Hi, I'm Priya 24/F weight about 124lbs, not lo... - Couch to 5K

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Hi, I'm Priya 24/F weight about 124lbs, not lost an inch since past 70days

Novaturient profile image
11 Replies

Hello, I've been working out 6days a week from past 6months (previous weight 120 lbs and after 2months of working out124lbs current weight) a week since past 6months lost few inches in first 6weeks haven't lost a bit since then! consume about 5litres of water, having 4+2meals a day eggs, oats fish chicken, almost every meal consists of 20g protein and 4-5gms saturated fats and 2scoops of whey throughout the day. I weight train with a good personal trainer and do cardio on alternate days ie. 3days of major muscles followed by 50mins of cardio the next day. I don't consume simple carbs and spinach is my fibre source. have been taking fish oil apprx 1000mg daily and Bcomplex too. I have a big middle portion that I feel like giving up not losing an inch, I'm really upset. All I know is I'm stronger than I was yesterday! that's all. I need to tone up, unable to find a solution please help

I drink on weekends 120ml whiskey but have stopped since 2weeks now, I sleep late so accordingly have my last meal at 12am and sleep around 3am I sleep for 6-7 hours a day and smoke shisha twice a week

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Novaturient
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11 Replies
IannodaTruffe profile image
IannodaTruffeMentor

Have you tried running?

Novaturient profile image
Novaturient in reply to IannodaTruffe

Yes, but that won't work!

ju-ju- profile image
ju-ju-Graduate in reply to Novaturient

Perhaps try a different forum. This one is for people that want to run.

Novaturient profile image
Novaturient in reply to IannodaTruffe

yes

ju-ju- profile image
ju-ju-Graduate

When I first read the title I thought it was an advert on a dating agency! As IannodaTruffe has suggested, you may find running helps all round. If you could shift the focus to being fit and healthy then the rest will follow... good luck on continuing your journey :)

Novaturient profile image
Novaturient in reply to ju-ju-

haha, thanks but running didn't help!

MarkyD profile image
MarkyDGraduate

Welcome to our running community. We are not necessarily a weight-loss community, but we have a range of experience to help you.

Well, we all know that belly fat is the hardest fat to lose. Your photos show some great progress, but you've not lost any inches for several months. Obviously weight loss comes from a calorie deficit, and so if you want to continue losing fat/weight then you'll want to get an appropriate calorie-controlled diet sorted out.

However, I'd say that you are trying too hard. The weights session is not really going to help with weight loss, and the cardio session - whilst burning calories - is not going to burn fat, either. You want a long, steady, moderate exertion for this, not a high intensity session. Long, slow runs would be ideal.

You're being very careful with your diet, and drinking a huge amount of water. Both are good, but then you're smoking, and drinking whiskey. OK so you've cut out the whiskey, but all that care and attention into your diet and you wreck it at the weekends. I'm not a big believer in whey powder and supplements for weight loss, either. And some spinach for fibre? Really? There's about 2% fibre in spinach, so you'll need to be eating a huge amount.

But I'm mostly cross with your personal trainer. Does she not understand your objectives? Sounds like you're doing weights and cardio, and on a 'muscle building' diet, but this doesn't seem to be meeting your goals to lose the inches around your belly.

This is a running forum, so of course I'll recommend running. Complete the C25K program, then start long, slow runs. That'll burn the fat. You're probably drinking too much water, and I'd go back to a normal balanced diet, with plenty of fruit and vegetables, some complex carbohydrates and some protein. Ditch the whey and supplements, the weights and the cardio. Run, do stretches, squats, planks, lunges instead.

Novaturient profile image
Novaturient in reply to MarkyD

Thanks a lot for advice, I'm surely considering these things and definitely trying to change. Let you guys know in a month😊

MrNiceGuy profile image
MrNiceGuy

Hello Priya and welcome to the forum.

Over the past six months, while improvements will have been enjoyed in cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength (neither of which is a bad thing), the only way to burn excess fat is to maintain a daily calorie deficit.

For example, based upon current measurements (age/weight/height) and level of activity, if total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) was 2000Kcal and the same amount was obtained from food each day, there’d be no reason for the body to burn your excess adipose tissue as energy, since you’d be maintaining.

Regardless of intensity and frequency of weekly exercise, the only way to encourage expenditure of calories (stored in fat) is to maintain a daily calorie deficit of up to 500Kcal, ensuring that any deficit introduced doesn’t exceed the difference between BMR and TDEE.

Furthermore, if you’d approached the forum as runner, asking the same question, the same answer would apply – maintain a daily calorie deficit to encourage the activity to burn fat.

As for cardiovascular exercise itself, whether it’s through running or the use of CV equipment in the gym, when it comes to burning fat, I wouldn’t necessarily agree with the notion that slow and steady is always the best way to accomplish it.

For example, HIIT, in comparison to LISS utilises a far greater concentration of glucose and fat as energy during the hard intervals, as the body isn’t able to deliver oxygen to working muscles as quickly as they require it.

Since the hard intervals ensure that glycogen within the muscles is severely depleted, the carbohydrate eaten afterwards is used by the body to replenish, rather than being stored as fat.

If the hard intervals take exercising HR to between 85-100% of its maximum, once a HIIT session is complete, the body will spend the next 18-24 hours re-balancing its oxygen debt (EPOC), as your anaerobic pathway will have been used repeatedly.

The added benefit of EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is that the body continues to expend calories as it works to balance the oxygen debt. Although it fatigues the muscles, the same doesn’t occur as extensively following steady-state/aerobic activity.

I’m not suggesting that steady-state CV ought to be omitted, particularly since it ensures a measured improvement of the body’s ability to process oxygen, thus, increasing endurance/stamina. However, don’t exclusively rely upon it to reduce body fat.

With regard to nutrition, although you fuel upon complex carbohydrate, as opposed to simple/refined sources, since complex carbohydrate is also eventually converted into glucose, you still need to be mindful of how much is consumed each day.

As a general rule, try to ensure that no more than 40-50g is eaten at each sitting (how much porridge do you have for breakfast?), with carbohydrate accounting for around 40% of daily intake, while ensuring that non-starchy vegetables feature more frequently, to help keep secretion of insulin in check.

Since you wish to lose excess adipose tissue, when maintaining a calorie deficit, protein should remain moderate (around 30% of daily intake), to reduce breakdown of existing muscle mass. However, 20g of protein with each meal is a sensible amount, to ensure ongoing, growth, repair and maintenance.

The consumption of fat isn’t something that should be feared either, since it’s required by the body. By opting for natural sources, found in whole milk, yoghurt, nuts, seeds and avocados, for example, their consumption will ensure satiety, particularly since nuts and avocados both contain healthy amounts of fibre. Try to ensure fat makes up the remaining 30% of daily intake.

Other lifestyle factors you could look to address rest upon the hour in which you retire to bed, helping to re-align the body’s natural circadian rhythm, so that it can benefit from the most restorative sleep phase (which occurs between midnight and 2am), during which the body re-builds and repairs.

Nickycatwoman profile image
NickycatwomanGraduate in reply to MrNiceGuy

Fabulous post

Mooma29 profile image
Mooma29

Join a site like my fitness pal. It is free once you set it up you just type in what you eat and it tells you how many more calories to eat, the nutritional value of what your eating etc. Loads of advice and suggestion on their and lots of people trying lots of different types of diet, low carb, high protein, vegetarian paleo etc. Bound to be something you can relate to. You can tie it on with things like c25k.

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