My Fat Loss is Stuck

Hi Christian,

Firstly, ill tell you a bit about myself, im 19, weight 198lbs, 16.5% bodyfat. I train with weights 5-6 times a week focussing on compound movements and mainly lower rep ranges and squeeze cardio in when i can. My aim is to lower my bodyfat as much as possible by the time i return to university (i am on the rowing team and losing any “excess baggage” is important) for sports and asthetic reasons.

My dilemma is this, i live in the UK and i am on a fairly limited budget so Biotest supplements and the Velocity diet are out of the question. I have tried several approaches, including John Berardi’s get shredded diet however i find they only limit my training capacity and i end up coming off the diet and making poor food choices to boost my energy. Have you any tips? i really appreciate your time

if anyone else has any suggestions i would also appreciate it, thanks

[quote]jonny142 wrote:
Hi Christian,

Firstly, ill tell you a bit about myself, im 19, weight 198lbs, 16.5% bodyfat. I train with weights 5-6 times a week focussing on compound movements and mainly lower rep ranges and squeeze cardio in when i can. My aim is to lower my bodyfat as much as possible by the time i return to university (i am on the rowing team and losing any “excess baggage” is important) for sports and asthetic reasons.

My dilemma is this, i live in the UK and i am on a fairly limited budget so Biotest supplements and the Velocity diet are out of the question. I have tried several approaches, including John Berardi’s get shredded diet however i find they only limit my training capacity and i end up coming off the diet and making poor food choices to boost my energy. Have you any tips? i really appreciate your time [/quote]

You say that it has been stuck… you tell me your training but not your diet. And for how long have you been dieting.

[quote]jonny142 wrote:
if anyone else has any suggestions i would also appreciate it, thanks[/quote]

Is your problem that you can’t afford good food? Or that you don’t know how to eat correctly to lose body fat?

Either way, we can help you.

Ok well iv lost a significant amount of fat since I started training, when I started paying more attention to my diet I mainly used a low carb approach, I multiplied my bodyweight by 10 and then used 80% of this value.

From this is divided the calories from each macronutrient as follows: protein 45%, carbs 20% and fat 35% I used food sources such as lean meats, some dairy, whey supplements, flax, olive oil, oats, wholemeal toast, assorted green veg. The problem I have with such approaches is that I become very alienated quicky as I seem to see no real progress.

I, much like you did seem to have convinced myself that I simply to not have the genetic makeup to maintain a level of bodyfat less than 10%. I feel the reasons I fail in my progress is that I crave sugary foods as a result of being frequently hungry. Am I approaching this the right way. Thanks

And how many calories are we talking about? From my impression, you expect to get to low bodyfat levels by just “winging it”.

[quote]jonny142 wrote:
Ok well iv lost a significant amount of fat since I started training, when I started paying more attention to my diet I mainly used a low carb approach, I multiplied my bodyweight by 10 and then used 80% of this value.

From this is divided the calories from each macronutrient as follows: protein 45%, carbs 20% and fat 35% I used food sources such as lean meats, some dairy, whey supplements, flax, olive oil, oats, wholemeal toast, assorted green veg. The problem I have with such approaches is that I become very alienated quicky as I seem to see no real progress.

I, much like you did seem to have convinced myself that I simply to not have the genetic makeup to maintain a level of bodyfat less than 10%. I feel the reasons I fail in my progress is that I crave sugary foods as a result of being frequently hungry. Am I approaching this the right way. Thanks [/quote]

I thought that I was not built to be lean, yet I walk year round at 8% bodyfat or less without even being superstrict anymore.

The big problem is that getting lean and muscular is an emotional issue; we want that body RIGHT NOW, and the slightest delay in results really kills our motivation.

The thing is that fat loss, just like muscle growth and strength gains, is not a linear process. For a period of time you might go a few weeks of doing everything perfectly without losing any weight or fat, then all of a sudden you’ll drop 7lbs in 5 days!

If you lose motivation when fat loss stops and you either give up or binge eat, you will never see that 7lbs in 5 days period (or something like that).

Keep plugging, DON’T EAT SCRAP TO FILL AN EMOTIONAL VOID WHEN PROGRESS SLOWS DOWN, train hard. Do this for long enough and you WILL get lean.

But if every few days or week you fall off the wagon and indulge in some sweets, forget about reaching your goals.

My recommendation is this:

  • All day (except right before the workout) eat only animal flesh and green veggies (no, nothing else)

  • Only drink water, coffee, tea, crystal light and maybe an occasional no calories soft drink. You’d be surprised to know many people completely screw up their diet by consuming tons of sugar/calories from their drinks. ONLY HAVE DRINKS WITH NO CALORIES (except for protein shakes).

  • Take 15g of fish oil per day

  • Ingest your carbs (around 100g) during the pre-workout period (half 30 minutes before the workout and half 15 minutes before) along with protein

Do that for 30 days straight and you’ll get results. NO CHEATING UNTIL THE END OF THOSE 30 DAYS.

… excuse me wrong place for this post.

Apologies.

[quote]jonny142 wrote:
I, much like you did seem to have convinced myself that I simply to not have the genetic makeup to maintain a level of bodyfat less than 10%. I feel the reasons I fail in my progress is that I crave sugary foods as a result of being frequently hungry. Am I approaching this the right way. Thanks [/quote]

Any person who prefers gaining or has always gained, will ALWAYS have the mindset that they do not have the genetic makeup.

I readily admit, i failed 4 times trying to cut down, so i can offer no advice other than to try tough it out ! Think Fat Loss is 50-50 between actual work and controlling your cravings.

I have been told if i survive the 1st 2 weeks, it gets easier, but unless you are 100% determined to get there then you will fall off. There WILL be one day when you just say f*ck it, 2 hrs later pizza is wolfed down (!)

I wish you best of luck with it, should you endeavor to cut down, better man than i !

Sorry to be clogging the page, but from reading that that seems nice simple and to the point lol

Meat + Veg + 15g of Fish Oil

Last time i tried to do it, mine was so much more complicated than that ! Argh !

Just to clear it up, exactly where would you place the Protein and Fat content at, i know you no longer consider calories…

Would you go to 2g / lb for Protein or lower ?

And if i can remember you consider 90g Fat good… though i may be wrong

[quote]300andabove wrote:
Sorry to be clogging the page, but from reading that that seems nice simple and to the point lol

Meat + Veg + 15g of Fish Oil

Last time i tried to do it, mine was so much more complicated than that ! Argh !

Just to clear it up, exactly where would you place the Protein and Fat content at, i know you no longer consider calories…

Would you go to 2g / lb for Protein or lower ?

And if i can remember you consider 90g Fat good… though i may be wrong [/quote]

1.25 - 1.5g of protein per pound, EXCLUDING THE PERI-WORKOUT period

80-90g of fat spread pretty much equally throughout the day.

Maybe i should just have asked you lol.

Thank you for your time.

CT,

What is the negative effect of consuming diet soft drinks regularly instead of on occasion?

[quote]therajraj wrote:
CT,

What is the negative effect of consuming diet soft drinks regularly instead of on occasion?[/quote]

Not CT, but this one seems easy:

Your health! They are full of chemicals and other crap. Some reports also indicate you still get an insulin response from artifical sweeteners. I avoid aspartame like the plague.

thanks for the advice everyone, i appreciate it

How much protein should you consume during the peri-workout period?

Coach,

Is that 80-90g of daily fat counting fat from protein sources?

[quote]agent9041 wrote:
therajraj wrote:
CT,

What is the negative effect of consuming diet soft drinks regularly instead of on occasion?

Not CT, but this one seems easy:

Your health! They are full of chemicals and other crap. Some reports also indicate you still get an insulin response from artifical sweeteners. I avoid aspartame like the plague.[/quote]

Yeah BUT they are much better for u then drinking those full sugar soft drinks. I drink sprite Zero about 2 cans a day.Thats my favourite.I think hey if i dont drink alcohol i might as well treat myself to a can or 2 of diet soda every day or 2.

[quote]King of Kings wrote:

Yeah BUT they are much better for u then drinking those full sugar soft drinks. I drink sprite Zero about 2 cans a day.Thats my favourite.I think hey if i dont drink alcohol i might as well treat myself to a can or 2 of diet soda every day or 2.[/quote]

That is kinda like staying that getting stabbed is not as bad a getting shot. It’s true, but that doesn’t mean that I would let someone stab me!!!

That having been said, I indulge in some diet soft drinks myself. But it is true that for health purposes they are not ideal. And individual who are super insulin resistant might actually produce insulin in response to drinking diet soft drinks, which could hurt with their fat loss goal.

[quote]sc54 wrote:
How much protein should you consume during the peri-workout period? [/quote]

There is such a thing as the peri-workout Q&A thread, which actually give my recommendation.