Lost 5kg in a month - but still flabby

Zippidy

Hi all, first post in this forum.

I'm a 28 year old male, 169cm tall. I decided five weeks ago that I was quite overweight (not obese though) and that I needed to lose weight.

I was 82kg on 31 October and today, after a month of dramatic calorie reduction and daily cardio, I am down to 77kg. I have been drinking lots of milk, eating tuna, cereal, brown bread, peas and beans, and fruit. On most days since I started this lifestyle I'd eat about 1,000 calories, but I use about 450 daily with cardio too (my job is not an active one at all).

Now, I know that I am undereating, but I am having about 5 or six small meals per day and have cut out ALL junk. I'm in no danger of crashing. I'm enjoying feeling better.

I would like to be 70kg by February, which is what I reckon I should be.

Despite losing 5kg in a month I am still very flabby. Certainly people say i have lost weight from my face and stomach, but I still have a flabby stomach, love handles and, most annoyingly, moobs! These three things are all still very flabby and I think, having lost 5kg in a month, that were I to lose another 5kg and be 72kg (close to my goal), I would STILL be very flabby. I'm not talking tiny furls here; I'm talking ample flab.

Is it just a case of get down to 70kg and I'll be surprised that the flab is all gone, or am I doing something wrong?

RobAMerc

OP - I think what you are experiencing is common amoungst folk who lose weight through diet and cardio.
Short answer .. You need to hit the weights man. You'll need to build some muscle.
Check out the fitness forum for some tips/programs

siochain

RobAMerc wrote: »

OP - I think what you are experiencing is common amoungst folk who lose weight through diet and cardio.
Short answer .. You need to hit the weights man. You'll need to build some muscle.
Check out the fitness forum for some tips/programs

yeah as RobAMerc said, balance your training with weights and cardio, it could be existing muscle your loosing.

It would good to stick up your current training plan and detailed diet. My guess is your current 1,000 calorie per intake is not sustainable or healthy. Some groups are huge fans of long term calorie restriction diets for longevity but your really need to know your stuff on these diets to stay healthy.

metamorphosis

bottom line: you should not be eating only 1000 cals regardless of what type of food.good thing you stop now as long term it would just create a whole host of little probs that can easily be avoided now.you have no doubt lost muscle as part of that 5kg. read the stickies here and in the fitness forum.

From them you will work out your maintenance cals, 15% reduction from this numbers is sufficient for weight loss.

weight training - starting strength is one that a lot of posters here use.

then you can do your cardio after weights and rest on days in between

Frogdog

.

Zippidy

Thanks very much folks. I started this thread in Fitness too, as I didn't know which one was the most appropriate. The guys there say that of the 5kg I have lost so far, over half would actually be fat rather than muscle, but they concur that I certainly have lost muscle too. It explains a lot. I assumed the body would take fat first, but assumed wrong obviously! Like I said there, I will increase my calorie consumption significantly and try both weights and cardio.

Zippidy

Based on what I've learned here and in the fitness forum, I did some googling and found an interesting link that might interest people: http://www.weightlossforall.com/calculate-actual-fat-loss.htm

siochain

Best of luck Zippidy and bet sure and come back with the good news and results as you progress.

Zippidy

Thank you siochain. I'll post back in this thread at the end of January

Mellor

Frogdog wrote: »

OP, all I'm going to do is echo the above. From the information you've given us I would say that the majority, if not all, of that 5kg you lost was muscle, not fat. This is because of two things, in my opinion:

1. Your body is in "starvation mode" because you're eating way too few calories. It needs energy from somewhere to fuel your cardio training, and is cannibalising itself by eating into your muscle. It is holding onto your bodyfat, as it is expecting lean times ahead. Bodyfat is the body's last source of energy, and is reserved for bare survival.

2. You're not exercising your muscles (ie. lifting heavy weights), so they're not going to grow. You don't need as much muscle when doing cardio, so your body is clever enough to get rid of it first, leaving fat behind.

Frogdog, so much wrong with that post.
There is no way it is all muscle. Nobody can tell how much it was as we don't know his ration to begin with, lower start BF% would mean higher ratio of muscle wasted.
Body fat isn't the bodys last form of energy.
The body doesn't get rid of muscle before fat when doing cardio. Even think about this? Muscle help you preform at cardio, there is obviously an optimum power/weight ratio which varies but fat offers no benefit.
Your body isn't going to hold on to all your fat while dumping muscle.

Muscle catabolism is only a major isse for people who are cutting at low bf% levels, not guys who are reasonabably overweight

Frogdog

Mellor wrote: »

Frogdog, so much wrong with that post.
There is no way it is all muscle. Nobody can tell how much it was as we don't know his ration to begin with, lower start BF% would mean higher ratio of muscle wasted.
Body fat isn't the bodys last form of energy.
The body doesn't get rid of muscle before fat when doing cardio. Even think about this? Muscle help you preform at cardio, there is obviously an optimum power/weight ratio which varies but fat offers no benefit.
Your body isn't going to hold on to all your fat while dumping muscle.

Muscle catabolism is only a major isse for people who are cutting at low bf% levels, not guys who are reasonabably overweight

Oops, sorry for the dud information! Will delete my post and get back to reading more!

OP, forget what I said.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Your body needs energy and protein to constantly produce new cells. You cut your intake way too low and your body feasted on your muscle to get protein.

Have to be cruel to be kind - I think you're in a worse position than you were when you started.

Increase your calorie intake. Eat protein at every meal and lift weights.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Mellor wrote: »

Frogdog, so much wrong with that post.
There is no way it is all muscle. Nobody can tell how much it was as we don't know his ration to begin with, lower start BF% would mean higher ratio of muscle wasted.
Body fat isn't the bodys last form of energy.
The body doesn't get rid of muscle before fat when doing cardio. Even think about this? Muscle help you preform at cardio, there is obviously an optimum power/weight ratio which varies but fat offers no benefit.
Your body isn't going to hold on to all your fat while dumping muscle.

Muscle catabolism is only a major isse for people who are cutting at low bf% levels, not guys who are reasonabably overweight

It is true the that fat is not the last source of energy but look how drastically low his calorie intake was, though he was taking in enough carbs to avoid ketosis. Where could his body get protein for new cells other than his muscle?

fleet

Assuming average build, at that height, even 70kg is a little heavy if you want to lose the belly altogether.

I know because I started out where you were, kept lowering my target weight (75, 72.5, 70, 67.5 now 65) and even at 67.5 am still 20% body fat. I'm a little taller than you too.

That said you'll see massive differences in your shirt and pants size as you drop, and when you approach target you start seeing muscle definition you never knew you had.

Hit the weights a bit along with the cardio, and keep the cardio sessions short.

Ultimately it's down to energy in vs energy out, but how you do that can have a big impact on motivation and consequently results.

PS - also increase the ratio of protein in your diet, it'll cut cravings and help the muscles after weights.

Zippidy

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Your body needs energy and protein to constantly produce new cells. You cut your intake way too low and your body feasted on your muscle to get protein.

Have to be cruel to be kind - I think you're in a worse position than you were when you started.

Increase your calorie intake. Eat protein at every meal and lift weights.

Thanks. I don't regard your comments as cruel at all. More helpful. But I neither look nor feel like I'm in a worse position to be honest, though I am annoyed and disheartened by the muscle loss I have to say.

fleet wrote: »

Assuming average build, at that height, even 70kg is a little heavy if you want to lose the belly altogether.

I know because I started out where you were, kept lowering my target weight (75, 72.5, 70, 67.5 now 65) and even at 67.5 am still 20% body fat. I'm a little taller than you too.

That said you'll see massive differences in your shirt and pants size as you drop, and when you approach target you start seeing muscle definition you never knew you had.

Hit the weights a bit along with the cardio, and keep the cardio sessions short.

Ultimately it's down to energy in vs energy out, but how you do that can have a big impact on motivation and consequently results.

PS - also increase the ratio of protein in your diet, it'll cut cravings and help the muscles after weights.

Fleet - great post. How long did it take you to lose that fat?

I was 92kg in January but was down to 81 by mid-May. Then I stopped being careful and was 82kg by late October before I'm making a concerted effort now to get into good shape.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Zippidy wrote: »

Thanks. I don't regard your comments as cruel at all. More helpful. But I neither look nor feel like I'm in a worse position to be honest, though I am annoyed and disheartened by the muscle loss I have to say.

Actually I should have qualifed that a bit more. I said worse because what that kind of loss typically does is cause people to gain wait when they go back to their normal diet.

So long as you change your eating patterns you could still benefit.

Eat protein with every meal. work out how many calories you burn a day and eat 500 calories less than that - you'll lose a pound a week. That doesn't sound like much but you should enjoy the in between part. You'll steadily look better and better as time goes on. Do weights and your shape will improve(very quickly) and the belly wont be relevant.

Consistency is everything. Just avoid white bread/white pasta/white rice/sweets/cakes/biscuits etc and you'll see great results on that alone

Zippidy

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Actually I should have qualifed that a bit more. I said worse because what that kind of loss typically does is cause people to gain wait when they go back to their normal diet.

So long as you change your eating patterns you could still benefit.

Eat protein with every meal. work out how many calories you burn a day and eat 500 calories less than that - you'll lose a pound a week. That doesn't sound like much but you should enjoy the in between part. You'll steadily look better and better as time goes on. Do weights and your shape will improve(very quickly) and the belly wont be relevant.

Consistency is everything. Just avoid white bread/white pasta/white rice/sweets/cakes/biscuits etc and you'll see great results on that alone

That was a very encouraging post, thanks BoS!

Any recommendations for increasing my protein intake, bearing in mind I'm not a fan of eggs AT ALL, nor fish really either (bar some tuna or fish fingers). Would you recommend protein powder? Or should I just make it my business to eat more meat - say chicken, grilled rashers, Denny sliced ham, grilled sausages for example?

Bottle_of_Smoke

Zippidy wrote: »

That was a very encouraging post, thanks BoS!

Any recommendations for increasing my protein intake, bearing in mind I'm not a fan of eggs AT ALL, nor fish really either (bar some tuna or fish fingers). Would you recommend protein powder? Or should I just make it my business to eat more meat - say chicken, grilled rashers, Denny sliced ham, grilled sausages for example?

Sorry bout the late reply.

Chicken/turkey/tuna/beef is all great. Shame you don't like eggs but not to worry. I would recommend protein powder yes. Don't replace protein with it completely but for example I know a vegetarian who weight trains every day and gets most of his protein from shakes and he's in great shape. Milk in itself is a great source of protein - a litre of skimmed milk gives you 34g of protein(protein powder is just very concentrated milk less the fat)

Maybe have a shake with skimmed/semi skimmed milk for breakfast then have tuna for lunch and chicken for dinner. grilled rashers go for it but I wouldn't bother with sausages unless they're the fancy smoked european kind. And make sure you don't have bread with them unless it is wholemeal!

eat nuts as a snack and fruits like oranges/tomatoes. Green veg too.

Best of luck and it might be worth while recording a food diary on the subforum for motivation

Mr.Boots

Just wondering,
when you guys say" hit the weights" what do you mean?
Out side of a gym what are benificial exercises to do with free weights? (dumb bells)
Can anyone give me a link to exercises and maybe advice on what weights to buy?
cheers.

ps. i do a bit of cardio allready .

metamorphosis

exrx.net is a great resource. Look up the weight training section - it gives you video tutorials for resistance exercises for all types of equipment inc. bodyweight

If you are looking to get more serious into lifting down the line a properly strucured programme like 'Starting Strength' is a good idea.

Best exercises are compound exercises i.e exercises that use a lot of the body and do not just isolate

Deadlift, Squat, Lunges, Woodchopper, Military press, Bench Press

Zippidy

I'm back with an update. 71kg today, so I am down 1 stone since my first post in this thread. Big difference in my appearance!

I am lean all over now except for my chest and stomach area, but i am getting leaner here too. I can feel my muscles far more distinctly and i think i will be at 66kg by mid-April.

Bottle of smoke is right - i am enjoying the weight loss process. I am enjoying the compliments for instance, and my face is a lot slimmer. you all gave me great advice and i have taken it. still doing cardio, but also weights and my strength has increased a lot since december. All good

Zippidy

69.4kg today.

My target was originally 69kg. In the 10 stone range for the first time since 2000. I am going to revise my target now to 64kg, probably 63kg for the six-pack, which I'm working away on with weighted crunches.

Moobs are decreasing markedly, belly is but a shadow of its former self, and my face is thinner and i look much younger.

Getting lots of meat and veg and fats. Low carb intake, circa 100g or less per day.