HELP! Workout Routine for Scatterbrain: PiiT vs Tone It up (Bikini Babe) ??

Only way to lose weight is in the kitchen - eat fewer calories than you burn which means you need to start counting your calories against your weight loss goal.

Okay. I got ya. Honestly, even an INTENSE Pilates training is not going to cut down your fat in a significant way. I took a gander at the program from a few YouTube videos and her website. It'll build up some muscle and strength for you, lean you out a bit from the stretching, but won't be intense enough to cut down on the fat like you're probably wanting. I do PiYo as a supplemental workout. I love it but if it weren't for my strength/cardio circuit training...it would do little on its own. I am the type that feels like I've wasted my time if I don't feel like I got my a** handed to me during a workout. Not everyone is like this so obviously it's going to come down to what program you feel most comfortable tackling.

Sounds like a good distribution of macros you have going. You may want to take your fat down to 25%. I found that 30% every day was too high for me. If I hit 30% SOME DAYS, that is fine...but consistently, I try to stay around 25% if not less. How long have you been eating 1200 calories?? If it's been for quite some time, you may want to take this up a couple hundred calories. Your body may have adjusted and your metabolism may have slowed down. As far as the processed food issue, don't beat yourself up about that. Obviously, fresh and homemade is best. However, there have been studies done that prove you can lose weight and tone up while eating 100% "crap" foods. I wouldn't recommend that, but you're fine with Quest Bars (I eat them myself and LOVE em) and things like Beanitos. The frozen lunches, however, get rid of those. Soooooo much sodium. On occasion, they're fine. As a regular go-to...that literally will just make you pack on the water weight/bloat. If you keep an eye on that sodium and keep it around 2000mg/day, I bet that will be enough to see the scale move, too. After a Saturday of drinks and not calorie-counting, I can (no joke) put on up to 10lbs of water weight. I'm not even talking a binge here, just drinking wine and some snacks. It's awful, but the body responds very negatively to an influx of sodium. Anyhow, if you're being totally upfront about your nutrition, those are the best suggestions I can make because you don't sound too far off from a superb diet.

That scale feature may not be 100% accurate but they are accurate enough to tell you if there's progress. You still want there to be movement in that percentage.

OK a few corrections - while it's possible within the realm of fitness to see muscle gains and fat loss, it won't really happen on a 1200 calorie diet, and won't happen with pilates or HIIT. A person needs progressive overload to continue to break down muscle tissue and for it to rebuilt.


Next, reducing fats and increase carbs wont' make a difference outside of personal satiety and personal preference. In the end, calories are what matters in terms of weight loss. Adequate protein and non aggressive weight loss is what will help you maintain muscle. In general macros should be around:

protein .8-1g per lb of lean body mass (roughly .6-.8g per lb of weight
fats .35-.6g per lb of lean body mass
carbs rest

And within that, carbs and fats are highly personal (it's really based on dietary adherence).


If your goal is to lose some fat and gain some muscle, you adequate stimuli to do so. Meaning, you want a progressive overload lifting program (i.e., like one of these) and fairly solid nutrition.

Now, in general terms, 1200 calories may not be right for you. In many cases, like when people are active, it is not good. But without knowing your stats, it's hard to tell. Another thing that needs to be considered is adequate expectations. When you are lower in body fat, it takes longer to get to your goal and becomes increasingly more important to track calories.

Did you put 2 lbs per week? MFP is kind of a dumby system and relies on your inputs. It's also, pre workout calories. Once you workout, you are supposed to eat more.

southrnchic479 wrote: »

Yes I did - I do usually eat back some or all. So maybe I'll eat like 1300-1450 altogether? on my workout days only of course.

How much are you losing per week?

You're trying to lose 130 lbs? That's what I asked.

Or your goal weight is 130 lbs? Which is what it looks like you meant. That's fine. If that's your goal, then what are you now?

In that case, 2 lb per week is too aggressive a loss. With that little to lose, you'll be losing a bit of lean mass, too. That said, it sounds like your estimations are off a bit.

I'll recommend using the food scale for everything you can - it'll likely be a real eye-opener.

That, in addition to setting MFP up to lose 0.5, maybe 1 lb per week. Also, follow the macro outlines psulemon mentioned above.

Also, like psulemon linked above, some form of progressive strength training will help you keep more (possibly build) muscle, while losing primarily fat.

Not that you have to do exactly what she did, but just as an example: https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

Congratulations on your weight loss so far!

I started using Blogilates a few years ago, and found her routines to be incredibly entertaining, especially when Cassey yelled about her abs being on fire, or the 100 burpees video (never again!). I lost about 15lb in a month doing just her videos, 1 hr a day, following her calendar. I started out at 205 and got to about 190lb. I was also following her meal plan (I'm not sure if it is still posted on her website), but it wasn't very nutrient-dense, or the best for me. Unfortunately, I gained back a lot of that weight I lost with her videos, and then some.

While I think her videos are great supplements, I would not focus on doing just her routine. Maybe take 2x out of the week and do her calendar videos. They are a great burn, but like many others have said on this forum, isn't going to get rid of the fat.

One of the best ways to lose body fat is weightlifting. There are plenty of beginner programs out there (StrongLifts, New Rules of Lifting for Women, etc) that will teach you step-by-step how to do barbell squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc. These moves are fundamental. Don't worry about "bulking" -- because that does not happen for women unless you take a lot of supplements.

Cardio is good for increasing your endurance, and HIIT cardio (intervals over 20-30 minutes where you run faster than your normal run speed, and then walk, jog) will all help.

To give you an idea, I'm a schedule person myself, so this is what I've been doing:

I am currently doing Erin Stern's Elite Body on Bodybuilding.com (which is also a great resource if you need to look up videos on how to do certain moves). It's 4 days of weightlifting (including core exercises), 2 days of cardio. I also do yoga (I'm aiming for at least 3 days a week on yoga) to help with flexibility, endurance, and core.

And to reiterate what a lot of others have said, accurately weighing your food (not just measuring it out in cups/tablespoons) will really help with logging.

Scooby's Workshop has a good calculator you can use (just google scooby's workshop bodyfat calculator and it should pop up) to give you a better idea of what your calorie intake should be. You can also play around with their macro calculator too.

Tone It Up is a like a cult... one I personally can't stand. No such thing as "toning!" There is no need to spend that kind of money when you can get exercise programs that are just as effective or better, for free off the internet, etc.