5'8", 35M, 200 pounds chubby with a gut..

[dx70]

Long story short I want the V. I don't need to have the six pack, but I want the cut gone and the V shape. I have started hitting the gym, doing cardio and resistance training. However, I am afraid of muscle building under the gut vs the gut disappearing.

What is your advice?

 

[dawn16]

@dx70 You need to eat in a calorie deficit that’s the only way the gut will disappear.

 

[dx70]

@dawn16 So currently M-F I burn 3,000-3,500 calories. By my calculations I eat 1,500-1,700 calories a day plus the gym 5 days a week. I feel the deficit might be enough or maybe too much.

3 days a week is resistant training and 2 days a week is cardio.

 

[dawn16]

@dx70 I don’t know where you’re getting the data that tells you you’re burning 3000-3500 cals from but I’d be inclined to ignore it and focus on the scale. I’m the same height and can cut very easily on 2300 calories training 5 days in the gym. Maybe start there, monitor your weight for a week, take an average and then compare that to your first reading. If it’s lower then your heading in the right direction. I always shoot for 1-2lbs of weight loss a week so tune your calories to fit that goal.

 

[dx70]

@dawn16 Apple Watch tells me. Of course not sure of the accuracy, but I know without the gym (due to my career field) I walk anywhere from 12,000 to 16,000 steps a day. My Fitbit from years ago would register roughly 6 miles of walking in a normal work day.

You would think that would be enough just to keep the weight off, but I guess your body gets used to the environment and it is constantly in.

 

[umsseven]

@dx70 You are overweight. If you are not losing or gaining weight you are eating a maintenance level of calories. In order for you to lose weight you need to be eating in a deficit of calories. Get some scales, work out what you are currently eating then drop 300 to 500 calories a day. Keep your protein up and your lower the carbs. It takes a little while to get it right, but you will get there.
And ignore the watch.

 

[dawn16]

@dx70 It’s always interesting to see how many people post here that their Fitbit/garmin/Apple Watch tells them they burn a gazillion calories a day and all they eat is an apple and yet they gain (or just don’t lose) weight.

I’m sorry to say that unless you exist in a very small subset of the population that legitimately have some kind of medical obstacle to losing fat, it’s much more helpful to look at actual evidence than an Apple Watch.

Actual evidence: your current nutrition and fitness plan is a maintenance plan for you since you have stayed at the same weight for a prolonged period of time. It really doesn’t matter what your watch says. 200lb is a heavy weight for someone who’s 5’8” (I am a female of the same height), so in a true caloric deficit, you should be shedding weight rather quickly at this point in your journey.

That leaves us with two possible conclusions:

1. You are a medical anomaly and something is keeping you from shedding your fat despite your deficit. If you truly believe this to be the case, I recommend seeing a doctor and getting a blood and hormone panel performed.
2. You are not actually in a deficit, either because you are eating more calories than you think (are you weighing your food and tracking things like condiments and dressings?) or your physical output is much lower than you think.

I’d recommend tracking your diet as it is, with no changes, for at least a week. Track religiously. Everything you eat goes on a scale. Then you can determine what your true average daily caloric intake is and decide how much (and what) to cut.

I can tell you as someone who’s on the opposite journey to yours (weight gain) that portion sizes can be very deceiving. I wasn’t gaining weight despite being sooooo sure I was eating in a surplus. When I finally got down to brass tacks and began weighing my food, I was shocked at how bad I was at eyeballing portion sizes. What I thought was 5-6oz of chicken, for example, ended up being more like 3oz. Very possible you’re doing the same, but in reverse.

 

[uzezi]

@dx70 Perhaps not measuring or gauging your calorie intake accurately

 

[obat]

@dx70 You can probably disregard what the Watch says. I’ve calculated my TDEE by counting all the calories I consume while tracking my weight through the MacroFactor app. I also use an Apple Watch. I have found that the Watch overestimates my average TDEE by several hundred cals/day.

 

[dx70]

@obat Yes I can believe that. Honestly, I don’t use the watch for that, it was just something I noticed. My diet consists of one meal around 1,000 calories at super. Usually some form of meat and veggies. Then at lunch usually a protein smoothie. Granted that bitch is about 500 calories, but it also has about 55g of protein because I don’t get any protein from the day other than at dinner.

 

[questioner1]

@dx70 If you were in a 1500 calorie deficit a day (burning 3000 and eating 1500) then you would be losing 3 pounds a week. If you are not losing any weight, then you aren't in a deficit.

It is all math. Each pound of fat on your body contains 3500 calories. So if you do a 500-calorie deficit a day consistently below your TDEE you should lose 1 pound a week. If you don't lose anything then you are not at a deficit. Take it from a 5'8" guy that started at 230 or so. The fix is largely diet.

https://www.reddit.com/r/intermittentfasting/comments/14b2g4f/results_post_47m_4_years_doing_168_2_years_at

 

[stevens86]

@dx70 Eat less, count calories, stop drinking alcohol and soda. Change lifestyle for good

 

[dx70]

@stevens86 Water is all I drink. About five years ago I stopped, drinking soft drinks, and went strictly to water to keep my system flushed out to prevent gout. About two years ago I stopped drinking alcohol just because I said what the fuck is the point of drinking. Neither one of those have helped me lose weight. Not sure why. Lol

 

[stevens86]

@dx70 Good for you for stopping and I did around the same time. Then it comes down to calories in. I would worry about doing cardio and tighten up your eating.

Way easier to fix what you eat vs trying to do cardio to make up for the amount of food you are eating. And I don’t personally believe in diets as that is not realistic in the long run. If you track what you eat over time you will make better choices based on those calorie counts.

 

[dawn16]

@dx70 If I were you I would cut down to your desired weight then worry about putting on lean muscle to get that v shape .

 

[dawn16]

@dx70 At 5’8”, 180lbs is very unlikely to be lean enough to see the type of definition you’re wanting unless you are approaching competitive body builder levels of lean mass.

 

[johnny1984]

@dx70 I'm 6'4" and 200 lbs. I still have a small gut and some small love handles even though I have a strong back, chest and shoulder area. I think you need to be around 160-170 with an 5'8" frame to have a V shape(plus a year of weight training). It also depends on your genetics, some people have wider hips by default, etc. Keep losing weight, and start working out your lats, shoulders and chest to get there.

 

[signi]

@dx70 Muscle under the gut is a good thing. Muscle over the gut means you have visceral fat around your organs. Even if you keep the belly, you want the fat over the muscle vs beneath it.

 

[christmindedbc]

@dx70 Building muscle is HARD and losing it is quite easy.

It took me 3 years of hard work, sweating in the gym and counting calories with a strict fitness regime to get close to a six pack and six months to lose it all and get a gut.

Don't worry about accidentally becoming muscular and getting a six pack. Will not happen, unless you are genetically gifted or you go on steroids. It is even harder for older people (hence the r/fitness and r/fitness30plus) It is like saying you slacked through high school but accidentally aced college without studying or trying. (I have a STEM background. Mileage may vary for other courses)

Put in the hard work and wait for a few months or years. You will learn a lot during the journey.

 

[dx70]

@christmindedbc Trust me, I know you won’t accidentally get a six pack (that would be awesome though.) I’m just afraid of the muscle building under the gut and then instead of the V-shaped that I want I have a muscular body with a muscular gut, which I think is ugly looking. of course I’m not looking to have a six pack either. I just wanna make sure that I put my efforts in losing the gut in the right direction. While getting a little cut everywhere else.