Bodybuilding Forums

Hi There

I was sooo pleased and thrilled to find this site earlier this week and have read the e-book thoroughly twice and have been reading several of the threads on here. Its great to read and hear other peoples thoughts and experiences.
My name is Meriel and I am 31years old, 5,3" weight approx 108lbs. I am quite lean and am trying to deal with gaining a little bit of muscle but should tell you that I have suffered from a very bad eating disorder so weight issues are quite hard work for me. I never stand on the scales and dont do my b.fat readings as it would all become obsessional again and I have managed to avoid it for many years now.

Anyways the reason I am writting....I have been eating clean now for 18months and totally transformed my body from being fit and soft to fitter and very lean!! I never managed to find my abs though until I started to follow a very low carb diet in January this year. For the first time in my life I can say I like the way I look and have found a diet that doesnt upset my stomach or make me bloated.....BUT I am struggling to re-feed and that means my training suffers and strength is going!!!

The diet suits me Monday to Friday, I love the strict and rigid way of eating....I am VERY dedicated and a little obsessional but hey, I LOVE what I do and eat!!!! My problem comes when i need to re-feed once a week. I struggle at the moment even to have just one carb meal, never mind 24-36hours...LOL
I train very hard and am a cardio junkie....because I LOVE it not because I feel I have to do it!!! I run most days, 5-8miles and lift weights 5-6days a week. I know these two activities dont usually go together but I love them both so I will Always do them! Until recently I had managed to maintain my size and strength. In the last month though I have gone skinny and lost some muscle and I am sure it is because I cant get enough good carbs in me once a week? What do yuo reckon?

My calories are good, in fact it scares me when I think how many I am eating. As an ex anorexic nearly 2000 calories seems impossible which is why I am so pleased to have found a way of eating that suits me. I am just a little worried about the long term effects on my body if I dont refuel....apart from lack of energy.

Here is my diet on a weekday....
5.30am 5-8mile run
7.30am 8egg whites 1.5tbsp peanut butter, 1tsp sweetner
9am 1 hour weight training
10.30am 2scoops evopro protein(low c arbs) 25g macadamia nuts
1.30pm 5oz tuna or chicken or other lean protein, 1 cup spinach, celery and cucumber. 1tbsp olive oil
4.30pm 5oz chicken 25g macadamia nuts
7.30pm 6oz lean protein or 2xweek salmon or mackerel, 1cup spinach, 1/2 cup broccoli
10pm 5egg whites, 1tbsp peanut butter, 1tsp sweetner.

Put into fitday my numbers come up as.....cals 1700-1900(depends on salmon etc) protein 200g, fats 70-80g, carbs 30g

Should I be counting my green veg into my carb numbers? At the mo I do as I am sooo paranoid of every carb there is!!!!

So the above is my weekday plan and then at weekends I try and chill out but it stresses me so much and this weekend I feel so full and bloated and all I had different was a few sweets(pick and mix are my weekness) and some roasted veg with a glass of wine!!! Hardly a pig out!!!

The only bad habbit I have started to pick up and this is in the week as well is i pick at my husbands food when I am cooking dinner in the evening or making his porridge in the morning. I dont always let myself eat it though and it goes in my mouth and I realise its a carb so dont eat it!!!! I know that sounds vile and I am ashamed to write it here but figured I should be honest. Maybe I am craving something or I am deficient in some thing. I take a multivitamin, CLA ansd glucosamine every day.

Sorry for the long post I am just feeling a little lost and unsure how to allow myself the carbs. I dont really want to gain a lot of size and dont want to loose more weight. I guess maintain for now would be good but I dont want my training to suffer. I am also aware of how ill I was before and really dont want to go down that path again. I have a total fear of being full and that is where my problem with carbs lies.

I appreciate any input you may have or ideas and also comments on my diet.

Thanks in advance guys and gals

Meriel xox

I can't give you too much advice really, because I am a number-cruncher and I don't want to be enabling you to creep back to your disordered eating habits, sorry. But I don't want you to feel ignored either, and hopefully someone else will be able to give you good, laid-back diet advice.

Off the top of my head, though, you're probably eating too much protein for your lean body mass, and not enough fat. Assuming you're 100% muscle, which is, of course, impossible, you'd only need 135 grams of protein per day. So I'd cap my protein intake there if I were you. Excess protein can be converted to glucose by your body, so all your low-carb efforts will be hampered by that. You've gotta get the majority of your calories from fat during the low-carb phase.

Yes, count your green veg in your carb numbers, as well as the hidden carbs in things like sweetener. Splenda packets have about 1 gram of carb per packet. Depending on how much fiber you're eating in addition to the net carbs, you're probably taking in about 200 calories from carbs. So to get to 2000 calories you probably need a good 130-140 grams of fat daily.

Forgetting about carb-ups, one thing you can do to stop the loss of muscle is to stop running so long. It's putting you in a catabolic hormonal state, which is preventing you from building any muscle from your weightlifting workouts, and indeed can cause your body to feed on its muscle tissue for its energy needs. I'm not suggesting you don't run, because you enjoy it, but try stopping after 25 minutes. Are you running before or after you lift weights? Try tacking on your run to the end of your weight workout and that should prevent you from missing out entirely on the anabolic hormonal state that lifting creates.

OK, how much sleep do you get?

Hope this helps you a little bit without allowing you to start obsessing over things all over again. Your body is where you live-- love your body and it will love you back. Stress it out too much and it'll cause you stress right back. Relax and enjoy your healthy body, ok?

One thing that's really hard for obsessive runners is learning the S.T.O.P. part of Total Anabolism. It's important, your body needs it, and you come back stronger than ever.

Just stop for a week. Stick to the diet, but don't do any cardio or weightlifting for one week out of every 8-12 weeks. It really helps you with long-term recovery.

One strategy that helps me with my carb-ups is to be willing to obsess during that one 24-36 hour window. I try to eat low-fat, high-carb, and keep my proteins the same. What does that mean if I do it right? Instead of 5-6 meals a day with protein and a veggie (sometimes skipping the veggie), I eat 5-6 meals a day with protein and a carb source.

All that said, I'm still a fatty. I've come a long way in the past year, but I'm not nearly lean and fit as I ought to be yet. And my carb-ups are not as clean as they should be.

--Matt B.

Yes STOP(for a week or more if needed) after at most three months of working out hard. Deloading is as important progression technique as overloading. The classic one step backward,two steps forward or more...

redgiki wrote:One strategy that helps me with my carb-ups is to be willing to obsess during that one 24-36 hour window.

That's a good idea for me when it comes my turn to try carb-ups. But I'm worried for our friend Meriel; I'm concerned that it would be too easy for her to slip back into her disordered, obsessive mindset permanently.

Meriel wrote:The only bad habbit I have started to pick up and this is in the week as well is i pick at my husbands food when I am cooking dinner in the evening or making his porridge in the morning. I dont always let myself eat it though and it goes in my mouth and I realise its a carb so dont eat it!!!! I know that sounds vile and I am ashamed to write it here but figured I should be honest.

I hope you meant that you spit out the food once you put it in your mouth, and not that you're purging, because if you are, you might want to think about going right back into treatment.

The fact that you say you're scared of carbs suggests that you need to take some time out and re-evaluate why you are hitting the exercise so hard and examine why you're actually scared of carbs. I validate your feelings, and I'm sure it's no fun to feel that way. One thing you might want to ask yourself as an exercise is, what could happen if you eat carbs? Without going straight for the worst-case scenario, what do you think would be likely to happen, assuming you stay within your maintenance calorie range over the long term?

Being so religious about avoiding carbs and doing all of this exercise is dancing on the knife edge, and probably not where you need to be focused. Eating disorders are serious business. I think you're really playing with fire here. :concerned:

Thank you all so much for your advice and concerns. I have been concerned myself lately too as I know it is all way too obsessional and I need to try and find a healthy balance!

A week off seems so frightening to me right now but I do know it would probably do me the world of good. I think I may try to reduce what I do for a week as a first step and then go from there. Like you say try a 25min daily run instead of an hour!!

I am not purging no. I have been there and done that when I was going through my long slow recovery and if I am honest this is the reason for my fear of being full. The feeling of fullness is what used to make me get rid of food hence why I try not to let myself get there now. Carbs seem to make me feel so full and bloated which I guess is one of my main reasons for avoiding them!

I guess ultimately I fear weight gain and a change in my definition etc, I just want to find a place where I can maintain and be happy. I train so hard and love most of my diet I just know my training would probablly be even better if I could allow myself even just one carb meal.

I kind of thought maybe I would be better having a small clean carb re-feed mid week to keep my energy up(maybe Wednesday )and then another small one on a saturday as a treat carb meal. Maybe this way I wouldnt feel so full and bloated. Would this mean I am not into anabolism though not doing low carb for 5 days in a row?

I think sometimes I read too many articles trying to find the perfect diet or plan and dont trust the info or the knowledge I have. Its like I have created the physique I want I am just now scared I cant maintain it or something terrible will happen if I eat something different etc.

Thanks again for all the advice and support, it is really helping to explain my thoughts and experiences.

oxox