Question about weight loss and muscle gain

Hi i was wondering if anyone can answer my question please. I have been going to the gym for the poast 2 months and when im there im doing like a one hour full body work out with weights foir legs chest etc. I am hoping to lose weight i currently weigh 230 pounds but i dont seem to be losing any even though im there every day. When i say im not losing any i mean on the scales im not but i can definetly feel in my trousers i have as im down a size and feel slimmer. Is this because im building muscle that i will not lose a great deal of weight but my body shape will change. If anyone can help answer i would appreciate it.

Thanks
 
you are probably losing some fat and replacing it with muscle. Muscle mass weighs more than the same volume of fat. Just weight training alone though is not going to be effective enough to lose a significant amount of fat.

3 things are the most important factors in losing fat

1) DIET
2) cardio exrcise
3) DIET

yes that right, diet is that important. Are you doing any cardio exercise?

list your daily diet and cardio routine and we can give you a better idea of where you need to work
 
Hi thanks for your reply

I do 45 minutes of eight training, like chest press and leg weights, im not sure what they r all called but theres about 8 pieces of equipment most of the upper body.

Then i do 15 minutes cardo in the gym, and a 20 minute walk to and from my house each morning.

I usualy eat

Morning- Bowl of cereal- Special K usualy

Lunch- Tune pasta and maybe soup

Dinner- Usualy something home cooked like chicken or fish, usualy with potatoes and veg

Snacks, ill have crisps and sometyimes toast and meat before bed

also drink alcohol at the weekends

Any other tips would be great, im not concerned about not losing weight on the scales if it trims me down and builds my body into shape i just dont want to be too big.

thanks
 
The diet definately needs some work. Just try to focus on getting about 5-6 small meals in a day. You want to try to create a caloric deficit during the day. I'm not sure what your stats are other than your weight but do some research and find out how many calories you burn in a day and subtract 500-800 from that number and thats about what you should focus on. Try to get a ratio of 40%/30%/30% for protein/fat/carbs.

Also you are gonna wanna do some more cardio. I'm currently focusing on losing inches as you are and i do cardio 5-6 days a week. Search the forums for HIIT exercises, they are very effective in burning fat.

Also, how often are you weight training? if you are doing a full body i wouldnt suggest you do it more than 3 times a week. If you do it more than that, you risk overtraining.
 
hi

i go to the gym mon-friday so 5 times a week, it was the guy at the gym who put me on the programme i do i dont know enough about it realy. The main thing i wanna do is lose weight and look slimmer im a 38-40 inch waist and im 6ft 3 but i can deff feel iv lost weight when i put my trousers on im just unsure how i should proceed with the weight training and cardio. As although i feel i have lost weight according to the scales i have not which is very off putting but people tell me because im building muscle thats why im not losing weight is that true and how do you think i should proceed.

Thanks for ur help
 
putting on weight or taking it off is almost solely decided by your diet.

If you are eating more calories than you burn off in a day, you will gain weight.

If you are eating less calories than you burn off in a day, you will lose weight.

How that weight is lost or gained (whether its muscle or fat) is then decided by what types of exercises you do and also by WHAT you eat.
 
also if that guy put you on a full body weight training program 5 days a week, he doesnt know anything about what he talking about.
 
ok he didnt say to go 5 days a week he said 2 or 3 but i just thought the more i was there the better it would be, im thinking of doing that 2 days a week but increasing the cardio, i do a course called interval on the cross trainer for 15 mins, i was going to go swimming the other 3 days of the week
 
that sounds like a good plan. definately cut the lifting down to about 3 days a week. swimming is excellent cardio. But remember the diet is the single most important part of all of this.
 
Hey,

I was actually on the same boat as you and posted a thread simlar as you a couple weeks back. I got great feedback from the community and changed my routines.

I used to weight 205lbs and lifted 6 days a week doing split routines, and didn't lose any weight. Before each weight lifting session I would do about 15-30min of cardio. I didn't lose any weight, but I was getting stronger and my clothings were slightly getting looser.

About 2 weeks ago, I started doing a full body exercise 3 times a week. On the lifting day, I spend about 15 minutes cardio and work full body routine. On the other days, except Friday, I do an hour of cardio. My schedule is as follow:

Monday - 1 Hour Cardio
Tuesday - 15 minutes Cardio follow by Full Body Weight Lifting
Wednesday - 1 Hour Cardio
Thrusday - 15 minutes Cardio follow by Full Body Weight Lifting
Friday - OFF DAY
Saturday - 1 Hour Cardio
Sunday - 15 minutes Cardio follow by Full Body Weight Lifting

So far I've lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks, and now my Jeans won't fit me without a belt anymore! :D

Just keep up the workout, and do ALOT more cardio than lifting for now. It works =)
 
Oh yeah,

My diet isn't as superb as it could be... :(
I still eat fried chicken, pizza, etc once a week when I hang out/watching the games with friends, but I guess I do enough cardio to fight off gaining weights.

The rest of the week I usually eat salad for lunch, and fruit to snack on while I'm working.
 
thanks a lot for your help i think im going to follow the routine you are doing i deffo need to get more cardio work in


thanks for your support
 
I'm currently in a similar situation. Although I need to maintain my weight (due to my paraglider). However I have a high body fat % (40%). So I'm planning to weight train to get leaner. Should I still do cardio in my routine or just focus on weight training?
 
I'm currently in a similar situation. Although I need to maintain my weight (due to my paraglider). However I have a high body fat % (40%). So I'm planning to weight train to get leaner. Should I still do cardio in my routine or just focus on weight training?

do the cardio and get rid of the fat, even though weights will help with that too do both
 
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