Trying to lose last bit of weight

[gil]

Hi,,

I've been going to the gym fairly regularly over the last 1.5 years. This would be usually 2-3 times a week unless I've been sick or away.
When I started I would have been around 90kg, now I'm down to 83kg. I've been doing a fair amount of weight training as well which has bulked up my upper body somewhat.
I am trying to do about 30 minutes of cardio each session and have a heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate within my zone (122 to 150).

The problem I have is the last little bit of weight around my stomach. It is definately going down but slowly slowly. Considering before I started at the gym I did no exercise at all and now I am doing 3 times a week I cant see how it stays around. I'm thinking its only 2-3 kg left to get rid of.

The only thing I can think it it would be alcohol. I drink fairly regularly, maybe 2-3 glasses of wine 4 nights a week. My diet is vegetarian but I try not to eat too much junk, mostly just sushi/pasta/occasional pizza.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[malkore]

3 times a week isnt' that much exercise.

first, do weight training 3x a week. next, move your cardio to the days you don't lift weights, and do about 30 mins of interval style cardio (not steady state!)

the rest is all gonna be your diet. the wine drinking needs to be cut back to a couple glasses once or twice a week.

 

[stroutman81]

We all know that in order to lose fat we must be in an energy deficit as a generality. The opposite is true in order to gain muscle.

With this said, I have found that sometimes the last few pounds comes off with a caloric surplus and a bulking regiment opposed to an endless effort of dieting down. Adding some LBM to your frame from where you are currently will help speed up your metabolism.

What is your diet like too?

And what are you doing in terms of weight training?

 

[gil]

The weights is generally upper body, bi/tri, shoulders, back and abs. The routine is not overly comprehensive, usually takes about 45 mins in one session.

The intention was to be able to knock the whole gym session over in an hour as
I am doing it during the day at work, so if I really need to increase weights I have to drop cardio time etc.

So you guys are saying bump the cardio to 4 days a week and weights in the middle of that?
I haven't done any interval cardio but one thing I do know is that I tend to have a 'low amount of energy' ie if I do really hard cardio I can't sustain it for long periods. Maybe need some kind of energy boost before training? Also my sitting heart rate is generally 90 not doing anything which is kind of high from what I understand.

Diet is just meals 3x a day. Nothign overly healthy but nothing too nasty either.

Thanks for the quick responses!

 

[stroutman81]

No offense, but you have a lot of work to do. Nutrition is critical when trying to change body composition. 3 meals a day are not going to cut it. You really need 5-6 meals per day. I sometimes eat 7-8 depending on how long I am awake! Even if your food choices were excellent, I still would not recommend eating 3 meals per day.

HIIT is going to take less time than your traditional steady state cardio. You can get a great session of interval training with 15-20 minutes of exercise.

In regards to your resistance training, where is your leg work? I would switch it up to a upper/lower body split. On top of that, split up your upper body into horizontal pushing/pulling and vertical pushing/pulling.

Might look something like this:
Day 1: Upper horizontal pushing/pulling
Day 2: Quad dominant legs
Day 3: Upper vertical pushing/pulling
DAy 4: Hip dominant legs

Just my 2 cents!

 

[MilitantGeek]

The intention was to be able to knock the whole gym session over in an hour as I am doing it during the day at work, so if I really need to increase weights I have to drop cardio time etc.

Yes, I would drop the cardio to a seperate sessions and devote the hour to weight training. I can squeeze in leg curls, lat pulldowns, leg extensions, tri press, squats, db curls, weighted crunches, bench press, and shrugs - 3 sets of each - into an hour if I'm not slacking.

So you guys are saying bump the cardio to 4 days a week and weights in the middle of that?

I suggest trying 3 days of each, alternating back and forth.

I haven't done any interval cardio but one thing I do know is that I tend to have a 'low amount of energy' ie if I do really hard cardio I can't sustain it for long periods.

That's the joy of doing either interval cardio or HIIT. You max it for a short duration, and take another short duration or two at lower intensity to recover. Back and forth. Takes less time than steady state cardio and feels AWESOME.

Maybe need some kind of energy boost before training? Also my sitting heart rate is generally 90 not doing anything which is kind of high from what I understand.

My understanding is that is higher than desired, yeah. Regular exercise and a moderate diet will lead it to a lower number. Please bear in mind that training affects it a lot too. My morning and evening resting HR may go as low as 55 or 60, but once I get moving may hit 70 or 80, and towards the end of the week - after a lot of activity for days on end - it stays around 90. During my cardio sessions it generally hits the 160s and will peak at around 175.

Diet is just meals 3x a day. Nothign overly healthy but nothing too nasty either.

Consider more meals, smaller portions. I have followed the advice of many on the boards and now eat 5-6 times a day, and it seems to be helping. My energy levels stay steady throughout the day, and I find it easier to resist cravings for some reason. This also helps to regulate your metabolism.

And good luck, my goal range is 9-14 pounds away and I know how stubborn that last little bit can be.

 

[stroutman81]

Yes, I would drop the cardio to a seperate sessions and devote the hour to weight training. I can squeeze in leg curls, lat pulldowns, leg extensions, tri press, squats, db curls, weighted crunches, bench press, and shrugs - 3 sets of each - into an hour if I'm not slacking./QUOTE]

I would drop the leg curls and replace with SLDL and drop the leg extensions all together. Sorry for the hijacking of post!

 

[malkore]

I agree with strout...SLDL or RDL instead of leg curls, and leg extensions aren't good for much except light weight to 'warm up' the knees.