Any suggestions???

millalyte86

millalyte86

Cathlete
Hey everyone! So I'm getting married next year and just got my dress. Its a sweetheart strapless so it showcases my arms and upper back. I workout 5-6 days a week, mostly focusing on weight training but still doing cardio about 3 hours a week. I have a lot of muscle in my arms and back, however, unless I'm flexing you really can't see my muscle tone and I end up just looking bulky and thick. I'm thinking my problem is that my body fat is a little too high. Any suggestions on how to lose some body fat without losing any of my muscle and strength?? I eat clean with very occasional cheats. Diet suggestions would be great too if anyone has any.. Thanks!! I just want to feel totally secure and confident on my wedding day.

-Lauren
 
Add a circuit workout in there, some core work (actually thinking this has had a positive effect on digestion, no proof but, recently have had success with it) and:

Green Tea once a day, one apple, one orange, a banana, leafy green salad...lean protein, whole grains. Beans, lentils, low fat yogurt. Cruciferous veggies...eat clean, hydrate.

skip the refined sugar/carbs, limit alcohol.

The dress sounds lovely.:) Good Luck!
 
Thanks everyone! Whats everyones favorite circuit workouts? I have a lot for Cathe workouts so I'll most likely have them.
 
High Step Challenge! It kicks butt big time and if you REALLY want a challenge do the EXTREME version on the HCEX dvd! :eek::D;)
 
Thanks Wendy! Can you do circuit exercises back to back? I've been told in the past that you shouldn't work the same muscle groups two days in a row. What does everyone think?
 
If you don't lift heavy it's okay IMO but you could always do circuits with premixes in them that will allow you to alternated upper and lower body only circuits if you want.
 
Tom Venuto is coming out with a new e-book, something about the Holy Grail of fitness, it is all about the best methods to retain your muscle and lose fat, it's coming out 9/28, it sounds like it has a lot to do with carb and calorie cycling, eating the right things at the right time, and cycling muscle gaining focused periods with fat loss focused periods over a course of time. I'm curious about it, but I'm not sure I'm in a state of mind to put that much effort into my eating schedules.
 
Dela said:
Tom Venuto is coming out with a new e-book, something about the Holy Grail of fitness, it is all about the best methods to retain your muscle and lose fat, it's coming out 9/28, it sounds like it has a lot to do with carb and calorie cycling, eating the right things at the right time, and cycling muscle gaining focused periods with fat loss focused periods over a course of time. I'm curious about it, but I'm not sure I'm in a state of mind to put that much effort into my eating schedules.
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that sounds pretty interesting! I just have trouble with E-books. Lookin at the screen too long gives me a head ache. But the idea of cycling muscle building and fat-loss periods sounds interesting. I was kind of thinking of giving something like that a try. Like a month of heavy weight lifting and then a month of lots of cardio and endurance weight workout. What does everyone think of me trying this? Do you think it would be beneficial? Thanks again!
 
My favorite circuit is Low Impact Circuit, but part of the reason it's my favorite is that it's not the hardest! :eek: For toughness, I go to Drill Max for some serious butt-kicking.

Fit_mommy said:
If you don't lift heavy it's okay IMO but you could always do circuits with premixes in them that will allow you to alternated upper and lower body only circuits if you want.
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This is what I do (circuit premixes w/ upper or lower body only) and it gives me more leeway in what I do the days before and after a circuit workout. For example, last week my legs were killing me from B&G so the next day I did LIC upper only premix to give my legs a little break but still get some cardio circuit action. hth
 
millalyte86 said:
that sounds pretty interesting! I just have trouble with E-books. Lookin at the screen too long gives me a head ache. But the idea of cycling muscle building and fat-loss periods sounds interesting. I was kind of thinking of giving something like that a try. Like a month of heavy weight lifting and then a month of lots of cardio and endurance weight workout. What does everyone think of me trying this? Do you think it would be beneficial? Thanks again!
Click to expand...

I have some bodybuilding friends and that's what they do. I think it's common at that level of fitness to alternate the focus like that, but I don't know a great deal about it. I just know I hear talk of "leaning out" before competitions where they are doing tons of cardio to lose fat so their muscles look more cut, whereas at other times they're hardly doing any cardio and focusing more on building strength/muscle.

Since in your original post you said you have been focusing more on weights than cardio, it does make sense that maybe a month of cardio/endurance workouts would be the "leaning out" phase to give you the results you are looking for? Keep us posted!
 
I lined up a couple different type of rotations till the end of the year. The wedding isn't until October 21, 2011 so I'm gonna try these different types of rotations for now and see what the results of each are like. I think starting around April I'm going to do 3 months of heavy weights then I do 3 months of cardio/endurance workouts till the wedding. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
 
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