11-12 months in exercising barely any results…

[kitsoni]

So I started going to my school’s gym at the beginning of the year cuz my bf took me. I’ve been lifting for about maybe a solid 8 months cumulatively if i account for the breaks I took. I genuinely feel like i’ve barelt seen any results. One thing I will note is my arms and chest have toned up the most, my legs look more muscular (around the thighs) but that’s it. My stomach has gotten bigger (im a girl btw) and i feel like from the side i literally look fatter… my butt has gotten bigger but it’s the smallest change. I’m feeling so dejected like i see all online is ppl with the dream body and achieved in like 6 months.. i’m definitely not lifting just to look better i love how i feel when i lift but I’m so annoyed that i have gotten fatter like both om the scale and physically. Anyone know what i could be doing wrong?

Some specifics about me im indian 23F, never did sports, have decent form, do 4 sets with 8 reps minimum for basically 99% exercises. My relationship with food is shit but i feel like at this point i would have seen more results. I don’t do a dedicated abs workout either.

Edit: i wanted to post my week workout routine:

Monday (push):

Bench press 5x5​

• 
  Shoulder press 4x8

​

• 
  Cable Chest flyes 4x8 (machine flyes)

​

• 
  Dumbell lateral raises 4x8

​

• 
  Rope push down (triceps) 4x8

​

Tuesday (pull):
Lat pulldowns 5x5
- 100, 85,85,85,85
- 40,40,40,40 (55-2x),40
Cable rows 4x8
- 140, 130, 120
- 40, 40, 40, 40

Face pulls/reverse flies 4x8​

• 
  Dumbell shrugs 4x8
• 55,55,55,45
• 15,12.5,12.5,12.5
  Ab crunches (2x till failure)
• 14,16
• 10,3
  Barbell curl 4x8
• 65, 55,45
• 15,15,20

Wed (legs)
Goblet squats 4x8

-25,25,25,25​

RDLs

-20,25,20,25​

Bulgarian split squats 4x8 —> this one is relatively new to me so just bodyweight​

​

Leg extensions 4x8

-40,50,40,50​

Leg curls 4x8

-40,50,40,50​

Thursday (push):
Overhead press 5x5
- 70,70,50,60,50
- 20,20,20,20,20
Incline dumbell press 4x8
- 30,25,25,25
- 7.5, 7.5, 7.5, 7.5
Cable lateral raises 4x8
- 10,10,10,10
- 2.5, 2.5, 5, 2.5
Machine chest flye 4x8
- 80,80,75,75
- 20,20,15,20

Skullcrushers or rope pushdown 4x8​

• 12.5,

Friday (pull) :
Bent over barbell rows 5x5 (
- 80,80,70,70,70
- 30,30,30,30,30
Lat pulldown with supinated grip 4x8
- 85, 90,90,80
- 40,45,45,45
Cable (act machine) rows 4x8
- 150,130,130, 120
- 40,40,40,30

Assisted pulls ups 4x8​

• 
  Overhand grip barbell curl 4x8
• 10,

Saturday (legs) :q

Leg press 5x5​

• 
  Leg curl 4x8

- 90,80,80,80​

Leg extensions for d and 4x8
- 85,85,85
- 25,25,25

Calf raises 4x8​

• 
  Long walks
• 0,10,10,10
• 5,5,5,5

Sunday rest days

The two bulletin points for each exercise are me and my bf tracking which weights we were on, we stopped this like in March lol so they aren’t super accurate. Essentially i will at least workout 3x a week doing push/pull/legs but i think im going to hit legs twice and incoporate some other exercises to it as well.

 

[dawn16]

@kitsoni Food is the literal most important thing LOL. Food is fuel for your body. Would a race car drive fast if you filled it with waste oil? No, it wouldn’t. Carry that logic forward

 

[sean4567]

@kitsoni Unfortunately you can’t out-exercise a poor diet. What you’re putting into your body matters just as much (if not more) than what you’re doing at the gym. I would download a food tracking app (I personally use Lose It! but MyFitnessPal is good too. Focus on hitting your protein goal and stay within your calorie goals and you should see change.

 

[kitsoni]

@sean4567 The thing is I’m definitely within my calorie deficit… ya im not hitting my protein goal but i’m atill gaining weight. How is it possible to gain weight if i’m in a calorie deficit and i do lifting and cardio at least 3x a week

 

[bama_girl]

@kitsoni If you're gaining weight you're in calorie surplus, it's not really possible long term otherwise.

 

[sean4567]

@kitsoni Are you tracking calories closely, using a food scale, etc.? Have you calculated your TDEE?Sometimes calories can hide if they’re not carefully measured.

 

[kitsoni]

@sean4567 No i don’t use a food scale. Not sure what a TDEE is.

 

[trevorodhiambo]

@kitsoni You cant know your at a deficit if you dont know what a tdee is.

Just google one. Answer questions. Thats your calorie maintance. You need to eat 10-20% less for a deficit.

You cant grow muscles without eating at surplus (10-20% over maintance) and you need lots of protein.

To keep muscle and lose weight, lots of protein, eat deficit. Hit the gym. 1,2,3. Thats it.

 

[dawn16]

@trevorodhiambo I've been at a 500 daily caloric deficit for months and I'm gaining muscle and strength.

 

[trevorodhiambo]

@dawn16 Where you obese?

 

[dawn16]

@trevorodhiambo A little. About 25% body fat

 

[trevorodhiambo]

@dawn16 Then it can be done somewhat for a little while. Watch the vid. Its just not optimal.

 

[sean4567]

@kitsoni I recommend looking up TDEE calculator online, you just input your height, weight, gender, and age and it’ll tell you how many calories you burn in a day just by being alive. That is your “maintenance calories,” meaning how many calories your body burns when performing basic human functions. Shave off a couple hundred from that and that’ll give you your calorie deficit, what you should be eating. (For example, my maintenance calories is 1700 per day, so I try to eat around 1400-1500 to be in a deficit)
As for a food scale, I recommend just because it can give you a more accurate reading of how much you’re eating. For example, a serving of peanut butter may be two tablespoons, but how much you’re actually putting into that tablespoon can vary. Measuring out 30 grams of peanut butter would give you a more exact measurement of the calories in that serving.
Obviously these are just my suggestions for the most basic reasons for not seeing progress, but it can be a multitude of factors.

 

[kitsoni]

@sean4567 Ok so i do know what a TDEE calculator is i didn’t know that that was what it was called, my maintance calories is 2100 so my calorie deficit is 1600

 

[dawn16]

@kitsoni I would add to this that one should exercise 4 days per week and make sure they are deficit 500 cal per day (weekends included) if they are trying to slim.

 

[lnjblessings]

@kitsoni How are you implementing progressive overload? Are you following a proper routine and tracking your progress?

 

[rhandi]

@kitsoni I'm of Indian descent as well. And I have trouble taking weight off, but I tend to gain easily. I have ONE question... Are you walking? Try and get 7000 steps a day (I saw in an earlier comment that you are already in a caloric deficit) and I'm almost certain you will see changes.

 

[kitsoni]

@rhandi Yes i try to walk about 3-5x a week

 

[naomi_sarai]

@rhandi Yeah unfortunately due to many many decades of occupation and our food being shipped out leaving us in famine for generations, Indians have evolved to hold onto their weight. I highly recommend increasing your protein and fiber ratio because that’s the only thing that ended up actually working for me. Walking 3 miles daily, strength training 3x a week, calorie deficit, and increase the amount of protein and FIBER (don’t underestimate the importance of fiber) and see how you look/feel in 6 weeks.

 

[rhandi]

@naomi_sarai THIS! This is exactly what I do. As long as I'm walking 7k steps every single day (amounts to about 3 miles) and lifting 3 times a week with adequate protein (for me, it's 100g to 120g a day) and staying under my caloric intake, I drop weight just fine.