Dieting for 2 months and no noticeable difference

Underpaid Mike

Just looking for some advice if I could at all.
Im pretty active person, play a lot of hurling but had a bad injury about 4 years ago which saw me gain a lot of weight and have never been able to shake it since. So my new years resolution (which only started in Feb 1) was to lose 15 kgs. Im 114.8kgs (as of last night) and im 6ft 3. Not obese but im carrying way too much weight for my liking.
So i got the my fitness app and started tracking everything I ate religiously. I would often eat a full dominos on a saturday followed by 10+ pints etc so I figured if I started to behave the weight should begin to fall off but it hasnt. Im the exact same weight I was on the first of February, zero weight lost. Ive checked on 2 different scales to be 100% sure.

Typical day (this was yesterday) would be:
Breakfast: Coffee, 30g porridge, 100ml low fat milk, banana
Lunch: Chicken wrap with salad and cheese, cup of tea
Dinner: 200g steak, rocket salad with cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese.

Dinner would normally variate between steak, chicken stir fry, omlette etc.
I also drink at least 1.5liters of water a day, sometimes more

My goal is 1730 calories a day according to the app and i rarely if ever deviate. Have drank twice in the period and both times it was whiskey and water and it still didnt put me over my daily quota. Im also rarely hungry despite the reduced amount im eating so its not starvation mode im in I think.

The lack of weight loss is annoying so last week i began 5x5 strength program, which is 3 times a week in the gym doing strengthening weights. Tough progam for anyone that doesnt know it. I also play hurling as of 2 weeks ago and train 2+ times a week (separate to the gym) with that.

To sum up im baffled how I havent lost any weight, I have no intention of quitting or easing up but would just like to know if there is something obvious im not doing that I should be doing ? Or does anyone have any tips etc?

listermint

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Just looking for some advice if I could at all.
Im pretty active person, play a lot of hurling but had a bad injury about 4 years ago which saw me gain a lot of weight and have never been able to shake it since. So my new years resolution (which only started in Feb 1) was to lose 15 kgs. Im 114.8kgs (as of last night) and im 6ft 3. Not obese but im carrying way too much weight for my liking.
So i got the my fitness app and started tracking everything I ate religiously. I would often eat a full dominos on a saturday followed by 10+ pints etc so I figured if I started to behave the weight should begin to fall off but it hasnt. Im the exact same weight I was on the first of February, zero weight lost. Ive checked on 2 different scales to be 100% sure.

Typical day (this was yesterday) would be:
Breakfast: Coffee, 30g porridge, 100ml low fat milk, banana
Lunch: Chicken wrap with salad and cheese, cup of tea
Dinner: 200g steak, rocket salad with cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese.

Dinner would normally variate between steak, chicken stir fry, omlette etc.
I also drink at least 1.5liters of water a day, sometimes more

My goal is 1730 calories a day according to the app and i rarely if ever deviate. Have drank twice in the period and both times it was whiskey and water and it still didnt put me over my daily quota. Im also rarely hungry despite the reduced amount im eating so its not starvation mode im in I think.

The lack of weight loss is annoying so last week i began 5x5 strength program, which is 3 times a week in the gym doing strengthening weights. Tough progam for anyone that doesnt know it. I also play hurling as of 2 weeks ago and train 2+ times a week (separate to the gym) with that.

To sum up im baffled how I havent lost any weight, I have no intention of quitting or easing up but would just like to know if there is something obvious im not doing that I should be doing ? Or does anyone have any tips etc?

You have to couple the Diet change with activity. Realistically speaking your diet change is 80% of the work. But it needs the exercise to push the reduction in fat. I would imagine if you stick religiously to the gym program and current diet you will see results in 2-3 weeks.

Keep it up. Id say you already feel more energised from the diet change .

Merkin

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

The lack of weight loss is annoying so last week i began 5x5 strength program, which is 3 times a week in the gym doing strengthening weights. Tough progam for anyone that doesnt know it. I also play hurling as of 2 weeks ago and train 2+ times a week (separate to the gym) with that.

No matter how strict or well behaved I am with food I simply cannot lose weight without exercise. I think a lot of people are the same. As such, I agree with the above and reckon with this new addition of regular exercise you will now begin to see the results you so want.

Your diet looks fine although be careful with your cheese portions - I see you have two helpings of cheese a day and unless you're vigilant about weighing the amount of cheese you eat you can add a few hundred calories to your diet without even noticing!

nice_guy80

Doing weighted mini circuits in the gym is the way forward for you.

You need to up your intensity of workout.
Less breaks, less hanging about the place.

seamus

Typically if I hear someone saying this (or when I experience it myself), it means that they're just not doing it right. They're tracking, but not tracking everything, or tracking their portions way off.

Double-check everything you're doing - make sure you're getting the weights and the portions right and you're not taking a stab at them. There should be no cheats at all.

However the first thing which jumped out at me - your 1730kcal figure seems incredibly low. You're a big guy and as you've started exercising, you will quickly find yourself fatigued and sick if you don't eat enough.

Odd as it sounds, you need to eat to lose weight. At your height/weight and assuming you work in an office all day, I put your simple calorific need at around 2,800kcal/day. 1,730 is simply too low. I commend you for your dedication to this number, but I would recommend an intake of 2,300kcal per day at an absolute minimum. On paper this will give you a weight loss of 0.5kg per week, but in reality it can be a bit more than that, especially if you have an exercise routine in there too.

For every 5kg you lose, recalculate your daily calorific need and then readjust your intake to compensate.

adox

Calorie intake sounds way to low for you! Are you sure you are only consuming that amount of calories per day?

Double check your portions of food an make sure they are accurate and also include absolutely everything you consume. Also make sure the calorie details etc are correct(as far as you can) on myfitnesspal. When you enter something in it can come up with multiple options for the same product.

If you have a mobile device download the app and you can usually use the camera as a barcode scanner on foods, where applicable to make sure you are entering the right product.

I`d also up the daily calorie intake goal on myfitnesspal. Its set way too low for you imo.

I started keeping a food diary of what I was eating on myfitnesspal a few months ago, more for encouraging a balanced diet and educating myself on the nutrition of my diet than a particular goal to lose weight. In that time, on a 2000 calorie a day diet Ive lost just over a stone in weight. In fact I`m considering upping my calorie intake as I dont want to lose any more weight and in fact may look to put a few pounds back on. have an office job, dont go to a gym, am 5 foot 10" and when I began weighed 11.5 stone. I`m just pointing this out to show how your calorie intake sounds.

Underpaid Mike

Thanks for the feedback
Calorie counting im very strict with, if there are 4 options i normally take the option with the highest calories. Normally i use the barcode scanner though which saves any problems arising. Just checked the app again and it says to lose 2lbs a week I should be at 1730, to lose 1/2lb a week I should be at 2300?
Losing 0.5kg a week would be ideal (sorry to keep swapping lbs and kgs)

Nice_guy thanks for the advice but i dont do cardio in the gym, its almost solely for weights. I do cardio 60-90 mins 2x a week playing hurling which should be enough when combined with 2-3 visits to the gym. Dont want to completely kill myself with exercise either at least initially

nice_guy80

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback
Calorie counting im very strict with, if there are 4 options i normally take the option with the highest calories. Normally i use the barcode scanner though which saves any problems arising. Just checked the app again and it says to lose 2lbs a week I should be at 1730, to lose 1/2lb a week I should be at 2300?
Losing 0.5kg a week would be ideal (sorry to keep swapping lbs and kgs)

Nice_guy thanks for the advice but i dont do cardio in the gym, its almost solely for weights. I do cardio 60-90 mins 2x a week playing hurling which should be enough when combined with 2-3 visits to the gym. Dont want to completely kill myself with exercise either at least initially

who said anything about cardio?
I said weighted mini circuits
eg deadlift, swiss ball rollout, chin ups. and repeat 3/4 times.

Leinsterr

Your caloric intake is way too low. Go on the internet and calculate your caloric maintenance. Take away 300-500cal from it so you will lose weight. Doing a 5x5 is great for strength but it also builds mass. To burn more calories do a 4x10 or a 3x12 with strict form. You will burn fat and tone up. I'm as baffled as you why you aren't losing a lot of weight. Make sure you calculate and stick to your macros. Have fun!!!

edit: For more advice go onto bodybuilding.com/forums and go into the forum that is appropriate to your age group

Underpaid Mike

Thanks for the advice everyone. Checked online and 2 different calculators have me between 2030 and 2090 calories per day if I dont factor in exercise which im assuming I shouldnt?
I dont have a gigantic appetite anyway my problem has always been eating complete and utter rubbish which I have cut out.

Nice_guy that is pretty much what 5x5 program is, its benchpress, barbell rows, deadlifts etc. I spent zero time in a gym standing around, the place bores me to tears so its get in and get out as fast as possible at all times.

seamus

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Thanks for the advice everyone. Checked online and 2 different calculators have me between 2030 and 2090 calories per day if I dont factor in exercise which im assuming I shouldnt?

Depends on how much exercise you're doing and the intensity. An hour of high-intensity a day and I would probably factor in half of it. Two hours of light cardio or weights and I probably wouldn't factor it in at all.

Doing some revised figures, I'd probably put you at 2,100kcal too, so that's a good start. 2,300 I gave above is based off an older calculation.

Anakonda_1979

Hi sorry, but I will input my 5 cents into your thread
I started my diet resolution on 1th of December. My weight was 83.5kg and height was 5.2
As of today I am 70kg, so total loss is 13.5kg.
All I did was changing what I eat and how.
My breakfast consist of any carbs. Meaning I have anything I want, chocolate, sandwiches, anything that my stomach feels like having.
My lunch is always fish - meat with vegetables (no potatoes, pasta or etc, that is only for breakfast)
And my dinner is always cheese, cottage cheese, yogurts and any that type of products.
When it comes to exercise, I have a back injury so cannot do much, but have a treadmill at home, so do 3-5km a day (in the evening normally) of very fast walking.
That is all. Wight was falling off like crazy. Now trying actually to keep it the way it is. As it is not going up but actually trying to go further down, which for my frame will look awful. I am very skinny above waist (super skinny you'd say) and I have some hips and bottom left which I'd like to keep that way. :rolleyes: Best of luck.

Underpaid Mike

Thanks for the advice anakonda but for me eating such a tiny or non existent dinner would be impossible. I have a mentally demanding job and I like to play sports so I would hit a wall quickly on that diet but thanks for the input

nice_guy80

Underpaid Mike wrote: »

Nice_guy that is pretty much what 5x5 program is, its benchpress, barbell rows, deadlifts etc. I spent zero time in a gym standing around, the place bores me to tears so its get in and get out as fast as possible at all times.

ok fair play.
good luck with it

Underpaid Mike

No idea if it was the weights (on my 7th session of 5x5 strength in 2 weeks last night) or the extra cardio, 20 mins at least 3 times a week but ive lost 2.2kg since the last time ive weighed myself which was 15th March.
2 months of dieting and a big uptick in exercise, which I feel 100% better as a result of, and im finally seeing results.
For anyone not getting the quick fix dont give up. Being stubborn is vital especially on the days you have no interest in heading for the gym or you fancy that breakfast roll.
Only 14kg more to go!

As a guide, barcode scanner on the calorie counting apps aren't great. And it's the portion sizing that's an issue for the most part.

Buy less things with barcodes for a start!

Weigh the food that you are preparing yourself etc.

Ask a 'serial dieter' how many calories are in a bowl of special K and they'll know because they read it once, or heard it on the tv ads. Get them to make themselves a bowl of it and they will have 2/3 times the portion that their expected calories should have.

Every so often it's worth going back to basics, reprogramming your intuition for a portion size by weighing things like a lunatic!

johnfaul

Do you use a scale to weigh your food I do find it very quick and handy
E.g. If I'm having sweet potato I would weigh it raw before I cook it etc.
And as said above 1700 is very low I'm 6ft2 82 kg and eat 3500 every day
I,d say you should loose on 2500 a day, do you do cardio maybe go for a walk in the mornings, also try to be accurate when your counting foods make sure you count everything good luck