Frustrated and well, confused. Seemed to have hit a wall.

Givememyflatbelly
Givememyflatbelly Posts: 9
edited September 19 in Introduce Yourself
Hello All,

Firstly I want to say hi to all the members here, I stumbled upon this website using google because well I'm feeling a tad lost at the moment. Firstly let me tell you my story.

Around October last year (2007) I decided to casually go to the gym. At this time I weighed around 18stone, I am around 5'11 and have a more stocky build. As a child I used to swim competitively and quit when I was around 15. Out of this I had the hunger of a swimmer, and broad shoulders was a frontcrawl butterfly swimmer.

As of that point it went down hill for me, Gradually put on weight, Worked at macdonalds to get me through college which didnt help and generally ate crap.

Fast forward to last year and im 27 now something clicked in my head and I was fed up with my unfit fatty life. I am a IT Network Technician, so most of my day im on my *kitten*...so I joined a gym and it didnt as such go anywhere, I think i lost a pound. After Xmas, I looked at my diet and made tons of changes. I stopped buying lunch at work, started taking my own, stopped eating crisps and started eating fruit and veg. Hell i went all out and tried to get a regular breakfast in me.

My weight started to drop and by April I was 17 stone. On top of this, I was able to run. I've never really been able to run. weird as it sounds to some more than a 2 min jog would kill me. Now i was running for a whole 10 minutes, to me this was a great fitness achievement. By end of May I was 16.2 Stone.

I even cut caffeine completely out my life, I only drink decaf now in both coffee and tea. Im not a fizzy drinker really so I may have a bottle of coke a month.

My diet changed again in June , No more sandwiches for me during lunch, I have a sandwich box of mixed salad, no dressing, and a small tub of Brown rice and a piece of fruit normally a Banana

I changed my workout, to which i do atleast 3 times a week, not normally more than 5 times though.

My work out is done after work, around 5:15pm till 7pm
Firstly I do cardio,
20min run on no gradiant @ 7mph / 10-15min run on a 4% gradiant @6 mph
10min Bike Machine, level 6, Hill profile Aiming for atleast a 6km distance
10min X trainer, level 6, Hill Profile I aim to get my rpm about 80 throughout this workout.

Then I go to my Toning/weight training. I have a stocky build anyway so not really looking to build mass, more just tone what i already got.
Here I have 3 circuits. 1 for tri/bi. 1 for chest and back and finally a leg/shoulders workout.

I do my Circuits and add a 5 min run around the middle of this to keep my heartrate and blood flowing.

I try to keep to a regular food plan too...

7am - A bowl of muesli with 2 desert spoons of low fat natural yoghurt
10/11am - Box of salad, Normally a portion of lettuce, a few baby tomatoes, slices of cucumber, couple of carrots, a stick of celery and a few slices of a pepper.
2pm - Small tub of brown rice with a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce to give it flavour
3pm - Banana
Around 7pm after the gym I will have my dinner. this obviously varies but I try to keep out of fatty foods or carbs such as chips.

I drink approx 5-6 cups of tea/coffee a day to which is decaf and using semi skimmed milk. I regulary drink water, probably covering that 2L a day thing.

My Shopping bill has increase (great) because im making EVERYTHING these days, no more cooking sauces I make the lot. Food tastes great.

A few things thou. Since this diet I can no longer eat apples. they give me incredible stomach pains that can last days.

After my salad, I am always REALLY hungry, hungrier than before i ate the salad....I eat my banana or rice to see if that helps and I'm still hungry, drinking water doesnt seem to change much either. I've sometime brought a sandwich, which makes me feel bloated and sick.

My weight floats at the moment between 15.8 and 16.4 stone week to week, but my belly just isnt shifting. what else can I do?

Many thanks

Replies

  • Givememyflatbelly
    Givememyflatbelly Posts: 9
    Hello All,

    Firstly I want to say hi to all the members here, I stumbled upon this website using google because well I'm feeling a tad lost at the moment. Firstly let me tell you my story.

    Around October last year (2007) I decided to casually go to the gym. At this time I weighed around 18stone, I am around 5'11 and have a more stocky build. As a child I used to swim competitively and quit when I was around 15. Out of this I had the hunger of a swimmer, and broad shoulders was a frontcrawl butterfly swimmer.

    As of that point it went down hill for me, Gradually put on weight, Worked at macdonalds to get me through college which didnt help and generally ate crap.

    Fast forward to last year and im 27 now something clicked in my head and I was fed up with my unfit fatty life. I am a IT Network Technician, so most of my day im on my *kitten*...so I joined a gym and it didnt as such go anywhere, I think i lost a pound. After Xmas, I looked at my diet and made tons of changes. I stopped buying lunch at work, started taking my own, stopped eating crisps and started eating fruit and veg. Hell i went all out and tried to get a regular breakfast in me.

    My weight started to drop and by April I was 17 stone. On top of this, I was able to run. I've never really been able to run. weird as it sounds to some more than a 2 min jog would kill me. Now i was running for a whole 10 minutes, to me this was a great fitness achievement. By end of May I was 16.2 Stone.

    I even cut caffeine completely out my life, I only drink decaf now in both coffee and tea. Im not a fizzy drinker really so I may have a bottle of coke a month.

    My diet changed again in June , No more sandwiches for me during lunch, I have a sandwich box of mixed salad, no dressing, and a small tub of Brown rice and a piece of fruit normally a Banana

    I changed my workout, to which i do atleast 3 times a week, not normally more than 5 times though.

    My work out is done after work, around 5:15pm till 7pm
    Firstly I do cardio,
    20min run on no gradiant @ 7mph / 10-15min run on a 4% gradiant @6 mph
    10min Bike Machine, level 6, Hill profile Aiming for atleast a 6km distance
    10min X trainer, level 6, Hill Profile I aim to get my rpm about 80 throughout this workout.

    Then I go to my Toning/weight training. I have a stocky build anyway so not really looking to build mass, more just tone what i already got.
    Here I have 3 circuits. 1 for tri/bi. 1 for chest and back and finally a leg/shoulders workout.

    I do my Circuits and add a 5 min run around the middle of this to keep my heartrate and blood flowing.

    I try to keep to a regular food plan too...

    7am - A bowl of muesli with 2 desert spoons of low fat natural yoghurt
    10/11am - Box of salad, Normally a portion of lettuce, a few baby tomatoes, slices of cucumber, couple of carrots, a stick of celery and a few slices of a pepper.
    2pm - Small tub of brown rice with a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce to give it flavour
    3pm - Banana
    Around 7pm after the gym I will have my dinner. this obviously varies but I try to keep out of fatty foods or carbs such as chips.

    I drink approx 5-6 cups of tea/coffee a day to which is decaf and using semi skimmed milk. I regulary drink water, probably covering that 2L a day thing.

    My Shopping bill has increase (great) because im making EVERYTHING these days, no more cooking sauces I make the lot. Food tastes great.

    A few things thou. Since this diet I can no longer eat apples. they give me incredible stomach pains that can last days.

    After my salad, I am always REALLY hungry, hungrier than before i ate the salad....I eat my banana or rice to see if that helps and I'm still hungry, drinking water doesnt seem to change much either. I've sometime brought a sandwich, which makes me feel bloated and sick.

    My weight floats at the moment between 15.8 and 16.4 stone week to week, but my belly just isnt shifting. what else can I do?

    Many thanks
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    It's hard to know by just looking at your meal and exercise plan, but. . .

    it really looks like you're not taking in enough food, particularly lean protein. Your workouts are fairly intense (at least on paper).

    I would recommend you follow the guidelines here at MFP. I think you're hungry because you're . . .hungry.
  • cp005e
    cp005e Posts: 1,495 Member
    First off, congratulations on the positive changes that you have already made! And welcome to MFP - you've found a great community here.

    My first suggestion is to try and figure out how many calories you are eating on a typical day. Really measure out your portions and add it all up. Especially given the workouts you are doing, you need to make sure that you are getting enough calories. Your diet sounds a little restrictive to me, unless you are eating quite a bit more at dinner. I would be inclined to add some bulk to that lunchtime salad - for example, some beans or chickpeas, a few nuts, a little cheese, and/or a bit of olive oil vinaigrette. You are probably feeling hungry because your lunch has almost no calories!

    Read some of the posts for newbies in the general discussion forum, as well as "THE answers to THE questions" - there's a lot of good information in there. Welcome! :flowerforyou:
  • connieq288
    connieq288 Posts: 1,102 Member
    Just a question.... How much is a stone?

    Connie
  • Givememyflatbelly
    Givememyflatbelly Posts: 9
    hey,

    1 stone = 14 pounds

    I just filled in my consumption for today

    Total: 1,130 152 17 46
    Your Daily Goal: 2,360 324 79 88
    Remaining: 1,230 172 62 42

    whoa..... I think i need to look at my lunch ::frown:
  • GoGetterMom
    GoGetterMom Posts: 852 Member
    Thanks for sharing your story. I too was a swimmer! Miss those days... You said you do cardio before you do strength training - my trainer has been adamant that I should lift BEFORE I do my hour run. I typically do strength training 3 times a week, but cardio 6+.

    Long story short, the trainer has told me it is about how your muscles need what they've stored to work at their best and if you cardio after, you wont be burning muscle tissue - you will be burning fat. The other thing he was really adamant was that I needed to have some quality lean protein (minimal carbs - NOT no carbs) before the workout. Shakes have really helped me. I have lost a lot this last year, but since beginning to using this site this week have lost 3 in 3 days.

    Remember - everyone plateaus and we have to work through it.

    Good luck & keep up the good work!!!
  • hnlymark
    hnlymark Posts: 191
    Another thing to watch out for; if you are eating too little all day and then have a blow out dinner to catch up this is not good. I second the recommendation to read some of banks1850's posts; he seems to really have the science down and can explain it quite well. The upshot, though, seems to be that your body can only use so much at a time and the rest gets stored as fat. So eating only what the body can use in small meals adding up to your daily needs seems to be the way to go.
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