I’m a 20-year old female college student who was in outstanding shape until class began this semester. My concern is this: my body composition seems to change every week; I’m not imagining this–my clothes feel tighter/looser while my weight has remained the same. I take in about 1900 cal/day, roughly 45%carbs, 35%fat, and 20%protein. Whenever I take in too many carbs (200grams or more per day) my legs become huge the next day, or in a matter of few days, although I do 30 min. of HIT. What gives? I try to do 3-4 days of HIT style cardio (30min) and 4 days of weights. ALso, I supplemented with 1 or 2 tablets of Ripped Fuel over the summer to help out with my workouts. EC stacks no longer effective. Started on Xenadrine EFX but still same result–changing body composition. Any advice? Thanks for the help!!
Looks like all that EC has messed up your eyesight. If I look at a spinning spiral for 20 seconds, then look in the mirror, my arms and legs seem to rapidly be growing and shrinking! I’m not imagining it…I really see it! :0)
Only advice I have is to stop taking stimulants for about a week or two. This will help them kick your ass the next time you take them. Oh, and don’t take fat burners except 30 minutes before resistance training, otherwise they’re really not much good except for messing up your CNS. If you need a hit, try drinking some very strong coffee prior to a workout.
Assuming you are trying to get ripped it would probably be a better idea if you did 220min HI-IT and 230min at 70% MHR. Also, doing the cardio in the morning before breakfast and the resistance training in the evenings should help keep your metabolism up.
Well there’s some ideas. As for your weird changing body comp, it’s probably some sort of girl thing so I won’t venture to guess what it really is…Your BF% might be simply fluctuating so it’d be a good idea for you to buy a set of calipers.
With carbs comes water retention. Lower the carbs, up the protein.
You already play the percentage game so now play it smart:
Try 50% protein
25% carbohydrates
25% fat
Stop using ECA stacks for atleast two weeks, but use a caffeine product about an hour before weights.
your probably just a tad bit paranoid about your leg idea and fluctuating weight like that can vary do to water or glycogen. Try eating and train right for one month without weigheing yourself and just try and forget about it, then after the month weigh yourself and take BF.
Belle, from what I can tell from your stats, you are consuming roughly 214g of carbs, 74g of fat, and 95g of protein( I can hear Berardi having a heart attack). Why such a high carb and fat to protein ratio? Are most of the fats you consume omega 3’s -fish, flax, or omega 6’s -any other crap out there? Given this information, CURB THE CARBS!!! Ease them down to roughly 100-125g a day. Boost to 150g on weight days(50 g post workout). Since you didn’t list your weight, I really can’t tell you how much of each macronutrient to consume. I suggest that you search for the following articles: Issue 199-The Essential Berardi; Issue 204,5- The Winning Formula; and Foods that make you look good Nekid( I forgot which issue); these should give you an idea on how to arrange your macronutrients, and a simplistic view on how to mix perodized training, diet, and supplements based on training objective. Since you are in college, and there is an abundance of crap food around, and money could be tight, Joel Marion’s Cheater’s Diet is easy to do, and the results are awesome. I also recommend his 5x5 article, Ripped, Rugged, and Dense(I hope it’s the right article?). Oh yeah, dump the EC pill crap. They do nothing for me anymore, but make me nauseated; not what I need before a workout. Ok, another question, are you on the pill? I had a few female friends whom avoided the gym with some frequency because of bloating. I feel that it was a combination of school stress, the excess estrogens and hormones, and dietary changes that made it difficult for them. I know that now is the season for final exams, and gut-busting holiday feasts, but, if you cut down on the crap carbs, maybe lighten up on the cardio, and don’t sewat the small stuff, you’ll be alright. -The Starkdog
Sounds like you’re pretty carb intolerant. Try lowering the carbs and replacing them with protein and/or fat. (I know, I know. Just give it a shot, all right?) 
the extra carbs make you load water, the ripped fuel makes you lose water because of it’s ingredients. It could also be shifts in the balance from muscle to muscle depending on what you work out. You probably use your legs in your HIT cardio training which causes you to glycogen deplet tehn load. laters pk
Being the expert that I am in female anatomy (okay okay I read this in Cosmo… vultures), I know that water retention patterns change at various points during your cycle. So if you feel puffy at any time, I’d just take a diuretic or something.