Plateau, options?

[hazel]

Hi ladies, ok, i'm going to try to be as thorough as possible:

I’m 27, 5'3", 150lbs, not exactly sure what my bf is, but I know it’s not where it should be! At 20yrs old, I was up towards 190lbs, and lost 40 of it naturally with great diet and excersize. After that, I had used ephedrine to blast off another 20lbs. After reaching that goal, I was natural, lifting, and in the best shape of my life. But 2 years ago, the weight started to come back & I’m back to 150. I still have a great diet, increased my cardio to 40-60min (between running, swimming, elliptical) 5 days/wk and have added bikram yoga (90min) to my weekly workouts to step it up, and help recovery. but I cannot seem to get rid of it!!!!

I have been to my doctor & they can’t seem to find anything, my thyroid is fine, but they say I should up my cardio, I’m not a marathon runner here. I’m trying to see what my options are. I've always been naturally muscular, so I’ve been thinking about clen to give me that extra boost. I had been doing research on it for the past month, and am considering it. But does anyone have any other suggestions? 2yrs is well beyond too long

 

[Miss Muscle]

Before starting on clen we need to look at your diet.

Post a typical day first.

You should also start training at least 4 times per week....the more muscle one has the faster the metabolism is. Also keep doing the cardio 5 days a week but start adding in 2 or 3 sessions of HIIT cardio. Another really good idea is to do cardio first thing in the morming on an empty stomach so you burn far instead of carbs. Cardio after working out with weights is also a good thing to do.....your body has used up your carb supplies for fuel with weights and instead of burning the carbs it will burn the fat. That's a simple explanation...it is more detailed but you get the gist!

 

[hazel]

Wake up: 6:30am
Breakfast: 7:30 – protein shake w/yogurt cheese, wheat germ, & under ripe banana, iced coffee
AM snack: 10:00 – greek yogurt w/small amount of oats, wheat germ, fresh fruit of choice
Lunch: 12:30 – dark greens (arugula, spring mix, etc.) w/either chickpeas, lean meat (chx or steak), sprouts, depends on the day for toppings
Pm snack: 3:00 – bowl of oatmeal or celery & pb
Dinner 7:00/7:30pm – ½ chicken breast grilled w/marinade, 1.5cup spinach (or broccoli), ½ cup couscous (or brown rice, quinoa), herbal or green tea
9:00pm – Protein shake, nothing added

Pm workout @ 5:20: 5 day (combination) – 50 situps w/15lb weight, 50 w/o, 20-25 back extensions w/20lb weight, 3 sets of 20 kickbacks w/15lbs, 30min pool laps, moderate, 30-40min. elliptical, moderate to intense, 20-30min running/jogging, 20 min combination of pilates – 1 day a week, 90min intense 90degree bikram yoga session. During the warmer months, I’ll normally go out for a trail run for a few miles once a week, this will most likely replace the yoga.

I try keep the situps, extensions, & kickbacks in the same day, and normally mix that with a swimming day. I am concerned about lifting too much because I’ve never had a real problem gaining muscle, so I’m worried about getting bigger than I’d like. The only light lifting I do now is primarily for specific strength to help my body for other activities.

I see your point clearly, do you think that in addition to including the lifting 4 days a week (before cardio), that I should limit the amount of cardio on those days? Should I also reserve a day or two to just lifting??

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!!

 

[Miss Muscle]

Your diet looks pretty good. Dairy products and fruit can hinder weight loss so I would replace the fruit with more veggies and the dairy with a small portion of starchy carbs or more veggies. Also make sure you are supplementing with fish oils.

Does the iced coffee you drink have sugar? Or is it just coffee with ice? If it has sugar take it out.

Definately start doing a full body workout throughout 4 or 5 days of the week....hit all body parts. You won't get too big as long as your calories are decent which they definately look to be.

Whatever cardio you want to do is completely up to you...just do it!

Immediately after working out is desireable or first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

I would say do 45 minutes of cardio 5-7 days per week but feel free to keep in that 90 minute yoga session. Just make sure 2 of those cardio sessions are HIIT. You also don't need to do HIIT for the full 45....even 25-30 minutes is good with a 15 minute warmdown.

 

[hazel]

i've heard that about fruit & dairy, too bad, i LOVE goat cheese, any type of cheese really.... and i'm thinking this is a large part of it.

starting a new workout next week, so i'll update you ladies when i'm farther along.

thanks for the input!