Getting Diet In Order ASAP

Ok, I lose weight, stick for it for a while then slowly it starts creeping up again despite a lot of exercise. It also starts creeping up when I stop counting calories and creating meal plans and sticking to it....so I know I am responsible. Although my clothes feel the same, I do know I am gaining weight cause the scale says so!

However, I am quite confused as to how to maintain my energy level with all the sports that I am doing/performing for competition level and lose fat!

Here is my weekly workout schedule, please bare with me:

Monday:
AM 6 to 7 paddle session outdoors with team, intensity 80% soon to be 100% with competitions approaching

PM: run 30-40 min and second paddle session, maybe 75% intensity

Tuesday:

AM: 20 min run

PM: 60 min weight training: supersets, focussing on fixing imbalances, no super heavy lifting

Wednesday:

AM: off

PM: weight training: heavy training

Thursday:

AM: Off

PM: paddle session: 60 min, run 30 min, second paddle session, I am normally dead tired after this evening.

Friday: AM

If I have energy: run 20 min, thats if I can get up

PM: weight training, circuit style, compound movements,

Saturday:

AM: long run try and get in 60 min if I don’t get fed up before

Or

Interval training run (I prefer this one)

Sunday:

Road biking, around 3-4 hours with club, between 80 and 100 km beginning of season.

I’m planning on following Thibodeau’s carb cycling plan as low carb all the time simply does not work for me.

Based on my activity level, how do you guys see my eating plan cause I’m just totally not getting it lately.

Keep in mind that on my biking day: I have to consume 2 scoops of Surge throught my 3-4 hours as well as one protein bar that has 30g of carbs, below that I konk out during my ride and have a hard time following the guys!

What I am looking for is:

Your opinion on how I should be cycling my carbs if at all for now
Your opinion on losing weight/maintaing energy to keep up with training
I am open to any suggestions to help me out

Thanks

What does your diet look like right now?

If you want to cycle carbs, I suggest reading Carb Cycling Codex by CT. Here is the link. Hope it helps.

http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=811783

i think your prob is right here mainly

“Although my clothes feel the same, I do know I am gaining weight cause the scale says so!”

so what your gaining weight hell good even better if your clothes feel the same this indicates muscle gain.

other then that youve really ID’d your own probs you sau it changes when you stop the structured diet etc well what do you change when you do that do you eat a lot more, or different foods.

Try and nail a diet that you can use as a lifestyle and adjust for your goals easily simply by adding more or taking away intake.

Just takes time and getting used to it

Phill

I concur with Phil, that it’s mostly likely muscle gain. Try not to look at the scale as much as bodyfat % and just taking measurements. With your intensive activity schedual I can’t see you needing to cycle carbs. Have you read much of John Berardi’s stuff?

He’s got a lot of good articles on energy balance, g-flux, and nutrition for athletes that’d be helpful if you haven’t read it.

I did gain fat though… some clothes fit the same and others like I found out this morning no longer fit comfy so…I do agree with both of you, I have to learn that I will always have to plan my food and my calories for life!

I did find on Beradi’s web site great forum for athletes and I look forward to reading the posts there as well as here.

I guess I am conflicted with or scared of that hunger feeling and feeling week and trying to lose weight…I’m learning that I have to learn to maintain and yes always count my calories and have my meals planned.

So my plan is to have my calendar and meals planned for maintenance level and follow the 90% rule and then once I am compliant, decrease cals to 15% of that maintenance.

This is tough mentally, it may be easy for some of you but for me, my comfort is food and it has been a life struggle which I have not yet gotten control over and probably never will…

[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
I did gain fat though… some clothes fit the same and others like I found out this morning no longer fit comfy so…I do agree with both of you, I have to learn that I will always have to plan my food and my calories for life!
[/quote]

That’s pretty much the only way to do it, but as it becomes habit it gets much easier to do.

That’s great, the information there will prove invaluable.

It’s all about eating the right foods 90% of the time. Once I started doing that I started to get in a lot better shape even without counting calories just because all the food was good nutritious stuff.

With your activity level you may actually benefit from Dr. JB’s Don’t Diet approach (essentially massive eating tweaked for fat loss) if you search Don’t Diet on this site you’ll find an Appetite for Construction column where he outlines it. Essentially you eat only maintenance level calories and let your activity level create the defecit.

[quote]
This is tough mentally, it may be easy for some of you but for me, my comfort is food and it has been a life struggle which I have not yet gotten control over and probably never will…[/quote]

Of course it’s tough, tempting treats are everywhere, and grabbing firm control of your diet is definately a process. That’s what 10% foods are for :). Can you cook at all? Check out JB’s “Taste of Success” article. I think you’ll find it helpful. With some creativity there is a lot of delicious healthy food to be had.

Meal plan is done :slight_smile:

Just by doing it, you naturally just follow it. Maybe its also cause I’ve done it before and it has not been that long since not following a meal plan.

So the goal is to stay at maintenance calories with Thib’s guidelines for P, C and F as well as C 25-75-25% rule 75 being workout/postworkout.

I refuse to let all this muscle be hidden beneath layers of fat so after a momentary mental relapse I fell I’m finally back on track.

Next step is getting the compliance grid done today and marking each meal with an X when followed. This was something I never did in the past.

I had to say goodbye to peanut butter even the natural stuff as I simply cannot control myself over the damn food, its sooooo goood! I’ve tried measuring it, putting in my meal plan but to me its like candy or desert or whatever food you can’t simply have in your household and not eat it.

Even though I new my answers ahead of time, still appreciate the few responses I got from this post, it just helps give you a kick in the butt sometimes.

Ok…I’m pissed.

Seems as though nothing has changed since last fall, my BF which I just got tested is exactly the same as…fall of 06. the same yet I’ve gone down two sizes.

I know I know you can’t rely on just one thing but this is a hard blow. I workout very hard, I train year long, I don’t eat out in restaurants, I don’t pig out on fast food or pizza or chips or candy or deserts, my diet is altogether clean and yet I’ve managed to go back up in weight and in BF. what gives?

I do feel like I am destined to be forever unable to get rid of unwanted boday fat in lower body. My upper body is cut like Val…whatshername and then you get to the lower body and its some fat persons overweight body, I’m sick of it, can’t stand it never have.

I’m just totally pissed right now, I mean really really pissed.

[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
Ok…I’m pissed.

Seems as though nothing has changed since last fall, my BF which I just got tested is exactly the same as…fall of 06. the same yet I’ve gone down two sizes.[/quote]This suggests the BF measurement is not particularly accurate. What does the mirror tell you?[quote]

I know I know you can’t rely on just one thing but this is a hard blow. I workout very hard, I train year long, I don’t eat out in restaurants, I don’t pig out on fast food or pizza or chips or candy or deserts, my diet is altogether clean and yet I’ve managed to go back up in weight and in BF. what gives?

I do feel like I am destined to be forever unable to get rid of unwanted boday fat in lower body. My upper body is cut like Val…whatshername and then you get to the lower body and its some fat persons overweight body, I’m sick of it, can’t stand it never have.

I’m just totally pissed right now, I mean really really pissed.

[/quote]

Hard to know what to say … You have to accept the body you have as your starting point. No good wishing it wasn’t so. Set realistic, short-term achievable goals. Eg to lose 3lbs over the next month. Give it all you’ve got - you have the knowledge of what to do, go do it.

PS You might want to give some thought to whether you could be better off eating more rather than less. Read Berardi’s article on G-flux http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=909183
particularly the experience of Alice Graham.

Is there a part II to this article.

I had read it before, forgotten about it and know I totally see how this may be for me :slight_smile:

My goal is to stay at maintenance calories so between 2200 and 2300 and stick with my training program, see above and see how my body reacts.

There has got to be a way for me to figure out my body and what makes it respond or not but I have not yet found it, especially with food.

However, I do have to do lots of cardio as that had worked in the past with my many times losing weight but muscle loss also came with it and thats not an option now.

This still pisses me off and to top it off it was freezing this morning on the water at 6H00 am, damn weather here in Quebec!

Out of curiousity, how did you arrive at your maintenance level calories? You may want to give the calculations in JB’s Massive Eating a whirl and see what they put your maintenance numbers at.

I calculated based on Thib’s article on carb cycling and I’ve also tried another method provided by Tom Venuto and they are the same, 2200-23500 depending if I chose 1,6 o 1,8 as energy expenditure

However, I will give JB’s massive eating calculations a try to see what it gives

Thanks

You have got to be kidding, according to JB calculator I would have to eat… over 6 000 cals based on my activiy level, yes and in the process because a very fat pig.

I think I’ll stick to 2200-2300 and see how it goes and then readjust, I know with his plan you are suppose to cut 1000cal when trying to lose or like 1500 I think but there must be something I am doing wrong or something I have not read properly. I cannot however find his reference for cals for those who want to lose fat?

Based on your activity level or your exercise?

With his don’t diet approach you figure out your maintenance calories without factoring in exercise, and let the exercise create the calorie defecit.

[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
Is there a part II to this article.

…[/quote]

No, but JB has an earlier article about energy balance with a few more case studies:
http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=628588

If you want to find all his articles, scroll down the page until you find AUTHORS on the left hand side. Click on John Berardi underneath that heading.

[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
You have got to be kidding, according to JB calculator I would have to eat… over 6 000 cals based on my activiy level, yes and in the process because a very fat pig.[/quote]

Are you sure you are putting the right info in? The activity level input is supposed to reflect how you spend your time at work and home when not exercising. There are other inputs for your exercise component. Have another look.

When you have done that, I’d suggest taking 500 cals off the figure you get (remember this is supposed to be a bulking diet guideline) and start with that. See what happens over 2 weeks. If you have no noticeable fat loss, cut another 250 for the next 2 weeks. Repeat if necessary until noticeable fat loss occurs.[quote]

I think I’ll stick to 2200-2300 and see how it goes and then readjust, I know with his plan you are suppose to cut 1000cal when trying to lose or like 1500 I think but there must be something I am doing wrong or something I have not read properly. I cannot however find his reference for cals for those who want to lose fat?[/quote]

I think the bottom line is that you are definitely underfeeding, given your high exercise levels. Your body is responding by becoming superefficient, hoarding fat and reducing muscle mass.

[quote]barbiegirl wrote:
Is there a part II to this article.

I had read it before, forgotten about it and know I totally see how this may be for me :slight_smile:

My goal is to stay at maintenance calories so between 2200 and 2300 and stick with my training program, see above and see how my body reacts.

There has got to be a way for me to figure out my body and what makes it respond or not but I have not yet found it, especially with food.

However, I do have to do lots of cardio as that had worked in the past with my many times losing weight but muscle loss also came with it and thats not an option now.

This still pisses me off and to top it off it was freezing this morning on the water at 6H00 am, damn weather here in Quebec![/quote]

Ugh, it’s late, so forgive me. Prednisone is real bitch of a drug at times (and a miracle drug too). Cardio is only part of the answer. Look at your fellow teamates, I bet the fastest (long distance) girl looks like shit, and is slow and weak even though the coach loves her.

Do you do anytype of lactate inducing workouts with weights. I am finding 10 sets of 10 squats with 10 sec rest between is far more productive than even HIIT. Here is my workout for today for an example

1x6 dumbell curl
no rest
1x6 skull crushers
no rest

3x 10 front squat 10 sec rest between sets

1x6 dumbell curl
no rest
1x6 skull crushers
no rest

3x10 front squat 10 sec rest between
set

1x6 dumbell curl
no rest
1x6 skull crushers
no rest

3x10 front squat 10 sec rest between
set

1x6 dumbell curl
no rest
1x6 skull crushers
no rest

1x 10 front squat

die

That is me though. Look up CT’s lactate workout and Charles Poliquin’s advanced GBC training. Scott Abel gives a wonderful perspective on cardio and lactate training too.

The weight I use for the curls and skull crushers is the same weight I would use in a normal set of 4x6, the front squat weight is far far lower.

Stop doing cardio? no. Stop doing HIIT? no.

Ok, I’m starting to hallucinate. lol
I don’t think I’ve slept in 3 days.

[quote]RSarin wrote:
Based on your activity level or your exercise?

With his don’t diet approach you figure out your maintenance calories without factoring in exercise, and let the exercise create the calorie defecit. [/quote]

Oh…I get it know

THanks

I am very proud to report that things are getting in order:

1)following JB’S 90% compliance rule and putting an X on those meals and workouts is very enjoyable.

2)Incorporated BCAA’s

3)I am reaquainting myself with JB’S habits and PN ( I don’t own it but I’ve read all his articles) so I am eating P+F when not in training so 3 meals and P+C when workout+post workout+2 hours after so again 3 meals

  1. My training was pretty much on par but I’m really following the G-Flux principales

5)I can already feel the difference in all around firmness and energy during workouts (could be Se7en as well as combination BCAA’s but I just started BCAA’s 3 days ago so could be more Se7en kicking in afer a month of use)

6)I will now definite results after a week or two and then mesurements and if it works I’m sticking to it until I need to make modifications

I’m pysched!