Need some advice

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CelticHero816
CelticHero816 Posts: 8 Member
edited October 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone, so I have sort of hit a plateau on my weight loss. I am 23 years old, 5'11, I weigh between 178-181lbs. I wanted to mainly lower my body fat while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible. I've gone from 23% to about 18/19% in roughly four months. But it cant tell if I'm still losing it.

My calorie count is at 1900 a day, I weight train 4 days a week at the gym and I just finished doing insanity 6 days a week (plan on restarting).
I'm having tough time burning the subcutaneous fat around my stomach. That's really the only place the fat is still sitting.
Any advice I can get would be greatly appreciated.

Side Note-
I was considering doing a bulking season starting thanksgiving and going until March but I'm worried that I'm not low enough to start that. Thanks for any help!!

Replies

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    How long since you saw a loss on the scale? Are you using a food scale?
  • CelticHero816
    CelticHero816 Posts: 8 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    How long since you saw a loss on the scale? Are you using a food scale?

    My weight fluctuates regularly throughout the week. Sometimes as high as +\- 5lbs
    I have not been using a food scale, I've been measuring by portion size mainly but I can always get one if that will help.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    CelticHero816 wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    How long since you saw a loss on the scale? Are you using a food scale?

    My weight fluctuates regularly throughout the week. Sometimes as high as +\- 5lbs
    I have not been using a food scale, I've been measuring by portion size mainly but I can always get one if that will help.

    When you get down to losses of 0.5lbs per week (which is sensible at the end to preserve lean mass) then a food scale will make accuracy and not wiping out your deficit with a few bad guesses much easier.

    But you still don't say how long since you saw a new low. Everyone's weight fluctuates. When my deficit is only large enough for 0.5lbs per week I have a new low once a month (this can be more the case for women because of hormones but can happen to men too). So bouncing around in a range is totally normal.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    Hi

    Before you ask this question, are you certain you're not slumping when assessing whether you have excess stomach fat?

    How does it look with your abs flexed, because that's when all those fitspiration photos are taken in the media. ;)
  • CelticHero816
    CelticHero816 Posts: 8 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Orphia wrote: »
    Hi

    Before you ask this question, are you certain you're not slumping when assessing whether you have excess stomach fat?

    How does it look with your abs flexed, because that's when all those fitspiration photos are taken in the media. ;)
    When I flex I see some definition and most of the fat goes down and out. I'm still trying to rid myself of the slight saddle bags and remaining love handles as well
  • CelticHero816
    CelticHero816 Posts: 8 Member
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    VintageFeline wrote: »
    When you get down to losses of 0.5lbs per week (which is sensible at the end to preserve lean mass) then a food scale will make accuracy and not wiping out your deficit with a few bad guesses much easier.

    But you still don't say how long since you saw a new low. Everyone's weight fluctuates. When my deficit is only large enough for 0.5lbs per week I have a new low once a month (this can be more the case for women because of hormones but can happen to men too). So bouncing around in a range is totally normal.

    My last low was about a month ago, I got down to 174. I'd like to note that my waist is still the same size...
  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
    edited October 2016
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    Ill address the doing a bulk question. I would recommend not doing one. I did one when i was in a similar position as you. My thought was i could build some extra muscle and then cut again, so after the second cut i would have more muscle.

    I think whats best though is skip the bulk and just keep slow cutting until you reach the b.f. you want, then do a bulk.

    Also if you think your weight loss has stalled you could drop your calories by 100, and see what that does.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    CelticHero816 wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    When you get down to losses of 0.5lbs per week (which is sensible at the end to preserve lean mass) then a food scale will make accuracy and not wiping out your deficit with a few bad guesses much easier.

    But you still don't say how long since you saw a new low. Everyone's weight fluctuates. When my deficit is only large enough for 0.5lbs per week I have a new low once a month (this can be more the case for women because of hormones but can happen to men too). So bouncing around in a range is totally normal.

    My last low was about a month ago, I got down to 174. I'd like to note that my waist is still the same size...

    I think tightening up your logging by investing in a food scale is the first thing to tackle then. do that for 6-8 weeks and see where you're at numbers wise. You'll have more accurate data to work with.
  • ericwhitt
    ericwhitt Posts: 87 Member
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    I would point you to the thread about recomping. It is not a fast process, and if you said you've gone from 23% to 18%, you are already on the way to doing it without really knowing it. 5'11 175-180 can be a good weight depending on how much muscle you have/want. I'm 5'10 and that's actually my target weight.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

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