So.. Im a fat guy... (I have gained weight in the last few months) nothing to terrible.. but I notice that I don't look as good any more.. what is breaking my balls is that I am constantly dieting.. high protein.. low carb.. 6 meals a day. no beer, *except for one day a week* and hitting the gym 5+ days a week.. and I KEEP gaining weight.. it breaks my balls! I have been 7% BF before.. and would like to get there again. but nothing I do seems to have any effect.. grrrrr... blast my slow metabolism.
three things immediately spring to mind: first, what are you doing differently than you were when you were at 7% body fat? second, no matter what diet you're following, how many calories are you actually consuming? third, how much cardio are you doing? men who weightlift tend to ignore the cardio side.
But are you gaining muscle mass or fat? Gym 5+ days a week should see you gaining muscle mass while losing fat and that may not translate into real weight loss. One nice thing about not working out and then going back is that it's easier to get back into the shape you were in. There's also one other issue. Age. Metabolism keeps slowing and the amount of food you need to keep going drops drastically in the mid-late 20s. I suggest discussing your diet with a fitness nutrtionist, see if they can't get a fix on your basal metabolism and estimate how many calories you're actually burning per day.
My Mum always said. We are what we are and we arn`t what what we aught to be. I gave up beer and sweet things 3 weeks ago and have been miserable ever since. although i dropped a few pounds i have to ask was it worth the grumpy moods, nights in and dull food(I have a very sweet tooth) Today im gonna devour a bar of Imported UK Cadburys Dairy Milk and drink myself stupid. See you on the other side
well... hmmm what am I doing differently... well... hmmm not a whole lot... my meals typically go like this: breakfast... 8am eggwhites.. 4-6 with 1 cup of brown rice. 11am hand full raw almonds, or a protein bar 2pm lettuce/ with some lean protein - tuna, or turkey 6pm dinner chicken/fish/or lean beef grilled with a salad. workout 1-2 hours 10-11pm protein shake or bar.. and sleep.. repeat.
i was blessed to not have a sweet tooth. I have great will power.. I just quit smoking.. no problem... I have lost 130 lbs.... *i used to be 300lbs.. but now I have trouble just taking off 20 lbs.. its sad.
YOU LOST 130 POUNDS thats a hell of an achievment, please dont sweat the last 20 pounds. your body has become accustomed to your routine thats all, change it up a little maybe that will work. But please be happy with yuor incredible weight loss. I applaude you and im sure many here will join me in doing so
Ahhh! Congratulations! Nicotine buzzes the metabolism, when you quit your metabolism slows down a bit until the body adjusts to living without the drug. That could be a contributing factor. Oh and DAMN! Fucking impressive!
This might sound silly but are you sure you're eating enough, that sounds very little for a guy, I eat more than that except for breakfast which I never eat. If you're not eating enough your body can lower your metabolism so even if you eat less you can gain weight.
I'm with Spoiled Princess.... Your current diet is already incredibly low. Especially with the amount of exercise in it.... can't you add a good deal of fruit and veg in there? Sometimes we can go so healthy and cut our ALL fat. Everyone needs a little bit of fat, albeit low fat spread or oil to actually metabolise the nutrients are you taking in.... if the body thinks you're starving it it will hold on to everytihing you give it... Other than that you are eating little and often, which also helps low metabolisms..... AWESOME weight loss though mate!!!! I take my hat off to you!!! Don't beat yourself up, just get some more fresh stuff in ya - add a salad and a fruit salad in there somewhere!! Yo'll get there... stop stressing!!!:biggrin1:
i'm with those above wondering if maybe you're cutting too much out of your diet. my husband is getting in shape and reads a lot of bodybuilding websites, and the consensus seems to be that more carbs and more fat than what was in style a few years ago is actually more sensible than the extreme low carb diet. i've lost 70 pounds do far, and i'm having a lot of trouble losing the last 20. for a few weeks i was starving myself on 500-800 calories a day and instead of losing, nothing happened. the last couple weeks i've actually increased the amount i'm eating at the same time i increased my cardio and i've lost probably 2 pounds this week. i don't know how much this is true for you, but once you've been really heavy and lost a ton of weight, the smallest gain or inability to lose makes you freak out. i think sometimes you just have to be patient with your body. oh-- and someone else said it, but if the quitting smoking was recent, that will fuck your metabolism but good. i gained a ton of weight when i quit, which is pretty common.
I've always heard that if you try to starve yourself the body goes into conservation mode and thus not being able to lose any weight
