Reaching your goal weight + lifting

[Roosky]

Ok so background first, I've lost 20 kilos and still have about 10 or so kilos until I reach my goal weight. When I first started I only did cardio, a tiny bit of lifting, now I go to the gym 4-5 times a week do 30 mins or cardio (15 before to warm up, 15 before I leave the gym) and 1 hour of lifting on machines, on rest days I use dumbbells at home to do a home workout to get some exercise in. I eat really healthy, have stopped drinking as much soda only drink it once a day at dinner and already drink 4-5 bottles of water a day.

Now my concern is that in the last month my weight has hovered around the same number not moving much only by a few hundred grams, now is this because I've been lifting a lot more? I do notice a lot of changes though, so should I just not go off the scales are saying and keep doing what I'm doing, because again, I'm seeing changes. I never did take measurements when I started, I probably should've to be more accurate week to week.

Was kindof a rant but what do you think, keep doing what I'm doing even though the scales might not say I'm getting closer to my goal weight, as long as I see the changes I want when looking in the mirror I should keep going?

[Velaniz]

It's odd that your weight loss halted so abruptly. You didn't give any details of your daily caloric intake, macros, body fat levels, current weight/height, etc, so we can't know for sure what's going on. Be sure to measure all of those meticulously in the future. Get a simple but reliable digital weighing scale, a simple skin-fold caliper, a kitchen scale and a measuring cup or two. You can get all those for under twenty dollars, and they enable you to measure everything necessary.

as for why your weight loss stopped, it's possible you might have put on a fair amount of muscle in that month you started lifting, enough that it offset the fat you also happened to lose in that period. Despite what some meat-heads might tell you, this is very possible, and newbies to weight-lifting often have this happen to them. The degree to which it happens depends on many things, such as your starting weight and muscle mass. This would be consistent with why you apparently continue to see changes in the mirror, as well as strength gains, but the scale doesn't seem to change.

another possible explanation is that the prolonged period for which you were in a caloric deficit caused your base metabolism to significantly plummet, so you might be in need of a metabolic "reboot", as it were. This is probably not the case, though, or you wouldn't be making strength gains like you are.

[Roosky]

It's odd that your weight loss halted so abruptly. You didn't give any details of your daily caloric intake, macros, body fat levels, current weight/height, etc, so we can't know for sure what's going on. Be sure to measure all of those meticulously in the future. Get a simple but reliable digital weighing scale, a simple skin-fold caliper, a kitchen scale and a measuring cup or two. You can get all those for under twenty dollars, and they enable you to measure everything necessary.

as for why your weight loss stopped, it's possible you might have put on a fair amount of muscle in that month you started lifting, enough that it offset the fat you also happened to lose in that period. Despite what some meat-heads might tell you, this is very possible, and newbies to weight-lifting often have this happen to them. The degree to which it happens depends on many things, such as your starting weight and muscle mass. This would be consistent with why you apparently continue to see changes in the mirror, as well as strength gains, but the scale doesn't seem to change.

another possible explanation is that the prolonged period for which you were in a caloric deficit caused your base metabolism to significantly plummet, so you might be in need of a metabolic "reboot", as it were. This is probably not the case, though, or you wouldn't be making strength gains like you are.

I'm 20, 170cm, 107 kg, myfitnesspal says to eat 1550 calories a day for my lifestyle which is mainly sitting at the computer most of the day, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and when I don't I work out at home and have been starting to go for walks around my neighborhood which has a lot of big hills. My mum is a personal trainer and i've been doing this for 8 months, just in the last month or two i've started lifting and doing more weight exercises rather than just cardio. My diet has a lot of protein in it for example this is what I usually eat daily:

Breakfast - 1 Slice of Bacon, 2 Eggs, 2 Toast or 50grams of Cereal with Skim Milk, and usually have 250ml of milk or water to drink instead of juice that I use to drink.

Lunch - Salad every day that I actually like eating, Lettuce, Carrot, Grated Low fat cheese, Boiled Eggs, Ham or Chicken

Dinner - Usually whatever my parents cook, steak, sweet n sour chicken etc etc

Snacks - Ricecakes (Low fat ones), Fruit, Yoghurt, muesli bar

I drink a lot of water a day and have cut my diet soda (which is pepsi max has 0 calories, look it up if you want it's probably the best health wise soda) to just at dinner.

Now thankfully I have such a supportive family and my parents are also very healthy, don't know if you've heard of michelle bridges but most of the stuff they cook for dinner are her recipes from her 12 week body transformation challenge so basically my diet is fine.

I guess it probably is just me lifting more weights, my parents said I should've measured myself to get a more accurate idea of what I lost, since it's hard to tell when gaining muscle etc.

[Velaniz]

I'm 20, 170cm, 107 kg, myfitnesspal says to eat 1550 calories a day for my lifestyle which is mainly sitting at the computer most of the day, I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and when I don't I work out at home and have been starting to go for walks around my neighborhood which has a lot of big hills. My mum is a personal trainer and i've been doing this for 8 months, just in the last month or two i've started lifting and doing more weight exercises rather than just cardio. My diet has a lot of protein in it for example this is what I usually eat daily:

1550 calories a day is a frighteningly little amount, particularly for someone who does as much cardio/strength-training as you. Keep on doing what you currently are if it's showing you results, but if you hit another plateau further down the road, your daily caloric intake would be the first thing I'd take a look at. More than likely all you'd need is a metabolic reboot. Gradually increase your intake (in small increments, mind you; you don't wanna end up how you started off) until you're eating in the 2200-2500 range, sustain that for a few weeks, and then start reducing it significantly, by something like 200 calories every week until you're at a 500-600 daily caloric deficit just from your diet.

Your body might've calibrated its metabolism over the long period you've been cutting weight such that 1550kcal isn't that large a deficit anymore. Restore your metabolism by eating proper again, and then once things stabilize, cut calories until you're around that range again and you'll find yourself in a much larger deficit. Don't be afraid if it comes down to having to take two steps back. Odds are you'll likely take another twenty forward, and will know your body a little better for when similar quandaries present themselves in the future.

Breakfast - 1 Slice of Bacon, 2 Eggs, 2 Toast or 50grams of Cereal with Skim Milk, and usually have 250ml of milk or water to drink instead of juice that I use to drink.

Lunch - Salad every day that I actually like eating, Lettuce, Carrot, Grated Low fat cheese, Boiled Eggs, Ham or Chicken

Dinner - Usually whatever my parents cook, steak, sweet n sour chicken etc etc

Snacks - Ricecakes (Low fat ones), Fruit, Yoghurt, muesli bar

I drink a lot of water a day and have cut my diet soda (which is pepsi max has 0 calories, look it up if you want it's probably the best health wise soda) to just at dinner.

The specific quantities of macro-nutrients would be more useful. Ideally, you ought to weigh everything before putting it all into the cooking pan. You mention a lot of food you eat is cooked by your parents, so that might be a bit more difficult for you to do. Macro-nutrient monitoring is something you absolutely have to nail down pat if you want to get serious about your training.

- - - Updated - - -

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=150242583

^ Might help you some. Plenty of people in that thread have experienced the same problem as you.

[Roosky]

1550 calories a day is a frighteningly little amount, particularly for someone who does as much cardio/strength-training as you. Keep on doing what you currently are if it's showing you results, but if you hit another plateau further down the road, your daily caloric intake would be the first thing I'd take a look at. More than likely all you'd need is a metabolic reboot. Gradually increase your intake (in small increments, mind you; you don't wanna end up how you started off) until you're eating in the 2200-2500 range, sustain that for a few weeks, and then start reducing it significantly, by something like 200 calories every week until you're at a 500-600 daily caloric deficit just from your diet.

Your body might've calibrated its metabolism over the long period you've been cutting weight such that 1550kcal isn't that large a deficit anymore. Restore your metabolism by eating proper again, and then once things stabilize, cut calories until you're around that range again and you'll find yourself in a much larger deficit. Don't be afraid if it comes down to having to take two steps back. Odds are you'll likely take another twenty forward, and will know your body a little better for when similar quandaries present themselves in the future.



The specific quantities of macro-nutrients would be more useful. Ideally, you ought to weigh everything before putting it all into the cooking pan. You mention a lot of food you eat is cooked by your parents, so that might be a bit more difficult for you to do. Macro-nutrient monitoring is something you absolutely have to nail down pat if you want to get serious about your training.

Myfitnesspal says 1550 for my sorta liftstyle which is basically at the computer all day, and my parents only cook dinner and my mum is a personal trainer so everything they cook is healthy, I don't really see how I could eat more I already have trouble eating what I am now, it would feel like im just eating for the sake of eating if I went over that.

[Deleted]

it would feel like im just eating for the sake of eating if I went over that.

Welcome to the bulking club.

[Mongoose19]

You do lifting thus you gain muscles, not much but still they do weight more than fat. Thus the weight is stall. If you see changes in the mirror, that's all that counts.

[Kuniku]

Hitting plateaus is quite common, usually you just need to mix up what you're doing. I wouldn't suggest dropping any more calories, but perhaps change they way you're lifting. Swap to Super Sets or Pyramids or something to keep your body second guessing. I found when I plateaued, I stayed the same weight for 5-6 weeks, each week at that weight I was looking better and better, but the weight wasnt shifting, I was obviously just swapping fat for muscle, which is good, but didn't help with the weight goal. I threw in a bit more cardio, and changed to a lower weight and higher rep and before long dropped a bit more weight (then August happened and it all went wrong and I put half a stone back on due to having little to no control over my diet that month >__<)

My PT said that your nervous system often adapts to the wieghts quicker than the muscle does, so you quite often notice quick gains in what you're lifting when you start lifting, but then after a couple of weeks it starts to level off, because your body has gotten used to it, he said it was best to switch up the way you lift every 4-6 weeks, so do a 4-6 week super set program, then switch to a pyramid program then to a 5x5 program or whatever. Something similar could help you too.

While it is important to have a weight goal, when you plateau be sure to keep an eye on your body, and see what its doing, you may well find that while your weight isn't changing your appearance is, and often for the better!

If it weren't for trying to drop a weight category in Jujitsu, I wouldn't be fussed about my weight so much, more how I looked and felt - nobody wants a belly!

[Roosky]

Welcome to the bulking club.

I'm not bulking, read the thread.

[Grand Crusader Absalom]

Ok so background first, I've lost 20 kilos and still have about 10 or so kilos until I reach my goal weight. When I first started I only did cardio, a tiny bit of lifting, now I go to the gym 4-5 times a week do 30 mins or cardio (15 before to warm up, 15 before I leave the gym) and 1 hour of lifting on machines, on rest days I use dumbbells at home to do a home workout to get some exercise in. I eat really healthy, have stopped drinking as much soda only drink it once a day at dinner and already drink 4-5 bottles of water a day.

Now my concern is that in the last month my weight has hovered around the same number not moving much only by a few hundred grams, now is this because I've been lifting a lot more? I do notice a lot of changes though, so should I just not go off the scales are saying and keep doing what I'm doing, because again, I'm seeing changes. I never did take measurements when I started, I probably should've to be more accurate week to week.

Was kindof a rant but what do you think, keep doing what I'm doing even though the scales might not say I'm getting closer to my goal weight, as long as I see the changes I want when looking in the mirror I should keep going?

If you're not losing weight its cause you're saying too much. Recalculate your maintenance and eat under it.
You DIDN'T add muscle mass if that's what you're wondering why your weight loss has stalled.
If you're not losing on what you're eating for the next 3 weeks, then subtract more from your daily intake.
Your body can't outrun a deficit

Edit myfitnesspal is great for tracking calories - that's it.
Any program recommending you eat 1550 calories a day is just shit.
Your BMR is most likely higher than that.
I cut on 2600 rest days, 2900 on lifting days and still lose anywhere from.5-2.5lb a week.

[Deldavala]

You said you work out 4-5 Times a week. You are 20 years old, weigh 107kg spread across 170cm. According to the Mifflin-St Jeor formula you have a BMR at 2038 calories a day. You also have TDEE of 2891 Calories a day. If you have been "starving" yourself on 1550 calories a day its no wonder you hit a plateau.

As recommended earlier in the thread you should up your calories over the next weeks and then start to lower them bit by bit. Reach your macros(about 210g of proteins and 105g of fat a day) and dont go below your BMR.

Also I want to add that you should also measure your progress on waist, neck, thighs. Even if the weight stall you can make progress in those areas.

[Roosky]

You said you work out 4-5 Times a week. You are 20 years old, weigh 107kg spread across 170cm. According to the Mifflin-St Jeor formula you have a BMR at 2038 calories a day. You also have TDEE of 2891 Calories a day. If you have been "starving" yourself on 1550 calories a day its no wonder you hit a plateau.

As recommended earlier in the thread you should up your calories over the next weeks and then start to lower them bit by bit. Reach your macros(about 210g of proteins and 105g of fat a day) and dont go below your BMR.

Also I want to add that you should also measure your progress on waist, neck, thighs. Even if the weight stall you can make progress in those areas.

I dont starve myself sometimes its hard to reach that 1550, I guess I can add another meal like a wrap or 2 to add a few hundred calories

[Deldavala]

I dont starve myself sometimes its hard to reach that 1550, I guess I can add another meal like a wrap or 2 to add a few hundred calories

Anything under your BMR for a longer period of time is close to starvation. BMR is what your body needs when its in a coma, laying flat on a hospital bed with barely any pulse.

[IcedCoffeeee]

Don't track weight, just go by appearance and performance. You probably have newb-gains from starting lifting, and looking at pure weight wont reflect this. Not to mention that even something as simple as water retention can distort scale weight by huge amounts. Measurements are better, but the easiest method is just to try to progress on your lifts.

Side note: 1500 calories is pretty darn low. especially at over 100kg.

[Roosky]

Don't track weight, just go by appearance and performance. You probably have newb-gains from starting lifting, and looking at pure weight wont reflect this. Not to mention that even something as simple as water retention can distort scale weight by huge amounts. Measurements are better, but the easiest method is just to try to progress on your lifts.

Side note: 1500 calories is pretty darn low. especially at over 100kg.

I eat 1500 calories a day and i'm not trying to body build, I really dont see it being that low, I know people who starved themselves to lose weight and again it would feel like im just eating when im not hungry for no reason

[Twoddle]

I eat 1500 calories a day and i'm not trying to body build, I really dont see it being that low, I know people who starved themselves to lose weight and again it would feel like im just eating when im not hungry for no reason

Eat something every 2 hours like a handful of nuts, a plain yoghourt or a piece of fruit to fill in the gaps. You already mentioned snacks but I'll say it anyway.

[Deleted]

It would be easier if we saw your program. However, here is my input on the matter..

Lifting is more important than those cardio sessions. Increased muscle = increased metabolism... Heavy ass compounds for max CNS stress. Low rest time between sets to keep the pulse up. Max 6 reps (4x6 or 5x5 is good).. A program like stronglift 5X5 is awesome. I do weights 4 times a week, swim on rest day. Prowler work on weekends.

If you do cardio, do HIIT. My personal favourite is the prowler. But the treadmill can work as well.

The things I cut from my diet. Bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, alcohol... Don´t eat untill you are full, eat untill you are not hungry. This will ensure you are hungry every 3 hours. Eat lots of brown rice, chicken, tuna, turkey. And coconut. Coconut oil, coconut milk etc is awesome natural source of electrolytes. Try 1 spoon protein powder + 1 can coconut milk 45 min before workout. You muscles will be tingling to get started Every meal should contain a bit of everything (protein, carbs, fat etc)

I take whey protein about 2grams pr kg bodyweight pr day. Fishoil. Multi vitamin. Casein protein before bed.

Gone from 91kg to 74kg and 160kg deadlifts in 5 months. Visible abs too yay.

[Dtloweca]

It would be easier if we saw your program. However, here is my input on the matter..

Lifting is more important than those cardio sessions. Increased muscle = increased metabolism... Heavy ass compounds for max CNS stress. Low rest time between sets to keep the pulse up. Max 6 reps (4x6 or 5x5 is good).. A program like stronglift 5X5 is awesome. I do weights 4 times a week, swim on rest day. Prowler work on weekends.

If you do cardio, do HIIT. My personal favourite is the prowler. But the treadmill can work as well.

The things I cut from my diet. Bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, alcohol... Don´t eat untill you are full, eat untill you are not hungry. This will ensure you are hungry every 3 hours. Eat lots of brown rice, chicken, tuna, turkey. And coconut. Coconut oil, coconut milk etc is awesome natural source of electrolytes. Try 1 spoon protein powder + 1 can coconut milk 45 min before workout. You muscles will be tingling to get started Every meal should contain a bit of everything (protein, carbs, fat etc)

I take whey protein about 2grams pr kg bodyweight pr day. Fishoil. Multi vitamin. Casein protein before bed.

Gone from 91kg to 74kg and 160kg deadlifts in 5 months. Visible abs too yay.

This is great advice. More or less what I was going to say. Honestly I would say, unless you're competing for something, forget the goal weight. I focused on a weight/ how I looked for a year or so but idk I feel like I got more success eating till I wasn't hungry, not worrying about staying lean, and pushing myself as hard as I could everyday I trained. Gives you one main thing to worry about and thats if you went hard enough. Also another thing about using weight as a goal you may not look as big as you think at a certain weight and end up raising the goal. I'm around 195 at 6 feet and people think i'd look massive but I don't look as big because I have big legs and butt which is where a lot of my mass comes from.

TL;DR eat till you're not hungry and then some, go as hard as you can, and forget the goal weight and just take a good look at yourself in the mirror and judge yourself once a month.

[Adryal]

I wouldnt judge your true weight based off the scale. I used to be bigger too, I did cardio ate healthy and lifted weights as well. But every time i jumped on the scale there wasnt a big difference. Its really that you are gaining good weight from lifting and putting on muscle. now i dont even own a scale just because it discourages me too much. Keep doing what you are doing. You are doing everything right. You also have to know that doing everything you're doing your body is going to change eventually. We all plataue just keep going

[Deleted]

There's no way you're eating 1550 calories a day and not feeling hungry. At 107kg your body will be screaming at you if you only eat 1500 calories.

Heck if you take a look at myfitnesspal's bmr calculator it says roughly 2000 calories if doing no activities. You must have input incorrect data.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

This number also doesn't factor in the fact that you're not just sitting infront of the computer all day every day, since you mentioned going to the gym. If you goto the gym 4-5 a week you can multiple the bmr by 1.5-1.7.