Trying to Lose 20+ Pounds

Hello my name is Jake. I am currently trying to lose weight I am currently 212 which is down from 236 a year ago. My end goal right now is 190. I’m getting alot of mixed info on whether or not I should count strictly calories or macros. I feel like I’m at a plateau. What should I do to keep advancing weight loss?

Brother you will need to post your diet as well as height in order for people to help you

Chances are you don’t have a super gifted metabolism, which means you will have to count macros to some degree if you want to get into decent shape. This can be easily adhered to once you work out which foods you’re happy to eat on a regular basis as your ‘go to’ meals.

Post what you eat on any given day and someone will recommend changes for you

Find a macro calculator you like, input your information, follow the plan for a week or two, assess your progress (or lack thereof) and make adjustments.
If you’re looking to simply lose “weight”, and don’t care if it’s fat or muscle, just focus on calories. I am assuming you want to maintain whatever muscle you have, in which case you need to put more of an emphasis on macros.

My height is 5’7. I currently use my fitness pal. My current calorie intake to lose weight is 1,670. Current ma to intake is 84 g protein, 209 g carbs, and fat is 56g. My usual diet consists of 2 eggs and a cup of oatmeal with pb for breakfast. Lunch will usually be either chicken and rice or whole grain pasta and chicken. Dinner consists of chicken rice and broccolli. Snacks will be things suck as apples or tuna and crackers.

far too low for any adult male who excercises. Protein too low also

for a start up protein to 180 g and try this…

Is this something I will lose muscle with?

My current workout as follows. usually Monday - Thursday however some days I have to tweak it.
Day 1
Squat 4x10
leg extensions 4x10
leg curls 4x10
Lat pull down 4x10
cable row 4x10
cable curls 4 x15
iso curls 4 x 10

Day 2
BP 4 x 10
Butterflies 4 x10
Cable cross ( alternating between starting high and low) 4x 10
Military press 4x10
deltoid raises 4 x10
triceps push down 4 x 15
tricep extensions 4 x10

Day 3
deadlifts plus all other auxillary lifts done on day 1

Day 4 incline bp or floor press plus all other auxillary lifts done on day 2

This allows me to hit every muscle group 2 times a week. Plus also doing 20-30 min of stairmaster 3-4 times a week.

Any tips on what to add in or take out?

Not if you’re eating enough protein, which for you should be around 200g. You might even gain muscle for a short while given your current protein intake is sitting at 84g per day.

I have tried lower carb before and lost muscle with it so im kind of weary. However I have never heard of the 100 carb rule before. May have to give it a shot.

some of the perceived muscle loss with low carb diets is loss of water from lowered glycogen - this is why so many people hate keto type diets. They associate a pump from carbs with actual muscle fiber development…

Someone doing very low carb for a few months can eat a ton of shit food for 3 days and they will appear to have gained a lot of size, but the truth is nobody can gain that much muscle in three days. The muscle development was always there on the low carb diet, it was just relatively dehydrated.

Do:
200 protein
100 Fat
Play with carbs. The lower the better for your current goals.

Just make sure you aren’t underestimating the carbs or fat in your diet, it’s not hard to miss little things that add up

Thank you for the advice. I will have to give this a shot to see what helps. When I reach my goal what should I do to keep it off?

I’d agree mostly with Chalk on this one. Protein is most important. Get at least a gram per pound (or close) and my adjustment is I’d say let the carbs and fats fall where they may. Maybe carbs higher on heavy training day.

But of utmost importance is the number of calories. The right amount of protein won’t matter for getting leaner if your overall calories are too high. This is where high quality sources of protein will be your best friend. Cod, skinless chicken, Greek yogurt etc. High protein / low calorie foods which leave the rest of your allotment open for play.

and leave a little room for food enjoyment. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have something “bad” here and there. You should enjoy the foods overall anyway, but a little chocolate or ice cream or a bowl of cereal won’t derail your progress if you’re 80% on point with the rest of it.

Not to muddy the waters too much for you, but look into calorie cycling also. Add up weekly calorie allotment and have daily fluctuation calorie goals. Like 1800, 1800, 2400, 1800 etc. This allows you to spike calories intermittently to keep the hormones in check.

the workout…ehh just lift weights, no need to split hairs over programming. That’s just my opninion though. I feel like diet is twice as important for getting lean. I think of weights and cardio as a supplemental thing that pushes me over the edge progress-wise. The diet is the tip of the spear.

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You should keep protein and essential fats at adequate levels and keep playing with the carbs…chances are you will learn your body and get a sense of how much to pull back when you overdo something

Finding foods you’re comfortable eating on a regular basis will help long-term adherence.

Once you’ve been weighing food for a while you will be able to eyeball the portion sizes and be pretty close. It will be easy, just choose food sources you enjoy the most from whole ‘bro foods’ and be consistent with them

Thank you guys for your help. Im gonna give this a shot and see what happens.

Nope. Muscle loss is like if you cut down to 8% bodyfat -like under 30 inch waist/ waaay under 190lbs even

For full bidy training this would be much better…

Oh and another thing. Track track track your calories, all the way down to the cream you put in your coffee. It’s a game of tight margins and you need to know the numbers to make the correct adjustments.

Logging in MyFitnessPal takes 5 minutes per day and will pay off in a big way. Not tracking means you could end up working your ass off on cardio machines to make a deficit you may not even need if the diet is right. Getting away with as little cardio as necessary will help keep cortisol levels low.