Hi everyone im new here. Some advice please.

[carma]

Hi guys. I have just stubbled across this site and i wish i knew it existed sooner. I am planning to enter my first comp later this year. I have been dieting and training since jan the 1st. I havent lost any body fat in the last three weeks and cant quite work it out and am wondering if i might be in starvation mode. Let me know what you think. A typical days food intake is....

Meal 1: 25gm rolled oats, 4 egg whites.

Meal 2: Protein shake (3 scoops)with ice and water.

Meal 3: Chicken breast (5oz) before cooking. 2cups salad (fiborous veges).

Meal 4: Protein shake as above with 100gm strawberries frozen or a protein pancake(2egg whites, 3 scoops p/powder).

Meal 5: Lean steak or chicken breast 5oz and 2 cups fiborous veges.

Meal 6: Protein shake as above.

I weight train 4 days per week and walk for 30-40min everyday and do a cardio session (high intensity) 30min everyday.

I take 10gm creatine daily, 2TBsp Flaxseed oil, 2gm HMB, 10gm L-Glutamine.

I am about 21% BF and weigh 69kg and 170cm.

So there you have it, can anybody shed some light on why my weight isnt dropping any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated. :wink:

[jono]

hi and welcome!

personally i think you should be having some more carbs, you could try the cardio up to 45min-1hr?. also 4 egg whites isnt that much protien.

basically what i would do is make 1 change. just 1 and stick with it for a week and see if it helps. that way if you only make 1 change and not a whole bunch you can work out what works for you.

[Pseudonym]

Hi carma! We'd love to help you out...

First just clarify a few things:

- You say you're not losing fat any more - are you just basing this on the fact that your weight isn't dropping? Or are you having tests done? (Reason I ask is, it's possible you're gaining muscle at the same rate as you're losing fat, so nett weight remains the same)

- Had you done any training before this year?

- What was you diet like before you started this routine?

- Is the protein shake just a regular protein shake, or does it have extra carbs? (I wouldn't think it does, but you never know!)

You could be right that you're in starvation mode - like Jono says, you're probably a bit light on the carb front, even for dieting. Particularly when you're doing as much training and cardio as you are. The glutamine, etc, will help prevent muscle loss but my gut feeling is that you may be over-training a bit. It's pretty common - we're all too eager to see results fast! :grin:

I think my initial advice would be to ease off for a week, just to let your body recover, then up the intensity again - gradually. I think if you keep increasing the exercise and decreasing the food, if you aren't overtraining/undereating now, you soon will be.

But I'll have a rethink once you've answered those questions. ;-)

[deegee]

welcome! I am sure you will find someone to help you here.

you say though you are not losing any weight, are you just weighig yourself as a guid to fat loss? I find using calipers to measure fat the best. weigh loss and fat loss dont always go hand in hand.

Oh and those scales that measure body fat, dont use them, no good.

[carma]

Hi guys

Thanks for taking the time to help me out i reackon we need more support in this sport. To answer those questions for you Jono.....

I'm not sure about the gaining muscle as fast as losing fat thing but you never know i just didnt think i would be gaining that much mucsle that fast, But it would be great if i am.

Yes i did train before but nothing like i am now my food wasnt too bad either, but i put on a lot of fat just before i started, being xmasand all. my training sessions around xmas were far and few between and cardio didnt even come into play.

The protein powder i take is my own brand. It is just straight whey protein and flavour, 1 scoop = about 10gm protein, no carbs.

I have done three different B/F tests...

-Scales They say i am 21%

-Jackson and Pollack pinch test which says i am 20.8%

-Another pinch test i forget what its called which says i am 29%

So who knows i'd like to think im closer to the first two, :wink:

The normal body weight scales havent movedin three weeks and i only did my body fat tests last week. I weigh myself weekly and thought it a good idea to only do body fat tests once a month. So guys what do you think? :nod:

[Growth]

Welcome to the board Carma,

If someones trying to lose weight and not succeding the first place usually to look is the diet. At first glance i would agree with you that starvation is probably the culprit :shock: The human body is pretty amazing, if your arent eating enough your body will sence this and try to hold on your your energy stores.

Based on the folling information that i have sourced many times before when checking my own diet, i have come up with the following;

5oz lean meat ~ 32.5g protein

1 shake ~ 30g protein

1 egg white ~ 3.5g protein, carbs and fats negligible (average egg)

25g rolled oates ~ 3.5g protein, 16g carbs, 2.0g fat

Now although your forth meal varies from a shake to protein pancakes, the overall protein content will remain almost the same so we will neglect this for ease of calculation.

Meal 1: 17.5g protein, 16g carbohydrates, 2.0g fat

Meal 2: 30g Protein

Meal 3: 32.5g Protein

Meal 4: 30g protein

Meal 5: 32.5g Protein

Meal 6: 30g Protein

2Tbspn Flaxseed oil ~ 30ml

These figures are based on a few things, ie that your using average sized eggs etc.

Total Protein - Carbs - Fat = 172.5g, 16g, 32g

Ratio 78 / 7 / 15

Calories from Protein - Carbs - Fat = 690, 64, 288

Total Calories = Calories 1042

The exact numbers may differ slightly but this will be a pretty good estimate :grin:

So there are a few things this tells us.

1. Your ratio of protein to carbs to fat is a little out, like others have suggested some more carbs would be in order and perhaps a bit more fat too. A ratio say 60 / 20 / 20 would be a minimum, 50 / 20 / 30 would be good.

2. And the MAJOR thing that stands out is the overall calories. Just 1042 :shock: This is extremely low and based on the fact you do a lot of cardio and workout means your body is certainly in starvation mode. Do not increase the amount of cardio you are currently doing.

If i were you id bump up the calories to around 2000-2500, stay at that for a couple of weeks, then drop the calorie count 250 and see what happens for a couple of weeks. if you lose weight keep that diet up, if you dont, drop another 250.

Good to see almost all of your fat comes from good sources, definitly keep that up. Maybe a multivitamin too.

Good luck with your goals.

[Growth]

I was in the process of posting this when you posted that 1 scoop = 10g protein. Whichs threw my calculations out a bit but i went back and edited them.

It didnt change the end result much and there maybe a few slight calculation errors, but the fact remains,

Your not getting enough calories, you are starving yourself.

[carma]

Hi growth

Thankyou so much for worken all that out for me, its great and has definately shed some light on the whole picture. So i was thinking i would up my veges by another 2 cups per day and also add in another TBsp of flaxseed oil or maytbe some nuts, also i will add in 2 more carb meals, say another serving of oats and maybe a serve of rice or something like that? I will also add in another couple of egg whites into my first meal. How does this sound to you?

This is great getting all this feedback and adivce from people. Keep the it coming guys!

Are there many of you doing comps this year?

What do you think about having high carb days every now and then?

(i have to get out of the mind frame that carbs are gona make me fat)

[Growth]

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