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.
Background: I used to be a skinny triathlete and mountain bike racer. Now I am 47 and 25 lbs heavier than when I was in my peak triathlon condition and don't like the way it feels. I have tried lots of things over the past several years to lose some weight (fat), but none have worked.
- Trained for and ran a marathon. Didn't lose any weight.
- Trained for and completed a triathlon, working out like a madman. Didn't lose any weight.
- Made positive diet changes -- no more sodas, no more sugar in my coffee, fewer baked goods, eating more fruits and veggies, smaller portions. Didn't lose any weight.
- My wife suggested WeightWatchers online. I followed it and stayed well within my points limits, but didn't lose any weight.
- I tried the South Beach Diet. On Phase 1 I did lose about 4 lbs in 2 weeks, but when I went to Phase II the weight came back. The good thing was that it did reduce my cravings for sweets and carbs and I tried new foods and learned new ways to make healthy meals.
Now I am doing the NROL programs, completed FLI and FLII but my diet wasn't very good. 2 weeks ago I started a modified South Beach & clean eating diet and I am now doing NROL Strength I. I have actually gained a pound in the last 2 weeks (essentially no change). There is no noticeable change in muscle size or fat amount or fit of my clothes.
I am concentrating on eating more veggies. I have been preparing vegetables every night and eating a lot of salads for lunch. I also drink v8 juice during mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. I have also been eating a lot of lean protein -- eggs, skim milk, lowfat cheese, turkey, chicken, and I drink a protein shake after my weighlifting workouts.
I don't want to count calories or weigh food. For WeightWatchers I tracked and entered all my food portions, calories, fiber, etc., and I just hate doing that. I now just choose whole foods, avoiding sugar, carbs that aren't whole grain, fried foods, and processed foods.
Here is a typical day of eating for me. I am 5'7" and 165 lbs.
- Breakfast was some Kashi Go-Lean cereal with skim milk, and coffee
- Mid-morning I ate a boiled egg and drank some v8 juice (to get some vegetables in the morning)
- Did a Strength 1 workout during my lunch break.
- Lunch was a salad with lots of veggies, garbanzo beans, and fat-free Catalina dressing, and a Meso-tech protein shake
- Afternoon snack was a nectarine and some celery with hummus and some string cheese
- For dinner I sauteed some mixed vegetables in olive oil with some seasoning, and crumbled some cashews on top, and also had a moderate portion of roasted chicken.
- Before bed I had some decaf hot tea with agave nectar in it. I know the agave nectar is a sugar, but it satsfies my desire for dessert and it doesn't cause a blood sugar spike like honey or processed sugar. Besides, I've been sugar free otherwise.
Next week I will add in some more cardio. I haven't run or biked in a couple of months, and I plan to do NROL Strength 1 every other day and run or bike on the days in between.
Well, if you aren't losing weight, then you are eating too many calories. It all boils down to one simple equation: calories in vs calories out. So, you are eating in a caloric surplus or right at maintenance now. If you drop your calories by 500 a day, you will be on track to lose one pound a week.
Have you had a checkup and had your thryoid levels tested or been checked for insulin resistance? Unless you are eating way over your maintenance calories that increase is probably water. How much of these foods are you eating? Have you determined your mainteance calories? You could simply be overeating. I have thyroid issues so I sympathize with your frustration.
Have you determined your maintenance calories? You could simply be overeating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by missjane
Well, if you aren't losing weight, then you are eating too many calories. It all boils down to one simple equation: calories in vs calories out. So, you are eating in a caloric surplus or right at maintenance now. If you drop your calories by 500 a day, you will be on track to lose one pound a week.
I have found that the math of what WeightWatchers or any other recommendation of my maintenance calories is not accurate for ME. I had to drop my calories way below what I expected and immediately started losing weight. I didn't lose at 1500, 1400, 1300, or 1200. Now I am eating 900-1000cal and losing pretty nicely for the past 2-4 weeks. (fingers crossed for this week's weigh in). So, too bad news, but your calories may be too high for what your particular body needs.
What does it mean when you say "some" next to your food, like "some string cheese?"
What are your activities during the day other than your exercise? How sedentary a life do you have?
The other way to deal with this is with your daily burn. What many of us have learned here, is that the daily hour of exercise is nothing in the picture of what you burn during a day. I have a computer job and I sit at my laptop in the evening while I watch TV, and all those hours I burn the same amount as when I sleep. NOT very much, 60 cal per hour. I have a spike of energy burn when I prepare for work and commute in the a.m., another spike of energy when I commute home from work and am on my feet preparing dinner. I have seen this in a chart from this GowearFit armband monitor many of us have bought. But you don't need to buy it.
To lose more weight without dropping your food too low, or maybe even WITH dropping your food lower, you need to do more NEAT. Wash the car. Clean your basement. Clean your garage. Do some yardwork. Plant fall bulbs in your garden. Clean the bathroom. Go for a hike. Walk 30-60min more every day. Go shopping. Go shopping with your wife. You'd fall off your seat to learn that walking around in the mall for 3 hours burns much more calories than 1 hour in the gym.
NEAT is non-exercise general moving around during the day.
It's usually simple, more calories burned, less calories eaten.
I resisted this for years, thinking 1200 calories should do it for me; I "shouldn't have to" go lower than that.
Thanks for the replies. I realize that if I'm not losing weight and eating healthy foods, then I am probably taking in too many calories. However, I was pretty much maintaining weight before I started eliminating calorie-dense foods like sugar, baked goods, and fried foods, so it seems like I should be at a deficit now. I have also reduced portion sizes.
When I say "some" string cheese, I mean one stick of low-fat mozzarella.
I am pretty active in general. I have a desk job, usually in front of a computer, but at home I almost never sit still. I rarely watch TV. I do lots of house projects and yard work and such. I always take stairs instead of an elevator. Stuff like that. I just moved into a new house, so I have been doing a lot of lifting boxes, moving furniture, and other house projects. I also have a 2-year old boy, and he keeps me moving too, plus picking him up and carrying him is work. When I take him to a playground I chase him around and I swing on the monkey bars and sometimes even do some split squats and pushups while he plays.
I guess I just need to eat less, but I don't want to do an extreme diet that I won't be able to maintain in the long term, and I want to make sure that I'm eating enough to recover from my strength workouts and to continue to gain some strength (or at least not lose it).
From reading your initial post, it appears that you have doing a modified South Beach diet for 2 weeks. My initial response to this is that anything you do, you have to give a good month to see anything happen. If you are truly sticking to what you're logging, then if there is no loss by one month of following this diet, then I would re-think it or (gasp) count some calories.
I'm not a counter either, but every once in a while I will log stuff and be meticulous for a few days or a week. It is always an eye-opening experience and I will say "wow, I didn't realize that had so many calories." Then I am good to go and don't have to be as anal. But at some point you will need to look carefully at the calories, figure approximately what you need to take in. It can't be escaped if you can't get results from not counting.
You may need to re-think your endurance exercise and emphasize the weights; don't forget pictures and measurements 'cause there may be things going on that you can't even see. If you don't measure it to begin with, it's pretty hard to identify progress.
You may need to re-think your endurance exercise and emphasize the weights; don't forget pictures and measurements 'cause there may be things going on that you can't even see. If you don't measure it to begin with, it's pretty hard to identify progress.
I have been emphasizing the weights. Today was actually the first day I've run in 2 months, and I haven't been on the bike for 2 months or in the pool since March. Part of that was due to being very busy selling and buying a house, so my limited exercise time was spent doing the NROL workouts.
However, it would seem that adding some cardio to the weightlifting should help burn fat. HIIT immediately after the weightlifting is probably ideal, but I'm not sure I can fit it in during my lunchtime workouts. I also need to build a running base again before I start hard intervals so that I don't get injured, so I plan to run a couple of times a week and bike once or twice a week between the NROL days.
And that's a good point about measuring. I'm currently going by weight and how my clothes fit, and there seems to be no change there. My muscles don't seem to be any bigger but they do seem to be more solid or more dense, if that makes sense, so it is possible that I've gained some lean mass. I need to start measuring and tracking body fat.
If you burn intramuscular fat it can make your muscles appear more "dense".
While doing something like Intervals might give you some burn for the time you are doing them (and perhaps a small boost for the next few hours) you have to consider what the other costs might be.
One individual might be fine. Another might slow down the rest of the day (or the next) - e.g. make less trips upstairs, cut the dogs walk from 30 mins to 15 mins, veg in front of the TV instead of doing a project in the garage. Another person might eat just a little bigger portion of dinner and have a nighttime snack when none was planned -- all done without being aware of it but it could be enough to offset anything gained caloriewise from the intervals.
Not that intervals are not great for conditioning - but the plan to burn off some more calories with them can backfire in those two ways. You don't really burn as much as you think you do and you can easily offset it without realizing it. It is almost easier to control if you eat 300 calories less rather than try to burn 300 more with intervals.
On the other hand, adding something like a long walk for an hour might burn the same as 20 minutes of intervals will later - but without the dead-tired or over-hungry consequences.
Frustrated & not losing fat
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