What kind of diet is REALLY necessary?

[PennyLaney]

Hi,

I've been wondering about this for a long time, and hoping that someone out there has some thoughts. Now that Cathe has been posting Hardcore Series pictures and we can see how WONDERFUL all of the ladies look, I'm even more curious. What kind of diet does it REALLY take to get the bodyfat percentage low enough to see the muscles like that.

I am 5'9" and weigh about 135 pounds. I am always told that I'm skinny, and I believe that I am. I do not have the capability to build muscle like Cathe with my body type, but I do have a lot more muscle than I had 10 years ago. My muscle is covered by a layer of fat that most people would say is thin, but compared to Cathe's fat layer (what fat layer? ;-) ), it is definitely thick. I can see no cuts anywhere. My abs are relatively flat, but there is a layer of fat that covers any six-pack that might be under there. My arms are straight from shoulder to elbow, and I can only make out a defined bicep if I flex and squeeze as hard as I can. It is definitely under there!

I eat more healthily (word?) than anyone I know! I eat a big bowl of old fashioned oatmeal/fruit with 1% milk for breakfast, a piece of fruit and an ounce of almonds for a morning snack, pasta/chicken and fat-free/sugar-free yogurt for lunch, a protein bar for afternoon snack, and dinner is usually chicken/vegetables. I sometimes eat a piece of bread, or drink a couple of glasses of wine with dinner. I might eat pizza or something comparable only once a week, and NEVER eat dessert or sweets. I average 2000 calories a day, and can maintain my weight. I do not necessarily want to be smaller.

What more do they do? Is it just genetics? I am not willing to give up my little bit of wine and my one splurge of pizza a week, because life is too short.

I'm not looking to be cut like Cathe, BTW, but just a little bit of abs definition would be nice! I know they are fitness professionals, and have all the time in the world to work out, but I honestly believe that diet is a large part of it.

Thanks for reading,
PennyLaney

 

[clareMc]

Hi Penny:

your body sounds like mine! I'm 5' 8" and 128 pounds normally, with good leg muscles and stick like arms! It is hard building muscle on my upper body, definitely, but it also does happen. Yippee!!!

Your diet sounds great! Change nothing (except perhaps swap that second helping of chicken for fish to get some omega fats for your joints, heart, mood, memory, etc). You do not need to lose any weight at all. But it is possible you have some fat on you, what they call, skinny fat, and it sounds like you just need to be in greater shape that's all.

Cathe workouts will help you get there but you have to be consistent, especially with the weight training. If you already have a cardio routine you like and that you do 3 or 4 times a week, then keep it. Just remember to keep a variety of different types of activties to make sure you work all muscles and don't over train and get injured, and remember also to vary the intensity, so steady state cardio one day, an interval workout two days later, a circuit session 2 days later, etc.

The weight training is what is really going to make the difference to your body and this is where I would concentrate efforts. What weights workouts by Cathe do you already own and how often do you do them?

The workouts that have made the most changes in my body are:

For lower body: PS legs, Leaner Legs, Slow & Heavy legs, PLB

For upper body: Slow & Heavy series, PUB.

What we need is to alternate several weeks of the Slow & Heavy, with several weeks of the Pyramids. I never had more muscle on my upper body than the Summer I did Slow & Heavy consistently. Wow! I had really great shoulder and bicep definition, it changed the way my upper body looked and I loved wearing tanks and short tees to show them off.

The lower body may be a different matter. I like to alternate the Slow and heavy approach, taking the barbell to 60 pounds, with leaner Legs. leaner Legs helps with my plyometric power for my cardio workouts, and I like that a lot. it also helps me lean out my hips and butt and tops of thighs a lot, which are the areas fat clings to my body.

For abs, you really gotta try getting Ab Hits and the Intensity series. What has worked for me is training abs, say, 4 times per week, with a mix in each session of more traditional ab work from the Ab Hits disc with the newer core work from the Intensity series which is tough and really works. This gives me a nice six pack and waist definition too with those obliques worked hard in the I Series.

If you want us to help you tweak your current routine, stick it up here for us and we can suggest changes to help you build muscle.

You can build muscle Penny, it's not impossible for our body type.

Clare

 

[PennyLaney]

WOW, thanks for the great answer, Clare! I already do a lot of strength work, so I hope you can see where I can mix things up in the future. I go as heavy as I can for the most part. I have added some yoga now that I'm doing P90X, just to help with the flexibility issues because I'm in my 40's.

I agree with you about the skinny fat description. That's how I look, and with all of the exercise that I do, I think it must be diet.

I am currently doing the P90X classic rotation. I still can't do even one pullup, but I'm making some progress with negatives. I can do a few toe pushups during each set, and I try to increase the number everytime I do them.

Before starting P90X, I did S&H, PUB/PLB, MIS, etc. As soon as I'm done with the P90X, I'll go back to Cathe again. I am really looking forward to the Hardcore stuff. The core work looks frightening!!!!

Over the summer, I alternated heavy weeks with endurance weeks, for example:

M: S&H Chest/Back
T: IMAX I or II and an abs routine
W: S&H Shoulders/Legs
Th: KPC with abs
F: S&H Biceps/Triceps
S/S: Stretch or Rest
M: MIS (light)
T: Circuit Max
W: Power Hour or ME
Th: Cardio Kicks
F: BootCamp or Gauntlet
S/S: Stretch or Rest

My typical weights for PUB are:
22/17.5/15 Chest
30/25/20 Pullovers
20/15/12 Lat rows
10/8/6 Shoulders
25/20/15 French Press
12/10/8 Kickbacks
15/12/10 Biceps

For S&H Legs, I often wear a 20 lb vest and use a 45 lb barbell. That's about all I can get over my head safely. For endurance workouts like Power Hour, I stick to a 30 lb barbell for legs.

I think I do plenty of strength work, but the layer of fat is what is so weird. It just won't go away! I try to do abs 2 or 3 times a week. P90X has a lot of core work, and I know my core is stronger; I just can't see it!

I rarely eat fish, because I don't care for it. I'll definitely try to eat more. Maybe tuna? Won't go near salmon, or anything like that.

Thanks for listening,
PennyLaney

 

[cjbate]

PennyLaney
I am in a similar situation and am really trying to change my diet. I am a skinny chick too...121 lbs at 5 foot 7, and have been working out for years. I need a lot more muscle and lower bodyfat to look like Cathe. (People tell me I am skinny too, I get so tired of that, but I guess it could be worse)I don't care if the scale goes up. It certainly doesn't need to go down. I THINK my body fat is about 20 percent.

You might try increasing your protein intake at each of your meals. I am shooting for 20-30g per meal (5x a day) at each of mine. Eating that way for the last two weeks has helped me increase my weights in the PS series I am doing now. I do eat plenty of complex carbs, but decrease them as the day goes on.

I am toying with the idea of a "bulking up " diet and exercise phase (heavy weights), followed by a "leaning out" phase (cardio and more restricted calories) to see if that helps. I do think diet is the key. I often check in at the "healthy eating" thread if you are interested in how I am eating. KathyH helped me zone in on things. Too soon yet to see results but from what I am told and what I am reading, it should help.

You need protein to build dem muscles. Your calories look good to me quantity wise, might wanna change what you are eating to include more protein 5x a day. Lowfat protein. I personally think nuts and peanut butter and cheese that some folks consider good protein sources are too high in fat for me to eat and get a low body fat. I know in small quantities they are good for you in other ways.

My lean protein consists of egg whites, protein bars and powder, cottage cheese, chicken and fish (canned and fresh).

I really think diet is where its at. For me...something has to change to get the results I want.

HTH
Jen

 

[clareMc]

Penny:

I don't have mucch to add I am afraid. Your routine looks great and you already lift more than I do, so you must have some visible muscle somewhere! I would caution you however about not trying to diet or cut calories or anything. Your diet looked good tome and you do not need to lose weight at all, you could get sick if you started eating less calories, or injured. I remember reading an article the other day in a back issue of Oxygen magazine where they did a study on female runners with regards to the frequency of injuries sustained and compared it to the amount of fat in their diet. Those runners with lower amounts of fat, those who were consciously trying to reduce the amount of fat in their diet, sustained sgnificantly more injuries than the women who admitted fat into their diet and were not phobic about it. So......please don't eat less than you already do.

There is more to life than appearances though. You already lift heavy which means you have great strength. Your muscles are denser than mine and compact. It's not necessarily about building great bulging muscles, aand anyway, you and I could not do that.

What's the answer then? I am afraid I do not know. Sorry!!!

Clare

 

[PennyLaney]

Claire, I know I shouldn't eat less, so I guess it's what I eat. Thanks for the advice, though! I have been working on my strength for a long time, to build muscle. I think the muscle is there, but it's covered up.

Jen, I hear you about the protein. That sounds like a great idea. I will start to research that some. Maybe I'll start checking in on the healthy eaters checkin to get some more help. I'm hungry ALL of the time, and maybe protein is the thing that will help fill me up, and convert some more of the bodyfat to muscle.

My big question STILL is what the heck do Cathe and her crew eat???? I read their info on the site, but I really think there is more to it than that.

Thanks,
PennyLaney