Weight-Loss Not losing body fat

Weight-Loss
J

justafification

New member
Hi guys,

I'm new to this forum, so first of all want to say hi to everyone :).

For the past several years (yes, years :)) I've been struggling to lose my body fat. I'm 30 years old female, I'm not overweight (164 cm and 57 kg), but despite the fact that I watch carefully every bite I put into my mouth and do high intensity cardio for 45-60 min 4-5 times a week, I'm not able to lose any body fat... My BMR, accodring to Harris-Benedict formula, is 1365 kcal and I almost never eat more than 1500. I've been eating like this for a couple of years now and it seems like my body doesn't want to respond :(. I eat only "good" food, no junk or sweets whatsoever. I've tried decreasing my my intake to 1100-1200 kcal, but there was no weight loss and I suffered from low sugar level and felt bloated almost all the time... I'm really frustrated, cos I might look good in clothes, but underneath I'm all soft and flabby and not toned at all...
Thanks in advance for any advice on this!
 
I had the same problem in my case, my body hates carbs my calories were low but because i still had carbs, i wasnt losing any. I finally cut out carbs here and there esp for dinner and I have about the same specs as you in terms of age, height & weight.

Lets us know how it goes!
 
Because you didn't mention working out, I'm going to guess that you don't. And no, being active isn't the same thing. It sounds like what happened was that while you were dieting and carefully watching your calories and calculating your bmr, you were busy burning muscle. I'm sure you lost some fat too, but your body makes a choice when it burns calories: fat or muscle? If you're working out and eating right, your body will burn fat because there's no reason it needs it. But if you're not working out and you're limiting your eating, your body will burn muscle because, hey, you're not using it. Not to mention the limited intake of calories means that your body has gone into storage mode. Everything you eat needs to be stored because you're just not eating that much.

I hope that made sense. So here's your plan: Go to the gym and get a trainer to start working you out. Yes, it's expensive, but for the first few weeks you'll need someone to kick your ass. Once you get used to how the workouts should feel, you can ditch the trainer and go solo. With the workouts, you'll need to eat a little more so that you can build the muscle. The muscle will in turn burn more calories (fat this time) and you'll get the lean body you're looking for. The best part is that because you're not overweight, this should all happen relatively quickly (a couple months?), but keep in mind that you will be gaining weight before you can start losing fat. Don't be afraid of it, just let it run its course, and remember that it's the final product that counts.
 
Thanks for your reply, however I mentioned in my post that I do work out 4-5 times a week (high intensity cardio) and do some weight training (3 times a week for 15 min) :)
 
justafification said:
Thanks for your reply, however I mentioned in my post that I do work out 4-5 times a week (high intensity cardio) and do some weight training (3 times a week for 15 min) :)
Click to expand...

First, how much protein are you eating? If your diet is too low in protein you will not only be unable to build muscle, but your body will be using the muscle you have as a protein source making you squishier.

To build muscle you need to eat extra protein, I would aim for 100g of protein per day (it's not that much, a can of tuna in water has 30g of protein for example for only 120 calories).

Second, 15 minutes 3 times a week is not enough to build muscle. Women have trouble building muscle as is. Try to make it an hour 3 times a week, and make sure that the weights you're doing are wearing out your muscles. When you do your 3 sets of 10 reps or whatever, you have to use a weight heavy enough so that by the end of your set your muscles are worn out and you're barely able to lift it.
 
biggestloser105 said:
First, how much protein are you eating? If your diet is too low in protein you will not only be unable to build muscle, but your body will be using the muscle you have as a protein source making you squishier.

To build muscle you need to eat extra protein, I would aim for 100g of protein per day (it's not that much, a can of tuna in water has 30g of protein for example for only 120 calories).

Second, 15 minutes 3 times a week is not enough to build muscle. Women have trouble building muscle as is. Try to make it an hour 3 times a week, and make sure that the weights you're doing are wearing out your muscles. When you do your 3 sets of 10 reps or whatever, you have to use a weight heavy enough so that by the end of your set your muscles are worn out and you're barely able to lift it.
Click to expand...

Agreed, agreed, and agreed. Sorry about missing the bit about cardio. If I could add one more thing though, don't worry about the cardio on the weight training days. And by don't worry, I mean don't do it. Invest your energy in building the muscle, and then return to it the next day. Oh! And if you haven't changed your HIIT routine lately, it's time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top