Personal Trainer available for free advice

tzarba wrote: »

Ok I'll be first, thanks in advance.

35 yo female
Height: 5'2
Frame: Med
Weight: 117

I started the year at 122lbs which for a medium frame/height is fine according to charts. Most say 118-132. Last year at 128, I had my body fat tested with clippers and it was 18.4%. I haven't had a retest but plan on it soon.

My goal is to have muscle definition and tone.
I started lifting again this year, but on my own. Years ago I lifted with a trainer and bulked up.
I currently lift 6 days a week. I do upper body 3 days and legs 3 days. It's about 30-35 min of lifting each time. On upper body days, I run 4 miles, but doing intervals. On leg days, I run 2.
I have seen a change, but not drastic. I need to work on abs, that's the one thing I'm not consistent on.

My concern is calorie intake. I have an Up24 band, and according to the app, my daily burn with activity is bn 1700-1800's.
I know I can't gain muscle on a deficit, but I also want to lose fat. My calorie intake right now is about 1350. I eat a zone based diet. 3 meals, 2 snacks. Despite the deficit, I'm not losing any more weight. Possibly bc my intake is low?
Should I be eating more like 1450-1500 calories if my total burn is in the 1700-1800 range?

Hi there. According to your calorie intake and exercise you should be losing weight. I would not recommencement to cut your calories any lower. But definitely check your bodyfat levels again, if there are lower than before then that means that the reintroduction of resistance training in your lifestyle has allowed you for a short period of time to build muscle and burn bodyfat. So I think get that tested first and do not rely so much on the scale but more on how you look , so taking pictures every 3-4 weeks would be a good idea.

I hope this helps

Alexis

claudiaxcu wrote: »

First of all, Thank you for offering you advice for free, that's so nice
Soo.. I'm 28 years old, 5'3 and 154lbs.
I'm trying to lose some weight.. i'm currently going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week (i do 45minutes cardio and after i do some weight training)
On the other days i try to do some videos (les mills combat/T25)
I've been doing this for the last 2 months but i havent lost much weight (2pounds in those 2 months) i've taken measurements and not losing any of those either..
I'm eating 1200calories plus half of what the machine at the gym says, soo my question is.. What am i doing wrong?

Hi at your activity level and caloric intake you should be losing some weight. I am a bit confused about you eating half of the calories that the machine says? do you mean you eat half of the calories you burn on a cardio machine?

I would say decrease your cardio and add a bit more resistance training or at least balance them a bit.

For example: If you are working out 4 times a week

Mon Wed Fri 20-30 mins Low intensity cardio and then 30 mins full body workout
1 exercise per muscle group 3 sets of 10-12

And on the 4th day do some High intensity cardio like interval training

This is just an example of a balanced approach, I am not saying you should change your workout just balance it out a bit.

Another reason why you haven't lost weight is because your body is still at a newbie type of phase if exercising was something you haven't done in a while. During this phase your body burns fat while building muscle at the same time. This does not last long only a couple of months. I am sure you got stronger through theses 2 months and your endurance and ability to perform those less mills workouts improved.

I understand it can be frustrating if the scale is not showing you what you want to see but keep exercising, eat clean and and track your calories as well as using the mirror and compare picture to see how you are looking.

I hope this helps

Alexis

angellak wrote: »

How much bodyfat can you lose in a month?

That will depend on your workout, diet and current body fat levels. For example it is easier for someone to lose bodyfat if they are a bit over weight compared to an already very lean person.
The safe weight-loss guideline is 1 to 2 pounds per week. While there is no guideline on body-fat loss, the American Council on Exercise recommend 1 percent loss per month.

I hope this helps

@Gia07 you are very welcome! yeah just make sure that arms are a day apart from chest or back to avoid overworking them

SophiaSerrao wrote: »

alexiscy323 wrote: »

Another reason why you haven't lost weight is because your body is still at a newbie type of phase if exercising was something you haven't done in a while. During this phase your body burns fat while building muscle at the same time. This does not last long only a couple of months. I am sure you got stronger through theses 2 months and your endurance and ability to perform those less mills workouts improved.

Hey, thanks for doing this.

I think the same thing you said to a previous user might e happening to me (I hope I quoted your text correctly). Can you elaborate a bit on this, please? Because I too am eating at a deficit (aimed for fat loss), but am strength training and doing some hiit (aimed for muscle build... or at least maintaining my current musculature). So when the body has to both.... what happens?

Thanks again for your time and input!!

Hi this phase does not last long only 1-2 months. The body is "confused" and tries to adapt to exercise and for a little while it burns fat while maintaining and build muscle mass. So if you are not losing weight after this then you have to really experiment with your deficit until you are losing 1 pound week. It is all bout being accurate with measuring your food and logging it. It can be a tedious process but it is a good way to find out what works or not for your specific goals.

Hi @sistrspkrl yes soreness does intake that your muscles have had a workout, there are various degrees of soreness that you might experience depending on the workout, hydration, diet, post workout stretching and foam rolling. If every now and then you don't experience soreness that does not mean that you did not have a good workout. There should always be progressive overload in your program, that does not mean that you should increase the weight on every work out but def every 2 weeks you should be able to notice increases in reps and slight increase in strength.

Hope this helps
alexis