I need to fix my diet

julianpoutram
julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
edited January 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on and off MFP for years, I've managed to shift most of my initial weight, but my body is horrible. I have slender arms and legs and a huge stomach. I'm calling on everyone to suggest the best kind of diet to shift this stomach weight. I have to get rid of it, it's so upsetting to still have it after all the work I've put in.

I walk two hours 3 times a week, gym three times a week (20 mins of running) with weights for main muscle groups. The only decent gains I have is on my legs, I hardly see any muscle growth anywhere else.

Can anyone help me? Places to get hold of recipes, types of eating I should follow? What should I do?

Replies

  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
    You are going to be told you can't spot reduce. Also you can't grow muscle while eating at a deficit. That being said, what are your stats and how long have you consistently followed the gym regime you have outlined here?
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    My first though is to get your cortisol level checked.

    Second, people carry weight differently. If your total body weight is in normal range and you aren't happy then maybe time to try a recomp, or IOW eating at maintenance while lifting heavy and cutting back on the cardio.
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
    Do you drink alcohol? A lot? Lots of sugary desserts? How much protein are you getting. You are not logging.
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    I am about 202lbs, 6ft 3, have been lifting for about a year. I do understand about the spot reducing issue, I just want to lose overall fat.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    are you lifting progressively heavier each time? I have been doing a recomp since September and seeing wonderful gains in my upper body strength.
    What does your lifting workout look like? are you spending more time on your lower body perhaps??
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    edited January 2016
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Do you drink alcohol? A lot? Lots of sugary desserts? How much protein are you getting. You are not logging.

    I don't, onl if I go out and that rarely happens these days. I tend to feel really ill even from a glass.

    Lately, I've been pretty despondent, I've been able to follow a regime of 1g per lbs of body weight in the past, but that just made my stomach bigger, so I gave up.
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    are you lifting progressively heavier each time? I have been doing a recomp since September and seeing wonderful gains in my upper body strength.
    What does your lifting workout look like? are you spending more time on your lower body perhaps??

    No, my lifts have become progressively weaker, except on my legs. I do chest and shoulders, just standard Bench and Incline bench and OHP for something like 5 sets of 8 if I can. Squats and leg press in the same area of sets and reps then back bis and tris doing pull ups (I can barely do two) and lat pull down and dumbell pull exercises. I change it depending on what I can get hold of in the gym.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited January 2016
    and how is your protein intake? are you getting enough?

    oops you've already answered?

    you say you have a big stomach, sometimes we think we are bigger than we are? whats your waist meaurements like?
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    For upper body I think you just need to keep working on increasing those reps bit by bit? I hope you get more feedback from your post from the people who have been lifting and recomping for a long time.
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    and how is your protein intake? are you getting enough?

    oops you've already answered?

    you say you have a big stomach, sometimes we think we are bigger than we are? whats your waist meaurements like?

    I just did a measurement and It's an embarassing 40 inches....
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    don't be embarrassed, you're a TALL guy! and you are here to improve your overall health/fitness/physique.

    Have you always held your weight in your middle? I know alot of our shapes are genetic but we can always aim to be the best version of us :smile:

    Your weight is fine for your height but you will find if you lost perhaps another 7 lbs you could find that your waist will diminish, thats how it usually works - and thats the last place for the weight to come off usually.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Have you tried planks/side planks/push ups? I find those really pull in the abs which = smaller waist line. Of course those work in conjunction with eating at deficit so you lose a bit more fat too.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    on a side note, do you drink alot of sugary, fizzy drinks? sugar really seems to like to stick to our middles :/
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    on a side note, do you drink alot of sugary, fizzy drinks? sugar really seems to like to stick to our middles :/

    Ah thank you for being so supportive! I won't lie, I like sugar, but I am generally very good about not taking it in drinks. I like coffee, which I drink with a little milk and no sugar and I do occaisionally have pudding if it's on the cards, but I don't think anything out of the ordinary really.

    I have always carred weight on my middle, but I was an obese teenager, I lost 70lbs between the age of 19 and about 21, so I don't even know that I ever had a 'normal shape' as sad as that is to say.

    Another thing that I've noticed, is that I'm always cold, I just can't warm up at all. If I go to the gym, I get so tired afterwards that I'll often have to go to sleep for a while to recover. My lifts on any kind of deficit are consistently weaker than on an excess of calories, but I don't need mroe calories clearly.

    I actually do planks and use the ab machine and I can do a fair few push ups as well, but maybe I need to ppush myself more with it!

    I am just extremely puzzled that at the age of 23 years old, with very little in the way of excessive eating habits and plenty of exercise, that I should suffer from this kind of problem so badly!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    This isn't about your diet, what you eat doesn't impact where you hold fat.

    It doesn't sound like you're doing a structured lifting program though, I think that would help immensely. Hopefully some lifters can chime in on that one but I think you need to go back to basics.

    I would also start logging again and either aim for recomp or a small deficit to get some more body fat off. It will go eventually if you commit but not logging and not following a structured program isn't going to get you there.
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    ilex70 wrote: »
    My first though is to get your cortisol level checked.

    Second, people carry weight differently. If your total body weight is in normal range and you aren't happy then maybe time to try a recomp, or IOW eating at maintenance while lifting heavy and cutting back on the cardio.

    Are you going along the lines of Cushing's syndrome? I don't like to self-diagnose, but alot of the problems I'm facing do match up almost perfectly which is a little worrying...
  • MelaniaTrump
    MelaniaTrump Posts: 2,694 Member
    edited January 2016
    Start logging food. Something tells me you are either taking in too much sugar or too many daily calories.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    Another thing that I've noticed, is that I'm always cold, I just can't warm up at all. If I go to the gym, I get so tired afterwards that I'll often have to go to sleep for a while to recover. My lifts on any kind of deficit are consistently weaker than on an excess of calories, but I don't need mroe calories clearly.
    Are you going along the lines of Cushing's syndrome? I don't like to self-diagnose, but alot of the problems I'm facing do match up almost perfectly which is a little worrying...

    I'm not a doctor. But based on the cold/tired thing, plus the weight staying in the middle and getting weaker I do think you should seek out an endocrinologist and have blood work done to be sure there isn't a medical reason for what you are experiencing.
  • julianpoutram
    julianpoutram Posts: 331 Member
    JanetYellen wrote: »
    Start logging food. Something tells me you are either taking in too much sugar or too many daily calories.

    Of course, I will do that. Maybe I'll let the thread die and log for a month, then I'll bum it back up and see if anyone has any suggestions.
  • AnnElizabethKate
    AnnElizabethKate Posts: 24 Member
    whats worked best for me is carb cycling, and fixing up my weight training. I do 12 reps of 10 lbs, 10 reps of 20lbs, and then 8 reps of 25lbs. My carb cycling is low/low/high/low/low/high and then repeat that for 3 weeks and then my 4th week will be all high carb days to reset my metabolism and then start over. But it is true we all carry weight differently. I'm the same all my body fat is in my middle and my thighs but it's slowly starting to shrink down, just takes some time :)
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    I would recommend once a week throwing in a HIIT session instead of one of your 20 minute runs, by doing a good metabolic workout weekly you should train your body use your fat stores as energy rather that you daily kcal intake. Fasted cardio sessions before work are also a great way of getting slow metabolism moving.

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