Spiking / Fat2Fit didn't work, taking advice
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barefoot76
Posts: 314 Member
Howdy, all! Here's the breakdown and maybe someone can offer advice, I'm very willing to try anything.
First things first, my stats.
Age: 35
Height: 4'9" (57 inches)
Current Weight: 111.2 lbs
Body Fat: 24.5%
Goal Weight: 93-98 lbs (I used to be 98 lbs but I was "skinny fat," now I want to have muscle!)
I started getting back into working out in April 2011 when I seemed to have hit a plateau of 108 after steadily losing the baby weight from my 4th pregnancy. I was only doing cardio. I also went vegan during this time. In July, we travelled a bunch for summer break, I quit being vegan, and I was still at 108.
In October, I decided to get serious about running and I signed up for a half marathon in January and a much harder half-marathon course for February 2012. In November, a friend showed me how to use some of the weight machines at the gym, and I started a (very light) toning routine to try boost my core and leg strength for the races.
At the end of January, after my first half marathon, I weighed 113 lbs. I had actually gained 5 lbs from the time I started exercising almost a year before. Granted, I probably gained muscle, but I definitely wasn't losing the fat.
I heard about the Spike Diet, and I thought it sounded really reasonable and I decided to give it a try. According to the calculations, I would need to eat 1225 calories 3 days a week on my workout days, 725 calories 3 days a week, and then spike at 2450 calories one day a week. I was never able to eat as low as 725 calories a day, and I was still training for my second half-marathon. I tried eating around 1000-1300 calories a day instead, spiking at around 2000 calories (weekly calorie count was about 8000-9000 calories a week).
This worked, I got down to 107 in a few weeks, but I also felt like I was going to pass out most of the time. My blood sugar could not handle those low days.
I finished my second half-marathon at the end of February. I have one of those mud runs scheduled for June and decided I needed to build some major muscle to be able to do the obstacle course, so I started using the New Rules of Lifting for Women book to create a lifting routine. I still wanted to run, though, so I generally work out 5-6 days a week with a mix of heavy lifting (I'm definitely sore the next day or two), speed work, and cross-training. In general, I'm very active, besides going to the gym daily, I have four kids who keep me super-busy as well. I walk them to school or tote a couple of them around in the bike trailer. We play sports together for fun, go roller skating, ice skating, etc.
The Spike Diet calorie counts felt too low, and I kept reading on MFP about people having success with increasing their calories. I went to Fat2Fit and used the calculator. It suggested that my daily calorie intake should be 1800-2000 calories a day (and it says "It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.").
So, I brought my weekly calorie count up to about 10000-11000 per week, still cycling daily amounts. I also increased my protein intake (mostly plant proteins -- I'm not vegetarian, but my family is, so I don't eat a lot of meat, and besides I am allergic to milk and beef and pork).
Since I upped my calories, I've been gaining steadily. I'm back to 111. My measurements are all bigger, and my pants fit tighter. Don't get me wrong, I can see changes in the mirror and I am definitely developing muscle tone, I can lift heavier than ever, and I can even do three chin-ups! Woohoo! That's all great. But I still have a lot of the same old fat I've been carrying around my stomach and hips and thighs for the last few years. I'm at 24.5% body fat and I'd like to get down to 13-18%.
At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I eat very clean. My diary is open, so you're free to take a look at my food and macros if you want. I'm considering just abandoning the food diary and the scale for a while and just keeping up with my scheduled workouts because I feel like I'm obsessing and it is doing me more harm than good, but I'm open to opinions. Thanks in advance!
First things first, my stats.
Age: 35
Height: 4'9" (57 inches)
Current Weight: 111.2 lbs
Body Fat: 24.5%
Goal Weight: 93-98 lbs (I used to be 98 lbs but I was "skinny fat," now I want to have muscle!)
I started getting back into working out in April 2011 when I seemed to have hit a plateau of 108 after steadily losing the baby weight from my 4th pregnancy. I was only doing cardio. I also went vegan during this time. In July, we travelled a bunch for summer break, I quit being vegan, and I was still at 108.
In October, I decided to get serious about running and I signed up for a half marathon in January and a much harder half-marathon course for February 2012. In November, a friend showed me how to use some of the weight machines at the gym, and I started a (very light) toning routine to try boost my core and leg strength for the races.
At the end of January, after my first half marathon, I weighed 113 lbs. I had actually gained 5 lbs from the time I started exercising almost a year before. Granted, I probably gained muscle, but I definitely wasn't losing the fat.
I heard about the Spike Diet, and I thought it sounded really reasonable and I decided to give it a try. According to the calculations, I would need to eat 1225 calories 3 days a week on my workout days, 725 calories 3 days a week, and then spike at 2450 calories one day a week. I was never able to eat as low as 725 calories a day, and I was still training for my second half-marathon. I tried eating around 1000-1300 calories a day instead, spiking at around 2000 calories (weekly calorie count was about 8000-9000 calories a week).
This worked, I got down to 107 in a few weeks, but I also felt like I was going to pass out most of the time. My blood sugar could not handle those low days.
I finished my second half-marathon at the end of February. I have one of those mud runs scheduled for June and decided I needed to build some major muscle to be able to do the obstacle course, so I started using the New Rules of Lifting for Women book to create a lifting routine. I still wanted to run, though, so I generally work out 5-6 days a week with a mix of heavy lifting (I'm definitely sore the next day or two), speed work, and cross-training. In general, I'm very active, besides going to the gym daily, I have four kids who keep me super-busy as well. I walk them to school or tote a couple of them around in the bike trailer. We play sports together for fun, go roller skating, ice skating, etc.
The Spike Diet calorie counts felt too low, and I kept reading on MFP about people having success with increasing their calories. I went to Fat2Fit and used the calculator. It suggested that my daily calorie intake should be 1800-2000 calories a day (and it says "It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.").
So, I brought my weekly calorie count up to about 10000-11000 per week, still cycling daily amounts. I also increased my protein intake (mostly plant proteins -- I'm not vegetarian, but my family is, so I don't eat a lot of meat, and besides I am allergic to milk and beef and pork).
Since I upped my calories, I've been gaining steadily. I'm back to 111. My measurements are all bigger, and my pants fit tighter. Don't get me wrong, I can see changes in the mirror and I am definitely developing muscle tone, I can lift heavier than ever, and I can even do three chin-ups! Woohoo! That's all great. But I still have a lot of the same old fat I've been carrying around my stomach and hips and thighs for the last few years. I'm at 24.5% body fat and I'd like to get down to 13-18%.
At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I eat very clean. My diary is open, so you're free to take a look at my food and macros if you want. I'm considering just abandoning the food diary and the scale for a while and just keeping up with my scheduled workouts because I feel like I'm obsessing and it is doing me more harm than good, but I'm open to opinions. Thanks in advance!
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Replies
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Can you describe your workout routine a bit more? All I'm seeing is 'circuit training' in your diary.0
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Can you describe your workout routine a bit more? All I'm seeing is 'circuit training' in your diary.
I follow a 6 day lifting schedule with high intensity interval training (HIIT) on the elliptical or treadmill on four days, and then long runs on the core days. Looks like this:
Day 1 - 30 min HIIT, Back and biceps
Day 2 - 30 min HIIT,Glutes and quads
Day 3 - Core and 60 min cardio
Day 4 - 30 min HIIT,Chest, calves and hamstrings
Day 5 - 30 min HIIT,Shoulders and triceps
Day 6 - Core and 60 min cardio
Day 7 - Rest
Sometimes I do the HIIT sessions all at once, sometimes I break them up to do some before and after the lifting. Usually the whole routine takes me 60-90 minutes.0 -
Can you describe your workout routine a bit more? All I'm seeing is 'circuit training' in your diary.
I follow a 6 day lifting schedule with high intensity interval training (HIIT) on the elliptical or treadmill on four days, and then long runs on the core days. Looks like this:
Day 1 - 30 min HIIT, Back and biceps
Day 2 - 30 min HIIT,Glutes and quads
Day 3 - Core and 60 min cardio
Day 4 - 30 min HIIT,Chest, calves and hamstrings
Day 5 - 30 min HIIT,Shoulders and triceps
Day 6 - Core and 60 min cardio
Day 7 - Rest
Sometimes I do the HIIT sessions all at once, sometimes I break them up to do some before and after the lifting. Usually the whole routine takes me 60-90 minutes.
A couple of things I'll mention (this is not expert advice, please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt as it's just the product of being a slacker at work and reading a lot online):
1) Most days you do fairly decent on protein, getting around 80 grams per day. I would suggest shooting for a bit more though, your LBM is at ~84 lbs, try to get at least that many grams of protein EVERY day (shooting for 90 grams wouldn't hurt, and is a goal I would suggest). This should help with your lifting too.
2) Does HIIT impact your lifts? I know it would for me. I would consider doing lifting first and then your cardio after
3) Rather than going with something more extreme, consider gradual changes. Cycling calories is fine, but you're steadily gaining right now. Drop your weekly intake by 700-1400, and gauge the results. I find that the smaller changes over time make big transitions a lot easier, you also give yourself time to adapt to the new restricted intake. Bear in mind also that you're doing some pretty heavy training for your runs. Don't go too low or your performance could suffer.
4) Having a goal is a great thing, but also setup check points along the way to reassess.
5) A break from your diet may be a good thing. Make it for a set amount of time though (and keep up with your workouts!) and still try to eat healthy, just don't necessarily log it all. It's a marathon not a foot race, and the mental break could do you good.0 -
A couple of things I'll mention (this is not expert advice, please take what I'm saying with a grain of salt as it's just the product of being a slacker at work and reading a lot online):
1) Most days you do fairly decent on protein, getting around 80 grams per day. I would suggest shooting for a bit more though, your LBM is at ~84 lbs, try to get at least that many grams of protein EVERY day (shooting for 90 grams wouldn't hurt, and is a goal I would suggest). This should help with your lifting too.
2) Does HIIT impact your lifts? I know it would for me. I would consider doing lifting first and then your cardio after
3) Rather than going with something more extreme, consider gradual changes. Cycling calories is fine, but you're steadily gaining right now. Drop your weekly intake by 700-1400, and gauge the results. I find that the smaller changes over time make big transitions a lot easier, you also give yourself time to adapt to the new restricted intake. Bear in mind also that you're doing some pretty heavy training for your runs. Don't go too low or your performance could suffer.
4) Having a goal is a great thing, but also setup check points along the way to reassess.
5) A break from your diet may be a good thing. Make it for a set amount of time though (and keep up with your workouts!) and still try to eat healthy, just don't necessarily log it all. It's a marathon not a foot race, and the mental break could do you good.
I'm definitely struggling with protein. Since I can't do whey powders or red meat, I'm limited in my sources. I'll see what I can do about drinking more shakes. HIIT gets my blood pumping and energy up so I lift heavier (adrenaline rush). If I do more than 15 minutes HIIT before lifting, though, it has a negative effect.
Thanks for the advice!!0 -
I'm definitely struggling with protein. Since I can't do whey powders or red meat, I'm limited in my sources. I'll see what I can do about drinking more shakes. HIIT gets my blood pumping and energy up so I lift heavier (adrenaline rush). If I do more than 15 minutes HIIT before lifting, though, it has a negative effect.
Thanks for the advice!!
Can you do soy? Casein? I use syntha-6 which I believe is primarily casein but it's a blend so I'm not sure.0 -
Can you do soy? Casein? I use syntha-6 which I believe is primarily casein but it's a blend so I'm not sure.
Nope. Allergic to soy, dairy, gluten, wine and msg. Also red meats, steroids and most antibiotics (so I have to be very careful about the lean fish and fowl I do eat!). *sigh*
My current protein mix favorite is Garden of Life's "RAW Protein, Beyond Organic Protein Formula." It has virtually no flavor, so it can be mixed into anything. That, and Kyo-Green Energy Powdered Drink Mix which has chlorella and spirulina (both high in protein). It doesn't say how much protein it has on the package, but from researching online, I am guessing around 1-2g per teaspoon. I try to ingest around 30g per day.0 -
Nope. Allergic to soy, dairy, gluten, wine and msg. Also red meats, steroids and most antibiotics (so I have to be very careful about the lean fish and fowl I do eat!). *sigh*
My current protein mix favorite is Garden of Life's "RAW Protein, Beyond Organic Protein Formula." It has virtually no flavor, so it can be mixed into anything. That, and Kyo-Green Energy Powdered Drink Mix which has chlorella and spirulina (both high in protein). It doesn't say how much protein it has on the package, but from researching online, I am guessing around 1-2g per teaspoon. I try to ingest around 30g per day.
Understood, I can't be much help with selection as you can't eat the stuff that makes up like 90% of my diet. Good luck to you!0 -
Anything else change lately? I couldn't lose weight on birth control if my life depended on it. If nothing else has changed that could influence weight loss, I would stop zig zagging, since your body doesn't seem to like it and lower calories by 500 and see. Just keep making slow deductions to see what works for you.0
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What is HITT again?0
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What is HITT again?
High intensity interval training. In my case,it usually involves 1-2 minutes of low-intensity cardio followed by 1-2 minutes of high-intensity cardio. It could be speed work (where I jog then sprint, jog then sprint) or hill work (usually on the treadmill or elliptical hill interval setting).0 -
Anything else change lately? I couldn't lose weight on birth control if my life depended on it.
I'm not on any hormonal meds, thank goodness, but I do take claritin, sudafed, tylenol or advil as needed for my allergic reactions. I wonder if they interfere with metabolism??0 -
I did the spike diet awhile ago and read his book. You aren't supposed to go under 1200 calories on your low days. You are just meant to create the deficit with exercise if your low numbers take you under that. So maybe if you try it again, do 1200 on your low days and 1300-1400 on your high days?0
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So, I did a TON of reading last night to try to discover what I might need to do to meet my fat loss goals.
A few things stood out:
- I'm not getting adequate sleep -- and our metabolism slows when we are chronically exhausted. This is par for the course of having four kids while trying to run a business ;-) Still, I could try to go to bed earlier a few nights a week, and that might help.
- I'm stressed out. High levels of cortisone cause us to hold onto fat. Again with the four kids and the business thing. Working some meditation/yoga into my weekly routine might help.
- I'm highly allergic to, well, everything! This is probably the core reason I am not dropping the last of the fat. When my histamine levels are high, my body is going to hold onto as much water as it can to fight whatever it perceives as infection with inflammation. Fat is mostly water. Clearly, my body thinks I need that fat because it thinks it is constantly under attack.
I'm going to try an elimination diet of raw fruit and vegetable smoothies and salads, up my vitamins, go to bed earlier and work some calming stress relief into my schedule. I'll add foods in one by one to gauge my allergic reactivity. It will be good to see if this also helps me finally lose some of that fat. If not, at least I will have added some healthy habits to my lifestyle ;-)0
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