Help - painfully slow fat loss

bjwilliams1985
bjwilliams1985 Posts: 4 Member
edited December 2024 in Motivation and Support
Hey guys, posting as looking for help/motivation/ideas.

Im on a weight loss journey, 111kg to 91kg in 14 months so far.

I’m sitting at around 26% bodyfat at the moment. My problem is the past month weight loss has stopped - hovering around 91kg for the past month. Only thing that’s changed is that I’ve doubled/ tripled my cardio!

My diet is borderline perfect, loosely based on Jim stoppani’s shortcut to shred - 2000 cals per day, close to zero carbs 6 days per week, with one refuel day (Sunday) where I eat carbs but sensibly.

I’m currently 33yrs old, 5”8, and 91kg.

I lift heavy weights 4/5 times per week for 50mins, with a strict 1 minutes rest between sets and a real sweat on.

I struggle with my knees, so do low resistance cardio for 45mins 6 days per week, burning min 300kcals. I walk off around 150kcals daily going back and forth to work. I can’t run due to the pain in my knees.

The past 2 weeks I have been taking CLA and instant knockout fat burners, but still the weight won’t shift - no movement.

I feel I put a tremendous amount of effort but see very little results. This has been the case over my whole 14 month journey, but especially the last month or so.

Any advise or inspiration would be greatly appreciated. I’m half thinking of stopping the cut and going on a bulking plan, even though I’m hot happy with my body fat and am overweight. I feel it would be easy to loose fat if I had more muscle.

Help.

Replies

  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    Upping exercise can cause temporary water retention. If you've increased cardio by a lot, this can happen.

    Have you been doing 2,000 calories this whole time? If so, weight loss will slow down because your BMR decreases when you are smaller - you just require less calories to move a smaller body. 20kg is a lot, so there will definitely be a decrease in your BMR.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Drastically increasing cardio could lead to holding on to extra water weight for a couple of weeks, so that might be part of the problem.

    Have you been using a food scale to measure your portions? Do you double check the database entries you're using to ensure they are reflecting accurate calories per serving? Do you log your refuel day?
  • bjwilliams1985
    bjwilliams1985 Posts: 4 Member
    Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to read and reply - greatly appreciated!

    In answer to your questions no haven’t done 2,000cals the whole time. The first 6 months (circa 116kg to 108kg) the weight dropped off very steady.

    After that I really shook things up and started to follow the shortcut to shred plan (2000cals a day, <10% carbs (from broccoli and spinach), 20% fat and 70% protein). Reason for this I believe I’m carb sensitive, and have always struggled with a raging appetite. Eliminating carbs seems to have got this right under control. Hungar now very controlable, if only slightly uncomfortable.

    Although I’ve dropped down to 91kg, all the estimates and formulas I’ve used still indicate around 2000cal or just under is my BMR.

    To ensure consistency I eat almost the exact same things everyday. These have all been measured, weighed and estimated at the start of the program. The only variable is the meat I have with my evening meal (either a chicken breast, 2 small pork loins or a small steak).

    Sunday, ‘refuel’day I don’t track I must admit. But I definitely
    Don’t go mental, still carefully think about what I’m going to eat. For example my worst cheat meal would be a mozzarella and Parma ham ‘pizza’, using a whole meal tortilla wrap as the base.

    The golden period was Aug-Oct last year were I steadily lost 0.5kg per week for about 6 weeks running. I’m doing much more cardio now than I did then, and thinking about it my weight sessions are more intense now too.

    All in all I feel I put in a monumental effort in, which is hard to sustain, and only get slow results. 20kg loss is good, but over 14months, and at least 6 of those super intense, it doesn’t quite add up for me.

    Unsure if I need to increase calories, decrease calories (pretty sure I’d really struggle on 1500cals), introduce a small amount of carbs, do cardio twice a day or what.


  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited March 2019
    But when you serve yourself food today, how are you figuring out how big a portion to take?

    Weight loss comes down to a calorie deficit . Everything else affects satiety, energy, water weight. That's why you're getting questions about your logging, because yes you should be losing on 2000. So the most likely answer is that you're not actually averaging 2000. Are you currently logging, or are you eating what you always eat and assuming you're eating the right amount?
  • bjwilliams1985
    bjwilliams1985 Posts: 4 Member
    I get what you’re saying, but I’m very confident about those 2000kcals. In fact the past months it’s been less (about 1800) as I’ve cut out a few things.

    Monday-Saturday looks like this

    Morning - 3 eggs, handful of spinach, 4 cherry tomatoes, 2 scoops of diet whey with water
    Snack - 2 slices of turkey breast, half a large avocado
    Lunch - can of tuna, handful of spinach, handful of mixed salad, 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
    Snack - 1 ball of light mozzarella
    Pre workout - 1 scoop diet whey with water
    Post workout - 2 scoops diet whey with water
    Dinner - meat (chicken breast/small steak or 2 small pork chops) and handful of broccoli
    Snack - 1/2 cup of pineapple and mango (measured out)
    Before bed - 1/2 tub cottage cheese.

    I guess the main variables are the meat, and broccoli, but I’ve been assuming not a great dealif variance? Always the same brand and are visually portioned out by me. Can’t see any potential for a massive variance?

    Would you think my BMR is 2,000? (33yrs, 91.1kg, 5”8). Maybe this is lower?

    Maybe as I have been off carbs in the main for a while my body is used to this diet? Maybe I need to introduce a small amount
    Of carbs?

    Maybe I need to drop to 1,500cals and struggle?





  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    The important number is TDEE, not BMR. You need a deficit from your TDEE. If I put you in as sedentary, your TDEE is estimated at 2200cals. Considering your regular exercise, it's more like 2500.

    When I was first trying to lose weight, I was positive I was eating 1400 cals and not losing an ounce. Despite how sure I was, after reading it over and over again, I changed two things: I started double checking the entries I was using in the database were accurate and I started weighing everything out on the food scale. I was really eating more like 1700-1800 cals every day. I ended up losing around 0.5lbs per week eating properly determined 1500 cals.

    Carbs do not affect weight loss directly. Macros can affect satiety though. I'm satiated by starchy carbs, and need a combo of protein and fiber to really stay full. I would be starving on your diet. But other people find carbs rev their appetite, so they need to reduce them. Finding the right macro balance for you personally can be important if hunger is an issue.

    I weigh my protein powder, filling up the scoop is quite a bit more than the grams per serving listed on the tub. It ends up being @ 20 calories more. Your 5 scoops could be 100 calories more than your figuring right there. Avocados and cheese are calorie dense, so a few more extra grams there could be another 100. Meat and fruit - also calorie dense. IMHO, weighing out your portions every once and awhile might shine a light on where you're wasting calories.

    Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each forum, there's lots of great info and suggestions there. I hope you figure it out!
  • bjwilliams1985
    bjwilliams1985 Posts: 4 Member
    Wow I weighed out my morning protein just now, even with the scoop not filled to the top 1 scoop was 4g heavier than the packet’s nutriantal info, so 2 scoops around 30/40cals more. Jeez. Tomorrow I will weigh absolutely everything! This could well be my problem then, thank you Kimny for highlighting!

    Yeah on satiety it’s a weird one - I once did a 2000cal low carb diet (no carbs after 6pm, and only 1 slice of whole meal brown bread and 1 cup of brown rice each day) and I really struggled with raging appetite. When I’m not eating healthy and checking cals etc I feel hungry almost all the time. On this close to zero carb diet my hunger is really kept in check.

    I think I will revisit my diet plan, try to get it down to 1,750 cals. Also I am rehabbing my knees, with the hope I’ll be able to start running again in the next month or 2, and therefore start burning lots more calories.

    Bring it on!

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