Unable to correct stalled weight loss

[M4TR1X]

Measurements/Info:


Height: 6'1
Weight: 220
Age: 25

I work nights, 6pm to 2am, and it's very laid back, computer programming and databasing work, so I'm not doing much. I'd say the hours I spend out of exercising, aside from cooking, are very sedentary. My sleep schedule is unfortunately segmented. I sleep around around 3 to 7, then I have to wake up and get my kid to school, then from 8 to 12 I go back to sleep.

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I started losing weight about a year ago, I was 245-250 at the time, and concentrated my efforts on cardio (Running, 4.5-7mph, Elliptical, Stairmaster, Racquetball). I started off doing about an hour a day for 4 or 5 days, and eventually increased it. At the time, I also kept my caloric intake to between 1500-1800. I lost on average about 8lbs a month. In the process I put on a decent amount of muscle from light weight training and racquetball. I can't really say how well toned, but my legs, tighs, back are pretty solid. I did about 30 minutes of weights after an hour and a half of cardio, 3 out of 5 days. However, most of the fat left on my body is concentrated around my stomach.

So anyway, here I am now at 220 and have been there for now for three months. After the first month of stall, I decided to change things up. At first I thought that perhaps my caloric intake was simply too low and my metabolism had shifted into starvation mode. So I adjusted my diet. I now eat about five to six meals a day that amounts to about 2400-2800 calories. After about a month, I still didn't notice a change in weight, so I figured it might be a case of my body getting too adjusted to a workout regime. Up till a month ago, I did hardcore racquetball for about 2 hours, six days a week. I added back in elliptical, and running to my regime with the light weight training every other day. Still no change in weight after a month, at this point I'm not sure what to change. Any ideas? Only thing I can imagine is my segmented sleep, but I can't change that, I have to wake up and get my kid ready for school. I suppose I should take more rest days, but honestly I don't feel fatigued the next day. It takes about 2 weeks for it to really start to grind down on me.

I don't have a motivation problem, I love going to the gym and love playing racquetball. However, the lack of progress with the weight loss is proving to be extremely aggrivating considering how much effort I put into this. I welcome all comments and opinions.

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Ultimately, I would like to get down to 190lbs or so and then build up back with weights to 210. I haven't tackled weights too hardcore simply because I don't have a training partner. When I do weights, it's usually machine, and every now and then I'll add in a few bench presses and squats. My lower body is much stronger than my upper body currently.


My conditioning, stamina, and flexibility I think is very excellent at this point. Currently, I run for 30 minutes, elliptical for 30, and racquetball for an hour and a half, and I'll generally do this 6 days a week. Sometimes I'll end up doing it for 2 weeks straight then rest three days. I'd say on the average I burn 1400 calories a day, with a low of 1000 and a high of 1800.





These are just educated guesses (I use dailyplate), but I figure:

Day activities/BMR: 2700
Exercising: 1400. (Elliptical 300, Running 300, Racquetball 800)
Intake: 2700
Difference: 1400


I track everything I eat, so I know it amounts to about 2400-2800. I drink about 16 glasses of water throughout the day. On the average, I eat about 290-330gs of carbs, 120-150gs of proteins, and 60-80g of Fat. Up until a month ago, I ate around 100gs of Fat, so I considered that might be a contributing factor and cut it down to current levels.

I'm inclined to believe that with the extreme calorie deficit earlier, I ruined my metabolism, and in process a good amount of LBM was consumed during exercise even though I appeared to have gained some muscle in my lower body. Still, I don't see how the calorie in/calorie out equation is balancing out. Is my BMR, 2180, much lower than what the formula spits out? Am I not burning what I think I'm burning from exercise due to possible loss of muscle with the calorie deficit? Or is it just a matter of what I consume now. Perhaps too much simple carbs or sugars?


My current diet looks something along...


Meal 1 (7:00 AM): 2 slices of wheat bread, chicken sausage. 400 cals. Wake up, drop kid off, back to sleep.

Meal 2 (1:00 PM): Canned soup, all different kinds, sometimes shredded cheese. 300-450 cals. Wake up, stretch, head to the gym.

Meal 3 (4:30 PM): Post workout. Usually leftovers from last night, which is generally, rice, chicken and some vegetable. Usually about 400-700 cals. Post workout stretching, cook dinner, lie back on the sofa watching TV.

Meal 4 (7:00 PM): Whatever dinner I cooked and brought to work. Generally rice, chicken and some vegetable. 600-800 cals. At work at this point typing away.

Meal 5 (10:30 PM): Fruits. Banana and a kiwi. Or strawberries. It generall works out to 150-200. Still at work.

Meal 6 (1:00 AM): Generally some candy or sherbert. Basically something with sugar to keep up for the last hour and drive home. 220-250 calories. Still at work, preparing to leave and then head to sleep.


I stick to water, no alcohol, juices or soda. I have been adding in green tea for (mythical?) a metabolism boost. I don't eat fast food. However, come date night I'll eat out at a restaurant chain (Fridays/Olive Garden/etc).

 

[Big D]

Something in my head is trying to say that you're overdoing it, but that could just be me.

Well, let's see what I see here. Ok, water intake.. I'm assuming about an 8-16 oz glass? Look into the oz quantity vs the amount you're apparently sweating out, you might need a bit more.

Just me here, I want to say eat more protein

watch the canned soups, and go through your diet and do a sodium count. If you like your soups, see if you can make some of your own, and you might be surprised by the results.

Generally, if you're stuck in a plateau you're about equal with your calories out vs calories in somehow, but you do seem rather active. despite your job (I'm a programmer too).

Maybe it's time to change up your workout routine. If you've been doing the same thing for quite a while, you may have adapted to that. The body seems feindishly clever at expending the least amount of energy to common tasks.

If you like your raquetball, keep it, its likely a good stress reliever. For cardio, try something different, like rowing. Hit the weights harder. I myself find that I can lift more and better before cardio than the reverse, and with a 5 minute break after lifting, my cardio isn't affected.

if it takes 2 weeks for rest to grind you down, then you might not be resting enough. Try some extra rest time and see what happens.

Ever try yoga? That stuff kicks my butt. Just a thought.

 

[Ronbell]

You can start the strength training immediately. There is no reason to wait until a certain weight, especially if your body is responding so well to the cardio. 3 days a week is still good, try to focus more on compound exercises.

ie: squats
bench press
dead lifts
rows
ect.

You don't need a training partner to work on free weights. It's a great misconception that you need to lift to failure in order to get strength gains. I'm currently in a weight lifting cycle that involves 2 sets of 10, without hitting failure before around 13 reps ~, and I'm getting amazing results.

I'd aim for around 2200 calories a day, but increase it if you're planning on continuing heavy cardio.

Caffeine does give a very minor metabolism boost, but not significant quantities (in tea). The benefits of green tea are the anti-oxidants. Not much to do with weight loss, but still good for you. I would probably avoid eating before going to bed unless it's a protein. (I have no scientific reasoning for that)

 

[KaraCooks]

Yeah it seems to me that your calorie level is about right for losing - 2200 calories would be about 10 cals per pound of body weight, which is an average for a healthy and safe rate of loss.

I seriously doubt that you've ruined your metabolism - it really does take a lot more than this to permanently damage things. Your body is pretty resilient. It's possible that you have experienced a metabolic slow down from the reduced cals over a long period of time, combined with the loss of weight. But raising those cals will get your body to increase metabolism again.

Here are my random thoughts:

Add in weight lifting, now. Building/strengthening muscle will help with the metabolic thing, and it will help reshape your body. Check out the sticky thread in the exercise area that's titled "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" by Steve. It's a good read and will give you lots of good information.

Watch the sodium levels. Some people are much more sensitive to salts and sodium and I know that personally I can gain/lose up to 8 or so pounds just from a bad sodium day.

Try cutting out carbs at night - I have no scientific reasoning behind this, just personal experience. I find that if I eat carbs at night, my weight loss slows. When I get my carbs in during the day (at breakfast and lunch) and then focus on lean proteins and veg for dinner, my weight loss does much better.

Make sure that you really are eating the calories you think you are. Measure food carefully - some people are not great at eyeballing amounts and that can really screw you up. And restaurant foods can be off by as much as 30% in the calorie counts, so if you're eating a lot of restaurant or pre-prepared food, you might consider that could be adding more calories to your day than you think.

 

[Sephora 0128]

Part of your issue is Meal 1. You eat it and then go to sleep. That's very bad especially since it's so many calories.

I'm curious...male or female??? That does make a difference.

 

[M4TR1X]

Part of your issue is Meal 1. You eat it and then go to sleep. That's very bad especially since it's so many calories.

I'm curious...male or female??? That does make a difference.

Male, sorry I didn't clarify that. Yeah, I figured that might be an issue. I was thinking of keeping most of the carbs prior to workout and cut it down next to nil in meals after workout.

 

[Sephora 0128]

Male, sorry I didn't clarify that. Yeah, I figured that might be an issue. I was thinking of keeping most of the carbs prior to workout and cut it down next to nil in meals after workout.

Actually, your metabolism increases with exercise so you are better off eating after your work out than before. Light meals before a workout is better and then eating normally after.

I would definitely cut out "Meal 1" and try and keep your body in a state where it still thinks it's sleeping. Move slow, don't eat, drink some water and then go back to bed.

BTW ~ thanks for not getting offended by me asking male or female. My ex-boss was 6 foot tall and she was as heavy as you listed.

 

[ROttolia]

Start weight lifting and get yourself a good protein supplement. Also, if you aren't losing weight, it could just mean that your are gaining muscle and losing fat (because muscle is heavier than fat). If this is the case, it wouldn't show on the scale.

If you are sure you aren't losing weight, you should try adding high intensity interval training or tabata cardio sessions to your workout. These only last about 20-25 minutes but are intense and therefore increase your metabolism for the rest of the day.

 

[KaraCooks]

Also, if you aren't losing weight, it could just mean that your are gaining muscle and losing fat (because muscle is heavier than fat). If this is the case, it wouldn't show on the scale.

1 - muscle is not heavier than fat - it's denser than fat. Which means 1 lb of muscle takes up a smaller amount of space than 1 lb of fat.

2 - it is impossible to lose fat and gain muscle at a 1 to 1 ratio, so it's highly unlikely that someone who has stalled out their weight loss has done so by "exchanging" muscle for fat. It just doesn't work that way.

 

[Jeanette401]

I think it may be a combination of things.

For example, where are you getting the 1400 calories burned a day from exercise? A lot of the calculations add your BMR into it, so you're not actually burning BMR + Exercise calories per day. Unless you're really killing yourself, I'd be surprised if you were burning more than an extra 600 calories in an hour... And you're not working out every day.

So imagine your metabolism is depressed a bit so your BMR is down by 10% (It happens with weight loss, sadly It's not 'ruined' just it's almost always lower in people who've lost weight).
BMR - 2430
Calories burned through exercise - 600
Total - 3030

Now assume you're underestimating your calories, and actually getting 10% more than you expect.
Calorie intake - 2970

That leaves a teeny tiny deficit. Enough that you might lose slowly, but no visible loss...

What happens if you cut out meal #1? Cuts some calories, you're just going back to sleep anyway, and you end up less calories over all. Seems like a somewhat simple solution - as long as you're getting enough protein in from the rest of the meals.

 

[M4TR1X]

Well, let's see what I see here. Ok, water intake.. I'm assuming about an 8-16 oz glass? Look into the oz quantity vs the amount you're apparently sweating out, you might need a bit more.

No idea how much I'm sweating out... but I pretty muchd own a bottle of water every 30 minutes or when I'm doing heavy cardio.

Just me here, I want to say eat more protein

watch the canned soups, and go through your diet and do a sodium count. If you like your soups, see if you can make some of your own, and you might be surprised by the results.

Yeah, I feel like I need more protein and cut carbs to 150-200 or less. And yes, I think I take it too much sodium. Just looking at it off hand, I consume 3000-5000mg

Generally, if you're stuck in a plateau you're about equal with your calories out vs calories in somehow, but you do seem rather active. despite your job (I'm a programmer too).

Maybe it's time to change up your workout routine. If you've been doing the same thing for quite a while, you may have adapted to that. The body seems feindishly clever at expending the least amount of energy to common tasks.

If you like your raquetball, keep it, its likely a good stress reliever. For cardio, try something different, like rowing. Hit the weights harder. I myself find that I can lift more and better before cardio than the reverse, and with a 5 minute break after lifting, my cardio isn't affected.

Good point on my body getting too used to it. I think with it taking a bit to feel grind down I might simply not be challenging my body enough.

Ever try yoga? That stuff kicks my butt. Just a thought.

Seems... painful lol.

 

[M4TR1X]

Actually, your metabolism increases with exercise so you are better off eating after your work out than before. Light meals before a workout is better and then eating normally after.

I would definitely cut out "Meal 1" and try and keep your body in a state where it still thinks it's sleeping. Move slow, don't eat, drink some water and then go back to bed.

BTW ~ thanks for not getting offended by me asking male or female. My ex-boss was 6 foot tall and she was as heavy as you listed.

Seems reasonable. Definitely going to try the carbs post workout. I suppose I can just cut out meal 1 or just eat a fruit.

 

[M4TR1X]

Add in weight lifting, now. Building/strengthening muscle will help with the metabolic thing, and it will help reshape your body. Check out the sticky thread in the exercise area that's titled "The Conceptual Side of Weight Lifting" by Steve. It's a good read and will give you lots of good information.

Interesting read. Helpful. Thanks.

Watch the sodium levels. Some people are much more sensitive to salts and sodium and I know that personally I can gain/lose up to 8 or so pounds just from a bad sodium day.

Yeah, I feel like this is a major issue.

Try cutting out carbs at night - I have no scientific reasoning behind this, just personal experience. I find that if I eat carbs at night, my weight loss slows. When I get my carbs in during the day (at breakfast and lunch) and then focus on lean proteins and veg for dinner, my weight loss does much better.

Guess I just need to rework the nutrition side of things.

 

[M4TR1X]

I think it may be a combination of things.

For example, where are you getting the 1400 calories burned a day from exercise? A lot of the calculations add your BMR into it, so you're not actually burning BMR + Exercise calories per day. Unless you're really killing yourself, I'd be surprised if you were burning more than an extra 600 calories in an hour... And you're not working out every day.

So imagine your metabolism is depressed a bit so your BMR is down by 10% (It happens with weight loss, sadly It's not 'ruined' just it's almost always lower in people who've lost weight).
BMR - 2430
Calories burned through exercise - 600
Total - 3030

Now assume you're underestimating your calories, and actually getting 10% more than you expect.
Calorie intake - 2970

That leaves a teeny tiny deficit. Enough that you might lose slowly, but no visible loss...

What happens if you cut out meal #1? Cuts some calories, you're just going back to sleep anyway, and you end up less calories over all. Seems like a somewhat simple solution - as long as you're getting enough protein in from the rest of the meals.

Ah, didn't consider the amount was already including BMR. That makes sense. As for how I'm getting the 1000-1400. I'm pretty much in the gym for atleast two hours. 45-60mins on running, or elliptical, usually an hour and a half on racquetball. I add in weight lifting randomly through the week.