Need some experienced female help

[pumpkinhead]

any of you ladies or female prep coaches I hope you can help.

so a female I know who used to bodybuild, now no longer competing, but still diets every year is having some major diet issues. It seems like every year her body has begun to fight her more and more, this year is downright ridiculous.

she is currently 5'6@168lbs and 18% bodyfat. its not the lowest bodyfat, but by no means fat or even chubby. But she does still like to get her abs showing really well each year. This year it does not look like its going to happen.

After 10 weeks of dieting, she has not lost one pound. Her calories have ranged from a average of 1200/day to a average of 1500/day. We have tried cycling her calories, re-feeds, different macro profiles...and nothing.

her diet for the past 3 weeks has been 1400cal, 1300cal,1200cal,1700(refeed)...then repeat every 4 days.

her macro breakdown is 30%p , 40%carb, 30% healthy fats

every meal is weighed out to the gram

her cardio is 4x a week at 40min session

her weights are 5x a week

var @ 20mg/day t4@150mcg day

and still NOTHING.

Any ideas on what is causing this? every diet we have tried this year has worked for her in the past to get her BF down to 8-10% in previous years(bod pod testing). I don't want to drop her calories much lower, that can't be the case, she is a very muscular woman(benches 155 for 10 for example) I would understand if she was 110lbs, then of course I would say drop calories...but this cant be it.

I myself am getting frustrated, I can't imagine what she is going thru.

 

[Flex2019]

My fiancee is an IFBB women's physique pro (anthrogeekuconn here on the forum). She is very muscular, much like your friend. She and her coach (Shelby) have found over the past two seasons, that the only way for her to get lean is to go with a very low or even zero carb setup for her diet. Nothing else works, and I personally have worked with female clients in the past that have had the same issue. Give it a shot for a few weeks and see what happens.

 

[Miss Q]

Hey there PH!

Just curious, why are you guy's cycling her calories? I have heard of cycling carbs but not so much the calories like you have listed. What's her cardio like? Does she perform the same activity for cardio each session? If so, she might try mixing that up by throwing in a boxing or boot camp class a couple times a week.

Just saw Flex's response and that's what worked for me in the past as well.

 

[oldfella]

Your macro ratios are off. Why refeed? Just workout calories and stay there. Adjust higher or lower only if you need too. But you need to rethink those ratios for fat loss.

 

[pumpkinhead]

To answer a few questions...

the re-feed was because we have tried stable calories, as low as 1200 a day for 6 weeks. nothing.

as for macro's...trying the old 40/30/30...because the first 10 weeks of her diet her macros were 50p/25f/25c...and nothing. like I said, her body always responded very well to the original setup of stable calories and 50/25/25 setup...this year something has changed, just cant put my finger on it.

Why the variance in calories? because like anything. The body adapts and while stable calories tend to work for a period of time, you need that re-feed in my experience to boost the metabolism and keep it burning at higher levels. Just my experience with competition diets when your not on a strict time frame.

As for cardio, she does love the stepper...but I have her rotating stepper with bike and treadmill also.

I know the diet is a bit unorthodox for some, but just grasping at straws now because I have tried everything that is considered normal, and nothing worked.

her body used used to respond to starting with 1500..and slowly dropping to 11-1200 over 10 weeks to get her into single digit bodyfat levels..macros (50/25/25) last year at 6 weeks her body just stopped..this year, her body never started. Just stuck.

 

[pumpkinhead]

Hey there PH!

Just curious, why are you guy's cycling her calories? I have heard of cycling carbs but not so much the calories like you have listed. What's her cardio like? Does she perform the same activity for cardio each session? If so, she might try mixing that up by throwing in a boxing or boot camp class a couple times a week.

Just saw Flex's response and that's what worked for me in the past as well.

I should have clarified...her body is set up at 40/30/30 based on 1400 calories...but as the the calories rotate, 1300,1200..etc.. the only thing dropped is carbs, so the 40/30/30 ratio does change as the carbs are dropped. So in essence, it is carb cycling. Sorry for the misunderstanding

 

[sassy69]

Whoa. OK - I'm 5'7" and typically compete (FBB) around 150 lb and typically hang comfortably around 165-170 if I'm "not dieting" - its where my body likes to be. My body type likes to build both muscle and fat very easily and I've been a competitive BB for 10 years (2 yrs off for injuries currently) and lifting for 33 years. I have a very solid muscle base and muscle maturity.

I shared the above to help illustrate that we are talking about roughly comparable body sizes. Your girl is starving. If she's done that every year for many years, even not being a competitor, as she gets older IMO her body / metabolism are basically saying Fuck You w/ that diet.

Even in my first show - I started at 150 lb and dieted down to 133 at around 7% bf. I did it on a 16 week prep schedule w/ escalating amounts of cardio as I got closer to show time, but consistently training 6 days/week, and I NEVER lift w/ anything less than balls to the fucking wall - and my diet was never less than 1700 cals. The diet started at a steady macro distribution and then switched into a carb rotation w/ a constant 1750 cals, relying on macro cycling between fats & carbs. And I got 1 / week cheat meal up until about 4 weeks out.

You really need to just let her eat like a normal person and get enough food so her body can just try to find its way. It doesn't sound like it is willing to play the game on your terms and is fighting every step of the way.

Honestly, I'd really get off the t4 and frankly the var as well, and probably go get a physical just as a baseline check. Just make sure everything is functioning the way it should be. Might be looking at adrenal fatigue or something - but obviously whatever you're doing, the body just ain't gonna play dat game. And the harder you try to force it, the worse it is going to get. Let it run the way it was designed to run and it can right itself beautifully.

 

[Miss Q]

Any updates to Mrs. P's situation?

 

[oldfella]

To answer a few questions...

the re-feed was because we have tried stable calories, as low as 1200 a day for 6 weeks. nothing.

as for macro's...trying the old 40/30/30...because the first 10 weeks of her diet her macros were 50p/25f/25c...and nothing. like I said, her body always responded very well to the original setup of stable calories and 50/25/25 setup...this year something has changed, just cant put my finger on it.

Why the variance in calories? because like anything. The body adapts and while stable calories tend to work for a period of time, you need that re-feed in my experience to boost the metabolism and keep it burning at higher levels. Just my experience with competition diets when your not on a strict time frame.

As for cardio, she does love the stepper...but I have her rotating stepper with bike and treadmill also.

I know the diet is a bit unorthodox for some, but just grasping at straws now because I have tried everything that is considered normal, and nothing worked.

her body used used to respond to starting with 1500..and slowly dropping to 11-1200 over 10 weeks to get her into single digit bodyfat levels..macros (50/25/25) last year at 6 weeks her body just stopped..this year, her body never started. Just stuck.

My current training partner is female. She weighs in at about 150ish. No not contest shape. She is a real novice to all of this. I have her consuming 2000 cals daily with a ratio of 60/20/20. She is growing like a weed (100% natural) and not gaining bf. No cardio just hard heavy weight sessions. Her cals do not change day to day. I let her choose the types of food she gets her cals from. So the stable calorie intake keeps the nutrition stable, she simply changes her food sources. This works. Many make the mistake of not getting the ratios right and are afraid to look outside the circle. Once she is ready to do her first show I will adjust her diet accordingly. If she trains hard enough she then needs to eat just as hard. Make the diet anabolic in itself and do not complicate it. Protein is anabolic by nature, use it to your advantage. Fat is a great source of energy, but you need to give the body a reason to use fat for this. Carbs will not allow the body to utilize a lot of fat for energy, unless they are low. I know this sounds way too basic to work, but the simple things in life are often the best.