Stopped losing weight even with workout

[black13]

I'm a little stuck on reaching my goals.

Background is, over the spring/summer I changed my diet completely. Cut out all fatty foods basically and stuck to home made meals and fruits.

Over that course I lost 30lbs. 185lbs now.

Then by August I was stuck so then I started doing some light cardio, followed by the Gym and lifting weights for 1 hour a day or 2nd day to continue the loss of another 20lbs as my ultimate goal. I pushed myself but after the first week I got used to it.

Now a month later, I've actually gained 5lbs and not seem to be going anywhere. I've lost inches but that has stopped as well.

Only thing I can think of was during the workouts I wasn't eating enough protein despite having a whey drink after. I don't eat red meat at all and I only eat chicken basically and not even that much. Ate more chicken this week but still nothing.
Don't eat cheese, yoghurt or any dairy other than some milk with cereal.
Have a salad everyday and some decent amount of fruit.

So can anyone see if I'm doing anything wrong? Should I get a nutritionist? Stay at this rate? Train harder? Do more cardio and lift? Did I hit a plateau?

[5fivespeed]

This might sound stupid, I understand the losing weight part - but maybe you're just gaining muscle, or changing fat into muscle?

Ray

[austic]

If you are lifting maybe get a body analysis done, and track that. I have been making pretty substantial gains in strength but have but havent changed much more than 5lbs in 6 months.

[zipdoa]

Don't pay too much attention to the numbers game, it'll fuck with your head.

Judge your progress by how you feel looking in the mirror, and how others perceive your changes.

[urban.one]

Like others have said, you may be gaining muscle. Also, fruit has lots of sugar (natural sugar but its still sugar). Substitute veggies for some of the fruit servings youre eating.

[Khyron]

What are you trying to do? Shed weight and lean out? Run faster? Bench more? Bulk up top? Train for a Spartan?

[A790]

It sounds to me like your diet is fairly hap-hazard. Weight loss is all about burning more than you consume. There are other factors that influence it, such as water retention and whatnot, but I don't think they play a significant role here.

Be honest with yourself: do you actually have your diet in check? Use FitDay.com to track your macro's and see exactly how many calories you're consuming. It will also break down protein/carbs/fats to give you an idea what your macros look like.

First, you need to determine what your BMR (basal metabolic rate is). Google to find a few calculators. Factor in activity. Eat 500 calories under your BMR (with activity level considered) and see how that goes for a couple of weeks. If you don't lose any fasted weight (weigh yourself first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom and before you eat anything), reduce by another 150 calories. Keep this cycle up until you start to see sustained weight loss.

That's how you can do it with diet. Your other alternative is to pump up your workouts. Based on what you wrote it sounds like you are following a pretty tame workout routine, or you aren't pushing yourself. Switch that up.

Look into some intro workout routines, like starting strength or 5x5. Make no mistake, these routines will kick your ass unless you are an experienced weight lifter (and even then lots of weight lifters will go back to 5x5 every now and then to build strength).

Unless you have some kind of medical condition preventing you from losing weight (thyroid issues, or similar, etc. etc.) than your weight loss (or lack of) is a direct result of one of the two conditions I spoke about above.

[black13]

Originally posted by 5fivespeed
This might sound stupid, I understand the losing weight part - but maybe you're just gaining muscle, or changing fat into muscle?

Ray

I don't think its possible that I gained 5lbs of muscle in a month and a half. I'm not a professional trainer by any means. Just learning the gym routine as I go.

Originally posted by austic
If you are lifting maybe get a body analysis done, and track that. I have been making pretty substantial gains in strength but have but havent changed much more than 5lbs in 6 months.

I knew progress would be slow but because I've gained 5lbs in 1.5 months makes me think I'm doing something wrong.

Originally posted by zipdoa
Don't pay too much attention to the numbers game, it'll fuck with your head.

Judge your progress by how you feel looking in the mirror, and how others perceive your changes.

I've stopped seeing any results in the mirror as well which makes me wonder.

Originally posted by urban.one
Like others have said, you may be gaining muscle. Also, fruit has lots of sugar (natural sugar but its still sugar). Substitute veggies for some of the fruit servings youre eating.

I think that could be a problem. I eat almost an entire melon or fruit like that everyday.

Originally posted by Khyron
What are you trying to do? Shed weight and lean out? Run faster? Bench more? Bulk up top? Train for a Spartan?

Lean out. Slim down while I retain some muscle. I just started routinely going to the gym for the first time so I'm not aiming very high. Just shed some fat here and there and be happy for now. Once that's done then might go for some muscle but nothing crazy.

Originally posted by A790
It sounds to me like your diet is fairly hap-hazard. Weight loss is all about burning more than you consume. There are other factors that influence it, such as water retention and whatnot, but I don't think they play a significant role here.

Be honest with yourself: do you actually have your diet in check? Use FitDay.com to track your macro's and see exactly how many calories you're consuming. It will also break down protein/carbs/fats to give you an idea what your macros look like.

First, you need to determine what your BMR (basal metabolic rate is). Google to find a few calculators. Factor in activity. Eat 500 calories under your BMR (with activity level considered) and see how that goes for a couple of weeks. If you don't lose any fasted weight (weigh yourself first thing in the morning after going to the bathroom and before you eat anything), reduce by another 150 calories. Keep this cycle up until you start to see sustained weight loss.

That's how you can do it with diet. Your other alternative is to pump up your workouts. Based on what you wrote it sounds like you are following a pretty tame workout routine, or you aren't pushing yourself. Switch that up.

Look into some intro workout routines, like starting strength or 5x5. Make no mistake, these routines will kick your ass unless you are an experienced weight lifter (and even then lots of weight lifters will go back to 5x5 every now and then to build strength).

Unless you have some kind of medical condition preventing you from losing weight (thyroid issues, or similar, etc. etc.) than your weight loss (or lack of) is a direct result of one of the two conditions I spoke about above.

Ok done and done. I think tracking my diet will be a good idea.
Bmr is about 1700 + 500 =2200. I'll stick to 1800 and see how it goes. Some days I don't think I even do that.
Is there a guide on 5x5 routine? I'm really new to the gym.
Is this a decent guide? http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw56.htm


Thanks again for the help guys.

[vtec4life]

Do more Cardio and switch up your weight lifting routine. The body needs change in your work outs to see maximum benefits.

Also: Are you working out your legs?? If not, start doing some serious legs! One leg work out will boost your testosterone and metabolism for up to 36 hours!

Dead lifts and squats should get you going for 6-8 weeks

[shadowz]

Weight is just a number, don't overwhelm yourself by looking at the scale too often as it may lead to dissapointment if you don't hit a number that you personally would like to see. Instead take photos to see how your progress has been going along with take note if your strength numbers have gone up. Lastly the most important is how you feel, if you feel great your time and effort has been worth while

[max_boost]

Originally posted by shadowz
Weight is just a number, don't overwhelm yourself by looking at the scale too often as it may lead to dissapointment if you don't hit a number that you personally would like to see. Instead take photos to see how your progress has been going along with take note if your strength numbers have gone up. Lastly the most important is how you feel, if you feel great your time and effort has been worth while

[Penguin_Racecar]

Originally posted by 5fivespeed
or changing fat into muscle?

Please ignore this - it is not possible to change fat into muscle.

Echoing what others have already said - go by what you see in the mirror and how you feel. Use progress on your lifts and cardio to determine if you're advancing or stagnant.
For losing fat and retaining muscle mass - your best bet is to find a solid weight training routine. Preferably with lifts that engage multiple muscle groups (squats, deadlifts, bench, rows, etc). If you want to go to extremes (which from your post actually doesn't look like you want to) you may look into ketosis. In short - essentially nearly removing carbs from your diet, a reduced caloric intake. This means your diet is essentially protein and fat with a small amount of carbs, and will help with fat loss and muscle retention when combined with weight training.

I would NOT recommend doing it if you're the type of person to fall off the bandwagon with eating discipline though.
In all honesty - weight loss is largely done in the kitchen with caloric deficit. It's easy to undo a good workout with poor eating habits. That said, a good workout routine can help determine what you look like when you are "done" losing weight. There is a significant difference between someone who just did cardio to get to their idea weight, and someone who had a solid weight training routine to get there.

[max_boost]

You lose fat and build muscle.

[A790]

Originally posted by vtec4life
Do more Cardio...

Umm... nope.

Focus more on your compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, chin ups. These lifts are great for stimulating muscle development all over the body. The more muscle to develop, the higher your BMR will be.

I lost over 60lbs over the course of five months. The core of my weight loss came from a three day gym split with two light/moderate cardio days. I watched my diet, kept my carbs a little lower, and focused on building a solid muscular base for sustainable weight loss.

Cardio is a short term fix, but it doesn't increase your BMR by any appreciable amount. How many ripped/muscular runners/cyclists do you see out there? Most of them are "skinny fat", because they don't have enough muscle to burn the fat they're storing. Sure cardio burns calories, but it doesn't increase what you burn over time.

Try this routine: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ning-program/.

[jjmac]

You've plateaued. Switch up your workouts.

[BananaFob]

Originally posted by A790


Umm... nope.

Focus more on your compound lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, chin ups. These lifts are great for stimulating muscle development all over the body. The more muscle to develop, the higher your BMR will be.

I lost over 60lbs over the course of five months. The core of my weight loss came from a three day gym split with two light/moderate cardio days. I watched my diet, kept my carbs a little lower, and focused on building a solid muscular base for sustainable weight loss.

Cardio is a short term fix, but it doesn't increase your BMR by any appreciable amount. How many ripped/muscular runners/cyclists do you see out there? Most of them are "skinny fat", because they don't have enough muscle to burn the fat they're storing. Sure cardio burns calories, but it doesn't increase what you burn over time.

Try this routine: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5...ning-program/.

I'm not sure what to think about that subject anymore:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may...-myth-20110516

muscle, it turns out, makes a fairly small contribution to RMR.

"Brain function makes up close to 20% of RMR," he said. "Next is the heart, which is beating all the time and accounts for another 15-20%. The liver, which also functions at rest, contributes another 15-20%. Then you have the kidneys and lungs and other tissues, so what remains is muscle, contributing only 20-25% of total resting metabolism."

So, if you slave at weightlifting and increase your muscle mass by an ambitious 20%, this translates into only a 4% to 5% increase in RMR. Since a 200-pound man has an RMR of roughly 2,000 calories, a 20% increase in muscle mass equals only an 80- to 100-calorie increase.

[bigbadboss101]

There is an article on T Nation couple days ago that title Training Like a Man part 5. They discussed distance training vs sprinting. I say do 3x a week of the big 3 with some accessories. Add some sprinting or other intense cardio. Watch your macros.

[Khyron]

Originally posted by BananaFob


I'm not sure what to think about that subject anymore:

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may...-myth-20110516

Even studies from 5-10 years ago show the percentage isn't that big when compared to the total amount burnt/consumed. Of course it all helps but not a major factor. Same with the "afterburn" of an intense workout - it's there but you're talking 50-150 difference which you usually blow out with some sort of recovery drink/meal.

I'll probably do the 5x5 or something over the winter but I'm aware I'll put on a few lbs as well. Running for 50 minutes gives me a deficit of 600-800 - good for leaning out and overshadows any BMR adjustments. But running a cal deficit runs counter to building muscle.

Pick something active that you like (or can tolerate) doing as a lifestyle - weights, swimming, rowing, cycling, running, crossfit, whatever - and do it for a year+. That's about the only real solution IMO.

[duaner]

Lots of info here (fat loss, weight gain, nutrition, and training):

Lyle McDonald Articles

[max_boost]

Originally posted by Khyron




Pick something active that you like (or can tolerate) doing as a lifestyle - weights, swimming, rowing, cycling, running, crossfit, whatever - and do it for a year+. That's about the only real solution IMO.

Incorporate it into your lifestyle.