Help with weight loss?

[WillisLovechild]

I'm a very active college student and I just wanted to see if you guys can help me out with something. I'm about 5'7 and I weigh 177 pounds. I've been doing all cardio for about a solid month and a half now and I haven't lost a pound. I also ride my bike everywhere, I only drive to the market. I eat very very healthy as well, keeping my calories under 2,000 while burning about 1,000 in addition to my basal metabolic rate. I gained weight when I started lifting, but it wasn't all muscle necessarily. I got my body fat tested and it's at 22%. My cardio and VO2 max are off the charts, but any ideas why I'm not burning the fat?

[jlohm1]

try eating 5 or 6 small, healthy meals a day. eat a lot of turkey, fish, and eggs. this way your metabolism will stay high.

[Warrior21]

Give it a little more time. Also, keep a log of your foods...sometimes you don't realize what you actually eat all day. How did you come up with burning an additional 1000 cals per day? Thats a lot of cal to burn.

[WillisLovechild]

I do keep a log of what I eat. I even measure the amount of food so I know exactly how much I'm eating and how many calories, grams of fat, etc... I mostly eat fruits and vegetables, and little animal products but when I do it is skinless chicken, lean turkey or fish. Once in a blue moon I eat red meat, and it is an actual serving size of three to four ounces. What grains I eat is whole grain and I really watch my fat intake as well. I really am a stickler on my diet, so that's why I don't get it. I'm not expecting to have lost 30 pounds or anything, but at least one or two within that span.

I got the 1,000 calories according to my cardio workouts. I base the calories burned on studies that I've read in accordance with how much time I do a particular exercise. I do between one and two hours of pretty intense cardio each day. That and I burn a few hundred from just riding my bike everywhere.

[Stamina]

When you say you do cardio Willis, what type of cardio are you doing? Are you doing the same routine over and over again?

Dieting is prolly the most important step in losing weight followed by a good exercise program. Lemme know what your weekly routine is like and we can try to make some adjustments.

[td0tsfinest]

Diet is so important. Sometimes its not just about calorie counting but what your actually putting in your mouth. Have a good amount of protein and veggies in each of your 5-6 meals. And drink a lot of water. Water is not only healthy but it can also help with preventing carvings by keeping your stomach full..

This past summer, my body % was around the same as yours. I completely changed my meal plan around, ate 6 meals a day. 2 to 3 hours apart, never ate after 7. Drank a lot of water. Worked out 4 times a week, cardio 5 times and I saw a dramatic loss of fat.

[WillisLovechild]

When you say you do cardio Willis, what type of cardio are you doing? Are you doing the same routine over and over again?

Dieting is prolly the most important step in losing weight followed by a good exercise program. Lemme know what your weekly routine is like and we can try to make some adjustments.

Yeah I do keep it to a pretty set routine. I typically do between twenty to thirty minutes on three different machines; the elliptical, the bike and the cross-trainer (the one where your feet slide and you can set an incline) I believe it's called. And I'll do that everyday. Lately I've been going for runs outside but I get really bad shin splints, so I can't do it that long. I also ride my bike around at least a few miles a day just for transportation. I do a lot of core work too, and I actually have noticed my pants getting bigger on me. Still, the scale reads the same and that is what concerns me.

Diet is so important. Sometimes its not just about calorie counting but what your actually putting in your mouth. Have a good amount of protein and veggies in each of your 5-6 meals. And drink a lot of water. Water is not only healthy but it can also help with preventing carvings by keeping your stomach full..

This past summer, my body % was around the same as yours. I completely changed my meal plan around, ate 6 meals a day. 2 to 3 hours apart, never ate after 7. Drank a lot of water. Worked out 4 times a week, cardio 5 times and I saw a dramatic loss of fat.

Yeah I know, and that's why I don't get why I'm not losing any weight. I eat fruits or vegetables with every meal, and I don't eat crap food like potato chips or fast food. I watch the fat content (especially saturated and trans), the sodium levels, everything. Fun fact about protein is most Americans eat three times the RDA. I get a decent amount of protein in, definitely enough for my daily value, but I don't load up on it by any means. Because often times the foods that are high in protein are high in fat, so I try not to eat a ton of it. Like today my protein came from ground turkey, yogurt, milk and whatever protein is in the fruits and veggies. I drank 108 ounces of water today too, and I make sure to drink enough every day. This is why I don't get it; I spread my meals out and watch the portions, eat healthy, drink water and exercise and there is no change.

[Warrior21]

If your pants are getting big on you that's a good sign, I try not to go too much by my body weight. I am a little confused about your cardio though...20-30 minutes on each of those machines, or is it 20-30 minutes in total and each day you do a different machine? If you are doing an hour+ of cardio and riding several miles with your bike everyday, plus a lot of core exercises...I would say that's over training. What are you doing for core exercises? Keep in mind, sometimes less is more.

[Hyland]

I'm a very active college student and I just wanted to see if you guys can help me out with something. I'm about 5'7 and I weigh 177 pounds. I've been doing all cardio for about a solid month and a half now and I haven't lost a pound. I also ride my bike everywhere, I only drive to the market. I eat very very healthy as well, keeping my calories under 2,000 while burning about 1,000 in addition to my basal metabolic rate. I gained weight when I started lifting, but it wasn't all muscle necessarily. I got my body fat tested and it's at 22%. My cardio and VO2 max are off the charts, but any ideas why I'm not burning the fat?

Stay away from heavy weights.
Rest.
Water.
Almonds.
Small meals.

Try new things.
Your body is probably in auto pilot.
Learn how to jumprope.
and use it as cardio.

I'm a personal trainer, I do sessions online via webcam. Hit me up if you're interested in losing 10-20 pounds within a month's time without feeling tired and feeling energized as ever for a fair price (30 a session)

[RadiantShot]

Have you cut soda completely out?
What about fatty foods on the side like cake, cookies, burgers, & fries?
I started to lose weight instantly after cutting soda out of my diet, and working out just a few times a week. by working out, I'm actually just talking about cardio. I know you do it, but I also keep my calories low, even with cardio. I'm actually 5'5, 163 lbs, which is about 10 lbs overweight, but I really don't look overweight at all. Anyways, that's besides the point. I've been keeping my calories at about 1500-1600, while engaging in cardio activity at least 3/7 days a week, and I've lost 1-2 lbs a week, and 3-4 in 2 weeks.

[WillisLovechild]

If your pants are getting big on you that's a good sign, I try not to go too much by my body weight. I am a little confused about your cardio though...20-30 minutes on each of those machines, or is it 20-30 minutes in total and each day you do a different machine? If you are doing an hour+ of cardio and riding several miles with your bike everyday, plus a lot of core exercises...I would say that's over training. What are you doing for core exercises? Keep in mind, sometimes less is more.

It's 20-30 minutes on each every day, 1-1.5 hours total. I thought that I could be over training, and maybe that's it. For the core I do 5 or 6 different exercises like planks, ab roller, bicycle crunches, and things of that nature.

Stay away from heavy weights.
Rest.
Water.
Almonds.
Small meals.

Try new things.
Your body is probably in auto pilot.
Learn how to jumprope.
and use it as cardio.

I'm a personal trainer, I do sessions online via webcam. Hit me up if you're interested in losing 10-20 pounds within a month's time without feeling tired and feeling energized as ever for a fair price (30 a session)

Yeah I stopped lifting weights months ago, all I do for resistance training is body weight stuff like push ups, pull ups, etc. I would take you up on that, but I really don't have the money right now, sorry but thanks. Maybe can you just tell me how much I should actually be working out to lose weight, and if I'm doing too much to the point where it's over training? Like should I do 30 minutes of cardio a day instead of an hour, or just cut it down in general?

Have you cut soda completely out?
What about fatty foods on the side like cake, cookies, burgers, & fries?
I started to lose weight instantly after cutting soda out of my diet, and working out just a few times a week. by working out, I'm actually just talking about cardio. I know you do it, but I also keep my calories low, even with cardio. I'm actually 5'5, 163 lbs, which is about 10 lbs overweight, but I really don't look overweight at all. Anyways, that's besides the point. I've been keeping my calories at about 1500-1600, while engaging in cardio activity at least 3/7 days a week, and I've lost 1-2 lbs a week, and 3-4 in 2 weeks.

No soda, no fried food, cakes, high-sugar things or anything like that. I keep my calories at about 1600-1800 and workout for a few hours a day. Yeah, I don't look overweight either, which is the weird thing; I even have a fairly decent six pack. How long are your cardio workouts? I feel like maybe I'm just over training to the point where I might be building muscle.

[flea]

If you really want to lose weight do a radical diet for a few weeks or perhaps a month. If you follow it strictly there is no way you won't lose weight. Even if you don't stay active with a diet like this you will lose weight, though it's best to get into an exercise routine so you don't put the weight back on. It's difficult to lose weight because the human body is built for maintenance. Do this for at least 2 weeks, with no breaks, and see what happens:

-Grain foods only before noon (multi-grain bread/bagel, cereal, oatmeal, etc.). Nothing white, and absolutely no sugars or starches.
-After noon, only eat raw fruits and vegetables (carrots, spinach, tomatoes, apples, citrus, bell peppers, any lettuce besides iceberg, squash, cucumbers, etc.).
-Throughout the day eat only canned tuna as far as meat goes, with no mayo or anything. If you need to, put some mustard on it.

It's not a fun diet, but it works and it works quickly. You're going to probably get away from eating meals whether you want to or not if you strictly follow this diet because you will frequently be hungry since you're eating such a minimal amount of fat (probably less than 5 grams per day). That's good, just stuff your face every couple of hours with fruits or vegetables. Eat your grains early in the day and save the tuna for your traditional bigger meals.

Afterwords you're going to want to rethink your diet once you're at a target weight. Obviously this misery isn't meant to last forever, but some semblance of it would help in the long-run with maintaining a healthy weight.

[Stamina]

Stay away from heavy weights.
Rest.
Water.
Almonds.
Small meals.

Try new things.
Your body is probably in auto pilot.
Learn how to jumprope.
and use it as cardio.

lol, i just had to laugh at that

[Stamina]

The scale may read the same Willis if your gaining muscle which is prolly the case if your pants size is decreasing but your weight isn't. As Warrior21 said, that's not a bad thing.

Here's a tip: When riding your bike, don't sit. ride your bike in a standing position and try pedaling with the arch of your feet to give your calves a good workout.

You may also want to look into high intensity interval training. It's simple not not easy and you can do it at home.

[Hyland]

lol, i just had to laugh at that

Come on Stam, whats the joke here. lol


Yo, to the threadstarter.

Try this program of cardio.

Jumprope/Treadmill/Whatever type of cardio your doing

Long Distance - 40 mins of cardio at the same intensity
HIIT - 20 minutes of cardio, intervals of low, moderate, and high intensity

Begin with
2 minute warm up at low intensity

Begin cycle of
1 minute moderate intensity
30 second high intensity
30 second low intensity

Repeat 9 times.

To find out your high intensity, it should be 70-80% of your max. Just try to see what level you can sprint it out on the treadmill or how many jumps you can do with the rope in the fastest time.

To find out moderate intensity, should be 50-60% of your max

To find out low intensity, should be 30% of your max.
Monday - Long Distane
Tuesday - HIIT
Weds - Long Distance
Thursday - HIIT
Friday - Long Distance

Take Sat/Sun off.

next week

Monday - HIIT
Tuesday - Long Distance
Weds - HIIT
Thursday - Long Distance
Friday - HIIT

Then alternate again next week.

Once you feel your cardio has improved, add Saturday and Sunday to your program to build more stamina.

Frequency is vital in cardio, unlike hypertrophy where rest and protein intake pre-post workout is vital.