[timarie]

Hi all! This is my personal program thread for making my butt larger and more sculpted, "widening" the hips, trimming the waist, and anything else that may deal with cutting out fat and building up muscle. Chiseled and curvy thighs and calves are also a secondary goal.

Measurements

January 2012:
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 128lbs
Underbust/Bust: 29"/34"
Waist: 26"
Hip/Butt: 38"
(not sure how accurate the bust measurement is, since I had difficulty figuring out how to measure correctly, and didn't really care so much at the time, either but it could be possible, because my diet has improved dramatically since then and I do feel slightly fuller/bigger now than last year)

March 2013:
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 140lbs
Underbust/Bust: 29"/35"
Waist: 27"
Hip/Butt: 40.75"

My overall goal is to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat, and I hope that this will allow me to get a bigger, rounder derriere and a trimmer waist. Since only one can be prioritized at a time, and since I was more on the slender-side to begin with, I decided to start with prioritizing gaining muscle mass first. In the past year (including the many beginning months in which I took a lot of breaks due to feeling overwhelmed, and including the first half of this year being done with a diet plan that fell short of what it needed to be—see more on this below), I have grown a little under three inches in my hip/butt measurement, and now weigh 140lbs. The only negative was that I gained an inch on my waist. But, this was to be expected as I had to increase my protein intake dramatically and, with doing this, my caloric intake also increased dramatically (I used to eat only once or at most twice a day. I naturally have little to no appetite. Now I make myself eat at least 6 times a day). Basically, I am currently almost always sporting in the anabolic state. This is the safest way to make sure that muscle is never getting stopped short of growing because it will always have what it needs to grow. But there is NO opportunity for fat loss, really. So, actually considering this, an inch on my waist is pretty impressively low considering the drastic difference in my diet (from how my diet was before, when I was 26” at the waist). I am still prioritizing building muscle mass at this time, but am now able (since I now have the protein intake thing down-pat ) to choose my foods a little more selectively based on fat and added sugar content (obviously, choosing foods with less of these, ).

So listed below are my current exercise regimes and diet plans. I actually did not start a high protein diet plan until this past October (meaning, I spent 8 months with kicking butt in the gym without providing the proper fuel off of which my muscle needed to grow). I grew an inch in those first 8 months, and 1.75 inches in the past 5 months. A high protein diet is definitely worth it!

My current exercise regimen looks something like this:

Saturdays or Sundays:
• Dynamic Warm-up of 24 reps on Leg Press Machine with 90lbs
• V-Squat Machine (Compound)—340 lbs, 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 second breaks
• Leg Curl (Hamstring Isolation)—110 lbs, 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 second breaks
• Walking Lunges (Compound)—100lbs w/ barbell, 5 sets, 10 reps, 60 second breaks (note: 1 rep=1 lunge for each leg=2 lunges)
• Calf Raises (Calf Isolation)—body weight, one leg at a time, 5 sets, 10 reps each leg, 60 second breaks
• Static Stretch Cool Down for legs (glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors)

Wednesdays:
• Dynamic Warm-up of 24 reps on V-Squat Machine with 90lbs
• Leg Press Machine (Compound)—340 lbs, 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 second breaks
• Abductor Machine (Abductor Isolation)—125 lbs, 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 second breaks
• Glute Press Machine (Compound)—230lbs, 5 sets, 5 reps, 60 second breaks
• Lower Back Hyperextensions (Lower Back Isolation)—body weight, 3 sets, 15 reps
• Static Stretch Cool Down for legs (glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors)

2 other days of the week:
I do the inclined elliptical which I love. Now since resistance levels vary from machine to machine and therefore distance per minute is affected by resistance level, I will not list either. What IS important for fat burning and avoiding muscle burning, however, is to watch your heart rate. Less is more when it comes to avoiding your body from "tapping" into your muscles for breakdown for energy. For the first two minutes, I will keep my resistance higher with my speed lower, resulting in a heart rate of about 120-125. I go very slow . Then, after the two minutes is up, I will lower my resistance and increase my speed dramatically, resulting in a heart rate of about 130-145. Once this minute is up, I go back to the two minute setting, and the pattern continues until I hit the 30 minute mark.

My Current Diet Plan
My current diet plan on weekdays looks like this:
• 6:00 am shake (24grams of protein)
• 8:00 am two packs instant oatmeal (8grams) with two 8oz milks and banana (24grams of protein)
• 12-1 pm eat lunch (24grams of protein)
• 3-4 pm protein bar and 3oz trailmix (24grams of protein) OR three 8 oz milk (or a combo of both)
• 6-7 pm eat dinner (24grams of protein)
• 9-10 pm shake (24grams of protein)

My diet plan on the weekends looks like this:
• 6:00 am shake (24grams of protein)
• 8:00 am two cups of cereal (6-8 grams) with 16-18 oz of milk (depending on the cereal)
• 12-1 pm ½ cup of plain greek yogurt with one tablespoon of organic jam preserves, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and at least 6oz of milk (24grams of protein)
• 3-4 pm eat can of tuna or salmon (24 grams) never eat more than two cans of tuna in a week due to mercury levels
• 6-7 pm eat dinner (24grams of protein)
• 9-10 pm shake (24grams of protein)

Of course, the times fluctuate but I am careful not to eat my protein intakes more than two hours from each other (due to the rate at which our bodies process protein). Also, of course the order of some of these protein intakes change, as well as exactly what I eat each time. This is just a rough guide.

Supplements:
BCAAs—(1200mg L-Ieucine, 600mg L-Isoleucine, 600mg L-Valine) Only four times a week, for each of the two nights following each of my two lower-body workouts.
HMB—(1,000mg) Protein Breakdown Supressor, taken 2-3 times a day with meals
Tonalin CLA—(1,000mg) Supports Reduction of Body Fat, taken 3 times a day with meals
Glucosamine & MSM—(1,500mg Glucosamine, 1,500mg MSM) For my joints dealing with the strenuous workout routine, taken once every night

Information about products in program:
My protein shake is by Synthe-6, the strawberry flavor (I used to drink chocolate but because of NBE I switched. BOTH are amazingly delicious, though!). They blend REALLY well (I literally scoop the powder into my shake bottle, pour the water in, close the top and shake it, and it's ready to drink, without clumps). My protein bars are made by Clif Builder's and Zone Perfect (also available in non-chocolate options). These taste pretty good, too. My Greek Yogurt is the plain by Chobani, and really any organic jam without any added sweeteners will work. I am sure that any Greek Yogurt is fine, too, but keep away from added sugars if you can. The cereal that I eat is by FiberOne, and I get all of the different kinds with the least amount of added sugar and the most fiber. Of all the cereals I have seen in the average grocery market, these FiberOne cereals trump all others by far in terms of fiber. And fiber is VERY important in any diet, but most especially in a protein-rich diet (for those of you who don't know, protein can, um, stop you up ). If I am not eating for the sake of getting my protein, I am eating for the sake of getting my fiber (hence, the daily high-fiber instant oatmeal as well).


For Other Dietary Supplements, please see my other program thread:
http://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=14862

For the waist:
Obviously as you can see above, I do light fat-burning cardio two times a week in hopes to burn fat without burning off my hard-earned muscle, am building muscle (which should help to burn overall body fat), keep added sugars to a minimum, and take Tonalin CLA in hopes to trim some fat off of my waist, although realistically I know it will be minimal considering that I never allow myself to go into a caloric deficiency while still prioritizing muscle building. I occasionally do planks, but otherwise I try to keep away from targeting working out the abs because 1) it is difficult to effectively workout the abs without working out the hip flexors instead, and 2) working out the abs only seems to bulk me in that area. As mentioned in my other program thread, I am just now beginning to design a new upper body program for myself, hoping that the extra muscle mass added from these exercises will aid in overall body fat burning. And so, before I come to the point where I will make the switch from muscle building to muscle maintaining/fat burning, I will be experimenting with corseting. Now if I can just find the perfect corsets...


And although it appears this way, the title of this thread does not mean to insinuate that MY waist is small and my curves are kicking, lol, not exactly as much as I’d like to be yet! My inspiration for the title of this thread was pulled from the lyrics of Sir Mix-A-Lot (classy, I know), which seemed to mark the beginning of the time of shift of increasing popularity of big bottoms. I apologize for my occasional corny sense of humor. Bottoms up!

I will try to post my "before" and "after" pics soon!

[timarie]

Update:

Yesterday during my Wednesday workout routine, I increased the weight on the Abductor Machine to 130lbs. I started off at my usual 125 and then realized that I was flying through the set... and that is my cue to increase the weight! My goal is to make sure that I am struggling by at least the third or fourth rep of each set—or, at least going slow. And I know that 5lbs doesn't seem like much, but trust me, on this isolation exercise and at these heavier weights, it most certainly is!

And I saw this one guy leg pressing over 1,000lbs yesterday, no joke. I felt weak all of a sudden But it DID motivate me. The thing that usually holds me back in my exercises from pushing my hardest is the fright that I might push at the wrong angle and mess up my back, since I press relatively heavy weights. Well seeing him press over 1,000lbs... if any person's back can handle that weight, my back can certainly handle the weight I am pressing! I felt more confident to push forward

I have to add here that I am currently going through a "I feel flat" phase, which I go through pretty often, despite all of my gains. Even despite after having been told by a trainer just last week that he had never seen me at the gym before... "'cause trust me, I would have remembered THAT!" he said as he gestured to my butt, not as a disrespectful thing, but an understood mutual respect among weight lifters. It was great at the moment, but for some reason I still feel incredibly... small...

[timarie]

Well, here's my update concerning waist-trimming!

I FINALLY bought myself a corset! I bought a 20" corset meant to bring in the waist 6-7", and it is 10.5" long (which is the shorter type) so that I might be able to wear it to work (at my job I am very active and have many dress code regulations because of the nature of the work, so the more I can maneuver in this corset, the better).

Here it is! It is reversible, so I won't be wearing out the fabric too fast (and I can have two looks instead of just one, if I decide to wear it out or in for my boy ).

       

Since it is not in stock, I will be waiting three weeks for them to make it, and then probably a week in shipping time before it gets to me. I have also signed myself up for the three-month waist-training plan with Romantasy so that I will not accidentally over-do it Hopefully I will be starting by May!!

[timarie]

Exercise update

For the past three weeks, I have been going to the gym to do my light cardio exercise on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays without fail (hoping to help myself from falling off to sleep after work, which results in me often staying up very late at night). It has helped me to manage my time better after I get out of work, and I have been successful at avoiding after-work naps!

ALSO, I increased the weight on the Glute Press Machine to 240lbs and on the Abductor Machine to 135lbs this past Wednesday.

Aaaaand..... diet update!

After having been on this high-protein diet for a couple months, my stomach began to get very sensitive, especially to lactose (due to all the lactose in my diet from the milk and whey concentrate shakes [my Syntha-6 by BSN]). Up until recently, I had been dealing with a sensitive stomach for a good few months, until I decided to finally admit it was only getting worse and try to cut the lactose out of my diet. As a result, I have been drinking lactose-free milk instead of my usual milk for the past two weeks, and have been drinking hydrolyzed whey (Hydro Whey by On) during the day and casein protein (Complete Casein by Cytosport) at night before bed since last Saturday. Casein is a slow-digesting protein, so a person's muscles are continually fed throughout the night, and Hydrolyzed Whey is the whey protein that is broken down into peptides, making it easier and faster to digest (as a result, it has little to no lactose).

After diet change:
I have cleared up my sensitive stomach by about 95%! Whatever issues my stomach still has is probably because it is still sensitive, so it will react negatively to simple things like beans and apples. After being lactose-free for a couple of months, I am sure I will be back to normal again

However, I measured myself yesterday and check out these more than disappointing stats:

Waist: 26.5"
Hip/Butt: 40"

While the new waist measurement is warmly welcomed, I was by my butt measurement!! In disbelief, I did it again and again, but it just continued to measure 40" every time. Forced to face the facts, I talked to my man about it and told him about how I altered my diet, as I am now taking three shakes in a day (two hydros and one casein) instead of just two (two whey concentrates). Substituting one mini-meal for a shake resulted in a lower-calorie diet, which means I basically lost the fat off my butt and in result am left with lean muscle (muscle with no layers of fat in between the layers of muscle). I haven't been doing this lower-calorie diet for even a week yet (only 5 days when I measured yesterday), and I lost .75" of fat off of my butt. Whoa! See, I can lose weight VERY easily if I am not careful. I have to do a lot to make sure my weight stays on.

Lean muscle and less fat sounds nice, right? Well, sure it does, but my current priority is to maximize my muscle-growth, and low-calorie diets (even if they're protein-high like mine) retard muscle growth speed. More calories allow for faster muscle growth as muscle growth benefits from calories, but the muscle will have layers of some fat mixed in, whereas a low-calorie, high-protein diet will result in leaner muscle (no fat tissues) but the growth is MUCH slower.

I am not terribly upset anymore because, knowing that it was only fat that I lost, I can easily gain it back (as opposed to losing muscle, which is NOT easy to gain back). Starting tomorrow, I will go back onto a higher-calorie diet (of course, it will always be a diet high in protein), so I will make sure to eat at least four times a day, as opposed to my recent three. I want to give my muscles as much to "work with" as possible, for the sake of growth. I will go back onto this lower-calorie, high-protein diet maybe two to three times out of the year to shed some fat, while also trying to minimize the amount of slow muscle growth by limiting these diets to a week-long each time.

Back to eating more again! I'm curious to see how long it will take me to gain the .75" of fat back...

[Ever Hopeful]

Hey Timarie! I find your program to be very thorough and quite rigorous! It seems like you have a pretty detailed routine in terms of diet and exercise. I feel like my diet and exercise regime is so lax in comparison - it really all depends on my mood. But lately, I've felt so out-of-shape and tired (regardless of how much sleep I get a night), and I think it's due to my lack of physical activity over the past four weeks or so. So, you've inspired me to come up with a much more structured schedule for exercise!

I know it's good to eat during the same time of day on a daily basis (ex. always eating something at 8am, 12pm, 3pm, 7pm, etc.), but I feel like my schedule throws me off sometimes, and like you, I don't naturally have much of an appetite. I could also go a day only eating 1 full meal and 2 smaller meals, such as a protein bar, vitamin shake, or a croissant/danish.

I'm also interested in slimming down my waist and fattening up my butt so that my boobs don't look so flat, y'know? From the sounds of it, you're more in favor of gaining muscle than fat. It does make a difference, and I also think that muscle is more ideal long-term than fat (doesn't fat just appear to be cellulite? All ripply with dents, plus it can lead to stretch marks when you gain fat too quickly, right?).

My only issue is that I wouldn't want to look like Ms. Olympia or anything, with tons of muscle mass in my bottom. I'm just wondering if having a butt consisting of more fat than muscle may look more attractive. Just look at boobs - those are just sacks of fat. There is some muscle tissue underneath that helps to keep the boobs from sagging too much and makes them a bit perkier, but all-in-all, it's the breast fat that we're aiming to gain when we pursue NBE, right? So I'm just thinking about that because depending on whether you want to gain muscle or just fat ultimately determines which steps you take and what regime you will follow.

Anyhow, best of luck to you! Hopefully you'll re-gain your butt size and it'll keep growing~ :p

[timarie]

Hey Timarie! I find your program to be very thorough and quite rigorous! It seems like you have a pretty detailed routine in terms of diet and exercise. I feel like my diet and exercise regime is so lax in comparison - it really all depends on my mood. But lately, I've felt so out-of-shape and tired (regardless of how much sleep I get a night), and I think it's due to my lack of physical activity over the past four weeks or so. So, you've inspired me to come up with a much more structured schedule for exercise!

I know it's good to eat during the same time of day on a daily basis (ex. always eating something at 8am, 12pm, 3pm, 7pm, etc.), but I feel like my schedule throws me off sometimes, and like you, I don't naturally have much of an appetite. I could also go a day only eating 1 full meal and 2 smaller meals, such as a protein bar, vitamin shake, or a croissant/danish.

I'm also interested in slimming down my waist and fattening up my butt so that my boobs don't look so flat, y'know? From the sounds of it, you're more in favor of gaining muscle than fat. It does make a difference, and I also think that muscle is more ideal long-term than fat (doesn't fat just appear to be cellulite? All ripply with dents, plus it can lead to stretch marks when you gain fat too quickly, right?).

My only issue is that I wouldn't want to look like Ms. Olympia or anything, with tons of muscle mass in my bottom. I'm just wondering if having a butt consisting of more fat than muscle may look more attractive. Just look at boobs - those are just sacks of fat. There is some muscle tissue underneath that helps to keep the boobs from sagging too much and makes them a bit perkier, but all-in-all, it's the breast fat that we're aiming to gain when we pursue NBE, right? So I'm just thinking about that because depending on whether you want to gain muscle or just fat ultimately determines which steps you take and what regime you will follow.

Anyhow, best of luck to you! Hopefully you'll re-gain your butt size and it'll keep growing~ :p

OOOhhh, great post! I know exactly what you mean. I aim to earn more muscle for my butt than fat for a couple of reasons. First off, I am naturally a pear-shaped girl and my fat naturally goes straight to my butt and my legs, so I will never be in need of fat there! No matter what I do, I will never be able to get all the fat off of my butt, so aiming on gaining muscle there will promise me a nice mix of both. I agree with you that rock-hard, super-tight booties are better looking on men Plus, I have been doing this for over a year now, and I can tell you from experience that the glute muscles are the most difficult to build (and I have heard this from various fitness trainers as well). So, I honestly don't think that, even if you tried, you would turn out having a butt like Ms. Olympia's!

I want to build muscle to help build (because no one can direct fat to specific locations of the body that they want, but you CAN spot increase with muscle!) and add MASS/SIZE to my butt without having to add over-all body fat (which is the other way for me to get a bigger butt, but I'd risk adding mass/fat in other locations of my body as well), and more importantly I want to build muscle for SHAPE. Ten years ago, when I gained a lot of weight (fat) my freshman year in college, I had a huge butt.... BUT it wasn't shaped nearly as great as it is now! It was big, but it was, well, sloppier. Now, my butt sticks out more and is more lifted, round, and perky, and doesn't appear to sag as big butts with little muscle tend to do. So, it definitely is comparable to breasts, and how important it is to have supportive muscle underneath to look good (as two different sets of breasts of the same exact size can look so different depending on how much muscle they have supporting them from underneath!). So, I completely agree with you and it sounds like we have the same goals

I started out just like you. I didn't even have a diet regimen down until this past October, and I get overwhelmed easily (which is my personal battle) so I was always taking breaks and what-not during my first few months, so I completely understand what you're going through! When the time is right, and if you keep persistent with it, you will finally get something that works for you and it will be easy to keep in your routine. And, as far as you feeling tired, I always make sure to eat something no more than an hour before I start my workout, and I take vitamin B-12 strips right before my workouts (they are sub-lingual for fast-acting results) which gives me a little energy boost. I also drink Emergen-C (it is a part of my NBE program, actually!) while at the gym. This is good because it has electrolytes, which can help you from feeling drained and light-headed.

Thanks for the post! I'm happy to have a workout buddy

[Anastasia916]

Timarie and Ever Hopeful... Just had to comment on the subject at hand here haha, I know a little about fitness, though I'm not in the shape I want to be just yet, working on it, I use to do fitness modeling before I had my son. Ever Hopeful, Timarie is right, working out with weights will not get you like Ms Olympia. Those ladies take special supplements, workout intensely for hours on end DAILY. Some of them do steroids to get that type of body. A normal female that works out say 30 min to an hour a day and takes a day or two break weekly will not look that way no matter how long she's been working out. I weight train, and even though I'm "fat" now compared to what I was, and most of my weight goes to the lower region as I'm a pear, my butt is still round, perky, firm, because I do a lot of weight training for the butt. So I have fat there but it's held up by the muscle. When I flex my butt muscles my butt will become hard as hell. My thigh muscles are the same way. I have always been able to build muscle easily on the lower part of my body and have a difficult time with arms and chest.

So yea, if you do weight training say 3-5 times a week for 30 min to an hour, you will be fine, you will end up looking like this at best...





And your butt, something like this, but for pear girls it will be bigger...



Here's a before and after of a girl who weight trains but doesn't use steroids would look like...



So in order to look like this, you have to use steroids...



even like this, this lady is juicing...



When I was in the best shape of my life, my tummy, hips, etc looked like this, minus the boobs



and that was strictly cardio and weight training, I would eat a high protein diet and take supplements, but never steroids. So no worries you can work out to your hearts content and not look like Ms Olympia, unless you start steroids.

But I'm with both of you girls, I'm working on getting back into shape, you can see my starting pics on my picture page, I'm ashamed I let myself get this fat though :/ but glad to see I'm not the only one aiming to get in shape on here, yay!

[Ever Hopeful]

Thanks for the info, Timarie and Anastasia! Now I don't feel so reluctant to pursue weight training, lol. I usually do 20min of weight training after about 30-40min of cardio, but I just wondered about the long-term effects. I don't plan on ever using steroids, so I guess I'll be safe! :p Those Olympian women look a bit scary to me... I can't imagine wanting a body type like that. ^^; But hey, to each their own, right? xD

If I could ever commit to working out at least 3x per week for 1 hour per session, that would be awesome! I used to do that, but once Winter break hit, I sorta fell off... ~.~ I'd like to concentrate on my pecs, abs, and glutes. Luckily, the weather has been getting pretty nice lately and I live right next to a huge park, so I could go jogging on the days I can't make it to the gym.

As far as supplements go, I try to max out my vitamin dosage per day so I get more than 100% of the daily recommended value for the main vitamins (A, B, C, D, E) and I get some other minerals in there as well. I'd like to have at least 15g~20g of protein a day (with or without exercise). Does that sound about right? Maybe on the days that I work out, I should have more protein?

I recently bought some Boost Plus nutrition shakes that have a good amount of protein and a nice amount of vitamins to supplement my daily multivitamin (http://www.boost.com/nutritional-drinks/boost-plus ; you can check the full nutritional info of these if you scroll down a bit). I also eat protein bars right after a work out. I heard that it's best to have a high-protein snack right after working out (as opposed to before it). Does that sound right to both of you? I usually just drink water while working out... xD I've never paid too much attention to electrolyte drinks because I don't really drink a lot during the day (besides a few cups of my Bustea). I can drink from the same 12oz water bottle in a whole day. I really should drink more water... ^^;

[timarie]

Timarie and Ever Hopeful... Just had to comment on the subject at hand here haha, I know a little about fitness, though I'm not in the shape I want to be just yet, working on it, I use to do fitness modeling before I had my son. Ever Hopeful, Timarie is right, working out with weights will not get you like Ms Olympia. Those ladies take special supplements, workout intensely for hours on end DAILY. Some of them do steroids to get that type of body. A normal female that works out say 30 min to an hour a day and takes a day or two break weekly will not look that way no matter how long she's been working out. I weight train, and even though I'm "fat" now compared to what I was, and most of my weight goes to the lower region as I'm a pear, my butt is still round, perky, firm, because I do a lot of weight training for the butt. So I have fat there but it's held up by the muscle. When I flex my butt muscles my butt will become hard as hell. My thigh muscles are the same way. I have always been able to build muscle easily on the lower part of my body and have a difficult time with arms and chest.

So yea, if you do weight training say 3-5 times a week for 30 min to an hour, you will be fine, you will end up looking like this at best...

and that was strictly cardio and weight training, I would eat a high protein diet and take supplements, but never steroids. So no worries you can work out to your hearts content and not look like Ms Olympia, unless you start steroids.

But I'm with both of you girls, I'm working on getting back into shape, you can see my starting pics on my picture page, I'm ashamed I let myself get this fat though :/ but glad to see I'm not the only one aiming to get in shape on here, yay!

Anastasia, thanks for the images! They (at least, most of them ) just motivated me a little more. I LOVE the third photo, especially!!! I have a long way to go before I get there And thanks for sharing your story. You were a fitness model before? That is.... impressive! And don't beat yourself up over letting yourself go... we all do it at some point! All that matters is that you are trying to work on fixing that now. I will make sure to keep up with your progress on your program thread! ... and I am definitely excited to have another workout buddy on this forum

Thanks for the info, Timarie and Anastasia! Now I don't feel so reluctant to pursue weight training, lol. I usually do 20min of weight training after about 30-40min of cardio, but I just wondered about the long-term effects. I don't plan on ever using steroids, so I guess I'll be safe! :p Those Olympian women look a bit scary to me... I can't imagine wanting a body type like that. ^^; But hey, to each their own, right? xD

If I could ever commit to working out at least 3x per week for 1 hour per session, that would be awesome! I used to do that, but once Winter break hit, I sorta fell off... ~.~ I'd like to concentrate on my pecs, abs, and glutes. Luckily, the weather has been getting pretty nice lately and I live right next to a huge park, so I could go jogging on the days I can't make it to the gym.

As far as supplements go, I try to max out my vitamin dosage per day so I get more than 100% of the daily recommended value for the main vitamins (A, B, C, D, E) and I get some other minerals in there as well. I'd like to have at least 15g~20g of protein a day (with or without exercise). Does that sound about right? Maybe on the days that I work out, I should have more protein?

I recently bought some Boost Plus nutrition shakes that have a good amount of protein and a nice amount of vitamins to supplement my daily multivitamin (http://www.boost.com/nutritional-drinks/boost-plus ; you can check the full nutritional info of these if you scroll down a bit). I also eat protein bars right after a work out. I heard that it's best to have a high-protein snack right after working out (as opposed to before it). Does that sound right to both of you? I usually just drink water while working out... xD I've never paid too much attention to electrolyte drinks because I don't really drink a lot during the day (besides a few cups of my Bustea). I can drink from the same 12oz water bottle in a whole day. I really should drink more water... ^^;

Ok, EverHopeful! It all depends on your personal goals. I do not do weight training, as the primary concern of weight training is to gain strength (it is a form of strength training, as a matter of fact!). My personal goals are just to work on my physique, so what I do is called figure/physique building, which is a type of bodybuilding. This is the way to make muscles bigger, while strength/weight training creates more lean muscle. So, before I can answer your question, I would need to know more specifically what you want to focus on most!

For any kind of bodybuilding (note: not strength training), it is actually recommended to NOT work out any more than 2 times a week for a specific body part (aka lower body, upper body, abs, etc). The reason for this is because it takes 72 hours for a muscle to fully recover from the beating it receives when you lift heavy weights. If you work out those muscles again while they are still trying to recover, they will never get to fully grow as you continue to interrupt the growing process. And this defeats the purpose of bodybuilding, which is to encourage your muscles to grow big!

Again, when it comes to how much protein you take in a day, I cannot really answer for weight trainers, but I can for if you want to figure build. For figure building, or any kind of bodybuilding, the typical rule of thumb is to consume a gram of protein for every pound you weigh a day. For example, I weigh 140lbs (and I will tell you that I look like I weigh 20 pounds less, because a good percentage of it is muscle) and therefore consume at least 140 grams of protein a day. So, if you still weigh as much as you did two months ago, you should consume at least 115 grams of protein a day if you want your muscles to really grow. And your muscles are always growing throughout the week (when you feed them well and lift HEAVY weights when you workout), so you should be consuming the same amount of protein every day. Spreading your protein intakes out throughout the day is best for utilizing the protein, as your body can only absorb so much every 2-3 hours. Given your weight, I would suggest you consume 19 to 20 grams of protein every 2-3 hours a day, 6 times a day.

Although yes it is most crucial to have a good bit of protein immediately to a half hour (at most) after your workout, it is important to make sure that it is an easily digested, fast-acting protein. The point of it is, you just tore your muscles up, and they are looking for protein for immediate recovery. It is your job to aid your muscles in their recovery, because this is the growth process (the whole point behind your exercise routine!). Protein in shakes are the best for this (and I was told to just add water as opposed to milk, to increase the speed of digestion) http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/guide-...powder.php. But it is good to consume protein before your workout, too, so that your muscles will still have something to replenish them DURING your workout. It is important to make sure you consume a protein with a carbohydrate content at this time (so THIS is when I eat my protein bars sometimes I will have other things, like milk with cereal or a roast beef sandwich, just as examples).

As for your Boost drink, sure it is a good source of protein, and it looks like you will only need to add 2-3 grams of protein from another source to get your full amount for a protein intake. But protein shakes that are already made and packaged for you tend to be a little expensive if you get to drinking them all the time! There are waaaaay cheaper ways to get your protein, but if you are taking it for the added vitamins, that is fine. I take a lot of supplements and it IS possible to overdose on vitamins, and you get vitamins all the time in the food that you eat, so I personally opt not to take those pre-packaged drinks as I don't think they are worth the money.

As far as the electrolytes, it is not necessary so if you don't drink it don't worry about it I drink it because I get dizzy and light headed sometimes during my workout (especially during my walking lunges), and I have found drinks with electrolytes to help me during those times, so now I drink it during all my workouts just as a prevention. Also, I think it helps me to get an extra boost of energy to help me maximize my performance. I have gone into the gym way too many times before without the proper nutrition/fuel and tired out way too fast. This isn't good, because my goal is to kick ass in the gym, lol. So I have learned my lesson, and I try to give myself the fuel I need before my workout.

Again, all the above information is for you to follow IF you want to get into bodybuilding/ figure building, where your priority is to get a certain look by building muscle (as opposed to strength being a priority or fat loss). And it is important to remember that I do not claim to be an expert and I am still learning (I have only been at this for a little more than a year!). But I do hope it helps!

[ChristinaD]

Great post ladies.
Timarie you have inspired me to work a little harder and spend more time with weights.

I have a question for you, you mentioned you only do light cardio but you take tonalin CLA why is that? I understand why you take CLA but not the light cardio.

I do a medium to intense cardio workout for about 45 mins 3-4x per week and also do some weights. I would like to take something to trim my waist (I started using the squeem, thanks Doll) such as raspberry keystones or CLA but I don't want it to interfere with NBE as that is my main goal and I read that it is not good for NBE. I also cut down/out on green tea but don't think this is helping my waist. My measurements are 34.5 - 28 - 35.5, 120 lbs and 5'4".

Recently I did gain some noticeable growth in my Butt and a little in my hips which I am thinking is due to the Maca root powder. I just took a 3 week break as it seemed to be causing tummy weight and my thighs bigger and my friend was also complaining about her thighs getting bigger from Maca and stopped. I have just gone back on Maca for my butt but I hate that my thighs are getting bigger and am having second thoughts About doing leg/glute presses with 180lbs fearing that my legs will get even bigger. I love the toned muscular look which i have but don't like that my jeans are real tight in thigh area now.