Help! I think I am stuck!

W

Wolfen1

New member
Hi
After vowing to make the commitment, I have lost over 50 lbs over the last year, and put on more muscle as well. I started at a little over 200 and now am down to 150 but I seem to be stuck there. It has been this way for months. I have tried to vary things up but it always remains the same. I put on some weight during vacation, and when I returned it came off quickly but I was still stuck at 150lb. I look pretty good now (much better than a year ago) but I am still struggling to take off the last weight from my belly, sides, and rear. Any suggestions on what I can do to get rid of this stubborn fat?
Here's some info.
Male, 27, currently 150lbs, 5'11" right now my stomach is 33in around my navel. (I don't know BMI, and I know weight isn't that good an indicator)

I walk at least an hour every day. I walk pretty fast so this translates to about 4 to 4.5 miles. I also walk to get places which, depending on the day can add another hour. On the weekends I usually walk 2 hours or more, depending on the weather and my plans. On Mon, Wed, Fri I work out upper body for about 30 minutes. Tues, Thurs, Sat Lower and Abs. I also do 50 situps each morning, and have recently started doing 100 bicyle crunches at lunch.

As far as diet, M-F I have a pretty stable schedule.
Breakfast - Oatmeal with either a banana or berries
about 3 or 4 hours later
Snack - Coffee (usually drip or americano (nonfat mocha 1-2 times a week)
either a pear, apple, or banana
about 3 hours later
Snack - either apple, or banana. sometimes granola bar.
Dinner - Turkey Sandwich
wheat bread
low fat mayo
mustard
lettuce
pickles
sliced turkey breast
lowfat cheese
also a few saltine cracker (fat free)
few hours later
Snack - usually a coffee and something like light yogurt, or popcorn, or sometimes a little low fat ice cream or something.
On occasion, I will have some little snacks at work if they have like carrots, or almonds or something, altho this is not often.
I also drink some soymilk and protein mix after I have worked out.

On the weekend I am usually busier and eat 3 meals
Same oatmeal for breakfast.
An apple or maybe a yogurt protein shake in the middle of the day.
A sandwich or maybe some pasta for dinner.
Maybe a coffee.

Sometimes I do feel craving and eat some sweets, but any certain day or time and not very often these days.

If there is any more information needed in order to try to assess my situation and give me some pointers, I can supply them. I wanted to try to be down to maybe the lower 140s by Christmas (Thinking that would mean being rid of the fat I am trying to shed)
Thanks to anyone in advance for reading this long post and helping out.
 
Greetings Wolfen,

This is my first post to this forum.

I entered the information you provided on a online BMI Calculator at it determined your BMI to be 20.9 Normal weight range for
BMI is 18.5 - 24.9. Your BMI is in healthy normal range.

I can relate to the plateau. Sorry, I know it is frustrating. The only suggestion I have is to incorporate more intensity into your walking. Try a light jog for a few blocks and then a brisk walk. Repeat the process during the hour you're walking. Find a new route to walk that has steep elevations. Uphill builds endurance and strength. Downhill works on your balance. You could also Add 2lb wrist weights to your walking when you're not incorporating jogging. I think it helps to mix it up and not do the same workout every day.

IMO, weightloss is all about calories in -> calories out ->. Do you log what you eat daily in calories? It does help to keep you focused. I pay close attention to calories and fats. Some people have a thing for carbs. I have a thing about fats because I have a thyroid disease. Fats & nicotine are the absolute worst things for an individual with thryroid disease.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge on busting through a plateau will be along to help you soon. I hope they can hrelp me too.

Take care,
 
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1. Your body adapts to any calorie intake after a while. you cannot continue losing weight forever using the same diet.

2. The more you lose, the harder losing becomes. There's a limit to how much you can cut your daily calories. The goal of weight loss is to reach a healthy weight.

3. Your weight is very healthy. Actually you're quite skinny. A few more pounds and you'd be underweight. Focus on strength training and working your muscles. You do not need to lose any more weight.
 
Well, I am not actually concerned about weight, per se. What I really want to do is lose the fat that is left on my stomach and love handle areas. Its not as much as it used to be, but I just want to not have a bulge. I am fine with my weight but I know you can't spot reduce or anything like that. So what do people recommend doing in order to get rid of the last of that stubborn fat?
 
Try some HIIT and if you really want to put on muscle, look up some supersets that you can do.

Otherwise, you sound like you've hit a very healthy weight. I think if I got down to 150, I would be emaciated.
 
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I see a disturbing lack of protein in your diet. You would probably be more impressed with your weight loss if you had more muscle to fill out your physique. That you are 5'11, 150 and still have what sounds like extra bodyfat probably means you are lacking a suitable amount of muscle mass.

Your mon/wed/fri upper body work sounds like it needs to be stepped up. I bet a change in your routine (increasing the intensity and length of your upper body workouts) along with some resistance training for your legs will allow you to shed that bodyfat.

As for the last stubborn pounds...try and cut out the cheat meals. The snacks add up.

Michael
 
hey thanks for all the tips.
I just have a few questions.
How should I "step up" my routine? I am not very experienced when it comes to weight training. I do it but I don't know much about how much I should do, when etc. Also, how do I know how much protein I need? Should it be constant everyday or more when I work out more and less the days I do less? Also, is there a good and accurate way of figuring how many calories to eat a day?

One more question. What is the best thing to do for abs? I do machines and also cruches and situps but I can never tell if I am doing them right. I still have fat on the stomach so I can't really see if they have improved much or not either.

thanks again.
 
Hi Wolfen,

From what your diet shows, you probably should reduce your carbohydrate intake and increase your protein and healthy fats. I know, I know, it's the whole low-carb approach, but this is what you need. All kinds of diets can work, but I think this will be the best approach for you. Most people who have body fat trouble tend to have a low carbohydrate tolerance. This means you're more likely to store carbs as fat. I would strongly consider this approach and maybe modify your training program a bit (you don't list specifics). Once you get to your desired body fat level, start introducing carbohydrates back into your system.
 
Most people who have body fat trouble tend to have a low carbohydrate tolerance. This means you're more likely to store carbs as fat.
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Low carbohydrate tolerance? As opposed to someone who has a 'high carbohydrate tolerance?' Those people would store it as what? Glycogen? Those people would be worse off, not better.

Is this is a roundabout way of saying that some people have metabolic deficiencies in terms of metabolizing carbs? Is this an insulin issue? A glucagon issue? A hormone issue related to lipogenesis expediency that you can demarcate from insulin?

Sounds like voodoo physiology to me...can you provide a source for this theory?

Michael
 
ok so I am still confused about what to do and feel like the advise is somewhat conflicting.

Should I concetrate on developing more muscle mass at this time? If so how? Should I do less/more cardio?

Should I just change my cardio routine?

Or is it a nutritional problem?

Any more clarity on all this would help me immensely. I am really feeling around in the dark on this fitness stuff.
 
Michael,

Here are a few resources for you that I found real quick. I'm sure there are better, but these should suffice:

The American Society for Nutritional Sciences J. Nutr. 132:2161-2166, 2002

TESTOSTERONE NATION (This is an article with no resources, but by a pretty smart guy that works for NASA)

I wouldn't call it "voodoo physiology" because exercise physiologists dealing with obesity use the term. Without reading the article above, it's all dependent upon insulin sensitivity. Overweight and/or obese people respond poorly to carbohydrates due to their insulin response. This causes carbohydrates to be stored as fat.

Sure, you could continue to follow the standard recommendations of a high- carbohydrate, low-fat diet, but I think this will lead to poor results. That's just some of my empirical evidence as well as other professionals in the industry. I believe this has also been displayed in some of the very latest research in diet modalities.

I don't mind the in-depth questioning, but by Wolfen's response, it's only confusing him. Keeping it simple will work much better. I think he needs to reduce his carbohydrates to start seeing results again. There's also a good chance he needs to change is training plan. What do you think?
 
Moving to a low-carb high fat diet isn't going to help much.

True you are going to deplete your glycogen stores...but fat in your diet is stored as adipose tissue with 97% efficiency. Thus, even though you will be burning your fat stores, you will have more of them. With less energy to complete the workout to actually burn it off.

Calorie for calorie, carbs that go through lipogenesis require 20% of the caloric intake to convert to adipose tissue. So from an intake model, a high-carb low-fat diet allows you to eat more calories in the day and maintain the same weight.

Low glycogen levels also have a habit of breaking down muscle in addition to fat when performing catabolic exercise. So the fat-burn zone is also the muscle-burn zone. That is especially problematic when the fat-burn zone has the extra energy due to increased fat in your diet.

In conclusion, it is much better to allow someone to eat more (particularly on days that are above calorie maintenance) that better power workouts and are less muscle catabolic.

Michael
 
sorry, but I'm still not sure what this means I should do?
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You're suppose to eat plenty of veggies, fruits, whole grain breads, brown rice,whole grain pasta,tuna,salmon, lean meats (chicken breast - no skin, turkey breast, lean beef...all of these are low in fat plus excellent sources of protein .

Cardio exercise for more than 30 minutes . Strength training 3 days a week.

In conclusion, it is much better to allow someone to eat more (particularly on days that are above calorie maintenance) that better power workouts and are less muscle catabolic.
Click to expand...
 
Morning,

I can relate to weight loss plateaus, I've been bouncing between 130 and 133 now since the dawn of time. Okay, not quite, but for over a month now.

I think my body is quite content at the weight it currently is, even though I want to reduce the inches that are still on my tummy. I've simply accepted that while these last few pounds will eventually come off, I can't put it to a schedule.

Coming to terms with that makes it much easier to stop angsting and just let it come off as it will. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it does work for me.

Best wishes,

Barbara
 
Exercise Physio,

I'm not sure where you're getting your info. It has been well documented that people have lost FAT on low to moderate carb diets. i.e. atkins, south beach, zone, etc. These protocols ask for 30% or more of calories coming from fat. I'm sure I can find some new research from this year to point that out to you.

If what you're saying is true, then we shouldn't consume any fat in our diet because it's going to be stored as such. Sounds like you're "fat phobic". Heard of all the benefits of fish oil supplementation? This is pure fat and has been shown to reduce cholesterol, cancer risk, body fat, etc.

Eat more calories? Wouldn't that lead to weight gain? i.e. fat gain. So you think people should eat no fat and consume more calories from carbohydrates? I may be confused by your statement, but it seems that you don't believe in the basic physics principle of "energy in vs. energy out". That's ok because some nutritionists feel the same way. I'm still undecided about it myself because there are so many factors that figure into it.

High-carb low-fat sounds like a perfect recipe for diabetes, may be cardiovascular disease and no results. Look at the prescription for diabetics. They control their carbohydrate intake to keep blood sugar levels constant and often lose fat because of it. Your retort will be about GI or something of that nature. While focuing on lower GI carbohydrates does offer some benefit, this strategy isn't employed in this population. Diabetics are a special population, but most people have difficulty with controlling blood sugar levels so my statement still applies.

I believe your statement about glycogen is somewhat correct. This only true when carbohydrate intake is very low. Let's face it, most people don't train hard enough to get carb depleted to the point where muscle is broken down and consumed. I've placed a professional athlete on a low-carb diet to lose fat during the long competitive season. He performed at or above his prior level and actually felt much better. If a professional athlete has no problems, I don't see it being much concern for the fitness enthusiast. Still, if it's a concern, the training protocol can be modified to maximize energy levels for workouts by reducing overall training volume.


Here's the thing - high-carb moderate-protein low-fat, low-carb moderate-fat high-protein, moderate-carb moderate-fat moderate-protein will all work to some degree. It all depends on the person and this is where individualization is paramount. No, I'm not a registered dietician, but I have practical experience, master's coursework and continuing education to speak from. Low-carb high-protein protocols tend to be more successful in people grossly overweight. Advocates of high-carb low-fat diets tend to be fat!
 
I've placed a professional athlete on a low-carb diet to lose fat during the long competitive season. He performed at or above his prior level and actually felt much better.
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I hate to say it, paul, but that's terribly anecdotal. I'll reply with my own anecdotal evidence. Both I and my brother have undergone the diets that you are talking about to cut weight for wrestling. I did it while playing football, and he did it while running cross country. NEITHER of us felt like we were trucking on anything but watered down diesel.

EDIT: Both of us did it when we were 18. Young and full of testosterone and healthy.
 
Wolfen said:
Well, I am not actually concerned about weight, per se. What I really want to do is lose the fat that is left on my stomach and love handle areas. Its not as much as it used to be, but I just want to not have a bulge. I am fine with my weight but I know you can't spot reduce or anything like that. So what do people recommend doing in order to get rid of the last of that stubborn fat?
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Hi Wolfen,

Congratulations on your hard work so far! You're doing a great job and you must feel very proud of yourself.

That stubborn fat can be tough do get rid of. It seems to be a common concern. I would suggest making sure that your workouts are high intensity. A good way to lose fat, especially the stubborn fat, is to do interval training...you would incorporate cardio into your weight training so that your heart rate stays elevated throughout your whole workout. For example, rather than working out on the elliptical or treadmill for 30 minutes straight, I would do say, step-ups for 30 seconds, then push-ups for 30 seconds, etc. If you would like more details, I would be happy to send them along.

Debbie
 
dbenko said:
Hi Wolfen,

Congratulations on your hard work so far! You're doing a great job and you must feel very proud of yourself.

That stubborn fat can be tough do get rid of. It seems to be a common concern. I would suggest making sure that your workouts are high intensity. A good way to lose fat, especially the stubborn fat, is to do interval training...you would incorporate cardio into your weight training so that your heart rate stays elevated throughout your whole workout. For example, rather than working out on the elliptical or treadmill for 30 minutes straight, I would do say, step-ups for 30 seconds, then push-ups for 30 seconds, etc. If you would like more details, I would be happy to send them along.

Debbie
Click to expand...

What's your explanation as to how this protocol helps with stubborn fat?
 
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