Feel like I'm failing...

drwaddy

Ok so, I started working out about 3 weeks ago, april 10th, and before that I was trying to watch my calories and keep them in the 2500 range for a guy my size that actually pretty good. I was struggling, there were still days I popped over 3000 but I was making progress, since I've started working out, I've lost all my progress...

When I was just watching what I ate, and by no means was I dieting just cutting out calories... I lost about 9 pounds in 2 months...

Since starting my workout, I've lost 0 pounds and 0 inches off my belly / waist... I have however gained quite a bit of muscle, which is nice, and yes I know it weighs more than fat, but no inches off my belly / waist is demoralizing...

I started looking at my diet more carefully, I'm consistently hitting just under my calorie limit, since I work out 6 hours a week I'm able to afford to eat around 3000 calories a day without going over my 2500 limit. However, my sodium in take was 2 to 3x the recommended daily amount... I've been told that sodium can really hinder weight loss due to stuff I barely understand... Something about triglycerides not being able to drain because of water retention or something.

I'm consistently half or lower on my daily potassium in take and I struggle a lot to get enough fiber...

I'm trying to maintain 1 gram of lean body mass which I calculated at around 220 pounds which has me drinking 3 protein shakes a day, 6 scoops of the protein powder, and is giving me insane bloating, which pretty much makes me uncomfortable the entire day...

Should I just stop worrying as much about the things like sodium / fiber / potassium and just try to watch my calories as much as possible while continuing my workouts, or are these things really worth completely giving up all junk foods?

drwaddy

Anyone else having these issues?

terbusha

It sounds like you need to do some re-evaluating on your nutrition. It sounds like you're eating back the calories you are burning during exercise. I do not do this. I do my workouts 5-7 days/week and focus on hitting the calorie goal that allows me to drop 1-2 lbs/week. I do not log my exercise. I push hard during my workouts and trust that I get my good average calorie burn. Do you have specific macro goals? Also, I would not be taking that many protein supplements during the day. Like you said, it can make you bloated and uncomfortable. I try to get as much of my protein from actual food as possible.

What does your diet look like? Are you still having "junk food" and just keeping calories somewhat in line?

Allan

Pinkranger626

A couple suggestions for you:

1. Find your BMR and your TDEE. I was making myself nuts with the whole adding back exercise calories etc. the way MFP is set up. So what I do now is just log my food, I keep track of my workouts on a different tracker altogether. I found it much easier to comprehend hitting a steady calorie goal with my activity level already figured into it rather than trying to conatcntly be in flux.

2. What kind of protein shake are you drinking? Personally I find getting my protein through food sources much more satisfying and I don't get the protein bloat and gas that comes with shakes. Maybe try upping your food protein and backing down to one shake a day if you need to supplement. The brand of protein can make a huge difference too. If you're taking a weight gainer then you won't lose weight... they're ridiculously high in calories, not to mention a lot of them have all sorts of added junk that can cause other side effects. For example- True Mass has 600 calories in the 3 scoops, and that's if you mix it with water. typically you won't have burned 600 calories in your workout unless you were doing some sort of endurance sport.

drwaddy

I'm using dymatize - iso 100 it has 100 calories per scoop, and 28 grams of protein. I like the shakes because what I would normally eat, like turkey bacon - eggs - sausage - ham all have either more calories or RIDICULOUS amounts of sodium.

If I'm eating too many calories, I can fix that, if you're say MFP isn't very accurate about the calories I'm burning. It's saying I'm at about a 1000 calorie defecit every day based on my size, but I can reduce that by cutting some of the junk.

I would LOVE to just eat eggs / bacon / sausage / ham and save 1 meal a day to just go out and be bad but stay under my calorie limit, however my sodium would be like 2 to 3 x the daily amount and my potassium / fiber would suffer.