How is this even possible… I’m about to quit!

S

SSpade22

New member
Ok so here is the story, for the longest time I have been a big guy, and I don’t mean big as in fat, I mean big as in muscular. I was a collage football player and just to survive the practices I had to put on a lot of mass.

That was YEARS ago, sense then I have gotten a normal every day job. I still manage to get in the gym and do enough to maintain my size without getting bigger or smaller. Although my body fat has went up and along with that came the stomach. Without mandatory practices I haven’t really ran or done cardio, just weight lifting.

But as of late I have wanted to stop being so big and slim down. Being big is tough on my joints and I’m constantly sore.
So for the past month I have cut my diet A LOT and have changed for heavy weight lifting to interval training, running, and lots of body weight exercises. And it seems to have been working against me.

When I started this I was 236, currently I and 225, and you would think that is good, but it’s not. Because it seems like the weight loss is coming from muscle loss and not Fat loss. I use something knows as the “inbody 720” to measure myself once a week. And it has been VERY disheartening. Because my body fat has gone from 10% to 14% where as my muscle dropped from 206 to 194. The muscle loss isn’t the problem, I expected that because I haven’t been lifting heavy….. The think that is killing me is HOW THE HECK did I gain 4% body fat when I went on a diet AND implemented lots of cardio….. I don’t get it!!

I’m 27 and 6 ft tall btw.
 
First: Don't give up! It may take time to figure out the best way for you to reach your goal but you will get there.

Sounds like you want to lose muscle to slim down, and while you seem to have done that your body fat % has increased and you don't like that.

First question: Have you been taking your measurements? Like measuring tape and your chest, waist, hips, etc etc? If not, you should. This, in my opinion, will give you a good understanding of if you are becoming slimmer and along with the inbody 720 you use you will see where your progress is going.

With the fact you are trying to slim down and have so much muscle right now, it almost seems normal that initially your body fat % would increase, but I could also be way off. I don't have experience with this so hopefully someone else with a better understanding will be able to contribute as well with some advice. But I say try not to let that %age bring you down. If you are slimming down and losing some of the muscle mass that is a good thing. Once you slim down enough you can always build back some of the muscle until your body fat % is where you want it.

Just keep at it, you will get there!

Also, there are probably better articles out there but I found this: . Though this one seems better: .

Good luck, and don't quit!
 
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What are you eating through the day? Can you list it here? Also I would doubt your measuring apparatus. I think you can't both lose weight/fat and gain muscle at the same time. So I think you should just focus on losing weight. In which case I think you are DOING GREAT holy shit you lost 11 pounds congratulations! Don't get yourself down about that.

Lose the weight first, then worry about building muscle, it's much easier.
 
SSpade -

I just wanted to offer a few quick points that may help point out where you might be having some problems

As you probably already know, true all around fitness and weight control is a 3-part formula
Diet + Resistance Training + Cardio

In the diet, when one cuts calories but hopes to not lose muscle tissue, they must be careful that they are not cutting calories from protein too heavily.
I usually suggest that the grams of protein per day = your desired lean bodyweight
That value would not change regardless
Fats would be in the 30-40 gram range per day for a person your size

Then carbs are varied for weight control numbers.

Weight resistance training is important to prevent the atrophy of muscle tissue and slowing of the BMR (metabolic rate)
This will mean some moderate heavy weight that has you working in the 8-12 rep range before reaching failure for each exercise.

Lastly cardio 3 times per week in your Target Heart Rate Zone for 30-45 minutes should be enough for most people.

This seems to always work with people I have observed following it.

Typical Results for 16 weeks ?
Example below ....

View attachment 21574
 
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