The Fat Loss TroubleshootThis is your place to troubleshoot your fat loss problems from nutrition to training. This section is led by Leigh Peele, author of "The Fat Loss Troubleshoot," the ultimate fat loss manual. If your results have slowed or stalled this is the place to come for advice for all your fat loss needs.
Hey gang! I am SO glad I found this forum because I am VERY frustrated. I have completely stalled after just losing a few pounds earlier in the year.
Here's more about me:
Stats
Age: 35
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 138.5 as of this morning
Waist: 30"
Hips: 36.5"
(I have a very small frame as I am long limbed. All of my weight is in my mid section and most notably my hips)
Diet
I eat as clean as I can but protein bars are my "candy". I genuinely enjoy eating well.
Calories: between 1,400 and 1,600 a day
Macros: I shot for 135 to 160 grams of protein a day, under 30% fat and the rest is carbs (whole grains, fruit, veggies... I rarely eat white food.)
Workout
Monday: Legs and Chest
Tuesday: HIIT
Wednesday: Back and Biceps
Thursday: HIIT
Friday: Shoulders and Tris
Saturday: HIIT
Sunday: Abs
I lift weights hard with the first two sets lifting hard enough weight to only be able to do 6 to 8 reps. The last set is a triple drop set. I shoot for 2 to 3 exercises per body part. I use free weight and machines.
I started the year at 141.5 and really would just love to get down to 130 and have given myself until June 1 to do it. My arms, shoulders and back look really good and my legs are not bad at all. I just have a huge issue with the excess weight at the midsection. I lift hard because with my frame, if I don't build muscle, I will look too thin.
What do you think? How can I kick start this. I have no seen movement in my scale or my mid section measurements at all. I am feeling very discouraged. Thanks!
What does the rest of your day look like? What kind of work do you do? How much sleep per night do you get? What do you do after work? In the evenings?
Are you weighing your food and tracking every morsel that passes your lips?
__________________
Life's a Journey ... Enjoy the Ride!
I work a standard office job with moving about to meetings and such. I am a single mom so I am on the run a bit. On my HIIT days, I usually do the treadmill in the morning (4-5 min warmup, sprint as fast as I can for 30 sec/rest 60 sec for 12-15 minutes, 4-5 minute cool down). I make dinner and get kid to bed about 8 pm and get 6-8 hours sleep (I like my sleep )
I track my calories on Daily Plate but don't weigh my food. For meat, I get it fresh from the butcher and have him package individually so I know the weight of food. But, the rest is guessing based on cups or dividing servings.
I work a standard office job with moving about to meetings and such. I am a single mom so I am on the run a bit. On my HIIT days, I usually do the treadmill in the morning (4-5 min warmup, sprint as fast as I can for 30 sec/rest 60 sec for 12-15 minutes, 4-5 minute cool down). I make dinner and get kid to bed about 8 pm and get 6-8 hours sleep (I like my sleep )
I track my calories on Daily Plate but don't weigh my food. For meat, I get it fresh from the butcher and have him package individually so I know the weight of food. But, the rest is guessing based on cups or dividing servings.
Ding, ding, ding!! That's probably where the problem resides. Start weighing and measuring EVERYTHING that passes thru your lips in grams and ounces.
How do I take the weight of vegetables and fruit into consideration. I have always seen calories listed by volume or size for those items. I totally understand with meat.
Also, does everything else look on par. I understand about weighing the food but I can't think that that alone is the whole issue here.
How do I take the weight of vegetables and fruit into consideration. I have always seen calories listed by volume or size for those items. I totally understand with meat.
Also, does everything else look on par. I understand about weighing the food but I can't think that that alone is the whole issue here.
you get a food scale and weigh those foods in grams. Like say you are eating carrots you take the amount you will eat and weigh them on thee scale. Does Daily Plate allow you to enter grams ie. 130 grams of apple? I use Fitday.com and it allows you to enter foods in grams, ounces, cups, etc. Grams/ounces will be most accurate.
Yup. Obviously somewhere you are breaking out even with calories in versus calories out. So you are probably not burning as much as you thing (despite what many folks will have you believe, intervals don't burn as much as a much longer but slower walk ... and they have the effect on many of slowing down all activity the rest of the day) ... with the office job and all. And then you are likely eating more than you think. Watch Leigh's video that was posted above ... it can be really eye-opening. She also tells a story somewhere about a client of hers who was overeating by a little on oatmeal and a little on peanutbutter, and a crapload of "0 calorie" splenda ... and voila, there was the 400ish calories that was keeping her from losing.
Weigh EVERYTHING.
Swap the intervals for a longer walk (45 minutes 3.5 mph).
Be aware of how much you move during the day (park farther away, take the stairs, etc.)
Give it a few weeks and I'll bet the scale starts dropping.
Also, how long are you spending in the gym on those body-part splits? Again, the calorie burn isn't going to be great, so don't spend 2+ hours. You'd be better off spending 30-60 minutes lifting hard, and the rest of the time recovering.
__________________
Life's a Journey ... Enjoy the Ride!
Thanks. I'll try weigh the food. Can anyone recommend a good scale that won't break my bank?
I'm also going to change up my workout next week and go back to doing more steady state cardio. I used to do 3-5 miles on the treadmill running. I'd like to shoot for 500 to 750 calorie deficit so hopefully I can get the calories to be about 400 of that and the workout to be at least 350 of that.
Honestly, my advice would be the "less is more" approach. Give your body a break ... and try just walking on the treadmill. Tivo some shows and the time will go fast. Just give it a few weeks. I imagine being a single mom is rather stressful ... and your body doesn't know the difference really between training stress and life stress. Running, HIIT, intervals, etc are all stressful on your body. Try something non-stressful that will still burn good calories. Increase your sleep to at least 7-8 hours. Weigh your food. And give it a good 2-4 weeks.
__________________
Life's a Journey ... Enjoy the Ride!
While it may seem like a pain at first, understanding your actual intake, at least for a short time will do wonders for the realities of your needed intake. From there you will be surprised how much easier (in the sense of technical) things will be.
I got a scale at Target! I have NEVER noticed that the nutritional data on boxes gives you the volume AND the grams. I am going to have SO much fun playing with my new toy!
I am going to start all over again on Monday. I am giving myself the weekend to not worry about this stuff and to destress a little. Just focus on getting in the right mind set, then change things up a little. I think doing some steady state walking will be good for me. Add a run here and there and some elliptical. I really like the recumbant bike at the gym.
I think I need to look at this as being more fun.
You guys rock. I am going to start with a log on Monday and will keep everyone posted!
Just wanted to add that I use Daily Plate too - I have for so long now and I am currently too lazy to switch to a new tracker, lol, but I do also use Fit Day for fruits/veggies/meat and anything that doesn't have a label to get my calories in grams/oz. Most things on Daily Plate are in cups or sizes like "medium banana", so I always double check the entry in DP against my own data.
I just wanted to add that I weigh about the same as you and I'm finding I can no longer lose weight at 1400-1600 calories. I have to go a bit lower than 1400 and I also use the scale to weigh everything in grams. I use a BodyBugg to track my calorie burn and burn maybe 2000 calories on my most active days (lucky if this occurs once a week), less active days I'm burning 1500-1700 calories. I'm not saying this is true for you, of course, but it could be a factor. When I initially lost weight at a starting weight of 147 lbs. I was able to lose at 1600 calories and that was before I started weighing everything. With the lower weight that is no longer the case. It sucks...but it is so. And I am only 5' 7", so you are already pretty low weight for your height. That makes it harder.
Nothing really new to offer, but as a side note, with weighing and measuring to back up your logging you'll be able to hit your desired macros more easily. I tend to eat that way - same breakfast every day, then start filling in the macros that I need to get to he desired amount. Calories, by extension, fall into line too as I'm not having far too much of any one thing (be it fat, protein or carbs). Good luck and have fun with the scale. It gets to be second nature after a while.
__________________
Tom
No "happy hours" makes for a lot of miserable days. - Mahler
Thanks for your encouragement! I ma liking the scale! I had an average size chicken breast for dinner and it was 7 oz! Holy crap balls! Also, my Kashi GOLean is much more than 200 per 1 level cup. It was cool to also see what 2 cups of broccoli looks like!
So I totally agree that I was eating much more than I thought I was. I'm on day two and am shooting for a calorie deficit of 750 a day between exercise and calories in. Thanks, Kathy for relaying your story. I'm going to give this a try for about two weeks. I have some PMS bloat and I'm trying not to sweat that.
And Tom, you're right. It is much easier to hit my macros. I am not only keeping a total of everything that I eat, but I'm logging meals too. I keep a spreadsheet so I can get a good list of things to cook eay for lunch and dinner. I can just plug stuff in and create a menu. I just need to make sure I weigh to what I have logged for the menu.
Easy peasy. I'm off to go for a fast paced walk on the treadmill! I'll keep you guys posted!
This thread is such a great example of how simple it *can* be. Kudos to you, Vanessa, for jumping on the scale thing with curiousity and excitement. I think you'll see results quickly.
__________________ "My yoga class had me trembling and sweating and I feel MUCH better." - Fang
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenacious Training and Tweaking (the A lotta Alitteration thread)
Hey folks! Well, It's been two weeks since I got the scale. What an adventure. It was really exciting at first because I was learning so much. I was definitely eating more than I thought I was.
I made a few changes: I stopped doing HIIT. I liked it but I don't think it was working for me. I went back to doing steady state where I could better judge and approximate calorie deficit. I put my daily caloric intake at about 1400, weighing EVERYTHING! Do you know how long it takes to shell edamame so you can weight those buggers?
I started at 138.5 and this morning got on the scale at 135! I've lost 3 and a half pounds!! Wheeee! I am SO excited!
As I said before, all of my weight is in one area. I am SEEING a difference after just the 3.5 pounds. There is much more definition. I got my new swim suit I'm taking to Mexico in June and it doesn't look bad on already! I still have a few pounds to go but I am feeling REALLY motivated.
Cardio tonight was not running but housecleaning. Meh...
Hey folks! Well, It's been two weeks since I got the scale. What an adventure. It was really exciting at first because I was learning so much. I was definitely eating more than I thought I was.
I made a few changes: I stopped doing HIIT. I liked it but I don't think it was working for me. I went back to doing steady state where I could better judge and approximate calorie deficit. I put my daily caloric intake at about 1400, weighing EVERYTHING! Do you know how long it takes to shell edamame so you can weight those buggers?
I started at 138.5 and this morning got on the scale at 135! I've lost 3 and a half pounds!! Wheeee! I am SO excited!
As I said before, all of my weight is in one area. I am SEEING a difference after just the 3.5 pounds. There is much more definition. I got my new swim suit I'm taking to Mexico in June and it doesn't look bad on already! I still have a few pounds to go but I am feeling REALLY motivated.
Cardio tonight was not running but housecleaning. Meh...
Okay, I think that weighing my food has been a life changing experience! Seriously! I am considering getting a scale for the office kitchen. I will run to the grocery store to pick something up and say to myself, "no, can't get that. Can't weigh it..." It bugs the crap out of the deli girl when I order three separate packages of low fat turkey just so that I can have her weigh it so I can keep them in the fridge at work! But, hey, just as soon as she is done with her voodoo doll of me, she'll get over it.
Do you want to know how I am doing? It's been four weeks. I started at 138.5. Two weeks ago I was at 135. This morning I got on the scale at 133! That is 5.5 pounds in a little less than a month! It may not seem huge to another but this is my stubborn last ten pounds!
I change up my lifting routine every month so this month I just started movement based workouts and I LOVE them. I have found a lot of really cool new things to do and have thrown in tings I have not done in ages like push ups. Results are good. Even with the loss of 5.5 pounds, I feel like I am gaining a little in muscle. My back is getting rather huge. I have a swimmer's body for 8 years of competing...
Also, in measuring myself, I've lost about a half inch from my waist and a 1/4 inch from my hips. It's slow progress as my mid section is the last place I lose but a half inch is a half inch!!
No movement!
)
and I'm trying not to sweat that. 
Linear Mode
