[quote]heyMAT3 wrote:
[quote]Bron Sapir wrote:
[quote]heyMAT3 wrote:
[quote]Bron Sapir wrote:
[quote]heyMAT3 wrote:
Hey Bron,
I really appreciate you making this thread. I was wondering if I could ask you a few basic questions.
I am a young guy, 22, and I have a very fast metabolism, so I have never had to work hard to maintain a low level of body fat. I mostly lift hard and eat a lot and things work out for me.
My girlfriend on the other hand has been working her butt off for a while in the gym (8+ months) and can’t seem to lose much weight at all, in either inches or pounds.
Wondering if you have some advice for where she should start both in terms of training and nutrition.
We actually got the basic nutrition plan from @Dani a month or two ago, but we will probably do the 4 week plan once she has availability in November.
I think the issue has to lie in her nutrition because she was working with a personal trainer doing pretty solid HIIT and olympic lifting style of workouts, and eating pretty well and made very little progress: moderate strength gains, 5 pound fat loss and maybe a percentage or two of body fat.
Not working with the trainer anymore. She has been doing two-a-days at the gym for 3 weeks or so because she is getting frustrated with the lack of progress. First time at the gym is lifting and second time is interval cardio on the stair stepper or eliptical.
In terms of current nutrition. She stuck to this plan pretty strictly for 2 or 3 weeks, got frustrated from lack of progress and started cheating. Even the Indigo3G didn’t seem to do much for her.
Breakfast: Eggs and some fruit
Indigo3G 30 minutes prior to the gym
Lunch: Protein Shake or Quest Bar with some fruit and veggies
Dinner: Protein (usually Chicken) with vegetables and sometimes a little rice
Stats:
21 years old
5 foot 7 inches
Weight: 160-165 pounds
BF: probably 25% or so?
Any help on nutrition and training that you could give us would be awesome! I hate to see her frustrated. She just wants to lose around 20 pounds and look good in a bikini. That kind of thing.
Thanks so much!![/quote]
Hi,
First of all she’s going to have to try to stick with a plan for longer! Try to keep encouraging her and just because she doesn’t see results immediately doesn’t mean she should give up, we all get frustrated sometimes but just need to push through. Take progress pictures with her every 2 weeks in the same place, same time and same lighting then she’ll be more likely to notice small changes.
You’re absolutely right, the problem is most likely in her diet but it can also be due to her training. Is she following any kind of training program at the moment or just floating through her workouts with no direction since going without her trainer? Twice a day isn’t always the best option especially if she doesn’t have any kind of structure in her workouts. If she is going to the gym a separate time just for cardio you can try having her do it in the same session immediately following the weights.
As for her diet… I see a list of food but no amounts? Is she measuring food or just eating whatever?
I don’t see a lot of carbohydrates here and you mentioned that she didn’t see results from the Indigo-3G. Indigo is a nutrient partitioning supplement and it works great for people who don’t normally respond well to carbohydrates but they HAVE to eat in order to see these benefits. After 2-3 weeks she would start noticing a difference from using it but for optimal results I would suggest staying on it long term for a minimum of 6 weeks and tell her not to be fooled by the number on the scale because it’s not an indication of body composition.
“You can’t repartition something you don’t consume. So, if you don’t consume ample supplies of nutrients, especially extra carbs in peri-workout nutrition, you’ll greatly diminish muscle mass gains.” (As stated in the product details)
If she’s taking the indigo 30min prior to training she should be drinking Plazma throughout the workout for her intraworkout nutrition and it will give her the energy needed for the workout and allow the indigo to work efficiently with the nutrients given.
Give me little more info about the diet and what exactly she’s doing in the gym and I’ll be able to give some better suggestions. You can also post a photo if she’s comfortable with that.
Thanks for posting
[/quote]
Bron,
Thanks so much for the response! She isn’t really into posting a picture.
Quick question for you. How do you determine the proper number of calories to eat per training day and non-training day? I don’t think she is eating enough calories in either case.
Training:
She will do interval sprints on the eliptical or leg swinger
Then in terms of lifting she does some olympic lifts, clean and press, push press, squat, and some machines, leg press, etc. Basically she is doing an upper body split.
She trained with a personal trainer for 2-3 months for 3 times a week. So in terms of training she has had times of very structured training.
Nutrition:
I don’t have exact amounts, but she doesn’t eat much honestly. She doesn’t enjoy most “healthy” foods.
The main question I have is regarding nutrition. How should we determine the number of calories to eat on training/non-training days? Do you have a nutrition plan from T-Nation you recommend?
[/quote]
Nutrition plans are very individual and there’s no set number of calories that will work for everyone. All factors should be considered when building a diet including overall activity level,age, height, weight, genetic advantages/disadvantages, training intensity and so on.
As a general rule she should eat less carbs on non-training days and the exact numbers and how much to drop will depend on her diet.
Most important thing is to find someone to help her that has the time to get to know her body in order to build something that will work. You mentioned that she might be starting with Dani in the near future so she’ll surely set her on the right track.
I would love to give you a more useful answer but it’s a lot more complex than people think, I monitor my clients every week and make changes based on how their body responds.
[/quote]
Bron,
Thank you! Anyone else you could recommend to help us out with the nutrition side? Dani is sold out for a little while.
Thanks!
Rory[/quote]
If she’s interested in working with me that’s also a possibility, I don’t usually take many clients but I have availability at the beginning of November and I’d be happy to help. Have her contact me at silvercirca@hotmail.com if she’s interested in working with me for nutrition.
Hope her training is going well!