[Harriet]

When should i wait to make another food bump and how much roughly? My aim is to build muscle now and stay relatively lean as i want to be able to stay in a surplus for as long as it is productive.

[Harriet]

I am 5lbs up in 6 weeks so far, i’m feeling really good right now, energy, sleep, recovery, strength, performance etc.

What kind of rate of gain would you recommend roughly now if my aim is to build muscle?

Obviously the first few weeks were a lot faster and a higher ROG, but now that i feel really good what would you say?

[Harriet]

I was dealing with a bit of constipation last week and a bit of this week, however it has seemed to get better, and today appetite is much better and it’s a coincidence that i’m not backed up now lol.

[Harriet]

Sorry to hear what you’re going through, do you have socials or email? Please feel free to send over your diet, your training, sleep habit data and where you mind is to my Instagram or email my email is megan.sylvester@hotmail.co.uk

I’m happy to help as will need a bit more info that we have here to make a clear decision on next steps female health is not something to play with

I have messaged you on instagram Meg, thankyou.

[Harriet]

But my upper midsection is still very tight and upper abs still visible, lower abdomen has been feeling a bit heavy

[Harriet]

I’ve just been feeling quite a bit of lower abdominal pressure

[Harriet]

I have struggled with low hunger for a long long time, however it’s much better now, as 3 months ago i was struggling on 1200 cals😅 i think what messed it up was my previous coach who pushed food way too far and it messed me up for ages.

Do you think as i get stronger in the gym etc my hunger will increase?

Could growth hormone help with my appetite/hunger?

I am still doing 12k steps and 50 mins cardio spread throughout the week

[Harriet]

Hey,

What amount did you bring your fats down to and what are they currently? What’s your current carbohydrate and protein Intake look like?

When food was low, it got down to around 25-30g , they are now at 40g

protein is at 100 and carbs at 225g

[Harriet]

I forgot to mention, i have already gained 5lbs, and now rate of gain is not so rapid now and i’m feel really good right now, recovering good, energy and sleep good, digestion not perfect but i expect it to adjust as my body’s probably still quite sensitive.

[Harriet]

Hey Harriet ,

This all looks good to me tbf . The volume and frequency. The only thing left is to try the split and see if you can recover from this which I think you will .

I’ve adjusted the exercise order a bit . I placed your unilateral movements at the start as these are very demanding as you are on one leg . I feel like placed at the start not only are you fresh and have the mental edge but you can load these maximally and take so much from them in terms of glute development.

I’ve kept the smith hip thrusts as you connect with them well and just varied rep ranges . I’ve also swapped one seated ham curl for a lying ham curl for variation and a different challenge to the hammies .

Glutes and hams 1

Seated abductor – (leaning back) – 2 × 10-15

DB reverse lunge (glute focused) – 2 × 8-12

Smith machine hipthrust × 3 x 8-12,6-8, 8-12

BB RDL – 2 × 8-12

Seated ham curl – 2 × 10-15

Adductor – 2 × 8-12

Glutes and hams 2

Seated abductor (leaning forward) – 2 × 10-15

Contralateral split squat (glute focus) – 2 x 8-12

Smith machine hipthrust × 2 x15-20

DB RDL – 2 × 8-12

Lying Han curl – 2 x 10-15

Glute max kickbacks – 2 × 10-15

Glutes and quads

Smith machine hipthrust × 2 6-8, 10-15

Smith wide stance hip dom squat – 2 × 8-12

Glute focus leg press – 2 × 8-12

B stance rdl – 2 × 8-12

Glute med kickback – 2 × 10-15

Leg extension – 2 × 10-15

Thankyou so much Oscar, i massively appreciate this!

My gym does not have a lying ham curl, what could i do instead? I’ve tried cable variation but that didn’t go down well haha.

I’ve watched all of your training videos with Chloe and they are a really valuable so thankyou again.

[Harriet]

I still want to build my lower body but with a big focus on glutes, basically to train like a bikini athlete

My split is
Glutes and hams 1
Rest
Glutes and hams 2
Upper 1
Glutes and quads
Rest
Upper 2

Here are my glute/leg days, any tips/help would be much appreciated!

Glutes and hams 1
Smith hipthrusts – 3×10-15
BB RDL – 2 x 8-12
DB reverse lunge (glute focus) – 2 x 8-12
Seated ham curl – 2 x 10-15
Seated abductor – 3 x 10-15
adductor – 2 x 8-12

Glutes and Hams 2
Hip thrust machine – 3 x 10-15
DB RDL – 2 x 8-12
Contralateral split squat – 2 x 8-12
Seated ham curl – 2 x 10-15
Glute max kickback – 3 x 10-15
Seated abductor – 3 x 10-15

Glutes and Quads
Smith hipthrust – 2 x 10-15
Smith wide stance squats (hip dom) 2 x 8-12
Glute focused leg press – 2 x 8-12
B stance RDL – 2 x 8-12
Glute med kickback – 3 x 10-15
Leg extension – 2 x 10-15

My exercises are in this order as i’ve found this is what feels best and also when it gets busier in the gym etc .

All sets on each exercise are same rep range rather than e.g 1 x 8-10, 1 x 10-12 as i’ve found this is what works best for me.

[Harriet]

Meal 6 is also not meant to be a protein feeding, it’s more of a snack pre bed

[Harriet]

TD – 1850 cals

– M1 (pre)

malt loaf

whey (as a paste)

M2 (post)

0% greek yog

dates

honey

rice based cereal

M3

chicken

avocado

caramel rice cakes

kiwi

(this meal always tends to sit heavier/i feel a lot fuller compared to my other meals and not hungry for meal 4)

M4

whey (as a paste)

banana

dried figs

almonds/walnuts

M5 (i take a digestive enzyme with this meal)

either a lean white fish/prawns and ghee

or lean beef mince/steak with less ghee

sweet potato (mashed) or flatbread

pineapple

M6 (find this easy to eat/digest pre bed)

Brownie made from sweet potato

Dark choc

I have been trialling a few new food sources that i haven’t eaten for a long time since the digestive issues but i’m unsure what food sources to try.

I massively struggle with appetite/hunger although i love food it would be nice to be hungry for at least more than 2 of my meals for the day.

Since removing veg over the last few days ive noticed my digestion improve massively.

How could i improve my diet to help keep food volume low but for it to be more ‘optimal’ and to keep appetite good.

I am just worried as this is not a high amount of food yet, so when food increases in the future i haven’t got any tools like using high gi sources to utilise.

Its not ideal IME –

Meal 1 I dont just like malt loaf due to the sharp insulin spike your going to get here every day. What about simply using white sourdough with some grass fed butter or nut butter.

meal 6 – no direct protein source I defo dont like.

The rest I could live with[/quote]
Meal 1 is eaten about 30-45 mins before training, i did suggest adding some fat but thats what my coach has given me.

I’m just concerned about how im going to manage eating more without just adding more and more sugary and processed sources as i am at a really low bf and bw.

What carb sources would you recommend to start trying/reintroducing again that would be low in volume and digest quickly?

Appreciate all opinions and advice so thankyou

[Harriet]

i haven’t introduced creatine again yet either

[Harriet]

I am taking
‘the one’ multi vit
vit D3 + K2
vit C
magnesium
shilajit
zinc
turbo digest with m5
berberine with post workout meal
folic acid

i am yet to start introducing omegas again, these will be implemented soon