a little advice (and maybe encouragement?) for the impatient needed please

[slavic_wonder]

Hello all. I'm a MH transplant, and this is my first post here. I have a question for everyone. If this has been asked a million times, I appoligize now.

First a little background.
I read the Abs Diet over Christmas break, and started on the first of January. I was in decent shape before I started, but not great shape. I want to get into great shape.
I'm in my 6th week of the diet/workout. I used to work out but have since switched to a circuit workout as called out in the book.
My routine consists of squats, bench, pulldowns, Arnold press, traps, tri's, bi's and abs on T/TH/Sa. On off days I practice Tae Kwon Do and get a pretty good HIIT type workout in there. If not, I go to the gym and do some sort of HIIT.
Since I have started I have lost a total of 17 lbs. and increased my weights by about 20% each. So I am making great progress. I have approximatley 11.5% BF measured by a BIA scale.
My question is this. I have not yet seen the abs. I still have a little bit of fat left on the lower belly. I can see upper abs definition and obliques starting to poke out. But I have been stuck this way for about a week and a half.
I realize I'm being impatient, but I dropped wieght so fast in teh first 4 weeks, and then seem to have hit a brick wall.
I have cut my calories by 500/day accorind to what I need to maintain.
I have heard of people plateauing, which is what I think I'm at right now, but was wondering if anyone had any advice or could shed some light. How long does it really take to get down to the 8-9%bf to really get cut? I'm so close, and don't know if I need to mix something up to help cross the finish line.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice would be apprecitated.
Thanks.

[][P3trarch]

Welcome first of all. It sounds like you have been eating right, thats important. You should give it time, eventually if you are consistent and dedicated enough, you'l see results. I believe that you are striving for a six pack am I right? if so then keep on doing what you are doing, then eventually change. Eat clean, exercise, rest, and give it time.

[youngliver]

You could try mixing it up a little. Maybe its time to change the workout. Or you might try raising your cals for a day or two to see if you can jumpstart the metabolism. You could also lower your cals by a couple hundred for a day or two.

All that being said. My best advice would be to be patient even though that might sound a little like a smart-ass answer. You've lost 17 lbs while adding 20% to your weights. That's great progress.

[wingsfan]

as Alwyn said in one of his newsletters:

Results=busting your ass in the gym + sound nutrtion + TIME

be patient. you'll get there.

[Rev]

Since you're asking for advice I'll give mine. Take your bf% down to around 6% and NAIL your abdominals with heavy weight. Train them for strength. You will always hit a brick wall when trying to achieve something in fitness most of the time. You just have to find your way around it. You need to find something to kick your metabolism in the ass again. Try fluctuating caloric intake a bit in either direction (i'd raise 250kcals first, it's worse to lose muscle then to accidently add a tiny bit of fat), try altering your macronutrient ratio (less carbs more fat, more carbs less fat), try various forms of HIIT with various frequencies. You'll find it man, I know it's frustrating but it just takes patience and experimentation. Don't let your body catch on to what you are doing. Good luck.

[slavic_wonder]

Thanks for all the advice.
I am about to mix my workout up, but have only been doing the circuit now for about 6 weeks. I was going to wait another couple of weeks and see if there is no change I'll then mix it up.

The gym part isn't the hard part, and neither is the diet really. The time is the one that has me. I know I will get there, but it is taking a little longer than I thought.

Thanks for all the advice guys.