How quickly should i be losing weight?

gustafo

Hi

Right i'm 35 years old, 6''2 tall and i weigh 15st7lb and this has been my weight with a year or so with no real change.

I was doing very little exercise except for a 30 min walk 2 or 3 times a week so i decided to join a gym 3 weeks ago,

Since i have joined the gym i have been there every day and usually what i do is a 5km run in 30 mins, 15 mins rowing, 15 mins bike at level 8 and 15 mins weights.

My diet would be cornflakes in the morning with full fat milk, lunch would be 2 slices brown bread with ham, and dinner 2-3 potatoes with chicken/fish/beef and small bit of veg, i'm not eating any trash food as in choc/crisps/biscuits, might have a few 5 or 6 pints once a week

Now since joining the gym i feel great after it but i have not lost any weight in 3 weeks of working out i thought i surely would be after losing a few lbs, i have not changed my diet that's the way i was eating before i joined the gym,

Any ideas what i'm doing wrong or will it take longer working out before i start seeing a weight loss.

SheFiend

measuring weight can be misleading. You most likely have built a bit of muscle, which weighs heavier than fat. Also, waist measurement may mislead you as you are possibly toning up your stomach which will thickening your waist until you burn enough fat.

3 weeks is very soon to expect to see a noticeable change. Drink plenty water, and take protein before and after workouts if you're building muscle. More muscle burns more fat.

I can't advise you on your diet, and these are just my amateur opinions. Keep up the good work!

oh! it is probably better to do your weights first. after a 5min warm up. Then do your cardio. Supposedly more beneficial, and you will find the weights easier too.

Inspector Coptoor

1. Your diet is pretty awful.
Not enough protein in the morning or at lunch time.
Ditch the cornflakes for porridge or muesli or even some eggs.

Add some tuna the odd lunch time, get more greens, e.g. broccoli, and get some good healthy fats into you like avocado.

Start supplementing with fish oil and a multi-vitamin and up your potein intake by snacking on nuts and or cottage cheese.

You'd get more bang for your buck if you do less cardio and more weights.
if you;re in the gym for 1 hour 15 mins, try breaking up into 45 mins weights (maybe hire a personal trainer for a couple of sessions to get a good programme) and then do your 20 minutes of cardio.

And yeah, dont worry about weight too much, judge by body composition.
take photos of yourself and see how wel your pants fit etc.
Your weight could stay static but you could look leaner

saa

I agree with poster about. Do not focus on the weight loss if its going to end up in you getting frustrated, its taken me a year of difficult learning curves to notice a difference, weight never comes down smoothly I've tracked mine and its the usually graph that went down and then up and then down more and then up a little more and then I can see on it where I started the gym and nothing happened until I changed my diet, and then the next step was to up the intensity and it took me 7 weeks to lose 5 pounds so obviously if weight loss was my motivator Id be feeling pretty bummed now. its not something I can predict, if I add up my calories deficit I never instantly lose a pounds if I make a 3500 deficit with burning/diet because there are too many other factors,

I went through a lot of .. learning stages with this I learnt that having a bottle of wine, or some pints or takeaway "only" once a week was messing up my weight loss big time, I heard a nutritionist talking about planning three cheat meals not days a month, and that doesnt mean binge.. everyone down at my gym drinks but not every weekend and theyre already fit, for weight loss I can't drink more than once a month and I drink 6 shots of liquor with diet coke which is 69 cals per shot compared to 250 for a pint.

Then I started using the gym and then realised that nothing was happening because I was still eating useless food or white carbs, even complex carbs in the wrong portions, I eat more on gym days and make sure I have enough carbs a couple of hours before the gym and get my protein when I come back or I'm just wasting all the hard work I put in, I also quit smoking after joining the gym so even though I was working out I had to fix my sleep, caffeine, cig, drink and food issues or else nothing was happening with my body, but saying that its too soon to judge within the first three months if there is a lot of flab its gonna take a while for that to become noticeable the first thing you should focus on feeling is your strength and stamina getting better rather than numbers, then your clothes should be getting baggier ever so slighty..

As you're working hard at the gym you might as well make it worth while once you're used to the gyms and wont fall off the wagon start making changes bit by bit to your diet, you know yourself eggs/porridge/salmon/other wheat cereal with lower sodium/sugar in it.. so brekkie is 200/250 ish.
switch it around so your lunch is more meat with bread on the side, I use 50 cal slices of bread or an old el paso whole wheat wrap cut in half so 20 grams of carbs in sted of 40! if you cant afford to buy more meat for your lunch bulk up with veg, if you find it a hassle to keep fresh veg buy a pack of frozen peppers and have them with plenty of ham they fill you up. 200/250 ish. And then 1 small plain potato with a heap of veg and meat 350?, those numbers now are only if I was eating those meals, and that would be only 850 cals, if youre a woman the extra slice of bread and potatos would of been bumping your calories up nearer to the base line of 1200 but I dont lose weight eating 1200 I need 1400 on normal days and 1700-800 on gym days, so dont have 3 potatos all in one go imo and space out the bread intake but personally I add in foods like light cream cheese, sweet potato (I buy 4 for 4 in supervalue cut them into wedges and freeze) clean peanut butter, fruit, quorn and some people like to bump up their needs with whey shakes but everything I eat is 200 calories ish or a 400 cal meal and spaced out by a couple of hours, its tricky but youll find your own way.

gustafo

Thanks for the reply's guys.