Hitting the 5 Year mark on working out.

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  Jun 15, 2009 7:10 PM GMT

  Hello Fellow Real Jockers,
  
  I have being working out religiously for about 5 years now with minimal successes. My major goal is of course to lose fat. I am 6'5" and weigh 280 with a body fat percentage of 28% and BMI of 33.
  
  Ive managed to gain about 15 lbs of lean muscle mass and gained various healthy benefits from working out (lowered blood pressure and resting hear rate).
  
  I workout out 6 days a week. With cardio on all 6 days (intense at least 130 bpm) for 45 + minutes. I also lift 3-4 days a week as well
  
  When it comes to eating I am very particular. With Kashi and Skim milk in the morning, almonds at 10, light lunch (wheat pasta, tomato sauce, turkey meat, lots of veggies, carrots at 3, protein shake before working out, and a good dinner.
  
  I rarely stray, maybe some frozen yogurt every once and awhile, and eat out once a week.
  
  Here is the delimna. When i started working out I weighed 320. I managed to drop the first 40 lbs fairly easily... but that was 2006. I have had ups and down... but barely any success loosing and weight since then.
  
  Even with the assistance of a personal trainer I have gained a more shapely body... but its still fat.
  
  Any suggestions, stories, personal expierences?
  
  I feel there is an underlying issue that I may be missing!
  
  Thanks in advance! -JJG
  

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• CDNinOZ
  
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  Jun 15, 2009 8:30 PM GMT

  I'm no expert but here is what seems to work for me lately.
  
  I started doing high intensity interval training (HIIT) and it has started to reduce my body fat, approximately 1 % in 4 weeks.
  
  I started controlling my portion sizes which has made a big difference and I usually do not eat a whole lot of carbs at dinner time. I spread my calories over 5 meals, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner.
  I have one cheat meal a week (sometimes every two weeks if I don't have a craving for anything).
  
  
  The only thing I can think off with what you're describing is portion size. You've probably already done this but you could weigh your food and record you calories for a week and then compare to what you should be consuming based on you muscle mass and body fat.
  
  What's a typical dinner for you?
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  
  

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  Jun 15, 2009 8:38 PM GMT

  A typical dinner tends to be chicken breast or turkey with a ample portion of veggies and maybe a little carbs. I cut carbs out for 2 months late last year and didnt see any results from it (other than being tired) so i just keep carbs to a minimum.
  
  I am afraid sometimes that I may not be eating enough, even though im not hungry?

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• CDNinOZ
  
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  Jun 15, 2009 8:48 PM GMT

  I don't cut out carbs completely at dinner, just on average I won't have a lot for dinner.
  Though on a workout night I will have some right after the workout.
  
  On the cardio, I was doing 40 minutes with approx. 135bpm a few times a week for quite a while with no real results. Then I started HIIT and now I actually notice some changes.
  I love that I can get the cardio over with in 25 minutes of HIIT.

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  Jun 15, 2009 10:44 PM GMT

  epedx saidHello Fellow Real Jockers,
  
  I have being working out religiously for about 5 years now with minimal successes. My major goal is of course to lose fat. I am 6'5" and weigh 280 with a body fat percentage of 28% and BMI of 33.
  
  Ive managed to gain about 15 lbs of lean muscle mass and gained various healthy benefits from working out (lowered blood pressure and resting hear rate).
  
  I workout out 6 days a week. With cardio on all 6 days (intense at least 130 bpm) for 45 + minutes. I also lift 3-4 days a week as well
  
  When it comes to eating I am very particular. With Kashi and Skim milk in the morning, almonds at 10, light lunch (wheat pasta, tomato sauce, turkey meat, lots of veggies, carrots at 3, protein shake before working out, and a good dinner.
  
  I rarely stray, maybe some frozen yogurt every once and awhile, and eat out once a week.
  
  Here is the delimna. When i started working out I weighed 320. I managed to drop the first 40 lbs fairly easily... but that was 2006. I have had ups and down... but barely any success loosing and weight since then.
  
  Even with the assistance of a personal trainer I have gained a more shapely body... but its still fat.
  
  Any suggestions, stories, personal expierences?
  
  I feel there is an underlying issue that I may be missing!
  
  Thanks in advance! -JJG
  

  
  
  First thing, see a doctor, and have a CMP, resting glucose, thyroid, testosterone, and PSA test done.
  
  BMI is the BULLSHIT index and is bunk. Don't pay any attention to it. My BMI is a 32. So there.
  
  Something in your training is wrong, or, something is wrong with your body. I can't tell from here.
  
  It's also hard to tell your somatype from here. You might just be a big endomorph.
  
  Go get the USDA SR21 food program. You can use it online, install it to your PC, or use it from metroplexfitness.net or any of a number of sites that have it loaded. Count your calories.
  
  You may well not be eating enough and be suffering from what's known as the famine syndrome. I can't tell from here, because you haven't told me exactly what you've eaten over the day. You need to do that to help yourself.
  
  Your intensity sounds terrible. 130 BPM for 45 minutes, at 24 years old? I suppose that's o.k. but it's not the most effective way to train. You're just burning calories. I'm 48, and I hold my heart rate at 160 BPM for 20 minutes, routinely.
  
  Study up on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). E.g. run bleachers.
  
  Without details it's impossible to tell you what to do remotely. You need to observe your eating, your training, your sleeping, your recovery, your mood, and tabulate it and give it to someone who knows what they are doing.
  
  When I compete in October, I'll weigh 176, at about 4%, bone dry, on stage. I weighed 211 this morning.
  
  If you're still at 28%, something is not right someplace, but, as I said, it's impossible to tell without all the details needed to study what's going on.
  
  It's a science.
  
  Someone like you, with any intensity level, should be getting plenty of carbs, protein, and good fat. If your hormone levels are where they should be, then, you've fucked your metabolism up by not eating right, or you're lying about what you're eating, or you're not being honest about your training.
  
  Many overweight folks refuse to eat enough. Many folks refuse to eat carbs. It's the absolute worst thing you could do in your effort to manage your weight and fat levels.
  
  Nothing will lose you muscle faster than to few calories, and to few carbs.
  
  

  epedx saidA typical dinner tends to be chicken breast or turkey with a ample portion of veggies and maybe a little carbs. I cut carbs out for 2 months late last year and didnt see any results from it (other than being tired) so i just keep carbs to a minimum.
  
  I am afraid sometimes that I may not be eating enough, even though im not hungry?

  
  
  If you're not eating enough, you've trained your body how to be a fat-storing, energy conserving machine.
  
  Performance athletes know well the expression "you have to fuel the furnace to get a hot flame."
  
  As I lean out, and as I increase my activity level, I will bring my calories UP to prevent metabolic lag and to support the increased performance, and work load.
  
  Think on it a while.
  
  Here's some easy science for fat loss.
  
  Go get some Ketostix from any drug store.
  
  Take yourself to just above ketosis, but not deeply into, a few times a week. Right there is when you are burning fats, but, it's a fine, fine, line. If you stay in ketosis, you're going to burn muscle off, too.
  
  Learn how that feels. That's the zone. Be aware, though, if you train there all the time, you'll feel like shit, and lose some muscle.
  
  Check yourself right after your cardio? Are you in ketosis? If you are, and you stay there for a while, YOU NEED MORE CARBS.
  
  Best to stoke the furnace.

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  Jun 15, 2009 11:02 PM GMT

  How many calories are you taking in per day?

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  Jun 15, 2009 11:07 PM GMT

  hmmm. I gained 29 pounds of muscle within a span of 8 months. im 5'7" 167# with 11% body fat. i think you need more protein.

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  Jun 15, 2009 11:17 PM GMT

  Everyone can speculate all day long, but, without an analysis of his intake, and his activity, it's just that, speculation.

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  Jun 16, 2009 4:35 PM GMT

  chuckystud saidEveryone can speculate all day long, but, without an analysis of his intake, and his activity, it's just that, speculation.

  
  
  Thanks for the amazing detail in there.
  
  
  The food breakdown is as follows:
  
  7:00 am - Banana
  7:30ish- Kashi with Skim Milk (1 serving each)
  
  10:00 10-15 dry almonds
  
  around noon: 1 serving wheat pasta, 1 serving pasta sauce, 1 cup frozen veggies, 2 tbps of cheese, 1/4 lb of ground turkey
  
  
  2:30ish carrot sticks in hummus or apple with peanut butter
  
  4:00 protein shake
  
  Workout
  
  7:00 chicken breast, another cup of vegetables, 2 baby red roasted potatoes or brown rice.
  
  
  I would love to sit down and start tracking sleep and mood and such like that, what would be your best recommendation on tracking that.
  
  Also, in your mind what would be a heart rate range for HIIT that I should be shooting for?
  
  

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  Jun 16, 2009 5:53 PM GMT

  I recommend using a service like FitDay to keep track of your diet. The figures you provided are nice, but some hard numbers on calories and macronutrients would be very useful.

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  Jun 16, 2009 5:53 PM GMT

  You needed to tabulate your total calories, fat calories, protein calories, carb calories (fast and slow), and alcohol calories. You failed to do so.
  
  Please re-read my instructions above.
  
  You also failed to compute your expenditure.
  

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  Jun 16, 2009 6:09 PM GMT

  Dually noted,
  
  I am in the process of breaking it out even farther.
  
  As for expenditures, I am aware that most machine outputs are not anywhere near correct. I would appreciate a recommendation on tabulating those figure so that I will get back on track. (Is FitDay a good option here?)
  
  Thanks in advance guys!
  
  

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  Jun 16, 2009 7:52 PM GMT

  FitDay does that, but it is just an estimate like the exercise machines readout.

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  Jun 16, 2009 10:11 PM GMT

  mmmm... it´s hard to know.
  
  My two gut feelings were (1) you´re dieting like a girl (2) you need to do HIIT and not steady state cardio.
  
  I have to say I could be totally off track. My body composition changed dramatically in 3 months: I went from skinny fat to thin at the same weight. Then over the next year I filled out from 72kg to 82kg. I can´t imagine doing 5 years and not being most of the way towards where you want to be.
  
  Dieting like a girl means you are eating too little, following faddy exclusions (no carbs etc) and therefore starving yourself.
  
  Mmmmmm.....

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  Jun 17, 2009 4:17 AM GMT

  If I've said it once, I've said it a bunch of times....on 3...
  
  1,2,3: EAT.
  
  Get the USDA SR21 calorie calculator I indicated above.
  
  You're eating for shit, as far as I can tell from above. Get some calories.
  
  Here's a day where I couldn't seem to get my blood sugar up because I was so active, but, typical. I was 4% fat while doing it.
  
  
  
  

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