Someone critique my plan

psuLemon

Have absolutely no patience with this get into shape and getting my body back. So I have read a proliferate of literature on how to get to my target. I am 5'4' and a whole lot older (49) than you and have lost 15 of the 30 I hope to lose by April 1. Second 3 month round I hope to lose another 5-10. Never lost weight this fast so something I am doing is working.

Here are some of the items that I have read about and am incorporating into my weight loss program:
-1100-1700 calories depending on social life and exercise completed that day.
-Drink 3-6 cups of Oolong tea a day. You can buy it on Amazon.
-Grapefruit 1-3xs a day
-Vitamin C supplement
-Omega 3 supplement
-Green coffee bean extract supplement (morning and night)
-Trying to keep to a high protein diet. To do that find that I must incorporate protein supplements.
-Eating a lot of nuts and vegetables.
-Other than protein supplements consuming miniscule amount of processed food. Most everything processed (including peanut butter and frozen food) has ingredients that may not add calories but that hinder weight loss just the same.
-Eating something 4-5xs a day (Might just be almonds but keeps the fuel up)
-30 minutes HIT on treadmill every morning before I eat anything. Doing cardio on an empty stomach burns fat not calories. I wear a heart monitor to assure that I hit my high target and go down to my low target. Do 2 min high then go to 1 min. low.
-Perform an extended work out 1-2 xs a week. 6-10 mile hike (1000-2000) calorie burn.
-Do weights 3xs a week. Take rest day in between. I follow the weight program in "Thinner Leaner and Stronger".
-Consume BCAA before and after weight lifting. Also eat something that has protein after.

I know it is a mess of items. Maybe you can incorporate a couple of the items.

While this is great that it works for you.. 90% of it is rather unnecessary.. One doesn't need to drink tea, take vitamins, BCAA nor eat lots of grapefuits.

psuLemon

Drop some of the cardio. At this point, you should be looking for recomp or basic fat loss. Also, your projected goal weight is underweight. The majority of those on this board that have been underweight, struggle with body fat issue due to loss of lean body mass. So if your overall goal is a lean body, then you really shouldn't be aiming to be underweight.


Personally, i would do 4 days of heavy lifting (if you want do upper lower splits), 2 days of HIIT but drop the additional squats. Calories should be around 1700 (macros 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats). And use a food scale for accuracy.

I would love to eat 1700 calories a day!!

Do you use a food scale and can you open your diary?

ps- based on the calculations I did, it's 1700 total calories.. the deficit is already factored in.

I opened it. yesterday was lower than usual.. but the day before that was over so I think it evened out pretty well.

and no I do not have a food scale..

Get a food scale, it's the only way to be accurate. It's extremely easy to under count calories (as much as 400-500). Second, you are very inconsistent with your logging. You need to log everything for a month to even consider if you are doing stuff right. Third, protein is a bit low, probably should aim for 100g a day.

allana1111

Have absolutely no patience with this get into shape and getting my body back. So I have read a proliferate of literature on how to get to my target. I am 5'4' and a whole lot older (49) than you and have lost 15 of the 30 I hope to lose by April 1. Second 3 month round I hope to lose another 5-10. Never lost weight this fast so something I am doing is working.

Here are some of the items that I have read about and am incorporating into my weight loss program:
-1100-1700 calories depending on social life and exercise completed that day.
-Drink 3-6 cups of Oolong tea a day. You can buy it on Amazon.
-Grapefruit 1-3xs a day
-Vitamin C supplement
-Omega 3 supplement
-Green coffee bean extract supplement (morning and night)
-Trying to keep to a high protein diet. To do that find that I must incorporate protein supplements.
-Eating a lot of nuts and vegetables.
-Other than protein supplements consuming miniscule amount of processed food. Most everything processed (including peanut butter and frozen food) has ingredients that may not add calories but that hinder weight loss just the same.
-Eating something 4-5xs a day (Might just be almonds but keeps the fuel up)
-30 minutes HIT on treadmill every morning before I eat anything. Doing cardio on an empty stomach burns fat not calories. I wear a heart monitor to assure that I hit my high target and go down to my low target. Do 2 min high then go to 1 min. low.
-Perform an extended work out 1-2 xs a week. 6-10 mile hike (1000-2000) calorie burn.
-Do weights 3xs a week. Take rest day in between. I follow the weight program in "Thinner Leaner and Stronger".
-Consume BCAA before and after weight lifting. Also eat something that has protein after.

I know it is a mess of items. Maybe you can incorporate a couple of the items.

So you incorporate all of those things?

allana1111

Drop some of the cardio. At this point, you should be looking for recomp or basic fat loss. Also, your projected goal weight is underweight. The majority of those on this board that have been underweight, struggle with body fat issue due to loss of lean body mass. So if your overall goal is a lean body, then you really shouldn't be aiming to be underweight.


Personally, i would do 4 days of heavy lifting (if you want do upper lower splits), 2 days of HIIT but drop the additional squats. Calories should be around 1700 (macros 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fats). And use a food scale for accuracy.

I would love to eat 1700 calories a day!!

Do you use a food scale and can you open your diary?

ps- based on the calculations I did, it's 1700 total calories.. the deficit is already factored in.

I opened it. yesterday was lower than usual.. but the day before that was over so I think it evened out pretty well.

and no I do not have a food scale..

Get a food scale, it's the only way to be accurate. It's extremely easy to under count calories (as much as 400-500). Second, you are very inconsistent with your logging. You need to log everything for a month to even consider if you are doing stuff right. Third, protein is a bit low, probably should aim for 100g a day.

yeah weekends are harder for me to log everything

TavistockToad

5ft5 and 115 is pretty low...

i know everyone is different but i am 5ft5 and 135lbs and losing 0.5lb per week on NET 1800 cals. I do full body strength training 3x a week and insanity for cardio 2 x a week

nice very interesting.. yeah I mean trust me I love food I'd love to eat more calories. do you go solely on calories and protein, or do u watch your carbs too?

i watch all my macros, i am set on 40% carbs, 25% protein and 35% fat.

allana1111

So you folks think..

If I take more rest days, and eat 1500 calories (min) .. 1800 calories (max) that I can get a bit leaner/lose inches in 3 months. I'm starting to panic thinking I'm running out of time and I feel like I haven't changed much in the past 2 months...


also, how often do you take progress pictures?

psuLemon

Get a food scale, it's the only way to be accurate. It's extremely easy to under count calories (as much as 400-500). Second, you are very inconsistent with your logging. You need to log everything for a month to even consider if you are doing stuff right. Third, protein is a bit low, probably should aim for 100g a day.

yeah weekends are harder for me to log everything

Exercise won't be the issue.. In all reality, if you want to be lean and have low body fat, it takes another level of dedication. Skinny is easy, fit is not. It's not to say that you can't be fit without logging calories, but it can take a lot longer.

psuLemon

So you folks think..

If I take more rest days, and eat 1500 calories (min) .. 1800 calories (max) that I can get a bit leaner/lose inches in 3 months. I'm starting to panic thinking I'm running out of time and I feel like I haven't changed much in the past 2 months...


also, how often do you take progress pictures?

Pictures should be once a month or once a quarter.. your preference. I would take 1 rest day but don't work the same muscles back to back.

allana1111

what do you mean by whole other level of dedication? eating all clean...? upping protein massively? im really appreciating the comments )

psuLemon

what do you mean by whole other level of dedication? eating all clean...? upping protein massively? im really appreciating the comments )

More dedication means monitoring macronutrient goals as opposed to just calories and using methods to ensure accuracy. Even hear of the phrase, "you can't out exercise a poor diet"? It's true. If you do not know how many calories you are averaging a day or week, then it's hard to make recommendations for you. So do you want to dedicate yourself to meet you goals? If you aren't willing to track calories accurately and consistently, you may not reach your goals in the timeframe you want to.

If you don't have a timeframe, and will just track progress in your mirror or pictures, then its ok. Many people want to learn what to eat and how much without tracking calories. That is a perfectly acceptable course of actions. Eating lean proteins, veggies, fruits and moderation on desert and higher calorie carbs is one way to do it. In fact, that is how I started and I was able to get down to 18% body fat. But to get lower, I had to dedicate myself by logging daily and using a foodscale for accuracy. Since I dedicated myself, I am down another 3% bodyfat

concordancia

At 5'5 and 125, your bikini issues are all in your head. Stop trying to lose weight and focus on fitness and proper nutrition.

allana1111

I don't think it's that they're 'in my head' necessarily....I'm just extra critical of myself. more so than I would be on others. I know what I'm seeing is real.. and its probably minimal to some people but I really wanna be able to flaunt with 100% confidence

psuLemon

I don't think it's that they're 'in my head' necessarily....I'm just extra critical of myself. more so than I would be on others. I know what I'm seeing is real.. and its probably minimal to some people but I really wanna be able to flaunt with 100% confidence

In all fairness, insecurity doesnt' go away with weight loss. I know many women who still done like their bodies even though they have a flat stomach and definition. That is something you need to improve outside of weight loss.