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.
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.
