aerlyn02
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Hi everyone! I am female ballet dancer and working towards my degree in Exercise Science. I have become extremely fascinated with the wealth of information that bodybuilders and all the bodybuilding sites contain! I am currently reading the BodyOpus book and am going to implement a lot of the ideas in it.
I am posting because I am on a break for the next couple months from dance because it is the summer and I am back home from college (and by break I mean I will still be dancing 2-3 times a week for 1+ hrs). I really have never lifted weight before at all and since dance is mainly anaerobic, cross training-wise I would also do aerobics (which left my body still looking not very strong and mostly “soft”). So my goal on my break over the next months is to recompose my body, increasing my lean muscle mass and decreasing my bodyfat while NOT gaining weight. I would ideally like to lose about 2-3lbs. I want to do this not just for the aesthetic purposes in the ballet world, but to increase my endurance/health in dance. About a month ago, I was 17-17.2% body fat (and this is measuring with a caliper myself, a cheap one – I really need to buy a medical quality one – any1 have an opinon on the Omron Body Fat Analyzer? Would def. be easier 4 me!) and at one point was able to get my bodyfat down to almost 16% but it is now back up to around 16.5% because I think I have increased my aerobics too much.
For the past month and a half I have been trying to lose 2-3 lbs. and my goal is to get my bodyfat down to 14-15%. The last month and half, I have learned more about nutrition and fat loss techniques then I ever knew before but I am having the WORST time in the world losing 2-3 lbs. I mean, it shouldn’t take 2 months to lose 2 lbs – I just can’t lose any weight :/ I had metabolic testing done and it determined that my RMR was 1075 and my BMR was 1375 – for weight loss of 1 lb a week the printout said I should eat 1000-1100 calories a day. Also of concern to me, my metabolism apparently is 17% slower then the average typical person of my age, height, weight, etc…I dunno how accurate this is but it is troubling to me! It is also hard to tell if I have actually lost weight or not because my weight fluctuates soo much during the day – I have decreased my sodium a lot and this has helped.
While I have decreased my bodyfat slightly (about half a percent) and lost some inches off my body – I haven’t been getting the results I want. If people could please offer their suggestions/opinons on what I am doing wrong and what I need to do, that would be great!! I am also going to post in the forum about supplements/pills because I need to start a regimen of BCAAs/whey, fat burners etc (w/o stimulants though – I can’t handle caffeine at all!! – don’t want to make this post extremely long so I’ll post that info separately but I have started taking CLA, vaporize and green tea)
Below I have included my stats, current and previous (from about a month ago), the eating and training schedule….
Starting Stats (about a month-month and a half ago):
Starting weight: 107 lbs
Bodyfat: 17%
Hips: 31.5 in, Waist: 26.5 in, Thighs: 19.5 in, Arms: 9.5 in, Around Butt: 34.2 in, Chest: 32.5 in
My current stats are:
Sex- Female
Height- 5’ 4”
Weight- 106-106.5lbs
Bodyfat: 16.2-16.5%
Hips: 30.5 in, Waist: 24.8 in, Thighs: 19.5 in, Arms: 9 in, Around Butt: 33.9 in, Chest: 32.5 in
The past few weeks of eating/ diet: Low carb, high prot, moderate fat. Cal: about 1000-1200, alternating days, depending on my activity with about 40-45% prot, 35-40% fat and 20-25% carbs (usually about 50-60g carb + approx. 20-25g fiber) with tons of water, all good unsaturated fats, low GI carbs and high quality proteins. I have found that I am extremely carb/sugar-sensitive and they are bid trigger foods for me. I feel great on a higher fat and prot diet but then about every 4 days I go on a “carb binge” where I eat about double of triple the amount of carbs I usually do but my calories are still only about 1500-1600 max on these days with TONS of exercise to make up for it. I guess this is probally one of the reasons I am not getting the results I want …? I also try to time my carbs for POST workout. [I am very accurate w/ my food logs as well and measure everything on a scale, etc. I also have ketosticks but have never quite been able to get fully into ketosis, I just can’t bring myself to cut my carbs and increase my fat enough probally to get into ketosis more than trace amounts]
The past few weeks of working out/exercise: I recently have been doing way too much cardio so I think my muscle has diminished some because of that. I have a Polar Heart Rate monitor to accurately calculate my calories burned and I cycle 3 weeks with progressively harder training w/ one week of rest/ much lower intensity exercise. This past month I burned 1750 cal in week 1, 1850 cal in week 2, and this week I am aiming for burning 1900-2000cal. I alternate weights and cardio on different days, try to to HITT training mostly, sometimes cardio AFTER weights. The most I’ve trained is about 2-3 hours (in pieces) in one day – like I have a 2 hr dance class and then I do weights later. Usually I exercise about 1 hour a day though. One day during the week I rest.
An example of my training schedule is as follows:
Mon-
Exercise: Ballet, 1 hr 30 min = 250 cal burned ….
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Tues-
Exercise: Plyometrics/Taebo, 35 min = 200 cal burned + Arms/abs str training, 40 min = 150 cal burned …
Cal in: I ate 1400 cal (“carb binge”)
Wed-
Exercise: Cardio AM, 20 min = 100 cal + Cardio PM, 25 min = 100 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Thurs-
Exercise: Ballet, 75 min = 250 cal + Arms/abs str. Training, 35 min = 150 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1350 cal (more than I was planning on + slightly higher carbs, about 30% of my cal)
Fri-
Exercise: Kenpo/Taebo/HITT, 35 min = 200 cal + Ballet, 1 hr = 200 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Sat-
Exercise: REST (did stretching/light walking – burned about 100cal) …
Cal in: I ate 1150 cal
Sun-
Exercise: Ballet/leg/butt str training, 1 hr = 150 cal + Walking, 30 min = 100 cal, + Arms/ abs str training, 35 min = 100 cal….
Cal in: I ate 1500 cal (“Carb binge”)
Looking back over my calories, I think maybe I am eating to little because some days I would eat about 1100 cal (which always leaves me hungry!) and burn about 350 in exercise so that’s only 750 cal for my body 2 survive on … but I have a hard time adding MORE food because I don’t want to GAIN weight! Plus that stupid metabolic testing said I should eat 1000-1100 cal to lose weight and that my metabolism is depressed by 17% :/ [Oh yea and I have had my thyroid checked and my TSH level is only .45 but I am usually extremely tired – that’s another saga though] How can I NOT lose weight doing all of this exercise and eating what I am eating!
[And please, I know by NO means am I fat in any way – I just want to be able to perform at my optimal and gain some muscle, lose a bit more fat – just get more toned! P.S. I am also a perfectionist so I have trouble being satisfied if I don’t get the exact result I want, and looking over all this, I guess I have accomplished a good deal – at least I can lift 5-10 lb dumbbells in a workout, couldn’t before LOL!]
I am posting because I am on a break for the next couple months from dance because it is the summer and I am back home from college (and by break I mean I will still be dancing 2-3 times a week for 1+ hrs). I really have never lifted weight before at all and since dance is mainly anaerobic, cross training-wise I would also do aerobics (which left my body still looking not very strong and mostly “soft”). So my goal on my break over the next months is to recompose my body, increasing my lean muscle mass and decreasing my bodyfat while NOT gaining weight. I would ideally like to lose about 2-3lbs. I want to do this not just for the aesthetic purposes in the ballet world, but to increase my endurance/health in dance. About a month ago, I was 17-17.2% body fat (and this is measuring with a caliper myself, a cheap one – I really need to buy a medical quality one – any1 have an opinon on the Omron Body Fat Analyzer? Would def. be easier 4 me!) and at one point was able to get my bodyfat down to almost 16% but it is now back up to around 16.5% because I think I have increased my aerobics too much.
For the past month and a half I have been trying to lose 2-3 lbs. and my goal is to get my bodyfat down to 14-15%. The last month and half, I have learned more about nutrition and fat loss techniques then I ever knew before but I am having the WORST time in the world losing 2-3 lbs. I mean, it shouldn’t take 2 months to lose 2 lbs – I just can’t lose any weight :/ I had metabolic testing done and it determined that my RMR was 1075 and my BMR was 1375 – for weight loss of 1 lb a week the printout said I should eat 1000-1100 calories a day. Also of concern to me, my metabolism apparently is 17% slower then the average typical person of my age, height, weight, etc…I dunno how accurate this is but it is troubling to me! It is also hard to tell if I have actually lost weight or not because my weight fluctuates soo much during the day – I have decreased my sodium a lot and this has helped.
While I have decreased my bodyfat slightly (about half a percent) and lost some inches off my body – I haven’t been getting the results I want. If people could please offer their suggestions/opinons on what I am doing wrong and what I need to do, that would be great!! I am also going to post in the forum about supplements/pills because I need to start a regimen of BCAAs/whey, fat burners etc (w/o stimulants though – I can’t handle caffeine at all!! – don’t want to make this post extremely long so I’ll post that info separately but I have started taking CLA, vaporize and green tea)
Below I have included my stats, current and previous (from about a month ago), the eating and training schedule….
Starting Stats (about a month-month and a half ago):
Starting weight: 107 lbs
Bodyfat: 17%
Hips: 31.5 in, Waist: 26.5 in, Thighs: 19.5 in, Arms: 9.5 in, Around Butt: 34.2 in, Chest: 32.5 in
My current stats are:
Sex- Female
Height- 5’ 4”
Weight- 106-106.5lbs
Bodyfat: 16.2-16.5%
Hips: 30.5 in, Waist: 24.8 in, Thighs: 19.5 in, Arms: 9 in, Around Butt: 33.9 in, Chest: 32.5 in
The past few weeks of eating/ diet: Low carb, high prot, moderate fat. Cal: about 1000-1200, alternating days, depending on my activity with about 40-45% prot, 35-40% fat and 20-25% carbs (usually about 50-60g carb + approx. 20-25g fiber) with tons of water, all good unsaturated fats, low GI carbs and high quality proteins. I have found that I am extremely carb/sugar-sensitive and they are bid trigger foods for me. I feel great on a higher fat and prot diet but then about every 4 days I go on a “carb binge” where I eat about double of triple the amount of carbs I usually do but my calories are still only about 1500-1600 max on these days with TONS of exercise to make up for it. I guess this is probally one of the reasons I am not getting the results I want …? I also try to time my carbs for POST workout. [I am very accurate w/ my food logs as well and measure everything on a scale, etc. I also have ketosticks but have never quite been able to get fully into ketosis, I just can’t bring myself to cut my carbs and increase my fat enough probally to get into ketosis more than trace amounts]
The past few weeks of working out/exercise: I recently have been doing way too much cardio so I think my muscle has diminished some because of that. I have a Polar Heart Rate monitor to accurately calculate my calories burned and I cycle 3 weeks with progressively harder training w/ one week of rest/ much lower intensity exercise. This past month I burned 1750 cal in week 1, 1850 cal in week 2, and this week I am aiming for burning 1900-2000cal. I alternate weights and cardio on different days, try to to HITT training mostly, sometimes cardio AFTER weights. The most I’ve trained is about 2-3 hours (in pieces) in one day – like I have a 2 hr dance class and then I do weights later. Usually I exercise about 1 hour a day though. One day during the week I rest.
An example of my training schedule is as follows:
Mon-
Exercise: Ballet, 1 hr 30 min = 250 cal burned ….
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Tues-
Exercise: Plyometrics/Taebo, 35 min = 200 cal burned + Arms/abs str training, 40 min = 150 cal burned …
Cal in: I ate 1400 cal (“carb binge”)
Wed-
Exercise: Cardio AM, 20 min = 100 cal + Cardio PM, 25 min = 100 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Thurs-
Exercise: Ballet, 75 min = 250 cal + Arms/abs str. Training, 35 min = 150 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1350 cal (more than I was planning on + slightly higher carbs, about 30% of my cal)
Fri-
Exercise: Kenpo/Taebo/HITT, 35 min = 200 cal + Ballet, 1 hr = 200 cal …
Cal in: I ate 1100 cal
Sat-
Exercise: REST (did stretching/light walking – burned about 100cal) …
Cal in: I ate 1150 cal
Sun-
Exercise: Ballet/leg/butt str training, 1 hr = 150 cal + Walking, 30 min = 100 cal, + Arms/ abs str training, 35 min = 100 cal….
Cal in: I ate 1500 cal (“Carb binge”)
Looking back over my calories, I think maybe I am eating to little because some days I would eat about 1100 cal (which always leaves me hungry!) and burn about 350 in exercise so that’s only 750 cal for my body 2 survive on … but I have a hard time adding MORE food because I don’t want to GAIN weight! Plus that stupid metabolic testing said I should eat 1000-1100 cal to lose weight and that my metabolism is depressed by 17% :/ [Oh yea and I have had my thyroid checked and my TSH level is only .45 but I am usually extremely tired – that’s another saga though] How can I NOT lose weight doing all of this exercise and eating what I am eating!
[And please, I know by NO means am I fat in any way – I just want to be able to perform at my optimal and gain some muscle, lose a bit more fat – just get more toned! P.S. I am also a perfectionist so I have trouble being satisfied if I don’t get the exact result I want, and looking over all this, I guess I have accomplished a good deal – at least I can lift 5-10 lb dumbbells in a workout, couldn’t before LOL!]