From a womans perspective

[kari]

I wanna lose 15-20lbs. Ive gotten diet remedies from guys, but I'd like to maintain a 1500 calorie a day diet. So I figure I need a females point of view. I'd like to lose it by May. I want energy for hardcore cardio and I'm taking thermalean. Please any help from a fitness guru lol

[csyflt]

What is your diet right now? Protien shakes work really well!!!

[kari]

Yah I drink a whey protein isolate. But I heard you shouldn't take too many a day. I've changed my diet so many times I want a simple guideline to follow

[Miss Muscle]

Hi Kari! So your goal is fat loss then. First off post your stats.

There are a number of ways to shed the pounds depending where you are starting from.

Here are some diet suggestions.....

Carb cycling.....an example carb cycle would be 2 days of 25-75 grams of carbs per day and then the third day 200-500 grams of carbs. There are many ways to cycle.

Ketogenic diet....only fats and proteins and fibrous veggies. If you do choose to do this the first week or two you will feel awful as your body has to actually get into ketosis.

Low carb....about 100-200 grams carbs only each day. I prefer the cycling but some just keep it low carb all the time.

Remember that lowering the cals too much will cause you to hold on to fat. The body is like a car....it needs fuel to run. If you drop the cals too much your body will fight for cals and hold onto the fat. Sometimes upping the cals are a better idea. The more energy you have the more you can burn.

Also good to nibble on veggies throughout the day. Alot of people suggest eating 5 or 6 meals but I prefer a basic three with nibbling on veggies all day. This is thermogenesis....your metabolism is working at all times to burn the food you eat which is why keeping food in your stomach is great. It's very easy to pack a baggie of veggies everywhere and nibble them everywhere. Healthy and low cal.

[Miss Muscle]

Originally Posted by csyflt

What is your diet right now? Protien shakes work really well!!!

Protein shakes are great but remember that solid food is great for thermogenesis. It takes more calories to burn soild food than liquid.

[Miss Muscle]

Training....I don't know if you are weightlifting but continue if you are. 4 days a week minimum and get all body parts. It takes more energy to lift more weight so go heavy and go low or medium reps. Don't worry about building too much muscle....women simply don't have enough testosterone to get really muscular.

Losing fat....cardio a minimum of 4 times a week.

HIIT training burns fat quickly so I would do that 2 to 3 times per week but no more. Beware though....too much HIIT will burn muscle if you interested in keeping muscle.

Doing cardio in intervals keep the metabolism always running so if you are going to do an hour cardio split it into 2 half hours or 3 20 minutes. Don't stress if you're schedule doesn't allow it though.

Morning cardio on an empty stomach is great. The premise behind this is that when you wake up there are few carbs being stored in you so you'll burn fat instead of burning the carbs.


Stretching.....

So what does this have to with fat loss? Not much but it's vital to prevent injuries that could stop you from fat loss so stretch between sets in workouts and after cardio! It's a must. There are also some theories that stretching can elongate the muscles and give the apperance of long lean look. I don't know the scientific basis or if it's true but it certainly is worth a go.

[Miss Muscle]

Last off....if you do plateau this is what I suggest.

For one week cut calories. Still plateau.....add more cardio. Still plateau.....cut calories. Still plateua.....add more cardio.

I always think it's best to switch it up instead of doing an extreme drop in calories or an extreme addition of cardio. Fool your body. Mix it up.

Anyways...I know I have rambled on but I hope this helps.

[StoneColdNTO]

Nice posts MM !!!

[csyflt]

Yeah really good posts that make sence. God job MM