FAQ

FAQ
I get lots of questions about working out, so I wanted to tackle them here. If don’t see one here or need further explaintion, never hesistate to email me or comment here and I will get back to you

What’s your diet like?
Now when people ask them this, they usually have it in their heads the wrong impression of a “diet”. A diet is a consistant or usual consumption of food and drink by a person or animal. But nowadays when we hear “diet” we think of food constrictions, celebrites, weight watchers, etc. Well I’d like to start with trying to get rid of the commericalized definition of diet. A diet doesn’t have to be (nor should it be unless for a competition, directed by medical professions etc,) extreme. So what is my diet like? Well since I am a 5’4”, 135lb, 20 year old female it rounds out to be about 1,800-2,000 calorie daily intake. Each person is different, our bodies consume, absorb, and digest things slightly different, and obviously we are all different heights, sizes, ages, and have different genetics.
Plain and simple, a proper diet should allow you to feel satisfied, not overly stuffed or starving. You should be getting nutrients and vitamins of all kinds to your muscles, heart, brain, organs to function properly and run efficiently.

I eat about 1700/1800 calories. 45% of my daily cals come from lean proteins: eggs, egg whites, skinless chicken breast, lean ground turkey, flank steak, shrimp, tuna, salmon (canned and fresh), etc.
35% of my cals come from complex and low glycemic carbs:  qunioa, couscous, brown rice, lentils, whole wheat bread/wraps, bamboo rice. Most importantly, I get a lot of my carbs and fiber from veggies: bell peppers, zucchini, summer squash, dark leafy greens, cabbage, red cabbage, green beans, snap peas, mushrooms, tomatoes, leeks, broccoli, spinach, carrots, eggplant, broccoli slaw, cucumbers, squash, artichokes, etc.
20% of my daily intake is healthy fats: egg yoke, beans, extra virgin olive oil, walnuts, organic peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.

Did you get a trainer?
No, since I’m a college student, which should speak for itself, I turned to online resources for research such as bodybuilding.com, and their forums. It is a great way to start reading and learning how to get into lifting/resistance training and just getting familar with the gym. It is not a place JUST for bodybuilders, so don’t get intimidated by the name.

How do you know what do?
This question is pretty vague, but its all about trial and error. I knew that creating a caloric deficet in my diet would produce weight loss, but you want FAT loss not muscle loss. So keep your diet higher in protein, good fats, veggies, fruit and good source of energy, complex carbs to keep you filled longer during the day. Empy calorie foods are a waste and provide no nurtrional value. Processed foods contain chemicals that are foriegn to the body and end up being passed straight through the digestive system, which can draw no real nutritional value from it. Think of your body as a machine, you need to feed it long lasting energy to keep it going at maximum level. But you need to eat in order to lose weight the healthy way. Skipping meal times, or neglecting your body’s needs will result in all sorts of shortfalls in your health ranging from: energy loss, sleep loss, weight gain/muscle loss, slowing down recovery to fight colds/injuries, and so forth. The list could go on and on.
As far training, you can to add resistance training (or weight lifting as I commonly call it) to your routine. No, you ladies will not get “bulky or buff”, we don’t have the levels of testosterone like men do to be able to get to that bodybuilder/huge muscle look. Weights will help keep your bones and muscles strong, especially as you age. It will help get that “toned” look at so many women want. (I’ll get into the word “toned” later, I’m using it for reference sake). But don’t neglect your cardio as well, make sure to be doing two to three 20-30 minute sessions a week of heart pumping cardio!
Again, I looked on bodybuilding.com to find some journals of women and their routines. I added/subtracted what worked for me. At first I started on machines and gradually made my way to free weights. Everything was not done over night, I learned by doing everything and what worked or didnt work for me.
I moved from eating less, to watching how much fat I was eating, to counting calories to eating frozen foods, then moving slowly to cooking and preparing my own foods, to getting rid of everything processed. You don’t have to wake up and change your lifestyle 100%. Eating and exercising isn’t just for a few months, it’s for life. Gradually change, don’t jump from one extreme to the next because that could be destructive. Treat yourself once a week, for one meal something that you love to it, whether its a bowl of ice cream, pizza, something that will keep you going from one week to the next. Don’t drive yourself insane by depriving yourself. Yes it will be hard changing your diet, but DO NOT cut calories like crazy and expect to have drastic changes, or give up because you fell of the bandwagon.

Should I get a protein supplement?
Well when I started I avoided supplements altogether. Only until you have a certain goal in mind and have become familiar with your routine and nutritional needs, should you start adding supplements. Of course from the start you should be taking a good multivitamin. They are not all made the same, so if you are taking one (which you should be, get off your butt and get a good one if you’re slacking), take a look on back and compare it to the RDA % required. Also, flax seed and fish oils are great EFAs to add to your daily diet. A lot of companies advertise towards new people and thats generally how they make their money, but their are great companies out there that truly have products that really help, so do research before you bought.

Do you drink?
No. Occasionally I treat myself to red wine, or a low carb light beer, but that is once every couple of months. Binge drinking..or a regular beer or two a day is not doing your body any good, at all.  Not only does it raise the insulin levels and spike them like crazy, but it increases the stress on your liver! Especially if you are diebetic or have a history of diabetes, alcohol can increase the levels of blood sugar, aka insulin. Alcohol depletes your body of the necessary nutrients you need to keep your body going. The alcohol you consume remains in your bloodstream. It is hard to pass up drinking, especially if you are my age or younger. Sometimes that is the only thing to do with friends on a Friday and Saturday night, but if you are really serious about taking control of your health, do it. Alcohol will always be there, and as far as your friends go, they should understand that your health comes before alcohol and to respect that. Yes it is hard to say no, especially if someone is pushing it in your face, but smile and say no thanks. Keep thinking you are doing this for YOU, your future and most importantly your health! Plus it might be a little more fun seeing your friends do stupid stuff that normally you’d be in…

How long have you been doing it?
I have been trying to lose weight ever since my junior or so year of high school. So for the past 3 or 4 years I have been trying to shed the pounds. And while doing that, somewhere down the line, I have become very passionate about it, as well as helping people. I started with cardio first, just like cardio. Then as I got more able to do more and more without getting tired, I increased the cardio time till I was doing 1 hour sessions of cardio! After researching and getting into weight lifting, I learned how ridiculous spending hours doing cardio really was. Yes it is still a great workout, but it could create a negative effect if you are doing that much cardio. I picked up weights in 2007 and haven’t looked back. Since 2007 I’ve lost 50lbs, went from a size 13 to a 3 and love every minute of it.

Do you cook your own food?
Of course. If you read above, I didn’t always. But until you prepare and cook for yourself, you don’t know what’s in your food! Packaged or frozen foods are hidden and laced with additives that your body does not need or could be hindering from. It is not hard to pick up a knife and start cutting carrots, or boiling chicken, I assure you. Don’t be afraid of the kitchen!

What do you do if you are going out to eat?
Well, first I’m a broke college student, but I am always on the go. I commute to and from Boston everyday, so I am bombarded with all sorts of shitty foods. As simple as the answer is, it can take some getting use to: I prepare my foods ahead of time. Okay, so you are procrastinator, or you don’t have time, maybe you are just too lazy. Tough shit, if you want to see results, you are going to have to accept that more than half of your success relies on your diet. Stop eating fast food, stop drinking sodas, pops, whatever you want to call them, and just say no. Going out to eat is no different, use your common sense when ordering. If something has a cream or cheese sauce, obviously it is full of fat.  If something is fried, breaded, buttered, etc, what is it full of? FATS, saturated, trans fat filled, fatty food. Go for steamed, boiled, grilled items. I assure you, they have more taste than a salted, fat filled heart attack chicken parm will ever be. Most of that stuff is frozen before hand or was sitting in a fried basket that probably hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. Salads and broth based soups before a meal is a good idea. It will keep you from eating too much since we ALL know that restaurants like to give twice or even three times the portion size that we should be eating. Try sharing it with someone too, to help both of you from over eating and maybe save a bit of money. Don’t be afraid to ask the waiter or waitress for substituting sides or taking things off your meal, such as cheese on veggies. Yes, people put cheese on veggies. Why? who knows, but I’ve never had a waiter or waitress refuse doing anything like that.

Don’t you feel weird lifting with the guys?
At first I did, sure. But I’ve learned that you can’t let them intimidate you. Regardless of your fitness level walking in, never let anyone get in the way of your health. Plus half of them don’t know what they are doing anyways. Once you start getting into weights, especially free weights, you’ll see what I mean. Between sets when I’m resting, I always catch one or two guys doing hilarious things in order to lift more weight. Plug in your head phones and get your sweat on. You have to focus on you, your plan and drown everyone else out even if you feel someone watching you. Most of the time there usually aren’t a lot of women in the weight room, lifting FREE weights so thats also a reason they stare or they could be curious as to what you’re doing and if you’re doing it right.

How do you find time to fit in your work out?
I work two days a week, go to school full time in Boston three days a week, so it is tough getting it done along with homework, preparing foods, taking care of my animals, seeing friends, my boyfriend etc. The important step in all this, is planning ahead of time. If you know you won’t be able to do a work out on lets say, Thursday, plan it so you can fit it in on saturday morning or sunday morning. Even if you skip a day, don’t feel guilty. If you are over tired, didn’t sleep well or had a very long day, take a day off, especially if you think you are getting sick. Extra sleep might actually benefit you rather than forcing yourself to work out. I’m at the gym 5/6 days a week for about 45 minutes to an hour. Since I work Mondays and Fridays from 9-530, I usually do my workouts before hand. During school days, tuesday – thursday I do it mostly at night, around 8-9pm. It is hard fitting it in when I have homework and such, so if I cannot fit a workout in, I usually leave it for the weekend.

What supplements do you take?
Well since I have been doing this for a while, I take a few. Sometimes I switch them up to try out other products if they are cheaper or just for the fun of it. Remember, you DO NOT NEED supplements to lose weight and gain muscle. But after you’ve gotten comfortable at the gym with lifting and routines, then you can think about adding supplements to your daily lifestyle. The supplements I take are: Elite Whey and Elite 12 Hour Whey, NOW Eve women’s vitamin, NOW ZMA, Optimum Nutrition Whey, Optimum Nutrition Casein, Scivation’s Xtend and thats about it currently. I have a much bigger list that I rotate every few months, that you can find here at the bottom of the page.

That is about it for the usual questions I get from people. If you have anymore, feel free to email me at Shaunakl1@yahoo.com or comment here!