Getting back into shape

[wannabecut87]

Hello, I am 5'9.5", 24 and want to aim to get down to 15 % body fat, of which I am 21 % atm. I am 189 lbs (13 st 7 lbs) and wish to get down to 175 lbs (12 st 7 lbs) and to eventually end up at 182 lbs (13 st) once I have gained 7 pounds of muscle. My sleep schedule atm isnt that good, could that be why my metabolism has slowed down? Atm I try not to eat 3 hours before I go to bed and do about 30 mins of medium intensity exercise as well as some medium weights and body weight exercises at home every day as I don't go to the gym atm. I don't want size atm and obviously I need to be lifting heavy at the gym and have a calorie surplus. My goal atm is to just get into shape to look good.
Why do you reckon I am not losing weight atm, could it be my sleep schedule that is slowing my metabolism down, am I eating too little or am I eating too much. I recently gave up eating chocolate and believe it or not I have gained weight, so was the chocolate providing the calories that I needed. I just do not know what to do, as I am an endomorph/mesomorph my body hates too few calories yet too much makes me gain fat, so what can I do to achieve 15 % body fat, It shouldn't be that hard should it, you guys probably aim for a lot lower, so what do I need to do in order to hit it. Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[Colstreamer]

Bribing have the same body type endo/meso last year I was 110kg @ 30% bf. I got down to 102kg @ 11.34% bf. I just cut cals. Simple as that.

Maybe list your typical daily diet? That could give a better idea of where improvements can be made but tbh losing weight us about cals in minus cals out. Really is that simple. To preserve muscle maintain a high protein intake although some muscle and strength loss is to be expected.

If I were you I'd get myself to a gym and start lifting heavy. Believe it or not lifting weights burns cals. Really, I mean think about it, it takes a lot of energy to shift heavy ass weights, cals are a unit if energy. Simple. Also muscle uses energy even when you're asleep so increasing muscle mass will help lose fat. Lifting weights keeps your body using cals even after you finish training whereas when you do cardio you stop burning cals once you stop exercising. More reason to get lifting.

 

[wannabecut87]

Thanks, so I am eating too much calories atm or doing too little exercise? I don't think it is that simple though as your metabolism will slow down with a decrease in cals and will eventually lose fat but with a lot of muscle. I wouldn't have thought I was eating too much atm but my metabolism is a bit shot atm, perhaps because of bad sleep patterns, when I eat more and exercise more I seem to lose more weight but as I have cut down on chocolate perhaps I am eating more carbs. My diet is less than organised but as I am a vegetarian is still pretty healthy but I need to eat more green veg and fruit. I have recently cut back on sugar which hasn't had any affect on my weight so far, plus I think I am a bit insulin resistant, does that mean I should lower my carbs, or just exercise more as exercise improves insulin sensitivity?

 

[Colstreamer]

I think you're getting bogged down in details, metabolism may vary but it ain't gonna shoot up and down so much it makes that much of a difference. I can't comment on whether you're eating too much or too little cos I've no idea how much or even what you're eating aside from being vegitarian. Also weight in and of itself isn't a good indicator of fat loss, your weight can vary by a couple of kg per day depending on how much you've eaten, what you've eaten, how often you've used the toilet, how much exercise you've done.... The list goes on. If you work out your BMR that'll give you the approximate amount of cals you need per day to maintain your weight, take away 100-200 cals and you ought to start losing weight. If you don't reduce by another 100 cals or so.

Also vegetarian doesn't automatically equal healthy. Your body requires protein and lots of it if you want to lose fat. What are your protein sources? And please don't tell me you get most of your protein from soy products.

Also I'm confused. How can you say you're a vegetarian one minute then say you need to eat more fruit and veg?? Surely as a vegetarian the bulk of your diet is veg?? We ought to have similar diets, I'm Pescetarian, I don't eat meat other than fish.

 

[Colstreamer]

I don't think it is that simple though as your metabolism will slow down with a decrease in cals and will eventually lose fat but with a lot of muscle.

It really is that simple, a body no matter how fast or slow the metabolism, can't lose weight if it's being fed more than it needs, same as it can't grow bigger if it isn't being fed more than it needs.

Of course you'll lose muscle, I said that was to be expected. Which is why I recommended lifting weights and increasing protein intake to help reduce muscle breakdown (lifting weights increases metabolism, didn't you read my first post?). I lose about 20-25% muscle when I cut weight so 8kg total weight lost = 0.8-2kg muscle lost along with 6-7.2kg fat.

 

[wannabecut87]

Not necessarily, a vegetarian is someone who does not eat any animals or fish, you can't assums that a vegetarian is someone who must obviously eat a lot of vegetables, but yes I need to eat more. There are many things that vegetarians can eat whilst still neglecting their vegetable and fruit sources. I have nuts, wheat protein, mycoprotein, eggs and yes soy, what is wrong with soy, I have felt no side effects from soy, I have consumed it for 13 years now, certainly no estrogenic effects and only some bloating/water retention when I have had too much at once, like with any kind of protein. I also have a soy protein shake occasionly. I still think metabolism plays a big part at least in some people, hence why some people have a harder time to lose weight. I think the optimum thing to do is too eat slightly more whilst doing a good amount of exercise, as you get a higher metabolism from the extra calories plus the exercise will increase your metabolism as well as doing weights, which will increase hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.
Some times I eat fewer calories, exercise more and my weight stays the same, so obviously my metabolism has slowed down and therefore not just just a simple case of calories in/out as your body has starvation mode in play, so I suppose you have to count your calories, and like you said eat slightly below your BMR in order to lose fat without your body going into starvation mode. I think it is time for me to get some exercise and hit the weights lol

 

[Colstreamer]

I think it is time for me to get some exercise and hit the weights lol

Yep.