Weight loss help, getting frustrated.

[Toccs]

Hello all,

I've been working out using the StrongLifts 5x5 app for 4 months now 3 times a week, with running two miles, two days a week but i have run into a problem i didn't have when i was young.

I am gaining muscle mass loads but i'm gaining weight and can't shift this tummy fat, its really disheartening.
I'm currently 164cm tall at 66KG and 18.2% body fat, my target is 12-14%

My typical diet is:

Breakfast
Porridge

Lunch
Apple
Satsuma
Egg Mayo Sandwich

Dinner
Chicken with white rice

My Question - What am i doing wrong?

[Deleted]

https://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aam...t_usually_work

[Puupi]

Considering you have been working out for quite some time, your weight seems fine and body fat alright.... why are you only running 2 miles? That's like a 15 minute thing, 20ish for a fat slow jogger like myself.

Looks like you are eating very little though. But you are quite small so I don't know....

Basically the only thing that have even any calories in your diet are the sandwich and that chicken. With one sandwich, some chicken and rice I would be starving.

[Toccs]

Considering you have been working out for quite some time, your weight seems fine and body fat alright.... why are you only running 2 miles? That's like a 15 minute thing, 20ish for a fat slow jogger like myself.

Looks like you are eating very little though. But you are quite small so I don't know....

Basically the only thing that have even any calories in your diet are the sandwich and that chicken. With one sandwich, some chicken and rice I would be starving.

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah 2 miles but i am to do it faster each time, so increase the speed instead of the distance.

I don't spend my time being hungry, the meals seem to fill me up might be my size though, the dinner i have is around 800 calories, lunch around 600.

Literally the only fat on me is the stomach and i'm at a loss as to why its not going, it has to be the diet. I read that fat loss is as simple calculation of being in negative calories, but i don't know.

[Puupi]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah 2 miles but i am to do it faster each time, so increase the speed instead of the distance.

My running exercise is 3km speed run (trying to improve my time), then 2km slow jog and then walk home about 2km. The route that I take fits perfectly for this.

I don't spend my time being hungry, the meals seem to fill me up might be my size though, the dinner i have is around 800 calories, lunch around 600.

Okay fair enough.

Literally the only fat on me is the stomach and i'm at a loss as to why its not going, it has to be the diet. I read that fat loss is as simple calculation of being in negative calories, but i don't know.

Weight loss is a simple calculation of negative calories. But the weight doesn't necessarily come off fat - if you are losing weight, but not fat, it's your muscles that are burning.

[Deleted]

I applaud you for trying to stop be a fatso and becoming healthy again thumbs up!

[Deleted]

1. If you are actually gaining muscle mass loads, I wouldn't bother changing a thing. I'd love to be able to do that personally. If the gains stop and the weight isn't dropping, then you might wanna consider changing something.

2. Belly fat is notorious for being stubborn, and in most people it's the last to go. That's why so few people are sporting a sixpack. Don't get discouraged by this, and keep going. Fatloss in general is marathon type thing, not a sprint. Patience and determination are key.

3. Generally speaking, carbohydrates are the worst for weight loss, due to the fact that they spike up your insuline and prevent access to bodyfat storage. If you're intent on changing something in your diet, add more protein (meat, eggs) and healthy fat sources (eggs, avocados, olives...) and reduce your carb intake, especially fruits with high ammounts of sugar (almost all of them really).

4. It's also entirely possible your caloric intake is too high. No type of diet will help you loose fat if you eat too much. However, starving yourself is not a good idea, since it will lower your metabolism after some time. If you do decide to lower your intake, do so in small increments (-100cal max per week) and monitor your progess.

5. If at some point you're really fed up with everything else, consider giving ketogenic diet a go. It's pretty much universally considered the ultimate fatloss diet, but I mention it last since it's really not for everyone, due to its "extreme" nature.

[Zafire]

Your aerobic base goes up MUCH slower when you run anaerobically, which means someone who runs slower but just a little longer will be faster than you. You can look up plenty of articles about this if you want. https://philmaffetone.com/want-speed-slow-down/
Most people who train to be faster runners do most of their runs slow. Training fast isn't bad, of course, it should just be done much less.

Three miles at an easy pace burns a lot more calories (40%~ more) than running two miles at a hard pace, and will improve your aerobic system better.

[Deleted]

Hi, I personally think you should stop with the weights and focus more on cardio, cardio is the best thing to define your body. Run more, cycle or swim... But make sure you enjoy doing it!

[Toccs]

I applaud you for trying to stop be a fatso and becoming healthy again thumbs up!

Cheeky git! but thank you.

1. If you are actually gaining muscle mass loads...

Thanks for this its makes so much sense, i'll try easing off the fruit and cabs a bit and eating more protein. I'm 100% sure i'm not eating enough protein so i'll work on that.

Hi, I personally think ...

Good idea ill try that, i've got this zombie running app that makes it a little more fun i'll just extend its time.

Your aerobic base goes up MUCH slower when you run anaerobically...

That's a good point too i never knew that, i'll check the link thank you Zafire.

Going to book mark this thread as the replies so far have been amazing, thank you all for the help you have encouraged me to keep at it, persistence is key it seems.

[Shiny212]

Increase intensity or length of cardio exercise, and if bellyfat is what's bothering you, focus more on core exercises than weight lifts to tone your abs. Take care to minimize sugar intake, (citrus fruits or apples are great, but count as sugar here, stick to bananas or other dense fruit) as any at all can affect your more stubborn fat-reserves. With that amount of cardio, you may also not be burning your daily caloric intake properly. I suggest using a calculator online and making sure you always burn the calories of the day.

Keep it up! It's tough, but awesome when you see it paid off.

[P for Pancetta]

The only thing anyone* needs to lose weight is perseverance.

1) Stop eating carbs(sugar esp), just eat proteins and proteins, but just enough so you don't die, we're losing weight here not becoming arnie.
2) Buy a bike/shoes and start cycling/walking in any direction, do this until you feel like dying, now turn around and go home. do this every day.
3) after a month you will have lost all your weight.

[GiefEpixe]

I'd cut the rice in the evening—unless you're working out one or two hours after that late at night. If not, you really won't need those carbs, i.e. the energy to make it through the rest of the day.

Generally, as people pointed out before, the belly is the very last place in your body where you'll lose fat. It's being stored there first, consequently you're also going to lose it there last.

Not sure how your current schedule looks like but I can highly recommend doing those 2 miles right after each weight lifting session, i.e. when you're working out 3 days a week, do the cardio right after that on the same day. Your glycogen storage will be at a minimum after an intense lifting session, slap some cardio on your body right after that and the only option it has to sustain the workload is to feed off of your fat storage. Getting a good sweat going for 20-25 minutes is definitely enough.

Provided you're generally maintaining a calorie deficit, you'll certainly burn lots of fat with a schedule like that.

I always got great weight loss results that way. It's very demanding, though, especially for your legs when doing the 5x5, so make sure you're always getting enough energy into your body on workout days. Stick to a bowl of oatmeal combined with fruits and nuts in the morning and you should be fine. After the cardio, get some proteins into your body to keep muscle loss to a minimum.

Rest well on off days, definitely skip the oatmeal and stick to proteins mostly. Don't go heavy on carbs on days you don't need the energy.

[infinit]

drop the carbs, also measure your food, people almost always underestimate how many calories they eat.

eg. 1 cup of OJ is like 120 cal, 1 cup is small... so a 14oz glass is like 200+ cal just in a morning drink.

[Deleted]

80% of fat loss comes from what you are eating. I would double check the contents of your food. Some brands have some cheecky ingredients in their products to make them taste better.

[Hotmail]

What do you usually drink? An excess of sugar could easily send your body in the fat retention mode, in which case no amount of workout would solve your problem.

[Tennis]

Wait...why aren't you mixing up your diet a bit?

[DStrukt]

Do not listen to the guy who told you to stop the weights and focus on cardio only, cardio does not shape your body.. I hope this guy was trolling and not being serious.

- - - Updated - - -

Hello all,

I've been working out using the StrongLifts 5x5 app for 4 months now 3 times a week, with running two miles, two days a week but i have run into a problem i didn't have when i was young.

I am gaining muscle mass loads but i'm gaining weight and can't shift this tummy fat, its really disheartening.
I'm currently 164cm tall at 66KG and 18.2% body fat, my target is 12-14%

My typical diet is:

Breakfast
Porridge

Lunch
Apple
Satsuma
Egg Mayo Sandwich

Dinner
Chicken with white rice

My Question - What am i doing wrong?

Hi mate, a more direct response to you now.

Lots of things I want to mention really.. could turn into a long one.

Gaining muscle mass loads as you say, this is good. Gaining weight, thats expected if you are gaining muscle. Tummy fat, well.. lots of factors, let me give you a few guesses focusing only on this for now:

1. You say you are gaining muscle mass 'loads', yet this may not be lean muscle mass so you are adding fat also - Though this seems quite unlikely due to your diet, unless you are eating a whole pack of porridge and a whole pack of rice with a kilo of chicken... its not many calories to cause fat gain.
2. Time. Really does take time. You say 4 months, we cant see your stomach and cant judge how much stomach fat you have.. could be big could be very minor.. either way, often many people have stubborn fat that can be difficult to remove from the lower abdominal area, you need to sort your diet out to be absolutely spot on and be consistent with it.


You ask what you are doing wrong. I answer you with nothing, nothing at all.

I can give you some recommendations on what you could do better though:

1. Change your workout now. 4 Months of the same lifting routine is too long, its time to do something else. Currently I am having ago at the 'Power Muscle Burn' workouts, these can be found on bodybuilding.com and come in 3-5 day split versions. If this isnt for you, choose something else but you cant keep doing the same workout forever, your body becomes used to it and you should change workout every 6-8 weeks.

2. Cardio. Get rid of the jogging mate, no need. Do 10 minutes HIIT on your off days instead. On your off days with sore legs, do the traditional bodybuilders walk of death for 45 minutes - Very boring, not my cup of tea!!
(EDIT - This is only if you really feel the need to do cardio. I dont do any cardio nor do I focus on any ab only exercises (so no crunches, planks, sit ups here) yet my abs are popping through (Oh and certainly aint no skinny pack either)).

3. DIET!!!
OK as short as I can explain:
First go to: https://www.freedieting.com/tools/ca...calculator.htm
Work yours out, if you want rid of the tummy fat eat at a deficit. Not impossible to eat at a surplus, gain muscle and still lose tummy fat but lets keep things straight forward. Eat at a deficit OK. Example..Enter your stats it tells you your maintenance is 3000 calories, for a 500 deficit you need to eat 2500 calories every day OK.
Step 1 complete, You now know how many calories you need to eat.

Now you want to break these calories down into 3 catagories..... protein, fats, carbs..... Due to metabolic typing everybodys body is different, what works best for me might not work best for you..... however..... most people would agree that for the general fat loss tip, dropping carbs is the one to go for... so

This is what I want you to try:

Use a website like myfitnesspal.com, make an account, enter your own goals.. do not use the websites calorie goal it sets for you. Also do not add your exercise to this website either, use it only for food..... So set your calorie goal on myfitnesspal to whatever the website mentioned above tells you to aim for (the fat loss one)...
Now on myfitnesspal, on the same page as goals look at your macros... You want protein & fat high, carbs low. Atm I am using 45% Fat 35% protein and 20% carbs. This gives me 1gram protein per lb of my body weight, a high fat diet and low carbs.

Now everytime you eat, you must enter what you eat into myfitnesspal. Measurements do matter, such as the rice and porridge.. Its alot of carbs.. half a cup, a whole cup.. etc etc.. You will learn to better plan your meals eventually and learn to meet your macros/calories and so on

Ideally as an idea, change your diet to something like this.....

Breakfast:
3+ Egg Scrambled/Bacon/Spring Onion/Tomato/Spinach

Lunch:
2 Boiled egg/Tuna/Mayo mashed+mixed together with sweetcorn/red onion on lettuce/spinach

Dinner:
Chicken with Veg (& Sweet Potato or Rice if this is your postworkout meal)

If you only want to eat 3 times thats fine, but you may find you will need to tweak your portion sizes to meet your calories. Even knowing you want to lose weight, you may find you still need to eat a little more.
Also.. You didnt state when you workout, the meal which you eat after you workout is the meal you are best eating carbs with and not fat.

Anything I wasnt clear on just ask and I will try to explain better

Good luck mate and just keep going

[Deleted]

Hello all,

I've been working out using the StrongLifts 5x5 app for 4 months now 3 times a week, with running two miles, two days a week but i have run into a problem i didn't have when i was young.

I am gaining muscle mass loads but i'm gaining weight and can't shift this tummy fat, its really disheartening.
I'm currently 164cm tall at 66KG and 18.2% body fat, my target is 12-14%

My typical diet is:

Breakfast
Porridge

Lunch
Apple
Satsuma
Egg Mayo Sandwich

Dinner
Chicken with white rice

My Question - What am i doing wrong?

Are you eating enough protein and fats? 0.8g of protein per pound and 0.4-0.45g of fats. Fill the rest with carbs to keep you sane. Make sure you're in a slight deficit (200-500 kcal/day) and keep on working out hard. You'll get to the 12-14% if you're in a caloric deficit, work out to preserve muscle mass and eat at least your protein minimums (preferably more on a cut) to optimize protein synthesis.

Beyond that: don't overcomplicate everything. Make sure you hit your macros and micros, don't ban any macronutrient and don't go on a fad diet.

Since you say you're gaining muscle mass, it means you're in a caloric surplus, which will hamper your fat loss goals. You can't put on lean body mass in a deficit and similarly you can't reduce your fat levels in a surplus ( at best simply stabilize them and reduce your bf% by putting on more lean body mass).
Start by calculating your TDEE and stick to a certain caloric goal for a month before reassessing. If you're not losing weight, drop by another 100-200 calories per day until you start seeing the results you want.

[fcc]

You could also add some HIIT training to your day, I'll PM you the link so as not to be advertising, it's a free, 30 day HIIT program, shows you everything. I've been doing it on repeat for 2 months now.