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Very Confused, Need Help Desperately!!!


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Posted by: bookstar

Hi everyone,

Let me start off by saying I am 29 years old, 5'7", male, 178lbs, very moderately active, and an estimated 30% bodyfat, give or take 5%.
My goal is to lose bodyfat and simply look trim and fit, not bulk my muscles like a bodybuilder. I just want to lose fat.
I have been eating, on a consistant basis 2000 calories a day (give or take 100 cals), 6 meals a day. I drink 1-1/2 gallons of water (per day), I take essential fats everyday (20-25% fat ratio per day), I cardio exercise 4 times a week in the morning, and lift wieghts 3 times a week for 30-45 minutes. My protien is around 180 grams, and carbs are more. I think the ratio is 45% carbs, 35% protein, and 20% fat.

So, as you can very well see, I am doing everything that I know of correctly in order to lose fat.

I have been on my diet for one full month, with maybe 2 cheat meals (not days) in between. I started out at 182lbs, and have been measuring myself by string only (the plastic calipers I have seems inaccurate and I'm not exactly sure how to use them in the right places pinching the correct amount of skin-fold).
So I've been monitoring myself by scale and string.

I have lost only 4 lbs in a month (slower then average), and the marks on my string have maybe gone down an eighth of an inch. Hardly at all.

To top it off, I "feel" more jiggly and fatter! My stomach isn't bigger by measurement but feels jiggly (like there is more fat then before). My "man boobs" also look fatter and more jiggly. What the heck is going on? For the life of me I cannot understand why. I feel I am doing everything right by the book! I weigh a little less and the string measurements indicate I have not gained any fat or mass but in fact lost a little (not much though), but I am not as firm as I once was before I started the diet/weight lifting program. As I run/exercise, my whole body seems to jiggle a lot more then it ever did when I was heavier.
It just doesn't make sense. Is this normal? Is there something you can see that I am doing wrong? Is there anything I can improve on in order to speed up the fat loss process? Am I just going through normal changes in my body by feeling more jiggly or fat, even though the measurements tell me I'm not?

The thing is, I'm not losing fat at a normal pace either. I feel like i'm at a standstill and I don't know what to do about it because I'm doing everything right that I know of. If I decrease my calories, my metabolism slows down. If I up them, I either gain or stay the same (I know by past experiences).

So, I am hoping for lots of help here. Maybe my foods are all wrong, but even so, my calories are where they should be. I eat chicken breasts, brown rice, vegies, cottage cheese, whole wheat bread, fish/flax oil, oatmeal, oranges, fat free yogurt, skim milk, almonds, etc..... Everything suggested here in the forums, yet something seems not right.

Any suggestion will be more then appreciated. PM me if you want to as well for more personal one-on-one help.

Thank you ever so much everyone


P.S. I'm even taking the ECA Stack- but no results -yet anyways.


Posted by: bulletproof1

post your diet for us so we can see what you're eating. it helps if you know exactly how many calories you are consuming each day. just because you are eating clean doesnt mean you cant get fat. this can be easily tracked at www.fitday.com.
as far as you losing weight slowly, that is a good thing. losing weight is not a race. the slower it comes off, the less likely you are to burn muscle and the more likely you are to keep it off in the long run. it might help if you post your workouts in the training forum for us to look at also. perhaps you should look into hitt cardio. there is tons of info on it here. do a search.


Posted by: DeadBolt

You may want to try lowering your carbs slightly and increasing your ptoein just as a tweak for now....you don't want more carbs then protein during a cut.

On average 1lb a week is good progress just stick to it.

The jiggly feeling is normal if you have lost weight and the skin hasn't shrunk down yet. The fat is dense and keeps the skin filled....once the fat is gone all thats left is the loose skin hangin there.

Post your diet here so we can figure out what your eating and the exact amount of macro's for each meal.


Posted by: bookstar

O.k. guys! I greatly appreciate your help. i hope others may have some more ideas and tips for me as well!!!

This is my diet menu. i guess it's a 40% 30% 30% ratio. Maybe it's best if someone will help me with an exact eating schedule, with exact foods to eat. I think maybe that may be one of the keys to helping me speed up my fat loss. well, here it is:

8:00 am-Bagel (220) 47/11/1.5

Butter 1 Tbsp (50) 0/0/5

Whey Protein 1 scp (108) 2/22/1

2 Fish/Flax Oil (20) 0/0/2

Skim Milk 1 cup (90) 13/8/0

488 Cal. 62/41/9.5

10:30 am- Oatmeal 1/2cup (150) 27/5/3

Whey Protein 1 scp (108) 2/22/1

Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7

Toast 1 slice (70) 13/1/3

Butter ½ Tbsp (25) 0/0/3

413 Cal. 42/28/17

1:00 pm- Chicken Lo Mein (230) 35/13/2.5

Vegies 1 cup (30) 6/2/0

Chicken Breast 2oz (98) 0/17/2

Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7

418 Cal. 41/32/11.5

4:00 pm- Myoplex ½ packet (135) 12/21/2

Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7

Orange (60) 16/1/0

2 fish/flax Oil (20) 0/0/2

275 Cal. 28/22/11

7:00 pm-Cottage Cheese ½ cup (100) 5/13/2.5

7 Almonds (35) 1.5/2/4

135 Cal. 6.5/15/6.5

9:30 pm-Boiled Egg (80) 0/6/5

2 Fish/Flax Oil (20) 0/0/2

100 Cal. 0/6/7


Total Calories : 1829
Total Carbohydrate : 179.5g

Total Protein : 144g

Total Fats : 62.5g

PM me if you would like, or you can just post comments here too. thank you all again!!!!!


Posted by: Emma-Leigh

Firstly, 4 lbs in 1 month is perfectly fine in terms of progress. The scale is not everything. You can be loosing fat and gaining lean mass at the same time - which means your weight will not alter all that much. Sometimes 'jiggliness' of fat is deceptive....

Also - what type of cardio are you doing? Intensity etc... Are you active during the day?

Also - because your BF% is high, your lean mass is lower than for the average male - so it is not necessarily appropriate to follow the ' calories x blah formula). If you think your BF% is about 30% then your lean mass is only 125 pounds. Which means that you might be eating too much to loose weight. I would take your figures from something like: lean mass + (0.5 x fat mass) = mass. Therefore - use 150 pounds as your benchmark.

So I would change your macronutrient ratio's completely - try to average about 200g protein/day (1.5g x lean mass), 150g carbs/day [1g x (lean mass + 0.5 x fat mass)] and 50g fat/day (lean mass x 0.4g).

Which gives you 1850 cals (43% protein, 32% carbs, 25% fat).

Quote:
Originally Posted by bookstar
8:00 am-Bagel (220) 47/11/1.5
Butter 1 Tbsp (50) 0/0/5
Whey Protein 1 scp (108) 2/22/1
2 Fish/Flax Oil (20) 0/0/2
Skim Milk 1 cup (90) 13/8/0
488 Cal. 62/41/9.5
Drop the bagel - swap it to oatmeal.
Swap the butter for linseed meal or PB instead.
Consider dropping the milk as well (or decreasing it to 0.5 cups).
Add a few egg whites.

Quote:
10:30 am- Oatmeal 1/2cup (150) 27/5/3
Whey Protein 1 scp (108) 2/22/1
Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7
Toast 1 slice (70) 13/1/3
Butter ½ Tbsp (25) 0/0/3
413 Cal. 42/28/17
Drop the bread and butter.
Add more protein (real protein if you can - eg: cottage cheese).

Quote:
1:00 pm- Chicken Lo Mein (230) 35/13/2.5
Vegies 1 cup (30) 6/2/0
Chicken Breast 2oz (98) 0/17/2
Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7
418 Cal. 41/32/11.5
What is chicken lo mein? I would be careful with it if it is premade...
Swap to a clean carb + normal chicken.
So - increase your chicken breast to 5 oz and add something like whole grains (barley, rye, brown rice), legumes (kidney beans, chick-peas etc) or sweet potato.
Swap the safflower oil for a few fishies.

Quote:
4:00 pm- Myoplex ½ packet (135) 12/21/2
Safflower Oil ½ Tbsp (60) 0/0/7
Orange (60) 16/1/0
2 fish/flax Oil (20) 0/0/2
275 Cal. 28/22/11
Increase protein and swap to a real food source.
Swap the orange for an apple or berries.


Quote:
7:00 pm-Cottage Cheese ½ cup (100) 5/13/2.5
7 Almonds (35) 1.5/2/4
135 Cal. 6.5/15/6.5
Swap this for your next meal and add more cottage cheese (eg: 1 cup).
Add 2 fish oils here too.

Quote:
9:30 pm-[font=Book Antiqua][size=3]Boiled Egg (80) 0/6/5
2 Fish/Flax Oil (20) 0/0/2
Swap this to your previous meal.
Add protein (eg: add 5 more whites)
Add vegetables.


Posted by: bookstar

Thank you Emma for the help! I will take your advice and drop the bread and butter etc.... But this leads to a few questions.

1. What kind of peanut butter is best,(in replacement of butter)?

2. I am on a tight budget and eggs can can expensive quick if we eat a lot of them, can I replace some of the egg white you mentioned with whey protein instead?

3. The chicken lo mein is a frozen entre with low calories and low fat. I will drop that out of my menu and go with chicken breasts and brown rice, but that gets very old and not so tasty after a while. So, my question is, can we turn the chicken breasts and brown rice into some kind of chinese stir fry, adding sauces such as oyster sauce and seseme oil? If you read about oyster and seseme oil, they are high in sodium, but remember I drink more water then the average which helps flush out all the salts and toxins etc....

Anyways, if I am going to go with more natural foods in my diet instead of frozen dinners and bread, then I am hoping I can drink more whey protein (to increase my protein), and convery the chicken breasts, rice, and vegies into a stir-fry adding seseme oil and oyster sauce etc.... Will this be o.k.? I simply cannot eat just plane chicken breasts and brown rice, even if I were to add salt , pepper , or seasoning to it. It's just too dry and plain for me. but converting it into a stir fry with some good sauces (in moderation that is) will help me to eat all this everyday.
I just need your approval, or if you have even a better suggestion, I would love to hear it.
Thank you very much for your time ;-)


Posted by: Cyber_Pinky

I'd drop some fat... 62 grams of fat on a 2000 calorie diet is too much. fat turns to fat the easiest.

I used to suppliment with Udo oil. Since I've dropped the suppliment (on recomendation of a book called "Power Eating") I've been dropping weight a bit more steadily.

But 1lb a week is great. It's much healthier and easier to keep off that kind of weight loss than a crazy crash diet.

but ya... you're eating too much oil and fat... (although I know this website seems to love eating copious amounts).


Posted by: Emma-Leigh

Quote:
Originally Posted by bookstar
1. What kind of peanut butter is best,(in replacement of butter)?
All natural 100% crushed peanuts is the best. You could also try almond butter or ground flaxseeds.

Quote:
2. I am on a tight budget and eggs can can expensive quick if we eat a lot of them, can I replace some of the egg white you mentioned with whey protein instead?
I don't know where you live but eggs are cheap as chips and far cheaper than whey protein??

Quote:
3. The chicken lo mein is a frozen entre with low calories and low fat. I will drop that out of my menu and go with chicken breasts and brown rice, but that gets very old and not so tasty after a while. So, my question is, can we turn the chicken breasts and brown rice into some kind of chinese stir fry, adding sauces such as oyster sauce and seseme oil? If you read about oyster and seseme oil, they are high in sodium, but remember I drink more water then the average which helps flush out all the salts and toxins etc....
Certainly drop that pre-made frozen meal.
You can 'dry fry' it if you like - use lemon juice or lime juice, add some spices, crushed chilli paste and garlic or ginger. A little oyster sauce or low sodium tamari would also be fine. I would not use seseme oil.

You can also bake the chicken in the oven, or steam it, and add herbs and spices.. There are lots of ways to add flavour without adding calories.

Plus - You can always substitute the chicken for tuna, the rice for legumes etc etc if you really get sick of it.


Posted by: bookstar

thank you Emma for the help. I will modify my eating schedule and see how this helps. I'm sure I am eating too many carbs, especially too much bread, and then too much fat such as butter and oil. I will lower my cals to around 1850 and stick with real foods as much as possible. Whey protein , cottage cheese, and maybe fat free sugar free yogurt will pretty much be the only foods I will still eat in my diet that's not natural.
Hopefully I'll start seeing better results.
I guess my biggest concern was feeling more jiggly and fatter, even though the measurements and scale isn't showing it, but you guys answered that saying that it's normal as fat cells shrink. So, I will keep plugging away. I am hoping to look great for summer!


Posted by: CowPimp

Although Emma made some good suggestions, I think your progress is coming along nicely. 1 pound per week is excellent in terms of fat loss. This rate of fat loss means that you are retaining a good portion of muscle mass.

As well, as Emma said, you may be gaining muscle mass at the same time, which would skew your results. As long as you keep losing weight like you have been, you will get to your target physique quicker than you think. Losing weight in a healthy, safe, and effective way is a little more lengthy than the crash diets that a lot of people tout. Do it right, and you will reap the benefits.



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