Help - I am obviously doing something VERY wrong!!

[ren]

Hi there
I just came across these forums yesterday and was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of direction.
I read through heaps of articles on the site, and found everything really informative, and I'm wondering if I need to change my routine and eating habits.
I'd also love to hear if any other females have had success with the 5x5 program? I feel like there is so much info out there and I guess I'm just feeling really overwhelmed about what to do.

I am a 21yo female, weigh 68kgs and am 172cm. For the past 2 months I've really upped my exercise and now workout at least 7x a week (3 weights sessions, cardio, a couple of 20min runs in the morning), and I walk to and from work (35mins each way) every day.
Before that it was more like 2-3 weights sessions and cardio, plus walking every day.

I've struggled with my weight for my whole life and over the past year (even though I have been more diligent than ever before with workouts, healthy eating etc) have gained about 10 kgs. So I am pretty much about to give up.
Even over the past 2 months, I haven't noticed any weight loss. I still have a flabby stomach and 'bingo wings' (sooo attractive when you're 21...).

I eat 'clean' about 98% of the time and have pretty much weaned myself off carbs all together over the past 2 months, except for 1/3 cup of wholegrain oats for breakfast, in hope of loosing some of this fat.
On the weekends I have some 'cheat' meals where I will have some wholegrain toast with my eggs, fruit, a bit of brown rice etc. And maybe a dessert haha. It keeps me sane.

My meals alwys include a lean protein - I don't eat much meat so it's fish, shellfish, eggs, whey, nuts, legumes, tofu, yogurt or cottage cheese.
I have 3 meals and 2 snacks and sometimes a post workout protein, depending on when I do weights.

So, what am I doing wrong?? Eating too much? Not enough? More cardio? Lose the 'cheat' meals? Liposuction?

I am so totally at my wits end and it just seems that the more I think about food and exercise, and analyze everything, the heavier and more unhappy I get!
Sorry for the long post!!!

[Mouse]

Welcome to the forum Ren.
Realise this is not a quick process but more of a way of life. The SL routine will give you great results, but it is not a 'get-ripped-in-3-weeks' program.

Read as much information as you can, especially the published articles here.

There are quite a few ladies on the forum. Check their logs and post in them and i'm sure they will give you some good pointers.

Start with these.....

Pagangoddess
Kathy
Zizzy
Sandi

[jrdallas]

I know how you feel, i am a male, but for the past 2-3 years i have been gaining alot of fat, despite competing in oly weightlifting, then doing 5x5. I kept eating cleaner and cleaner, and still problems.

Ultimatley, i was just diagnosed with cushings syndrome (overproduction of cortisol, the stress horomone), and it causes obesity in the abdomen and face, lack of muscle growth, and depression. So many doctors wrote off my symptoms, until i found a good endocrinologist who found this with extensive blood tests. So if you are sticking to your plan, doing the right stuff, get checked out and if one doctor says its not thyroid or something, keep asking, keep digging, it could be something rarer, like cushings or whatever.

In the meatime, dont give up on the exercise and diet, without weightlifting I would probably be over 300 lbs of pure fat, and in worse health overall. I would keep lifting if i never lost a lb of fat just cause of the fun and more importantly the heart, joint, mental, and lung health.

[thefinalsql]

Cut your carbs down to 20 grams or less for 12 days to 2 weeks. In counting carbs, fiber carbs can be excluded. It is not easy, but this will put your into ketosis. This is when your burn fat instead of carbs as a fuel source. Doing this there is a good chance you will loose weight and be pleased with the results. You will also probably notice weight loss prior to 12 days. Ketostix can be used to ensure you are in ketosis.

There are many Ketogenic diets out there to choose from http://stronglifts.com/anabolic-diet-101-the-definite-anabolic-diet-guide/, Atkins, South Beach etc. I myself am doing Atkins.

You can also try http://stronglifts.com/nutrition-101-definite-beginner-guide-healthy-nutrition/ if you find cutting carbs to be difficult.

Sign up for http://www.fitday.com/, track what you are eating, probably eating more carbs than you think.

Posting here is your first step to a new you.

Congratulations in advance for your future accomplishments!

[Bman1]

Couple of things - First off, you are still maturing and becoming an adult woman so you can expect a few more curves than when you were 18. So don't let the recent weight gain bother you too much. It may just be a natural part of your maturation. Second, at 5'8" and about 150 lbs, you're stats aren't really that bad. Maybe a 5 - 10 pounds above "ideal" (whatever that is) but definitely not overweight. So again don't beat yourself up too much about "struglling" with your weight. You have gotten some good suggestions on one approach to controlling your diet (low-carb). If so inclined, you can definitely give that a go. Regardless of what type of diet you decide to follow, if you want to lose fat and maintain your lean body mass, you need to have a reasonable calorie deficit (~500 calories per day), consume a decent amount of protien and fat, and continue to lift and do cardio. If you are not consistently trying to add weight to your lifts, you should be doing that.

[Danfront]

What you are doing wrong is eating too much for your needs. It is all diet. "Clean" doesn't mean anything. You can get fat off of oats and sweet potatoes. You need to completely overall your point of view regarding nutrition. I am in the middle of writting my own little "sticky" but in short I recommend troubleshooting your problems by getting fresh research. I personally use a combonation of Leigh Peele's Fat Loss Troubleshoot ( http://www.fatlosstroubleshoot.com ) and Eat Stop Eat. Eat stop eat wouldn't have helped me though if I hadn't read Leigh's stuff.

2 cents. I just think you are looking in the wrong direction.

[ren]

Wow thanks for all the replies! These forums are awesome! I spent yesterday looking through those suggested training logs and I am definitely going to start on the 5x5 program. I am worried about getting too bulky though.

I have considered going to a doctor about my weight, as pretty much ALL my fat is around my stomach, I am often tired, depressed etc.
But I sort of feel like I've failed if I go to the doctor. I SHOULD be able to lose this fat on my own, I don't think I have any serious medical issues.

I really think I need to try a ketogenic diet! 12 days isn't too bad....haha??

I'm not sure if it's an issue of eating too much - I love food but I'm very conscious of what I eat. I generally eat around 1200 - 1500 calories a day, whenever I log my calories (I use caloriecount every few weeks to make sure I'm on track) I think I'm getting a deficit but I'm not really sure, I don't trust those online 'how many calories did you burn' calculators because doesn't it depend on muscle mass, metabolism etc?

A typical day of eating looks like this:
Breakfast = 1/3 cup oats, scoop of whey, 1 tablespoon of LSA, maybe a few berries
Snack = 10 almonds + a cup cottage cheese, or yogurt (unsweetened), or a scoop of whey
Lunch = a few cups of veggies (usually cabbage, spinach, bok choy, broccoli etc..love my vegetables! Never eat starchy, except for maybe some grated carrot in a salad) with a small tin of tuna, or 2 eggs, or tofu... whatever. Sometimes I'll have meals that include lentils/beans but I try to limit my amount of them.
Snack = scoop of whey + more veggies - today it's a few big chunks of cucumber, 1/2 cup bean sprouts, maybe a couple of nuts if I'm still hungry
Dinner = the same as lunch. tons of low carb veggies with a lean protein. Eating lots of fish at the moment!
Post workout = scoop of whey.

I used to eat heaps of fruit, but have cut that out recently due to the sugar/carbs...
I drink green tea and herbal tea like crazy, and go through 1.5L of water a day in addition to that.
I have fish oil capsules as well as vitamin C daily.

So yep, I think it's going to have to be: Ketogenic Diet for 12 days and start 5 x 5, plus continue with my cardio/walks/runs. I may go crazy..but it will be worth it???!!!

[Barry06GT]

.
Can't help you on the diet part, but get under the bar and join the fun!

My wife and I have a blast doing StrongLifts 5x5.

My wife just had a squat PR at 80 pounds, and she had a blast doing it!

Welcome to StrongLifts.

Lift strong!
.

[rlbsdad]

Don't worry about getting "too bulky". You're a woman and do not produce enough test testerone to get bulky. Just lift...and lift heavy.

[ada24]

My girlfriend is on the 5x5 program as well, and she's having a great time -- feeling good, lifting heavy, seeing results. But it is a process.

Maybe I missed it, but did you post your body fat %? Probably the best thing about SL 5x5 is the emphasis on reducing body fat. This is a huge factor in losing weight and keeping it off -- one that is unfortunately overlooked by many.

If you're at all hesitant, I'd say dive right in. Females do lift! And you'll find many positive words of encouragement here.

[XCouchPotato]

Hi Ren:

Welcome to strong lifts!

First off I would like to address your concern about getting bulky. Like rlbsdad said, don't worry about it! You are a young female producing lots of estrogen so therefore can not get bulky without some artificial aid.

As for the fat content, from everything I've read, most women will carry more fat around the middle rather than other areas of the body. Diet will help you reduce your fat as will exercise. One question I would have is, have you actually measured your body fat content. Even though you think you are too fat, that might not actually be the case. Even so, it is good to know what your fat level is to start so that you have a way of measuring the results of your dieting and exercise.

[ren]

Great to hear there are so many other girls doing 5x5!
I already use mainly dumbells/barbell at the gym and I honestly feel like I'm the only one!
The amount of women I see using the "chest press" machine with about 5kg doing 50 reps super fast makes me want to cry...

Thanks for the reassurance about the bulk thing - I already have pretty stocky legs and quite broad shoulders, so definitely don't want to be adding to that! Not too keen on looking like a tank Just some definition would be nice!

I haven't measured my bodyfat %..yuck I dont really WANT to know haha... but yes, I really should. I think it will be good motivation.
I guess calipers are the best? There is a scale at my gym that you stand on in bare feet that is meant to measure bodyfat too - would you recommend that or are they pretty inaccurate?

Oh and just signed up for a FitDay account - So much better than Caloriecount, way easier to add food and I love all the charts and graphs! (nerd!)

[Barry06GT]

I haven't measured my bodyfat %..yuck I dont really WANT to know haha... but yes, I really should. I think it will be good motivation.
I guess calipers are the best? There is a scale at my gym that you stand on in bare feet that is meant to measure bodyfat too - would you recommend that or are they pretty inaccurate?

Get a caliper, the Accu-Measure" is highly rated, and inexpensive. Got mine from amazon.com for $12 US. It is very accurate, but who cares. Take a measurement, oh, here and there, write it down someplace where no one else can find it. Check once a month or so, just to verify the number is moving in the "right" direction.

Oh and just signed up for a FitDay account - So much better than Caloriecount, way easier to add food and I love all the charts and graphs! (nerd!)

Check out (FatGuyNoMore) FGNM's log. He too uses FitDay and is having great results. He posted a link to his FitDay account with his training log.

The most important thing to do is the hardest; try hard not to over think it all.

The second most important thing to do is start a training log. It is fun to post your results, ask questions, get unsolicited help, get motivation, and have fun!

That is why we all lift: Way more fun than a tread mill or stair climber. Also way more cool.
.

[mpetry]

http://stronglifts.com/forum/the-cunningham-equation-an-accurate-way-to-predict-calories-t13712.html

i suggest you use this if you're looking for a more accurate measure of your maintenence calories. to lose weight, cut 500 kcal from the number you get per day. if that doesn't work, cut 750/day.

[Tmv]

From the info u gave seems like u need to cut down your calories, throw some cardio in the mix.