What should I do?

R

Rich1631

New member
Hey everyone, I am new here. I started my own weight loss program in early September at 278 lbs and I have gotten myself down to 243 since then. My goal is to get down to 200. I am a 20 year old male and 6ft, so I figure that should be a healthy weight. Anyway, I have hit a plateau and I can't get any lower than 243 for the life of me, it has been that way for like 3 weeks now. It keeps fluctuating like 1-3 lbs. For the past months I have been doing 3.5 miles a day Mon-Fri, which comes out to be an hour of cardio a day in addition to dieting. Now, I have lost major weight in my legs and because of this I am still "top heavy". I have noticed my legs have gotten more ripped and I have gone from a 44 jean to a 40 with a belt (I could probably get into a 38, since these are pretty damn big). Anyway, How would I go about throwing in some strength training? Any ideas of what to do, where to start, how many? I got myself some dumbbells and whatnot, I really don't want to bulk up, I just want to slim down. If I started doing situps and pushups, would that help? It seems that strictly cardio isn't going to work anymore. I tried putting off the body building part since I honestly hate lifting weights. I read that doing some strength training helps to get your metabolism going again. I have even starting drinking green tea as much as I hate that crap :ack2: LOL! Thanks.
 
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YOu don't say anything about what you're eating.

While exercise is a valuable part of a weight loss plan, the most important component of losing weight is eating right. You need to eat a reasonable amount of calories and get the proper amounts of nutrients.

You can exercise until you're blue in the face and if you're continuing to eat too much, then you're not going to lose weight.

So let's start there ... what do you eat on a daily basis?
 
Breakfast: Slim-fast, 200 calories

Morning snack: Yo-plait fat free yogurt cup 110 calories or banana or apple

Lunch: Usually a turkey and cheese sandwich, a 100 calorie pack, and a glass of either water, cranberry juice, or fat free milk.

Afternoon snack: another 100 calorie pack or fat free yogurt or fat free pudding depending on the day or some nuts.

Dinner: really depends, sometimes I make another sandwich, or chicken and rice, or turkey and potatoes, sometimes it is the frozen smart choice dinners, sometimes it is 2 lean pockets, it depends on when I have class or work. On days I am at work it is usually one of those smart choice/weight watchers frozen dinners. I don't really have a night snack because I usually wind up eating dinner like either 8 or 9pm and I know that is bad enough.
 
Well here's my thoughts as to what's going on... your body is starving.

What you're eating isn't NEARLY enough to support your metabolism, especially given the amount of exercise you're doing. Here's what happens. When you cut your calories SO drastically, your metabolism adapts. Will you keep losing weight? Probably eventually. But only at the expense of your metabolism.

AT your weight, you should be eating around 2400 calories per day, and you should be making sure to get at least 150g of protein (basing that on what I would think is fairly close to your lean body mass).

I'm estimating that you're only getting *maybe* 1500 calories per day (if that). And given the amoutn of working out you're doing, you're underfeeding yourself drastically.
 
KaraCooks said:
AT your weight, you should be eating around 2400 calories per day, and you should be making sure to get at least 150g of protein (basing that on what I would think is fairly close to your lean body mass).
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Im just curious to where you got your 150g of protein calculation from? ..thats awfully high...

I would probably shoot for 100-135 g/protein based on 1-1.2g/kg of body weight which is higher than the standard of .8g/kg. Im sure the extra 20g wouldn't be that harmful but just make sure your drinking a lot of water if you do ingest that much. A lot of times people overestimate their protein intakes when losing weight.

Not meaning to discount what youre saying but just curious thats all :)
 
Im just curious to where you got your 150g of protein calculation from? ..thats awfully high...
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Not at all.

The RDA of 1g per 1kg of bodyweight is based on nonactive adults and is generally considered fairly low by most dietitians and nutritionists. If you're an active adult, working out regularly, or eating in a calorie deficit to lose weight (or any combination of those) - and if you're wanting to minimize muscle loss while in that calorie deficit (or if you're not actively dieting and want to build muscle) - then a more effective amount of protein is 1g per 1lb of lean body mass.

If you don't know your bodyfat percentage, a good estimate for someone who is overweight is somewhere between 65%-75% of your total body weight. So for example, my current weight is 170. I happen to know my bodyfat is 32%, so that leaves my lean body mass at 115 lbs - which means I am for about 115g of protein per day. (I actually get closer to around 120 or 125 if I'm eating right on plan).

Rich is 243 (according to his post above). 65% of that is 157lb (estimated) and so I recommended 150g of protein based on that. I suspect his lean body mass is actually a bit higher, given his weight to height ratio, but it's hard to say for sure w/out taking a measurement, so 65% remains a conservative estimate.

A lot of times people overestimate their protein intakes when losing weight.
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I find it to be the exact opposite. Most people underestimate the amount of protein they're taking in - and don't know how much they should be getting to begin with, which makes it harder.
 
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