Having a hard time losing weight

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posted by Andre

Hi again

I posted once here a couple of months ago,followed your advice,and the results I got are even more astounding than I ever thought I could get, so I thank you all for the advice.

The thing is , I passed from 220 pounds to 177, I'm at 5'10 feet tall.
I gained quite the muscles, big chest,legs,arms and everything. The problem is tho, I was fat for a good part of my life, so now I still have this small belly who just wont seem to go away.

I've been following a diet for 2 months now and been jogging a whole hell lot ( cardio training, 20 minutes, faster than normal pace for 3 minutes, then 1 minutes of full sprint, going back to faster than normal for another three minutes, 3 to 5 times a week )

I've been doing alot of abs training as well, I can feel them being hard and all,but I still have this small stomach that gets on my nerves.

I've heard before from my old doctor that if you still have fat from when you where young,its incredibly hard to loose, is that true ?

and if no, is there a diet plan you guys recommend for someone who trains cardio and muscles ? ( muscle training 5 times a week , 1 to 2 hour sessions )

Thanks in advance for the advice

posted by cosmic-dust

I think you need to lower your calories, remember when you lose weight your RMR will decrease. Maybe the fat from being a kid will seem harder to lose because you were so used to that lifestyle? anyway good to hear your progress.

posted by canibalistic_js

Post your diet

posted by Andre

here's some examples of my diet plan

Day 1

Breakfast

1 cup shredded wheat
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 egg,scrambled on a nonstick pan
2 egg whites, scrambled with whole egg
1 and a half tbsp ground flaxseed
water
oil-free cooking spray

Lunch

2 slices whole-wheat bread
salad with 2 cups romaine lettuce, half a cup tomato, half a cup cucumber
1 nectarine
4 oz turkey
2 tbsp low-fat dressing

Dinner

1 sweet potato,baked
1 small multigrain roll
1 slice watermelon
1 cup cooked brocoli
5 oz salmon,grilled
8 kalamata olives
1 tsp butter

Pre-workout snack

10 peanuts
1 cup fat-free unsweetened yogurt
1 cup veggie sticks
water

Smoothie

1 cup fat-free milk
half a cup orange juice
half a cup pineapple
half a cup strawberries
2 tbsp honey
21 grams whey protein powder

Day 2

breakfast

1 whole-wheat english muffin
1 cup fat-free unsweetened yogurt
1 cup and a quarter fresh strawberries
1 egg,hard cooked
2 eggs,hard cooked (discard yolks)
1 and a half tbsp ground flaxseed
water

Lunch

2 slices whole-grain bread
Large salad with romaine lettuce,tomato,grilled eggplant,roasted red pepper
fat-free dressing
1 kiwi,sliced
4 oz skinless white-meat chicken,grilled with lime juice
1 tsp olive oil

dinner

1 cup cooked pasta
1 slice garlic bread
1 cup strawberries
1 cup ratatouille
salad with 1 cup lettuce
quarter of a cup of tomato and cucumber
5 oz lean ground beef
2 tbsp low-fat dressing
1 tsp butter

Pre-workout snack
1 tbsp almond butter
1 cup fat-free milk
1 cup veggie sticks
water

smoothie

1 cup fat-free milk
half a cup orange juice,strawbewrries and pineapples
2 tbsp honey
21 grams whey protein powder

thats an examples of the foods I get
Adding to that, I have a slow metabolism when it comes to weight

posted by estray

More frequent, smaller meals. thatll speed up your metabolism too.

posted by Enickma

First of all congrats on the fat loss.

I've found that at least in my case, the body is very good at adapting to and resisting whatever you're trying to do to it. You might benefit from switching things up a bit at this point. Have you thought about a ketogenic diet to take care of the rest of the fat loss you've got left? Those last few pounds can be tough to get rid of.

posted by Andre

Thanks !

As for the ketogenic diet, what is it and how does it work ?

posted by Enickma

You'll of course want to get out there and do some research on your own to put in the required due diligence, but basically ketosis is a metabolic state achieved through carb restriction whereby the body switches from it's standard mode of burning glucose broken down from carbohydrates or protein for fuel, in to a mode in which it breaks down and burns fat as it's base fuel. The fat being burned can be dietary or stored body fat. In this state, caloric deficits provide a greater degree of fat burning than they do in a glucose state. Ketosis also minimizes the amount of muscle loss in a caloric deficit. The major downside is that with no carbohydrates for your muscles to use as fuel it greatly inhibits the quality of your lifting IMO. Therefore most people doing a ketogenic diet that are concerned about muscle mass (myself included) do what's called a CKD or cyclical ketogenic diet. It involves a span of days in a ketogenic state followed by a shorter span of days of lifting and carb loading. Ketosis is not the only way to burn fat as you already know, and I usually don't recommend it for people just getting started, but if you've already lost a significant amount of bodyfat and know how to control your diet and exercise properly it could be a good short term solution as a way to switch things up and burn fat in a way that your body hasn't already adapted to. There can be medical concerns inolved with carb restriction, so make sure you spend alot of time learning and perhaps even talk to your doctor if you're considering it.

posted by howlowcanigo

This is the way to go when I was trying to ditch just a tiny bit of belly fat I cut my carbs way down to do it.

posted by p9d6

Go with Estray's advice... sure worked for me

posted by not_2_small

I just thought that i would throw out there, look into an Apex Body bugg. I think that they are pretty cool. They are the only device that measures actual calories burned. It is a little thing you wear on your arm that measures skin temperature, heat flux, motion, and your galvonic skin response. Then it uses crazy algorithims (sp?) to calculate how many calories you've burned. It is 92% accurate which is the most accurate system to date. you use that in conjunction with an online service. The online service part measures how many calories you've eaten. it has over 18,000 foods pre stored in a data base so you don't need to keep track of your calories, it does it for you. You just need to know how much of what you ate, which is easy. The data from the unit on your arm then gets put on the computer via wireless usb then it will give you your calorie surplus or deficet. It is all pretty cool. You also get like 2 training sessions with an apex fit pro over the phone to help customize your settings and develop a plan for you. The bugg is a genius, it makes meal suggestions and stuff to help you achieve your goals.
I would just like to say that i am in no way affiliated with Apex supplements or the body bugg, there is just a member at the gym i work at that has one. I think that it's a pretty good idea though. for more info on it i'm pretty sure you could google it and get to the apex website to find more information.

posted by Andre

I read about what you guys said and came upon a new training program for myself, mostly with the exercices I like doing the most.

Like I said, I’m at 5’11, 180 pounds, around 17 to 20 % body fat ( since I last checked ) and I have an incredibly slow metabolism ( I’ve always been big, used to be fat and it was very hard to loose, and it didn’t take long for muscles to start growing when I started training ) and I showed you part of my diet

So here’s the program I made for myself ( with a goal of being pretty strong, being ripped and cut is not my ultimate goal because I’m currently doing my second semester in police school, so being stronger than most people is my goal so I can easely control them for the exams I have coming , but if possible, I would like for the rest of my fat to go away and be cut in the process a bit )

I would start every day of the week with a 20 minutes of jogging ( 3 minutes fast pace, 1 minutes sprint and so on ) and one day of the week end with 45 minutes of faster than jogging pace.

Monday: Shoulders and legs

Lateral Elevation (deltoids ) 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Leg extension 3 sets of 10

Military shoulder press 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Calf raises 3 sets of 10

Front shoulder raises 3 sets of 10
Superset with
leg curls

Arnold shoulder presses 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Dumbbell squats 3 sets of 10

Abs: 1 big superset of
Medicine ball crunches
Twisting crunches
Raised-feet crunch
Leg raises

Superset is done 3 times

Tuesday: Pecs and biceps

Incline bench press 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Preacher curls 3 sets of 10

Bench press 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Bicep curls 3 sets of 10

Decline bench press 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Close-grip preacher curls 3 sets of 10

Flies 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Prison curls 3 sets of 10

Abs: 1 big superset of
Medicine ball crunches
Twisting crunches
Raised-feet crunch
Leg raises

Superset is done 3 times

Wednesday : Jogging, abs superset , and rest for most of the day

Thursday : back and triceps

T-bar row machine 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Triceps pulldown 3 sets of 10

Lats pulldown 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Single-hand triceps pulldown 3 sets of 10

Close-grip pulldown 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Skull crushers 3 sets of 10
Followed immediately
By close-grip bench press 3 sets of 10

Back extension 3 sets of 10
Superset with
Lifting weight behind head ( cant remember the name ) 3 sets of 10

Abs: 1 big superset of
Medicine ball crunches
Twisting crunches
Raised-feet crunch
Leg raises

Superset is done 3 times

I’d need help with Friday, see what parts would be the best to train.

On weekends, I’d do my legs once, and a bit of jogging and my abs

As for my diet, I’m not sure yet, going to see an expert for it later this week and I’ll write up an update

So how good would this whole thing be until now ?

posted by not_2_small

That seems pretty good... I think that you shouldn't be afraid to mix things up from week to week. You could substitute all different types of exercises for different muscle groups just to add some variety. Also, i couldn't help but see that 3 sets of 10 is kinda your theme, I would reccommend mixing up set rep ratios as well. I would mix in some 4x6 and 5x5, increase your wieght for fewer reps. This will also help with your strength. If your looking for hypertrophy, i would reccommend 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps. This will add some size to your muscles. Just remember the more lean mass your body has, the more calories it will burn on its own. Also, I would reccommed that you check out that body bugg in my other post.
Good luck

posted by canibalistic_js

Your not working out your arms at all? Your not working out everything enough but your overtraining your abs, more is not better here slim trim waist is what you want to present the illusion of a fit physique. Limit abs to 2-3 times a week but 3 times a week two weeks in a row is too much.

posted by illsniggles

working out your abs is only going to expand your waistline right now...

posted by Andre

Thanks for the advice, I'll calm down a bit with the abs and put in a bit more cardio

As for the arms,I forgot to put em in there, but I usually do the same reps/sets with biceps and triceps

I'll mix it up as well from time to time

so if I want a good mix of bulk/lean muscles, that program gonna be good ?

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