Went from 180lbs to 130 lbs. Still fat?

[dayatnite]

Hello everybody. I went from 187lbs to ~130 lbs in almost 6 months. I'm 5' 8", 18, male and I'm still fat. I have chest fat, stomach fat, arm fat... But my legs are skinny enough.

I haven't exercised a lot, I used to eat 800-1000 calories daily. I think this might be due to muscle loss instead of fat loss.

There are 2 weeks since I exercise more, eat more (at least 3-4 times in a week I put in 1400 or more calories) and I do weight lifting.

My belly is much softer than ever now. I can tow my belly like it is skin, but it doesn't seem like since it's fat. The skin should be very thin.

What do you think? Might this be because my structure is small, maybe, and i need to lose weight more? Or I could lose all of it in the last few pounds? Or I've lost muscle mass?

Thanks!
George.

 

[KaraCooks]

I haven't exercised a lot, I used to eat 800-1000 calories daily. I think this might be due to muscle loss instead of fat loss.

Bingo!

Not only were you eating an unhealthily low number of calories, you weren't workign out. Both of those things have caused you to lose even more lean muscle.

Your current weight is a reasonable one and I wouldn't go lower than that. But you are probably a prime example of what most people on this site refer to as "skinny fat". That is, you're at a low weight, but have no muscle to give your body a healthy shape.

You need to increase your calories to around 2000 a day, make sure you're getting plenty of protein, and START WORKING OUT. Specifically you need to lift weights and do body resistance exercises to begin rebuilding those muscles that you've wasted away with unhealthy dieting.

Yes, you'll gain weight at first, and some of it might be gaining fat back, but you'll also gain a lot of muscle and you *do* want muscle weight. But most of all, you'll look a helluva lot better with some muscle mass on you.

 

[dayatnite]

Bingo!

Not only were you eating an unhealthily low number of calories, you weren't workign out. Both of those things have caused you to lose even more lean muscle.

Your current weight is a reasonable one and I wouldn't go lower than that. But you are probably a prime example of what most people on this site refer to as "skinny fat". That is, you're at a low weight, but have no muscle to give your body a healthy shape.

You need to increase your calories to around 2000 a day, make sure you're getting plenty of protein, and START WORKING OUT. Specifically you need to lift weights and do body resistance exercises to begin rebuilding those muscles that you've wasted away with unhealthy dieting.

Yes, you'll gain weight at first, and some of it might be gaining fat back, but you'll also gain a lot of muscle and you *do* want muscle weight. But most of all, you'll look a helluva lot better with some muscle mass on you.

Thank you very much for the directions!! Really appreciated.

There are two days since I eat more, and I feel great. That under-1000-calories-daily thing wasn't a good move. Anyways, I hope I won't gain fat again. When I eat, I have that feeling that I eat too much... But I spend lot on exercising, so...

Thanks again, I'll post up an update as soon as I see some changes!

 

[DweamGoiL]

You should be fine with eating more and lifting more weights. My ex-husband had gone down from over 200 at 5'8" to 140 barely eating and just doing cardio. Yes, the pounds melted away, but he was so small in the end and had flabby skin in weird places. He then began eating 5-6 small meals, lots of protein and concentrating more on weight lifting and circuit training. He managed to pack on about 20 lbs of muscle in about 6 mos. This is a much better look for him. He still looks very slim and trim, but his muscles are very well defined.

This is probably more of what you are aiming for.

 

[dayatnite]

You should be fine with eating more and lifting more weights. My ex-husband had gone down from over 200 at 5'8" to 140 barely eating and just doing cardio. Yes, the pounds melted away, but he was so small in the end and had flabby skin in weird places. He then began eating 5-6 small meals, lots of protein and concentrating more on weight lifting and circuit training. He managed to pack on about 20 lbs of muscle in about 6 mos. This is a much better look for him. He still looks very slim and trim, but his muscles are very well defined.

This is probably more of what you are aiming for.

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks! I was just interested in that!!

You said he ate more proteins, I have heard something like they can make you gain fat. Is that true?

Today are 4 weeks since I eat more proteins and I do weight lifting. At the beginning my arm was 30cm, now it's 31cm. 1cm pure muscle. Haha.

 

[DweamGoiL]

Eating More Protein...

you would want to concentrate on eating lean proteins, eggs, chicken breast, cold cuts, nuts, beans, non-fat dairy stuff like that. You might want to consider getting a protein shake for post workout that will give you lean protein. A lot of them concentrate on bulk, which basically means lots of fat. They try to appeal to the guy that wants to get big quick!

Believe it or not, my husband and I shared the same protein shake. It was designed for women, but was giving him great results as well. There are no hormones or anything like that in a protein shake, so it's just marketing and the content of the formulation whether it's geared for women or not. If you're interested, you can private msg me, and I'll give you the name of the shake.

Back to the topic at hand, I think when putting on muscle, you will always run into gaining a little fat as a result of the building process. But, if you workout regularly and eat 5-6 small meals, you should not gain much fat and if you do put on a little, you can always reduce your calorie intake afterwards to trim the fat (literally).

Hope this helps!

 

[KaraCooks]

Eating protein will not make you gain fat. Eating too much food - of any kind - will make you gain fat.

Eating protein will, however, help you maintain and build lean muscle.

 

[dayatnite]

Ugh... the e-mailing system of this forum is little slow so I get the notifications later.

you would want to concentrate on eating lean proteins, eggs, chicken breast, cold cuts, nuts, beans, non-fat dairy stuff like that. You might want to consider getting a protein shake for post workout that will give you lean protein. A lot of them concentrate on bulk, which basically means lots of fat. They try to appeal to the guy that wants to get big quick!

Believe it or not, my husband and I shared the same protein shake. It was designed for women, but was giving him great results as well. There are no hormones or anything like that in a protein shake, so it's just marketing and the content of the formulation whether it's geared for women or not. If you're interested, you can private msg me, and I'll give you the name of the shake.

Back to the topic at hand, I think when putting on muscle, you will always run into gaining a little fat as a result of the building process. But, if you workout regularly and eat 5-6 small meals, you should not gain much fat and if you do put on a little, you can always reduce your calorie intake afterwards to trim the fat (literally).

Hope this helps!

Thanks but I woudn't take any protein shakes for now.

Gaining a little fat as a result of the building process? I don't understand? You mean I will gain fat because of eating more or...? If I eat 1500 calories daily I think there will be no gaining fat as far as I know?

Now I wanted to ask if this is okay... Here is what I do now:

I do weight lifting five times per week and bicycling 5-6 miles twice weekly. My food intake is 1200 calories daily. And I take plus vitamins and iron, I drink 2-3 liters of water and 2-3 cups of green tea.

And here is the food schema:

Breakfast:
Cereal (wheat, rye, oats, etc.) ~450 kcal.

Snack:
1 Apple ~100 kcal.

Lunch:
Grilled fish / chicken breasts ~400 kcal.
Spicy tomatoes ~50 kcal.

Snack:
1 Orange ~60 kcal.

Dinner:
Carrots with lemon ~80 kcal.

Snack:
1 Peach ~60 kcal.

And, how much fruit is okay to eat when not dieting? Because I really love it.

Thanks!

 

[andilight]

I too think the answer lies in increasing your caloric intake, and doing some serious weight lifting.
1200 calories per day for someone who works out so much is really too little.

Sometimes eating too little can actually damage your weight loss progress, that's because, the body enters "starvation" mode and does everything in it's power to burn less calories...

 

[KaraCooks]

Thanks but I woudn't take any protein shakes for now.

Why not?

Gaining a little fat as a result of the building process? I don't understand? You mean I will gain fat because of eating more or...? If I eat 1500 calories daily I think there will be no gaining fat as far as I know?

You can't build muscle while eating 1500 calories. If you are eating enough to gain muscle, you will also gain fat. If you are eating enough to lose fat, you will also lose muscle. It's simply the way your body works.

I do weight lifting five times per week

You should be taking a full 48 hours off between weight lifting sessions - 5 days per weeks is simply too much. You're overtraining. Assuming of course, that you're weight lifting properly - what do you mean when you say "weight lifting"?

My food intake is 1200 calories daily.

Breakfast:
Cereal (wheat, rye, oats, etc.) ~450 kcal.

Snack:
1 Apple ~100 kcal.

Lunch:
Grilled fish / chicken breasts ~400 kcal.
Spicy tomatoes ~50 kcal.

Snack:
1 Orange ~60 kcal.

Dinner:
Carrots with lemon ~80 kcal.

Snack:
1 Peach ~60 kcal.

That is a HORRIFIC diet. It's even worse if you're trying to gain muscle. You aren't getting nearly enough protein to sustain muscle, much less grow it. Your diet is very carb heavy and has barely any veg or protein. You really need to overhaul this.

If you want to fix the problems you talked about in your first post, you need to change things. Full body weight lifting and resistance work 3x a week, a healthy diet that includes at least 120g of protein per day, and cardio around that to help lose the last of the fat. You should aim for around 1400 calories a day EVERY DAY in order to make this happen.