Why Can't I Lose Fat and Gain Muscle?

Around 2,300 calories and around 50 grams of protein.

first thing I’d do is double your protein.

Has your weight changed at all? How long have you been eating like this?

1 Like

Yes I have gained 7 pounds and I’ve been eating like this for 6 months

was it a good 7 pounds? As in, was it muscle and accompanied by an increase in strength?

It could just be that you’re eating at a maintenance level for your activity level, in which case if you wanted to lose weight you would either eat less or exercise more.

2300 calories still gives you a bit of room to play with so you’ve a lot of options as to how to go about it.

For weight loss, I’d definitely be eating more protein than that. If you think of it like this: out of 2300 calories, only 400 of those are protein. That’s like 25% of your total calories (or something, my maths isn’t great) which isn’t really enough for weight loss.

Also, do you know it’s 2300 calories or do you think it’s 2300 calories? Same goes for the protein. Do you know it’s 50g or do you think it’s 50g?

That’s what I think… Sorry I’ve been battling an eating disorder for 2 years and try not to count calories anymore

Also, I haven’t noticed a big change in my body either.

the eating disorder presents complications that can’t be dealt with on an internet forum, but really when it comes to body composition and such it’s hard to make adjustments without a starting point.

Increase your protein like I said. That’s something that can potentially have a very positive effect on body composition.

As for not seeing big changes in your body, that might actually be a good thing. You’d probably be more likely to notice 7lbs of fat, as it takes up a lot more space than 7lbs of muscle.

1 Like

Okay thanks for the help!

No problem, best of luck with it.

And seeing as you’re only 17 you’ll soon be too busy drinking and partying to worry about shit like this anyway!

Yogi had some great advice on the nutrition, so I’ll just address the training.

Does this mean that one week you do weights for 4 days, then next week you “do CrossFit” (which is almost always some kind of weight training) for 4 days, and you keep going back and forth? What do those workouts look like?

More consistency will give your body a better training stimulus to respond to. If all you did was CrossFit WODs (at a halfway decent gym with more-than-halfway decent instruction), you’d be on a good path. Or, on the flip side, if all you did was follow a well-designed training plan for a few months straight, you’d be on a good path. I think alternating is also tripping you up.

Yes someone recommend I alternate every week between Crossfit and lifting… It’s hard to have a fixed schedule when I have school and work on top of working out. I don’t know if I should continue with Crossfit because I’ve heard a lot of bad stuff about it, but I do love it. As far as building muscle, I don’t know how much it helps…

eating disorder for 2 years
do you also have body image issues also?
if you do ,you might want to get Therapy along with your training and eating plan
learning how to control your weight and body composition does not happen over night
read, learn,train,stick to realistic goals

1 Like

I do have body issues and I do see a therapist. I am however extremely dedicated to being healthy and strong! I’ve learned from my mistakes and know is takes a lot of time.

1 Like

try posting under forum powerful women some of the women on that thread may or may not see your post here
some of them may have some thing useful there
you got good info so far
its okay to make mistakes

There’s a not so old saying that CrossFit makes men small and makes women hot. That’s kinda true. It helps just fine.

Alright thank you guys so much for the help!!

I would urge you to set performance goals and eat to fuel your training. I have seen this shift in mindset dramatically improve the health and self-confidence of women beset by a history of food and eating issues. It is profoundly empowering, whereas gearing your training and eating toward cosmetic goals seems to me a sad and empty way to go through life. Others are free to disagree, that’s fine.

But when you pour yourself into the attainment of performance goals, especially through athletic competition like the strength sports or competitive Crossfit, good things happen, not only psychologically but cosmetically. It’s a nice side effect if you care about that sort of thing.

As far as macros go, I agree it would not be wise to count calories or log everything…just have a sense of what and how much you are eating on a baseline day, and make small adjustments as you go. Take note of what foods you handle well, what timing and combinations give you the best training sessions, etc.

2 Likes

search this site read ALL articles by Dani Shugart
read posts by chris colucci
ask direct questions you get from reading
as for crossfit,you find a good cross fit gym you will get some where
you find a bad cross fit gym you waste time
cross fit is just circuit program repacked and marketed

1 Like

It is sometimes said the only difference between gaining muscle and loosing fat is diet. This is not quite true but diet accounts for 70% or results.

Using your figures age, height, weight, 3 workout / wk. 2,300 calories are needed for maintenance.

You need to be in a calorie deficit say 1800 / day to loss fat.

As said by others eat 100g or more protien daily, your weight 128lb ÷2.2= 58kg. Aim for 2g protien / kg body weight.

Calorie counting leads to obsessive behaviour, so follow the simple ideas below.

The good thing about eating more meat, fish & poultry is that it satisfies hungry. Furthermore by not eating plenty of protien you will likely loose muscle whilst in a calorie deficit.

Eat less simply carbohydrates bread, pasta, rice, noodles, potatoes and sugar soft drinks. These high G.I. (glycemic index) foods cause insulin to rise (which is needed before and especially after a workout).

If you are not doing physical work high blood insulin will be stored as fat, or at the very least prevent fat from being used as energy.

As the blood insulin level falls this triggers the feeling of hunger, which unhelpfully makes you want more Carbs.

Do not go hungry eat plenty of vegetables and salad and to certain extend fruit. Fill up on them. These are low G.I. foods.

A low GI diet does not cause high insulin which is stored as fat and then falls making you hungry. Coupled with high protien which satisfies hunger for longer (and does not convert to insulin as easy) and helps prevent muscle loss whilst you are editing.

The mirror is a far more useful tool to gauge progress than the scales. As you loose fat given that you crossfit and resistance train you should again some muscle.

So the scales will most likely stay static.

1 Like