Feel stuck

arsalak · May 19

Hi everyone,
I’m not new to MFP but it’s my first ever post.
I am 5F 8inch tall, currently stuck at 90kg. I was 107kg when I started. My face, arms and legs are becoming thinner and I can actually see some veins in my forearms too. My waist has come down from 40inch to 34. However I am no where near to what I want to be.
I want to get down to 15% body fat. I haven’t had my body fat estimate done because I feel looking at my own photos that I would have been at least 48% when I started and I think I’m now at around 35% or thereabouts.
I weight train 4-5 times a week and also do cardio after my training for about 15 minutes.
I have started to run 5K three times a week in an attempt to lose more weight, hopefully most of it will come from fat.

MFP has estimated my daily calorie intake at 1539 for 1kg weight loss per week.
I’m not entirely sure why my protein intake target changes every few days. On some days it is 200gm and on others it’s 140 something.
I never eat all the carbs I should per day, but try to hit my protein goals. It’s difficult to hit protein target when it’s above 200 but I consistently eat more than 140gm most days.
Fats are around 65gm and sometimes I’m under and sometimes I’m over the target.
I get bored of eating same meals every day but I’m now thinking I must do that in order to get better at consistency.

My weight training sessions are hard. My ability to lift has increased a lot. I can deadlift 140Kg on a Texas bar, bench press at 80kg for one rep max and squat at 80kg for 6 reps.
I have come a long way considering I used to bench 30kg when I started.

I feel good about what I’ve accomplished but I don’t feel happy or satisfied. I guess I’m looking for some motivation to keep grinding.
I have fallen off the wagon a few times before and I feel like I need to be more cautious.
I’m 48 and have no health problems and I like to keep it that way. I also want to see my abs, even if it’s just for a couple of weeks.

I’m not sure if I should get a scan done to estimate my body fat or just keep going as I am. My exercise routine is consistent for the last five months, before it was not.

Not sure what I need or want out of this post but I guess it will help me to reflect on my fitness journey if I could get some validation from others and advice from their perspective and experience.

Thank you for reading my post

Kind regards

claireychn074 · May 19

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Both Weight loss and building muscle is simple - but neither is easy

Sounds like you’ve lost a load of weight, increased what you can lift and significantly lowered your body fat - ie you’re crushing it!

Take pictures, keep comparing where you were and just keep pushing forward. Motivation wanes, but habit sticks. In 12 months’ time you’ll be one year older regardless of what you do - might as well be a fitter swole version of yourself!

Lietchi · May 19

You've given us zero idea of a time-line:
- from 107 to 90kg in what time-frame?
- stuck for how long?

Stalls are a normal part of weight-loss, you may just need to be more patient.

As for your varying protein goal: it's most likely because of exercise. Logging exercise increases your calorie goal and therefore also your protein goal.

tomcustombuilder · May 19

If your stall is less than 4-6 weeks then just keep going. If it's been longer than that then revisit your calorie counting and tracking accuracy as that amount of calories will support a good amount of fatloss at your stats.

Lietchi · May 20

So 1 kg a month during 8 months when doing strength training and without clean eating, then 1kg a month during 4 months when doing strength training and clean eating.

To me that sounds like a sustainable rate of loss, not stuck at all? And with the strength training you've probably been able to improve your body composition more than the lost kilos would suggest (if you're new to strength training and since your deficit was modest, you probably built a bit of muscle).

I would
- either just continue as you are doing now
- either speed up the rate just a little bit: by eating 200 calories less per day (if that's feasible, I don't think you've mentioned how many calories you're consuming per day on average) OR by doing some cardio/walking/other activity on top of your current routine while keeping your intake the same.

You mention being bored by eating the same meals all the time. A sustainable approach with durable results is an approach you can keep up a long time (forever, so to speak).
For me, boring is not sustainable, boring will erode my motivation and willingness to stick to something. You don't need monotony to succeed. Furthermore, clean eating seems to be giving you the same rate of loss as not clean eating.
So find a way of eating you enjoy, life is too short to make yourself miserable just for achieving a certain physique.

yirara · May 19

An additional thought: you say you're always below carbs and not always hit your fat goal. How many calories are you actually eating? Are you eating less than what MFP gives you?

No, I don't mean that your body ended up in a magical state where it stores food as fat because you eat too little. That's woo. But undereating while stressing your body can lead to stress, which can lead to more water being stored, and hence leading to no apparent loss on the scale.

arsalak · May 20

Thank you all for your comments.

I used to be 107kg in 2012 when I started, in one year I went down to 92kg. Fell into old habits so gained it all back and more. Tried again and brought it down to 94kg and gave up.
Now this is my third time of trying really hard. I started exercising last year but didn’t reduce my calories. Just did weight training 3-4 times a week. I have been eating clean for 4 months and in a calorie deficit as per MFP plan. I eat back my exercise calories. I don’t always hit the target but I’m not far off. Sometimes over the weekend I eat a bit more to make up for the calories I didn’t eat during the week. I don’t eat anything rubbish for more than once a week (I know, life gets in the way and cannot say no.)
So I have come down from 102kg to 94kg over eight months without clean eating, just by weight training alone. Whereas in this four months I have come down to 90kg but with clean eating and calorie deficit.
I suppose I should keep pushing through. As you said, even if it takes one more year to achieve my goal weight, it’s worth it as I would age anyway regardless.

Thank you

arsalak · May 20

Lietchi wrote: »

So 1 kg a month during 8 months when doing strength training and without clean eating, then 1kg a month during 4 months when doing strength training and clean eating.

To me that sounds like a sustainable rate of loss, not stuck at all? And with the strength training you've probably been able to improve your body composition more than the lost kilos would suggest (if you're new to strength training and since your deficit was modest, you probably built a bit of muscle).

I would
- either just continue as you are doing now
- either speed up the rate just a little bit: by eating 200 calories less per day (if that's feasible, I don't think you've mentioned how many calories you're consuming per day on average) OR by doing some cardio/walking/other activity on top of your current routine while keeping your intake the same.

You mention being bored by eating the same meals all the time. A sustainable approach with durable results is an approach you can keep up a long time (forever, so to speak).
For me, boring is not sustainable, boring will erode my motivation and willingness to stick to something. You don't need monotony to succeed. Furthermore, clean eating seems to be giving you the same rate of loss as not clean eating.
So find a way of eating you enjoy, life is too short to make yourself miserable just for achieving a certain physique.

Yes that’s true. Clean eating and weight training is still giving me the same rate of weight loss when I was hoping for more. I agree life is too short and one cannot sustain boring meals. I do eat within a hundred calories of my target. If I can’t on some days, I eat more the next to make up for it. I suppose if the meals were tastier then I would not have problems in eating them. I am going to change them and make them more palatable, so I could carry on with them as a lifestyle choice rather than just for a few months and then stop.

Thank you, your comment has given me hope and I am already feeling better about this journey. I have started running 5K a few times a week and really enjoy it. I have run 52Km this month alone. Did my first 10k run last weekend. I am hoping that extra cardio will make me lose more weight.

Thank you once again for your support and encouragement.

Kindest regards

Feel stuck

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