Fat loss suggestions

[carsonkeys]

Strength and Energy have been good. I was doing extremely well with jogging and then took a break to increase strength training. I find it hard to hit the same marks that I was prior to the cardio break. In general my appetite is steady...somedays I feel voraciously hungry, but not that often. Days that I have extreme hunger I dont feel like I get full...I try to ride it out with protein and maintaining diet.

Those are all good indicators. Keep increasing your strength training. If your body is rapidly building muscle right now I would take full advantage of it. It won't last forever and no one has ever been too strong or had too much muscle (natty, anywho).

Assuming you're hitting ~230g protein/day, your diet seems great. No BS, how well have you been sticking to it? If you've really been religious about it for the past several months, take your wife out to a nice dinner this weekend and eat your freakin' heart out. Heavy carbs and proteins for one meal, then back to the grind immediately afterwards and watch what happens.

 

[Moserkr]

Everyone is so different but congrats on your journey this far! I know its not easy. What worked for me was HIIT exercises, along with moderate strength training. No machines, just body exercises and free weights. Dropped a pound a day roughly for around a month from 220-190, then slowed down for the next 10. During hunting season my lowest was 170, and I can drop 5-10 lbs in a week hunting hard in the mtns if I am around 180, which is where im comfortable. Im 5’10 and a bit stocky.

So I know its kinda dumb, but the insanity video HIIT workouts are killer. I never even completed one workout in full, just pushed til I couldnt anymore. Had a similar diet to you as well, very clean. Ive since gone back to eating just about anything i want and my weight has stayed off. To keep on your journey, Id start changing up the workout routine to challenge your body. You can level out if you do the same thing repeatedly because your body gets used to it. Best of luck with your goals!

 

[SDChungus]

Those are all good indicators. Keep increasing your strength training. If your body is rapidly building muscle right now I would take full advantage of it. It won't last forever and no one has ever been too strong or had too much muscle (natty, anywho).

Assuming your hitting ~230g protein/day, your diet seems great. No BS, how well have you been sticking to it? If you've really been religious about it for the past several months, take your wife out to a nice dinner this weekend and eat your freakin' heart out. Heavy carbs and proteins for one meal, then back to the grind immediately afterwards and watch what happens.

Im not sure if I am hitting 230. Generally its 3 eggs scrambled in the morning with 2 scoops of whey isolate (68g) at 7:45 post workout, a protein bar with 15g protein or so at 9:30...11:30 is lunch with generally 6-8oz of chicken or beef with vegetables. Sometimes its chicken with 150g basmati rice...sweet potatoes in place of rice some weeks...again about 150g. Vegetables in there too (broccoli / carrots / peas / peppers). Mostly everything is grilled or baked...very little fried food. Dinners generally run the same in some form. I do use ketchup, franks red
hot, and bbq sauces. I have been careful with any sugar. I drink almost no soda...water and preworkout which is clean no sugar/carbs. So assuming breakfast and snack is 83g, lunch 50g, dinner 50g and 2 tbsp of peanut butter and a banana in there...id say on the low side 185-200g protein. Ill try to increase the portion slightly.

 

[Kahuna]

my suggestion is to cut back to 1750 cal and see how your body reacts.

 

[Laramie]

Im not sure if I am hitting 230. Generally its 3 eggs scrambled in the morning with 2 scoops of whey isolate (68g) at 7:45 post workout, a protein bar with 15g protein or so at 9:30...11:30 is lunch with generally 6-8oz of chicken or beef with vegetables. Sometimes its chicken with 150g basmati rice...sweet potatoes in place of rice some weeks...again about 150g. Vegetables in there too (broccoli / carrots / peas / peppers). Mostly everything is grilled or baked...very little fried food. Dinners generally run the same in some form. I do use ketchup, franks red
hot, and bbq sauces. I have been careful with any sugar. I drink almost no soda...water and preworkout which is clean no sugar/carbs. So assuming breakfast and snack is 83g, lunch 50g, dinner 50g and 2 tbsp of peanut butter and a banana in there...id say on the low side 185-200g protein. Ill try to increase the portion slightly.

Remove the whey isolate and the protein bars. I would also kick out the peanut butter and banana and replace with a citrus fruit and a handful of almonds. It sounds trivial but I have a lot of experience with weight loss- anything processed is bad. I would also find a sugar free BBQ sauce & ketchup or make your own sauce- the ones from the store are loaded with sugar.

 

[SDChungus]

Remove the whey isolate and the protein bars. I would also kick out the peanut butter and banana and replace with a citrus fruit and a handful of almonds. It sounds trivial but I have a lot of experience with weight loss- anything processed is bad. I would also find a sugar free BBQ sauce & ketchup or make your own sauce- the ones from the store are loaded with sugar.

What would you substitute for protein to get the additional 100g? More chicken or steak post workout?

 

[Laramie]

What would you substitute for protein to get the additional 100g? More chicken or steak post workout?

I use hard boiled eggs, almonds, and occasionally greek yogurt with fruit in it if I need to increase protein. I try to get the majority of my protein intake from Breakfast, lunch, and dinner and use my snacks for fruit & vegetable intake.

As another person mentioned, carb loading once or twice a month is good when you are trying to lose. I usually try to do a pasts night once a month. You will gain a pound or two but it is temporary- over the next week you will lose that weight plus additional.

 

[*zap*]

Fasted, low intensity exercise (walking) done often and for longer duration. Intermittent fasting is also good for loosing fat. If you are strength training you will need the right amount of nutrition....so focus on non processed foods and get your calorie deficit from exercise. Lower body fat and added lean muscle mass is where it is at. That requires strength training and cardio....

 

[Dos Perros]

I'm not sure how to do this? Any tips?

I have a scale that can measure body fat %. It's not accurate at all; for example, when I'm really in the 12% neighborhood, the scale might say 18%. But, I don't care, I really want to measure progress and changes. Sounds like that might be what you'd be interested in, too.

Every 3 or 6 months you could always go to a gym and have a trainer measure you using a more accurate method.

 

[540-Virginian]

Your weight will fluctuate every day so look at long term trend and not day to day changes.

The recipe is calories consumed < calories burned. Its really just that. Speed Walk more than running i heard helps.

for sustenance, almonds before a meal have a weird tendency to make you feel fuller faster. Seriously, eat like a handful before a meal.

 

[scooter25]

If your still consuming the same amount of calories at your heavier weight cut back 200 calories and stay between 1800-2000. You need to adjust your calorie intake as your weight fluctuates.

 

[Mk44]

Cut back on your calorie intake.
Eat lean meat.. chicken, pork, fish. Eat egg whites.
Try to cut out the bread, pasta (temporary.)
If you can, skip lunch (protein shake instead)?
The weight could be muscle gain from your training. If the scale isn't moving maybe photos can show your transformation. Have you considered taking before and after pictures (monthly) of yourself. Use a tape measure and measure yourself.

 

[Hackleback]

You may have plateaued, but its more likely to are loosing fat and gaining muscle( a good thing) since your wife is noticing a difference. You could get one of the body composition scales (I don't know much about them), or a simpler way might be to take some body measurements once a week and see if the measurements are changing.

 

[SDChungus]

All great advice. Thank you everyone. I will look into some of these options.

 

[*zap*]

Calories in and calories out is a body weight formula not a fat loss formula...you cut your calories enough and your body will save the fat and use up your muscle.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

I’d recommend reaching out to Kyle Camp at Valley to Peak Nutrition and get his input.

I appreciate the recommendation, @PNWGATOR

 

[V2Pnutrition]

As my name implies iv always been a short chungus. Iv been putting hard time in on the treadmill, elliptical, and alternating upper/lower resistance training. I am a short stalky build dropped from 264 to 227 over the last 8 months. I am gaining a good amount of strength and endurance. However, I am just stuck the last 2 months at 227...just can't shake it. Im running on a 2000-2200 calorie diet which has a good amount of protein. The wife says im slowly still losing inches...but the scale sure hasent moved anymore. I don't know if i should drop another 500 calories to 1700-1800 and push more protein or what. Thoughts? Meat sources mainly chicken, beef and buffalo with the occasional porkchop. 3 eggs in the morning and whey isolate. Portions 6-8oz meat and whatever frozen vegetables. Minimal bread and pastas. Diet really is pretty clean.

Congrats on your success so far, @SDChungus! Even if you were to push stop now, a 40lb weight loss in the last 8 months is something to be incredibly proud of. Well done.

I'd be more than happy to help however I can. I'll send you a message or you're welcome to reach out if you have questions.

Congrats again on the great progress!

 

[MeatMissile]

Strength and Energy have been good. I was doing extremely well with jogging and then took a break to increase strength training. I find it hard to hit the same marks that I was prior to the cardio break. In general my appetite is steady...somedays I feel voraciously hungry, but not that often. Days that I have extreme hunger I dont feel like I get full...I try to ride it out with protein and maintaining diet.

Have you checked your blood sugar? Learning the relationship between glucose and insulin really helped me lose weight during a plateau.

Insulin is the hormone that controls how your cells use glucose and triggers fat storage. The more blood sugar you have, the more insulin gets produced. Also, if your body becomes resistant to insulin, you’ll feel hungrier because low insulin, or perceived low insulin, triggers hunger.

Your body will flood your blood with glucose at various times of the day. Try checking your blood sugar every hour when you’re awake and every two hours during sleep hours for a week. You’ll find times, even if you haven’t eaten, that your blood sugar will be higher.

Once you’ve mapped out your natural blood sugar cycle, avoid eating when your body tends to have higher fasting glucose numbers. For instance, I have a high between 0600 and 0800. I don’t eat during that time period to avoid adding fuel to an already high blood sugar.

 

[MeatMissile]

The three macronutrients are carbs, proteins, and fats. Carbs spike your blood sugar and insulin the highest, yet have the fastest crash, resulting in hunger. Protein also causes an increase in glucose and insulin, maybe about 50% of carbs, and has a slower return to normal. Fats cause the lowest increase, but have the longest return to normal. So, healthy fats will keep glucose and insulin low. This means more sensitivity to insulin and less hunger/storage.

 

[ramsdude47]

1g protein / pound is a myth perpetuated by people motivated to sell protein powder/bars/supplements. I believe the body of scientific evidence is more along the lines of 1g protein / kg, AND that is based off ideal body weight which is probably a fair amount lower than where you are currently at. Even if you split the difference, no chance do you need more than 120

I have read from multiple sources your body can’t absorb more than 30g from any given meal/snack/shake/whatever. I don’t know the validity of that, nor the time frame before that resets but logically it makes sense.

Keep up the hustle, I would listen to your body more than anything else. I would also caution you not to try and lose too much to fast, but it seems like you’re already managing pretty well.