Women losing weight question -

Hi. This post is not actually from Gotwood? - but is from his wife. So I guess I am "Mrs. Gotwood?" or perhaps "Mrs. GW" for short.

My husband mentions how knowledgeable many of you are about sculpting the body through diet and exercise. I am having some fairly typical problems, but am feeling frustrated and looking for some advice.

I am 5'4" and 143 LBS. I have had 3 children (little Gotwoods), the youngest is 5. I was run over by a car 14 years ago which resulted in a compound fracture of my left tibia (broke in like 30 pieces), ruptured lungs and a disclocated hip. But due to many good doctors (ortho surgeons, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists) I am in pretty good shape. I train an average of 5 days a week, about 5:30 AM. I run for half an hour. Then I lift.

I have gone heavy before (example: best free weight squat is 255 for 8 reps), but avoid lifting heavy now because I feel "big". My traps and triceps are naturally big, my legs are big from years of dance. What bothers me especially is I can't get rid of my gut. Currently I do about 18 sets of weights for whatever body parts I am working that day, 15 reps each, non-stop, one set followed immediately by the other.

I tend to be a big eater. But despite that I have weighed around or in the 120's most of my life. I got big with my last child (5 years ago), but then shrunk down. But over the last 3 years or so I have gotten big and can't seem to lose it.

For a few weeks now I have been following a low carb diet, averaging perhaps 1500 cals a day. Last week my lowest was 900 and my high was 1900 cals. but the scales have not moved a single pound.

I am not interested in taking anabolics - the oxandrolone sounds good, but I would not do it without a MD prescription for personal reasons.

I am 5 days late, so perhaps I might be pregnant (please refer to my name sake hubby on that matter)

[archive_Ulter]

I won't comment on your weight training because I don't know enough about women and weight training. Losing your gut is a matter of the right diet, cardio and "supplements". Supplements need not be AS. In fact I don't think you should consider any AS at this point. Diet and cardio your husband can help you with.
I would start with fat burners, there are many illegal fat burners that work great but why not start with some that work very well that are legal first. The most powerful being lipokenetix and yohimbine HCL. I would start you off with the lipo though. It can make you crabby so be careful to understand what is really pissing you off if that happens. Try it for 3 weeks and let us know what happens.

[Monster]

30 minutes isnt enough time for effective cardio either... Also, running isnt the absolute best necessarily. Working at about 60% or so of max. heart rate is more effective for fat loss, and after a while your body adjusts to the workload youve put on it and it is no longer a "challenge". At that point you have to make changes in your cardio to restimulate the fat loss. Things like interval training work well...

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"Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy"

"You cant help my isolation,
you cant help the hate that it brings.
You cant help my absence of faith,
you cant help my everything."

[skydancer]

Have you ever had your bodyfat tested? That would be a better indicator then a scale in terms of where you are at. I don't know how "big" you are. 5'4" at 143 with a low to moderate bf is pretty good. I'm 5'6" 160 and still get called tiny. Feeling big compared to what you actually look like and what your body composition is can be very different from one another. As far as a/s use they are for building muscle, not burning fat. Remember of course that muscle weighs more than fat. So if you are gaining LBM but losing fat the scale could stay the same. Pay attention instead to the fit of your clothes and the shape of your body rather then the scale.

For cardio work your way up to 60m 3-4 times a week following Monster's suggestions. I would suggest to mixing up your training a bit more. Some weeks do less, some weeks do more. Vary your calorie intake as well. Try going two weeks at the 1500 cal range and then two weeks at 2200 range. (or there abouts) Make sure you are getting enough lean protein and your carbs are complex (whole grain, beans, yams etc). And drink your water -at least a gallon a day.

Fat burners might help - I prefer ephedra products as to yohimbine. But yohimbine is pretty effective topically - see the other posts on it. I take them during the week, cycle weekends off and every once in a while take a long break from them.

The key is to mix it up - your diet, your training and your supplements. Keep your body guessing. I'm assuming if you might be pregnant you aren't taking any birth control pills - but if you are these are a major culprit for helping us ladies hold onto fat.

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Those who dare to fail miserably, can achieve greatly. - R.F. Kennedy

[retropump]

I think you may actually be doing too much cardio (I just love to go against the grain). 30 minutes of running followed by 18 sets of 15 contionuous reps per bodypart sounds to me like one giant aerobics session. I think you should prioritize your weight training by doing it BEFORE your cardio, and going a lot heavier with lower reps and sets. Remember that weight training (or interval sprints for that matter) will increase your resting metabolic rate so you will burn more fat even while resting. Cardio and light rep weights will not give you this metabolic boost. So maybe we should have a close look at your diet, and see if we can't get you to move some more weight??