The Struggle is real... Lifting/cardio/lean

jmac4263

My struggle is this. I lift weights for about 20 mins ( specific muscle groups each day) and then do cardio for 20-30 minutes a day (generally treadmill or elliptical) I have been at the same weight for a year. Nothing changes, I started lifting a year ago and only lifted then i added cardio in as i noticed the scale going up and have been doing that for a couple months now. Still no change.

I have been tracking food for 3 months (you cant see it here because I used my fitbit app) and on a daily basis I burn 2000-2300 calories between my work outs and just general burn. I take in between 1300 and 1500 calories a day. To me this deficit is great enough that I should be seeing a loss on the scale. I must add that I have a cheat day, because I have always thought you should, so I have a high calorie day or meal once a week.

My goal is to lose 10 more pounds and get more defined. I have gained muscle since I started lifting but I dont want to give that up, I really enjoy that aspect of my work out.

Do I need to start doing full body instead of a concentrated muscle group? Do I need to eat less? Take out my cheat day? I am really at a loss, I know that I do eat bad once a week but I didnt think it could be hindering my weight that much.

Please any suggestions what so ever would be great. I leave for Mexico in a month and I have only lost 6 pounds since christmas. <<<< that takes me back to my average 150 that I havent moved from in a year!!

ninerbuff

If you're not losing fat weight while being consistent, then there's usually miscalculations involved. Those usually include: how much you really are burning, and how much you're really consuming calories wise. Over estimations in one or both would hamper your weight loss.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

jmac4263

My diet in general is pretty straight forward not much alteration and most times I allow it to be counted on the high side of the calorie scale.

Other things I have considered are that I have not changed my weight amount in close to 6 months, when I started lifting I gradually went up but have stayed the same, possibly my body is used to it? not burning calories like I want?

I have lost more weight almost 40 pounds but it took a really long time, longer than a normal person. I dont want to suggest that something medically is causing little to no loss I just want suggestions of how to get out of this 150 and look like I have been lifting weights for a year. I see girls in the gym lift way lighter and have muscle like BAM!!

I cannot be doing something correctly

maxit

jmac4263 wrote: »

Do I need to start doing full body instead of a concentrated muscle group? Do I need to eat less? Take out my cheat day? I am really at a loss, I know that I do eat bad once a week but I didnt think it could be hindering my weight that much.

Please any suggestions what so ever would be great. I leave for Mexico in a month and I have only lost 6 pounds since christmas. <<<< that takes me back to my average 150 that I havent moved from in a year!!

I would suggest:
1) Yes, do full body, such as StrongLifts or New Rules of Lifting For Women, 3 or 4 times a week (but not two days in a row). If you are in a calorie deficit you will not gain muscle mass but you can avoid losing any and make strength gains.
2) Maybe yes, if you are wanting to lose weight, and IF your logging is accurate (that is, you weigh all solid food and cup-measure liquids only, and the data base you are using is giving you the correct amount). However, I would hazard a guess that with your "cheat" day, you are taking in more calories than you realize.
3) Definitely take out the cheat day - work your favorite foods into your daily calorie allotment.

slaite1

Decrease your calories slightly or increase your exercise slightly. Try doing circuits or hiit training sometimes. Anything to change what you're doing!! If you've been eating the same calories, and doing the same lifts with the same cardio and getting no results than the answer speaks for itself. If it's taking you longer than other people, that's bc you're doing it differently than them!

Also, seeing muscle has nothing to do with how much you lift. Definition is seen when you reduce your body fat, typically through diet. They look jacked bc They had lots of muscle under the fat. When you get leaner you'll see the definition as well.

jmac4263

Sounds good, I do measure however. We have a food scale and I weigh most things some i go by measuring cups but either way I try to be as accurate as possible.

I have logged my cheat meals as well _being curious make me wonder how many I ate in one setting sometimes its scary!!!

Thanks for the advice I may switch up my work outs. I am only taking one rest day currently

bostonultd1

Some people do a full body 3 days a week routine. Depends on your recovery and how you feel. Another option is a upper/lower split 3-4 days a week. So you'll do upper body one day then lower body the next. Honestly 20 minutes of weight lifting sounds low, you'll probably benefit from at least 30 minutes. Another option is a 4 muscle group split like day 1. Chest/ tri, day 2. Back/bi, day 3.shoulder, day 4.legs. I just started that routine and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's up to you at that point how often you want to hit the gym. If you do the 4 group split then you'll have enough recovery time to go 6 days a week. Also, it's much better to do compound exercises like squats or dead lifts instead of only isolation exercises. I'm currently doing 5-7 exercises for each muscle group with 4 sets of 12 and it's working for me. Don't be afraid to lift heavy, it's ok if you exhaust your muscle on the 3rd or 4th set without getting to your goal rep. Also, form is very important. You can injure yourself if you have poor form. Watch a bunch of YouTube vids on certain exercises if you're not confident in your form. It's pretty common for people to get back injuries from dead lifts when they don't maintain spine neutrality.

jmac4263

Thats what I am doing currently
Monday_ back 4 exercises reps of 8-10 then cardio
Tuesday-Chest same as above
Wednes -cardio and abs
Thurs -bi and tri same as above
Friday- Shoulders same as above
Saturday Legs same as above
Sunday-rest

This has been my routine for a while. Soreness is at a minimum mostly sore the most after leg day.

guess from the majority of replies I will be changing my work out and being more strict on calories!

bostonultd1

jmac4263 wrote: »

Thats what I am doing currently
Monday_ back 4 exercises reps of 8-10 then cardio
Tuesday-Chest same as above
Wednes -cardio and abs
Thurs -bi and tri same as above
Friday- Shoulders same as above
Saturday Legs same as above
Sunday-rest

This has been my routine for a while. Soreness is at a minimum mostly sore the most after leg day.

guess from the majority of replies I will be changing my work out and being more strict on calories!

Well it seems like you're already doing a pretty good job. Try out that 4 day split I mentioned, sometimes you just need to mix things up. How are you doing on the compound exercises? Also try to do 10-12 reps. Higher reps mean higher calorie burns, just don't go crazy and do 15-20 reps, that's too light of weight. You can throw in abs whenever you want as long as you're giving them enough recovery. One more thing, if you feel like you're stalling, you can easily change a exercise, for ex. Instead of doing a flat bench barbell press, you can do a flat bench dumbbell press.

blb85

Another suggestion, since we are not able to see your diary, would be to maybe not concentrate so much on the calories, but what it is you are eating. Maybe try to just base your diet around natural/clean foods only. Eating low carb & high protein on the days that you are not strength training. A program I am doing right now is highly focused around what we eat and how much we eat, focusing purely on clean foods. Also, even though it is calories in vs calories out, women store fat and have a harder time losing fat than men. We tend to burn more carbs/glucose than we do fat.

I wouldn't think the cheat days would have that much of an effect, unless you were eating more than 3500 calories in that day. I would also pay attention to what your week totals look like in terms of how much you are inputting/outputting total calorie wise a week (including your cheat day).

Also, increase your water intake as well. .5 oz per pound of weight plus an extra 12 oz per 30 min of working-out.

Just some suggestions. Good luck!

jmac4263

^^^ Some one finally said that dreaded word... water, thats one thing i am terrible at.
My down fall might be carbs but I am high in protein I try to stay above 110g a day.

A week is normally, chicken breast- Tuna-Tilapia- Some beef (93/7) nuts, greek yogurt, cheese, brocolli,green beans, cottage cheese, and some fruits apples, peaches, pineapple ect. I was doing boiled eggs but havent prepped for a while. We get whole wheat everything- pasta, bread, bagels ect. No regular pop and diet is very rare.
-
I cut out almost all fruit at one point and didnt see a difference so I added it back in. I think my carb intake is my biggest downfall. I also have whey protein or protein bars on a half way normal basis

3dogsrunning

jmac4263 wrote: »

^^^ Some one finally said that dreaded word... water, thats one thing i am terrible at.
My down fall might be carbs but I am high in protein I try to stay above 110g a day.

A week is normally, chicken breast- Tuna-Tilapia- Some beef (93/7) nuts, greek yogurt, cheese, brocolli,green beans, cottage cheese, and some fruits apples, peaches, pineapple ect. I was doing boiled eggs but havent prepped for a while. We get whole wheat everything- pasta, bread, bagels ect. No regular pop and diet is very rare.
-
I cut out almost all fruit at one point and didnt see a difference so I added it back in. I think my carb intake is my biggest downfall. I also have whey protein or protein bars on a half way normal basis

None of this will matter if you are not in a calorie deficit. Water retention from dehydration would not mask weight loss this long.
Assuming you have no medical issue, carbs will not prevent you from losing weight.

Will you open your diary?

tomatoey

Ok but if you cut more stuff out, eventually you'll go back to eating what you are now. Maybe your body's happy where it is? Like if you're eating 1300-1500 of tilapia and whole grains etc, I really don't know how you can cut from there and still do your workouts. How tall are you, anyway?

westcoastgrl21

If you've stalled out, then you need to change something. My first guess is that your cheat day is WAY bigger than you think it is. I would start by getting rid of the cheat day. Work your "cheat" foods and treats into your plan and stay within your calorie goal every day. If that doesn't get the scale moving, then you're going to have to either cut your calories further or do more cardio. What kind of cardio are you doing? Intervals or HIIT will burn more calories than steady-state cardio in the same amount of time. It may be time to increase the intensity of your cardio workouts!

FitBeto

Open diary. If I stalled first thing I check is food

cplate

I found that measuring in grams for food was giving me a more accurate measurement. I also started to measure liquids. These small mistakes were adding up and now after a long time of stalling I am losing weight again. I also stopped eating back all of my exercise calories and only eat back half to give me some wiggle room for logging mistakes. Good-luck!

Liftng4Lis

If you're not losing, unfortunately, you're not in a deficit. Are you weighing your food?

jmac4263

I keep track of food on my fit bit app and I do weigh my food, my snacks, my meat ect. and I always show a deficit most of the time a rather large one.

I am going to cut out my cheat days and start consuming more water and see what happens.

I am 5'4 for those that were curious so yes i am considered over weight for my height!

Going to switch up my lifting routine and do different cardio!! Hope this helps!

jmac4263

^^^^ and by rather large i mean no more than 750 calories but still a deficit.

minizebu

You are eating more than you think you are and you are burning less than you think you are. Take out the cheat days. You are probably not logging them as accurately as possible and you are probably wiping out your weekly deficit due to the combination of underestimating intake, overestimating burn and not accounting for cheat days properly.

jkwolly

jmac4263 wrote: »

I keep track of food on my fit bit app and I do weigh my food, my snacks, my meat ect. and I always show a deficit most of the time a rather large one.

I am going to cut out my cheat days and start consuming more water and see what happens.

I am 5'4 for those that were curious so yes i am considered over weight for my height!

Going to switch up my lifting routine and do different cardio!! Hope this helps!

People are letting you know that weighing/measuring is necessary. You need to know how much you're ACTUALLY eating.

Cutting out cheat days isn't necessary, as long as you make them fit.

Drinking more water and/or switching your routine won't help if you're eating above your calorie goals.

Calories are king.

minizebu

jkwolly wrote: »

Calories are king.

Absolutely.

jkwolly wrote: »

Cutting out cheat days isn't necessary, as long as you make them fit.

I agree, "as long as you make them fit." The problem is that very often people's cheat days turn into the Butterfield Diet Plan, and they are bewildered as to why they haven't made any progress.

jmac4263

I will try making my cheats fit although it might not be a bad idea just to cut the meal all together, I have preached to others about quality calories and just because it fits doesnt mean its good. Guess I should be taking my own words

Francl27

You've lost 6 pounds since Christmas. How is that no change?

If you want to lose faster, you need to log everything properly (including cheat days), then do the math to figure out how much you are really burning. You might be burning less calories than you think too. My guess though is that you're wiping out a big part of your deficit with your cheat days.

jmac4263

^^^^^ I gained those 6 during the holidays so really it got me back down to 150 the same weight I have been with in a couple pounds for over a year

AliceDark

Why just one leg day?

sofaking6

About that cardio - how many calories do you believe you're burning? I see people massively overestimating that calorie burn all the time.

jkwolly

jmac4263 wrote: »

I will try making my cheats fit although it might not be a bad idea just to cut the meal all together, I have preached to others about quality calories and just because it fits doesnt mean its good. Guess I should be taking my own words

Calories are calories. Don't deprive yourself too much, or you'll go ham on some sad undeserving cake or bottle of wine.

jmac4263

Just how I have it split up i guess, I do muscle groups so I have a group every day except for my pure cardio day

rybo

Try a smaller deficit

Francl27

jmac4263 wrote: »

^^^^^ I gained those 6 during the holidays so really it got me back down to 150 the same weight I have been with in a couple pounds for over a year

You still lost them though.

rybo wrote: »

Try a smaller deficit

Then she'll maintain for sure...

Edited to add - I've pretty much maintained my weight for 9 months too. I gained a couple pounds here and there but always end up losing them... but the bottom line is that I've been eating at maintenance... it's just that simple. I ate enough to gain a pound for a couple weeks, but I've been more careful the last 3 weeks and I'm back where I was a month ago. I pretty much spent months doing great for 5 days then wiping my deficit the 6th... rinse and repeat. Which is just fine for maintaining... not so good for losing (I'm 2 pounds from my goal though so I don't care that much, as long as I don't gain).

But it's basic math... When I was wondering why I wasn't losing, I just looked at the app and the weekly nutrition tab and it showed me exactly what my calories were every week, and it explained why I stopped losing. That's why I log everything... there's no denial that way... the numbers don't lie.