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2003/08/29, 10:17 AM
Hi! I am 5'6", about 120lbs and I currently work out a lot -well maybe not to some people :), but I do 50-60 min on the elliptical trainer 6 days a week, followed by weight
training 5 days. My diet is not ideal - I currently eat about 1000 calories a day - I realize that is not nearly enough to gain muscle, but I am afraid that if I increase my calories - I will gain fat - not muscle and I have read on several of previous posts that it is practically immpossible to gain muscle while trying to diet. I would like to work out less and try to maintain my current fitness level with my diet - does anyone have any suggestions?
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2003/08/29, 10:26 AM
What exactly are you trying to do? gain msucle or loose fat or what? And if you are doing a hour of cardio 6 days a week on 1000 cal a day plus doing weight training 5 days youa re not going to see results at all. When you eat that level of cals and do that much work your body thinks it is in a famine and is starving so it slows the metabolism down to conserve cals. Either add 200-800 cals a day of good protein and carbs sources and see results or stay at the level you are and actually be less fit than you think...
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Eat More, Drink More, and Lift Harder than you thought you could, welcome to Becoming!
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2003/08/29, 10:31 AM
Try gradullay lowering the amount of cardio you do and see how your body responds. Also, switch to a different type of cardio - your body may have adjusted to the elliptical.
Switch to warm up, lift weights, then cardio, and cut down to a 30 minute circuit or a 30 minute single body part lifting routine and then a little less cardio than usual.
If you want some muscle, gradually add in a little more protein for more calories, as long as it is lean protein you shouldn't gain fat.
The first week just add one additional serving of protein like chicken, fish or turkey breast. Or a protein shake.
Good luck, let us know how it goes for you!
Oh, one more thing - find a way to do something fun for cardio - biking, hiking, volleyball, or a kickboxing class, or a martial arts class to replace your time chained to the equipment. You will find it much more mentally stimulating and easier to look forward to.
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Challenge + Consistency = Results
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2003/08/29, 11:28 AM
Thank you for your quick and helpful responses. I know that adding a huge amount of calories to my diet would be shocking to my body, but I need to increase my metabolism through my diet - adding the additional meal sounds good to me! I also like the specifics that you both have given me as far as the workout routine along with the suggestion of
varying my cardio - I will let you knwo in about 6 weeks or
so.
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