My weight is 135, I'm female, 23, 5"4'. I guess I should go for fat loss first, but I don't want to lose the muscle I built up even if it's only a little. So should I keep weight lifting at all while I aim for fat loss? So I guess it's time for lots of cardio..bleh. And for fat loss is 1700 cal appropriate?
Few things with regards to the above post.
1. Only you can decide if you want to shoot for fat loss or muscle gain right now. If you shoot for muscle gain, you have to prepare yourself mentally that the number on the scale is going to increase, and you are going to add fat too. Many women have an issue with this. If that seems like it will give you some trouble.... then chances are, you should shoot for fat loss first.
2. Aiming for fat loss doesn't have to be a purely muscle-wasting time period. Do things right and you'll maintain most if not all of your muscle. I'll explain in a bit.
3. One of the biggest misconceptions is that losing fat entails boat-loads of cardio. I hate this misconception. Put it in this context. I'm certainly not a genetic superior. When I want/need to lose fat, even in a hurry relatively speaking, the most cardio I'll do is a couple of sessions of HIIT and a couple of sessions of steady state work. And that's it. Could I do more? Certainly. But I don't like the activity so why should I when I can just as easily knock out some more calories. The secret is finding the balance where you aren't absolutely starving and/or running 1000 miles per week. There is plenty acreage in between!
The HIIT sessions last for maybe 10-15 minutes excluding warm-up and cool-down and the steady state work last for 30-40 minutes. And usually this is more than I do for fat loss.
You see, I like to gear what's most efficient and effective in terms of managing energy balances, and cardio simply doesn't add too much bang for the buck. I'd much rather tweak my nutrition appropriately and focus on strength training. The strength training component will have two major roles. 1) People don't realize this but lifting weights burns calories too, just like cardio. Better yet, it burns calories for a long period after the exercise bout relative to steady state cardio AND 2) and will add to the likelihood of maintaining your muscle. Give your body a reason to hold onto the tissue.
FORGOT to mention: I've been the same weight/body fat for 6 years even with exercising (such as 30 min cardio several times a week), so at least with the past 3 months of lifting I acheived some muscle mass, but I have a feeling if I stick to cardio now for fat loss nothing will happen since nothing happened in many years before. That's where my frustration lies right now.
Well, as I said above.... boat-loads of cardio is certainly not your answer.
And next time you are trying to change your physique yet, nothing is happening for weeks on end, seek out some help/advice. I'd murder someone if I was trying with all my might for years on end with not one single change in body composition. Yet, I see it more often than not in gyms. Sad.
In terms of diet, I'd probably shoot for something like 1600 calories. Those 1600 calories can be spread out however many meals you find comfortable/compatible relative to your schedule. The more the merrier, and certainly get at least 3 in.
The 1600 calories can be comprised of something like 110 grams of protein, 70 grams of fat as minimums. This will leave you, still, with about 500ish calories to fill up. This can be comprised of carbs and more fats.
Attached to this post you'll see a spreadsheet with some options.... certainly not a complete list but it will give you a start.
I'd weigh in and take measurements (arms, bust, belly button, waist, hips, thighs, calves) every 2 weeks to determine what, if any, changes need to be made. That's a big point many people miss out on. They just go out on a limb and expect their *program* to work. It doesn't work like that. No *program*
SHOULD work. Any *program*
MIGHT work. And the only way to know if it is or isn't is to track your progress or lack there of.
Without a doubt, alterations must be made to someone's program overtime.
If things are not heading in the right direction, I'd drop cals to 1400. That's assuming though, that you adhere to the exercise side of things and the diet you layout for yourself consistently.
If you aren't consistent with it, that's the answer to "why the program isn't working" if you aren't realizing results. You can't determine the efficacy of a program without being consistent with it, not saying you would.... rambling at this point for all readers.
On the exercise side of things, I'd follow a permutation of the routine I laid out in the new stickie, "the basic lifts" found here:
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/weight-loss-through-exercise/14264-basic-lifts.html
It's most likely very different than how you've been resistance training. Maybe not.
On the cardio side of things, I'd start with maybe 1 session of HIIT (assuming your conditioning is up to the challenge), one steady state session lasting 40 minutes or so at a work rate that allows you to maintain conversation had you wanted to discuss something with the weirdo on the neighboring treadmill (or machine of choice), and maybe one day of a complex of calisthenics.
The HIIT can be done with a 30:60 work to rest ratio. So on your equipment of choice, go all out for 30 seconds and drop the intensity way down to a walk (or equivalent) or very light jog. It would be best if this was done on the same day as a strength training day. Something like HIIT after breakfast and strength training in the evening would work best. If that's not applicable, then next best option is doing HIIT immediately after your strength training.
In terms of the steady state stuff, simply pick your weapon of choice and use it.
In terms of calisthenics, just throw in a a giant set of them at the end of another one of your strength training sessions. This might look something like this:
Body weight lunges x 12 each leg
Body weight squats x 12
Body weight step-ups x 12
Body weight jump squats x 12
You go straight through this without break. It's a lot harder than it looks and it might take some getting used to. Many people have to take rests as needed and can't go straight through. Do your best, if you want to try it.
If you can manage and like it.... I'd progressively increase the workload of the calisthenics every 2 weeks or so.
So week 3 bump up the reps and week 5 do so again until you are doing 24 reps each exercise.
All this said, a sample of what I've laid out would look something like this:
Monday: Morning HIIT, Afternoon weight training
Tuesday: steady state cardio
Wednesday: Weights
Thursday: Off (optional cardio steady state)
Friday: Weights followed by calisthenics complex
Saturday and Sunday: off
This is certainly not an exact thing here. I'm not suggesting that this is The Routine for you to follow. It simply gives you a general idea of what sort of recommendations I'm talking about.
Hope this gives you some perspective.
Hve a gr8 day Tammy
