I'm having a hell of a time... any advice would be great.

RAGE

Hey guys, what's up?

I just want to talk about the problems I have with losing fat. First of all, I've been working out religiously for a year and a half and that will never stop, but fat burning has always given me problems. I understand that with my body type, burning fat is a little more difficult. I've just been having a hard time trimming the love-handles. I run everyday, (30-45 minutes, 450-750 calories burned) plus a lot of walking (80 minutes to and from the gym)... along with extensive weight training. I've gotten pretty muscular, it's just the problem with my round mid-section.

I went on a diet, or more of a lifestyle change. I began to eat 6 meals a day, small meals, of course, drastically trimming my weight. I drank plenty of water, too. I went from 200 lbs, all the way down to 180. Now, I'm around 6'1''-6'2'' so this wasn't too bad, and my stomach was flattening out. However, I ascertained that my "healthy" body weight would be around 172. I couldn't reach it. I remember screwing up ONE ****ING DAY and ended up gaining 3-4 lbs. It really pissed me off and now I've put on another 7-8 lbs just from going back to my regular eating habit, which isn't BAD... I don't eat junk food nor do I drink soda, but I've always had a hell of a time with my mid-section.

I work so hard for a month to drop the 20 lbs and gain more than half of it back in less than a week? I seriously need a plan because 6 meals a day worked very well, but it's so tough mentally, man, especially with me, considering I love to eat.

I'm in shape. I run/walk/lift every day and have a strong work ethic, but it's just this layer of fat I have in my stomach area that's really bringing me down. I guess with my diet I was losing too much weight too fast, but I had the motivation to drop the weight and pretty much went through hell controlling my urges. If any of you guys have any advice, I'd love to hear it because I'm probably going to give my 6 meal a day routine another try.

HOWEVER, even though I gained most of the weight back, I feel that my stomach is still flatter than when I weighed this much BEFORE my diet, so it's very unusual. I'm thinking that if I drop a few pounds now, it might go a long way in bettering my mid-section.

Thanks a lot for reading guys, I truly appreciate any advice any one of you can give me.

zx9rjas.

Hello mate

The weight that you gained back in a week is not going to be fat as it takes a long time to your body to store fat, its probably glycogen replenishment in your muscles. When I finished my contest I gained 7-9lbs in three days (water and glycogen).

The last bit of fat round the mid section is the most difficult to shift, alot of pro bodybuilders inject growth hormone into the fat around the lower abs as it helps remove this fatty tissue.
I found (as I am naturally the same body type as you) that I store more water than most people, especially round my mid section. Preparing for my contest I found that what I thought was fat was actually water as I cut drinking water for 2 days coming up to the contest and hour by hour the excess disappeared from my middle (need another day or so for perfection though)

If it is fat that you are carrying then you may need to look at your cardio, change the intensity (faster heart rate/shorter time) and change the cardio performed as your body will get used to intensity and also the type of cardio performed.

Also you could try increasing your protein and cutting back on your carbs as the increased protein will fasten your metabolism, and the lower carbs will force your body to use its stored energy as fuel.

J

RAGE

Thanks a lot, man. You reassured me there. I guess I didn't gain it back in fat, then, which is good. I just didn't know about the glycogen.

However, I think I'm going to try cutting back on water for a few days. I drink a lot of it. This way, I can see whether or not my mid-section is carrying excess water... but thanks for the info! I really appreciate the input.

If it is, however, fat, then I'm really going to try and up the protein. I probably should start buying more and more whey powder.

Other than that, I'm looking at the 30 minute cardio routine with 2 minutes of moderate running followed by 1 minute of intense running (9 sets). I'm thinking for moderate intensity, I'll run a level 6 on the treadmill, and with high intensity a level 8.

Good enough?

zx9rjas.

Hey mate, forget the whey protein. Its only really useful around your workouts and at breakfast time as its too quickly absorbed for any other time, an experienced Bodybuilder told me to get your meat in mate to get solid and he was right.

Also, cutting your water back will not help as you will restrict your normal water so your body will store more as it doesn't know when it is going to get more water. To really tell you need to do what is done for contest prep, up the water to 6 litres a day and then totally cut it out for 2 days, not even a sip of water. I wouldn't suggest doing this though as its nasty and you'll feel like crap! only really done when contest prepping, also vitamin C as high doses are taken.

Just play around with your cardio and intake mate, forget the water bit.

J

RAGE

Okay, sounds good. I'll get the meat in. I'll have to juggle my intake. I want to go for the straight-up meat intake without the other crap that comes with it (ie a lot of bread or condaments). I'm going to try my new cardio plan. But hell, losing weight always worked for me in the past, I just really go to extremes which could be the reason for putting a lot of it back on... even if it isn't fat. We'll see, though. Hopefully when I have my next growth spurt (I'm only 18) my body will fill out better.

Extreme

Stay away from the scales, with all the training you are doing you must be gaining muscle too which will make you look heavier on the scales but leaner in the mirror.

Jump up and down in front of the mirror, if it jiggles its fat. The scales really are irrelevant.

Syr

Yes, use calipers and tape to measure your bodyfat and LBM. The scale lies
Also, dont measure yourself more often than once a week.

UKBodybuilder

Muscles jiggle too don't they? :shock: Maybe you know the answer to this question, is Whey good to avoid if you're prone to fat, and what would be a better replacement if so, i.e. Soy Isolate or Egg Whites?

I'm not prone to fat in the slightest but some of my friends are and they're going through Whey shakes like there's no tomorrow.