It's quite simple...
From: mzap01
Subject: Nutrition
Date/Time 2006-07-18 17:41:32
Remote IP: 67.87.180.16
Message
It has nothing to do with genes, hormones, or the other laundry list of excuses fitness-enthusiasts like to cite as the reasons for why they no longer experience any progress.
First of all, 30 to 40 minutes of KBs 3-4 times a week ain't much in the way of calorie-burning. Let's assume you burn about 250 cals per session, and this is being extremely generous, based on your physical stats (height, weight, sex). So at the extreme end, (4 sessions per wk/250 cals)you're burning about 1,000 cals per week from exercise, provided your daily food intake remains the same. This is less than a half a pound of fat per week, if we're just going by a "straight-line" calculation that only works on paper. If you've been working out for awhile and were previously at a heavier weight, this level of activity will no longer result in increased fat losses--you are now maintaining your weight at your current level of activity.
What to do? You must increase your physical activity! It's such a common trend in the fitness world that I've noted over the last few years, but people seem to be under the impression that if they just lift weights a few times a week and eat "clean" that they'll somehow magically lean out in no time. When you put it to the numbers, it tells a far different story. You must strive to increase your daily calorie burn dramatically if you desire to get leaner. Swinging the KBs may be great for your muscles and overall conditioning, but given the "stop and go" nature of strength training (and short duration), you're not burning much in the way of calories.
Maybe add an hour of brisk walking for an hour a day, every day, to your present routine. As the days and weeks go by, add more activity---maybe walk 2 hours a day, and throw in some rigorous cardio sessions on some days. In several months' time look in the mirror and re-evaluate what you've been doing and the resulting changes.
Given your physical stats I'd have to say you're already in decent shape for a young woman, but the leaner you get the more difficult it is to get even leaner--for every pound you lose you must burn or cut anywhere from 10-50 calories to continue losing. Now let's say you make this adjustment, and you're burning an additional 100 calories a day through exercise to make-up for a recent 2 pound loss. If we're to go by this data it'll take you 35 days to lose an additional pound!
You see where I'm going?
Your diet's pretty spartan but if you can maintain that level of calories with such bland food more power to you. Of course we have no real way of knowing if you stick to that level of food daily or consume more than you're reporting--even the little variances here and there add up. I'm a low-carb guy and have experienced first-hand how such a diet goes a long way to curb appeitite and decrease hunger, but such a switch won't perform any miracles, neither will playing around with macronutrient ratios.
In conclusion, it's a pain in the butt to go lower and lower in bodyfat. It can be done but in order for that to happen you have to double your efforts and really monitor everything you're doing...
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