Weight stopped dropping. Flab not gone.

k4z00

k4z00

New Member
Long story short:

Weighed 145 in middle school.
Weighed 200 as a senior in high school.
Dropped to 180 by 2009, was steady, picked up mountain biking.
Hovered 170-175, still had a large gut.

I'm now 1.5 months into my diet plan, and weigh about 165. The past 2 weeks I've had absolutely no weight loss.

I still have a pretty pronounced gut, and my arms haven't changed at all.

I'd like to drop the last 15 pounds of fat, but the weather, and my work schedule has confined me to a treadmill.

For the first few weeks I walked, because I was out of shape. The next two I began jogging in the middle, and continued to lose weight.

The past two weeks I've done mostly jogging for the 5 miles. No change at all. I haven't changed my diet, and things were going so well.

Why the sudden stop?

I was hoping to get back down to 150, and then work on muscle growth using whey protein as a supplement.

Should I start using whey now to see if it will kick my metabolism back in to burn fat, or wait to start building muscle?

Note: I've had just 1 mountain bike ride this year and that was in early April, so there's no clue when I'll be getting back on the bike. Until then, assume I'm always on a treadmill, daily.
 
I am by no means a trainer, but I believe that building muscle is the best way to get a fit body. I use Gold Standard 100% whey and love it. I believe if your body always knows it is going to have food it will store less fat. Eating five meals a day is a great way to let the body know it will always have food, but not always easily done. I use the protein shake for 2 of those so called meals.

I get the strawberry: http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutri...NYGI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306209966&sr=8-1
 
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Thanks for the input. I was unsure of whether the extra protein was just going to stick around as more fat. Never really had a drive to exercise and get into shape before, so now there's so much information/misinformation floating around I'm not sure how to make heads or tails of it all.
 
Add some intervals into your riding and running. Go hard on the treadmill or outside for 20 seconds then jog for 10. repeat this 5 times or so (depending on how you feel). On the bike go hard for a min and rest for 30. Alternate as you see fit.

Your body eventually adapts to a certain pace, becoming more efficient at burning calories, which may be a reason you haven't seen the weight coming down.
 
Watch your total calories for the day. 5-6 meals a day. How many calories are you eating each day, then find out how much you should be consuming, to maintain or to lose. How tall are you? Intervals are a great idea.
 
congrats on the weight loss... i too have been enjoying seeing the numbers on the scale drop... as for the protein... yes best protein i ever used... second.. may i suggest green tea supplements.. this is an herbal supplement that is great in adding fat burn. not only will it help u lose weight, it will also help u gain energy and feel better. second, I would switch between workouts.. i found that working on the elliptical is a very good workout but, like anything else, your body can get used to it and make losing weight harder... its not that you aren't losing no more weight, its that ur body needs to work harder. so what i found to work well is switching every day from the elliptical to the spinner. but do a solid high heart rate 30 min and then a good 30 min "jog".

If you want to go a little more "hard core", i would suggest oxypro elite supplements.. those things are crazy and are pharmacy developed.. (im a pharmacy student and read up on the drug well.) but i suggest this with caution... but i do have to say its not like ur typical weight loss pill that makes you sh*t your brains out and pump u up with caffeine to make u jittery.
 
First of all congrats on taking the initiative to get healthy. 15 lbs in 6 weeks seems pretty good. I would keep up the program and add in some intensity (i.e. intervals). I always drop the last few when my rides become intense - in fact that's really the only way I shed that last 5 to 10 of extra flubbage.
 
My diet is nothing fancy. Oats/Granola for breakfast. Fruit as a snack. Lunch is usually some form of poultry, cooked in various fashions. Handful of various tree nuts for a snack. And vegetables/poultry/beef for dinner.

I don't weigh things out. Usually for protein I'll do a palm sized amount, sans fingers. And vegetables about a fist sized amount, maybe more.

Cooked in EVOO, no butter or anything. Fresh garlic and herbs.

--- Even though I haven't replied much, I HAVE been taking all of your advice. This week I did intervals. Since this thread start I've lost another 5 pounds. Hovering 160-163 depending on what's in me.

I'm not stuck on the weight though, I know I've got a lot more muscle in my legs now then when I started.


I'm typically doing roughly an hour of cardio. Mix of walking at 4.5 mph to get heart rate up. Jogging at 6 mph. and for 30 second sprints I do about 8 mph. I've picked up playing Dance Dance Revolution again. I've had an arcade style pad in my closet for the better part of 4 years now.

So, Dancing games, Cardio, and today will be my first day I have time to get back in the saddle. I'll be headed up to Jungle.

Once again, I appreciate the advice!
 
Here's my 2 cents, since I'm bored at work and have a moment:

Deadlifts, Deadlifts, and more Deadlifts. No kidding.

Forget the diet and just eat as clean as you can normally. Don't stress about the food you eat, unless you know your constantly eating crap. Just make sure your getting enough protien and vegetables. And forget your weight in middle school, you were a boy then...you are a man now.

Try lifting weights 3 times a week, on days you are not mountain biking or running. Or if you must do them on the same day, do your cardio/endurance training atleast 6hrs after any weight training. On the 3 weight training days, lift heavy(for you), and don't train until exhaustion. You shouldnt even be breaking too much of a sweat while weight lifting on this plan. I personally recommend the following training schedule.


(for all weight lifting days, rest 5-7 mins between sets. Or atleast until your breathing calms down to near resting levels)
Monday
1. Deadlifts : Set #1: Heaviest weight you can lift for 5 perfect(PERFECT!) reps.
Set #2: 90% of the weight from Set#1 for 5 reps

2. Standing Barbell Press(not push press or jerk): (you will likely need a rack for this)
Set #1: Heaviest weight you can lift for 5 perfect reps.
Set #2: 90% of the weight from Set#1 for 5 reps

3. Do weighted sit ups or leg raises. Or if your an advanced lifter, heavy TGU's or Bent press's OR skip #3 all together.

Tuesday
1. Take a nice long trail ride. The longer the better.

Wednesday
- Repeat Monday's workout. Try to increase the amount of weight on set #1 by 5lbs. If you cannot, then keep the same weight. If it feels like you can handle 10-15lbs more, do not....follow the workout, only 5lbs increase per workout session or week(whichever you prefer)

Thursday
1. Take a ride or run if your quads are feeling tried from tuesdays ride. Also a good time for intervals, if you like.

Friday
-Repeat Wednesdays workout. Follow the rules.

Saturday
1. Take ride, preferrably long and hilly. Throw in some interval training if you like. This should be the longest/most strenous ride of the week. If you are too sore from either riding or weight lifting you can also rest completely on this day.

Sunday
Rest, be lazy, make sure your eating enough proteins from real meat or fish(not crap supplements). And/Or go out and do something active that is not bike riding, running, or weight training and don't over do it.

**Go hard for 3 weeks, use light weights for 1week every 4th week.



If you follow this program, you will not only lose alot of fat over time, you will also get incredibly stronger than you are now in just about every aspect of fitness. And as a bonus, after deadlifting for 2months, see if you don't feel much more confident on your bike. I personally feel that every athlete in every sport, individual or team, should deadlift atleast 3times a week most of the year, if not every day...buts that just my humble opinion.


OR you could get into Kettlebells, or Olympic lift training....but I'll leave that for another day.


Good luck with your training! Everyone hits plateau's from time to time, just keep training and you'll do well.
 
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