How's this look? (my diet)

[NutFlea]

Here's a report of my diet for the past two weeks. I had two major binge days where I ate a whole block of cheese, so that kinda threw a wrench in things. Since some of you guys who post here are really knowledgeable, I thought you might offer some insights about how well (or not) I'm doing:

27% Fat (daily average = 41 grams)
43% Carbohydrates (daily average = 179 grams)
29% Protein (daily average = 98 grams)
1% Alcohol (daily average = 2 grams)
Average Daily Calories = 1439

I'm a 41y.o. female, 5'4", 120#. I exercise hard 6 days each week (running/lifting). Trying to get strong yet lose fat. Ideally, I'd love to lose 5-8 pounds of fat, but I'm not even sure it's possible since I haven't weighed 115 since my early 20's.

 

[sssleeper]

The calorie amount is good for ur weight since ur active. Just keep ur fats right, and have the higher protein (lower carb) meals later in the day.

 

[Monger]

Read Berardi's 7 habits and follow it.

John Berardi - 7 Habits

Increase your fat intake
Decrease your carb intake
You may need to bump your calories up just a bit.. maybe 300 or so.
Make sure you're lifting weights 2-3 times a week
Do HIIT 2-3 times a week
Do LSD any other day you train

It seems to me you're probably going to have a lot of room for improvement.

 

[immovablestone]

*resists the standard "noodz plz" comment*

You're in good shape already. Lower carbs, increase protein, keep doing what you're doing, and presto you have what you're looking for.

 

[NutFlea]

The calorie amount is good for ur weight since ur active. Just keep ur fats right, and have the higher protein (lower carb) meals later in the day.

Eat carbs later in the day? Is that right? I thought I read recently (maybe at Berardi's site) that you should eat the majority of your carbs *after* your daily workouts. Most of my calories, in fact, come after my afternoon workout.

I love Berardi's 7 tips. Very easy and do-able, even though I'm a vegetarian and plan carefully to get enough protein. (I eat about a dozen eggs every day!)

 

[RJ43]

I would suggest increasing your calories a little. If you are exercising hard you are probably only netting about approximately 1,000 calories which isn't a lot to sustain energy for 6 hard workouts a week.

Other than that, I think your ratios looks pretty good as they are now, how long have you been at this diet/workout routine?

 

[brad_mn]

The block of cheese comment made me laugh instantly (reminded my of Costanza).

 

[NutFlea]

Read Berardi's 7 habits and follow it.

John Berardi - 7 Habits

Increase your fat intake
Decrease your carb intake
You may need to bump your calories up just a bit.. maybe 300 or so.
Make sure you're lifting weights 2-3 times a week
Do HIIT 2-3 times a week
Do LSD any other day you train

It seems to me you're probably going to have a lot of room for improvement.

I do lift 6 times each week. I'm on a program of linear progression (cycling from 10 reps down to single reps), push/pull/legs split. My goals are a single-rep max on backsquats and standing overhead press. Given where I am now, I think it's likely I'll get it in a couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to run a program for running which involves 3 days/week of HIIT. For example, workouts including tabata sprints, hill repeats, intervals, etc. I don't ever do LSD anymore, since it seems counter-productive to my goal of gaining strength. I find it difficult, though, to run both the lifting/running at the same time. I'd probably make better gains on both if I just focused on one at a time, but I can't let go.

I'd like to lower the carbs even further. I'll review my log and see what I can cut out. Fruit is loaded, so maybe my 1 apple/day needs to go.

 

[Monger]

I do lift 6 times each week. I'm on a program of linear progression (cycling from 10 reps down to single reps), push/pull/legs split. My goals are a single-rep max on backsquats and standing overhead press. Given where I am now, I think it's likely I'll get it in a couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to run a program for running which involves 3 days/week of HIIT. For example, workouts including tabata sprints, hill repeats, intervals, etc. I don't ever do LSD anymore, since it seems counter-productive to my goal of gaining strength. I find it difficult, though, to run both the lifting/running at the same time. I'd probably make better gains on both if I just focused on one at a time, but I can't let go.

I'd like to lower the carbs even further. I'll review my log and see what I can cut out. Fruit is loaded, so maybe my 1 apple/day needs to go.

:icon_chee Sounds like your routine is more advanced than I gave you credit for. You *might* get some better gains going to an upper body, lower body, full body split. That would allow you to get more frequency with movements and that can help with gains in strength. But that's something you can think about for the future.

EDIT: I just reread your post. Are you saying that you actually lift heavy 6 days a week or you lift 3 days and do HIIT 3 days? If you're actually lifting 6 days a week and doing the HIIT... wow, that's a ton of work and you might be over training.

I do lift 6 times each week

Why do you have fat loss as a goal? It doesn't sound like you're overweight at all. But anyway, the HIIT training should help a lot. The only reason I mentioned LSD work is because some times just more training frequency helps to burn calories and doing lifting and HIIT everyday is a little to demanding on the CNS. LSD work is a lot easier and it helps to burn a few extra calories without putting you in a wheel chair. Doing 1 day a week shouldn't affect your training. LSD becomes counter productive when it gets excessive. Nonetheless, I can understand you avoiding it for the time being. It sounds like your training protocols are pretty good and you've done your homework.

You don't necessarily need a lot of carbs to gain strength and they are definitely counter productive for *most* people for fat loss. It might sound crazy to you but you could notice improvements from actually raising your calorie intake. For doing intense HIIT and strength work 6 days a week, 1400 calories isn't anything even though you only weight 120. If your progress stales, bump your calories up before you ever consider bumping them down. In fact, I'd probably do it anyway and just monitor your fat %. Your protein intake is probably ok for your weight, though getting a little more wouldn't hurt. Also, I'd seriously try to cut out more of your carbs and replace what ever calorie deficit you have from your goal with fats. Try to get an even split of saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats or as close as possible.

And to your earlier question... Yes, keep any non-vegetable carb you consume to around your workout time.

 

[NutFlea]

You *might* get some better gains going to an upper body, lower body, full body split. That would allow you to get more frequency with movements and that can help with gains in strength.

That's a really interesting idea. Sounds fun, too! I think I might go to that this summer.

I started out a few weeks ago on my current routine, push/pull/legs. My pushing goal is to increase my single-rep max of standing overhead press (currently 75#), and my leg goal is to do the same for backsquats (165#). To begin with, I did 3x10's. After 3 rotations of that, I moved down to 3x8's, 3x6's, and now I'm at the 3x4s. I always start the workout with my focus lifts, and then do accessory stuff afterwards (including deadlifts 1xweek). At this point, I'm up to 3x4x72 on the SOHP and 3x4x150 on the backsquats. I feel confident about the pressing, but I think I'd love to get a real coach to help me with form on the backsquats. My pulling progression is a little different, since my goal is to get 3 sets of 10 strict, deadhang chinups. Yesterday, I managed to get 10-10-9, so I'm almost there.

Anyways, yes, that involves 6 days/week of lifting. Then, on top of that, I try to squeeze in at least 3 intense running sessions each week, always after lifting or on the off day. Most of these runs are 20-minutes or less with a focus on speedwork. (Starting out, my goal was to be able to complete the treadmill run from TUF Season 1; I finally did it a couple weeks ago, so now I'm kinda just trying to maintain cardio-wise.)

Anyway, all this should probably be a post in the S&P or Conditioning forum....

If you're actually lifting 6 days a week and doing the HIIT... wow, that's a ton of work and you might be over training.

I worry about that, too. It's hard to work towards TWO goals at once (cardio AND strength).

Why do you have fat loss as a goal? It doesn't sound like you're overweight at all. But anyway, the HIIT training should help a lot.

I'd just like to see how ripped I can get at my age. I think most women are obsessive about this stuff when they're younger and then as they age become more relaxed about it and accepting of their bodies. I'm kinda the opposite. Plus, I love working out!

For doing intense HIIT and strength work 6 days a week, 1400 calories isn't anything even though you only weight 120. If your progress stales, bump your calories up before you ever consider bumping them down.

Yeah, I think I could go up as high as 1600 and still be okay. But it's not like I'm really hungry or anything. If I plan meals ahead of time and stay away from junk food (and cheese!), 1400 is pretty easy.

Also, I'd seriously try to cut out more of your carbs and replace what ever calorie deficit you have from your goal with fats.

Looking at my logbook, I notice that these are the biggest contributors to my daily carb intake:

apple (21 grams)
probiotic yogurt (12 grams)
skim milk (12 grams)
whole-grain waffle (14 grams)

Everything else is under 8 grams. I suppose I should give up the waffles. I've been eating one right before I go to the gym every afternoon, thinking the carbs will boost my energy/performance. But maybe it's just mental and I don't need it. They sure are good, though!

Thanks for all your advice. (I can't really talk to anybody I know about this stuff, since most people I know don't work out or diet and also get kinda defensive about it.)