Unchanging weight problem

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Onlyinred

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I'm 5"4
194.2 lbs
29 yrs old
Male
Bf approximately atound 22%
I eat roughly 1700 cals a day.
I eat roughly 170g protein, 106g carbs, 66g fat.

I have been weight training 3 times a week at high intensity and cardio almost every day.

My problem is this. After slowly losing weight as i lowered my cals (i was eating over 2000 cals) i started stalling. Now its been about 3 months and im still the same weight. I am meticulous when it comes to tracking what i eat. I also keep a diary of my exercising.

However, my weight never seems to change from exactly 194.2lbs.

Most recently, I decreased cals to 1700 two weeks ago. No change. I started increasing my cardio to an hour of moderate cardio a day (roughly 3-6 hundred cals ) this week. Still no change.

I don't know what else to do. I'm more than willing to cut more cals or increase cardio or research "good foods" and "bad foods" or whatever it takes but I dont know why the weight is not changing in the slightest. (The scale works fine. I tested it with some dumbells)

So 1) could you tell me why my weight never changes? And 2) what can i do to address the issue?
 
The first thing I can see, is you are over eating protein, for someone who is strength training with your lean mass you need around 109 grams of protein (depending on how accurate your BF % is). Your strength training will not in general contribute to fat loss directly, but it is very important for maintaining your existing muscle while in calorie deficit so as to lost mostly fat. However, what do you consider intense ? what does your weight training consist of ?

What type of cardio are you doing, while all cardio will help in some way, if your fitness levels are up to it HIIT is far better for loosing fat and maintaining muscle compared to many hours of low/moderate cardio.

Dropping total calories down to 1500 to 1600 would also be a good start to get your fat loss moving.
 
Thanks for responding.

I have high protein to help maintain muscle but also because i do better with lower carbs. I may tweak my macros though again.

Intense = to failure. Large muscles are 6-8 reps 3min rests. Smaller muscles are 10-12 reps 2min rests.

I do steady state cardio. 3.2mph at 11 incline. I have to guesstimate how many calories i burn since i need to hold onto the treadmill at that level incline (wich lowers calories burned). Im considering hiit but ill have to start slow so i can condition myself.

If you dont think thats too restrictive, then yeh, maybe ill lower my calories more. My main concern is that ill have trouble staying full but i can always experiment.

What do you think? (I feel less lost now with your recommendations. So ty)

On aside, i have been making strength gains with this diet so perhaps thats an indication that my body isnt in deficit calories but rather surplus calories. Otherwise, it could just be my body getting used to the exercise.
 
You can still make strength gains in deficit, but building size is a different matter depending on a few different factors including training age, BF% and size of deficit.

I understand your aim of the high protein, you will be eating plenty of protein to maintain muscle at the lower level, however it is not going to do any harm, just extra calories.

The key for weight training in deficit is to be lifting in the strength rep range (high weight low reps) rather than the hypertrophy rep ranges (moderate weight higher reps), if volume is still desired then adding an extra set is better than pushing for extra reps in each set. Training to failure is not necessary.

Lower carbs is good for many, personally I maintain a keto diet and have for years, including winning a national powerlifting title, but it not a lifestyle for everybody.
 
Thank you for following up with me.

I see. That would fit since i havent seen any size difference.

"I understand your aim of the high protein, you will be eating plenty of protein to maintain muscle at the lower level, however it is not going to do any harm, just extra calories."

Not sure i am reading this correctly. Are you saying that lowering my protein wont be a problem regarding muscle cannibalization? And that the purpose of more protein would only be for more calories?

I understand. Would you say a rep before failure is adequate? And is there any negatives to pushing to failure?

Im glad you say that. I think ill keep carbs where they are. Not for the low carb effect on the body though (from time to time ill have high carbs, so looking for those effects wont be fruitful then) but rather because i get sluggish on too high carbs.

So for now, im gng to possibly adjust my protein intake, keep carbs, possibly change my fat intake, incorporate 20min hiit cardio (but still only do 1hr of cardio total-i dont want to go into a too hard deficit) and adjust my weightlifting as well. What do you think.
 
yes, that's right with the protein.

1 rep before fail is fine, While working to fail has it's place at times, doing it all the time puts you at a much higher risk of injury, and you don't want that, cannot train injured !
 
Trusylver said:
yes, that's right with the protein.

1 rep before fail is fine, While working to fail has it's place at times, doing it all the time puts you at a much higher risk of injury, and you don't want that, cannot train injured !
Click to expand...

Alright then. Ill implement your suggestions. Thank you so much.
 
I'd also suggest to ensure you are getting training variety, and rest!

Variety: The body is very smart and quickly adapts, especially to cardio. Throw in a few sprints while running, and try reverse-sets with weights and switching from high-reps, low weight to high-weight, low reps. Do this in the same workout! Gotta challenge the body's memory for exercise. Else it will prime itself to "protect and conserve" energy stores to combat expected loading.

Rest: Quality sleep, taking rest days, doing yoga, etc. The power of intentional rest cannot be underestimated. Ditch a cardio day (or two) and do yoga instead. Your body needs healing and relaxation time.
 
HealthWarrior said:
I'd also suggest to ensure you are getting training variety, and rest!

reverse-sets with weights and switching from high-reps, low weight to high-weight, low reps. Do this in the same workout! Gotta challenge the body's memory for exercise.
Click to expand...

Introducing advanced techniques without specific reason or mixing it up just for the sake of it is not good training practice and is more often than not counter productive.
 
Just an update for any1 following. I followed trusylvers advice (srry healthwarrior. I didnt see ur post till now) for a week and i weighed 191.2lbs (from 194.2). No decrease in weight lifting or overall energy either. Yay ^^. Ty
 
I dropped to 190.8 lbs but it looks like im stalling again. Should i cut more calories? Or just wait till im able to do more cardio? Or both? Or am i missing something?
 
Weight loss is not linear, the speed you loose at will fluctuate or appear to stall, a slow down for 1 or 2 weeks is not something to panic over.
 
Are there certain areas of your body that seem to be stalling compared to others? Target those areas with specific types of exercise.

I have experienced a few plateaus and I've discovered that the type of fuel (food) matters a lot. Our genes deal with certain foods better than others and sometimes you have to find foods that work more efficiently for you.
 
Northern_Dreamer said:
Are there certain areas of your body that seem to be stalling compared to others? Target those areas with specific types of exercise.

I have experienced a few plateaus and I've discovered that the type of fuel (food) matters a lot. Our genes deal with certain foods better than others and sometimes you have to find foods that work more efficiently for you.
Click to expand...
You cannot spot reduce, specific exercises will not reduce fat in target areas, what it will do is have an effect on the underlying muscle depending on nutrition intake and the training done.
 
no, you can't.

with fat distribution, it is normal for it to come of in the reverse order of where you put it on, so the last place your personal genetics have you put on fat will be the first place you loose it. The first place you notice fat accumulating will be the last place you loose it from.

An example of how spot reduction attempts is detrimental to achieving a goal is the common problem of waist size and abs. Depending on how the exercise regime is set up, ab exercises will increase muscle size and increase waist circumference but will leave the person frustrated because even after a lot of hard work the abs will still not be visible due to the still existing fat layer
 
I never knew that before. I admit my knowledge of kinesiology is lacking. I know a lot about the science of nutrition but not the science of exercise.

My arms and thighs seem to be getting toned with the exercises I've been doing while my stomach is awful. My stomach has a lot of loosr skin around my belly button and I do have a bit of a belly thanks to three pregnancies but it doesn't seem to be getting better with exercise.
 
Genetics has a lot to answer for lol, the elasticity of or skin is highly dependent on not only age but dreaded genetics. After 4 kids over a period of 23 years (youngest is 9 months old) my skin is not great to look at no matter what my accomplishments and fitness levels are but it does not bother me, I have earned the stretch marks and skin wrinkles, health is more important than what my stretch marks look like. Nobody is perfect, also something to remember when talking to many so called fitness experts that use their body as an example, they are usually young and do not have a lot of knowledge other than (it works for me, or woefully wrong Bro Science) when you are young the body is very forgiving of mistakes and they can get away with doing and preaching crap but it does catch up to you.
 
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