Should I care?

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griff7809
griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The scale hasn't moved since mid Jun (230 lbs.)

My standard week consist of the following:

Every other day I lift, full body, 30 sec rest periods.
3 sets of 8-12 reps.
2 x chest
2 x back
2 x biceps
2 x triceps
5 x legs
1 x ab machine
1 x back extension

I always give a 48 hour rest period between lifts.

In between lift days I either run (usually a 5k @ 9-10 min pace) or I lap swim for 30 minutes.
My caloric intake varies between 1600-2000 per day.

In the last couple of days, I've started to lap swim in the mornings and either run or lift in the evenings to see if this will jump start my weight loss. I rarely care about what the scale has to say because I like to focus on how my clothes fit. But I haven't seen results in either the scale or my jeans in a while:grumble: . However, my shirts are getting tighter (in the right places). :happy:

(Note)This is not my first time incorporating 2 a-days. When I'm home, I typically ran (5k) in the mornings and lifted at lunch time switching things up with riding my mountain bike to work (5 miles one way).

Any expert advice is appreciated, thank you for reading. :smile:

-Griff
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Replies

  • danimumof2
    danimumof2 Posts: 16 Member
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    try having a cheat day with your food, you will be surprised what that can do when you get back on track. you probably are building muscle so don't dispare yet
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    I completely disagree about the cheat day.

    Sounds like you've got a good exercise plan. Exercise will help you tone and get healthy, but not lose weight per se.

    Are you measuring carefully, weighing everything, and hitting appropriate net calorie goals? That's how you lose weight.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    I completely disagree about the cheat day.

    Sounds like you've got a good exercise plan. Exercise will help you tone and get healthy, but not lose weight per se.

    Are you measuring carefully, weighing everything, and hitting appropriate net calorie goals? That's how you lose weight.
    this ^^

    can you share you diary, so we can see what's going on?
  • SniffTheSweat
    SniffTheSweat Posts: 23
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    The more I read the more perplexed I've been. Your eating is fine, if inconsistent. I find it interesting that a military man isn't drinking much booze though, you teetotal or not counting it?

    I think you may be doing a lot of intense work outs but avoiding longer cardio. What you do is really good, except it's all the same. Do you have the time to mix in a longer but less intense cardio workout in? A long bike ride, something like that?
    Edit: my idea of a long bike ride is 30 miles +
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
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    What do you have your weight loss goal set at?

    You may need to up your calories a little bit - you're actually doing pretty intense workouts. Are you using a heart rate monitor?

    I remember back when I was nearer to my goal I actually had to drop down to .5lbs a week because I was doing aerobics or lifting daily, running a 5k daily, an then hiking/biking on my off days. It simply wasn't enough food when I had MFP set to 2 or even 1 lb a week, so I wasn't seeing any weight loss. Dropping it down actually got things moving again.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    The more I read the more perplexed I've been. Your eating is fine, if inconsistent. I find it interesting that a military man isn't drinking much booze though, you teetotal or not counting it?

    I think you may be doing a lot of intense work outs but avoiding longer cardio. What you do is really good, except it's all the same. Do you have the time to mix in a longer but less intense cardio workout in? A long bike ride, something like that?
    Edit: my idea of a long bike ride is 30 miles +

    Great advice, thank you. I actually don't drink very often...last beer was over two months ago.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    What do you have your weight loss goal set at?

    You may need to up your calories a little bit - you're actually doing pretty intense workouts. Are you using a heart rate monitor?

    I remember back when I was nearer to my goal I actually had to drop down to .5lbs a week because I was doing aerobics or lifting daily, running a 5k daily, an then hiking/biking on my off days. It simply wasn't enough food when I had MFP set to 2 or even 1 lb a week, so I wasn't seeing any weight loss. Dropping it down actually got things moving again.

    My ultimate weight loss goal is a 30 lb. loss. However, I really don't care about my weight per se. What I do care about is being able to take my shirt off in public and not be embarassed to do so. I have a heart rate monitor but rarely use it. I can definitely start! thanks for the advice...good stuff!
  • stt43
    stt43 Posts: 487
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    It doesn't really matter too much what exercise you are doing or what you are eating as long as you are using up more calories than you are taking in. As long as you stay in a caloric deficit (typically something like 200-1000 calories less than you need per day) then the weight will go, sometimes it just takes a little more patience.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    My BMR is right at 2000 calories per day. I typically burn 500-1000 a day so I feel I'm already at a significant deficit.
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Your program outline is extremely vague. I have no idea what exercises you're doing and what % of 1RM. Have your lifts stalled? What lifts are you even doing? I'm inclined to say your program is *kitten* but I don't even have enough info to say that yet.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    Your program outline is extremely vague. I have no idea what exercises you're doing and what % of 1RM. Have your lifts stalled? What lifts are you even doing? I'm inclined to say your program is *kitten* but I don't even have enough info to say that yet.

    Sorry I was vague. Basically, I'm not new at all to working out and vary the types of exercises quite often (workout to workout). The list I gave was to identify the muscle groups I was working and duration of rest.

    To use chest as an example: Monday may be flat barbell press and cable cross overs, but wednesday may be incline press and dumbell pullovers. Doest that make sense? I vary the exercises but ensure I perform two exercises per muscle group in my whole body lift. To answer your question, my lifts haven't stalled. Does this help? I appreciate your input.
  • SniffTheSweat
    SniffTheSweat Posts: 23
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    np Griff, small ancetode to illustrate why I said longer cardio.

    When I first started cycling I used to do a 1 hour intense ride, all the time. I came back exhausted everytime even after 2-3 months of doing the same ride/route. I was also getting exhausted maintaining 18mph over 1 hour (flat ground effort -> speed).

    When I started riding longer distances, my speed initially dropped but because I gave myself the ability to improve (riding hard for 30 miles is different for doing it for 18) as I began to up the ante on the new longer rides not only was I burning more by virtue of cycling for longer, I was also going faster then the intense 1 hour rides despite not reaching the same effort level. I really think that's what you need to do if you want to get out of the plateau. :) goodluck with it.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    great stuff.

    I added a 3rd exercise to my lift last night instead of doing only two exercises per muscle group. I will also add more time to my cardio. I will double it since I usually average about 30 mins of cardio a day (running, swimming, biking). Thanks for the advice!

    -Griff
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    If your BMR is about 2k a day as you reckon, your actual deficit is quite a bit harsher than the 500 cals a day, since you haven't accounted for your activity.

    As such, I'll be the second to recommend a cheat meal. It has helped me previously, when I was on a more severe deficit.
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    If your BMR is about 2k a day as you reckon, your actual deficit is quite a bit harsher than the 500 cals a day, since you haven't accounted for your activity.

    As such, I'll be the second to recommend a cheat meal. It has helped me previously, when I was on a more severe deficit.

    I like food....just sayin!

    Cheat meal sounds good, will plan it for this saturday.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Your program outline is extremely vague. I have no idea what exercises you're doing and what % of 1RM. Have your lifts stalled? What lifts are you even doing? I'm inclined to say your program is *kitten* but I don't even have enough info to say that yet.

    Sorry I was vague. Basically, I'm not new at all to working out and vary the types of exercises quite often (workout to workout). The list I gave was to identify the muscle groups I was working and duration of rest.

    To use chest as an example: Monday may be flat barbell press and cable cross overs, but wednesday may be incline press and dumbell pullovers. Doest that make sense? I vary the exercises but ensure I perform two exercises per muscle group in my whole body lift. To answer your question, my lifts haven't stalled. Does this help? I appreciate your input.

    IMO you would probably benefit from three day a week total body work out. ...something where you hit legs/arms/back/shoulders/tris on M W Fri with cardio on off days...

    Are you familiar with compound lifts - squats, deadlifts, overhead press, pull-up/chin up, etc? If now, learn them and then incorporate them into your routine...

    After like three months of the total bod you could more to an upper/lower split four days a week like Mon - upper/tues - lower / wens off or cardio/ thurs - upper/friday - lower...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    also, are you drinking a lot of water? If you are working out that much if could be water retention ..you can hold anywhere from five to eight pounds of water weight...if you drink a crap ton of water - talking pissing A LOT - it will help you flush out the water retention..I did this about three weeks ago and went from 181 to 176 in like one week just from releasing water weight...
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    @ndj


    Extremely valid, I'm probably not drinking enough water. Additionally, I am familiar with compound lifts. I can't squat due to a severe groin pull some years back but the others I incorporate already. I'm not a fan of dead lifts (no good reason...just don't like them) and could definitely perform them more often. Thank you for your input it is very much appreciated!

    -Griff
  • fooninie
    fooninie Posts: 291 Member
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    Just going to say that OP is super polite and it's refreshing.

    I agree with ndj1979. New moves, and water, water, water! Good luck!
  • griff7809
    griff7809 Posts: 611 Member
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    Just going to say that OP is super polite and it's refreshing.

    I agree with ndj1979. New moves, and water, water, water! Good luck!

    Thank you! I won't lie, it wasn't easy, in my opinion if you ask for advice...be prepared to get it from all "sides".

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