New approach needed...

[kempc23]

I have been trying unsuccesfully for three months to cut down my body fat. The first couple of months i was training well but i was trying to starve myself. After doing a bit of reading on the net i found out this was the wrong thing to do.

So 1 month ago, I started on a new diet, recommended to me by the people on a different forum. First up, ill detail my training-

S: chest and biceps
m: 45 mins 5-a-side soccer
t: shoulder and triceps
w: rest
t: back (inc deadlift)
f: rest
s: rest

You might notice that I dont train legs- I have bad knees and it makes it worse if i train them. I also do 45 mins brisk walking 2-3 times per week.

And this is my diet for the past month-

WEEKS 1 and 2: height 5'4'', weight 65.5k, bf 15%

8.00am: Two slices of toast with PB or marmite (no butter)
10g whey with water

10.30 am: two rice cakes with marmite
10g whey with water

1.00 pm: Two rounds of sandwiches (no butter), ie tuna and light mayo, cheese and pickle, ham and coleslaw

3.30 pm: two rice cakes with marmite
10g whey with water

Training 5.30- 6.30 (sun, tue and thu)

7.00 pm: ordinary meal, ie meat and two veg, spag bol etc

9.00 pm:
10g protein shake

COMMENTS: i know the protein portions are tiny- i thought the scoop i was using was 20g, turns out it was only 10g. Anyways I made some good strength gains, but my weight went up by 2kg.

WEEK 3: 67k, bf 17.5%, Made the following changes-

8.00 am: bowl of cereal instead of toast. Added teaspoon of olive oil.

10.30 am: 15gs of protein

1.00pm: olive oil spread on sandwiches

3.30 pm: 15gs of protein

6.30 pm: 20gs of protein immediately post work out.

COMMENTS: No progress, no strength gains or fat loss. Weight stayed the same (around 67k),

WEEK 4: only had one sandwich instead of two. around the middle of the week, i found out the protein scoop i had been using was 10g instead of 20. so i changed protein portions like so-

8.00am: 20g
10.30am: 20g
3.30am: 20g
Post workout: 40g
9.00am: 20g

COMMENTS: No progress, no strength gains or fat loss. Weight stayed the same (around 67k) bf up to 19.5%. So after following the advice of people, all thats happened is ive got fatter.



Its really making me unhappy- whats the point in working out and eating well if it only makes you look worse? im sick of being a fat bastard. On the other forum i visited, people swore by the high protein, very low carbs, low fat diet. It clearly doesnt work for me.

PLEASE HELP!!

what alternative approaches can i take? im going to give up for the time being, take a couple of weeks off. Then in the new year i will try and cut the fat again. Please can you suggest anything that might work in my diet, or training, Also any sups that might help.

thanks in advance

 

[Mr.X]

I have been trying unsuccesfully for three months to cut down my body fat. The first couple of months i was training well but i was trying to starve myself. After doing a bit of reading on the net i found out this was the wrong thing to do.

So 1 month ago, I started on a new diet, recommended to me by the people on a different forum. First up, ill detail my training-

S: chest and biceps
m: 45 mins 5-a-side soccer
t: shoulder and triceps
w: rest
t: back (inc deadlift)
f: rest
s: rest

You might notice that I dont train legs- I have bad knees and it makes it worse if i train them. I also do 45 mins brisk walking 2-3 times per week.

And this is my diet for the past month-

WEEKS 1 and 2: height 5'4'', weight 65.5k, bf 15%

8.00am: Two slices of toast with PB or marmite (no butter)
10g whey with water

10.30 am: two rice cakes with marmite
10g whey with water

1.00 pm: Two rounds of sandwiches (no butter), ie tuna and light mayo, cheese and pickle, ham and coleslaw

3.30 pm: two rice cakes with marmite
10g whey with water

Training 5.30- 6.30 (sun, tue and thu)

7.00 pm: ordinary meal, ie meat and two veg, spag bol etc

9.00 pm:
10g protein shake

COMMENTS: i know the protein portions are tiny- i thought the scoop i was using was 20g, turns out it was only 10g. Anyways I made some good strength gains, but my weight went up by 2kg.

WEEK 3: 67k, bf 17.5%, Made the following changes-

8.00 am: bowl of cereal instead of toast. Added teaspoon of olive oil.

10.30 am: 15gs of protein

1.00pm: olive oil spread on sandwiches

3.30 pm: 15gs of protein

6.30 pm: 20gs of protein immediately post work out.

COMMENTS: No progress, no strength gains or fat loss. Weight stayed the same (around 67k),

WEEK 4: only had one sandwich instead of two. around the middle of the week, i found out the protein scoop i had been using was 10g instead of 20. so i changed protein portions like so-

8.00am: 20g
10.30am: 20g
3.30am: 20g
Post workout: 40g
9.00am: 20g

COMMENTS: No progress, no strength gains or fat loss. Weight stayed the same (around 67k) bf up to 19.5%. So after following the advice of people, all thats happened is ive got fatter.



Its really making me unhappy- whats the point in working out and eating well if it only makes you look worse? im sick of being a fat bastard. On the other forum i visited, people swore by the high protein, very low carbs, low fat diet. It clearly doesnt work for me.

PLEASE HELP!!

what alternative approaches can i take? im going to give up for the time being, take a couple of weeks off. Then in the new year i will try and cut the fat again. Please can you suggest anything that might work in my diet, or training, Also any sups that might help.

thanks in advance

From the look of your diet, and progress for that matter, my immiate assumption came to a drawing of two factors:
1) you ate WAY too many hi-gi carbs (and carbs overall)
2) you were starving yourself, seems like not enough food was consumed for an appropriate goal

I have to warn you that on the interent there are a lot of self proclaimed "gurus" so be careful of who you listen to. I can tell you one thing for sure, you can to the right place for help.

Here is what we will do for the next 2 weeks:

8.00am: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop protein (20g), 1 whole egg (boiled pref.)

10.30 am: 40g whey protein, 1 tbsp. flaxseed oil

1.00 pm: 1 sandwich: containing
1 can of tuna, and 2 slices wheat bread (wheat bread that contains at least 2g fiber/slice) + 1 small salad

3.30 pm: 40g protein (whey is fine), 1 tbsp. flaxseed oil

Training 5.30- 6.30 (sun, tue and thu)

7.00 pm: 6oz. chicken breast, 1 large salad w/ 1 tbsp. of olive oil
5g psyllium husk fiber

9.00 pm:
20g protein shake
10 g psyllium husk

Mr.X

 

[kempc23]

Thanks MR x. Like i said above, im going to rest for a week now- Ive all but lost my motivation.

tbh that diet looks almost exactly the same as what ive been doing before, except that youve subbed the rice cakes for 20g more of protein in my shake and upped the fat intake quite a bit (two tbsps of flax). Are these changes really going to make all that difference? I know you said i was starving myself, but it seems like the calorie intake is identical, and that the carbs have only been reduced by a tiny amount.

A few questions for you if you dont mind-


1)


8.00am: i dont like oatmeal all that much, i will eat it if i have to, but can i switch it up with weetabix, cereal etc every few days?

1.00pm: i like tuna, but the thought of eating it every day.... shall i do this, or shall i mix it up? what alternatives could i have in my sandwich? Shall i leave the olive oil spread here or cut it?

7.00pm: I still live with my parents, so this meal is often decided for me :/ I could cook for myself but im a lazy bast! things i might have are-

chicken in low fat sauce with rice
spag bol
pork steaks with veg
chicken with veg
casserole etc

would it be ok to eat with the family say 4 days a week, then make myself chicken and salad the other 3 days?

2)

What is psyllium husk fibre? im from the UK btw, so can i get this from a health food shop or something.

3)

do you suggest any changes to my training plan or do you have a good plan that i could follow? i wouldnt mind completely changing things up. Perhaps some light CV in the morning a couple of times a week before work? or some jogging after weights? or another weights session? or a pure cv session at the gym (45 mins or so)?

4)

Any supplements you suggest I should take? atm i dont take anything. Perhaps multivits, creatine, glutamine? how about a fat burner? ive ordered some xenadrine to try.



many thanks for your help. Im very dedicated and you seem eager to help. I will follow the instructions to the letter so we can isolate what is going wrong!

 

[kempc23]

Just a couple more questions, sorry!

theres no fruit in that diet, what should i eat, and when? i dont want to eat too much carbs like you say.

what veggies should i have in my salad? should i avoid potatoes? or too many at least.

 

[Senior Woonaki]

FOR STARTERS
Stay away from the cereal, if you really want to lose the weight take Mr.. x' s advice... Follow it religiously and you will start losing fat. Diets are not easy, everyone would be striated and ripped if they where... You owe it to yourself to give this diet 100 percent effort.

DIET
Your staple for carbs should be oatmeal(not the flavored garbage). NO CEREAL....
Green veggies are the best, avoid carrots and tomatoes.
Lean cuts of all meat are ok. I eat tons of boneless, skinless chicken breast, check your stores. I get mine for 1.99 a lb and stock up...
DINNER:
BUY A FOREMAN GRILL... The foreman grill is very easy to use and easy to clean. Tell your mom you will cook your own meals. It will take you 8 minutes to cook a chicken breast on your foreman.. While it is cooking make you salad... Your parents should understand.. If you are strict during the week you can afford to have a little pasta on Sundays with your family...
COOKING:
When possible cook in bulk. You cook 3 or 4 days of chicken in one hour with a regular oven... I will cook 12 chicken breasts at a time, let them cool then throw them in Tupperware and have my protein for the next 3-4 days...

GOOD LUCK!!!! STAY POSITIVE - YOU WILL REALIZE YOUR GOALS WITH SOME HARD WORK AND DISCIPLINE!!!!

 

[kempc23]

Thanks bud...

So i should eat chicken breast and salad EVERY DAY??

that doesnt sound very appetizing, but if thats what it takes, thats what i will do. So what veggies should i have with my salad?

lettuce
potatoes (not too many)
onion

dont like tomatoes
why should i stay away from carrots ? (one of the few that i like )

 

[Senior Woonaki]

You can mix in turkey tuna to switch it up... If you start getting results you wont care... Also i forgot to mention to keep a diet journal write down what you ate and you you felt....
You might want to look into post workout drinks as well... malto dextrin and whey protein can be ordered from proteinfactory.com... The combination 30 grams malto, 40 grams Whey protein will be a great post workout meal... Take the shake right after you workout and you should feel 10x better...

 

[Stryc-9]

So i should eat chicken breast and salad EVERY DAY??

that doesnt sound very appetizing, but if thats what it takes, thats what i will do.

The diet may get rather boring - but you've got the right attitude!! Sometimes you have to do "what it takes". Not only will you need to eat chicken and veggies everyday - it may get to the point where you're eating it SEVERAL times in one day! Many people simply don't have the desire to stick with a serious diet like this - but if you really want it badly - you can get through it - and you'll be very proud of yourself.

In my case - sticking with plain old grilled chicken breast and green veggies has always been the easiest route. Sure, it gets boring sometimes - but it makes it very easy for me to remember (a) what I've eaten during the day, and (b) when I've eaten! (very important!).

I recommend a mix of romaine lettuce, spinach and raw brocolli for the salad (think green and fibrous when picking your veggies).

 

[kempc23]

OK for the sandwiches, im going to alternate chicken/turkey each day.

would it be ok to alternate chicken breast/ lean steak for the evening meal? that would be much tastier

and finally, about the salad, whats wrong with carrots?? i really like them you see.

and i cant stand brocoli and spinach, what other options do i have? the only veggies i can think off that i like-

lettuce
peppers
sweet corn
carrots
potatoes

 

[Senior Woonaki]

You need to eat fibrous green veggies while dieting. They are very high in calories and have a very low GI rating... Lettuce is good, peppers are ok... Broccoli is better... Eat a lot of green beans and try and eat some broccoli now and then... Take a vitamin with every whole food meal.

Steak is ok, if you are going to eat a fatty protein - ELIMINATE THE CARBS... You want to avoid having a high GI carb (potatoes) with a fatty protein (red meat)... Doing this creates an insulin spike. When your insulin spikes and you have fats in your system from a recent meal, your body will tend to put on fat... Also salmon is KICK ASS. Just remember to avoid carbs with this meal... Chicken salad is boring but I know I am getting my 54 grams of protein, fat and fiber with no carbs AND THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL THING...

again, your goal should be to lose weight efficiently. You want to retain you muscle that you worked hard to put on... You should be trying to eat clean nutritional food... Think of your calories as a monetary budget. You only have so many calories a day to spend. Spend your calories wisely to get the most nutrition as possible. Just like Stryc said, if you want to be lean enough you will be eating oatmeal with your spinach and broccoli... Just think how awesome you will feel if you reach your goals by following a strict diet that 90 percent of the fat population could not adhere to.... That type of self-discipline is something to be proud of...

ALSO - DRINK AS MUCH WATER AS YOU CAN, IT HELPS EVERYTHING.