I must be doing something wrong with regards to fat loss...?

[Deleted]

EDIT: A week later based on the replies, I have changed up my eating routine, see bottom on this page, what do people think of it now?
Long post in advance, but would appreciate any advice

I don't think that much at all has happened over the last 2-3 months of my fat loss in the stomach region, I thankfully lost my ridiculous love handles but there is just a 'bath ring' around the abdomen, I can see a 4 pack if I tense but that's it. Last May I weighed 116kg (18st 4lb) and by November 2014 I was down to 96kg due to running just about every other day for that 6 month period, there I wasn't eating as good as I could have but I definitely didn't eat terribly. (I'm 196cm tall, I do not know my body fat percentage but I've ordered a machine to measure that) I'm back up at 100kg after 6 weeks at the gym.

But since November I don't think much has happened, I seem to have hit a brick wall. I dropped one day of running a week and now have this schedule:

Monday: Gym for 1-2 hours
Tuesday: ~5km interval running
Wednesday: Free night
Thursday: Jiu Jitsu
Friday: Gym for 1-2 hours
Saturday: 5km as fast as I can run OR 10-20km endurance run. Lately only the former.
Sunday: Free Night

At the gym I do about 10 machines/apparatuses, they are as follows in roughly this order:

15 elevated situps x 3
15 Back extension x 3
12 Commandoes on both sides
15 shoulder press x 3
15 Weighted Rows x 3
15 Chest pull in (Pec press?) x 3
15 Tricep Press x 3
Bicep Curl as many as I physical can x 3
15 side situps holding a 15kg weight (not sure what the English equivalent is, 'sideboejninger' in Danish if it helps... it's another apparatus/incline where you fall sideways and pull yourself up.)

ALL OF THIS 2-3 TIMES, usually 2 as I'm usually knackered after my physical work day

Although the last month I changed it over so that my second 'round' was me putting on the heaviest weights that I could manage 6 reps with and do that 3 times instead, advice I got from a friend for building muscle, anyone who can clarify this?

I would definitely say that I eat healthily, but according to some guides, with how much I train I need about 3500 Calories a day to 'break even', the only thing that I could think is that I eat too little, but I don't feel hungry, this is pretty much a normal weekday for me:

-Muesli (Nuts and raisins) with water for breakfast at 0700, a smallish portion
-Apple or banana at around 0900 (this is probably every other day)
-2/3 slices of Rye Bread with Liver Pate and cucumber salad for lunch
-Dinner can be anything but I generally avoid fatty foods and carbs whilst sticking to protein but I could definitely still eat more protein, the most common meal I eat is grated courgette and carrots in a Bolognese sauce.
-Throughout the day I drink about 2l of water a day.

I NEVER (ok ONCE a month) eat candy, soda, chocolate or crisps/chips, I haven't bought any of that stuff in several months and I only eat it if my girlfriend has bought me it as a treat. I generally drink water or diluted juice or a glass of wine with dinner once or twice a week.

Could it be that I still don't eat well, even though I eat good I might be missing something vital anyway. It might even be I should have more focused gym days (stomach day f. ex) instead of just all round days

Thanks for reading if you're read it all and I appreciate all help. Thanks!

[Adamas102]

Keep it up and see if you've still plateaued in a couple more months. Unless you take a risk on a drastic diet, weight loss is more about commitment than month to month change. It does sound like you should be in a caloric deficit based on what you're eating, but I guess that really depends on portion size.

I will say that your diet seems heavy on the carbs and light on the protein. You got a problem with eggs in the mornings? Frying them is quick, but if you don't feel up to it early in the morning you can always hard boil a couple the night before. I don't like to be a hater, but pate is a terrible protein choice for lunch. Its fat to protein ratio is like 2:1. Compare it to something like canned tuna which is 1:32 fat to protein ratio, or turkey cold cuts at 1:10.

On another note, your friend is pointing you in the right direction with doing higher weight and fewer reps. I can't even remember the last time I did enough weight to do more than 10 reps outside of a warmup set. I'm usually in the 5-8 rep range, 4-5 sets. If you find that you're too sore after workouts like that, you'd probably do better to split your muscle groups between your two weekly gym days rather than doing full body twice a week. I'd recommend a push/pull split. Push day is chest press, overhead press, and triceps. Pull day is pullups (or pulldowns), rows, and biceps. The ab/core exercises can still be done on both days. I'd also say to add in legs to your lifting days but if you prefer to keep them fresh for running then that's up to you.

[Rooskie1993]

3500 calories? I don't think so mate, myfitnesspal says I need 2500 a day to lose 1 kilo a week with very active lifestyle, meaning you need to be on your feet all day lifting etc pretty much manual labourer which I am, so I have no idea what type of shit program you're using that's telling you to eat 3500 a day.

Atm it sounds like you're barely eating 1500, you need to eat more to lose, I know it sounds weird but it boosts your metabolism, as long as its not shitty foods you will lose weight easily.

your breakfast seems like a snack to me you should be eating more for breakfast as its your most important meal of the day ESPECIALLY when trying to lose weight. A cheat day a week is also not bad where you have 1 cheat meal, the last 2 weeks ive eaten a whole pizza once a week and still lost close to 1kg, I go to the gym 6-7 times a week and have a very physical job.

You seriously should just research more or go see a doctor/personal trainer to get a good diet/workout plan.

Also there's no such thing as "stomach day" you can't target your stomach fat it just comes off when it comes off.

[Deleted]

Also using my fitness pal... It was that that told me 3500, keep in mind my height and weight. But thanks guys for the answers, that's already helped a bit, i'll adjust my routine I just can't do much more about breakfast instead of eating a bigger portion, since I am awake at 0530 to start work at 0700, I eat breakfast at 0650 or at my first break at 0900.

[Rooskie1993]

I weight around the same weight as you do, i'm only a little bit shorter it really doesn't go off your height or atleast THAT much to add 1000 calories on, what job do you have? I have a 7am job as well but I don't eat breakfast until 9am which is can of tuna and basmati rice (2 serves comes in a microwave packet already so easy to prepare), depending on what you put your activity level is (not going off your gym schedule it goes off your work/life in general) and how much you want to lose per week it will tell you, if you want to lose 0.5kg a week it probably will say over 3000 because when you eat that much of course you wont be losing as much, there is a sweet spot I guess where you want to eat a lot but not too much that you won't be losing weight but enough that your metabolism is being boosted.

[Deleted]

I'm actually a part of a 'six pack challenge' in my group of friends, we're to have it for June, and we started in January all of us.

I'm a contractor/carpenter

[Rooskie1993]

3500 calories still seems way too much, you should probably see a personal trainer/nutritionist to help you.

[Deleted]

>3500 calories

Yeah that's what I'd bulk on if I were on my roid cycle.

Newsflash : every website/guide/whatever gives you retardedly high TDEE amounts, I wonder why?

[Deleted]

3500 cals is shitloads for cutting. You are not that big OP. Drop calories and you will lose weight.

[ActiveTroll]

Well, you haven't told us how many calories you are eating. For weight loss what you put in your mouth is pretty irrelevant compared to how much you put in your mouth.

A show like "The biggest loser" They eat about 1200 calories a day, and they do a LOT more exercise than you do.

You need to keep track of how many calories you are eating. Keep a daily diary, keep the daily amount consistent. Do more cardio that gets your heart rate in the sweet spot. You are incorporating too much weight training for your strategy. There is a reason a lot of body builders will cycle cutting and gaining periods. It's a lot easier to focus on muscle gain or weight loss one at a time. Your body doesn't distinguish very well between the types of energy it will burn when you work out. It burns both fat and muscle when you work out, so in order to gain muscle and lose fat (beyond your body's natural state) at the same time requires a very controlled environment, with specific weight lifting regimen involving perfect sleep cycle, sufficient diet to support this. Following a strict program exactly like p90x is the easiest way to try and gain muscle and lose fat at the same time. If you try to do it on your own without strict guide, you will fail.

If you don't want to do things so strict, then focus on losing weight first, Cut your calories to 1200 or 1500, and focus 100% on cardio 2 hours a day, 7 days a week with only a small amount of anaerobic mixed in (just to keep your muscles working) Once you have lost your fat, switch gears to with alternating weight lift and a smaller amount of cardio, and increase your calorie count to something more appropriate to gaining muscle for your size, like 2000-2500.

That's my advice.

Also, once you get to like 9-10% body fat, unless you want to be a skeleton, you will not be able to lose more fat without losing a lot of muscle. As you run out of fat, your body will use more and more muscle as energy. So to get to those 0-5% bodyfat where you have a ripping 6 pack, you will need to follow a strict program.

[melkesjokolade]

3500 calories are way too much wth... Im surprised you didnt gain weight.

[Deleted]

I don't EAT 3500 Calories, sorry I apparently didn't make that clear, I meant that the App said I had to eat 3500 to break even, I really think I eat more in the range of 2000-2500

[Farenor]

I don't EAT 3500 Calories, sorry I apparently didn't make that clear, I meant that the App said I had to eat 3500 to break even, I really think I eat more in the range of 2000-2500

don't think, measure

just Keep track of what you are eating and start eating with more "awareness" / Count calories
high Protein, low carb.

given your weight and height your base amount of calories burned each day is about 2.2 k (given that you don't move at all) you then multiply that number with your activity index :P Office Job and no / little work out is usually around 1.2
physical Jobs are around 1.6k (or Office Job + a lot of workout) which pretty much would bring you up to 3.500 calories a day.

if you want to build muscles while losing weight you should aim for a 500 calorie deficit a day. go lower and you might not lose weight / gain muscle at all.
but eating 3500 calories a day without carbs is pretty much impossible (can only be done with lots of fat - certain nuts for instance)
aim for at least 150 gramm of Protein a day.

if you just want to loose weight stop working out (or only light work Outs - to heavy activity with at low calories will give you headaches ), reduce callories to 500-1000 a day (just chicken/lean beef and some veggis)
go low carb as well (if you only eat meat buy the good stuff or get some Vitamin supplements)


in General carbs are bad for loosing weight, so start tracking what you eat (carbs hide in almost any Foods - even fruits and veggis)
carb make the Body produce Insulin which in return slows down the fat burning process

[Deleted]

I don't EAT 3500 Calories, sorry I apparently didn't make that clear, I meant that the App said I had to eat 3500 to break even, I really think I eat more in the range of 2000-2500

More cardio or less cals, less cals imo. One thing that is shown time and time by the human body is that it fights back good against cutting weight, but it can't win if you drop enough calories.

[Deleted]

So much bro-science in this thread

[Rooskie1993]

More cardio or less cals, less cals imo. One thing that is shown time and time by the human body is that it fights back good against cutting weight, but it can't win if you drop enough calories.

Less cals really depends on your lifestyle mainly your job really if he's got a really physical job where he's on his feet all day/lifting equipment around a factory etc he would be fine in the 2000 range of calories, doing 30 min of cardio 2-3 times a week with weight training and almost no carbs (definitely no carbs at night) will drop fat easy. Just find something that works for you really and stick to it for a few weeks/months then change it up to shock your body. See a personal trainer it REALLY helps I never knew how much it could help until I had a few sessions.

[Deleted]

As I wrote in OP I've changed up my eating routine slightly:

Breakfast at 0700 is porridge (oatmeal for americans?) with water and nothing else added, a fairly decent prtion in comparison to the tiny bowl of muesli I ate
Lunch I've changed to a homemade salad with spinach leaves, spring onions and tuna, will change it up every week with red pepper or perhaps avocado instead

[Adamas102]

As I wrote in OP I've changed up my eating routine slightly:

Breakfast at 0700 is porridge (oatmeal for americans?) with water and nothing else added, a fairly decent prtion in comparison to the tiny bowl of muesli I ate
Lunch I've changed to a homemade salad with spinach leaves, spring onions and tuna, will change it up every week with red pepper or perhaps avocado instead

Good changes. I'm still a big fan of eggs for breakfast, but porridge/oatmeal is also a good choice.

I do the tuna on spinach thing, too! Typically I'll mix four 5oz cans (2 chunk light and 2 albacore) with Dijon mustard, diced carrots celery and red onion, and a little bit of mayonnaise for consistency. Makes for a good 5-6 servings.

[Rotted]

Had a quick scan of what you wrote,

Your routine your doing a mix of losing weight / building muscle mass.

Simple rule to follow

If you want to bulk up, you do low reps high weight
If you want to lose weight / tonne up then high reps and low weights.

Remeber muscle weighs more than fat.

Now my own experience (keeping in mind ive only done this for a few weeks)

I've changed my diet completely, Ive dropped all meat except fish and a high carb diet. I have fish with pasta and salad two times a day, the pasta is a complex carb which takes long to break down which results in a steady energy release. However from dropping the meat, I don't get enough protein in, so in my training days I cook protein pancakes an hour before training sessions. It's more than enough to keep me going and I feel so much better the next morning (less aches) than I did before. I also only drink semi skimmed milk, like you, I've completely cut the shit out of my diet

Training days are

Monday - karate - 2 hours
Tuesday - gym - 1 hour
Wednesday's - off
Thursday - karate - 2+ hours
Friday - Karate - 2 hours
Saturday - gym - 1 hour
Sunday - off

Now Ive kept a food diary the last few weeks one night I hit 2k calories due to home made veg curry and tortilla wraps, the rest of the days I'm averting 1400, got tell you it's more than enough for me and I know your doing way more than me, but maybe I'd double check your 3.5k intake it seems a tad high

[Xenryusho]

Yogurt 15 min after every meal and probiotics (probiotics not entirely well backed, but prebiotics are, they sell pills with both). if you're not. Also unsweetened chocolate is very good for you. You're only hurting yourself. Wine is a good idea, I'd bring it to three times a week though. I don't see any soy in your diet (it's a much better form of protein than a lot of the stuff you listed), you work out enough, consider drinking some in the mornings mixed with some protein powder.

Bring the apple to everyday, grab a handful of nuts between lunch and dinner.

This obviously won't lower your calorie count but yogurt is great for digestion and having a small bit in between meals will keep your metabolism up throughout the day.

You're light on cardio overall, you have certain nights where you're burning a lot but others where you're doing little. I suggest finding a low impact form of cardio and doing that everyday. You'll be able to do a lot more in the same time frame.

Higher weight low reps works different fibers than low weight high reps, I'd suggest doing all of them. One day you can do a lower weight and a high number of reps, another you can do the other, and the third just go in between. If you only do high weight low rep you're only working fast glycolytic fibers.

So far as working out goes if you're hunched by the end of the night you should consider having ficodindia (idk what it's called in English). It's been shown to reduce swelling and reduces recovery time.