I'm eating 200-230g carbs/day . Moderators - please please please don't kick me off the forum! I'm still tweaking my diet. I want to gain muscle and keep the body fat about the same, although if I put on a little body fat I'm not worry about it since I cut easily. I drink a 60g carb whey protein/dextrose/maltodextrin shake post-workout on my weights days. I am experimenting with drinking a 1/2 shake after my cardio and having something light before my am cardio, since I am more concerned with preserving muscle than I am with losing fat. I'm also trying out just eating non-starchy veggies with dinner and pre-bed snack on the recommendation of everyone on a bb forum I'm on. I never want carbs (except dessert of course!) with dinner anyway.

I am leaning more toward a bodybuilding diet and have been spending some time on bb forums lately, but I really like the support here! Before doing BFL I was following The Schwarzbein Principle diet and eating 100-125g carbs and a whole lot more fat. But I have seen much better results (except in the taste of my meals) lowering the fat and increasing the protein and carbs. I don't crave carbs except fruit (mainly when I'm thirsty), but if I eat very low carb I am hungry, grumpy and have no energy. I do have a very high metabolism, am extremely active and have always eaten more than other women my size.

OK, sorry this turned into a big ramble. Hope there is some useful info in there somewhere after the first sentence.

Jen

yr funny

i feel much much better now that you guys do increase yr carbs during bfl i notice that protein shakes do soar our carb intake per day. ill stay put between 100-120g per day starting next week my 4th week bfl (recommended intake for my weight fr bfl website is 124g). tryin to lift more more weight

jen ya mentioned you've been on bb board any good advise? eg what bb supplement ya currently take? i take none so far cuz concern of getting too bulky? bit muscle is fine hmm is l-carnitine any good or hmm outdated?

The only thing that will make you too bulky is steroids. Women don't bulk up easily or accidentally. It takes hard work and heavy weights. I use the whey protein shakes I've already mentioned, and I forgot to add that I put 1 tsp glutamine in them, also drink some unsweetened soymilk with 1 tsp glutamine before my weights workouts. I don't know anything about l-carnitine. I plan to start using creatine when (if?) dd#2 stops nursing. I use an ECA stack (not illegal in my state) pre-workout on the days I work - that way it is out of my system by the time dd nurses again.

Check out www.abcbodybuilding.com for good bb advice. Only caveat is that this is a conservative Christian site. But the people are much nicer there than on other bb forums.

Jen

thanks jen.

checked the bb couple of times, not bad

also got the home-made protein bar recipe from there lol everyone's questioning whats the nutrition content innnit havent tried it yet sounds good tho

I'm up to 221 grams per day!!

Kristen

AJ_0001,

I am amazed that you are doing a strenuous program like BFL and only taking in 1400-1800 calories a day, let alone the fact that you are doing it low carb.

For your 200lb frame this is only 7-9x body weight.

This is starvation is it not?

What do others think?

Hey, Tornado - I just found this reply to my posting from a while back and appreciate your input. FYI, I finished my BFL challenge and was somewhat disappointed with my results, and I think it had a lot to do with my diet. I lost 13 pounds in the 12 weeks but only less than 4% bf, and though I lost inches I think I was losing muscle as quickly as I was building it - I really expected better results considering how darn hard I was working.

I am now working out by doing chest and biceps on Mondays followed by 20MAS so my workout is finished in an hour, then Tuesday is back and triceps plus 20MAS, Wednesday is 45 minutes random on the bike for a cardio only day, Thursday is lower body only - no cardio but it takes me about an hour to work my lower body fully, then Friday is shoulders and abs plus 20MAS - Saturday is another cardio only day - I do a treadmill power walk program for 45 minutes. My lifting is still pyramid BFL style but I only do 4 sets - a warmup light weight 22 rep set, then heavier x 12, heavier again x 10, and heaviest x 8. I superset so I do, for example, chest set 1 - bicep set 1; chest set 2 - bicep set 2 - with no rest between but maybe a good stretch. I have adapted my diet to more of a BFL style - more carbs but less fat.

I always have my first meal of the day about 1 hour after my morning workout on an empty stomach (except for my cuppa java!). My typical daily diet is as follows:

post-workout - protein bar
mid-morning break - 2 stalks celery with natural peanut butter
lunch - apple with 2 oz cheddar cheese, plus fibre/protein bar
afternoon snack - 2 cups salad (mix of romaine & spinach) with 1 whole tomato, 1 tsp real bacon bits, cucumber and light mayo for dressing, plus low-fat fruit yogurt
dinner - chicken breast, 2-3 cups salad as above, 1-2 cups frozen veggie mix (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots)
evening snack - 1/2 cup 1%fat cottage cheese with 6 large strawberries and Splenda

Sometimes lunch includes some meat if I have it on hand, such as a can of tuna or turkey meat, or leftover dinner meat like pork chop or chicken. Often I will have another celery stalk with peanut butter in the evening.

Please, does this sound right? I want to make sure I'm providing the right fuel for my workouts. On weekends, I don't take a free day but I do allow alcohol - such as vodka with soda water and a squirt of lime, or dry red wine - I just am not ready yet to give up my booze! I probably eat less though on weekends, since I sleep in and don't have the office "breaks" to remind me to stop and eat something.

Sorry this turned into a novel, but I could really use an evaluation of my program by others...

Thanks in advance for your time!

Have a great day,
Laura