Weight loss plateu

[greemah]

Hi all

I have lost around 10kg over the last few months by cutting calories and lowering carbs. But I have been stuck like this for the last 3 weeks and unsure of what I can do to continue to loose fat. Can anyone give me any suggestions?

My current diet is 1900cal (121g carbs, 64g fat, 192g protein). I am 22 years old and currently weigh 86kg. A typical day is:

Meal 1: 2 scrambled eggs, protein shake with milk

Meal 2: Half a protein bar

Meal 3: Sandwhich consisting of 2 slices break, 2 slices cheese, lettuce

Meal 4: Half a protein bar

Meal 5: Protein shake with milk

Meal 6: Beef of chicken and vegetables with sauce, glass of milk

Also have water throughout the day. I lift 3 days a week keeping heavy, and have managed to make gains on some lifts through my cut, though had to lower bench and bent over rows slightly.

Any help appreciated

[Flex]

Meal 1: 2 scrambled eggs, protein shake with milk

Meal 2: Half a protein bar

Meal 3: Sandwhich consisting of 2 slices break, 2 slices cheese, lettuce

Meal 4: Half a protein bar

Meal 5: Protein shake with milk

Meal 6: Beef of chicken and vegetables with sauce, glass of milk

Tell me how you get 192g of protein and 64g of fat out of this. Protein bars are shit and not something to eat everyday day let alone twice a day. Your diet is terrible. Are you doing any cardio to burn fat or just relying on this diet?

[greemah]

I have put everything into fitday.com and those are the macros I get. Also am getting the majority of info from the nutrition info label on the packs of the foods so I know those macros are as close to what I am having as possible.

Why are protein bars so crap? I see it's reasonably low cal, low carb, and high protein.

What diet changes do you suggest then? The foods I eat need to be easy to take to an office job with only a fridge available

I'm doing a little cardio but not much, I mainly do weights

[drizzt]

As Flex said, what cardio do you do alongside the diet?

Edit - you say not much. I'd suggest increasing cardio as a first step to start shifting off your plateau. It sucks, but losing the weight is a combination of a few things, not just diet and weights.

I also work an Office job (although to be fair, I have a Microwave at work so can reheat stuff). I occasionally have cold chicken which is fine for a lunch and doesn't need to be reheated. Look at preparing meals in advance, especially ones that don't need to be reheated in your case. A sandwich with cheese + lettuce doesn't sound like much.

[Mr_Krabs]

Heres what I would do [insert standard "everybodies different" disclaimer here]:

Keep the calories about the same but drop the bread and protein bars replace the calories with good fats like avocado and add a couple of nut snacks like almonds. Turn the sandwich into a salad. Also maybe drop the milk and make shakes with water. Make sure you keep your lean meat intake high, dont skimp on serving size here otherwise you wont hit your protein requirements.

As for cardio, you wanna be doing at least 90 mins a week (3x30min of good sweating at a minimum).

If you are presently not doing much cardio at all these changes should get you stripping fat again :nod:

[Flex]

I have put everything into fitday.com and those are the macros I get. Also am getting the majority of info from the nutrition info label on the packs of the foods so I know those macros are as close to what I am having as possible.

Why are protein bars so crap? I see it's reasonably low cal, low carb, and high protein.

What diet changes do you suggest then? The foods I eat need to be easy to take to an office job with only a fridge available

I'm doing a little cardio but not much, I mainly do weights

What protein bars are you using? I've never found a protein bar that is low carb, low calorie and high protein. Protein bars are crap because the protein quality is generally low and generally going to be denatured, most of them are full of artificial sweeteners, colours and flavours, hydrogenated fats and oils, saturated fats, corn syrup solids and high fructose corn syrup, hydrolyzed collagen or gelatin (the non protein protein), added vitamins and minerals that are unusable by the body, blah blah blah.

Fine for a bit of a treat or if you are on the run and don't have time for a protein based meal but a shit choice of food for daily intake.

The foods I eat need to be easy to take to an office job with only a fridge available

What could be easier than a can of tuna and a bowl of rice or pasta? A cheese sandwich is providing nothing but carbs and saturated fat.

Give me the exact breakdowns of your diet that fitday and your food packets are providing and I'll see if I can recommend where to improve.

[greemah]

What protein bars are you using? I've never found a protein bar that is low carb, low calorie and high protein.

Horleys Carb Less bars - 180 cal, 3.4g fat, 4.5g carb, 18.4 prot.

What could be easier than a can of tuna and a bowl of rice or pasta?

Don't eat seafood, the thought of it makes me sick. Sucks though coz tuna sounds like an awesome food

Give me the exact breakdowns of your diet that fitday and your food packets are providing and I'll see if I can recommend where to improve.

Current fitday diet is attached.

I have changed my diet to 2200 cal a day, replacing bars with peanuts and cheese with chicken. Macros for day are 2200cal, 97g fat, 127g carb, 204g prot. Does that sound better?

I will start doing more cardio and see if I can get 90min a week

Thanks for advice so far

[drizzt]

Don't eat seafood, the thought of it makes me sick. Sucks though coz tuna sounds like an awesome food

Oh ok, is this personal choice or something else? I ask because I used to be quite fussy with my food (hated most vegies, eggs... salmon even!), but once I started eating them - especially for the cut I'm currently on - I began to acquire a taste for em

Without seafood, another canned option for a quick meal is ChopChop Chicken. I have cans of ChopChop and Tuna all over the place to serve as quick meals or for times where I've gotta eat on the run.

Also as I mentioned above, prepare meals in advance. Chicken salads are good and obviously don't require heating, and you can use various greens (and splashes of dressings depending on the content) to add variety.

I will start doing more cardio and see if I can get 90min a week

If you want to get off the plateau, there is no real way around an increase in cardio to go alongside a better diet, especially as it looks as though you're only exercising 3x per week? (sorry if I've got that wrong)

90mins is a good start, what will you be doing in that 90mins? I'd suggest doing something you enjoy, or where you're learning a skill. For example, when I started my summer cut I begun Boxing Classes 2 nights per week - I enjoy them, they're great fitness, and I'm learning a skill. Keeps me interested and there's 2 hours of high intensity cardio right there I also throw 1-2 spin classes in a week - maybe look at taking one if you can? Working in an environment like that you can ride the vibe of the class. Well, that's what I often experience anyway. Other options are join a team sport if you haven't already? Does your office have indoor sports teams? Can you go for a run at lunch? Play touch or football on weekends?

There are plenty of choices, but eventually you'll need to puff the chest up and do some hard yakka - whether it be diet, weights, cardio or all of the above - you aren't always going to like it, and there aren't always easy routes to take. Read the diet list you asked about that I posted in my Summer Cut thread if you haven't already, and see if adding any of those points to your regime helps. Good luck mate

[greemah]

Thanks drizzt. The seafood thing isn't a choice really, I can't eat it without thinking of it slimey and swimming in the sea and I just start dry wretching.

With salads, I have tried to avoid that in the past for the abuse I would get at work lol, but I might have to just handle that.

FYI - I have swapped the chicken for fat free chicken breast slices so fitday is now 2072cal, 88g fat, 128g carb, 293g prot.

The cardio I'm doing is boxing as well (it's slowly turning into mma though), not classes but hitting the bag and sparring with friends. It gets you puffed as hell so pretty good cardio. I will be doing the cardio on top of the 45 min weight workouts I do 3 times a week

[drizzt]

Thanks drizzt. The seafood thing isn't a choice really, I can't eat it without thinking of it slimey and swimming in the sea and I just start dry wretching.

With salads, I have tried to avoid that in the past for the abuse I would get at work lol, but I might have to just handle that.

No worries. Haha know what you mean about the office, I've been copping crap all week for swapping my office chair with a swiss ball :doh:

The next person to ask me when it hatches is gonna get a thump :x :pfft:

As for the cardio choice, awesome. Keep it up and stick to it. It is good to do it with mates as long as you push each other. Just enjoy it

[greemah]

Cheers and thanks for the advice

I will try post before and after pics in a month if I manage to get through the plateu

[Flex]

Horleys Carb Less bars - 180 cal, 3.4g fat, 4.5g carb, 18.4 prot.

Riddle me this - if horleys carbless bars only have 4.5g carbs, 18.4g of protein and 3.4g of fat then they would have 122 calories and yet they have over 180 cals - carbless bars are shit they actually have about 24 grams of carbs per bar only they list they get through an NZ labeling loophole that allows them to list the fibre and modified carbs seperately (in this case maltitol and glycerine).

Don't eat seafood, the thought of it makes me sick. Sucks though coz tuna sounds like an awesome food

Obviously being fat is better than having to eat something you don't like. Personally I'd rather eat wendy's for lunch each day than tuna however if you want to stay in shape/get in shape you sometimes have to eat things you don't like.

Current fitday diet is attached.

Fitday officially sucks balls - no one in their right mind counts the protein in lettuce, bread, vegetables or meat sauce (what is meat sauce?). And what kind of cheap arse ground meat are you eating that contains 26.7g of fat (that's a lot of saturated fat) and only 39g of protein - that makes it 60% fat by calories.

I have changed my diet to 2200 cal a day, replacing bars with peanuts and cheese with chicken. Macros for day are 2200cal, 97g fat, 127g carb, 204g prot. Does that sound better?

Peanuts aren't too flash - their saturated fat content is too high. Almonds, walnuts, pecans or cashew nuts are a lot better. And make sure they are raw (as in not roasted) and unsalted.

Your fat seems to be mainly coming form incidental sources - you should be getting the majority of your fat calories from healthy fat not saturated animal fats (meat and dairy) so you need to eat more nuts and seeds, avocadoes, olive oil, flaxseed oil etc.

[vivalamia]

Don't eat seafood, the thought of it makes me sick. Sucks though coz tuna sounds like an awesome food

Obviously being fat is better than having to eat something you don't like. Personally I'd rather eat wendy's for lunch each day than tuna however if you want to stay in shape/get in shape you sometimes have to eat things you don't like.

I cannot agree with you more! A lot of the food I eat I just gag down, but I do it cos i'd rather look good. Chase the tuna with sprite thats what I do lol.

[Foundation]

Flex

Do you know if the premium mince beef from pak n sav is any good?

I use it to make my meat patties, rissole's etc.

It looks good as its mostly red :pfft:

[Flex]

Do you know if the premium mince beef from pak n sav is any good?

I use it to make my meat patties, rissole's etc.

It looks good as its mostly red

Not sure - some of them I've seen have a "X% Fat" sticker on them. Your best bet if the fat content is a concern to you is to buy the meat and get it minced by a butcher or get a home mincer.

[rose]

Protein bars are crap because the protein quality is generally low

:nod: Heh, no surprise it's mostly derived from soy. Packed full of sugar alcohols and crap! But hey, at least it's gluten free! :grin:

Protein Blend (Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate, Whey Protein Isolate), Maltitol, Polydextrose, Milk Chocolate 13% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Liquor, Whole Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Emulsifiers (Soy Lecithin, 492, 476), Flavour), Glycerine, Water, Canola Oil, Cocoa Powder, Flavour, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Artificial Sweetener (955). GLUTEN FREE

Average Quantity per 55g serve

Energy 756kj (180 cal)

Protein 18.4g

Fat Total 3.4g

Saturated 1.6g

Carbohydrate Total 4.5g

Sugars 4.1g

Maltitol 7.4g

Glycerine 6.1g

Dietary Fibre Total 6.8g

Polydextrose 6.5g

Sodium 113mg

Labeling loopholes FTW.

[greemah]

Thanks guys these are great tips. And thanks for the info about fats Flex, I will swap peanuts to almonds and have avacado with my lunch

[greemah]

Attached is my new fitday. Do you think I will gain weight from this as it is a good 250cal more than what I have been on, and has much more fat and a few more carbs then what I did have

Any more suggestions welcome, though please no seafood as I honestly can't eat it. Thinking about it can make me literally sick

[Draft]

My personal opinion is that your fat intakes seems to look a little high.

Maybe get rid of that ground meat and try some steak or something instead - though any red meat will be higher in fat than white meat (or fish which you are avoiding).

As flex said above, meat that is 17% fat by weight is no good if your aiming to lose weight or in general.

If only basing it off numbers at 86kg I'd say ~2250 would be well below you maintenance based on how often you exercise so you should be in a calorie deficit.

[Draft]

If only basing it off numbers at 86kg I'd say ~2250 would be well below you maintenance based on how often you exercise so you should be in a calorie deficit.

[greemah]

Thanks Nicki. Don't you think 2250 cal would be my maintenance now since I've hit as plateu?

The ground meat in fitday is just mince from supermarket - do you think that would be similar specs? I probably have chicken/steak as much as I have mince, but I just need something to put into fitday for my daily macros

[Jayesh]

Hi all

I have lost around 10kg over the last few months by cutting calories and lowering carbs. But I have been stuck like this for the last 3 weeks and unsure of what I can do to continue to loose fat. Can anyone give me any suggestions?

My current diet is 1900cal (121g carbs, 64g fat, 192g protein). I am 22 years old and currently weigh 86kg. A typical day is:

Meal 1: 2 scrambled eggs, protein shake with milk

Meal 2: Half a protein bar

Meal 3: Sandwhich consisting of 2 slices break, 2 slices cheese, lettuce

Meal 4: Half a protein bar

Meal 5: Protein shake with milk

Meal 6: Beef of chicken and vegetables with sauce, glass of milk

Also have water throughout the day. I lift 3 days a week keeping heavy, and have managed to make gains on some lifts through my cut, though had to lower bench and bent over rows slightly.

Any help appreciated

Change your diet first. Cut the milk out and throw away the bread and protein bars.

Do HIIT straight after heavy weight training and watch the fat peel off in no time. Be warned this is not for the weak. Make sure you limit HIIT to 20mins(max). Limit carbs after training (say 20g complex carbs or no carbs at all). You can have some complex carbs one after training.

Some may not agree with this but there in no doubt that it works. If the intensity is high enough you should be able to loose 1kg per week but make sure your protein intake in relatively high very high to avoid burning up muscle. At 86kg aim for 300g per day.

Your carbs intake is too high. Cut the carbs below 100g and increase healthy fat intake. Follow a strict diet from Mon-Fri but make sure you bump up carbs over the weekend. Aim for 300g of clean complex carbs.

Get a body fat analyser if you can to monitor BF each week and determine lean mass. This will allow you to monitor if you are burning muscle. Make sure you weigh yourself first thing in the morning each time.

You will burn some muscle with this method of training and if you can't handle this than this method is not for you.

How much muscle you burn depends on your diet. With your current diet you will burn lot of muscle. Change your diet before you do anything.

I have personally lost 10kg in 2 months. Some of it was muscle :cry:

[Draft]

I'd think so, ultimately it will depend on your lean body mass (body weight less body fat) and how much exercise your getting but I weigh less than you and at a bf% estimate of 12% my maintenance is closer to 2400.

Yea, I guess fitday may be a bit off, but I wouldn't think that the put the best cuts of meat into the shit that they mince up. Also, it's harder to see marbling of the beef when the meat is miced (IMO anyway).

Red meat will be one of the main sources of saturated fat in your diet (which you need to eliminate as far as possible).

Also, where you have the information get the data from the back of the package - it will be more accurate than the generic fitday data.

[two_phat]

Red meat will be one of the main sources of saturated fat in your diet (which you need to eliminate as far as possible).

No, don't eliminate those fats. Those fats will help raise your test levels. Your body will quite happily use fats as energy - as long as you are not offering it too many carbs to deal with first.

[Draft]

Red meat will be one of the main sources of saturated fat in your diet (which you need to eliminate as far as possible).

No, don't eliminate those fats. Those fats will help raise your test levels. Your body will quite happily use fats as energy - as long as you are not offering it too many carbs to deal with first.

To do that he will need to lower carb intake significantly so he isn't fueling the body with carbs in order to make the liver convert the fats to fatty acids which will be can be burned for energy instead of glucose.

A ketogenic diet takes some getting used to at first and discipline.