Sort-of noob definitely-nerd checking in to say hi~

[asukalangley]

Hi! I'm Kenzie and I'm 19 years old. After years of struggling with balancing compulsive eating and calorie-counting I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere with my fitness mindset. I read a few articles on NerdFitness while I was researching healthy eating and decided being a film nerd that is into exercising I'd fit in here. 

 

Currently I would like to improve my body composition through doing weights, HIIT, and eating healthier foods at a consistent calorie/macro amount. I yo-yo a lot with calorie counting -- I've done it since I was 15, eating 1200 some days and 2000 some days, so I'm specifically looking for ways to stabilize my metabolism because I think after a few months of steady weight loss I'm hitting a plateau with how my body looks. Ideally, I'd like to lose fat and gain muscle, so I'm learning to disregard the number on the scale and focus more on how I look. 

 

Right now I am coming off of a month of doing pilates 6 days a week and walk-run 3 days a week to starting the Strong Curves beginners weight lifting program (4 days a week) and doing HIIT 3 days a week. I'm also trying to stabilize my calorie count to 1450 and hopefully build up my calorie count each week as I get more comfortable with lifting to improve my metabolism. If anyone has tips in particular on how to do this I'd love any resources!

 

And for non-fitness stuff about me...I love film and I am currently self-teaching myself web development concepts before I transfer colleges. 

 

This community looks really cool so I'm excited to finally talk about fitness with people!

[Wobbegong]

Hello Kenzie, welcome to Nerd Fitness! 

 

It sounds like you've got a pretty good idea of what you can do to reach your goals. As far as making any change in your lifestyle goes, aim for slow and steady: too many changes at once can get overwhelming and lead to burnout, the ultimate progress-ruiner. 

 

I can't really give you any more specific advice, since I'm pretty consistently terrible at tracking calories or macros, but I wish you the best of luck! There is also a Nutrition thread here where you can ask questions specifically about how to build your diet.

 

Best of luck and once again, welcome!

[asukalangley]

Slow and steady is totally key! Thank you

[zeroh13]

Hi Kenzie! Welcome!

 

The key to changing body composition is definitely diet & nutrition. I suggest you first focus on stabilizing your calories. Once you're getting roughly the same calories fairly consistently, it'll be easier to find ways to improve your diet and add additional calories. Generally, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats are the go-to choices for getting a little calorie boost. As far as stabilizing your calories, creating a meal plan every week could be useful.

 

I don't know how often you do weight lifting and HIIT on the same day, but be sure to get a rest day or two in every week. Your body needs that break!

 

Let us know if you have any questions! And if you're interested in a little more accountability and structure with your goals, be sure to check out the four week challenges. We'll have a new one starting up pretty soon. 

[Machete]

I'm seconding @zeroh13 sentiments on combining lifting with HIIT. What I see a lot of beginners do is try to combine different programs together (I did/still do the same thing.), but then that defeats the purpose of a set program. I haven't read Strong Curves, but from what I've seen it looks like a hypertrophy program, and from what I know of Bret Contreras he likes getting heavy with weights. People usually use [what they consider] "HIIT" to burn extra calories, which would be counterintuitive when you're on a hypertrophy/strength program, since you'd want to be on a surplus so you can provide your muscles with all the raw materials to be able to grow. Personally I'd say concentrate on just one program for at least 3 months.

 

 

*Take this with a grain of salt though. I've been known to be a raving lunatic around these parts.

[asukalangley]

10 hours ago, Machete said:

 

Thanks for the info! So it'd be more appropriate to stick with Strong Curves and cut out HIIT for the time being?

[zeroh13]

On 8/8/2017 at 0:42 AM, asukalangley said:

Thanks for the info! So it'd be more appropriate to stick with Strong Curves and cut out HIIT for the time being?

Stick with the one that holds your interest the most.