Do this, or that, maybe try this- information overload!

[Renn]

Hey everyone! I'm Renn. I'm 23, 5'9, female, and of Mediterranean descent. I started my fitness journey when I turned eighteen and was entering university. After spending my entire youth being the 'nerdy girl, but not an athlete', and the last one chosen for gym classes- I joined a bootcamp and kicked my lack of physical activity into overdrive. I decided I had to change one thing, and faced it head on: I needed to become physically active. I shed my baby fat, and went from 185 to 160 lbs.  

 

Since, I have been a devoted gym-goer, going 5-6 days a week, 45 minutes-1 hour and a half per workout. With a few blips in the schedule...

 

Being the typical youth who economically struggles for employment post-graduation from university, I have lived in four different cities in the past three years...three different continents. I moved to Europe a year ago and I may have to make a move to the UK in September to start a Master's. 

 

Why is that relevant? Well, let me tell you. First, it's really messed up my capacity to exercise and keep myself on track. I end up with dead periods of 3-4 months where I do not exercise, in the chaos of getting ready to move, adapting to a new country, and all of the difficulties of moving around frequently. I have resumed being physically active since February, and I feel great. I've even prompted my boyfriend to come help me with weightlifting, so I have been deadlifting 30 kg and squatting 35 kg as a starting point. How do I feel? Excited! I'm excited that I've added something new to my usual Nike Training Club/crosstraining workouts, challenging myself in a new way. I love to exercise. I'm frustrated by the dead periods that I keep hitting, but I love to exercise.

 

So, what's the problem? Why NerdFitness? 

 

I suck at eating properly. I was raised in a household where frozen dishes dominated my diet. Delicious, high in sodium, and no prepwork required. Since moving to my first city away from home, I have been trying to train myself to cook more, but I'll be honest- I dislike cooking every day. I don't understand how people do it three times a day. My breakfast is two boiled eggs and an apple, just to avoid cooking. But I am also learning that I cannot outrun my fork, which is what I have been trying to do the past five-ish years. Dedicated MFP user, calorie counting. I'm starting to learn that MFP on its own is not working for me- last March, I managed to dip down to 135 lbs. Now? I'm back at 150, and I have to admit- I don't think I look any more fit/defined than I did with the 15 pounds off. Which means that my problem is reducing the fat. 

 

Now to address the topic of this introduction: 

I am really frustrated because I'm not sure what mentality I'm supposed to use when approaching my fitness. Here are some contrasting ideas in my head: 

• My dream body is this: http://41.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m81syiDUvi1r6va6go1_500.jpg. Slender, but very toned. I respect women who have given up on the 'thin' part of the fit image, but I'm not there yet. I do want to be thin AND fit. Is that too much to ask? Maybe? 
• There is a 'set point weight' that all bodies are meant to hold, and mine has been 150 lbs. I sometimes have a bit more, sometimes have a bit less, but I end up hovering around 150.
• If I lose too much weight/body fat, will I lose my fertility? As a 23 year old, that's a huge concern.
• Can I look like my dream body? As a minority woman, am I wrong to be looking at Caucasian bodies for inspiration? Should I accept that I'll have the body of Beyonce, or a Williams sister- which are respectable and fit in their own ways, but nowhere close to the dream image I would love to have.
• I have no clue how to lower my fat content. Use MFP and limit calories- but then my body doesn't change much? Or eat certain foods? Do I count calories AND do paleo? I am so lost on the proper approach. 
• How do I start on changing my eating habits without it being a drag? I wish I loved cooking, really. But I find it a pain. That's why I end up reaching for those chicken nuggets that I can just pop into the oven. 
• I don't drink, I don't like butter, I hate bread. I rarely eat rice. Those common mistakes that people make, I just don't. But I stuff down fruit with every meal and I can't resist junk food-type food. For example, my lunch today? Chicken nuggets, celery with ranch, grapes, and some goat cheese. I'm annoyed that I just can't seem to cut out those chicken nuggets/fries/fatty foods out. 
• If I diet, will I be unable to build muscle? How much should I be eating? If I weight lift three times a week, am I still cutting calories? When is too little calories to eat? Weight loss, calories in < calories out, I wish it was that simple for me. I've learned easily that it isn't. 
• I don't believe that I can actually look like my dream body. This is the root problem. I really struggle to believe that I can do it, because I'm just told so often that I should be satisfied with the appropriate weight for my body. I posted on Reddit to ask for nutrition advice (as mentioned before, clueless), and I got this answer: 'Why are you trying to lose weight? 150 is perfectly healthy for 5'9." Yeah, I know it's perfectly healthy. I know I look perfectly healthy. 

 

But I don't look like what I want to. I hate that people don't believe me when I tell them I work out 6 days a week. I'm sick of not looking as fit as I am. 

 

And that's why I need you guys, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion, to help me finally figure out what I'm doing wrong, how to reach my full potential. And I'll do my best to use my love of exercise to motivate some of you! 

[Wildwanderer]

Lots of questions, but I think I can answer a few.

Junk food is bad and sugary bits are usually the enemy. If you are looking to cut fat percentage, then you almost always have to cut out carbohydrates. Surprisingly fat is not your enemy in your diet, but they need to be healthy fats. Lots of protein, good fats and low carbs will help you shed that extra bit of fat. Fruit is great for you, but try to eat less carb intensive fruits. Berries and such.

What kind of work out plan do you have? Lots of cardio?

Cardio is good, but if you want that toned look then you need to lift heavy weights at low reps. Strong lifts or beginners strength are both excellent programs and can be found on several threads in the forum. You can get to your target weight with cardio, but it will take hours and hours and hours. The more you do the more efficient your body gets at it, so it is good to change your work out program up, change intensity and lift heavy things.

Body weight can be deceiving. Don't so much worry about that, concentrate on pants size and muscle definition. You might get down to 135, but if you keep lifting you might inch back closer to 150, but be skinny and athletic looking.

[Raincloak]

Nothing wrong with boiled eggs and apple for breakfast! That counts as cooking too. Don't sweat it. The main thing is you're not eating candy bars for breakfast, which is great.

The good news is, you can lose weight (150 at 5'9" is not impossible to decrease), though it will take some work. As Wildwanderer suggested, lifting weights and cutting carbs is what you'd want to do for that. Don't let the kitchen scare you. You can cook easy dishes over and over if you want, or gradually expand your skills until you can do fancy. Up to you. Roasting chicken pieces is not that much harder than cooking chicken nuggets, I swear.

The other news, which I hope you find liberating, is that the picture you posted is ... a stretch goal, to put it politely. The woman in that picture is genetically just so, and has also nearly killed herself with an extreme exercise and diet routine (and even she doesn't look like that all the time, chances are she "cuts" especially for photo shoots). I wouldn't say she looks fit, although you can see some abdominals. It is hard to judge a woman's fitness by looks, but I'm seeing more ribs and airbrushing than muscle on that woman, and either her breasts have been enhanced, or the bra and camera angle are carefully designed to make them look larger. (When you starve off all your body fat, guess what happens to the organs made of fat?) She doesn't look strong, and underneath the tan she doesn't look that healthy.

If you wind up looking like Beyonce, I think that's nothing to complain about. The world seems to agree she's a hot mama. And why shouldn't she be? The lady is well past 30 and has had babies, which if you ask me makes her more of a "real woman" than the twiggy teens in magazine ads. It's not so much about your color, although I wouldn't focus too hard on white girls as a beauty standard if you're olive colored. (Don't ever believe that your race is not beautiful. If you're Mediterranean, you probably have a nice sultry skin tone, and that lovely glossy dark hair which fair girls would kill for.) They have skinny models in all colors. I see black and Asian ones, too.

But the twig girls are born with a certain very tall body type that is very thin ... and they must diet very hard to keep that shape. And they usually lose it anyway by the time they're your age, because grown women naturally fill out some curve. If it makes you feel better, men actually find the true feminine shape (with hips and breasts) more attractive than the skinny teen models. I urge you not to cry over figures like that picture, because you can be very happy and fit without it.

[Trix]

Spoiler about cooking: most people who eat mostly home-made meals don't cook them everyday. I live in a culture where most people work/study away from home and still go by the home-made stuff at least half of the time. It results in the following common habits:

 

If I make that one bean-based mid-day meal dish, it usually lasts for four mid-day meals, waiting in the fridge in the meantime. Cabbage-based dish takes four to seven days, depending on the variant (I don't like the sour one much, so it takes longer .) Fish soup takes three days. Chicken broth - two, and then the rest can be made into a tomato soup by putting some stuff in and cooking for a relatively short time. Most mid-day meal heated dishes can last even for a week coursing between the fridge and the stove if one makes large enough amount of them. But on the fifth day they can get boring, so I advise against making more than for four days.

Hot spices (or salt, or sugar - but those two ain't healthy, much) and meat-based jelly structure can even make the stuff last for more than two weeks in the fridge, if one really needs it to.

 

Only the dishes that contain some of the raw vegetables or any raw fruits need to be made just before eating them. But the vegetables can wait at hand, all ready to cut them.

 

I almost never need to make an evening meal, as I just take what was left of the mid-day one for it, if I eat it at all - a snack (eg. an apple and some nuts) is enough, if the mid-day meal was filling. So, less work making the meals, again.

 

Breakfast foods take a very short time to cook - like the eggs (which can be made in many different ways,) very thin pieces of meat (the thinner, the shorter time they take to be made,) or milk soups for children and those adults who can digest them. The rest of breakfast (apart from tea or coffee, or cocoa for children) is eaten cold.

 

The only time when cooking takes hours is preparing the traditional holiday dishes. Probably because that's the only time the people have enough time out of work to make them .

[Renn]

I asked a lot of questions: so no surprise to getting a lot of answers! Thanks to you three for replying.

 

First: My workout routine is based on this: http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/womens-training/apps/nike-training-club. It's an app that I have been using over the past five years, and I love it. Occasionally, I throw some changes in there- for example, adding a 20 minute run at the end, or 40 minutes on the elliptical. For the past week and a half, I've added serious weight training, because while NTC uses weights and free-weight body exercises, the heaviest weights I use are 5 kg dumbbells. I'm currently working on building a schedule for my week that I can cycle, that allows for both NTC, cardio, and strength. 

 

Second: I find it liberating, but I also find it a bit frustrating. Where should I be looking for inspiration? I feel, in many ways, it is easier for men- they aim for the six pack (Saint's transformation is a good example of this). But I feel that I worry about multiple things- I want to be a pant size 4-6 (I understand my genetics will never get me down to a 2), and I want to be toned, and why do I have more fat compounded on my sides even though I can see outlines of abdominal muscles? It's hard to figure out without saying, "I want to look like THIS."  Beyonce, I respect for a lot of reasons, but would I say she looks like a fitness model? No, definitely not. And that's the problem- I do want to look like a fitness model. I can feel- hey, I'm fit!- but I have to say, I'm really discouraged that people just don't believe me. I'm a size 10, but I love the gym. I can easily spend hours there, if I didn't have enough responsibilities. And I hate that people are like, "Huh? You can't be going to the gym all the time and looking like that." I have to be honest: it really breaks my heart. It kills me that because I'm a fit size 10, it's not the ideal and thus I'm not healthy. 

 

Third: I like what you're saying about food! I just don't know what to make. I look at recipes for inspiration, and I get overwhelmed. Too much information. I've been following Steve's advice through the emails, and made one diet change. Because I'm the epitome of an eager beaver- using MFP and dieting to get down in weight- and then getting frustrated with MFP when the weight doesn't budge and then it goes up again. So I've been using the slow and gradual changes to try to fix this. My current goal? Eat vegetables with every meal. I love fruit, but I rarely eat vegetables as much. So, that's been going well so far- but it's only been about 4 days! Better than nothing, I guess.  

 

Thank you all for your input! 

[Raincloak]

Women's clothing sizes are horribly arbitrary. A decade ago my clothes read "size 10" on the label. Now my clothes are "size 4" and I haven't changed my weight . The labels changed. It's called "vanity sizing" and it's one of the many things I hate about the fashion industry. (When I have achieved world domination, all clothing will be labeled and sold by its actual measurements. Men can buy clothes and shirts with the inches on the label, why not us??)

... anyway. With weight training and an improved diet, your looks will improve. I can't say what state you will eventually reach, but maybe this will make it more clear...

http://www.precisionnutrition.com/cost-of-getting-lean

they've got a few things wrong/exaggerated, but it's not a bad "reality check". If you're looking for a magic word to cure your frustration with how you look: sorry, I haven't got one. (Go see a counselor if your body image really upsets you.) If you feel the need to tell everyone you spent a lot of time in the gym, something's not right, but the problem might be your attitude. Or it might be the dweebs who tell you that your looks are not okay despite your fitness. Stop hanging around with those people.

Improving your looks certainly doesn't mean you have to spend all day in the gym. You can "work smarter not harder." I can't tell what exercises the Nike app is telling you to do, but from your references to runs and ellipticals, it sounds to me like you're a bit of a cardio bunny. (The Scout guild might be for you then!) Cardio is fun, but the consensus around here is that cardio alone usually won't give you the "toned" look. More weights, cleaner diet, and you'll be on your way with less time in the gym, too.

when you say you're "fit," do you have some numbers to back that up? Like, how fast can you run a mile? How many pushups can you do? It's good to know if you want to measure progress.

[mightstone2k]

Howdy, Renn. Body goals and such are not my forte, but perhaps I can help you out with the cooking side of things. Personally, I do Paleo and (try to) count calories, which is something you asked about (no, it's not mandatory; It just works for me). And I'm a full-time student, so I don't have much time to cook. As a result, I've come up with some low-effort ways of cooking that might help you (the less effort it demands, the less you may be inclined to hate it).

First tip: avoid recipes. Too much complexity in recipes. You have to buy the right ingredients, do all the prep work, follow all the directions right, avoid burning down the house, and in the end, it might not come out like the recipe says it's supposed to. Or you might hate it. And some of those ingredients may be so niche that you rarely use them. That's a "recipe" for rage.

Second tip: know some basic techniques. The most useful (and easy) that I've found are: how to make a stew, how to roast vegetables, and how to both roast and pan-cook meat. Virtually EVERY meal I make is either a stew or a cooked meat with roasted veggies.

Stew: add liquid, herbs/spices, and veggies to a pot. Summer it until the veggies are a texture you like. Add meat. Simmer until meat is cooked. Stir once more to mix. Ladle out into a bowl and several food storage containers (because you made enough for several meals, naturally). Consume what's in the bowl and put the leftovers in the fridge. Stews taste fantastic as leftovers. And by changing the liquid and/or spices, "stew" becomes curry, chili, soup (use more liquid), or whatever. For example, I just finished a curry, with leftovers for the week.

Stews are fantastically easy to make Paleo, if you are going that route.

Roasted veggies: preheat oven to 425 (Fahrenheit). Chop veggies into 1" or 2" chunks. Toss with oil and herbs/spices. Roast until done. Google will tell you a good time limit for the particular veggie. Eventually, you'll be able to eyeball it yourself.

Roasted meat: Google will tell you what temperature to roast at and for how long; it varies by meat. Just add spices to taste. Try marinating too. That's crazy easy (mix liquid with spices/herbs; drown meat in it; let sit for several hours).

Pan-cooked meat: melt oil in pan. Season meat. Add meat to pan; let cook on one side for a time. Flip it and let cook. Remove and consume. Google will tell you appropriate times and temperatures for the meat in question.

tl;dr --> avoid recipes. Use the above techniques. You will put in far less effort and get plenty of tasty results just by sticking to the basics. And by putting in less effort for more consistent rewards, you may find you hate cooking less. Some of your early efforts may turn out not great. You will learn [emoji16]

Oh, and my curry? Ten minutes of prep and active cooking attention. I worked out while it simmered. Four heaping tupperwares full AND dinner tonight.

[Renn]

Thanks to you both for the replies!

Raincloak: Oof, lots to reply to, so forgive me if I miss a point!

I actually classified myself as a Ranger, because prior to introducing more serious weightlifting into my routine, I was big on calisthenics. The majority of NTC workouts are heavy on squats, lunges, burpees, planks, full-body exercises. The difference is using dumbbells and much lighter weight/many more reps than when I weightlift. I actually hate running/cardio, and force myself to do it in order to be more well-rounded.

As for the people I'm around? It's a bit harder these days. Since moving to a new city in Europe where I don't speak the local language, it's been a bit hard to branch out much. But your point is well taken, and I've stopped talking as much to those who are negative. An example: I was in language class (working on that local language point), and the chapter we were working on was about health and fitness. I said "yeah, I wake up at 5:30 to go to the gym" and then a guy laughed and was like "you go to the gym?" And while I handled it well at the time, it was one of the remarks that really unnerved me and upset me. I should be less sensitive, for sure, but I definitely have some residual image conflicts after losing the first 30 lbs. That, I am working on.

Am I fit? Well, I'm not at the end of the fitness journey, and there's always room for improvement. But I regularly hold a 3 minute plank, do 250 free weight squats per workout, and burpees aren't such a dreadful thing anymore. I hate running, so I don't measure my fitness by that because it's more of an add-on to my fitness than a central part. I started doing heavyweight squats at 35 kg, 15 reps, x3. I think that's a fair start for a newcomer.

So I would classify myself as physically active. I, of course, aim to get better and better, but I think I'm not in a bad place when it comes to performing physical activities.

Yeah! If there's anything else I can answer, let me know!

Mightstone: I really respond well and appreciate this advice. I often get frustrated when I look up recipes, because yes- it involves grabbing ingredients from the store and added prepwork. I often find myself defaulting to certain recipes- tortillas with ground beef, quiche, pizza, stirfry. And it's usually because I just throw whatever is in my fridge into a pan/in the oven. You give me confidence- I just need to find paleo friendly "defaults", like your curry. Thanks!

[mightstone2k]

My pleasure

[Noname123]

I feel like I'm a bit late to the party here But here are my thoughts- 

 

I don't believe a body has a set point 'naturally'- it has a set point based on what you put into it and the type of activity you do with said body. If you want to lower weight (or bodyfat) then calorie reduction is your best bet. Strength training will help build muscle and endurance (esp. if you're starting out, you get newbie gains!!) Here is a blog post Steve wrote about this kind of thing.

 

For fat loss your fight is in the kitchen, not in the gym- work on replacing the fried foods that are likely calorie dense and usually not nutritionally rich for leafy greens, lean proteins and good fats (avocados and olive oil are my favs!). If you find yourself reaching for the nuggets out of convenience try to bite the bullet one night a week and pre-cook and portion/pack all your lunches (and maybe dinners) for the week. Mason jar salads or tupperware grilled chicken with veggies and brown rice are the easiest to make in big quantities and stick in the fridge or freezer. That way you can just grab a jar or container and be on your merry way through the week! 

 

Steve also states tweaking your intake goals once you reach a certain goal. Say you hit 20% bf and want to build muscle after that- your weight may go up 10 lbs but your bf % could go down a few points- there's a cutting and bulking cycle a lot of bodybuilders and people who just want to get that 'ripped' look go through to achieve- gain weight, both muscle and fat while bulking then reducing diet to cut some fat and lose as little muscle as possible during the cut cycle. A lot of people on here are doing this not as bodybuilders but just working towards their ideal bodies. 

 

There's lots of information out there. Just have to figure out what works best for you to get to where you want to be with the level of exercises and diet changes you're willing to make! 

[Renn]

Slates: Sorry for replying late! 

 

I actually have some questions about the bulking and cutting cycle that people go through. Is this necessary? I read in one of Steve's articles, that you essentially have to eat more to gain muscle, but you need to calorie reduce to lose weight: sort of leaving me in a conundrum on what the appropriate line of action is to take. For now, I haven't been calorie counting- but logging, and trying to transition more of my meals to paleo. There's a ton of information out there, but I sadly don't know what really works, and what is out there to sell me a quick buck or is genuine information meant to improve my well-being. 

[Noname123]

Slates: Sorry for replying late! 

 

I actually have some questions about the bulking and cutting cycle that people go through. Is this necessary? I read in one of Steve's articles, that you essentially have to eat more to gain muscle, but you need to calorie reduce to lose weight: sort of leaving me in a conundrum on what the appropriate line of action is to take. For now, I haven't been calorie counting- but logging, and trying to transition more of my meals to paleo. There's a ton of information out there, but I sadly don't know what really works, and what is out there to sell me a quick buck or is genuine information meant to improve my well-being. 

Honestly it depends on your goals. If you're at 20 percent bodyfat and want to gain strength and see muscle I'd suggest eating a little above maintenance WHILE strength training to build muscle. You will gain weight, both fat and muscle. After a few weeks you maintain the training and go on a cut so you're not building muscle anymore but you cut a fat and a tiny bit of muscle you built while keeping a good chunk of the muscle you built helping you get the 'cut' look.

 

If you're just looking to slim down then caloric deficit is the way to go. The goal picture looks to be like the girl does a lot of cardio, so I doubt she bulks/cuts, she is very slim but there isn't a whole lot of muscle definition (she looks around 18 percent bf even though she's thin because of the lack of muscle definition). Here are some rough pics for bf percent:

 

However if you want a more defined look, bulking and cutting may be worth doing more research in.  

[Renn]

Slates: I guess it's a mix, then! I also appreciate the second photo you posted of a more defined look, but yeah. I guess I want to be more on the 'thinner' side then the 'well-defined' side of things. I'm thinking somewhere in the field of a Nike fitness model, where they're slim and yes- as you pointed out, maybe around 18% because they aren't overly cut. 

 

I've been down to 135 lbs before with pure weight loss and bodyweight training, but I felt that I looked the same as I do now at 135- skinny-fat, not really defined. I also (according to a bodyfat calculator), was at 23% BF, which is considerably more than that 16-18% BF that we talked about earlier. But- does this mean that I have to lose more weight? Because 135- for my height, is on the lower end of a 'healthy spectrum', and I didn't know how much lower I should try to push down the weight. Which I guess is why I'm sort of confused on the concept of losing weight, because I don't know if I'm also losing my muscle at the same time or if it's getting to unhealthy levels. I've started weight-lifting to try to handle the issue of being skinny fat, but...you can see, my brain is sort of overwhelmed on how to deal with it. 

[Noname123]

If you were still 23 percent bf at 135 I'd try strength training! Worse case scenario you still lose weight and find a different exercise. That 'cut' look requires a huuuuge dedication to diet and eating completely clean to see abs so if you maintain a good diet with cheats, some cardio and add strength I think you'll be closer to your 18 percent