T Nation

37yrs Old Need to Lose 1 Stone Fat

Beginners
#1

Hi

new here.

sorry if wrong section …

i am 37yrs old
5’10
training 1 yr

previous 6 yrs literally done no exercise at all except walking to the car…work from home at my PS,

i have been training now solidly for 1yr and whilst in the first 4-5 months i dropped 2.5stone and built lots of muscle my belly fat just wont go. I know this is a diet issue, i know this thread has been done 1000 times on various places.
But i really need help here. I love working out now i train hard (imo) i workout alne from my garage, i have treadmill,full weight set,power rack-lat tower, basically all the essentials.

my diet i admit is not like some of the people’s i read about,but from what i was eating it is a huge change to me,
usual day for me:
3-4miles cardio on treadmill mostly at 4-5mph (everyday)
breakfast - Weetbix and skimmed milk or some fruit or sometimes a slim fast shake.

lunch- chicken salad

dinner- chicken with 3 veg or varients of same (no sauces)

workout- weights -uppper body-lower-legs of diff days (6days a week)
protein shake and vitamin pill,glucosmine tablet,vit b complex,cod liver oil capsule.

in total i drink about 5litres water daily and about 8 cups of tea with skim milk

apart from stuff listed above i am sedantary for the rest of the day. i can work out more if needed.

i calculated my calories at 1600 per day - then minus 300 roughly to shed weight/fat?

side notes/ my legs arms back and chest are solid (not like arnie but theyre strong and defined) my belly fat just doesnt seem to go and in fact somedays i think it look blubbier!

i have no bf % and have no idea where to get it done.

i can provide pictures if needed

thanks to anyone who takes time to read/reply.

great site

thanks

#2

I’m sure your workout plan could be improved but as you said - it is a diet issue. Working out more than you do now would be fairly pointless to be honest. Your breakfast looks bad. Slimfast is a scam for lazy housewives.

Whatever you do, understand that you have made some amazing progress already and that it will take time to achieve your goals. I have to pieces of advice for you, you can pick the one, the other, or both:

  • eat paleo
  • read Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon

That’s it.

#3

Thanks Nighthawk i have looked into paleo before i will look again.

i have basically dumped all bad carbs i.e bread/pasta/rice
maybe 1 time or 2 time per week i might have basmati rice small amount and if i ever have bread its maybe 2 slices per week wholegrain.

would adding a mid day walk/ interval sprints? be beneficial to me? right now i am kinda not worried about losing gains id rather ditch the gut as fast as possible and if that means working harder i can and will do it.

my diet has to be my downfall imo i will read into ur suggestions thanks.

#4

[quote]michaelmi5 wrote:
Thanks Nighthawk i have looked into paleo before i will look again.

i have basically dumped all bad carbs i.e bread/pasta/rice
maybe 1 time or 2 time per week i might have basmati rice small amount and if i ever have bread its maybe 2 slices per week wholegrain.

would adding a mid day walk/ interval sprints? be beneficial to me? right now i am kinda not worried about losing gains id rather ditch the gut as fast as possible and if that means working harder i can and will do it.

my diet has to be my downfall imo i will read into ur suggestions thanks.[/quote]

You already spend a lot of time working out. Weights 6x a week, cardio just as often… Just think about how little difference another session each day will make. If you enjoy walking - do it. If you enjoy a certain type of eating, fine. But what matters right now is sensible calorie restriction and PATIENCE.

#5

thanks for input NH

i’m a little concerned i have my cals not calculated correctly…

at 5’10 175lb (ish) and with the exercise i do what kinda cals should my intake be?

i have got patience i just get a little panicky sometimes the more i read online the more it confuses me i have never had a good physique so even if takes me 5yrs im willing to do it

thanks again

#6

[quote]michaelmi5 wrote:
thanks for input NH

i’m a little concerned i have my cals not calculated correctly…

at 5’10 175lb (ish) and with the exercise i do what kinda cals should my intake be?

i have got patience i just get a little panicky sometimes the more i read online the more it confuses me i have never had a good physique so even if takes me 5yrs im willing to do it

thanks again

[/quote]

start with 2100 and give it a try for three weeks. Adjust if necessary. And stop reading so much about weight loss. It’s calorie reduction, period. Getting down to 10-12% is all about calories.

#7

[quote]

It’s calorie reduction, period. Getting down to 10-12% is all about calories.[/quote]

Then why did you recommend Paleo?

#8

[quote]jjackkrash wrote:

[quote]

It’s calorie reduction, period. Getting down to 10-12% is all about calories.[/quote]

Then why did you recommend Paleo? [/quote]

The reason why paleo often works is that the foods you eat on a paleo diet - animal protein and vegetables - are very satiating, i.e. you often eat less without really trying to. I don’t eat paleo myself - FAR from it - but it works for quite a few people who want to lose weight. I don’t think it is the way to go for the rest of your life though.

And as you can see if you read my posts, I did not tell him he has to go paleo. It is just one option that seems to work pretty well, it is not the only one.

#9

Sorry for posting in same topic again

but

would u say my cal intake perday is correct? im trying to lose fat…

most cal calcs online i have used several for my height weight and activity all suggest 1500-1700 range

i ask cos every thread i see on here people seem to be consuming double that? i know a lot of them are trying to add weight/bulking but could mine be too low thus preventing me from losing fat?

i re measured my height im 5’9 i shrunk lol
im 174lbs in weight
i workout 6 times a week.

i walk/run/HIIT
i lift every day part from sunday.
i do squats deadlifts bench etc to the best of my ability

at the moment i squat 240lb and D/L 240 (i have to buy more plates) my bench a while ago took a big upswing from 110 to 170 now it seems im losing strength. (i take it thats cos im always dieting?)

any help pls

#10

Losing strength is normal on a caloric deficit. Weights and cardio 6x a week on a caloric deficit is insane. I know because I tried it. However, I only planned to maintain it for 2 weeks. No idea how you can keep that up for an extended period of time…

#11

Ye i mean my main goal is to lose fat/weight? i know weight loss is hard as muscle grwth weighs more and i have deff gained muscle in the year. Weight on scales does not bother me at all just the fat on my belly :smiley:

lately i have ditched dairy too just a few sips of skimmed milk in tea like 4 a day.(down from 10-15 lol)

i have also been feeling hungry while in bed and thats when i get cravings to eat everything.

does 1500-1700 seem low? or is that about right for someone like me?

usual day for me consists of waking up and drink some water and on the treadmill i was doing walk-run-walk-run intervals but seen something about steady state cardio 4-5mph for an hour would be better while lifting…

so morning i go on treadmill 45-1hr then i eat weetbix/or fruit

lunch i might eat a hard boiled egg some chicken

dinner chicken and 3 veg

then 4-six hours after cardio i do my weights which could be like
squats 4 sets 8-12 reps starting from
150lb 12 reps
180 12 reps
210 12 reps
240 8-12

bench press 4 sets
B/B rows 4 sets
(plus other stuff i can post exact w/o’s)

after that i will take my pills/vits/glucosamine/oil/vit b and have protein shake and a banana

then shower then dinner chick 3 veg

then about 10pm i eat fruit

in total i suspect i eat about 1500-1700 cals a day i never count them as i know the stuff im eating is clean and im still hungry so i doubt i could drop anymore even if i was above my daily intake.
etc etc i mean i copied routines from online(good sources) and make sure and cover upper/lower/legs/core in a week

i sqaut 2-3 times a week

i struggle with pull ups but do chin ups
i do inverted rows etc

sorry i know i type in a bad way to explain things still getting used to terms used etc :smiley: