead. I am female, 28, 5'0 and weigh 105 lbs. Low weight, but I have a lot of body fat that could use toning.

I work out four or five days a week, combination of strength training, yoga, spinning and kickboxing.

I'm vegetarian, so lean protein is a challenge...I substitute with protein powdered shakes, dairy (skim milk, cheese, yogurt) and lentils. I eat carbs in moderation, and have plenty of fruit and vegetables. I do snack on junk items here and there (every couple of days or so) and go to restaurants to eat...i try to eat the healthiest while I'm out but obviously, it's not as healthy as making something at home half the time.

Now I've been struggling with this "last ten pounds" for a long time...the fat iis just stubborn and not going. Granted, my eating habits could be much improved...I thought of Weightwatchers because it is pretty effective in dropping weight, my sister is on the program and I've been on it before as well.

The problem is that with their program, I could only consume 18-22 points per day (roughly 900-1200 calories). I could eat anything I like, as long as I limit myself to that caloric content. Which is fine, but I won't be able to stay within it easily...my protein shake alone is worth 9 points: close to half of the day's point value. Because I work out intensely, I don't know if it's even healthy to eat this little.

Any ideas on what I could do?

If I just cut out eating the occasional junk crap...muffin today, croissant on Saturday, few chips and couple of drinks Monday kind of thing...can I lose the weight even though I'm not fitting Weightwatchers daily points system?

Thanks for reading and for your advice.
Click to expand...

I might just suggest a cheap, really effective option to get you the exact build you're working towards. At virtualfitnesscoach.com you can have interviews with Iron Man competitor, Mel, and after learning about your goals, history and health habits, he maps out daily meals and workout routines personalized for you. Might be what you're looking for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top