Need the pros:

[EmAzing]

Hello Everyone. I have been reading alot of threads on this board, and may I say I am very impressed with your knowledge. Therefore, I think I have come to the right place for some advice and direction.
Over the past year I have been able to get my bodyfat down to about 12% through dieting and exercise. I have also been using lipodrene and cycling it off and on. (Just to be clear, I can relate to the chroic users of ephedrine as well... I know, not good...)
I dont know suddlenly what went on, but I have noticed my vascularity decrease, my muscle tone is not as good and even though I usually use the mirror adn not the scale- I am up 5 lbs.
It seems like I'm holding a little bit of water- but I don't think that is it. Could it be hormonal as well?
This all comes at a time when I am looking to enter my first figure competition - which is in about 10 weeks.
In addititon- I want to maintain a bodyfat percentage of about 12%.
Basically with all that being said, I don't know what to do. I'm sure the use of the stims aren't helping, but it's a catch 22. I need to focus on getting my bodyfat down- not up. SO I feel stuck. I am at 30- 35 min of cardio per day in addition to abs and weight training 3 times per week.
Diet is super clean but I know that my calories have gotten a bit too low- bout 1000 per day, and I am working on increasing that.
Anyone that can relate to this knows that this feeling is a stressor, and feeling and looking bloated is concerning as well.. It's like I just need to reset everything and start over. But how without going backwards?
Thank you so much for your input and understanding.

Sats:

Female
28 years old
5'5
118 lbs

 

[bitterplacebo]

I'm not a pro, but I would like to help and have suggestions.

The thing that jumps out at me the most is your 1000 calorie intake. I'd say that is way to low for your activity level. Plus your use of stimulants is probably draining you even further. Further, if you're eating super clean, it might not be helping the situation either. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by super clean, but make sure your diet is not lacking in fat. Also, your sodium intake at this point should still be moderate, and you don't need to worry about salt at all right now.

I'd really recommend getting that calorie intake up. Start to eat more, and get up to at least 1600, and see how you feel after a week of that. If things start going better, keep that for a while, and then gradually decrease about 50 calories per week in the 5-6 weeks leading up to the show. Don't go below 1200, and if you reach a condition that you are satisfied with, do not make any changes at all to your routine and just coast along until the show day.

I'd also try to stop all stimulant use for about 4 weeks or until you get your diet fixed. You might also look into Reset AD (http://anabolicminds.com/store/1334.html) and use that if you think you will benefit. And only start using stimulant and fat loss products again in those remaining few weeks if you're not happy with how things are progressing.

Try not to worry. You might have gotten a little carried away with your contest preparation and tried to take on too much, too soon, but you still have lots of time to figure something out. And so long as you are feeling better when the 10 weeks is up, even if you're not looking like you want to, remember that you have a lot of life left to get where you'd like to be.

Also, welcome to the boards. Please keep us updated with how you are doing.

 

[wastedwhiteboy2]

I've heard going below 14% for females can cause issues with their period. so that makes me wonder if there is something going on with your hormones also.

 

[EmAzing]

Thank you so much you guys. It's good to know that I have somewhere that can offer me some support and professional advice.
My diet has resembled the "velocity diet", which means it's been mostly protein shakes and a little bit of fat. Adding food is making my bidy not quite understand what to do. I think it started to go in to starvation mode.
Thanks for the input on the being a bit more patient.
This is hard slowly increasing and watching the bf climb a bit. I'll just have to work harder to get it off.
I will try the re-set and stop the stims for a while. I know thats what I've needed to so,but I guess its a psychological thing.
And the hormonal thing.. yeah. I'm sure the hormones are a bit off. Due to some birthcontrol I was on a while ago, I have not had a cycle for a few years, which doctors say is normal.
DO you think after so long would I all of a sudden have another hormonal change?

 

[bitterplacebo]

I don't know too much about the velocity diet, but I don't think it's for you. From what I skimmed over, it seems like it was used mostly for people who were obese to drop weight as quickly as possible. Obese wouldn't describe you, plus I would guess that a major portion of the weight you lose is through gastrointestinal bulk, and not all from bodyfat. This food weight doesn't really factor anywhere into your appearance. If you planned to stick with that diet for 10 more weeks, I commend you for the mental fortitude that would take, but I'd have to say it would be extremely unhealthy.

If you're comfortable with completely changing your diet, I would recommend a cyclical ketogenic diet. I've had good results with http://www.cutdiet.com/ and it's a free e-book that has everything for contest prep outlined for you. If you decide not to switch, could you post the details of your diet if you have time? It might help for people to make suggestions.

You could be having more hormonal changes brought about by your diet and exercise intensities. I would say that the biggest factor is that your current diet is getting the best of you. And remember with exercise that a lot of times less can be better for you. Just recently I lowered the amount of cardio and duration of weight lifting workouts, and I know I've been able to progress a lot more in all my exercises because of it.

 

[EmAzing]

I don't know too much about the velocity diet, but I don't think it's for you. From what I skimmed over, it seems like it was used mostly for people who were obese to drop weight as quickly as possible. Obese wouldn't describe you, plus I would guess that a major portion of the weight you lose is through gastrointestinal bulk, and not all from bodyfat. This food weight doesn't really factor anywhere into your appearance. If you planned to stick with that diet for 10 more weeks, I commend you for the mental fortitude that would take, but I'd have to say it would be extremely unhealthy.

If you're comfortable with completely changing your diet, I would recommend a cyclical ketogenic diet. I've had good results with http://www.cutdiet.com/ and it's a free e-book that has everything for contest prep outlined for you. If you decide not to switch, could you post the details of your diet if you have time? It might help for people to make suggestions.

You could be having more hormonal changes brought about by your diet and exercise intensities. I would say that the biggest factor is that your current diet is getting the best of you. And remember with exercise that a lot of times less can be better for you. Just recently I lowered the amount of cardio and duration of weight lifting workouts, and I know I've been able to progress a lot more in all my exercises because of it.

It is so relieveing to have someone understand me.. Thank you!

DO you think that such a drastic change in my diet will help things? I'm almost embarrassed to post my diet, but here it goes:

AM: Protein shake ( 1 scoop whey made with 2 cups almond milk)
1/2 cup broccoli

Lunch:

2 cups steamed broccili

Snack:
Protein shake (1 scoop whey made with 2 cups almond milk)

Dinner:
large romaine salad with sardines

PM:
Protein shake ( as above)


I am truly addicted to protein shakes. I know that I need to bump up the calories, which I am doing- slowly, like adding peanut butter to the shakes, and incorporating some protein beyond what I was not consuming..
It's a catch 22 as you can probably relate- the feeling of that "puffinesss" after my body is truly wondering wtf I'm doing to it. Now I can see that I'm stuck and can't afford to go backwards. Even if I caould maintain right now, I'd be okay. But I can see that I am holding onto it and gaining fat-

I'd agree that this has gotten the best of me and affected my hormones. And oddly enough, it seems to have all happened in a week.

Thanks again.

 

[bitterplacebo]

I do think you could benefit from a complete change in your diet. You might not react so well for possibly up to 2 weeks, but after that it should go better. And 9-10 weeks is still plenty of time to get well adjusted and make progress.

But if you just want to change your current diet without a huge short-term impact I would recommend adding in carbs to the meals/snacks that don't have them. This can come from vegetables like green beans, asparagus, cabbage, spinach, or broccoli like you have. You might start at 1/2 cup for meals that don't have any already.

How much protein and fat are you taking in?

You definitely probably need more fat. Eat some with each meal, something along the lines of 5-10 almonds or at least 5g of fat each meal. Fat will be an easy way to increase your calories and not evoke large insulin response, which will probably make your situation with your appearance worse.

And protein looks a little low, I think you'll need close to double what you are getting right now. You can add some in to the meals that don't have at least 20g of protein. You might also want to think about adding a 6th meal if it's possible with your current schedule. If not, you're going to want to be getting at least 25g with each of your 5 meals, and probably go as high as 36g over 5 meals. Tuna, other fish, or chicken are good dieting additions for protein. You should think about limiting the protein shakes to only 2 of your meals, because whole meat has things you won't get from whey. A whole egg once a day could help also, your body does need cholesterol, and this is a good way to get it.

Are you taking any vitamins? A multivitamin/mineral might be worthwhile if you're going to be dieting with not much variation in your daily foods.

And yeah, I know the feeling of losing a favorable conditioning over changing the diet around. You just have to realize that it's temporary, and as long as you keep exercising and don't do anything excessive, your body will adapt and be healthier for giving it more food. If you were determined to go 10 weeks on that strict a diet, you'll be tough enough to stick out a couple weeks of puffiness, you just have to realize it.

Besides puffy, how are you feeling? In addition to the recommendations I made, I ask that you watch how you're feeling mentally about this whole thing. If you're just getting frustrated and not making progress in a month, you may just want to take a break from things. There's no point in working so hard if it's getting you nowhere, or possibly making you worse off.