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Purple_Panda
New Member
| Joined: | 11 May 2008 |
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| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 11 May 2008 06:02 pm |
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Hi! Just had some questions for you all about a certain problem I've been having. I'm new so hopefully I posted this correctly.
I've been working out since october because i wanted a 6-pack this summer so i could wear a bikini, but for some reason, I've lost muscle/gained fat (not sure which) and I don't know why. I haven't had any weight gain, but I've measured and my waist and hips have gained inches  .
Currently, I'm at:
Almost 16 years old, I'm a girl, and people in my family are all slightly over-weight. I'm not, yet, but had a steady increase in belly fat lately. Ugh.
118-122 lbs (Its in that range)
22.7% body fat (if my scale was accurate, but I highly doubt it since i get a different read out everyday  )
Measurements: 35 bust-28.5 waist-38 hips.(Bleh, slightly misproportioned apparently lol)
I'm not trying to gain or lose weight, but I am trying to lose fat and tone my entire body, especially my midsection and thighs.
I do:
Fencing (European sword-fighting- very heavy leg and lower body workout) for 1.5 hours monday and tuesday, plus about 30-40 min of it on thursday (Usually a light practice and then some time to do actual duels)
P90X Extreme Home Fitness Program (http://www.p90x.com to get more info) for 45 minutes to 1.5 hours every day I don't do fencing. (So, thats sunday, wednesday, friday, saturday-- and sometimes if my thursday class to was too easy, i do a light cardio routine then.) This program uses muscle confusion, which switches your workout routine (it consists of 5 different workouts set up for the week) every 2 to 4 weeks. This switch doesn't let your muscles get used to your workout and makes them work even harder.
Turbo Jam Ultimate Results is also good for when I feel i have loads of energy. Usually I can do the 20 minute cardio when i'm lazy but still want a good workout, or more often, the 45 minute cardio party, which is pretty hardcore.
All of these make you sweat when you workout, which i know is essential to burning fats. I also make sure to drink plenty of water (no flavored water or gatorade for me) and try to get enough sleep (I go to bed 10:30-11:30 and wake up 7am)
Also, when i'm not working out im usually walking around the mall carrying my friends bags and mine, or running around the neighborhood with them. I play video games and websurf alot, but i dont think its enough compared to all my sports to give me that much fat gain. Then again, at this point i don't even know anymore.
My diet is also very clean. I eat 5-6 small meals a day, and never anything with alot of sugar or fats. I also never eat after 8pm, so I give my last meal time to digest and don't go to bed with a full belly.
An example of my day would be (and forgive me for not using gram measurements, i'm not so good with that, so i use fists and handfuls as measurements  , assume my handful is about 3/4 a bakers cup since i have small hands.)
Breakfast:
1 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
1/2 cup of sugar-free or fat free jello
Handful of chopped fruit, usually strawberries and 1 large sliced banana.
Twice a week I'd switch it to eggs and whole wheat bread or tofu wraps, in which case it'd be:
1 egg (with yolk and white together- I don't see why i would have to waste a perfectly good egg yolk)
1 toasted slice of wheat bread or 1 large tofu wrap (tofu wraps are yummy, taste like normal wraps, and have a whopping 13g of protein in each slice! Yay!)
1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese.
Snack 1:
Usually I take a big handful ( so probably a cup sized amount) of Ocean Spray cranberry trail mix. It has peanuts, dried coconuts, dried bananas, cranberries, and some other dried fruits i sadly don't remember.
I also buy a different bag of trail mix at school since i often find myself still very hungry afterwards. That one is unsweetened, and contains raisins, walnuts, peanuts, and sunflower seeds- also maybe kernels, but i don't remember, sorry.
Also a glass of skim or low-fat milk.
Lunch:
Green salad with 1 slice of chicken, about the size of my hand (its very thin piece, so a palm sized amount would be too little), 5 grape tomatoes, 1 low-fat mozzarella stringed cheese stick, and 2 table spoons of light ranch or thousand island dressing.
Snack2:
Usually a granola bar, or a few fruits.
Glass of skim-lowfat milk.
Dinner:
Usually a slice of chicken or steak (size of my hand if its chicken, palm sized if its steak)
veggies or salad
1/2 cup of soup if we have (never cream soups, usually light veggie soups or lentil)
and if i'm still hungry, I chop up 2 bananas and blend them with 1 glass of skim milk for a guilt-free smoothie. The banana thickens it and makes it feel more filling, and the fruit also naturally sweetens it.
Drinks:
I always drink water and skim or 1% milk.
If I have tea (i gave up my vanilla peppermint iced lattes last year  ) its usually with no sugar or sweeteners, since i happen to love it plain.
I don't really enjoy juice, but if i do want it, i usually try to get Cranergy (Its a cranberry juice drink with half sugar and half sweetener, about 50 calories i think, and 8 grams of sugar). Its a bit more expensive than most juices so i usually don't ask my mom to buy me it.
So, hopefully thats enough information lol. I don't know what i could possibly be doing wrong. I know it looks like i eat alot, but my coach (shes a champion fencer, and also a childrens nurse who went to med school) tells me that i need all of it because im very active.
I know other people must have this problem, i mean i can't be the only person in the world who mysteriously gains weight despite doing all this. If anyone had this problem and fixed it, pleeeease share your secrets, oh-so-wise-one! And if anyone else has the same problem, i hope that you can find answers from other people here too. If we all contribute information on our problems, eventually a solution will pop up. 
Alright, i think i've definitely wrote enough for you all. Thanks a ton, and good luck to anyone striving for better health!
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 12 May 2008 05:46 am |
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not really what the problem would be. you seem to have a great diet and a good workout routine. the only thing i can really think of is counting calories. just take a day and specifically count out how many cals you are taking in.
also, how tall are you? i guessed an average of 5'5 to get your RMR at 2060-ish.
to maintain at moderately active. how hard do you work when fencing? oh, and have you been following the same type of workout routine since oct? if so, you really should cinsider swithing things up. on your non-fencing days, maybe get a different video..
oh, and i don't think sweating necessarily means weight loss- it's about getting your heart rate up. i used to workout in a basement. durring the winter, i rarely sweat because it was so cold down there.....but i still lost a lot of weight.
i am interested to see what your calorie calculations are.. it might be surprising. you probably just have to screw with your metabolism.
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Purple_Panda
New Member
| Joined: | 11 May 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 12 May 2008 09:43 pm |
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Thanks for the quick answer!
Well, I'm 5'4 and a half to answer your first question. I'm not sure what RMR is, I've probably heard of what it is, but can't figure out what RMR stands for, so for now I can't answer anything about that.
My calorie intake when from:
October: about 2000, and when I learned I needed to lose fat before i could see muscle tone, i dropped it to about 1800 or so. This is back at the time when my workouts remained light-moderate.
Winter - beginning of Spring: When i got the new programs, i checked the nutrition list and decided to correct my diet (I was still eating a bit of junk back then, like salt and vinegar potato chips as well as baked treats). I dropped almost all un-neccessary sugars and fats and cleaned it out to what it is now. I also started my intense workouts around this time. My calorie intake after clearing up my diet dropped to 1300 (a bit too low) to about 1500. This is only an estimate, since i really don't remember my exact diet plans back then. It could have been more, could have been less, but it was around that number.
End of winter - now: about 1900-2500 calories. My coach and doctor, as well as family said that i was probably burning muscle, which resulted in my body looking less toned. So lately i've been trying to eat more (same health foods, just slightly larger portions) in hopes that that will give my body the energy it needs to burn fat and restore the muscle. Unfortunately, it seems to backfire on me and results in further accumulation of fat.
My parents think that maybe i have some family health problems that may affect my metabolic rate and we're going to get that checked out soon. Hopefully, its not the case and i'm perfectly healthy, but if it is, i'm keeping my fingers crossed the doctor will be able to fix it .
Well, thanks for the quick response. I'll try counting the exact number of calories i take in, and i'll try to remember to look up what RMR stands for lol. Hopefully I can figure out what the problem is before the prom at the end of the month  !
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 13 May 2008 04:27 am |
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i think if you go to the calories burned calculator towards the top of the page you will find out what your RMR (resting metabolic rate) is. it's like BMR, but slightly lower (the calculator doesn't work for me on this particular computer or else i would do it for you... i will if i get a chance to hit the laptop tonight). just plug in the numbers (age, weight, hieght, sex) and you will get approximately how many cals you need to lose, sustain, or gain (it's all dependant upon your activity level).
you sound pretty experienced with exercize. it's pretty hard to gian muscle and burn fat at the same time (for some reason, it seems to work for noobs though...). honestly, yeah, really weigh out your food portions for a few days so you get an accurate idea. you may be eating a bit too much.... you won't know until you get exact numbers, though.
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Tratra
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 May 2008 12:21 pm |
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I plugged your numbers in and this is what it came up with.....So according to your stats, you should never go below 1324 calories per day...your unadjusted RMR.
BMR & RMR Results:
The results of your calculations are: BMR 1,406 RMR 1,324 (calories)
1.2
Sedentary
Little or no exercise and desk job
BMR: 1,687
RMR: 1,589
1.375
Lightly Active
Light exercise or sports 1-3 days
BMR: 1,933
RMR: 1,821
1.55
Moderately Active
Moderate exercise or sports 3-5 days
BMR: 2,179
RMR: 2,052
1.725
Very Active
Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days
BMR: 2,425
RMR: 2,284
Last edited on 13 May 2008 12:23 pm by Tratra
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 13 May 2008 12:57 pm |
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thanks trata!
according to these numbers, my advice is to cut about 20% of your cals (this is basically optimal for cutting fat without losing muscle mass). surprisingly, i would say that you are moderately active (i realize you workout more than 3-5 times a week, but i think the descritptions are slightly misleading.) if you follow the moderately active one, that would be- 1642 cals you should be consuming on day that you work out. that will give you about a daily deficit of cals 410 cals. this will give you a very slow but steady and safe rate of fat loss. make sure you are getting enough protien, keep your fats low and saturated fats much lower. i would try this out for a few weeks and see what happens.
you could also try cycling your cals- have low days and then high days. this usually keeps your metabolism guessing.
of course, it wouldn't hurt to get checked out by the dr. maybe there is something else. but if you are consuming an average of 2200 cals, my guess is that you are eating a bit too much to lose (wheich it sounds like you are not losing). you may be gaining muscle as well (eating over maintenance can do that when you are working your muscles). this could be just pushing the fat out (due to the muscle growth), which is why you are gaining inches.
that's my two cents....
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Purple_Panda
New Member
| Joined: | 11 May 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 13 May 2008 09:10 pm |
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Thanks for the info with the calculations. Yeah, maybe I have been eating too much. Not sure but it cant hurt to try and eat less. I'll try and eat around 1600 calories a day for a while, and do more cardio, like biking since its started to get warm and sunny out finally.
Thanks a ton, and wish me luck i suppose lol.
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