Almost one month in. Need help

JennyBB125

My goal with fitness pal is to lose a few pounds and get a nice flat tummy and put on some muscle instead of the "softness" that I have now. The areas I'm concentrating on are below my belly button and love handles. I have lost a few pounds in a few weeks but I started reading and a lot of articles that says to increase calories a bit to start building muscle, so I went from 1300 to 1450 calories a day.I noticed the area under my belly button has flattened out a bit and I feel stronger and healthier over all. I do cardio everyday-either minimum 30 minutes to 65 minutes on the elliptical (5-6x/week) followed by strength training. Arms and legs one day, abs and back another day, some days pilates and ball exercises but seeing no change in my love handles/sides. I'm going away in mid March and was hoping my body would start changing by now. Im a tall girl (5'7" and 126 lbs) but not heavy and I have lanky arms so I dont expect much weight to melt off but the scale hasnt moved in a week or two and it would sometimes be a pound less within a couple days. I know I'm working my muscles because I'm usually sore after increasing my weights. I've been following a 1400 calorie diet and don't eat anything horrible (no fast food, I dont eat cookies and cake every night) although I cheated this week because it was my birthday. I know most people are going to say Im putting on muscle hence the no weight loss but SHOULDN"T I BE SEEING A CHANGE IN MY BODY BY NOW (MUSCLE-WISE)? Im getting a little discouraged that all my hard work is for nothing but I dont want to give up. I have 42 days to hopefully see an improvement. I have increased my protein a lot compared to what I was eating before. I take in about 90 g protein a day and thats trying really hard. I know Im supposed to be taking in 125g to maintain my muscle as it is. Not sure how interested I am in powder Whey Protein. ehh.

Any suggestions?

Decrease my calories?
Continue what Im doing?
Increase my strength training and decrease my cardio???

I feel like there is still some fat to come off so I was hoping thats what my cardio will help with...

Alice_H

You need to up your protein intake. Muscles like protein. I think the balance MFP has fat/protein/carbs is skewed way too heavily for carbs.

Have you read any Primal/Paleo eating strategies? Take a look at this: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-to-the-primal-eating-plan/#axzz1krupVAI9 . See if it makes any sense to you - if it does, I'd encourage taking a look around there. A lot of people (myself included) who have had no luck changing their body makeup or with losing weight have had luck with restructuring their food intake to higher protein, higher fat, lower carb. The difference between Primal/Paleo and Atkins is that Primal/Paleo encourages eating vegetables and, to a lesser degree than veggies, fruits. That's where your carbs should be coming from, not from pastas and breads.

ETA: And BTW, you can change the nutrient balance by clicking the Home tab, underneath that click Goals, and then click the button for Change Goals.

Gordie580

I agree with Alice, I am sort of following paleo with the protein intake, and making strides.

janesmith1

I can't vouch for the paleo thing as I'm not on it, but possibly increasing your protein could be a good thing.

I would say to up your abs to daily or 2x per day, I also have the worst abs ever and I find that if I start doing abs daily there are changes, good ones. You can do abs every single day, they don't need to "rest" like other muscles.

I found this article by an expert:

http://www.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_60/75_fitness_tip.html

read the abs exercises they recommend. Weighted sit ups sound good.

Alice_H

I should probably mention - I spent YEARS trying to lose weight on a 1400 calorie diet that wasn't carb-limited. I was barely able to maintain weight, and if I had a few days when I indulged, I'd gain weight. Switched to Primal, lost 20 pounds in five months, and just FELT better - I wasn't able to drink coffee the way I used to because I had too much energy, I slept better, felt stronger, etc.

ETA:
____

My cholesterol also dropped 40 points, and I was able to drop my thyroid medication dosage my 25 mcg.
____

Then Thanksgiving showed up, and Christmas, and New Years, and I went off the wagon (not overeating, just making wheat-based food a regular part of my diet), and I gained almost all that weight back.

janesmith1

That's very interesting Alice. I haven't spent years but I've lost 40# eating as much pasta and bread as I want within my calorie range and I have been here the entire year. In fact, I've recently started losing again, the only reason I did not lose was not counting calories, which is why I'm here, counting calories works for weight loss.

And I've been here since Jan 2011 as you can see.

Alice_H

That's very interesting Alice. I haven't spent years but I've lost 40# eating as much pasta and bread as I want within my calorie range and I have been here the entire year. In fact, I've recently started losing again, the only reason I did not lose was not counting calories, which is why I'm here, counting calories works for weight loss.

I'm happy for you that just counting calories works for you. Unfortunately, just counting calories didn't work for me. I have years of food journals to prove it. I have thousands of dollars spent on Weight Watchers and personal trainers and dieticians to prove it.

The bottom line, though, is that Jenny asked how to build muscle, and you can't build muscle from carbs.

jadedone

My goal with fitness pal is to lose a few pounds and get a nice flat tummy and put on some muscle instead of the "softness" that I have now. The areas I'm concentrating on are below my belly button and love handles. I have lost a few pounds in a few weeks but I started reading and a lot of articles that says to increase calories a bit to start building muscle, so I went from 1300 to 1450 calories a day.I noticed the area under my belly button has flattened out a bit and I feel stronger and healthier over all. I do cardio everyday-either minimum 30 minutes to 65 minutes on the elliptical (5-6x/week) followed by strength training. Arms and legs one day, abs and back another day, some days pilates and ball exercises but seeing no change in my love handles/sides. I'm going away in mid March and was hoping my body would start changing by now. Im a tall girl (5'7" and 126 lbs) but not heavy and I have lanky arms so I dont expect much weight to melt off but the scale hasnt moved in a week or two and it would sometimes be a pound less within a couple days. I know I'm working my muscles because I'm usually sore after increasing my weights. I've been following a 1400 calorie diet and don't eat anything horrible (no fast food, I dont eat cookies and cake every night) although I cheated this week because it was my birthday. I know most people are going to say Im putting on muscle hence the no weight loss but SHOULDN"T I BE SEEING A CHANGE IN MY BODY BY NOW (MUSCLE-WISE)? Im getting a little discouraged that all my hard work is for nothing but I dont want to give up. I have 42 days to hopefully see an improvement. I have increased my protein a lot compared to what I was eating before. I take in about 90 g protein a day and thats trying really hard. I know Im supposed to be taking in 125g to maintain my muscle as it is. Not sure how interested I am in powder Whey Protein. ehh.

Any suggestions?

Decrease my calories?
Continue what Im doing?
Increase my strength training and decrease my cardio???

I feel like there is still some fat to come off so I was hoping thats what my cardio will help with...

My 2 cents? You don't actually have weight to lose. You just need more tone. You are a the low end for your height. More weights, less cardio, more protein and your composition should change so you look the way you want.

nailed479

^^^ what jade said and I would also at more protein

JennyBB125

do you you thing my body should be changing after one month?