Questions on fat intake and training suggestions
JCE0129
Posts: 26 Member
I am trying to get back into the swing of things and I have some questions on how to do it properly. My weight has yo-yo'd big time over the last several years. I am 5'3", currently 136 lbs and 32% BF.
The quick version..... I went from 150 to 120 about 5 years ago when I get serious about fitness and started working with a trainer. Put a good part of that weight back on, then got sick (led to an IBS diagnosis) and dropped to 110....but it was pure starvation, there was no working out for me on what I was able to eat. Now here I am. I've gained 12 lbs just within the last year. I started a new job for which I travel a lot, and stopped working out. I am back in the gym and would like to take off 15 lbs....or at least be tone to the point that my clothes fit nicely and I feel better.
The trainer I worked with years ago had me on 1200 calories, 20g fat, 120g protein. She did not have me track carbs. It worked well for me, but I recently have been told that amount of calories and macros seemed too low. When I was sick I got into the habit of eating nutrient dense food....avocado, nut butters....which was fine when that was all I was eating. Now I find that foods like that put me over in fat. I do not eat red meat or pork. I cannot digest them. Chicken, fish, eggs, and protein powders are my primary protein sources. I am lactose intolerant but I do eat some low fat, lactose free cheese and greek yogurt. I use almond milk for my protein shakes. I do not do well with starchy carbs, for example I will make spaghetti squash for myself if the family wants pasta and I usually stay away from bread. Again, too hard to digest. I do drink. I am a nightly (big) glass of red wine person, but I track the calories as part of my meal. My doctor recently told me she would like to see me back on the IBS diet she prescribed a few years ago. It is super restrictive and left me with no energy, so I am trying to avoid it and just eat clean, whole foods I know I can tolerate.
Now for training....I want to get back into lifting. I am not a big cardio person. I do what is necessary to warm up and usually only run if something is chasing me. My new gym does have a pool, however, and I am looking forward to using that for some lap swimming. I have access to a corporate fitness program that offers daily "boot camp" type or TBC classes, although I have never been big on group fitness. My biggest problem is I will start a program and give up after 2 weeks because I bloat and gain before I lose. I am trying to power through that phase this time. My biggest question is, what is a good regimen? A trainer isn't in the budget right now. I used to do a little cardio each time I went to the gym and alternate lifting for upper and lower body, usually 5 days a week would end up being 3 lower body days and 2 upper body days. Is that oversimplifying or working muscle groups too often?
I am a little over 6 months from my 40th birthday and I don't want to turn 40 feeling fat and tired. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated. Thanks!
The quick version..... I went from 150 to 120 about 5 years ago when I get serious about fitness and started working with a trainer. Put a good part of that weight back on, then got sick (led to an IBS diagnosis) and dropped to 110....but it was pure starvation, there was no working out for me on what I was able to eat. Now here I am. I've gained 12 lbs just within the last year. I started a new job for which I travel a lot, and stopped working out. I am back in the gym and would like to take off 15 lbs....or at least be tone to the point that my clothes fit nicely and I feel better.
The trainer I worked with years ago had me on 1200 calories, 20g fat, 120g protein. She did not have me track carbs. It worked well for me, but I recently have been told that amount of calories and macros seemed too low. When I was sick I got into the habit of eating nutrient dense food....avocado, nut butters....which was fine when that was all I was eating. Now I find that foods like that put me over in fat. I do not eat red meat or pork. I cannot digest them. Chicken, fish, eggs, and protein powders are my primary protein sources. I am lactose intolerant but I do eat some low fat, lactose free cheese and greek yogurt. I use almond milk for my protein shakes. I do not do well with starchy carbs, for example I will make spaghetti squash for myself if the family wants pasta and I usually stay away from bread. Again, too hard to digest. I do drink. I am a nightly (big) glass of red wine person, but I track the calories as part of my meal. My doctor recently told me she would like to see me back on the IBS diet she prescribed a few years ago. It is super restrictive and left me with no energy, so I am trying to avoid it and just eat clean, whole foods I know I can tolerate.
Now for training....I want to get back into lifting. I am not a big cardio person. I do what is necessary to warm up and usually only run if something is chasing me. My new gym does have a pool, however, and I am looking forward to using that for some lap swimming. I have access to a corporate fitness program that offers daily "boot camp" type or TBC classes, although I have never been big on group fitness. My biggest problem is I will start a program and give up after 2 weeks because I bloat and gain before I lose. I am trying to power through that phase this time. My biggest question is, what is a good regimen? A trainer isn't in the budget right now. I used to do a little cardio each time I went to the gym and alternate lifting for upper and lower body, usually 5 days a week would end up being 3 lower body days and 2 upper body days. Is that oversimplifying or working muscle groups too often?
I am a little over 6 months from my 40th birthday and I don't want to turn 40 feeling fat and tired. Any suggestions or advice is appreciated. Thanks!
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Replies
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First, I am no expert, I just wanted to make a comment about the fat content you are talking about, as well as the wine. Fat is not always the enemy. Foods like nuts and avocados have "good" fats in them. Also, I watched a movie on Amazon Prime a couple of weeks ago called That Sugar Film. I highly recommend it. It explains that many foods that are "low fat" are also high added sugar. After watching that, I decided to take a serious look at my added sugar intake. I specify added, because fruits and veggies have sugar, but as long as you eat them sensibly, you should have no problems. I started limiting my added sugar on May 10th. I'm down six pounds already. It may be worth checking out for you since you talk about the wine you drink in the evening. One 8 oz glass of the wine I was drinking had 21g of sugar. I didn't just drink one glass, however, and by the sound of it, neither do you. This was a real eye opener for me. Calories are important, but where the calories come from seems to be even more important.0
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TheDraya23 wrote: »One 8 oz glass of the wine I was drinking had 21g of sugar. I didn't just drink one glass, however, and by the sound of it, neither do you. This was a real eye opener for me.
Thanks for the input, and the thought has occurred to me. That's why I have researched it. It all depends on what you are drinking. I like big, bold, dry reds. Typically, this type of wine has less than 7g of sugar in a 8oz glass. These articles help explain the science behind why and how wine contains such little sugar:
http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-drinks/ask-diet-doctor-wine-low-sugar-diet
https://iquitsugar.com/faqs/can-i-drink-wine/
If you are drinking a sweet wine (moscato), champagne, or dessert wine....well, that's a different story.
As far as "added" sugar goes, I do not eat a lot of processed foods because of my GI issues, and you don't need to worry about added sugar in whole foods. I also track my sugar with my other macros and I am very cautious when choosing protein powders, protein bars, etc. I do not drink juices or sodas, just a ton of water. I even keep fructose to a minimum because it is an IBS trigger. I appreciate what you are saying, and I agree alcohol can be a source of empty calories (I'm not claiming it is the best use of 200 calories, but at least I recognize the caloric intake), but I don't think sugar is the issue. In the best shape of my life I still drank regularly, it's not a new thing.
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As far as the training piece goes, it's generally fine to train 4-5 days/week if that's your preference.
Some programs you could check out:
Strong Curves
New Rules of Lifting for Women
StrongLifts 5x5
All-Pro's Beginner Routine
Lyle's GBR
Pretty much every good training program for improving your physique will have the following characteristics:
1) Built around multi-joint exercises and it might include isolation movements afterwards
2) The entire body is trained at least two times per week with reasonable volume
3) Progressive overload is built into the program
And certainly there are other characteristics but generally speaking if you're training your entire body, you're making progress over time, and you're doing things frequently you'll capture a good portion of the desired benefits.
From a diet standpoint I can't advise on IBS specific concerns but it sounds to me like you're already on top of that.
For people without medical conditions that dictate otherwise, I don't think sugars are necessarily problematic PROVIDED THAT you're eating a reasonable calorie and macronutrient intake for your goals AND provided that you're remaining satiated AND provided that your sugar intake isn't so high that it's pushing other needed nutrients out of the diet.
Example -- if you eat too much cake and drink too much pepsi, you are either going to over-consume calories or under-consume other nutrients.
If you're not doing that, then enjoy your wine and don't worry about it, IMO.
For my clients I have them count alcohol as carbs or fat, their choice -- but if their alcohol consumption becomes large enough that either of those nutrients become an issue, or it starts effecting other areas of their life negatively, then I bring that up as professionally as possible.
Let me know if you have other questions.3 -
"For my clients I have them count alcohol as carbs or fat, their choice -- but if their alcohol consumption becomes large enough that either of those nutrients become an issue, or it starts effecting other areas of their life negatively, then I bring that up as professionally as possible."
Well, I am working on my 2nd master's degree and studying for CPA exams, on top of traveling one week out of most months for work, and raising 3 kids. I don't think alcohol is negatively impacting my life too much since I am managing all that, lol....it's just my way of unwinding and I am hoping that a more regular and intensive workout regimen will help with that as well.
Can you please explain what you mean by counting alcohol as fat or carbs? What would that look like exactly? I know a glass of wine will cost me 125 calories and a few grams of carbs, so I guess I look at it from a calorie standpoint more than anything else.
Thanks so much for the info! I will definitely check out those training programs.
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Typically when we assign a calorie intake, that calorie intake consists of carbohydrates, fat, and protein.
For example if someone is on a 2000 cal diet it might look something like this:
Protein: 180 g
Fat: 70 g
Carbohydrate: 165g
Technically this is 2010 cal because I rounded carbohydrate up.
When people log food it consists of a combination of one or more of these macronutrients.
What I'm saying is, when you drink alcohol it adds to your calories but the alcohol itself does not contain any of the macro nutrients.
So you essentially can "count" alcohol as any combination of fat and carbohydrate.
Another way of saying it might be this: don't go over your calories, make sure you get to your protein target, enjoy your wine.
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@SideSteel. What do you think of 20g fat intake for OP?0
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arditarose wrote: »@SideSteel. What do you think of 20g fat intake for OP?
Good question. I was recently told that was too low, but it worked well in the past. I'm curious as to other's thoughts.0 -
arditarose wrote: »@SideSteel. What do you think of 20g fat intake for OP?
Good question. I was recently told that was too low, but it worked well in the past. I'm curious as to other's thoughts.
I have similar stats to you, 5'4" and around 135-137. But a lower body fat percent. When I try to lose I often dip down to 20g of fat and I can tell you...I lose my libido and my period.0 -
I should say I learned that the hard way and definitely try to stick closer to 50g now.0
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I think it's likely too low for most people especially for any extended duration.0
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I wouldn't be comfortable setting anyone to that low of fat intake if they were my client. I do have one client who dips into the low 30s and occasional high 20's but she's also a registered dietician and she's also taking responsibility for it.0
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arditarose wrote: »I have similar stats to you, 5'4" and around 135-137. But a lower body fat percent. When I try to lose I often dip down to 20g of fat and I can tell you...I lose my libido and my period.
Interesting. My fat comes primarily from things like almond butter, avocado, etc. and I know people say that is "good fat". My former trainer told me "fat is fat", so I've tried to stay low but it is hard to do and still get my protein in.
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I personally do a lot better bumping fats up and carbs down in terms of satiety, adherence, GI issues and joint aches. (The latter two problems decreased drastically when I shifted my macros in that direction.) YMMV though, of course. I have PCOS and MS, and research on those two has affected my diet choices.0
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arditarose wrote: »I have similar stats to you, 5'4" and around 135-137. But a lower body fat percent. When I try to lose I often dip down to 20g of fat and I can tell you...I lose my libido and my period.
Interesting. My fat comes primarily from things like almond butter, avocado, etc. and I know people say that is "good fat". My former trainer told me "fat is fat", so I've tried to stay low but it is hard to do and still get my protein in.
Curious what was implied by "fat is fat" - like you'd get fat even if you had a deficit?0 -
Curious what was implied by "fat is fat" - like you'd get fat even if you had a deficit?
The way I understood it, good fat or bad fat...it doesn't matter.....so, if she was telling me to stick to 20g of fat a day and I ate avocado that took up 10g, the fact that it was "good fat" was irrelevant. Fat is fat....meaning a snickers bar or an avocado...all the same.
I am trying to break away from that way of thinking, but it is hard for me to eat 45g of fat in a day and not feel bad about it. And that is 45g of eggs, lean protein, nuts and nut butter, etc...not snickers bars. Her (my former trainer) method worked, it is just not feasible to continue for a long period of time.
I really only started to feel okay about eating healthy fats when all of my digestive issues started. I could eat so little that I didn't feel bad about things like avocado or almond butter. But today, for example, my meals are planned and I am at 1180 cal, around 40g fat, 105 carb, 40 sugar, 100 protein. I did a 75 minute functional workout at the gym this morning before work, used some heavy weight and some moderate weight (by my standards)....I feel like I have too much food planned for the day, but I know I will be hungry.0 -
... today, for example, my meals are planned and I am at 1180 cal, around 40g fat, 105 carb, 40 sugar, 100 protein. I did a 75 minute functional workout at the gym this morning before work, used some heavy weight and some moderate weight (by my standards)....I feel like I have too much food planned for the day, but I know I will be hungry.
At 32% fat for a 39yr female, isn't 1180cals about a 100-cal deficit before you even move outta bed? That'd make me pretty hungry to be taking in so few calories (fat or otherwise) if I moved out of bed at all ... I would imagine that your TDEE may be more than twice of what you're allowing yourself to take in.2 -
Ditto's to above - your body ain't going to like extreme like that - it'll fight you rather than work with you.
And usually you'll lose - just not the fat weight you are desiring.
You have 3 kids and family and busy moving schedule (though study obviously isn't) - I doubt you are that sedentary when you throw in workouts.
You likely have no idea how good your workouts good be at this point to transform your body beyond what the scale may say.1 -
Thanks guys. I never looked at it before. TDEE calculator shows mine at 1978, with a minimum of 1500 daily intake. That's based on 3 to 5 workouts a week and I have been averaging 5, sometimes more if I can squeeze in a HIIT or Tabata class at the corporate fitness center during lunch. Maybe this is why I don't feel as though I am making any progress. Scale has gone up but, what bothers me more, is that I don't see any changes, clothes don't fit any differently, etc. Not to mention I am fatigued and lately often worthless for studying in the evening.0
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Well, maybe slowly stepping-up your daily intake to 1500cals or better could help you to feel better and along the way, perhaps your body will begin to settle-down and fall in line.
As for your macros, there are far wiser people here to offer input, but at 136lbs @ 32% BF your lean mass would be ~93lbs so your 120g of protein may be a bit heavier than necessary (~1.3g/lb of LBM), unless you're going all hypertrophic or something. Similarly 20g of fat (kinda in the 180-cal range) is kinda on the low side (12%) for 1500-cal intake (20g fat would'a been ~15% on your previous 1200-cal plan; could be older thoughts on low-fat intake haunting you here).
Let's see what the real experts have to say ... (sorry to go so far afield from your OP)
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