Thanx everyone!! Actually, I never eat before I go to the gym..I've always heard that it's better if you don't.
No way, especially not with strength training and I don't really buy into the whole fasted cardio bit either.
my strength training is one day arms,
An entire day devoted to arms! I can tell you now this is one of your problems that need to be changed. I suspect that your entire routine will have to be altered a bit.
then legs the next then I rotate,
So what about chest, back, shoulders, core, etc?
And do you go every single day?
but always do the crunches and 20 min cardio.
A lot of crunches isn't really getting you anywhere. The primary job of the core (and mind you, the core is a lot more than your rectus abdominis!) is stabilizing your torso. Crunches aren't really conducive to a) stabilization and b) targeting the muslces responsible for stabilization.
And hopefully you understand that doing a lot of crunches aren't going to give you abs.
I'll ask again with this too, are you doing this (crunches and cardio) every single day? I need to see your daily routine. I'm assuming right now that it looks something like this:
Monday: Crunches, cardio, and arms
Tuesday: Crunches, cardio, and legs
Wedneday: Crunches, cardio, and arms
Thursday: Crunches, cardio, and legs
So on and so forth....
Is this accurate? Are there any off days?
Lastly, I need to know exactly what you do in terms of strength training. Are you using machines? Free weights? How many sets and reps?
I told you I need details!
Sorry for asking for advice yet!?
I don't really count my calories but I rough estimate is around 1200 per day.
People are going to be shocked when I say this but 1200 every single day is probably a bit high for you. How active of a lifestyle to you lead beyond your workout schedule?
And I'm sure you've mentioned it previously but how much weight have you lost? Coming off a weight loss usually leaves you with a slightly depressed metabolism for some time. With a normal functioning metabolism, especially for a female, I'd say the best place to start for fat loss is 10 calories per pound of body weight.
That is assuming, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, that you should be dieting the remainder of your fat off from this point. It's hard to tell in your pics but I suspect that if you actually came to my gym to train under me I would actually have you work on adding some muscle before you go cutting anymore fat. You don't want to become overly skinny, if you know what I mean. With that in mind, you might want to go through a bulking cycle to add a little more muscle to your frame... this way the next time you cut down body fat it's much easier to be lean and tone. Remember, leanness isn't a muscular attribute. It is a combination of losing fat while maintaining or increasing muscle mass. And these two, especially in the case of a lean dieting female, don't happen simultaneously.
What this means is it takes cycles of eating above maintenance and below maintenance in an effort to add muscle and lose fat respectively given your caloric state.
I feel like I'm spilling a lot and before I go on, I need to know you understand this concept.
I used to work out alot and I stopped for bout 2 yrs so I've only been back since Jan...Last time it took me a full year to get those abs!!
So you did get abs before? Would you say you reached an ideal physique before?
Don't take this the wrong way and I understand there is a lot of personal preference behind this statement, but in my opinion you shouldn't get much skinnier. Guys I know, including myself, don't like rail thin. You have nice curves now and you don't want to lose them for the sake of having abs.
I'm not suggesting you never get abs.
I'm suggesting what I did above with possibly adding a bit of muscle to your frame before cutting. Just a thought.
Nice pics. These reinforce what I'm saying above even more. If I were you or if you were my client, I probably wouldn't take you much lighter than you currently are. I understand this is probably not what you would expect but it's important for people to remember something.
You don't lose weight and reach your goal physique automatically. There is no end of the road. You lose the weight, see what you're working with, cycle until you've molded something you're content with. This could take a dozen cycles of cutting fat and gaining muscle (mind you these take very different factors) until you have something you're content with.
I've come across a lot of women out there who think it's a matter of simply losing and losing some more. Even when they reach a skinny stature they think they MUST keep losing if they're going to obtain that body they're going for. Their mind even begins to distort the true reflection in the mirror... it's a scary thing. I'm not suggesting at all this is the case with you. I just want to throw precautionary advice your way just in case.
There's a lot of info here so before moving on I'd like you to answer my questions above as well as give me your thoughts on what was stated here.
Or tell me to buzz off and you'll look for advice from someone else, lol.