Frustrated

[LetsGoMurphys]

In the past I have had great success in dieting. When I was 18 (now 24) I went from about 235 (27%bf) to 185 (10%) bodyfat in about 5 months. I went to college and slowly but surely put it all back on. Now that I am out of college I want to get back to that shape very badly. I started a cutting diet about 8 weeks ago. I was 240 and fat (still am point of the post). I am down to 223 ish but dont see substantial reduction in body fat. I have been tighter with the diet than I was back then. I rarely cheat but if I do it is one meal and I dont overeat. I do have a few beers every other saturday. I have been hittin cardio 4 x a week pretty consistently (ellyptical mostly) for about 30 mins a session. I have been lifting 3 x a week as well. My diet is similar every day. usually along these lines. Some people tell me it will all fall off at once but that seems improbable.

Meal 1: Whole wheat bagel with lean ham and low fat cheese OR whole wheat english muffin either with egg beaters or a scoop and a half of whey isolate in skim milk.

Meal 2: Either a pure protein bar or a handful of peanuts.

Meal 3: Lean turkey or ham deli meat on whole wheat bread.

Meal 4: Cup of light yogurt (bout 100 cals).

Meal 5: Either 2 fish fillets (130 cals each) or tyson frozen chicken (the flavored kind u get at Sams or lean chicken breasts.

Meal 6: Either 2 Tbsp. ANPB or another Pure Protein bar.

Any suggestions? What can I do to get this seemingly sluggish metabolism fired up?

 

[whitedragon]

It doesn't sound like you're eating enough. You have to eat to boost your metabolism. How much pro/carbs/fat are you eating in a day?

 

[JKurz1]

Meal 1: Whole wheat bagel (GARBAGE) GO WITH A GOOD CARB COURCE...OATS, BROWN RICE, YAMS, SWEET POTATOES with lean ham (DROP HE HAM) AND CHEESE - MAKE THIS MEAL OATS, AND EGG WHITES WITH A YOLK OR TWO MAX...USE WHOLE GRAIN BROWN BREAD IF YOU HAVE TO, and low fat cheese OR whole wheat english muffin either with egg beaters or a scoop and a half of whey isolate in skim milk.

Meal 2: (WTF>) PROTEIN BARS ARE JUNK. ANOTHER GOOD CARB SOURCE AND LEAN PROTEIN. IF YOU WANT TO GO PRO/FAT GO WITH A ISOPURE SHAKE AND FLAX OIL - NO BARS OR PEANUTS! Either a pure protein bar or a handful of peanuts.

Meal 3: Lean turkey or ham deli meat(SWITCH TO CHIKEN BREAST OR LEAN BEEF) on whole wheat bread FINE BUT ID GO BROWN RICE HERE.

Meal 4: Cup of light yogurt (bout 100 cals) - DROP IT....TOO MUCH SUGAR TOO MUCH SODIUM IN THIS DIET.....HAVE ANOTHER SHAKE, FLAX SEED OIL.

Meal 5: Either 2 fish fillets (LEAN?) GET IT FRESH! (130 cals each) or tyson frozen chicken (the flavored kind u get at Sams or lean chicken breasts.

Meal 6: Either 2 Tbsp. ANPB or another Pure Protein bar - NO MORE BARS....A SLOW DIG. PROTEIN, 1% COTTGAE CHEESE AND PB.....CASEIN SHAKE.

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

It doesn't sound like you're eating enough. You have to eat to boost your metabolism. How much pro/carbs/fat are you eating in a day?

I'm takin in roughly 2100 cals a day 40 % carbs 35% protein 25% fat

 

[ProtienFiend]

You're training 7 days a week (4x cardio 3x lifting)? You may want to back off a bit and go 4-5x max. Id shoot for about 2500 cals or do some calorie cycling (more cals on lifting days).

 

[TVG]

Less carbs more fat

 

[gettnlarge01]

Whats your heart rate when doing the cardio? Are you taking any supplements to help get your metabolism going? What type of workouts are you doing? How much do you take in daily? Are you drinking sodas?

 

[whitedragon]

Definitely would up the cals to at least 2500. Maybe you killed your metabolism so it's going to take some time to get it back. Be patient. Do you ever cheat on your diet? Do you drink?

 

[Sassy69]

Meal 1: Whole wheat bagel with lean ham and low fat cheese OR whole wheat english muffin either with egg beaters or a scoop and a half of whey isolate in skim milk.
- Replace the bread w/ oatmeal

Meal 2: Either a pure protein bar or a handful of peanuts.
- Use more real food or almonds - I'd keep bars strictly for emergencies & not as a regular part of your diet. Protein mix & flax is another option.

Meal 3: Lean turkey or ham deli meat on whole wheat bread.
- deli meat is all preservatives & salt -toss it & replace bread w/ yams or brown rice. Also veggies hun, where are the veggies? Need some fiber to keep you regular and veggies are just good for ya!

Meal 4: Cup of light yogurt (bout 100 cals).
- Eh - rather see protien & either a carb or a fat here - you need the calories, and outside of the active cultures- you can also get those from acidophilus if you feel its important -yogurt is just sort of more sugar)

Meal 5: Either 2 fish fillets (130 cals each) or tyson frozen chicken (the flavored kind u get at Sams or lean chicken breasts.
- VEGGIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meal 6: Either 2 Tbsp. ANPB or another Pure Protein bar.
- Again rather see something other than a bar - protein mix / anpb

Any suggestions? What can I do to get this seemingly sluggish metabolism fired up?

Get your macros to more like 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fats, increase your total cals - I think if you swap out the bread for oatmeal, potatos, brown rice, replace deli meat w/ real meat as often as possible, replace the yogurt w/ a real meal and add some veggies you should be doing really good.

I think your training & cardio aren't too bad - I guess the primary question is do you feel like you are getting enough recovery time from your current regimen - sleep well, not exhausted or sore all the time, etc? If you're ok, you might consider replacing some of the steadystate cardio w/ interval cardio as well.

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

Whats your heart rate when doing the cardio? Are you taking any supplements to help get your metabolism going? What type of workouts are you doing? How much do you take in daily? Are you drinking sodas?

I just started doing at 15 minute hitt session followed by 25 mins steady state lower intensity cardio. Someone on this site suggested something similar. No supplements..any suggestions? Lifting is chest/tri back/ bi (with deads) shoulders 3 day split. takin 2100-2200 cals a day.

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

Whats your heart rate when doing the cardio? Are you taking any supplements to help get your metabolism going? What type of workouts are you doing? How much do you take in daily? Are you drinking sodas?

No regular soda but i am a diet pepsi addict.

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

Definitely would up the cals to at least 2500. Maybe you killed your metabolism so it's going to take some time to get it back. Be patient. Do you ever cheat on your diet? Do you drink?

I cheat maybe once every 2 weeks and have a few beers that often as well.

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

Definitely would up the cals to at least 2500. Maybe you killed your metabolism so it's going to take some time to get it back. Be patient. Do you ever cheat on your diet? Do you drink?

Do you mean I killed my metabolism by allowing myself to become obese? or because I have been hovering around 2000 cals a day?

 

[Sassy69]

Do you mean I killed my metabolism by allowing myself to become obese? or because I have been hovering around 2000 cals a day?

Not sure which WD was referring to but you slow down stuff if you spend some time throwing garbage in or if you are undereating --- I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of "eating under maintenance" -- but I'm 5'7", fairly muscular but easily build up fat as well - I cut for competiton on a pretty steady 1750 calories but I do things like carb cycling and regular adjustment of my macros based on my progress. Generally I find that if you are eating under a certain level for a long time, you will lose some "weight" but it could be both fat & muscle simply because you aren't fueling efficiently for what your body needs to burn. When your metabolism realizes that it isn't getting what it needs to efficiently burn, then it will adjust its burn rate down to preserve the stored energy sources it has available.

I'm not sure you can "kill" your metabolism but sometimes it takes a while for your body to figure out what you are trying to accomplish before it will sort of let go and let things run efficiently. I experienced what I refer to as "metabolic shutdown" after I completed my first competition (dieted down to 133 lb, 7-8% bf), rebounded 17 lb within 6 days, then started training w/ another guy for another show 3 months later. This guy waaay overtrained mem & I don't think the diet was the greatest either - so I think that, along w/ the chaos my body experienced from the first competition - it just sort of said "fuck you" and I was completely exhausted emotionally & physically all the time & couldn't lose weight to save my life. I went to an endocrinologist to get everything checked - she said everything was normal so I think it was just that I needed some time for my body to stop freaking out under all those stresses and get back to normal. It took at least 6 months but per the endocrinologist, I was normal. I visited her about 2 months after all the competition stuff happened and things wouldn't work right so there was a period of recovery time, but from my own experience I was "shut down".

 

[JKurz1]

Get your macros to more like 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fats, increase your total cals - I think if you swap out the bread for oatmeal, potatos, brown rice, replace deli meat w/ real meat as often as possible, replace the yogurt w/ a real meal and add some veggies you should be doing really good.

I think your training & cardio aren't too bad - I guess the primary question is do you feel like you are getting enough recovery time from your current regimen - sleep well, not exhausted or sore all the time, etc? If you're ok, you might consider replacing some of the steadystate cardio w/ interval cardio as well.

why didnt you copy my post? lol....

 

[LetsGoMurphys]

Not sure which WD was referring to but you slow down stuff if you spend some time throwing garbage in or if you are undereating --- I'm not sure if I'm a big fan of "eating under maintenance" -- but I'm 5'7", fairly muscular but easily build up fat as well - I cut for competiton on a pretty steady 1750 calories but I do things like carb cycling and regular adjustment of my macros based on my progress. Generally I find that if you are eating under a certain level for a long time, you will lose some "weight" but it could be both fat & muscle simply because you aren't fueling efficiently for what your body needs to burn. When your metabolism realizes that it isn't getting what it needs to efficiently burn, then it will adjust its burn rate down to preserve the stored energy sources it has available.

I'm not sure you can "kill" your metabolism but sometimes it takes a while for your body to figure out what you are trying to accomplish before it will sort of let go and let things run efficiently. I experienced what I refer to as "metabolic shutdown" after I completed my first competition (dieted down to 133 lb, 7-8% bf), rebounded 17 lb within 6 days, then started training w/ another guy for another show 3 months later. This guy waaay overtrained mem & I don't think the diet was the greatest either - so I think that, along w/ the chaos my body experienced from the first competition - it just sort of said "fuck you" and I was completely exhausted emotionally & physically all the time & couldn't lose weight to save my life. I went to an endocrinologist to get everything checked - she said everything was normal so I think it was just that I needed some time for my body to stop freaking out under all those stresses and get back to normal. It took at least 6 months but per the endocrinologist, I was normal. I visited her about 2 months after all the competition stuff happened and things wouldn't work right so there was a period of recovery time, but from my own experience I was "shut down".

thank you, you have been very helpful

 

[Sassy69]

why didnt you copy my post? lol....

Cuz I said stuff other than just repeating u.