What am I doing wrong?? Help me somebody!!

ruelha

I am 29yr old 5'3" female. Started working out in dec 14 casually and intensely since Feb 15. been counting calories since Feb. Started with 53kgs and I am stable at 47.5-49kgs since the past 2months. I stay away from all processed food and simple carbs (except once-twice a week).My gym has very basic equipment and no trainer (in our building).So i use the treadmill, crosstrainer, 2kg dumbells, leg curls, leg press in the gym. i also do leg and glute exercises usimg my own body wt. I concentrate on one muscle group once a week. When its Ab day, I do 10-15 different ab exercises including crunches, sit ups, leg raises, cycling etc 50 times each.So my ab workout goes on for 1hr 15mins. I do lotsa free squats (150-200) with no weights on leg/glutes day. I dont use supplements or protein shakes. My protein intake is only 20-25% out of my 1400-1500calorie diet (used to be 1200 first 3months).I make sure i burn around 300-500calories in my HIIT which i do 3-5days a week.(Used to be 600-900calories 3months ago).But I still have a little tummy (27"waist).I really cannot lose more weight as I will be declared underweight and health is more important than looks to me. So what am i doibg wrong?? Why do i still have that tummy?!?!Will amping my protein intake to 30-40% help??Should I start Keto??

livingleanlivingclean

What is your aim?

If you're trying to gain muscle, I'd be finding a structured lifting program. Using progressively heavier weights.

Doing 1.5 hours of abs is ridiculous. You'd be better off doing 1.5 hours of squats and deads to strengthen your core.

Doing abs isn't going to help you lose your stomach fat. That comes about from having a deficit in calories (which is counter-productive if you're trying to build muscle). Perhaps look in to a recomp....

Keto/low carb/high protein isn't necessarily the answer. Work out your goal - recomp, bulk or fat loss, consider checking out IIFYM.com for a macro split to suit your goals.

ruelha

Hi Livingleanlivingclean
Thabk you so much for taking the time out to reply. Yes, I am trying to get toned (and rid of that stubborn tummy fat). What could be a good lifting programme for me considering I only have access to dumbells, leg curl and leg press equip? Id be grateful if you could suggest one.
I cannot think of over 2kg weight as of now for my arms as Im really pushing it with 2kgs too But i do 36kgs leg press.
I didn't really understand 'recomp'. Could you elaborate please?
I actually know my macro split - need 105gms protein (30 percent) a day. But although im nonvegetarian, i find it difficult to reach that goal. Are protein shakes my answer?

livingleanlivingclean

What weight do the dumbells go up to? Do you have access to a bench? And any bars? It sounds like you'll be limited by your equipment but there may be more beneficial exercises and ways of training. Excessive volume with low weight isn't going to get you very far.

I bet that you can leg press a whole lot more than 36kgs. Your legs carry your weight every day, they're stronger than you think. More often than not our minds give in before our strength does - if you can train with someone, have them spot you and push yourself!

Recomp is trying to maintain weight whilst changing physique. It's a slower process than trying to build muscle (bulking), but may be more satisfying for you as you sound like you don't want to gain fat. Typically you can't grow in a deficit, and the surplus you need to grow more significant muscle comes with extra fat.. Recomp is kind of inbetween.

A protein powder is a way to supplement your intake if you struggle to eat enough protein. I don't use one much, but manage to eat 140/150g easily. Have you tried pre planning your meals by starting with a protein source?

sijomial

The problem is your awful training routine not your food. Targeting muscles just once a week with very high volume and very, very low weight isn't going to achieve progress.
2kg dumbbells are far too light to do anything.
Your simply must be able to leg press more than 36kg or you wouldn't be able to walk up stairs.

Increase the weights (if you can do more than 10-12 reps then increase weight), reduce the volume massively, work each muscle group three times a week.

ruelha

Thanks Livingleanlivingclean and Sijomial
Its really nice of you to type so much and I really appreciate it cos I was so confused.

@Livingleanlivingclean :
I dont have access to a bench or bars as of now. But I understand I need to increase the weight instead of just doing insane amount of reps.
Recomp sounds great.Ill look it up soon.
And i will be looking at ways to spike up my protein intake; maybe even get a protein powder.
Thanks a ton

@Sijomial :
Thanks Got it.... Lesser sets, more weight. Ill try that today onwards. Also ill increase my workouts (each muscle group) per week to two as of now (3-time permitting)
I can definitely add more weight to my leg press if i do lesser reps. But over 2kg dumbells seems v v v difficult for me. Ill give it a shot with 3kgs, 6-8reps maybe.

New strategy from today
More wts, less reps and more protein

livingleanlivingclean

What do you do with dumbells?

You could do chest press, flys, shoulder press, lat raise, side raise, upright rows, bent over rows, front raise, rear delt raise, bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, skull crushers, overhead extensions.... Some you may use light weight for, others you should be able to go heavier

LiftAndBalance

Get a beginner's strength programme and follow that. Especially as a beginner, you will see much better results than when you make up your own stuff. Nia Shanks has a dumbbell and bodyweight only programme. You can also pick a barbell beginner programme and adjust it (good input for that here) but as a total beginner it might be easier to just get a dumbbell routine and follow it as written. Also, full-body workouts tend to give you more bang for your buck, as a beginner you really don't need splits and lots of isolation work.

ETA: Or look into bodyweight training. Nia Shanks also has stuff for that, or you could look into "Body by You", as well as "Convict Conditioning" and Al Kavadlo's stuff.