Fat loss suggestions

[Plowboy85]

I think it is best if all fitness and weight goals are tempered with realism as far as sustainability. The long game is what matters. I see new guys my age go hard @ the gym for a little while and then they are gone...we all hear about the fast weight losses and then a year later its all back..a good plan done incrementally and consistently wins every time.

Completely agree, a year ago I decided it was time to adapt a healthy lifestyle overall and get off the roller coasters. Loosing quality weight is doable on fad diets but keeping it off requires a lifestyle change.

 

[*zap*]

Most people today cannot fathom goals in the 1-2 year range and that is what it may take to go from the common diet to a natty diet that satisfies you. Most of the people I talk to cannot fathom living without eating 'enriched' bread daily.

 

[homers]

low carb, no sugar, especially high fructose crap, decent protein and veggies. Cut out the processed crap.

 

[Seeknelk]

Most people over estimate what they can accomplish in a week and underestimate what they can accomplish in a year. Speaking from experience.
It's the long game we need to get into. Like real long.

 

[Cseaman91]

Don’t get frustrated by the scale. Your body composition is likely much different than when you started and remember that a pound of muscle takes up much less volume than a pound of fat. Keep strength training and check out the “4 pillars fitness” app. I do the free body weight excersizes 5-6 day a week and they do work.

 

[TheArdentOutdoorsman]

Fasting. When disciplined and no cheating, its almost fail proof. I've had to cut weight my whole life to make weight classes in combat sports. Simple tip, be hungry much more than you are not during a days time. I can drop pounds quickly fasting from 8pm-noon the next day. Google intermittent fasting, its a popular technique. Of course activity is needed and when you do eat, eat clean and with a purpose. You got this, be patient and trust the process.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

I have been taking photos every couple weeks. I need to line them up to see the change. I definitely feel it in my clothing I have dropped from a 44 to a 38 jeans size. Pinnacle of weight loss so you think I might be trading 1:1 fat to muscle? Its possible...she thinks im still losing inches. Thank you for the input I appreciate it.

If you are exercising regularly with that much protein intake, in particular strength training you will be doing a trade off to some degree. Plateaus are real though, both in strength progression as well as in weight loss when that is the goal. Monitoring body fat % would be good, I would be cautious cutting down calories too much as your body needs that to keep moving. Doing that too much too fast can make it very easy to throw weight back on if you have an off week.

 

[*zap*]

cloth tape around your body @ your bellybutton will show alot....keep a log.

 

[Bighunt531]

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.

Intermittent fasting worked wonders for me 16 8 program

 

[HighUintas]

Don't worry too much about weight. Just exercise daily, eat less fat and less sugar, eat less processed foods, and get plenty of sleep.

You'll probably be more hungry more often.... Just eat bigger salads with more lean meat and veggies mixed in

 

[DrHogfan]

There has been a lot of suggestions, some have been good. Some not so much.

To burn fat, and with laws of thermodynamics and energy conservation in mind, you must be expending more energy than you are taking in. As we diet, our energy expenditure tends to lower, whether it be in exercise intensity, decrease in BMR from weight loss, or decrease in non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). The only answer to continue fat loss, is to bring back this negative energy balance. To do that you either have to burn more calories, eat fewer calories, or both. Any of these suggestions could be the best one depending on the individual's situation. What strikes me is you have been losing weight for 8 months (albeit the OP was from December). That is a long time to be in a calorie deficit. The longer you are in a calorie deficit the more you body compensates to prevent further weight loss as a survival mechanism. Your NEAT drops, its harder to push hard in workouts, injury susceptibility, etc. Just call it your "metabolism" slowing down if you'd like. When faced with a stall in weight loss and non of the above options are feasible, then I would suggest a reverse diet to maintenance. Increase calories ever 1-2 weeks as high as possible until you either A cannot eat another bite of food, or B start to see linear weight gain week to week (1lb or so per week over a couple of weeks). Then you stop increasing and eat at a maintenance level - no weight loss or gain for at least 2/3 or 1x the time you were dieting. You will, in sorts, reset your body's "baseline weight" and set yourself up for your second weight loss phase. This has been backed by clinical evidence in the nutrition world; whereas fasting, food quality, low carb, process vs unprocessed, cheat meals, carb loading, etc have all proven non superior to calorie adjusted weight loss programs. There are many mobile apps that can aid in this if it seems too time consuming to figure all this out. A couple I recommend are Avatar Nutrition and Renaissance Periodization. No fluff, gimmicks, hacks, or "secrets" to weight loss. I have used both successfully with myself, friends, and patients.

 

[drewfoo]

You are probably just at a plateau. Keep up the same as always and sooner or later the scale will drop a bunch.