Losing weight not fat

bex1086
bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Despite me lifting weights, running, doing a ton of daily walking and cutting my calories.

I've lost 7kg since January but I don't think I've lost any fat.

I'm following my own weight lifting programme which is 3 sets of 10 reps at the heaviest weight I can handle. I do push, pull, legs over 3 days and add 0.5kg each time. It's not a lot but because of the high reps it can't be.

I run 3 days a week and take part in races through the spring/summer/early autumn. This year I will have done 3x10K and a half marathon in an actual race setting. Training runs are set for me 3 days a week by my running coach.

I set my calories based on a 300 deficit from maintainance so at the moment I'm on 1600, I've just upped them from 1450 because I'm running further and further now and my weights are getting heavier.

It's seriously depressing that I'm still as flabby as I ever have been. I've been lifting weights over several years but it's impossible to stay 100% dedicated. I just started doing it then the gyms closed in 2020, picked it back up when they opened but they closed again.

I restarted again when they opened in 2021 and completed the Stronglifts programme over 12 weeks.

Somehow since then I ended up back at square one and I'm working my way back up again especially because I've swapped to higher reps, I've had to drop the weight.

My long term plan is to do 3x10 progressive lifting for 3 months then take my finishing weights and stay with them for 3 months. Then switch for 3 months to 3x5 heavy weights with the starting weight at my heaviest high rep weight and then do 3 months of staying at the same weight.

I have small children and I work so I'm doing really well to get there 3 days a week but if we go on holiday I have to take time off which sets me back. If we go out for a day on my gym day it's not always possible to reschedule so I miss a day. If I'm sick/injured I have time off which I can't afford to take but I don't have a lot of choice.

I get people complimenting me on how well I'm doing with the weight loss but I'm like you don't see what's under my clothes, they don't see what I see every day.

I'm not giving up, I will keep going but I just don't know if I'm doing it right. All the stuff I've read about fat loss says to keep the deficit to 200-300, lift progressively and keep active and I'm doing all of that but not seeing any difference.

My age and height are also stacked against me, I'm almost 38 and short!!

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Replies

  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    You can see from the pic that I definitely don't look like I've been lifting weights, there is no definition there at all.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,327 Member
    You are being far to hard on yourself. You look great. I am sure you want more definition, but that take time. Also, it is highly unlikely that the weight you lost is all muscle. It is far more likely be to mainly fat and water. You are at a point where patience will be your best resource. Things will be slow, but they will progress.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,826 Member
    edited July 2
    I highly doubt you haven't been losing fat if you've lost 7kg in half a year and been doing strength training. Have you been measuring yourself?

    Seeing progress is a whole different animal entirely, our brains are lying liars that lie.

    PS: age stacked against you at 38 years old, please 😉 you're in your prime, and you look great by the way.
  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    I'm upping my weight every time I get my 10×10, I was doing 3x10 then 3x11 then 3x12 then upping it but it's harder to track and I wasn't really feeling any stronger. I only do 12 now if it's a machine or a kettlebell where the jump to the next weight is several kgs.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    bex1086 wrote: »
    I'm upping my weight every time I get my 10×10, I was doing 3x10 then 3x11 then 3x12 then upping it but it's harder to track and I wasn't really feeling any stronger. I only do 12 now if it's a machine or a kettlebell where the jump to the next weight is several kgs.
    There is nothing wrong with that. This is more efficient though (below). As for "not feeling stronger" if you aren't a new lifter that will be slower progress. Consistency is key. 12 reps is 20% more reps than 10 reps btw...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEEyH6JtCqQ
  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    bex1086 wrote: »
    I'm upping my weight every time I get my 10×10, I was doing 3x10 then 3x11 then 3x12 then upping it but it's harder to track and I wasn't really feeling any stronger. I only do 12 now if it's a machine or a kettlebell where the jump to the next weight is several kgs.
    There is nothing wrong with that. This is more efficient though (below). As for "not feeling stronger" if you aren't a new lifter that will be slower progress. Consistency is key. 12 reps is 20% more reps than 10 reps btw...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEEyH6JtCqQ

    That just makes my brain hurt, I understand what they mean but for me it overcomplicates matters and the swapping weights during a session will just take up extra time and I'm already sticking to a tight schedule. Thanks though, will keep it in mind.

    R.e. what I'm doing now would you stick to 10 or do 12?
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    edited July 2
    bex1086 wrote: »
    That just makes my brain hurt, I understand what they mean but for me it overcomplicates matters and the swapping weights during a session will just take up extra time and I'm already sticking to a tight schedule. Thanks though, will keep it in mind.

    R.e. what I'm doing now would you stick to 10 or do 12?
    Assuming 1-2 mins rest between sets typically, you should have time to adjust weight if needed. It takes seconds to add 5-10 pounds to a barbell. If your lifting sessions are partly cardio too with much shorter rest between sets, then you won't be able to lift as heavy or do as many reps, which will limit muscle growth. Anyway like I said, there's nothing wrong with progressing in a more linear way like you describe. The most important thing is progressing.

    10 or 12 reps makes zero difference, assuming you're 1-2 reps from failure in either case.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,221 Member
    You look pretty damn good.

    Work on progressive overload. Sets of 8 with a certain weight then when you can do 10 easily then raise the weight so you can do 8 then when you can do 10, raise the weight again and continue.

    This won’t continue indefinitely so when the weight is just no longer able to go up raise reps to 12. Also do some days with heavier weights at 6 reps.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,217 Member
    Those 2 pictures are the same, are they not?
  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    bex1086 wrote: »
    That just makes my brain hurt, I understand what they mean but for me it overcomplicates matters and the swapping weights during a session will just take up extra time and I'm already sticking to a tight schedule. Thanks though, will keep it in mind.

    R.e. what I'm doing now would you stick to 10 or do 12?
    Assuming 1-2 mins rest between sets typically, you should have time to adjust weight if needed. It takes seconds to add 5-10 pounds to a barbell. If your lifting sessions are partly cardio too with much shorter rest between sets, then you won't be able to lift as heavy or do as many reps, which will limit muscle growth. Anyway like I said, there's nothing wrong with progressing in a more linear way like you describe. The most important thing is progressing.

    10 or 12 reps makes zero difference, assuming you're 1-2 reps from failure in either case.

    OK great, I'll stick with what I'm doing then for 12 solid weeks hopefully and go from there.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    I agree with others about how great you look, and that gaining strength and muscle takes significant patience . . . but is worth that effort.

    I'd add this about losing 7kg since January, but thinking there's no fat loss:

    (1) 7kg since January is excellent, and just about a perfect loss rate for someone as relatively slim as you are already.

    (2) Especially if weight loss is new, at least two things can be operating: For one, if there is visceral fat (inside the body cavity) that tends to be lost first. That's a good thing, because it's the most health-threatening fat. But that loss won't show as much on the outside. Second, we women tend to have a thin layer of subcutaneous fat over our whole body. If we lose first from that, we may not lose many inches, or see a big difference in clothes fit or visually. It's like peeling the outer layer off an onion: That first layer doesn't make the onion look significantly smaller. Same deal with that all-over fat loss, even though the loss is significant in kg.

    (3) It can take a surprisingly long time, IME (and as reported by others here) to really see our own progress. We tend to look at ourselves and see "me" - the internalized self-image, not the actual external changed self. It took many months after losing around 50 pounds (23kg) for me to see myself as slim. I'd turn sideways to go through small spaces, even though it wasn't necessary. I'd pick out clothes in the store that would turn out to be 2+ sizes too big once in the fitting room. I'd catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror or window reflection, and think it was another person because it didn't look like me. Brains are weird. It takes time.

    Hang in there. You're doing great, taking the right steps. Your most recent post is spot on: Stay the course. You're making good progress!
  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    It doesn't help that I'm frustrated with my progress. I was at a lower weight than I am now 4 years ago but during the lockdowns I gained due to comfort eating/drinking and not moving as much. I lost almost all of it between 2022 and 2023 but I did go a bit rogue towards the back end of last year, slacked off with everything and ate a ton of crap.

    This year I'm hoping to do better, it's been a bit of a bad 3 days for eating, I think it's hormonal and I'm reaching for the bad stuff! I have a lot of running races planned and still keeping my coach so that will keep the training there over the winter and the gym too. It's really hard slotting it all in but I'm finding with a bit of a shuffle it is possible most of the time.

    People I see on a daily basis who are kept up to date on my running progress and who see me in the gym are telling me how well I'm doing so that's a good motivator to not slack off!
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    edited July 4
    bex1086 wrote: »
    It doesn't help that I'm frustrated with my progress. I was at a lower weight than I am now 4 years ago but during the lockdowns...
    You shouldn't focus on bodyweight as much now that you're lifting. Focus on body comp, how your clothes fit, measurements, etc. Google for "recomp same weight" and look at some pics. People can be the same weight as before and look significantly leaner, because they have gained muscle and that's dense compared to fat. Now imagine those same people's after pics with a handful of pounds added, they'll still look much leaner than their before pics.
    bex1086 wrote: »
    and I'm reaching for the bad stuff!
    Put it out of sight, hopefully out of mind. Buy healthier options. e.g. I like Quaker chocolate rice cakes after dinner, gets a chocolate flavor for just 60 calories. The Healthy Choice fudge bars at Costco and Sam's are also good, and just 100 calories.
  • denisfab
    denisfab Posts: 1 Member
    1) you look fine and probably made great progress from where you started. Don’t be so hard on yourself and continue to reach your goals. Remember that you’re doing all the right things (watch calories, fat burn exercises and strength training) which not only give you the look you want but improving your overall internal health drastically.
    2) it seems your ultimate goal was to shed fat AND gain muscle to have a better physique. This Body ‘recomposition’ as it is called, is certainly attainable but not as easy as it first seems. The reason is that exercise and calorie deficit will make you loss weight but does so in shedding fat as well as muscle. There are many articles online about recomposition and a few on myfitness pal blog as well. To add to the problem it’s biologically more difficult for a woman to gain muscle due to her lack of testosterone. But not at all impossible.
    Basics of recomposition:
    Keep counting calories but pay strict attention to macros! Increase protein intake a lot every day especially on weight lifting days. On weight lifting days, don’t worry about calorie deficit too much. Be sure to rest muscle groups for 24 hours before lifting again. On alternate days, do your fat burn aerobics. Be certain to have a calorie deficit on those days with minimizing carb intake in order to burn stored fat.
    3) with respect to macros, be aware of good carbs vs bad carbs AND good fats vs bad fats. Tons of info on this everywhere. This may fine tune the efficiency of you calorie counting while providing a better health path.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    bex1086 wrote: »
    I'm upping my weight every time I get my 10×10, I was doing 3x10 then 3x11 then 3x12 then upping it but it's harder to track and I wasn't really feeling any stronger. I only do 12 now if it's a machine or a kettlebell where the jump to the next weight is several kgs.

    Let me start by saying (repeating, maybe) that you do have muscle definition in your photos. It may not be where you want it to be yet, but it's not absent. You believe you still have fat to lose. I'm not seeing a lot of fat, frankly, but I'll take your word.

    Under that assumption, because of that "all over subcutaneous fat layer" I mentioned we women have, you may have more muscle than you're thinking/seeing. Sometimes reaching the right few pounds down will make definition become more apparent. (Please don't desperately pursue thinness beyond reason to see that, though - as I've seen some women in my real life do, to the detriment of their health. "Pumped" appearance right after a workout can differ from appearance at other times, too.)

    Personal anecdote: I'm a li'l ol' lady, and I was an obese one until losing weight at age 59-60. I was very active athletically, but looked very blobby all over. When I reached the right weight, to my surprise, it turned out that a decade plus of athletic activity had actually built some kinda cute li'l ol' lady muscles: When I reached the right weight, I looked more muscular than the average 60 y/o woman.

    You may similarly see more definition as you both gradually add muscle, and lose a bit more fat at a sensibly slow rate.

    In your OP, you mention doing a program you created yourself. The progression you're doing is similar to the basic progression I was taught (by a power lifter who taught general weight training for fitness here). We started with 3 x 10, then would go to 11, 12, 13, 14 as it got easier. When 14 got too easy, it was add weight and go back to 10 reps. (Other progressions were taught later as you mention in your post; that was the starting version.)

    So, that seems good, and I freely admit Retro knows much more than I do about what's most efficient for muscle development. But if the program in the video seems too complicated/annoying to you, there are other options.

    More specifically, I think you haven't mentioned what lifts are in your self-designed program, other than saying you hit push, pull, legs. The specifics can be really important.

    You might want to share more specifics here to see if some of the more knowledgeable strength trainers here have suggestions. Certainly, a well-designed program is likely to give best results. What you're doing now may be fine, but perhaps there are things to consider on that front.
    denisfab wrote: »
    1)
    (snip)
    Basics of recomposition:
    Keep counting calories but pay strict attention to macros! Increase protein intake a lot every day especially on weight lifting days. On weight lifting days, don’t worry about calorie deficit too much. Be sure to rest muscle groups for 24 hours before lifting again. On alternate days, do your fat burn aerobics. Be certain to have a calorie deficit on those days with minimizing carb intake in order to burn stored fat.
    3) with respect to macros, be aware of good carbs vs bad carbs AND good fats vs bad fats. Tons of info on this everywhere. This may fine tune the efficiency of you calorie counting while providing a better health path.

    Just as an observation, OP doesn't mention doing "fat burn aerobics". She mentions running, in fact a running practice so serious that she has a running coach in addition to competing in races.

    Since she's a serious runner, I think she will want to run on a schedule directed by her running coach. I'd also suggest she'll want to follow her coach's recommendations about fueling strategies on run days.

    For an athlete in a cardiovascular (CV) sport, carbs can be really important, especially carbs on long-run days.

    For a metabolically healthy person (without serious health conditions related to metabolic syndrome for example), it's absolutely unnecessary to limit carbs on days of challenging cardiovascular exercise. Doing so may even be counter-productive.

    A healthy person won't burn materially different amounts of fat (net over time) when eating any reasonable mix of macros, including mixes that include pretty substantial carb intake.

    Exercise burns calories. If there's a calorie deficit on average over time, stored body fat will burn to make up that deficit. What fuel we burn during CV exercise (glycogen vs. fat) is more about the intensity of the exercise. But that fuel mix influences fueling strategies during workouts, not the amount of stored body fat that will be lost overall.

    A carefully-managed low carb regimen can work for some CV athletes, but it's not essential for fat loss, and a low carb approach can compromise performance for some CV athletes.

    As far as "good carbs" vs. "bad carbs" . . . well, that's pretty nuanced. For endurance CV exercise - like people who do longer runs - quick carbs, such as nearly pure sugar, can be "good carbs" during long runs or long races. Complex carbs can be too slow to replenish glycogen stores, and may cause severe digestive distress besides.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,242 Member
    Muscles? Heck yes!
    Definition? Especially for someone not preping for the picture, pumping up, oiling up and all the other lean and pumped photo tricks? Heck yes!
    Quantities of excess fat reserves? Hmm.... having trouble spotting! Maybe i need a new computer glasses prescription?
    Old 38 year olds, snicker snicker, call me in 2044. oh, wait, I might not be around 🤣

    It took me a couple of years to believe that my second leg will fit in my pants without double checking 🤣🤷‍♂️...so yeah, mirrors don't show me the same thing as pictures (esp side by side with other people I know) and neither mirrors nor pictures always show the same thing others see, in both directions
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I see the same picture twice. Did you mean to post a before and after?
  • bex1086
    bex1086 Posts: 85 Member
    Thanks for the input, I'll keep going!

    In answer to some queries my weight routine consists of the compound exercises like deadlifts, rows, squats, bench, OHP with extras like push ups, pull ups, lunges...

    I can't do low low carb, I tried but I get grumpy. Plus I use energy gels etc when doing my long runs especially races.

    Yes it's the same picture, couldn't delete it. I do have a before pic I'll post later.

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