Need advice -l ost 20kg in under 2 years - need to lose more

MarcusFenix

Hi All,

I posted here before for nutrition and workout advice and found it much more helpful and useful than most of the stuff available anywhere else. This is way I'm back!

My story so far:

2 years ago I was 25, 167cm tall and 31%BF and 105kg. I was as fat as a fool (mainly due to my laziness and lifestyle) so started to cop on and watch what I ate and started to workout.

I basically started to remove most processed carbs from my diet and started a cardio heavy workout routine. Over the first 5-6 months I felt much better and started to look it too! About this time last year i had lost around 10kg - and then i seemed to plateau.

Since then I have changed the workouts a fair bit, I started doing split days which were mostly made up of supersets which were hit based but with weights.

Long story short I weighed myself and got BF% done again recently and I'm currently 17.7% and and at 84kg (same height:)) which to be honest I'm not really happy with. Reason why is as follows:

1. For someone who works out 4 times a week for roughly 45 mins each time (average over last year) I think i could lose a lot more BF%
2. My diet would be miles better than 90% people I know - no spuds, rice, bread, pasta. Make it my business to eat a serving of veg/fruit with every meal. Have mainly good protein for every meal.
3. I do a fairly good job of tracking what i eat with My Fitness Pal - the app has me eating 1500 calories a day to lose 0.5kg week.

Now seeing as I'm looking for advice i will give a typical days diet and a weeks workout plan as an example and maybe people can advise on what needs to change for me to get to 10-15% BF.

Workout day 1
- 5x5 strong lifts

Workout day 2
- Supersets
( chin ups x10, spiderman press ups x10, burpees with press x10) x 3
(dips x10, frontal raise x8,bent over lats x8, lat raise x8, round the world x 10) x3
(clean and jerk x10, mountain climbers x 30) x 3

Workout day3
- Arms Supersets
(Barbell curl x 15, dumbell tricep extenison/raise x 15) x3
(Incline dunbbell curl x 15, tricep pulldown cable extension x15) x3
(overhand barbell curl x 10, tricep barbell extension x 10, bent over dumbell extension x10) x 3

Workout day 4
- Same as day 2

Workout day 5
- Same as day 1

Typical diet would be:
0600 Breakfast
- 2 eggs scrambled in coconut oil + some lettuce/rocket/spinach + black coffee

09:30 Snack
- Fruit + 2 boiled eggs + black coffee

1200-1400 lunch
- salmon/beef/chicken + country veg/big plate of lettuce+tomato + pepper
- black coffee

1600-1800 snack
- Fruit/rice cakes + almond butter, or a flapjack + maybe a coffee

WORKOUT 2000

2100 Dinner
- protein shake + same as lunch (protein and veg)

Usually my calories hover around 1500-1600 a day.

I do however go a bit mad on Saturdays, might have a takeaway and wouldn't be as strict with my general eating(having toast etc + milk in tea/coffee) - i consider this my cheat day or whatever. TBH I don't think I could do without at least 1 cheat meal a week! and i know i need to stop it turning into a cheat day.

My body type is Endomorph so I realise i am predisposed to store fat more than some but precision nutrition say that even an endomorph should be able to easily maintain sub 15% BF.

I have recently begun to wonder should I be eating more/any good carbs in my diet? I honestly avoid at all costs(except for the weekend -cheats!) as i feel i get bloated very easily when eating any sort of starchy carbs. Maybe i am not eating enough in general? although I don't really feel like I am hungry all the time.

Looking at the above info can anyone see any reason why I can't seem to get down to below 15%BF? Ideally I just want to get low enough to have some form of definition on my abs, not mens health cover model BS now like just healthy looking.

If i need to swap out the weights for HIIT then I am all for that, I guess I thought I could lose fat while building muscle but the thermodynamics of it don't agree: Build muscle = calorie surplus
Lose fat = calorie deficit
If I can lose enough to be happy with BF% maybe then I need to look at building muscle after??

Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks!!

Alf Veedersane

Take the numbers out of it...and honestly,really think about hohow our feel about your weight?

It will be hard because you're so invested in numbers but really think about it.

MarcusFenix

Hey Alf(??)....yea I'm not at all happy, constantly feel like I have to suck in etc.

The numbers for me is just a way of measuring and setting goals.

I probably look average but I feel bloated almost constantly which in turn leads to self consciousness. I say I want to be in the 15% and under bracket but that is just a putting a number on "happy with how I look".

What do you mean about really think about it??

ford2600

First off well done, you've lost 20kgs of fat, probably more as you have no doubt added muscle also.

That's half a bag of coals worth.

You have done that yourself, so give yourself a bit of credit. You have a fair idea what works for you.

You are now much healthier than you were and more physically capable. Well done again.

What jumps out at me is despite eating 5 times a day, your calorie intake seems very low, 1500-1600; are you sure. I'd eat that in one plate typically.

Also you eat a lot(total calories matter) but just makes me curious as to whether your feel hungry a lot? I use barely make it to the kitchen before without breakfast, now I rarely eat it and typically don't eat between 8pm and 12noon/1pm. I regularly cycle 100km-140km before breakfast.The constant energy crisis is no more.

Try something different with diet, intermittent fasting or whatever. Try something different with exercise, HIIT or whatever. See how your body reacts and see how you FEEL, relax on numbers, even forget about them for a while.

While your at it, focus on improving
sleep
reducing stress(they often go hand in hand).
watch hydration

Post exercise I'd be having a little more carbs if I was you. Have less days you don't train.

Best of luck

Zillah

I also seriously doubt you're on 1600. At your stats and workout level you probably need something like 2700+ calories just to maintain your weight. They're sneaking in there somewhere.

Assuming you're entering everything into MyFitnessPal, maybe you need to assume larger portions and put those in? It's very easy to low ball, especially when you want to feel like you're behaving well. It is also very easy to let something small slip by, but over time those slips can add up to be exactly what is unbalancing the equation.

Don't forget booze, do you drink? Alcohol is energy dense.
Also don't forget liquid sugar, do you drink any soft drinks or juice?

Personally I think you're better off working out a diet that has low GI carbs in it that you are happy to stick with every day. You sound like it's a bit of a battle during the week and then you let loose on the weekend. Low GI carbs are a great source of energy and without them you're probably going to feel more hungry than you would otherwise.

How are your lifts going? Have you been progressing on how heavy/how much you can do? If not, that's something you could look at. Tougher workouts burn more calories, and growing more muscle costs calories, and keeping those muscle burns more calories too.

You've done great so far, getting down to below 15% is absolutely possible, the only thing determining that is how many calories you've actually eaten by the end of the week.

MarcusFenix

ford2600 wrote: »

First off well done, you've lost 20kgs of fat, probably more as you have no doubt added muscle also.

That's half a bag of coals worth.

You have done that yourself, so give yourself a bit of credit. You have a fair idea what works for you.

You are now much healthier than you were and more physically capable. Well done again.

What jumps out at me is despite eating 5 times a day, your calorie intake seems very low, 1500-1600; are you sure. I'd eat that in one plate typically.

Also you eat a lot(total calories matter) but just makes me curious as to whether your feel hungry a lot? I use barely make it to the kitchen before without breakfast, now I rarely eat it and typically don't eat between 8pm and 12noon/1pm. I regularly cycle 100km-140km before breakfast.The constant energy crisis is no more.

Try something different with diet, intermittent fasting or whatever. Try something different with exercise, HIIT or whatever. See how your body reacts and see how you FEEL, relax on numbers, even forget about them for a while.

While your at it, focus on improving
sleep
reducing stress(they often go hand in hand).
watch hydration

Post exercise I'd be having a little more carbs if I was you. Have less days you don't train.

Best of luck

Hey there!

So maybe my calorie intake is higher than I am allowing for, tbh my portion sizes input to MFP could be off fairly often as I just pop in whatever looks close in weights etc. having said that I think if I ate any less I would be hungry constantly. From a diet point of view my main philosophy is to try fill up on veg and protein as they are shorter in calories and high in nutrients(IMO), I do eat a high volume like.

I've Started to eat a few good carbs after the gym lately too btw so I'm with you there.

I'm wondering is there anyone on here with my body type (broad shoulders, wide legs and find it difficult to shift fat from my chest and stomach) who managed to lose the fat and how they managed to do it???

Zillah

This focus on body type isn't useful. You have a bmi of 30, there are no tricks or gimmicks, you're eating too much.

pwurple

First meal of the day is 6am... Last is 9pm. That's pretty late to be eating with the early start. That's the equivalent of a midnight feast for me every night of the week. I would not get a good nights sleep on that. Are you sleeping OK?

Maybe get a small scale and weigh the food. Calories look slightly off to me. 4 eggs a day, two of which are cooked in oil could be close to 700kcal. And they don't even factor in your count as your main meals.

I've lost a good bit in the last 9 months... Post pregnancy. I weighed the portions for a few weeks to get eyeballing it right. Also incorporating more activity into normal day. Cycle to work etc. It's food though.

uberalex

The body type thing is probably pseudoscience http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatotype_and_constitutional_psychology

My guess is you're eating back a large proportion of any deficit on your cheat day. Log that precisely for a few weeks and see what is going on. Other than that I would cut snacks, eat more lean protein and drop the fat oils.

Alf Veedersane

pwurple wrote: »

4 eggs a day, two of which are cooked in oil could be close to 700kcal.

Are you including something else in that or are you talking about ostrich eggs?

pwurple

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Are you including something else in that or are you talking about ostrich eggs?

Coconut oil is 120 cal for 1 tbsp. Is he eating medium eggs (60), large (80), extra large (100).

If you assume the higher end rather than lower...
100 x 4 eggs
120 x 2 tbsp oil
~640

Alf Veedersane

pwurple wrote: »

Coconut oil is 120 cal for 1 tbsp. Is he eating medium eggs (60), large (80), extra large (100).

If you assume the higher end rather than lower...
100 x 4 eggs
120 x 2 tbsp oil
~640

He's scrambling the eggs not poaching them in coconut oil

But I do agree the issue is probably being a bit lax on what is being tracked.

Nonetheless OP, you've lost a lot of weight and don't forget that. You're on the right track to get where you want.

MarcusFenix

Zillah wrote: »

This focus on body type isn't useful. You have a bmi of 30, there are no tricks or gimmicks, you're eating too much.

I wouldn't agree with that - the BMI makes me obese.
It's very likely I am eating too much but at BMI of 30 I am obese

Now I know I need to lose weight but I am not obese - overweight sure but obese is ridiculous at 18%BF! For this reason I don't care about BMI and focus instead on BF%.

I'm picking up here that the main problem is I might be underestimating my calorie intake - Ill take that suggestion of weighing food pwurple to get an idea of what exactly I am eating to get a feel for it and then my accuracy might improve.

BTW guys 2 of those eggs are boiled and I only use 1 tablespoon to scramble - but i get the point!

First meal of the day is 6am... Last is 9pm. That's pretty late to be eating with the early start. That's the equivalent of a midnight feast for me every night of the week. I would not get a good nights sleep on that. Are you sleeping OK?

I work 7-7 and go to the gym after so that limits my ability to eat earlier really. I work a (4 on 3 off) / (3 on 4 off) schedule and find it easier to keep a routine going if I go to gym on my work days. What if I ate my last main meal at 5:30 in the evening, before the gym...would that be a large improvement??

JJayoo

Your calories are way too low.

rocky

MarcusFenix wrote: »

I wouldn't agree with that - the BMI makes me obese.
It's very likely I am eating too much but at BMI of 30 I am obese

Now I know I need to lose weight but I am not obese - overweight sure but obese is ridiculous at 18%BF! For this reason I don't care about BMI and focus instead on BF%.

How did you get the BF% measured? if 18% with a BMI of 30 you must be mostly muscle.

Or, the measuring method is not very accurate, I would suggest.
One of those impedance weighing scales? Or calipers?

MarcusFenix

Hey Rocky

Yep I get it done with callipers - 5 points i think? Same guy at the gym does it all the time too for consistency.

I think when I do eventually go down the numbers the fat will go exclusively from my chest and midriff, as that's really where I tend to store it.

uberalex

MarcusFenix wrote: »

Hey Rocky

Yep I get it done with callipers - 5 points i think? Same guy at the gym does it all the time too for consistency.

I think when I do eventually go down the numbers the fat will go exclusively from my chest and midriff, as that's really where I tend to store it.

Caliper measures are tricky because even when done accurately they tend to underestimate by 1/3. There might also be a question about visceral fat levels and also distribution of fat.

The thing to ask is what your waist measure is and work out the waist to hip ratio. http://www.myvmc.com/investigations/assessing-central-obesity-waist-to-hip-ratio/

Congratulations on making it this far.

MarcusFenix

uberalex wrote: »

Caliper measures are tricky because even when done accurately they tend to underestimate by 1/3. There might also be a question about visceral fat levels and also distribution of fat.

The thing to ask is what your waist measure is and work out the waist to hip ratio. http://www.myvmc.com/investigations/assessing-central-obesity-waist-to-hip-ratio/

Congratulations on making it this far.

Jese I hope I'm not underestimating by 1/3, that would put me at 24%
I'll take some photos in the morning (when I always get measured) and post them here to show what I mean about fat in mid section.

My lifts are improving, I'm following the 5x5 and started at 80 on bench and am now at 90. Same progression on all lifts really but the bench is my limit if you get me.