Weight loss work out

Lestat00

Hi,

Joined the gym last month and have been going to the gym 4 times a week. I joined with the intention of losing weight. I have been doing 30 min on the eliptical every visit. The sweat flys off me but I've noticed in the last week my weight loss has completely plateaued.

I have been reading lately that these daysa the thinking is that doing weights is more important than doing cardio work in the gym. Any thoughts on this? Any suggestions?

Thanks

Typer Monkey

How is your diet? That's where you'll mainly fight the weight loss battle.

Lestat00

Typical diet is:

Breakfast: Two eggs, apple and bananna. Tea (no sugar, little milk)
Lunch: Tuna or chicken wrap, spoon of coleslaw and lettuce. Apple.
Dinner: Chicken breast or turkey mince and veg.
Snack: Tea (no sugar, little milk). Bananna.

Height is 6' 5" Started out at 350 pounds on 23rd April and now am at 339. Lost most of the weight in the first two weeks but the last ten days I have completely plateued.

Alf Veedersane

Has that been everything you've eaten on a daily basis over the last ten days?

Typer Monkey

I stuck your stats into a BMR calculator to see how many calories you need a day to maintain your current weight. It came out at 2911. Multiplying this by 1.375 (for lightly active) gives 4000 calories for maintenance. Are you using anything to track the calories you're eating daily? Myfitnesspal is great for this. Are you weighing your food?

There's nothing terrible in the diet you posted. There's quite a bit of fruit which you should watch from a sugar/calorie point of view. Are you using oils, sauces etc? Make sure you're counting them in your calorie total. If you're eating a decent calorie deficit you should continue to loose weight steadily.

The occasional weight loss plateau is to be expected too. When I was loosing weight there were some periods where I'd loose nothing for two weeks running even though I did everything right.

Lestat00

Typer Monkey wrote: »

I stuck your stats into a BMR calculator to see how many calories you need a day to maintain your current weight. It came out at 2911. Multiplying this by 1.375 (for lightly active) gives 4000 calories for maintenance. Are you using anything to track the calories you're eating daily? Myfitnesspal is great for this. Are you weighing your food?

There's nothing terrible in the diet you posted. There's quite a bit of fruit which you should watch from a sugar/calorie point of view. Are you using oils, sauces etc? Make sure you're counting them in your calorie total. If you're eating a decent calorie deficit you should continue to loose weight steadily.

The occasional weight loss plateau is to be expected too. When I was loosing weight there were some periods where I'd loose nothing for two weeks running even though I did everything right.

Yes this is everything Ive eaten in the last ten days. At the weekends I might have red meat on a Saturday. Either beef mince or steak. I also put a few slashes of soy sauce on my veg nearly every evening.

I avoid all oils and sauces. I do use one cal spray for cooking occasionally if im cooking turkey mince in a wok.

Every two weeks I have had 6 pints of corrs light which I am concerned about. But I thought I have enough of a calorie deficit to have those.

The sugar/calorie content of the fruit is something I have thought about alright. It is hard to think of anything that is an alternative to that for snacks.

I'm not tracking calories I will start using myfitness pal. I'm not weighting my food I'll look at that.

Thanks everyone for yer advice.

Triceratops Ballet

I wouldn't say avoid all oils, you should be getting a certain amount of healthy fats in that diet and I would definitely think half a tsp of olive oil is better for you than that 1 cal spray.

I'd find an alternative to the fruit, or even cut the apple into slices and mix it with some nuts. Then you're getting that little bit more protein, and some good fats.

in terms of cardo v weights, for weight loss, do both. I do an hour of weights before my cardio (1/2 hour on the cross trainer) I do that 3/4 times a week and on the days I don't do it I go out for a walk or cycle for at least an hour. I was on a plateau for about 3 weeks but -3lbs last week.

If you check out bodybuilding.com they have some ready made programs there that you can use as a guideline. Similarly if you start using mfp find friends with the same goals as you and check out their fitness logs for tips.

Mellor

Lestat00 wrote: »

Height is 6' 5" Started out at 350 pounds on 23rd April and now am at 339. Lost most of the weight in the first two weeks but the last ten days I have completely plateued.

Weight loss isn't linear.
11lbs over 3-4 weeks is fine. Keep going and it will continue to drop. Especially if you nailed the last bit of your diet.

I avoid all oils and sauces

Avoiding oil/fat is a bad idea. You need fat in your diet. Less sugar (no more 4 piece of fruit a day), more protein and fat.

Typer Monkey wrote: »

I stuck your stats into a BMR calculator to see how many calories you need a day to maintain your current weight. It came out at 2911. Multiplying this by 1.375 (for lightly active) gives 4000 calories for maintenance.

There's absolutely no way his maintenance is 4000 cals.
Higher than average BF% will skew the formula results. He's not going to be burning the same at rest as a 300+lb athlete or bodybuilder.
Also, work out intensity plays a part. Most overweight people starting out aren't going to be able to lash it out in the gym.

I'd keep activity at 1.2 for now, you could add in single sessions and average for the week. But might be best to treat it as bonus cals.
But tbh, at 350lbs, I don't think maintenance calcs are a massive concern.

LuckyLloyd

Keep moving, keep eating real food with plenty of protein, veg of all sorts and good fat (nothing wrong with a baked spud with your main meal either), keep drinking water and keep getting sleep. You'll get there.

In terms of whether to do weights, if you've never done stength training before no harm starting with push-ups, air squats, glute ham raises at home. If you can't do a push-up to start use a wall or do then on your knees, etc. Your diet and your sleep are the priorities, then doing some activity consistently. Everyone should do some strength training. We will lose muscle mass as we age and your bones will thank you for doing it now.

In my opinion, ignore the scales. If you keep doing the right thing you will gradually feel better and like what's looking back at you in the mirror a little more. The scales may take a while to come around and the last thing you need now are short term markers that create stress.

That worked for me anyway. Think long term. Keep tipping away for a year you won't know yourself.