[abcollins1]

i dont see judging or ugliness here. What i see are a lot of women sharing their stories and trying to help someone else from going down that same dark road of bad relationships with self and food. I think its safe to say that most of us have either been where she is now, or maybe deeper into the rabbit hole.

I have spent years undoing all of the bad i have done to my body, hopefully OP wont have to do the same, and I wish 4 years ago some one would have had the courage to tell me that i was under muscled and needed to build, that i needed some counseling (which i did go to), and that I would spend a long time undoing the harm that i did to my body just so i could be "skinny". In the end, healthy trumps skinny and hopefully OP will learn that easier and sooner than some of us did.

 

[abcollins1]

Trust me, its a very real frustration in the fitness industry as a whole. Those weight loss gimicks, pills. and promise of quick abs lead people to believe that they can get the body they want with minimal effort in 12 weeks.

People often seem like they only want to hear what they want and not the truth, so as a trainer/nutritionist/fitness instructor… its such a fine line to walk between keeping people coming to classes and training sessions and getting them results/not scaring them because the reality is changing the body is hard work and usually not what the magazines promote.

I always try to educate along with the training but it can be so hard to not get frusterated when there are tons of myths and gimicks all vying for their attention.

On the plus side, being a trainer gives me perspective to know that poling is challenging and will take time, part of the reason i love it so much IS the challenge.

[abcollins1]

I am 4'11 and at the moment 120 pounds. I started out at 104 pounds, just where you are at. i was undermuscled and carrying too much fat. I have spent the last 12 months working on gaining muscle. I went from 107 to 127 over that time. Over the last 7 weeks, i have lost 7 pounds, all while eating more than 1200 cals a day.

1200 probably is your BMR, that is what you need to survive if you just slept all day. With all of the working out you do, your maintenance is going to be closer to 1800 – 2000 (mine is 2200)

So please know that I am coming from the EXACT same place you are in. I am the same height and was the same weight as you when i started. And i have  loads of pics if you would like to see my journey over the last 4 years. Maybe that would help you see what adding muscle does at 4'11.

The advise of seeking counseling is not meant to be mean, there are real disorders out there and some of what you say sent up some red flags. Things like :i will love myself when i have a flat stomach" …severly restricting cals (under 1000 a day) and asking for more cardio… and then the food choices while very healthy, can indicate an issue with food. We can not diagnose you, we can only point out that your thinking when related to your body and exercise/diet may be an issue. Sometimes we can not see the issue and it takes an outside view to point things out to us.

As a trainer, i see this a lot and have had clients that I have had to turn down because they were not in a healthy place to begin training. I have a counsler that i recommend first and advise them that I can not train them without the ok of their MD and a counseler.

Being healthy and fit is MORE than looking the part. You need to be healthy in mind and spirit as well as the body. That is total fitness and its not something you achieve easily. That is why i asked you to take an HONEST look at what you are posting. I agree with the other poster that said it sounds like you are coming from a dark place.  If you feel there is no problems with your emotions and thinking, then cool..thats up to you, but the advice to seek counseling comes from a place of love and understanding.

[abcollins1]

I have read Tosca, and while i like many of her recipes, much of what she touts as "the way" has been proven by many studies to be incorrect. We have enough myths and deceptions in the fitness industry without people perpetuating them.

And you dont have to eat  :clean" to lose fat. Its up to the macros and how the diet is structured. Last time i did a cut, i ate chocolate every day and lost fat just fine. My cals were much higher than 1200 a day. Again, this is why Tosca is a cult. Food is not "good" or "bad" its not "clean" or "dirty" this kind of thinking leads to disorders and bad relationships with food. Instead, we need to shift focus on health and nutrients. While so called "clean: foods have more nutrients, other foods are just fine to eat and can be easily worked into an overall diet.

 the difference is that I read more than Tosca, i read people who actually use science to back up their methods, and i read studies and research the mess out of nutrition, sorta have to, its my job.

And we have all ready discussed "the body holding on to fat", and thats not the way it works. See the above posts and the link i referenced. Perhaps Leigh Peele can debunk some of the myths you are posting.

[abcollins1]

Im just curious if you read what she wrote?? She is not eating "bad" or unclean foods, telling her to "eat clean" is not helpful since al the foods she eats IS clean. There just isnt enough of it and there are missing nutrients. She doesnt need to eat 5 -6 meals. The amount of meals during the day is not relevent. Some people do better on 3 meals and some people need more. But the 5 – 6 meals a day is a myth that has been proven by studies. And I HATE when people use the extreme "1200 cals of gummy bears" No one is ever going to live straight off of gummy bears so please stop using that as a scare tactic for people to follow Tosca Reno's cult.

[abcollins1]

For a more indepth look (and prob a better exlanation) google starve mode from leigh peele.

[abcollins1]

"Starvation mode" really doesnt exist, i gave a very simplified explanation of it for brevity. Any time you lower cals under your maintenance, your body automatically down regulates metabolic activity. It automatically shuts down extracurricular activities (muscle building for one) because it does not have the energy to keep it going. The body is really all about maintaining and doesnt like to lose anything. So it starts cutting into the tissue that takes the most calories to maintain, muscle mass. If you are not strength training with enough cals and proteins in your diet, you will lose more muscle than fat due to the body process. This is why we stress both resistance training and adequate protein to preserve muscle mass and allow the body to let go of the fat. Its not "starvation mode" its what the body was designed to do and it takes manipulation of diet and exercise to overcome the body's natural tendencies.

Now the leaner you are body fat wise, the harder it will be to lose fat, the lower in weight you are the harder it will be to lose fat and the lower in lean body mass you are, the harder it will be to lose fat. So there are a lot of factors that come into play when looking at how to structure your diet and training.

The more you weigh, the more body fat you have and the more muscle mass you have, the easier it is to lose fat up to a point.

I dont think a flat stomach is out of the question for most women, it usually does take specific training and dieting to get there and most people are unwilling to spend years working on their physique to such a point, only for the sake of a flat tummy. It also takes a specific understanding of the body, and not many people are willing to go that far into it or learn it to get what they want.

There are also a ton of myths out there like "doing a ton of situps gives you abs" and while many people will say "abs are made in the kitchen" and "you cant spot reduce"  they have no real understanding behind WHY or HOW to get there. Many women dont want to add muscle, but that is usually the answer in many cases.

 

[abcollins1]

Ok, this may be long so I apologize in advance. But…

Unless you are 4ft tall and 60 pounds, your maintenance is NOT 1200, likely its more around 1800 – 2000 cals a day. Most calorie calculations do take into account for height, weight, age, However, those start at figuring your BMR first then multiplying by an activity factor.

There is no such thing as "starvation mode" as in which people think, If there were, then anorexics would all be super fat…  What does happen in the face of too low calories and especially too low protein, is that the body breaks down muscle in order to feed itself, therefore saving the fat until all the muscle tissue is gone. The fat will only go when the body has broken down all the muscle tissue it can. So eating under 1200 cals a day and not having enough protein in the diet, you are not going to lose fat at this time.

If you want a specific physique or look you have to actively work for it. Sometimes its not about losing fat, sometimes it is about building up certain parts to make others better. If you are undermuscled, it will take years of work to get to a decent base of muscles. A woman at best can only put on about 1/2 a pound of muscle on a month, so you are not going to add a ton of muscle. On top of that muscle requires 3 things to build: a progressive solid resistance program, sufficent calories and protein, and most importantly TIME! without those three things, you will not build muscle. Poling is great for the upper body but because it isnt progressive (resistance wise) you will only be able to take the muscle building so far.

Not only that, but muscle is metabolically  active,meaning that muscle burn more cals when at rest than fat. So the more muscles you have the faster you actually will burn fat. Those of us who pole would do well to add in some cross training with weights/resistance.

Now, when we ask women to up their calories, they see an initial weight gain and freak out. This may be why you think your maintenence is so low.  The weight gain is not fat and it does not mean you are gaining fat. It is glycogen and water and typically the water flushes out in the next week when the body adapts to the higher cals. This is why we say slowly up the cals so you can give your body time to adjust.

Now, in this case we are looking at 3 possibilities

either you are under muscled and do not have enough muscle to carry the look you want

You have a posture issue that is causing the belly to pooch,

or there is nothing wrong with your body and you are being way to harsh on yourself.

If you are undermuscled (which is likely given the low cals) then you need to work on building muscles all over your body so that you can correct the stomach pooch.

If the problem is postural, then you need to work on posture correcting exercises and bring weak muscles up to par

and if the problem is that you are seeing fat where there is none, then you need to talk to a counselor and learn to love and accept yourself.

Either way i would suggest adding cals to the diet, working on getting more protein (because you are going to need about twice as much as you eat now), you need healthy fats in your diet as well. Get on a solid resistance program, and take an honest look at your mental and emotional state and seek counseling.

 

[abcollins1]

Losing fat comes down to diet and that can be tricky, If you have been at 1000 – 1200 cals for a long time, then its time for a dieting break! That means you need to bring your cals up slowly (also called reverse dieting) until you hit maintenance. Your body quickly adapts to lowered cals and eventually you do need to take a break, allow your hormones to reset (not estrogen but all the others) and then slowly lower cals.

It also looks like you arre not getting enough protein, and i see no healthy fats in there either.

On another note, cardio does not by itself make you lose fat so adding in a ton of cardio on too little cals is not a good idea.

If you carry the most fat on your stomach, then it will be the last place you lose it, nothing you can do about that.

You also may be under-muscled (which happens a lot with people who do low cal dieting for a long time) so you may want to look at a good weight lifting program to add to pole and bring up over all musculature. You are not gaining muscle on 1000 cals (the body just doesnt work that way) though you at best will be preserving what muscle you do have by working out.

[abcollins1]

When i have experienced this, it has been due to dietary fats being too low. You may want to keep an eye on how much good fat you are eating (olive oil, nut butters, nuts, etc).

Dietary fat  has a lot to do with controling and regulating hormone production as well certain vitamin absorbtions which can lead to many many symptoms. May or may not bethe issue, but its worth keeping an eye on it.

[abcollins1]

Last time we were there we went up the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel. We watched the fountains at the Belagio (i think) from the tower and on the ground. We also went to the Pawn shop that Pawn Stars is shot from (if you watch the show). We visited the largest M&M store there as well. I have read that the Aria hotel has a cool walk through exhibit and each hotel on the strip has something to see at it.

There are a ton of free or low cost things to do in vegas both day and night. Even just walking the strip at night gives you an interesting chance at people watching. If i were to go again, I would eat at the Gordon Ramsey Steak house, which i think is at ceasar's.

[abcollins1]

Last time we were there we went up the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel. We watched the fountains at the Belagio (i think) from the tower and on the ground. We also went to the Pawn shop that Pawn Stars is shot from (if you watch the show). We visited the largest M&M store there as well. I have read that the Aria hotel has a cool walk through exhibit and each hotel on the strip has something to see at it.

There are a ton of free or low cost things to do in vegas both day and night. Even just walking the strip at night gives you an interesting chance at people watching. If i were to go again, I would eat at the Gordon Ramsey Steak house, which i think is at ceasar's.

[abcollins1]

Umm wow!! my jaw was wide open the whole time… i dont even know the names of most of those moves yet!!! She is definitely very impressive.

[abcollins1]

I think this is a good topic and I am hoping some of the older members will chime in.

At my studio, I am level 2, which was hard as heck to get to (but in a good way). I am finally doing inverts and i love the strength drills. But i still feel like i am a while away from competeing, and then i would certainly rely on my instructor's imput, because she can tell my progress, and she is very big on technique (which i love).

I feel like i could do a preformance at the studio level, but not at the organized competition level.

 

[abcollins1]

Veggies and fruits are carbs…. if you are eating a lot of veggies/fruits, your carbs may not necessarily be low in relation to the rest of your diet. Be sure to eat adequate protein and fats as well… a lot of women say they are "low carb" but what they mean is that they have cut back on grains, not necessarily carbs. Unless you are specifically tracking cals and grams you do not know if you are truly low carb or not.

Usually when we talk about true low carb diets, we are talking about 100 grams or less of carbs per day, which is not a lot of foods if you are eating a lot of starchy veggies.

 

For instance, 1 medium potato is about 40 carbs, acorn and butternut squashes are also starchy and tend to be higher veggies in carbs… so if you are having troube losing weight, its important to track.