need to tone up and be lean. i need help

[Alinshop]

Thank you Boss Man:) You're very kind:)

It's just that I really don't wanna be overwhelming.

This learning curve process is quite a mental fight in me, because this is when I realize how impatient I am. Truth is that I start seeing the results of workouts and healthier eating habits, but it's quite strange for now. biceps are really starting to show; however, triceps are not and I don't really get why, because I train them just as much. Maybe it takes longer for triceps to show through? arms haven't slimmed down and I'm afraid they won't ever. The upper four of the six pack on abs is (are?) also starting to show through, not the lower two, though:S I mean these are good signs altogether, right? I need fat to disappear:D Till then, I'm experimenting with the eating stuff.

The rest of your arms will start to show as long as you continue to put in the work. You will always have certain areas of your body that come in last.... ex) triceps/lower body fat on females are usually one the last areas to come in. Give it more time

[aintnobody]

Alinshop: Thanks for the comforting words; I am trying to force myself to be more patient (which sounds like a paradox, but...). Acutally I seem to tone up much faster or more easily on abdominal muscles, than on arms (or thighs, for that matter).

Vamp: no there is no such restriction for me on red meat; although, I never buy it myself, but mum often brings red meat and sometimes she makes salads with it. Those salads, however, are usually packed with mayonnaise, which is not that good. The last salad she made last week was also packed with corn, so I didn't dare to eat much of it despite how delicious it was:)

Okay, I'm gonna try to jot down what I'm eating a day, but it's not so complex, because I don't have the "resources" (yes, the money) to make a versatile diet. So what it usually looks like is:

Meal1 (usually 30 mins after workouts): 1 or 2 slices of low-carb low-sugar whole wheat bread (toasted) with either tuna or margarine and recently tomato slices (margarine in Hungary is totally different from margarine in the US; it's quite alright health-wise)

Meal2 around midday: tuna salad or chicken salad (ca. 150-200 grams, tuna is less, I guess, but it's more oily)

Meal3 in the afternoon: tuna salad or fish salad

Meal4 in the evening usually around 9 pm: 2 or 3 scrambled eggs

So I do eat a lot of protein, but I don't consume enough food overall, I know. But as to sugar cravings, I think that's just that damn sweet tooth of mine:D

I know I should try to squeeze in at least one more meal, but... I can't seem to. These meals are not even 1500 Kcals probably, so that could be a reason for lower energy. However, I have to say, energy levels haven't dropped drastically at all. I've always had sleeping problems, too and I'm refusing to see a shrink for that, because I think it's just the way I am; it's hard for me to fall asleep and it is usually hard for me to stay asleep, as well. The latter is less typical, though. However, this can affect energy levels as well. But I assume eating more carbs or fibers would boost them a little. The problems is I don't want to eat more carbs; I want to find some different type of food that contains a lot of energy, but is not packed with carbs.

I'll watch the caffeine in teas, thanks for the advice:) It might sound absurd, but drinking 1,5 liters of water a day, for me, counts as a drastic increase compared to the amount I had been consuming prior to healthy lifestyle changes. So consuming even more, as of now, seems nearly impossible, but I do know that I have to and I'll keep trying to:)

So Boss Man, I don't know if compared to the average 1200 Kcals I consume a day I should really be eating more carbs; that's why I lowered them. Because I just can't eat more.

Also, I am going on holiday for 5 days with friends who love to drink a lot of alcohol and eat so many unhealthy stuff. What should I do? Get on their nerves by always having to buy salads for special needs?:D

[Boss Man]

Just buy the healthy stuff when you go. If they're real friends they will understand anyway.

THe extra carbs could be useful and you wouldn't be eating a load anyway, you'd be eating 20g per meal at best as described and asround 10g at least, so it's not like you've be consuming the equivalent of 2 baked potatoes worth with every meal.

As for the red meat, red meat is fine but be careful not to go too overboard, as excess red meat and indeed excess protein can contribute to kidney stones and potential gout as well.

You nca include tueky and chiekn and eggs into your regime as good protein sources and fish, as long as you're not too indulgent with fish due to the metal content.

However there's also protein in peas, beans, lentils, corn, rice, mushrooms, low fat dairy, peanuts and mild amounts in things like broccoli and nuts, so there is no need to be heavily reliant on red meat for protein.

As for the limited carbs suggested foods like soybeans and other beans, legumes, peanuts, broccoli cucumber and a few other foods are not too filling anyway in terms of thickness or weight of food relative ot the amountf of carbs consumed, whereas other stuff like potatoes, rice, bread and pasta could feel quite weighty after eating, so limit,or exclude them if you feel that way, but the minimum and maximum carb limits per meal I outlined should be fine.

You will be undereating at 1,200 calories and indeed at 1,500 because of exercising too. Sedentary adult females need 1,800 calories anyway, so eating around 15-25% more than that would be beneficial ot account for the exercise anyway and so you can protect muscle and have enough energy also, because gaining a it of muscle so good for fat loss, but burning it isn't, it's just counterproductive.

Something like broccoli is a good low weight carb source and rich in carbs, so a medium stalk would give you the 20g carbs anyway, so there's no need ot eat healps of the stuff like you woul with say spinach, because the ratio of size to carb content is more beneficial.

Nothing wrong with spinach though to knowledge.

Hopefully I've allayed any concerns you may have bene having.

The patience thing will definitely be a virtue as they say and one day I might find out who "they" actually are, that seem to say a lot of vaguely insightful things

GOOD LUCK Ruth and be proud of yourself. I'm proud of you and I think you're doing great at the minute and if you keep believing in yourself you WILL achieve your goals, so chin up, be storng and no worries, because we're here for you and we as a community will support you for as long as you want us too okay .

[aintnobody]

Hey guys!

I write again, but not because I achieved some kind of perceptible result, the main reason of which, by the way, is that after trip to Vienna in November I kind of relapsed. Then came Christmas, where, oh boy, all that effort I had previously put into getting lean just vanished.

So after Christmas I started with eating only a minimal amount of carbs. I have managed to succeed, because the extra fat that I had taken up during Christmas time is now gone, so I assume this no carb thing is working. I now specified diet to adapt to the so-called ketogenic diet. What I would like to know is how much exercise should I be doing, given that goal isn't exactly losing weight; it is to tone up. I still cycle nearly two hours every day (right now, after 2 weeks of not really eating carbs [although once I had cake], I feel it's getting more fatiguing), which is a good cardio exercise, I guess, for this diet, but should I do, say, HIIT or weight traning? And if so, how often?

Also, another question: with this diet, I assume there are no cheats, right? For example, I can't eat a Snickers bar or a piece of cake occasionally; I guess that would defeat the purpose!? It's extremely hard to resist this temptation, living with mom, who always cooks very very very delicious cookies and cakes and given that I have sweet tooth; it's like I'm addicted to chocolate..

Thanks for the help:) I hope you're doing well:)

[Boss Man]

Actually you would be wise to occassionally cheat.

To be honest Ketogenic diets work for people training for a stage based muscle event, but for other people who are looking to adapt some aspect(s) of their wellness I would heed against it.

You would be better to at least consider a minimum of 20% carbs with every meal, although you could exercise upto 5 days a week, I see no need to go over that, so you have adequate rest per week.

If you go for a 5 day a week thing, you can then split the off days, so it might go 3 days training, 1 off, 2 days training 1 off, to avoid doing 5 consecutive days coupled with 2 days of nothing, as then you're not potentially overdoing it a bit and trying to recover with the 2 off days.

[aintnobody]

Thank you Boss Man for your response!

question still is wehether I should do HIIT exercises and strength training besides (and not instead of) biking? I began to feel tired during cycling, and I'm afraid I might overtrain if add HIIT or strength training, thus slowing metabolism and ending up not achieving goal. Maybe this fatigue is just temporal; it lasts until system switches from fueling itself from carbs to fueling itself from fats.

Also. I'm a little lost on how exactly the ketogenic diet works in terms of fat burning. I get that the body doesn't get enough carbs to fuel itself from, so it starts burning up fat. But how come it starts burning stored fat, too and not just the fat I actually consume during the day? Or the fat that I consume is simply not enough calories (optimally), so it HAS TO start burning stored fat?

Thanks again:)

[Boss Man]

The stored fat from carbs is created from excess carb consumption. The body probably won't burn the consumed fat in a meal so much, as it is usable. Whereas stored fat acts a secondary energy reserve, but in itself has been created from excesive carb or fat consumption and is not required for any other functions, because when intake of things including vitamins and minerals gets way too high, the body stores it in any available spaces. In the case of fat in goes in the blood pathways, around organs and subcutaneously.

Vitamin and mineral excess can be stored in places like muscles, organs, brain and eyes.

If you're consuming fat on a ketogenic diet, then the body will still need fat as it is beneficial for things like memory condition, hair and skin etc so it would get used for such purposes not for energy, however too much of good fat can still be stored anyway, if what remains after use, is too great to be rejected from the body over a given timeframe.

Fat can be excreted, but obviously the waste management system in a human being, does not have unlimited capacities, as I would imagine that absolutely nothing in the universe has unlimited capacities, heck even the universe itself must be limited in size, but the body can store some excess ingested content in various places regardless of what it is and set it aside for processing at a later date.

I would suggest 5 days of weights and 2 days of HIIT. So it could work like this.

Day 1. Weights

Day 2. HIIT

Day 3. Weights

Day 4. Day off

Day 5. HIIT

Day 6. Weights

Day 7. Day off

[aintnobody]

Thank you again!:)

Okay, so another question of mine is: am I doing something wrong, because A) metabolism slowed down incredibly and B) so far there is no change whatsoever (I'm on the 6th day of the keto diet, so it might be too soon or I'm just doing it plain wrong).

diet consists of bacon, eggs, sausage, cheese, veggies, tuna, low carb mayo and I drink tea with no sugar (just lemon). No milk, no coffee, no sugars, no wheat, no nothing that has a lot of carbs. As of now, I don't count calories, because I don't think I am going above 1500 per day; although, it might be a warning sign that I am still always hungry...

[vamp]

Bacon and sausage are high in sodium so some water retention might be happening... they are both high in "bad" fats. Perhaps replace bacon with something less in sodium... turkey bacon low sodium bacons. The sausage be better replaced with ground chicken or pork chops or the cheaper cuts of beef... you could place them on scewers (sp) with peppers, tomatos, onion, zucchini, etc. and grill them or roast in oven or toaster oven.

Just some ideas for you to try. Sometimes our brains end up in a rut with the same ideas and a fresh take will help us get through that rut.

Good luck!

[Boss Man]

Bacon doesn't need to be removed from the diet. Bacon contains some good fat and bad saturates are only the long chain which can get deposited arterially, the short and medium chain get shuttled into the lymphatic system and converted to energy in the liver.

Bacon can be improved by trimming the rind off and grilling, so some of the fat content can drip into a tray or other sort of container below, or alternatively don't trim the rind off, but cut it off whilst eating and then dispose of it when you've finished.

As long as you're limiting yourself to say no more than 2 rashers a day and not in the same meal, you should be fine eating grilled bacon with most of the fat removed and uneaten.

The sodium content would then be the only issue, but providing you don't add salt to things that much if any and you don't have other things that are sodium rich, then the sodium in grilled bacon can be negligable, as the RDA for salt is actually 6g a day, so if you're consuimng bacon and that contributes to lets say 2g of salt a day for example, then it's not a biggie, especially if the sodium is being processed several hours apart, assuming you would be eating 2 rashers a day not 1 and splitting the consumption.

The same methodology could applied to sausages. You can grill them to reduce the fat and providing you're perhaps eating 1-2 a day, it's not resalistically I don't think going to cause a problem in relation to potential excess sodium consumption.

You'e main issue would be the content. You'd be wise to make sure the ones you had were 100% meat and it stated it, because if they had a lower stated meat % / content, then that means there would be other stuff like gristle, or bits of discarded animal matter.

[aintnobody]

Thanks both of you for replying!

Well, the bacon I eat is the one that is sliced into very thin pieces, so it's kind of hard to get the bad parts of it off, because then the whole thing falls apart. From these thin slices, I eat 2 per day with an egg.

By sausage I meant the frankfurter one (or hot-dog kind), but given that it, too, has the danger of not being fully meat, I see what the problem with that could be. However, I eat two frankfurters for breakfast and that's it.

I will try to incorporate more veggies, because for now I only eat salad (tuna salad) and I don't even have any other vegetables around:(

So menu a day looks kindda like this: for breakfast I have the two frankfurters with little low-carb mayo, for lunch I have tuna salad, around 6-7 pm I have two think slices of bacon, and later I usually eat two scrambled eggs... In-between I eat cheese if I feel like it (sometimes lactose-free ones, since they don't contain carbs). I know I have to make improvements (mainly adding more veggies) on the diet, but for now, I think this still doesn't reach 1500 Kcals and it definitely doesn't contain 20 grams of carbs; although, I don't count it.

Also, I delved a little more into this fat loss part of dieting and I now see that if your body is close to the ideal weight (which mine is, since I am nowhere near obese or even overweight - I weigh 99 lbs and I am 5,1), then it is much harder to loose fat content. I know I have a lot of muscle; I've been working out pretty consistently for 4 months, and I do feel muscles, but the fat around them is also still there. So is it right that it becomes harder when your body is already thin/normal?

[vamp]

Yes, the closer you come to ideal weight, the harder it is to lose that last little bit, it is the stick to the diet without cheat and no skipping workouts or sleep. If you are that close and by the sounds of it you are, I would focus on muscle building and not on fat loss. 5'1" and only 99 pounds sounds slightly underweight but it varies so please know I am not judging. Four months is great for feeling and seeing results but the amount of actual muscle you have acquired is small compared to a year or more from now that you can gain and enjoy the rewards from.

Definitely put some veg in there and even a fruit in the morning. Your body needs some carb to help replace muscle glycogen. after a workout it is very important to have carb for this reason. Banana's are awesome and have way more vitamins than apples although apples are very healthy!!!

raw veg is obviously the best but cooked is fine as well. Carrots, peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, etc... you don't have to cook them for them to go on your plate!

I like a salad of onion, tomato, green pepper, cucumber and feta cheese with pepper and oil & vinegar for a dressing. Filling and tasty!

Cheers!

[aintnobody]

Well, what you see on the picture is how I look, so I really am not underweight. I have been 99 lbs for years now. Four months ago I started working out, tried all kinds of diets, still 99 lbs and stored fat hasn't budged (although as I said, I had a relapse not long ago, but up until then - no changes). I started keto a week ago, not even water weight came off, still 99 lbs. I'm starting to think body simply refuses to give off stored fat...

I bought spinach and salad, but I will definitely try the salad you suggested, sounds really yummy:)

[Boss Man]

You definitely should focus on muscle building and associated fat loss. Don't actively seek to use a specific fat loss mentality to change, because you're 99lbs not 199lb and if you used said mentality you'd be in danger of going borderline unhealthy, if say for example you ended up 80-85lbs.

1lb of added muscle burns an extra 45-50 calories per day, so if you lost let's say 4lbs of fat but gained 10lbs of muscle, you could be a sleek, honed 105lbs.

This would be the way to go, as a decent smattering of added muscle would enhance your bodies abiltiy to be more physically able and it's something you could sustain well into old age, plus it would also enhance your body from an aesthetic perspective, not take away.

As for the frankfurters definitely dtich them, as they often are too salty, owing to the fact quite a few manaufacturers add brine to the can.

[aintnobody]

Hey guys,

yay, it's me again.

So it's been over half a year now since I started working out. I tried so many things, found so many explanations and had so many revelations about what I'm doing wrong or what I should do differently. And now I think I'll just stick to the idea of eating less calories than I burn, that is, I'm keeping a caloric deficit and I am eating healthy stuff...well, most of the time.
I am writing a food diary, so I can keep an account of calorie intake. I find, this way, it's easier to not overeat or go into a caloric surplus.

However, BMR is 1200, which is low and it's pretty hard not to go over that. That's not even goal, since I am working out. With workouts I try to aim towards burning ca. 500-600 calories and sometimes do some (at least an hour long) cycling too, which adds up to burning around 800-1000 Kcals a day. I am not sure how much of a caloric deficit I should have, since I have a low BMR due to mostly normal body shape (I am not overweight as you can see and I am very short, too - again: I am 99 lbs and around 5.0 inches high). But I guess I do not burn so many calories, either, with workouts, since I am small and light and there's not much weight to move around. And that's why I don't really dare go overboard with eating much. As of now, I have a cold, so I am not doing harder workouts, let alone HIIT, since I can barely breathe normally; however, I still go cycling 20 kilometers (ca. 1-1,5 hour) every day. I have no idea how many calories I burn during cycling. I try to go in a pace where I can feel pulse going up a little, breathing a little bit faster, also sometimes feeling hot, but still finding out how many calories I burn is quite indefinite.

So:
1) how should I do caloric deficit on days where I do both a 500 calorie-burn workout plus an hour of cycling (which is, I'm assuming, around 350-400 kcals) ?
2) And on day when it's only cycling?
3) And what about rest days (when I'm only burning the BMR amount, I guess) ? Not that I have many actual rest days, since I hate just lying around; on days like that I would still go cycling or for a half an hour-hour-long walk.
4) Also: can I have days when I go into a caloric surplus? You see, I still live with a mom who bakes all kinds of muffins and cookies and cakes all the time; I literally live in a chocolate/sweets factory...

What I have in mind is to have a deficit of about 300-400 or sometimes even 500 calories. Is it too much?
And lastly, the question I should've probably asked in the first place: is it even about a caloric deficit? maybe what I have is skinny fat ( BMI tells me I'm severely underweight, bah, sure)? So maybe it should be eating more than I burn? I am freaked out by that idea, tho... I just want SLIMMER arms (and yes, abs and legs), but I don't see how that would happen with eating more. I have a feeling I am circling back to where this whole post began. I repeat myself:(

Oh, and workouts still include everything per week: high impact cardio, HIIT, strength, arms, abs, core, legs, and then cycling, too.

What do you guys think?