What am I doing wrong? Not eating enough?

J

Jojo328

New member
Hi all,

New member here and really need some advice.

Stats:

34 years old
Current weight: 14.2 stone
Height :5ft9


I would like to ask a question about my fat loss especially my belly. I started with my weightloss in March this year and weighed 16stone 11lbs. Today I weigh 14stone 2lbs. This has been a change in diet, cardio and weights and consistency. I'm using an app to track my macros. My regime is as follows

Monday - upper body weights, 2 skipping sessions (40mins total)

Tuesday - 30 hour walking, 2 skipping sessions (40mins total), 15 mins abs

Wednesday - Lower body workout, 30mins chest, 2 skipping sessions

Thursday - abs, 2 skipping sessions, 30mins walking

Friday - 1 hour totally body weights, 2 skipping sessions

Saturday - 3 skipping sessions

Sunday - Rest
I also do intermittent fasting and eat in an 8 hour window from 12-8p.

My macros I try to stick too although I always hit my protein but sometimes 20/30% of my fats and carbs are :

208g Carbs
83g Protein
56g Fats

Now i have obviously lost some good weight and consistently on average im loosing 2.5lbs a week. I'm worried about my belly which hasn't seemed to reduce in size since I started my journey as I measured using a measure tape. Am I doing something wrong? I'm worried my body is gonna look weird. I want to get into the high 12 stone weight. I also am never starving, nor am I completely full after a meal. Typical day would look like

Lunch - 2 chicken thighs, 100g rice and some veg and fruit

3pm - protein shake

Dinner - one salmon fillet, rice, steamed veg

Any help would be great. Sorry for the long post.

Thanks
 
Hi, JoJo & welcome to the forum. Your belly might be the last place to disappear. I think it was with me when I lost a lot of weight in 2007. Keep doing what you're doing as it is working well. Congratulations on losing over 2.5 stone already & consistently. That's great :)
 
Hey Cate,

Yeh I mean i have always been overweight so this is the most important thing I have ever done and it's going well. Luckily I'm in lockdown so don't go out much because all my cloths have become too big minus 1 pair of jeans, a couple smaller size tshirts and 1 jacket haha. Im not leaving to see any friends till 15th August so realty want to have that impact when they see me for the first time.

I guess I'll continue and see what happens. I worry most about my diet. I'm around 1200 calories a day. I don't feel the need to snack or I'm not hungry I eat till I'm not hungry but also not full, I feel satisfied. However because I only eat lunch and dinner even when I'm satisfied im only clocking 1200 calories.

I guess I'm worried to increase calories because I'm seeing a consistent loss on scale weekly. Since I started the scales have told me i have lost muscle weight but I feel its a big inconsistent. For example it's told me i lost more in a 2 week period when I was lifting weights 4 times a week, then in a month of no weights.
 
So long as you are getting enough nutrition, 1200 cals is ok. If you do up your exercise then up your calories a little & see how you go. Strength training will help retain muscle & help to burn fat. There are people here, especially, Trusylver, who can provide you with expert advice about that.
 
you should be losing some inches in your waistline. i went from over 42" down to 35/36 now, but at this same weight i used to have a 34" waist. over the past year it has been decreasing very, very gradually, but i agree that it is one of the last places to register a change. of course, that's exactly where everyone seems to want to lost weight first... :)
 
I get you guys, I actually put on a bit of weight yesterday as I dropped my calories to 900 as I really wanted to get to the 13 stone mark by July 1st. Body probably gone into starvation mode :(
 
As everybody else has said, the last place you loose is usually the first place you gained the fat in the first place, and form many, that is around the middle.

Jojo328 said:
I dropped my calories to 900 as I really wanted to get to the 13 stone mark by July 1st. Body probably gone into starvation mode
Click to expand...

Dropping to 900 calories for a day or two is not going to put you into starvation mode however as you loose weight you will require less calories to fuel your body. By eating at 1200 for a long period of time you have not left much leeway to to drop calories in the future without risking not being able to meet nutritional needs.

Jojo328 said:
I guess I'm worried to increase calories because I'm seeing a consistent loss on scale weekly. Since I started the scales have told me i have lost muscle weight but I feel its a big inconsistent. For example it's told me i lost more in a 2 week period when I was lifting weights 4 times a week, then in a month of no weights.
Click to expand...

What method are you using to measure your bodyfat % and what is it ? Bioelectric impedance is a very poor way of measuring due to problems with accuracy, and if used should be measured under the same conditions each time and used as a trend only.

Exercise can cause weight fluctuations that have nothing to do with muscle gain or fat loss/gain.

there is not enough info to go on for me to say anything about you exercise

Dietwise without knowing your actual muscle mass it appears your protein intake is low.
 
I have decided to add more weights workout and up my daily calorific intake to 1400 and up my protein to 120g. I'm gonna see how it goes for a week. I don't think i did enough resistance training when I started the weightloss journey. I focused on cardio, diet and that's it.
 
Trusylver said:
As everybody else has said, the last place you loose is usually the first place you gained the fat in the first place, and form many, that is around the middle.



Dropping to 900 calories for a day or two is not going to put you into starvation mode however as you loose weight you will require less calories to fuel your body. By eating at 1200 for a long period of time you have not left much leeway to to drop calories in the future without risking not being able to meet nutritional needs.



What method are you using to measure your bodyfat % and what is it ? Bioelectric impedance is a very poor way of measuring due to problems with accuracy, and if used should be measured under the same conditions each time and used as a trend only.

Exercise can cause weight fluctuations that have nothing to do with muscle gain or fat loss/gain.

there is not enough info to go on for me to say anything about you exercise

Dietwise without knowing your actual muscle mass it appears your protein intake is low.
Click to expand...

My body fat percentage is at 34% right now. When I started it was close to 40% but also the scales say my muscle mass has gone down 2lbs since I started.
 
2lb is very much within the range of error for Bio-electric impedance scales so nothing to be concerned about. based on your muscle mass your protein should be around 100 gram

Jojo328 said:
I have decided to add more weights workout
Click to expand...

Weight training is more about quality than quantity.

changes to both diet and exercise as you get closer to your goals should be gradual and need to be given time to see the true effect. Also to judge the effects of each change, don't change a lot of things at once. For example if weight goes up after a week and you have changed multiple variable it will be impossible to tell what caused the change. Increased training intensity or quality often leads to fluid retention for a week or two after the change.
 
That's awesome advice, thanks!!

I have increased my protein to 100g and have increased my weights training. Also adding in abs and stretching as I want to feel a bit more bendy haha. Here is my plan, each upper biddy and lower body workout is aroud 45mins. Skipping is aroubf 20 each as I love it. Abs is around 15mins too. My actual muscle strengh needs to be improved as I'm a bit weak somehow. I'm sticking with 5kg weights and slowly working up.

Monday

Upper body weights
Abs
2 skipping sessions

Tuesday

Lower body weights
Abs
2 skip sessions

Wednesday

Abs
1 hour walk
1 skipping sessions

Thursday

Upper body weights
Abs
2 skipping sessions

Friday

Lower body weights
Abs
2 skip sessions


Saturday

Chest workout
1 hour walk
1 skip session

Sunday

1 hour body stretching / foam roll
Rest

Thoughts?
 
This does not tell me much about your strength training, however 45 minutes - 1 hour is a good length of time for a strength session. but if 5kg is the weight you are using for everything then there is a problem.
 
With regard to lifting, it's extremely important to use good form. Don't rush into bigger weights until you feel you've gotten proper form. Also don't push yourself with weights if you're not ready.

How long have you been trying to lose your stomach weight? You may just need more patience. You are doing great from what I can tell.
 
River Bird said:
With regard to lifting, it's extremely important to use good form. Don't rush into bigger weights until you feel you've gotten proper form. Also don't push yourself with weights if you're not ready.
Click to expand...

While good form is expected, the OP appears to be using the same weight for all exercises, which is a problem because for some exercises the weight may actually be to heavy and for others way to light. Without more information which was asked for earlier it is impossible to give good advice on the lifting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top