I am a 25 year old female, 3months ago I weighed 9 stone and was reasonably toned. I used to go to the gym 6 times a week where I would take place in body bump classes combined with weight sessions and cardion workouts on the cross trainer and my diet consisted mainly of eggs and tuna salad. I was able to maintain this weight and still indulge in a few drinks and fast food on the weekend. I am now 10 stone and desperately want to get back to the weight I was before as I cant fit in any of my clothes. I really want to tone up and get back the toned stomach I had. My diet over the last month has consisted of slim fast shakes, and tuna or chicken for dinner and snacks in between, I know this is not ideal but I am struggling with some sort of diet especially as I hate breakfast and I rush about in the mornings! I ant to get toned so I can go in for miss toned if not this year next but need to get this excess body fat off fast. I have bee doing spinning class atr the gy 3-4 times a week and I have not lost any weight, what the hell is going on???? I have even started taking ephedrine which is not very good for you but hope it will get rid if the excess fat quicker!! Can anyone help me sort my diet out that isnt really involved that I can stick too and lose at leat 7 pounds in the the next couple of weeks......would appreciate any help!! Many thanks

Stop taking the Slimfast for a start. If you want to 'tone' you need to grow the muscle and that means eating protein to feed and repair the muscle. You need carbs for the energy to train and good fats with plenty veg and water. Fat will come off through cardio and keeping the diet clean will stop you gaining excess fat. Aim to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours with clean protein, complex carbs and veg with each meal.

Do not aim to lose more than 2lb per week as it's more likely to be lean tissue you lose which will slow down your metabolism (muscle burns more calories off at rest). FAST diets DO NOT work in the long term. I would also suggest you stop taking the ephedrine until you get everything else sorted and then only use it as a last resort.

Before picture Jan05 BNBF finals Oct07 Sponsored by Muscle Finesse

thanks for getting back to me, its good to hear some sound advice! So is it necessary that I have a big breakfast or are there quick things that I can eat in the morning to help me get around this? Apparently the spinning classes I do burn more muscle than fat and the fat that gets burnt off is only a small percentage! I thought these classes would be good a stripping fat but I have been told that you need to combine the spinning classes with weight training in order to burn off fat as I dont seem to be losing any weight from doing the spin classes four times a week. What do you think????

IT's good you're off the eph, it can give you cellulite :)

I'd suggest just weights, 3 nights a week, and then cardio in the mornings on an empty stomach for around 40 minutes with moderate intensity... so you can talk but are just out of breath.

If you have problems with losing then somethings wrong... are you eating every few hours as Kitty suggests? Are you having breakfast or skipping it? Are you avoiding simple carbs?

I sometimes struggle to get breakfast as I leave at 5am for work if I have a long drive, so I make a breakfast shake.

Skimmed milk, whey, generic hot oat cereal powder, olive oil and some creatine milkshake powder for taste. Last two aren't required, but I've been putting on size so I've allowed Myself.

If you do have time, consider a ketogenic or cyclical ketogenic diet combined with resistance training, as this strips fat fastest. Do ensure that the fats are good fats, and not saturated or hydrogenated or animal fats if possible, and that you take a multi-vitamin.

There are a lot of studies and articles on both, but am happy to discuss more with you if you want.

These offer fast results, but are only good if you are dedicated and sensible with your approach. If you come off it and start stuffing carbs in afterwards out of joy for losing that stone, you're likely to put it all back on.

Lifestyle change is key here, but there's always a temptation to take shortcuts.

Good luck

DD

My recipe thread :)

Dodgy Dave's VLCD Nightmare :P

If you really struggle to eat brekkie then perhaps that would be a good time for you to have a protein drink so you at least get something in you.

I wouldn't say spinning burns off muscle but it could be too high impact for you to burn off the fat as effectively as you like

Before picture Jan05 BNBF finals Oct07 Sponsored by Muscle Finesse

What sort of line of work are you in? Can you not take some form of breakfast with you to work and eat there?

I rush in the morning too, so I take food with me and scoff as soon as I get to my desk. Usually porridge, but sometimes i'll have chicken or cottage cheese etc.

Female Member of The Year '07!
I'd like to link to my article but it will not fit HUH