Sorry - Can someone evaluate?

Just wondering if someone could give me a little 'report' card on how I'm doing?

Exercise:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday - gym in the morning (5am) - 30 mins Cardio, ligth strength (weighted bar, bosu ball - studio exercises, not a circuit)

Tuesday/Thursday - 30 day shread video (20 minute circuit) in the evenings

Weekend - Gym on one of two days.

Food:

1200 - 1400 cals/day, including 35g fiber each day, 20g protein, and 2 servings of whole grains. The rest are made up of veggies/fruit.

I.e.:

Breakfast - either 1/2 cup plain yogourt with 1/3 cup all-bran and 1 serving of fruit OR 3/4 cup scrambled egg whites with 1 pc dry, toasted sprouted grain bread. 

Snack - either a piece of fruit or celery/carrot sticks

Lunch - Salad with protein of some kind - or leftovers from dinner the night before.

Snack - nuts or yogourt

Dinner - mostly vegetables w/ some protein. (i.e.: huge salad w/ fish or chicken, broiled zucchini and red peppers, portabello mushroom quesadilla, etc)

Snack - 1/2 cup frozen yogourt w/ berries or some air popped popcorn.

I NEED to lose 10 lbs off of my hips/waist/thighs/ass - are there any foods or exercises that can help speed this up?

I would advise getting more protein, and upping your calories a bit.  With all the excercise you're getting, you don't want to starve your body.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/calories-bur ned.php

It's impossible to spot train- to loose weight off just one spot.  Where it comes off depends upon your genetics.  However, loosing weight will make you a bit thinner everywhere.

Doing some cardio to help burn calories is good.  Doing some exercises to help tone and strengthen your trouble spots will also help you to look better in those areas.

squats are great for the thighes and buttocks. I do leg lifts for my thighes, while laying on my side. Do it till it hurts!! It is working for me. My hubby has noticed a difference in the way I feel. Good luck! Your diet sounds great!!!

as was said, you cant spot lose  but you can work w/ weights and resistance to gain muscle in those areas. 

w that amount of excercise, you could probably eat more as well.

also, for your height, i dont know that you NEED to lose 10 pounds as you said.

Yea, your protein intake is a bit low, but you said you're having chicken or fish so are you sure you're not underestimating it?

I was the happiest person in the world when I was 112 - 115 lbs. I was toned, fit, and felt great. My clothes fit perfectly, my face was trimmer... with the extra 10 lbs, I am no longer toned, I have a muffin top, and chipmunk cheeks.

I need to lose them not for my health, or for any other reason but to get my self esteem back :(

im sorry, but as we all know, self esteem shouldnt be based on appearances, rt?  maybe think what else it is that is upsetting, affecting your self esttem, the root cause of this and what your true unhappiness is about.

I looked at your profile and was concerned at something you wrote "I can be 115 if I eat 1200-1500 . . ."

The burn meter says you burn 1600 cals as a sedentary person if you are 5'3, 23, and 115. You should not be chronically undereating to MAINTAIN the lower weight.

If you GET to 115, and cannot maintain it on 1600-1900 cals (that's sedentary to light activity), then that is a sign it is too little for your body. Remember, being healthy means being able to eat what is normal for a person your size, within reason.

You will be able to eat normally and LOOK slimmer if you do some weight training when you start maintenance. The scale may go up some, but it is not about the numbers! Find that equilibrium where you can eat and live normally and you will be much happier than living your life undereating just so you can be 115.

Best of luck!

Original Post by hettyanne:

Just wondering if someone could give me a little 'report' card on how I'm doing?

Exercise:

Monday/Wednesday/Friday - gym in the morning (5am) - 30 mins Cardio, ligth strength (weighted bar, bosu ball - studio exercises, not a circuit)

Tuesday/Thursday - 30 day shread video (20 minute circuit) in the evenings

Weekend - Gym on one of two days.

Food:

1200 - 1400 cals/day, including 35g fiber each day, 20g protein, and 2 servings of whole grains. The rest are made up of veggies/fruit.

I.e.:

Breakfast - either 1/2 cup plain yogourt with 1/3 cup all-bran and 1 serving of fruit OR 3/4 cup scrambled egg whites with 1 pc dry, toasted sprouted grain bread. 

Snack - either a piece of fruit or celery/carrot sticks

Lunch - Salad with protein of some kind - or leftovers from dinner the night before.

Snack - nuts or yogourt

Dinner - mostly vegetables w/ some protein. (i.e.: huge salad w/ fish or chicken, broiled zucchini and red peppers, portabello mushroom quesadilla, etc)

Snack - 1/2 cup frozen yogourt w/ berries or some air popped popcorn.

 

I NEED to lose 10 lbs off of my hips/waist/thighs/ass - are there any foods or exercises that can help speed this up?

 

20g protein is not nearly enough. The FDA says 50g a day and that's for simple survival; that is they don't factor in muscle building -- if you want proper muscle maintenance while you're trying to lose weight you should make sure you're getting at LEAST 50g a day.

35g fiber is wonderful.

You're definitely not eating enough. For example, this breakfast: "3/4 cup scrambled egg whites with 1 pc dry, toasted sprouted grain bread. "  That comes out to less than 200 calories, which is a RIDICULOUSLY low amount of calories to eat at your most important meal of the day.  Try to get at least 400.  The rest of it looks fine, just make sure you're not starving yourself.

Sorry! I'm silly!

I just realized I meant 20% of my diet from Protein.

What I've noticed is that my breakdown is simelar to

20 - 25% protein

15-20% fat

60% carbs

Is this good/bad/ugly?

I worry about the carbs being too high but realistically 75% of them are from veegtables...

Also, re breakfast... Usually I have one breakfast at 6, and my snack at 9-10 is usually a second breakfast. Would you still say I should have a bigger one at 6?

Depending on what you eat at either "breakfast", how much of it you should have  at each time will vary.  I would say whichever meal contains the "starter fuel" for your day should be larger -- that is to say, if you eat at 6 but you don't really accomplish anything until 9-10 then make the second meal your bigger one.  Ideally though, you'll be kick-starting your system as soon as you get up with a large-ish breakfast.

As for the ratios; not my cup of tea but from what I've seen here, pretty standard. 

Oh...20%...that makes more sense. Lol.

Well, I think you're doing pretty well with the ratios. I do suggest staying at the higher end of your cals though since your exercise routine is pretty intense. Do you have a rest/recovery day?

You mentioned that you have carrots or celery as a snack. Try them with some hummus.

By the way, you do an awesome job of getting in your veggies.

Hetty, intellectually we all know that your self esteem should not be tied to your appearance in a perfect world but darn it, that's a hard habit to break isn't it.   Your diet seems fine to me if you are trying to lose weight.  Be patient at what you are doing for a couple of more weeks and if you aren't losing a pound a week or so you might want to mix up your exercise routine.   I would not change your diet or start cutting calories because if you eat much less your body could go into "starvation mode" and reduce your metabolism to compensate.

As you probably already know, doing cardio is great for weight loss, but you should be challenging yourself in doing it.  If you are not getting your heart rate into your target zone, which at your age should be 140-150 I think, you probably aren't burning a lot of calories.  Interval training helps speed up the weight loss too, that is, running fast for 90 seconds or so, then walking or light jogging for 90.  The up and down is better for your heart than a steady pace is, and taxes your body more, resulting in more calories burned.  You might also want to increase the weights for the same reason.  If you can pick up a weight and lift it more than 12-16 times, it's too light and too easy for your body, and not burning a lot of calories.  Your body needs to be pushed to respond, and maybe you aren't pushing it hard enough to burn the calories you want.