What am I doing wrong?

ImDave

Hi All,

I have been going to the gym on average 5 days per week, doing mostly cardio with some weights but not a whole lot. I have been burning about 300 kcal on average. I have also reduced my calorie intake to circa 1400 per day aswell. I have been doing this now for about 4 weeks. In that 4 weeks, my weight dropped from 217lbs to 210lbs in the first 2 weeks, and then down to 207lbs. Now, I am back up to 208lbs. I don't look any better, and I'm not doing enough weights to be building a lot of muscle.

Anyone have any idea how to get back on track, I'm feeling very disheartened right now .

Thanks in advance

cowzerp

Your doing well, just do more weights and do cardio after-make sure your getting enough protein and not eating too much carbs..
ps, you wont build loads of muscle anyway-just tone the muscle you already have..

Malteaser!

EI-DAV wrote: »

Hi All,

I have been going to the gym on average 5 days per week, doing mostly cardio with some weights but not a whole lot. I have been burning about 300 kcal on average. I have also reduced my calorie intake to circa 1400 per day aswell. I have been doing this now for about 4 weeks. In that 4 weeks, my weight dropped from 217lbs to 210lbs in the first 2 weeks, and then down to 207lbs. Now, I am back up to 208lbs. I don't look any better, and I'm not doing enough weights to be building a lot of muscle.

Anyone have any idea how to get back on track, I'm feeling very disheartened right now .

Thanks in advance

If you're 208lbs and only taking in 1400 calories a day it's highly likely you're actually eating too little. There's a calorie calculator in one of the stickys which may be helpful to you.

What does an average day look like, food wise??

aye

EI-DAV wrote: »

I'm not doing enough weights to be building a lot of muscle.

Said it yourself.

why not split into 3 days weights and 2 days cardio.

get a good weight program from the instructor.
try incorporate compound movements instead of isolation ones.
bench press, rows, squats, deadlifts, military press, lat pulldown.
get someone to check your form.

builing muscle will lead to better fat loss as your metabolism will be raised for a period after exercising.

Dragan

You are seriously under eating there.

cowzerp

I agree with above but doubt your eating 1400kcals! otherwise you would defo be losing weight every week, maybe you've upped it without realising, you need a calorie deficit but not that much!

ImDave

cowzerp wrote: »

I agree with above but doubt your eating 1400kcals! otherwise you would defo be losing weight every week, maybe you've upped it without realising, you need a calorie deficit but not that much!

1400 does seem like very little, but that is what I am consuming on average. A typical day for me would be something like:

Breakfast: 1x Nutri-grain Bar 130kcal

Lunch: 1x Brown Bread Sandwich with no butter/mayo, one slice of ham with lettuice and tomatoe.

Tea: 1x Crackers with small amount of cheese, and usually a can of tuna.

I'd often have a bananna during the day, and drink loads of water.

rubadub

Read what you said again, in 4 weeks you have gone from 217 to 208. That is 9lb so an average of 2.25lb per week. The most you should be losing is recommended at 1-2lb a week, I aimed for, and lost, about 0.5lb per week. So I would be more worried that you are losing too much weight. Slower it comes off the more likely it is to stay off IMO, you do not screw with your metabolism as much.

You are worrying about 1lb here and there, a pint of water weighs more than 1lb. I can go into a pub and put on a half stone before going for a piss. Hydration levels can vary a lot, weigh yourself the on the same scales, at the same time, in the same "state" each time. Take photos and measurements, note how your clothes fit. Change is very gradual, it goes un-noticed to yourself, like a child growing up in your house that you see daily, compared to a friends kid who seems to have shot up overnight since you see them once a year.

You are probably undereating as said, so you will probably put on little or no muscle, hopefully just maintain what you have.

check out www.exrx.net for weights tips, and do it before your cardio in the gym.

Malteaser!

EI-DAV wrote: »

1400 does seem like very little, but that is what I am consuming on average. A typical day for me would be something like:

Breakfast: 1x Nutri-grain Bar 130kcal

Lunch: 1x Brown Bread Sandwich with no butter/mayo, one slice of ham with lettuice and tomatoe.

Tea: 1x Crackers with small amount of cheese, and usually a can of tuna.

I'd often have a bananna during the day, and drink loads of water.

You are without a doubt undereating!! Hanley (another poster here), is maybe a kilo or two heavier than you, but I know that he would eat more than all of that for breakfast, never mind the whole day yet he's still been loosing weight over the last few weeks!!

celestial

EI-DAV wrote: »

1400 does seem like very little, but that is what I am consuming on average. A typical day for me would be something like:

Breakfast: 1x Nutri-grain Bar 130kcal

Lunch: 1x Brown Bread Sandwich with no butter/mayo, one slice of ham with lettuice and tomatoe.

Tea: 1x Crackers with small amount of cheese, and usually a can of tuna.

I'd often have a bananna during the day, and drink loads of water.

Jaypers you must be starving!!! A cracker and a tin of tuna for tea?

You will see better results eating more of the right foods and keeping up the exercise.

Al_Fernz

EI-DAV wrote: »

1400 does seem like very little, but that is what I am consuming on average. A typical day for me would be something like:

Breakfast: 1x Nutri-grain Bar 130kcal

Lunch: 1x Brown Bread Sandwich with no butter/mayo, one slice of ham with lettuice and tomatoe.

Tea: 1x Crackers with small amount of cheese, and usually a can of tuna.

I'd often have a bananna during the day, and drink loads of water.

Eat more. Mal nourishing yourself like this is probably the reason why you're experiencing diminishing returns. Taking in such few cals means that your diet seriously lacks the correct macro and micro nutrients to function correctly.

ImDave

Thanks for the advice folks. I think I'll take a look at my diet again. What would be a good calorie intake for weight loss. About 2000 kcal?

pvt.joker

EI-DAV wrote: »

Breakfast: 1x Nutri-grain Bar 130kcal

Lunch: 1x Brown Bread Sandwich with no butter/mayo, one slice of ham with lettuice and tomatoe.

Tea: 1x Crackers with small amount of cheese, and usually a can of tuna.

Thats a fairly shocking diet tbh.

Very little protein, no vegetables almost, no fruit basically.
Read the nutrition sticky

There cant be anything over 1000calories in that diet

shels4ever

There are lots of calculators out there, You need to calculate your energy needs for the day and then if your want to reduce weight cut the calarie needs by 10 to 15 % .

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2005/12/26/how_to_calculate_your_daily_calorie_needs.php

I've been going through this for about the last 4-6 week and i'm about 1-2 lbs per week loss. Don't even notice it now at this stage.

I've a better link will post when i find it.