Plateau or doing something wrong??

Netanya

So I used to be fairly fit but became ill for a while and had to stop running etc. In the last 6 months I've gotten better and have recently been given the medical all clear to work out to my hearts content. I had also let my diet go and my weight crept up.

So ten weeks ago these were my stats:
68kg, 38% muscle, 26% body fat

I'm 5" 5' and female.

I re adjusted my diet to between 1200 and 1400 kcals daily and ensure I get most if not all these in a 50% carb, 25% protein, 25% fat split with healthy foods a must. No chocolate or sweets at all for the most part. I only drink camomile and green tea with the rest of my daily water comprising of 2-3 litres with a dash of lemon.

My workout routine has changed over the last ten weeks in that I have increased pace and intensity but for the most part my week looks like this;

3 times per week I do yoga
1 time per week I climb
3 times a week I go to the gym and do a 20 minute run at a 10km/h pace, a ten minute cycle (fairly intense with hill climbing), a ten minute row covering 2-3km and some strength training including ab crunches, bicep curls etc.
And
Once a week I usually do something different ie go for a hike, 10k walk etc.

About 4 weeks ago I hit a plateau and my measurements haven't shifted since. Be they chest/waist/hips or weight. And I don't know what to do to get the body fat lowering again.

My stats now:
63.5kg, 38% muscle, and 24.5% body fat.

At my peak fitness a few years ago I had the following stats:
58Kg, 40% muscle and 20% body fat.

I know I can be smaller and more toned but my body has just stopped cooperating. Can anyone suggest something to break this plateau?

thehamo

Netanya wrote: »

So I used to be fairly fit but became ill for a while and had to stop running etc. In the last 6 months I've gotten better and have recently been given the medical all clear to work out to my hearts content. I had also let my diet go and my weight crept up.

So ten weeks ago these were my stats:
68kg, 38% muscle, 26% body fat

I'm 5" 5' and female.

I re adjusted my diet to between 1200 and 1400 kcals daily and ensure I get most if not all these in a 50% carb, 25% protein, 25% fat split with healthy foods a must. No chocolate or sweets at all for the most part. I only drink camomile and green tea with the rest of my daily water comprising of 2-3 litres with a dash of lemon.

My workout routine has changed over the last ten weeks in that I have increased pace and intensity but for the most part my week looks like this;

3 times per week I do yoga
1 time per week I climb
3 times a week I go to the gym and do a 20 minute run at a 10km/h pace, a ten minute cycle (fairly intense with hill climbing), a ten minute row covering 2-3km and some strength training including ab crunches, bicep curls etc.
And
Once a week I usually do something different ie go for a hike, 10k walk etc.

About 4 weeks ago I hit a plateau and my measurements haven't shifted since. Be they chest/waist/hips or weight. And I don't know what to do to get the body fat lowering again.

My stats now:
63.5kg, 38% muscle, and 24.5% body fat.

At my peak fitness a few years ago I had the following stats:
58Kg, 40% muscle and 20% body fat.

I know I can be smaller and more toned but my body has just stopped cooperating. Can anyone suggest something to break this plateau?

Could very well be a diet issue. Post up a typical days diet.

50% carbs could be the problem. What is the actual carb source?

Netanya

Typical day: multivitamin with iron

Breakfast: 2 eggs scrambled + 2 bacon medallions (27kcals each) or 2 slices wholegrain toast with marmite no butter or flora

Lunch: chicken salad of: 2-3 ozs chicken, half a cup of lettuce, a few slices of red onion, 20g of sweetcorn and half a sliced bell pepper. I don't like dressings of any kind.
Or vegetable soup/homemade potato and leek soup.

Dinner: 3-4oz's of lean mince/chicken/fish with wholewheat pasta/brown rice and usually a tomato based sauce or no sauce at all.

Snacks:
A banana or apple or weight portion of grapes
A carrot raw
And sometimes a harvest morn breakfast bar if I've been climbing and need a quick bite before I drive home to make dinner.

Edit: I also would have maybe two glasses of wine once every two weeks on a Saturday night. But it's a rare occurrence that I would drink.

n1ck

Just out of curiosity, how does one work out their percentage of muscle mass?

Netanya

n1ck wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, how does one work out their percentage of muscle mass?

I have a very good biometric scale but I also use body measurements and calliper pinch test.

UL_heart_throb

Netanya wrote: »

My workout routine has changed over the last ten weeks in that I have increased pace and intensity but for the most part my week looks like this;

3 times per week I do yoga
1 time per week I climb
3 times a week I go to the gym and do a 20 minute run at a 10km/h pace, a ten minute cycle (fairly intense with hill climbing), a ten minute row covering 2-3km and some strength training including ab crunches, bicep curls etc.
And
Once a week I usually do something different ie go for a hike, 10k walk etc.

About 4 weeks ago I hit a plateau and my measurements haven't shifted since. Be they chest/waist/hips or weight. And I don't know what to do to get the body fat lowering again. ?

Congratulations getting back to good health. You're doing a lot of activity and you're saying you're increasing the intensity and pace, but can I just query what this actually means.

What kind of yoga are you doing. Are you really finding it tough? I have a suspicion you're well able for the yoga and it no longer is source of expenditure it once. I could be wrong here now.

And the climbing? If i did a climbing session i'd be destroyed and I'd need the week off but is this something you can handle fairly easily fitness wise?

Again, the cycling, running and rowing, I really wonder if you're getting outside your comfort zone. Not calling you a slacker by any means, you do a hell a lot of work, I am just wondering if you're doing a lot of steady-state stuff and not a lot of high intensity.

Definitely sounds like your strength/resistance routine could go up a few notches. Would you consider swapping the bicep curls and crunches for getting underneath a heavy bar for some squats?

Netanya

That is a pretty fair question heartthrob.

I do Hatha yoga but I'm in a beginners class and as someone that's doing yoga two years the class isn't as challenging as it could be. The teacher is well aware that I'm capable of more and has no problem with me doing pose modifications or giving me extra things to do. It's the only class I can go to atm so it's not going to change.

In terms of climbing I am usually destroyed the day after but I work it out with yoga and maybe a little bit of extra cardio the next day.

My workouts in the gym could probably stand to be more intense I suppose. I could change to HIITS for a few weeks and step it up. A friend of mine started me doing squats under a bar the other day. I will say it gets you funny f-ing looks from the rest of the men in the gym.

Overall you might be right I'm not working as hard as I could be....nice to think I might be fitter than I thought, annoying that I haven't been pushing myself for the burn if I'm honest.

thehamo

Diet seems pretty solid though perhaps you could try cutting down the carb ratio and increasing fats and protein? Could help break through the plateau. Try dropping the bread and the pasta for 2 weeks and increasing good fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, avacado etc and ramp up the protein intake.

Have u been counting calories properly also? Work out your daily kcal needs and work from there

Netanya

I've been using my fitness pal app to count my kcal's and stick to my daily intake. The barcode scanner makes in nigh on impossible for me to not be extremely close to what I'm actually consuming, I would even predict I might be slightly lower at times as opposed to over my intake.

Edit: I also use olive oil when cooking my pasta etc. but find eating anything with an oil on it extremely difficult as I don't enjoy salad dressings. It makes me nauseous to eat anything with even a small amount of oil on it.

I suppose if I started making fruit smoothies I could add flax seed oil to them as that is supposed to be pretty flavourless and not that heavy.

thehamo

Netanya wrote: »

I've been using my fitness pal app to count my kcal's and stick to my daily intake. The barcode scanner makes in nigh on impossible for me to not be extremely close to what I'm actually consuming, I would even predict I might be slightly lower at times as opposed to over my intake.

Edit: I also use olive oil when cooking my pasta etc. but find eating anything with an oil on it extremely difficult as I don't enjoy salad dressings. It makes me nauseous to eat anything with even a small amount of oil on it.

I suppose if I started making fruit smoothies I could add flax seed oil to them as that is supposed to be pretty flavourless and not that heavy.

How many calories are you eating? Have u calculated your basic calorie needs? I ask this because I use mfp also and it tells me to eat 1500 cal a day yet that's at least 1000 under what I should be.

There are other sources of fats. Avacado for example, very versatile and chocked full of the good stuff. Coconut milk is also a great source.

Problem with the fruit smoothies, although super healthy, is they are packed full of sugar (fructose) which can be detrimental when loosing body fat.

Here's what I would suggest for a couple of weeks but it's purely only a suggestion as I am in no means qualified!

50% protein 30% fat and 20% carbs.

Drop the rice pasta and bread. Mound your plate to the hilt with veg of all sorts ( preferably leafy greens, broccoli etc)

Drop the harvest bar thingie,eat some nuts instead to tide u over to get a decent meal.

Save your banana til after your workouts, will help restore glycogen levels.

Add some form of resistance training in the gym. Start lifting stuff, start pushing stuff , start pulling stuff. It doesn't have to be super heavy your not trying to be a body builder or power lifter! Try some HIIT sessions as mentioned.

Track your progress and perhaps consider getting your body measurements taken by a proper professional. Always good to get another opinion.

zoobizoo

You won't lose much if any weight through hatha yoga.

I used to do between 3-5 hours of yoga a day (Iyengar) and it never affected my weight. Yoga is stretching and strengthening mainly - not designed for losing weight.

Unless you're doing Bikram (hot) yoga, you won't be seeing much loss.

UL_heart_throb

Netanya wrote: »

That is a pretty fair question heartthrob.

I do Hatha yoga but I'm in a beginners class and as someone that's doing yoga two years the class isn't as challenging as it could be. The teacher is well aware that I'm capable of more and has no problem with me doing pose modifications or giving me extra things to do. It's the only class I can go to atm so it's not going to change.

In terms of climbing I am usually destroyed the day after but I work it out with yoga and maybe a little bit of extra cardio the next day.

My workouts in the gym could probably stand to be more intense I suppose. I could change to HIITS for a few weeks and step it up. A friend of mine started me doing squats under a bar the other day. I will say it gets you funny f-ing looks from the rest of the men in the gym.

Overall you might be right I'm not working as hard as I could be....nice to think I might be fitter than I thought, annoying that I haven't been pushing myself for the burn if I'm honest.

Well look at the positives first. You're obviously gotten fitter, improved balance and coordination, making progress with you goal of healthy heart and lungs, probably improved flexibility and grip strength. You're doing a lot of good things for yourself in the long run.

You body weight now, ceteris paribus puts you at normal weight on the BMI scale. I know you have some goals of getting lighter and less body fat but just remind yourself you are at a healthy weight currently. I hope I don't sound glib and I know it's not very likely, but if you really think you're not shifting the weight make sure you're not pregnant.

I don't think you need to radicalise your diet to 50% protein, unless I am making some massive mistake in my head, but someone like you who isn't a strength athlete or trying to put on mass does not need to get 50% of her calories from protein.

I'm sure your diet can be tweaked but I'd like to see how you progress if you do switch to some HIIT style training and incorporate more squats. let us now how you get on either way.

Babybuff

If it's not too personal what age are you op? (I only ask because it takes more effort in my thirties than it did when I was in my twenties)
Your diet looks meagre in comparison to your workouts, I'd be starving if I was doing that much and eating so little. I'd also knock out some of the carbs and replace with protein, eliminating the bread at breakfast would be easier than taking from your main meal, just keep the pasta/rice portions smaller and load up on veggies and meat/fish/chicken.
You could replace the grain bar with your own protein bar (plenty of recipes online) and it would also be a way of getting some good fats in too.
Instead of a fruit smoothy you could try some greek/natural yoghurt with a few berries and a drizzle of maple syrup, or maybe some cottage cheese on some oatcakes, you'd get more protein with these options and will make sure you don't go too hungry.
Maybe you could throw some eggs into the mix too for lunch? An omelette with some fresh peppers/veggie of your choice would tide you over til dinner and keep you fuller for longer. Best of luck though, sounds fairly full on to me.

Mellor

Netanya wrote: »

I have a very good biometric scale but I also use body measurements and calliper pinch test.

Those testing scales aren't hugely accurate. The fat may be roughly right. But I wouldn't put much weight in the muscle mass number.

38% muscle, and 24.5% body fat. There's 37.5% not accounted for here. Do the scale says this is water? or does it label it

The problem is that muscle is mostly water anyway. Then you have your organs, that are various tissues, non-skeletal muscle and more water. and then bone.
A scale trying to separate skeletal muscle and the water is contains from the rest has just too high a variation.

Just go with the body fat % and treat the rest as a whole as fat-free mass. Your skeleton nad organs are going to be somewhat uniform over time so changes to fat free mass (in kg not %) are almost all muscle increases.

Netanya

Thanks for the replies everyone. Working off a phone to reply and in this medium multiple quotes seem like a black art to me so I'll just answer questions without quoting. Sorry about that.

I'm 25, getting married in November and really want to be back to my peak before then.

I'm not using yoga as a form of workout persay but more as a reliever of muscle tension and to maintain flexibility/prevent injuries in my other workouts.

I'm not pregnant, thankfully.

I've started to eat a lot more in the way of eggs the last couple of weeks. And it's actually making a difference to my staying power in workouts which I did not expect. But I'm going to reduce my carb intake a good bit.

I think the HIITS might really make the difference to the weightloss as since starting I've noticed I actually sweat during workouts which I wasn't doing before.

I'll weigh myself next week and post if the changes have made a difference.

Clearlier

Your cardio amounts to 2 hrs per week (+ climbing and walk) - in addition your running at least is at an easy level for a fit female.

There are two ways to increase your training load - you can increase the amount or the intensity - I generally recommend one at a time. It sounds like you're going down the route of intensity with HIIT and you should see some results there but given the relatively low volume that you do you might want to consider the volume at a later date.

Good luck!