Your advice on training for fat loss

[Trish]

I am to the point were I am not sure were to head. High reps, lower weight or go back to less reps and higher weight.

My goal is to reduce my body fat. I know i have muscle underneath all this fat. I am just not sure how to go about it anymore. I go to the gym 6 days a week already. 4 of them are weight training days followed by 30 min of cardio and 2 days of just 45 min cardio. I am carb cycling. I like carb cycling, its working so far so I dont plan to change that but then I see some post of people that eat tons of food and lose more weight. I feel like I keep cutting and cutting and realisticly I can't live off 1200 calories all my life. This is a lifestyle that I plan to stick with. When I dont eat clean I feel like crap and when I dont train i miss it. So that being said I am doing this for the rest of my life....lol..

Here are some of my pictures. Be honest. I know I have to lose at least 40lbs of fat. I think that is about right. my body fat is at 24.3%. I am 5"9 @ 175 lbs

I would say I would love to do a figure competition but I am more interested in looking like one. I just turned 30 and reaching 19% body fat is my short term goal at the moment.

Any advice or suggestions is appreciated.

Thanks

[Trish]

Sorry for the spelling and the photo doesn't seem to work.

[Trish]

[Trish]

[Trish]

[beckie]

How would you describe your metabolism Trish? You need to be careful not to keep cutting your calories or you will actually cause your metabolism to slow down. that is why the carb cycling is good,as long as your base calories are high enough. Definitely don't go below 1200 a day.
Honestly,it does come down to diet and some body types take a lot longer to respond than others-I suspect you are predominantly endomorphic which means you hold more fat and lose it more slowly. With this bodytype it really does come down to time and maintaining a clean diet unfortunately.

As far as your training goes,high reps do not generally build much muscle tissue and therefore do not enhance fat burning that well. However there is a place for them,just not all the time. As a woman I work in the 6-12 rep range and find some muscle groups respond better to the 12 reps than 6.
How do you think your body has responded to the higher reps? In other words are you seeing results?

[Trish]

As to my metabolism, I am not sure. I mean I am to the point were I get hungry like clock work every 3 hours as oppose to before I could go hours with out eating.
The high reps right now I have only been on them for 2 weeks and it has not been consistent due to the holidays but I am back to it this week, hopefully. I am coming down with a flu and right now just trying to get liquids in with protein shakes and BCAA. I did manage to have 2 meals today but not really what I wanted to do. I am just really tired and my body hurts all over. Anyway, I can say that the high reps has left me with some serious DOMS. I worked out monday and I was still sore yesterday.

I am thinking I may need to carb cycle with more calories. you mentioned base. So you mean the 1lb of protein per lbm and .5 for fat..ect..?

[beckie]

Based on your current weight and that fact you lose weight slower I would recommend you eat approximately 1700 calories per day to lose weight. But remember that is MY opinion only and your trainer may have you on lower calories or different ratio's for different reasons so it is not gospel. I would have to assess you like I do my other clients. If you are unsure as to why she has set that level then do go back and ask her. everyone responds to different levels of macro nutrients( carbs,pro,and fat) so that it important you find out why you need to eat that way.

[CeaAnna Kerr]

Hey Trish, on the days that you do 30min. of cardio, bump it up to 45 min. of cardio. Sweat it out on the cardio. Try doing harder cardio machines like the step mill, stepper and cross trainer. These are the only machines I use and I love them! This is just a suggestion that you may want to try.

You should definitely think about working with someone on an off season diet plan to help you lose the extra weight you want to get rid of. You should be eating enough protein in small meals through out the day.

You definitely have made some changes in your before and after pics and look great! Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged and stay focused! You can do it!

Good luck!

[mrbeefy]

Hi Trish!

If you don't mind, I'd like to add my 2 cents

You may wish to diversify you cardio a bit too.

For example:

30-45 minutes on the treadmill, BUT...every 2 minutes step off (carefully) and do 10 stationary lunges, then step back on the treadmill (carefully).

You can switch this up a few different ways and see what works for you, but when I prepared for my first contest, I went from 185 to 132 in about 9 months.

And lastly.....looking at your pics, you have already made some great progress! That GREAT! KEEP IT UP GIRL! You are looking fantastic

Anything else I can do to help, just ask away!

oops....almost forgot one thing......the advice you get from Beckie and CeaAnna is some of the best you'll hear....enjoy!

[sicario]

First of all, let me congratulate you on the weight that you've already lost, those are some pretty big changes you've already made, and I think you should give yourself a pat on the back for that. Having said that, I think it's even more laudable that you want to loose even more and are willing to go the "extra mile", as most trainee's would be content with the changes you have already made. I think that seeing as you love going to the gym already, a great way to go that "extra mile" you are striving for would be to add some HIGH INTENSITY training techniques to you your workout. I think that such things as triple drop sets, super sets, tri-sets and my favorite, 10sets of 10 would be just what you need to get you where you want to be. When taken to the absolute limit, these techniques will help you to burn fat and get a good amount of muscular detail also. Commenting on your calorie intake, think that 1200 calories is way too low, especialy taking into account your energy expenditure. I personaly never have a trainee go under 1500 calories a day as I consider that the "starvation point" and feel that anything below that will slow your metabolism down too much which is exactly what you don't want!!!! I don't know what your protein intake is at right now, but if I were you I'd add some clean protein calories back into your diet (protein shakes are a simple way to do this) and give the high intensity techniques I mentioned a try. As a side note, I read your comment about having to loose another 40 pounds, and in my opinion, I think you are being a little too hard on yourself. Of course you never know what you look like till you actually loose the weight, but I certainly think that you have far less than 40 pounds of extra fat on your body right now. Good luck, Vin.

[iamfirmin]

You LOOK WONDERFUL .. do not discount your progress.. TIME IS THE KEY and when I am at a sticking point HIGH INTENSE CARDIO WORKS BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP IT UP ..
I will be watching your progress.. I TOO HAVE GAINED TOOO MUCH FAT THE OFF SEASON .. NOW IT IS TIME TO BEGIN