Help with losing weight!

[rocklynd]

Please help... I just registered, and this is my first post in any forum...

I joined a gym around July of last year. I did this after finishing college, primarily because I gained a ton of weight my senior year (stress + lack of sleep caused me to swell)! I weighed about 205 lbs. My 'normal' weight (for about 4 years before my senior year) was about 180 lbs (still overweight though).

Anyway, I came back to 180 lbs in early November. But since then, I've continued to lift weights and run, but I haven't lost an ounce - it's like a curse. I run at least 3.3 miles 3 times a week (usually 4 times a week), watch what I eat, and I eat smaller meals 6 times a day.

More on what I eat - I'm vegetarian, so I eat low or no fat veggieburgers for protein, I also eat lots of fruit (helps with small meals 6 times a day) and for lunch I usually have a salad or a veggie sandwich (once a week). I also drink a lot of water... I don't eat junk food much (about once every two weeks) or fast food (about once every two months).

My objectives from the gym are to: lose the weight (another 20 lbs or so), and gain muscle (but I am not very anxious for this - I can put much of this effort on hold until after I lose more weight). After all this time in the gym, I can lift a little more (not much), and need to lose more weight...

Oh yeah, here's some stats about me - 5'7", 180lbs (want to be around 160lbs), age 23, male, vegetarian.

I am not sure why I can't lose any more weight, why I'm not gaining any more muscle (but I can wait on this)... any ideas on why this is or have any suggestions?

 

[maria_camille03]

You might be on a plateu, maybe boost the intensity of your workout, or add something new to it, and possibly boost your calorie intake a little.

 

[capt_vegetable]

Hey Rocklynd,

As a fellow veggie, I'd like to say that your vegetarian lifestyle does not have to get in the way of you developing the body that you want. I am 5' 8'' and went to college at about 150 lbs and gained until 210 lbs. I went vegetarian (for moral reasons) in my junior year and lost about 30 lbs in a year from turning vegetarian (w/o exercising). For the next 3 years, I lost about 7 lbs a year and was down to about 160 lbs and could not lose anymore weight. Even though people would look at me and think I was kind of skinny, underneath my shirt I still looked like a water balloon filled with jello. That is when I started doing weights about 3 times a week and doing cardio on the other 4 days a week. For the cardio I would do anywhere from 3 to 6 miles a day and would do a complete upper body workout for the other 3 days. With this method, I lost about another 10 lbs and then could not lose anymore. Then I switched up my workout to include more weights and more intense cardio and I lost another 10 lbs. Currently, I've started using a 3 day split workout with 5 days of cardio (3 days HIIT and 2 days regular) and gained 2 lbs of muscle and have started to see definition in my body. Anyway the point is to try to vary your workout so that your body does not get used to one thing. According to your thread, it looks like you have been on the same workout, w/ 3.3 miles every 3 or 4 days for the past 5 months. It is probably time to change up your workout at this point.

Moreover, while your workout is important, the proper nutrition is also imperative to achieve your goals. You've mentioned that you are eating 6 meals a day, which is a step above what most beginners are doing. I actually did not start on the 6 meal a day plan until about 6 months ago, and switching to it from a 3 meal a day plan made a huge difference. Anyway, being a vegetarian means you must make sure that you get the proper intake of protein. This means you should get about 1 gram of protein for every lb. of your weight. In your case it should then be 180 grams. While you have said that you are not interested in building muscle, muscle gain and fat loss are not mutually exclusive. You should have a moderately intense weight program in place if you want to lose weight, as a lb. of muscle will burn more calories than a lb. of fat.

You have not mentioned what kind of vegetarianism you practice (vegan, ovo-lacto, semi, etc.) Personally, I am a ovo-lacto vegetarian leaning towards veganism (no animal flesh but I do eat eggs if they are cage free and occasionally have some cheese or milk product). Anyway, I still do use a whey protein powder (processed from milk) for my post workout shake. I would recommend using this type of protein powder (search the forum for the best kind) or if you are a vegan, you can purchase some soy or rice protein (again search this forum or the web to purchase this stuff). Do not let anyone tell you that the lack of meat and the use of soy protein are ineffective for getting into shape.

Anyhoo, after all my long winded bs, you should make sure that you know how many calories, carbs, fat and protein you are getting a day. Also, I would keep tabs of what you eat every day, at what times, and post it as a thread so that I or another more knowledgable person can critique what you are doing wrong or right. Furthermore, post what weight exercises you do on each day and what type of cardio you do (with how long and how far you do it each day).

Please post all your specific workout and diet information and any other questions you have.

Shawn