Not losing weight? Help!

W

wizzy

0
Just looking for some advice .. I'm 20 years old, 5'11, and 195lbs. I have been in the gym for almost 2 weeks now doing upper body lifting and running 1 mile each time (about an hour workout each time, 5 days a week). Before all of this, I weighed 195lbs and had the same diet.. so why am I not losing any weight?

I figure, scientifically, that if I maintained 195 before this, then started working out with the same diet, I should be losing weight.. any help?

the mile itself takes me about 10 minutes, and this is the first time I've been in a gym so I think 30min of cardio could give me a heart attack ;p

thanks for looking.
 
have you noticed any muscle gains it might be that your new muscle is just replacing the fat you used to have like for me

Age 19 5"7 150 pounds

3 weeks of training 6 days a week

and im from 148-151 but all over i have lost fat and ive gained so much in muscle you would be amazed lol so even though you still have fat you might have had major muscle gain under it that just has not showed its face yet

if you want get rid of fat your going to have to do Cardio and if you want to lose it super fast try HIIT
 
I do feel stronger, yes.. So I suppose that is a possibility. But for not being in the gym EVER before this, I thought I would lose SOME weight.. But I haven't lost a pound scale wise.

I read that info thread on HIIT and am interested in it, but what would be good intervals for me at my height and weight? Obviously I'm not going to be able to do it for as long or hard as some people on this forum, seeing as I just started working out.

any advice would be good on that, and thanks for the helpful response!
 
you cannot build muscle and lose fat for any period of time other THAN IN THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF TRAINING. once your body adapts you have to choose to lose fat or build muscle, you CANNOT do both.

You are heavily overtraining, and doing it incorrectly. running a mile every day 6 times a week is not going to burn much fat in the long term. steady state cardio burns glycogen then looks primarily to muscle for energy and in 10 minutes you are only going to use some glycogen. HIIT taps straight into fat stores, providing you are doing it right.

you need a full body weight training program, with upper and lower movements. the lower body contains the larger muscles - and more muscles working means more kcalories burned.

weight training is a way of slimming down that most people choose to ignore, yet a good program will raise metabolism for a day or so after, burning kcalories along the way.

id strongly recommend buying New Rules of Lifting (go to amazon) or looking at the full body training systems on this forum. cardio is only to be supplementary to resistance training.

please dont be one of those people you see in gyms darting around without a plan or clue - read around the forum and look at the logs of some of the more experienced posters. if you want the results your hoping for you're going to have to change everything you thought about training and be willing to be very patient. then, in 12 months, you get the satisfaction of being one of those guys in the gym who knows that their well-planned 45 minutes is more effective than the 2 hours being done by the guys who will never get the results they want.

and please go read my moan about newbies in the general chat section, take advice from those who have a solid history and know what they are doing.
 
Well, I will mention that when I do upper-body I work a couple sets of muscles one day, then the next I will do a different set of muscles.. but still in upper-body.

Also .. I did read some things around here, and some systems recommend both cardio and weight training, so some information is contradictory around this community :S So you are saying that I should forget cardio and focus on fully body weight training?

I will check into the book.
 
It's not so much that you should forget cardio (you shouldn't) - just that wt training can play a much larger role in wt loss than many people realize.

There is a very common misconception that in order to lose wt, you focus primarily on cardio, then worry about lifting wts after you lose wt. Cardio is important for a variety of reasons, but so is wt training. For your purposes, balance is key. A balanced diet, a balanced workout - that includes working your whole body and doing cardio.

Diet is very important. Theoretically, if you keep everything the same diet wise, and increase your caloric expenditure through exercise, you will see some wt loss. However, in reality, your body may need more of a boost. When I first started exercising, I ate the same and worked out 5 days a week. Guess what, I didn't see squat until I started eating better. Then I lost 50 pounds. Check your diet.

Also, it's only been 2 weeks. Everyone is different, so not everyone sees much initial wt loss right off the bat. Hang in there.
 
How are you checking your weight? Are you checking it using the exact same clothing, and at the exact same time each day? This is quite important as your weight changes throughout the day. So you may have very well lost weight, but at the same time, you just drank a large cup of water and ate some things, which can make it appear as if you lost nothing.

Personally, I check my weight every morning, and during midday after working out. I take the average of the two. I usually gain somewhere between 3-5 pounds after my morning weight, but again it had to do with my eating as well as the clothes I was wearing.
 
Thanks des .. is there anything you could recommend to me? For example, is it wrong that I run immediately after I weight train? Should I have 3 days of full body training (ie m,w,f) then on the other two days (t, th) focus on cardio?

It seems like benelson is saying something like this would be pointless, since cardio would dimished my muscle gain. I am really confused at this point .. lol But I'm listening and trying to understand! :rolleyes:

Dallen - I usually weigh myself after I workout .. and it hasn't changed yet. Also, I don't think my diet is all that bad. I never just sit and pound chips or anything like that, and I drink a lot of water and 0 soda. The point is, even with this sort of diet, I should see some weight loss.. It is a possibility though that the muscle is filling that in, since before I started working out I had no muscle at all lol.
 
Last edited:
I personally saw a great amount of weight lost with M,W,F weights + minor cardio, and T,R with just cardio. Of course everyone is different, but I think it's a pretty solid program if you want to lose weight. I usually do the "big 3" with weights: squats, deadlifts, and bench. I then do various other things like incline, dumbbells, etc.

I think as the other guy said, try out a program of your own. I think making up your own schedule of things you like will play an important role, and seeing if results happen.
 
A full body on MWF and cardio on T,Th wouldn't be bad. I would try to get some HIIT in there for cardio. You could possibly do it the other way around as well, with a bit more focus on cardio, while definitely not ignoring the importance of a good strength training program. There are several variables that determine the ideal set up for an individual and sometimes you just have to see what works for you.

It is not wrong to run after lifting wts, in fact if you have to do it on the same days, I would definitely say do cardio after weights. But you don't have to run everyday, in fact, it might be better to split it up.
 
Ideally you should do your cardio on separate days to your weights.

You will build muscle initially but as already posted you will hit a point where you either gain muscle or lose fat....you cant do both. At this point it is important to increase your protein intake and lift heavy weights/low reps so you body believes that it has to hang on to the muscle you already gained. It will then use fat stores for energy rather than deplete your muscles.

what is your diet like specifically???
 
Hmm.. Okay. Is the 10 minutes enough for cardio though? I feel after that time period of straight running that I have worked myself pretty hard. Maybe I should take a break after the run and then do something else?

What would be a good cardio recommendation for the T, TH? And thanks for all the help btw.

JTM- I don't really have a planned diet .. I usually do the 3 meal (which I know most people are against on this forum), but for me, it is really sort of nescessary for the work I do (I can not eat six small meals, as my day job would not allow for it). But I generally stay away from fried things, fast food, eating late, and I stick to water and fruit and things when I get hungrey not during a meal.
 
Last edited:
No. Should be a minimum of 20mins and that's doing HIIT. After that you should be ready to collapse/vomit/pass out or all of the above (if you are doing it correctly)

While probably not as hardcore as proper HIIT, my method is to go down to the local soccer field and do alternate laps of steady jogging and flat out sprinting and a bit of walking when it's too much. Usually go for about 35mins or so.

I have been pleased with the results thus far and it doesn't take much out of my day.
 
should way yourself in the morning before eating anything will be most accurate time to do it

and cardio can be made up of many things like punches, kicks, lunges, jumping jacks, skipping etc make it different so its not boring and you get to use more muscles this way
 
You need to define your goals. Is weight loss or muscle gain more important? Once you have that figured out you can work out a plan that is realistic for you, and stick to it! Keep track of your progress and re-evaluate your plan everyone once in a while based on the changes you see. If you have an overall goal, make your plan many little steps toward achieving the goal.
 
update..

Two people I've seen said I look skinnier and they didn't know I was working out before hand, yet when I step on the scale I weigh the same.. interesting.

Also, I read at another fitness site that beginners have the ability to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time for a 12 month period.. yet here, someone is saying it is simply the first few weeks only. Which is true? :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top