Am I Doing Everything Wrong?!?
JustinAnimal
Posts: 1,335 Member
I should maybe also post this in fitness, but am looking for nutrition advice first.
Here's what I am going for and what I do:
Goal: Lose weight (205 down to 190 lbs.) while putting on, or at least maintaining, muscle mass
Fitness: I lift three days / week, used to be stronglifts, but not a variety ranging from new rules to strong lifts (mostly compound lifts; squats every day; bench, row, shoulder press, wide-grip lat pulldown, step-ups, lunges, swissball crunches, prone jackknives are typical)
-I also do 15 minutes of intervals on the bike
-on my "off" days, I run or walk or hike or do an aerobics tape
Nutrition: my goal is currently set at 1650 calories / day, though I typically eat closer to 1800 or so. I get about 100 g of protein. I try to eat lots of green veggies and "superfoods" and I take fish oil and a men's multivitamin and a probiotic
Am I doing it wrong? Is my protein to low to put on muscle mass? Am I not eating enough? For some reason, I suffered a little breakdown today and am not confident with what I'm doing. I REALLY want to lose fat (and quickly) and I really want to gain muscle.
Here's what I am going for and what I do:
Goal: Lose weight (205 down to 190 lbs.) while putting on, or at least maintaining, muscle mass
Fitness: I lift three days / week, used to be stronglifts, but not a variety ranging from new rules to strong lifts (mostly compound lifts; squats every day; bench, row, shoulder press, wide-grip lat pulldown, step-ups, lunges, swissball crunches, prone jackknives are typical)
-I also do 15 minutes of intervals on the bike
-on my "off" days, I run or walk or hike or do an aerobics tape
Nutrition: my goal is currently set at 1650 calories / day, though I typically eat closer to 1800 or so. I get about 100 g of protein. I try to eat lots of green veggies and "superfoods" and I take fish oil and a men's multivitamin and a probiotic
Am I doing it wrong? Is my protein to low to put on muscle mass? Am I not eating enough? For some reason, I suffered a little breakdown today and am not confident with what I'm doing. I REALLY want to lose fat (and quickly) and I really want to gain muscle.
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Replies
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As you get closer to goal the weight comes off slower and the improvements in the gym are less dramatic. Be patient.0
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JustinAnimal wrote: »I should maybe also post this in fitness, but am looking for nutrition advice first.
Here's what I am going for and what I do:
Goal: Lose weight (205 down to 190 lbs.) while putting on, or at least maintaining, muscle mass
Fitness: I lift three days / week, used to be stronglifts, but not a variety ranging from new rules to strong lifts (mostly compound lifts; squats every day; bench, row, shoulder press, wide-grip lat pulldown, step-ups, lunges, swissball crunches, prone jackknives are typical)
-I also do 15 minutes of intervals on the bike
-on my "off" days, I run or walk or hike or do an aerobics tape
Nutrition: my goal is currently set at 1650 calories / day, though I typically eat closer to 1800 or so. I get about 100 g of protein. I try to eat lots of green veggies and "superfoods" and I take fish oil and a men's multivitamin and a probiotic
Am I doing it wrong? Is my protein to low to put on muscle mass? Am I not eating enough? For some reason, I suffered a little breakdown today and am not confident with what I'm doing. I REALLY want to lose fat (and quickly) and I really want to gain muscle.
Also you can list the green veggies and superfoods you eat?
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Let us know how it goes because generally people that want to lose weight and gain weight at the same time have some pretty interesting stories to tell.0
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neanderthin wrote: »Let us know how it goes because generally people that want to lose weight and gain weight at the same time have some pretty interesting stories to tell.
Thanks for that ultra-helpful remark. I'm asking for advice, so you could simply tell me that it is difficult or impossible to gain muscle and lose weight at the same time. I actually am pretty sure you're wrong on that one, but I truly don't know, hence mya sking for advice.
To answer a previous poster, the "superfoods" I try to eat regularly are kale, spinach, avocado, almonds, flax seeds and lots of other healthy fats and leafy greens. I also eat quite a few eggs, lean proteins (chicken breast, lentils, 99% lean ground turkey).
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You're on the right track. A couple of suggestions -
1) Aim to maintain muscle - you won't gain any meaningful amount on 1800 calories.
2) Increase protein a bit to be safe.0 -
JustinAnimal wrote: »Am I doing it wrong? Is my protein to low to put on muscle mass? Am I not eating enough? For some reason, I suffered a little breakdown today and am not confident with what I'm doing. I REALLY want to lose fat (and quickly) and I really want to gain muscle.
Gaining muscle while cutting weight is kinda hard, possible but hard, you want to make sure that you are using proper form in all your exercises and having proper recovery, this might sound simple but is often times the problem that 95% of guys in the gym struggle with.
For the fat, abdominal fat is hard to loose and requires a good amount of time and perfect nutrition. Due to some gut issues I've been under eating the last month, I have the cut almost all the sugar and I have problems digesting fat so it is obviously making me loose weight, I have seen the lower abs showing a bit more but I still have some fat there covering, so be patient.
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you're doing fine. Numbers look solid.
Focus more on maintaining muscle mass rather than trying to put on muscle mass- it's not going to happen really as you move downward on the scale.
- 1600-1800 looks like a good goal to shoot for for someone at your activity level.
It takes time so just keep pushing forward.0 -
Thank you guys, I appreciate the encouragement and I won't expect huge gains in the muscle department. Shooting for that six pack, we'll see...0
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JustinAnimal wrote: »neanderthin wrote: »Let us know how it goes because generally people that want to lose weight and gain weight at the same time have some pretty interesting stories to tell.
Thanks for that ultra-helpful remark. I'm asking for advice, so you could simply tell me that it is difficult or impossible to gain muscle and lose weight at the same time. I actually am pretty sure you're wrong on that one, but I truly don't know, hence mya sking for advice.
To answer a previous poster, the "superfoods" I try to eat regularly are kale, spinach, avocado, almonds, flax seeds and lots of other healthy fats and leafy greens. I also eat quite a few eggs, lean proteins (chicken breast, lentils, 99% lean ground turkey).0 -
i sure wish i could afford more seeds. love me some chia in my oatmeal. i do almond milk with my smoothies and Greek yogurt, too. thanks for the awesome suggestions. just a point of clarification: did you say don't cook the quinoa? How do you eat that? Straight? stirred into things? Great suggestions!0
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There are some serious tradeoffs to be made between the rate of fat loss and how well you can retain muscle (or gain it). That said the bar should tell you. If you are gaining strength you should be able to get it done, especially if you're quite new to lifting. Also are you doing any macro cycling? You probably wan to keep your carbs up around the lifting and cut them elsewhere.
Try reading this post by Layne Norton on setting up a cutting diet.
If you're happy to spend then Tom Venuto has a program on it0 -
JustinAnimal wrote: »i sure wish i could afford more seeds. love me some chia in my oatmeal. i do almond milk with my smoothies and Greek yogurt, too. thanks for the awesome suggestions. just a point of clarification: did you say don't cook the quinoa? How do you eat that? Straight? stirred into things? Great suggestions!
Also you don't have to cook quinoa if the bag says it has been pre washed which should be at costco. The reason you don't cook it because it reduces its nutrition value, Also you could mix it with cereal, maybe some yogurt, little salad, and etc. Use your mind Also I wouldn't do smoothies, juice or shakes since it destroys the fiber and some of the nutrition value that your body needs. You get the best doing it raw without cooking or processing (don't apply this to meat, rice, pasta shells, or potatoes) It is best if you do that way if you losing weight or trying to get peak health. However, it should be fine if you do it for a once in awhile cheat thing like...... treat it as a victory thing for losing a few lbs in a week but still eat healthy on that day too.
Info on Nutrition needs:
https://www.consumerlab.com/rdas/
http://whfoods.org/nutrientstoc.php
http://nutritiondata.self.com/0 -
So very much appreciated, all. Keep the comments coming, if you have them. I'm slowly making these changes (and considering a costco card for the seeds and their awesome-quality meats). I've upped my protein to about 160-170 g / day and my calories to 1950-2100. I actually added weight to my squat, row, lat pull-downs and shoulder press yesterday, probably indicating that I'm new enough to lifting, but maybe also making small gains.0
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