this is me

Post your photos and show everyone the progress you have made with your physique!

Moderators: cassiegose, Boss Man

Post Reply
mamaherrera
STARTING OUT
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 10:25 pm

this is me

Post by mamaherrera »

I have always been slim with a slight bulge that has bugged me. But at age 33, after fourth child, I have not had success getting back to pre-baby body like I did with the other babies. I still weigh the same, 118 pounds at 5'3, but I have more "love handle" fat to the sides/and back fat, so basically all around middle, has gotten wider. Some have told me to bulk, others have put me on a super low calorie diet and that didn't even help. So I am at a loss of what to do.I currently weight lift 4 days a week, as well as I can on own and fast walk 40 minutes a day/ 5 times a week. I used to run. . . THis is body last year Image

Image

And now: Image

Image


And the back fat is more obvious in jeans : Image

What would you all suggest I do?
User avatar
Boss Man
SITE ADMIN
Posts: 15457
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Re: this is me

Post by Boss Man »

Hi there Mamaherrera, good to speak to you.

Low calorie diets don't really work as they can cause something called a starvation mode where the body clings onto fat and if you lose any muscle, because added muscle can help to burn more fat, the reverse has the potential reduce metabolic ability thereby promoting more fat gaining potential.

Your links didn't work too well for some reason, but I managed to copy and paste some, so I can see get the gist of what you're referring to and I don't think you've got too much to worry about, but as far as change I think gaining some muscle would be perfectly fine for you, as long as you used good technique and didn't overload the weight.

I should ask can you access a gym, or do you want to train at home and if so, do you have any equipment or would you be willing to purchase any. We can give you a body weight routine to do at home if non of the things I asked about are possible.

Also, what times do you eat at and what foods do you eat at those times?
mamaherrera
STARTING OUT
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: this is me

Post by mamaherrera »

Thanks for replying. . .. and trying to take a look, it's hard for me to post pictures here. I eat about 45% carbs, 30% protein and the rest fat. . more or less, sometimes I"m good about eating every 3-4 hours, other times I go on longer stretches. I have some gym stuff here at home and at Planet Fitness. frustrating thing is that sometimes I don't lift "heavy" as I'd like because I"m no sure on form and don't want to injure myself. So you think I need to "bulk" per say or could I just stay at maintenance and gain some muscle?? I paid a big trainer here in town and he totally put me on an under 1200 diet and legs once a week and arms once a week. No progress and now I'm on own again, with this frustrating "little" bit of fat that I don't know what to do with. It's comforting to know that at least it's not tons.

and how can I properly post pictures on here?
User avatar
Boss Man
SITE ADMIN
Posts: 15457
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Re: this is me

Post by Boss Man »

The trainer was an oaf then putting you on a diet of under 1,200 a calories a day and should not be allowed to train anyone. The body can enter into something called a starvation mode if you get too few calories as the body thinks it is being starved. More muscle helps to burn fat but less helps to potentially gain fat, as less muscle is metabolically negative and if you gained a bit of fat and lost a bit of muscle, then the regime you were on could have made things worse.

The sedentary average for female calorie intake is 1,800 a day, so 2/3 or less of that is no good, except for potentially harming your metabolism, as it would definitely be below the BMR, Basal Metabolic Rate the amount of calories needed per day to maintain a healthy metabolism.

I wouldn't say you have to bulk no, but it is a healthy thing for females, as long as proper technique and no overloading of the weight is observed.

This workout should work for you I feel.

Squats, 2 sets, 10 reps

Lunges, 2 sets, 10 reps

Deadlifts, 2 sets, 10 reps

Bench press, 2 sets, 10 reps

Bent over rows, 2 sets, 10 reps

Shrugs, 2 sets, 10 reps

Planks, 30 - 45 seconds

You increase the planks by 5 seconds a week until you can do around 90 seconds

You do this 3 times a week every other day

Use the second smallest dumbbells on squats, lunges, Deadlifts and bent over rows and the smallest ones on the other stuff except planks, then increase your weight every 1-2 weeks, until you're going to about 95% of failure for reps, then increase your weight based on how much stronger you get, beyond the acclimatisation period.

You can also add a couple of days of interval or HIIT for 30 minutes, so your week could look like this.

Day 1. Weights

Day 2. Cardio

Day 3. Weights

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. Cardio

Day 6. Weights

Day 7. Day off

As for posting pictures, I think the PHPBB software has an issue with Photo Bucket content, but I don't know how to correct that as it is probably something to do with the PHP code used to make the forum software.

You can post things off sites like Instagram, Flickr, Picasa as a rule of thumb, or you should be able to.
Fitafter50
REGULAR
Posts: 785
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:40 pm

Re: this is me

Post by Fitafter50 »

I agree with Boss that 1200 calories is much too low. (Also unless your trainer has another type of certification besides personal training, giving you a diet is outside his scope of practice, at least in the US.)

I also think Boss's workout is a great one for pretty much anyone to start with. As far as lifting heavy, you should be able to get the basics on proper form from one or two personal training sessions. It doesn't sound like your prior trainer addressed that, but Planet Fitness should be able to set you up for an hour or two without too much expense.

Although you give your macros, you don't really say what you are eating so it's hard to judge your diet. If your proteins are good quality and you are eating plenty of green vegetables, getting your carbs from good natural sources rather than overly processed foods, you are probably on the right track and it probably won't take you more than a few months to see some good results.
mamaherrera
STARTING OUT
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 10:25 pm

Re: this is me

Post by mamaherrera »

I for breakfast always have oatmeal, two eggs, and gelatin or bone broth. then milk with 1tsp sugar and dark chocolate, and fruit, then some ground beef with tortillas, fruit, milk, . .. things like that. . . twice a week, i eat a meal out with the family.
I am definitely going to make a complaint about this trainer, no doubt, he screwed me over and it wasn't cheap. Supposedly he is certified as a nutritionist. ANd he only allowed me to work legs once a week and arms once a week. THey were good workouts, (by one of his trainers, he never actually trained me, but just gave me the Nutrition plan) and they left me dead, but again, just once a week each body part.

And what does 95% of failure on reps mean??? I struggle finding the "right" weight for me. This trainer would put me on heavy weight, but he would help me through the reps.
Fitafter50
REGULAR
Posts: 785
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:40 pm

Re: this is me

Post by Fitafter50 »

I think a lot of body builders do each body part just once a week, using very heavy weights, but I have never trained a body builder (that's not area of interest) so I can't comment too much on that. Try Boss's suggestion, using a weight that you can maintain good form through all the reps, but don't feel like you could many more. I like to aim for a rep range--say 8-12, so you can stop at 8 if you are losing form or do a few extra if you are feeling strong at 10.

As far as your diet, I would definitely recommend eating more vegetables: Leafy greens; crucifers like broccoli, kale, cabbage, cauliflower; sweet peppers; asparagus; artichokes; even starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots. If you don't like vegetables, try cooking them different ways. Coating cut up veggies with melted coconut oil or olive oil, and then roasting them, brings out the sweetness. Or try them steamed with some grass-fed butter melted on top. Saute some onions and spinach to add to your breakfast eggs. As a bonus, if your kids see you enjoying vegetables, there's a much better chance they'll learn to like them, too. :)
User avatar
Boss Man
SITE ADMIN
Posts: 15457
Joined: Sat Nov 25, 2006 3:27 pm

Re: this is me

Post by Boss Man »

mamaherrera wrote:And what does 95% of failure on reps mean??? I struggle finding the "right" weight for me. This trainer would put me on heavy weight, but he would help me through the reps.
Failure is a point many people go to that is unnecessary, where they literally perform a movement until they literally keep trying and simply cannot manage another rep, but try to force it, I:E trying to bench press for 10 reps, doing 9, then trying the 10th and it won't happen and you try hard to keep pushing the weight up and eventually you fail / have to give up.

This wastes energy and is counterproductive.

As a rule of thumb, if say you take approximately 2.5 seconds to do a rep and you're going for let's say 12 reps, then if the 11th rep feels like 3-3.5 seconds, then don't go for the 12th one, as you'll be struggling for around 4.5-5 seconds, because that 3-3.5 second rep will indicate you're fatiguing, because you cannot keep performing 2.5 second reps, so that is the cut off for failure, but by saying 95% of failure I mean you want to go close to that failure point without getting there so you do a certain number of reps at the same speed plus a slightly slower one, as opposed to being good for 11 out of projected 12 and only doing 8-9 instead.

Hopefully that makes sense.
fat-to-fit
REGULAR
Posts: 922
Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 3:59 pm

Re: this is me

Post by fat-to-fit »

photobucket works. not sure why it didn't for her. :)
RjMaan
STARTING OUT
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat May 05, 2018 8:46 pm

Re: this is me

Post by RjMaan »

I think you should have a balanced diet and focus on proper exercises.
Post Reply