Goal. I think I have the same bottom-heavy build as she does, and I don't think it's too unreasonable for me to achieve. All my weight is in my tummy and butt.
Calories: 1400-1800 depending on how I'm feeling that day.
Protein:138g (I have trouble hitting this, averaging ~110g daily)
Carbs: 143g (have been trying very hard to reign this in from 200g)
Fat: 64g
Workout
- 6 days weekly Sunday-Friday, Saturday rest.
Monday to Friday lifting alternating muscle groups. ~50-75 minutes depending on the day and how much time I have. I workout before my classes (6am).
Sunday 60 minutes indoor soccer
I try to fit in HIIT whenever I can (student lyfe), usually only 2x weekly for 10min after lifting. I think I need way more cardio or my HIIT isn't intense enough.
Squats 1RM: 140lbs , 5RM 130
Deads 1RM: 155lbs , 5RM 110
OHP 1RM: 45lbs (sad), 5RM 30
But In 8 weeks I've only lost maybe 5lbs which seem to fluctuate back and forth. I feel 110% stuck. I'm taking measurements but, as you can see in the pictures, I've got this spare tire that will not go away. My upper body has little fat on it so I've actually grown legit biceps, but the whole tummy business has me feeling like a failure. I feel like Im losing fat from the least-fat places first and the spare tire isn't going anywhere.
Am I eating the wrong things? Are my macros not ideal for what I want to do? I want to reduce BF% and gain some muscles. For the record, I do weigh everything and do meal prep.
Do I just need to add more cardio into my schedule? Am I lifting too much? Not enough?
I just feel like after 10 weeks of exercise and 8 weeks of serious lifting that I should be so much further along than I am.
@tina_p I look really similar to you in the second picture in terms of the stomach/legs and general body type. I've also slowly started to build my legs and arms up but I can't seem to get rid of the fat in the middle. I'm Italian too and one thing I've noticed is that I THINK I'm limiting my carbs, but when I look at my nutrient breakdown on loseit, there are all those carbs. I wish I had more advice for you, but mostly just wanted to commiserate. I also just want to second happy scale like another poster mentioned. I just started using happy scale and plugged in some data from the last few weeks. It makes me feel much better and it gives me an average. I like it much better than the loseit scale since I fluctuate a lot too.
@bkrolex Hey! Body twin! The spare tire thing is the shittiest.
I've noticed that about the carbs too. I used to eat pasta daily but now im like REALLY?? That many calories?? THAT MANY CARBS?? I feel like I've been betrayed by my heritage haha
@tina_p The woman in your goal photo has her underwear bands higher on her hips, which is more flattering especially for more bottom heavy ladies. I think you look fantastic! Slow and steady wins the race. Also, flattering clothing, lighting, and posing can really make profound difference!
@sacredword ah yes, I do agree with the underwear band and lighting stuff! But I want to look like that when I hike it up and pose around hahaha (It's Nicole Mejia on instagram if you're interested). I can definitely give myself a thigh-gap if I tilt my hips the right way and whatnot but it's the firm,small core big glutes thing I want to achieve. And my butt is already proportionately quite big and strong so I think it's doable as long as I get rid of this flotation device around me.
But I really do appreciate the compliment, you're very sweet
@tina_p We can't dictate where the fat comes off. There is no such thing as spot reduction. Also, you've only been working out for a few months. Don't be discouraged, you're just a newbie.
If you want to lose weight then cut your calories down to 1400 and incorporate more cardio. Be strict about it. Caloric deficit is the only way to lose weight and therefore reduce body fat. You will likely also lose muscle, but if a flat stomach is important to you then stick to a high-protein, low calorie diet.
I had a similar problem with stubborn abdominal fat. I kept at a strict calorie deficit, lifted and ran 2 miles per day. As I lost weight my lifts definitely went down a bit (and my chest/arms/legs became a little too skinny) but I eventually lost all excess belly fat. Since then I've been very slow bulking and lifting heavy to build back the muscle without gaining back the stomach fat. good luck.
@mccleary I am too well aware of the spot reduction myth - if only! I'm totally a newbie in the gym, but my lifestyle before I stopped dancing (and dropped to a less competitive soccer league) was so jam packed with cardio that I was a lean machine. It's tough trying to get back to achieve the same level of fitness without the whole practice/performance lifestyle. But, I digress...
Is 1400 enough? I've heard some women on here talk about how many calories they can eat while still losing weight. I don't want to do myself a disservice or starve myself. I've been using the LoseIt! app which I'm loving because it shows you your daily caloric equation, but I think I've been eating back my calories a lot of the time (so I'm eating 1800 total but burning 400 so it shows an intake of 1400). Perhaps I need to be stricter about eating things back.
The bulking concept is a whole other ball game - on the one hand I feel like I should just be able to turn all this blub into straight muscle. But then again I don't really understand bulking and i've got to figure this one out first haha
It is almost impossible to get an accurate calorie burn figure for exercise. Better to just set your macros based on your overall activity level and do not eat back any "exercise calories."
I feel like I should just be able to turn all this blub into straight muscle
Impossible to turn fat into muscle; they are two entirely different types of tissue. You can lose fat by eating fewer calories than you expend; or you can build muscle by eating either at maintenance or a slight surplus and lifting weights. You will build muscle faster if you eat at a slight surplus (like 100 calories per day over maintenance), but you will inevitably gain some fat along with it. This is why bodybuilders do bulk/cut cycles -- they build muscle (gaining some fat along the way) then diet to lose the fat and reveal the muscle.
Lifting weights while in a caloric deficit will preserve the muscle mass you have; but it is generally impossible to build significant amounts of muscle when you are eating below maintenance.
@cynicalviking Yeah that's true, if I'm running I use a chest HR monitor so its a bit more accurate than just saying '30 minutes of X' to my fitbit or whatever, but i agree that it's totally not possible to have a perfect equation.
HA yeah ok stupid statement on my part - that makes sense about how bulking works ... you're not just packing on fat immediately. Thank you for the explanation! Once I've hit the weight I want (125) maybe i'll circle back here and figure out how to do a bulk properly!
@tina_p The amount of calories you should be consuming depends on how aggressively you'd like to attack your fitness goal. Many people overestimate the amount of calories they're expending through exercise and grossly underestimate how much food they're eating. For example, I only burn about 500 calories from running for an hour though the effort/exhaustion feels like so much more. Most days i'd rather forgo the extra dessert or bread or whatever and just do cardio for 20 minutes. You're doing well but if you aren't seeing results then something needs to change. Watch your caloric intake, weigh your food for accurate calories, do more cardio.
@tina_p Just stick to what you are doing, it is working! The least fat places are the first ones to go, belly fat is usually the last and hardest. Your weight won't vary much if you are losing fat but gaining muscle. Maybe try measuring you body fat index, so you'll be able to really see your progress. Good luck!
@trevamerocki I've got all my measurements recorded (no calipers in my possession) so would I be able to calculate bf% with just measurements? Every time I try I get wildly different numbers or it asks for measurements that I don't have (like my neck or wrist which dont seem to have fat on them anyway..)
@tina_p I've noticed your macros are low fat and higher carb (the carb isn't necesarily high just higher than fats). Have you tried switching it up with your macros?
@innocent7 I'm Italian so the high carb is a low carb compared to what I was eating before haha. I hadn't tried switching around the macros. I don't really know enough about what they do to start playing with them. I just know that protein and fat keep you full (the former helping with muscle growth) and carbs repair muscle after workouts.
What would be the benefit of switching? Or how would I know what to swap it to? And what counts as 'healthy fats' - cause otherwise im going to buy chicken nuggets and call it a day haha
@tina_p I don't follow IIFYM but a lot of girls here do and they can definately help you come up with a good macro plan. I know from experience that switching up the diet can really help pushing past a plateau. I increased protein and calories back in January and lost 5 lbs. My mind was like 'What?" but my body was like "Yessssss".
As far as 'healthy fats' go: Olive oil, coconut oil, avocadoes are all great. I'm a big fan of Nuts as a quick snack as well.
Cottage cheese is also a great low carb/high protein snack if your trying to stay within your macros.
Hope some of that helps!
@innocent7 This is probably just ingrained from my childhood, but my mom would always tell me to stay away from nuts because they're so high in calories (and salt, a lot of the time). Honestly I can eat like 50000000 cashews in a sitting so im nervous going and buying a bag haha.
@tina_p For calories, 1400-1800 is a pretty wide range of daily calorie intake.
Typically, 1 pound ~3500 calories. So, depending on if you're averaging closer to 1800 or if you're averaging closer to 1400 will really impact your weight loss.
If your goal is weight loss, I'd be more strict with the calories!
@trapizdaipe Yeah I know it's a pretty huge range haha. Mostly it depends on how hard my workout was that day. Most days I'm shooting to eat about 1400, but if I'm absolutely ravenous after a workout, or did a 1.5 hour session then I'll give myself a bit of leeway. But maybe you're right - that could be what's hurting me.
I see a lot of people on here saying that they eat tons of calories - If my TDEE is already 2100 and I'm eating 1400 ... shouldn't that be enough? Or even 1800 seems to be low enough? I'm still relatively new to the whole TDEE thing - I only started seriously counting calories again about 3 or 4 weeks ago (and im so glad I did)
@tina_p If your TDEE is 2100, then eating 1800 calories WILL result in weight loss. It will just be slow--around half a pound per week. I'm around your same size (5'4", 130lb) with a TDEE of 2100, and I lose weight at 1800 calories. It's just slow, so you have to be patient and not get too concerned over random fluctuations.
Random weight fluctuations can happen if you have a lot of salt, eat something that disagrees with you, get your period, whatever. It's normal. Just focus on the trend over time.
