help with diet

[Leggs]

Hi everyone! I am fairly new to strength training and was wondering if you, the educated crowd out there could help me. My goal is to #1 get rid of the MULTIPLE ROLLS OF FAT OVER MY ABS, second I want muscular definition. What I need help in is two fold. First help with what rotation would be best with the videos I have, and second help on nutrition as far as far as how much protein should I include in my diet and protein sources (I am so bad at nutrition sources--previously my source of protein was chocolate!). So I am in desperate need of your advice. Any web sites that could help me with protein sources etc would be great too. Here are the videos I have. I would like to limit cardio to 1x/week. Thanx in advance

MIS
Power Hour
S&H series
PS series
Cathe abs
Firm standing legs
4 low impact aerobics

thanx again
leggs

 

[sarahs]

Hi Leggs!

As far as protein goes, they say .75-1 gram per pound of your body weight. So if you weigh 130 you would need 97.5-130 grams. I personally was having a hard time getting all of this protein in. I tend to stick with the .75 grams per pound because I am not going for any type of body building competition where they have to be very strict. It has been alot easier to get this all in with Myoplex Lite shakes. I only have one a day (I feel like I am addicted to them) which gives me 25 grams of protein and only 190 calories. I calculate it in as a snack. Also, another light snack you could try is Poly-O Sting Cheese(light), which has 60? calories and 8 grams of protein.

As far as exercise, you might get better advice from some of the others on this board that have cut back on cardio(I am a cardio addict trying to cut down to 3 days). I think if you are still looking to lose fat you might want to do 3 cardio days and strength on the other 3. For me Interval training has helped alot with loss of fat. I'm not sure what your strength goals are. If you are more specific someone else will be happy to chime in

Hope this helps some.

:7

 

[Leggs]

Thanx it does. Do I need to go to a nutrition store like GNC for the Myoplex shakes? What flavor do you recommend? I tried slim fast shakes in the past and it was scary--I LOVE chocolate but that tasted terrible. I don't mind the slimfast bars though--they are high in carbs. What is the usual cost for the shakes? As far as cardio goes I can only do low impact due to a slipped lower back disc(MD orders). I do like the interval training as well. thanx again for the info

 

[Stacy]

Hi and welcome. You're sure to get TONS of varying responses to your question so brace yourself for possible information overload. Anyway, I was in a similar situation as yourself, was sort of mis-informed diet-wise. What really helped me was a book called Body Rx by A. Scott Connelly. It really breaks things down nicely with lists of "green" or "go" foods that you can eat guilt-free, "yellow" and "red" foods. I checked the book out of the library and photocopied the good pages, but eventually ended up purchasing it. The general consensus in most books is 0.75-1.0 grams of protein per lb of body weight, but many find that hard to achieve. As far as protein shakes go, I've tried many and the closest I've come to real chocolate milk flavor is EAS AdvantEdge Carb Solutions chocolate. (They're in a silver container). I usually get mine at Walmart. As far as a good workout rotation, I feel that diet is 80% of success. I started working out less, but changed my diet significantly and lost 10lbs, mostly body fat. I'd concentrate on strength training over cardio with the heaviest weight you can possibly lift. Form and lifting heavy is more important than doing as many reps as Cathe each time. For your workouts I'd alternate cardio with each S&H tape for about 4 weeks, and then do a few weeks where you do MIS twice a week, followed by PH twice a week for a few weeks. I'd also consider purchasing a few more intense cardios and either the Pyramid tapes or Cathe's Pure Strength Series. Good Luck!

Stacy

 

[Leggs]

Stacy,
Thanx for the great advice How often do you drink the shakes? Doyou replace a meal or do you consider it a snack? As far as workouts go I do have cathe PS series, MIS, Power Hour, S&H series, abs tape. Since I am new to this I wasn't really sure how to tone up and scuplt and lose the extra flab around the belly. I have started keeping a workout log checking to see how often I am working each body part. Do you work each part out 2 times or so? Also since I have 2 small children I probably won't be able to work out more than 4 times a week (and keep my sanity}( Thanx for any advice you can give me--thanx for the welcome too!

 

[Stacy]

Hi again! I usually don't drink the shakes as a meal replacement, merely as a way of getting in my protein grams for the day. The shakes are relatively low cal too (110 calories). Ocassionally they'll be my breakfast if I'm pressed for time. I'd definitely keep a workout log so you can not only record what workouts you've done but also how much weight you used for each exercise. Depending on my routine I'll either work each body part twice a week or once a week, I hardly ever work any body part three times a week. If you lift heavy enough you'll need the extra rest/recovery days. Maybe you could do something like this...

-PS Chest,Sh,Tri
-Cardio
-PS Back, Biceps and abs
-Cardio
-PS Legs, abs

-S&H Chest, Back
-Cardio
-S&H Legs, Shoulder
-Cardio
-S&H Bi, Tri

-PowerHour
-cardio
-MIS
-cardio

As I mentioned before, I'd make the most of your cardio by upping the intensity not necessarily the length of time. Some days I'll do half of Interval Max and then do the other half another day. You could also do a rotation using circuit style workouts like Circuit Max. Another great cardio is jumproping. Alot of people also do run/walk intervals but I have a bum knee and can't run. You could do the above rotations each for 4 weeks, more if you're continuing to see results. Let me know if you have any more questions, and good luck!

Stacy

 

[FitNut]

Leggs - Hi there! I am no pro but can give you my .02 cents :+ If it is worth that much??

Shakes: I drink the Myoplex Lite Choc shakes. LOVE them! I usualy order mine online from www.netrition.com They are definitely cheaper there! I am doing BFL (body for life) and am eating 6 meals a day. I usuall drink 1-2 shakes a day and often replace my meal #1 with the shake. Mostly b/c I am always in such a hurry in the morning. I also sometimes drink one late at night right before bed. Another good time for the shakes is right after a weight workout as your body needs the quick absorption of protein. I have read that the golden time is usually about 1/2 hour after workout. I will usually wait an hour after a cardio session if I can.

Protein Bars - I try to only replace one of my 6 meals with a protein bar. Usually it is the mid-afternoon meal as it satisfies my choc/sweet craving I like the EAS Myoplex Lite Cinn Raisin Crisp and Peanut Caramel Crisp. I also like the Detour bars but try to stay away from them as they are high in fat and sugars (10g fat in 1 bar!!). I try to have no more than 2 per week. They are fab though and taste just like Snickers candy bars!

Workouts: I agree with the others in that you need a healhty combo of cardio and weights. I would suggest more focus on wts than cardio. I have seen the greatest success with only 3-4 cardio sessions a week but trust me... they MUST be intense if you cut back in my opinion. I also suggest picking up some of the Intensity Series videos if you have the money. Imax2 is a great interval workout. Mindy Mrlyea also has some good ones. I am honestly a CARDIO addict but have learned from years of no success with mass cardio that strength training is the key for me!

You should check out the hussman site at www.hussman.org site. He helped me learn a ton about nutrition and how our bodies work!

I really hope this helps! Good luck!