Getting discouraged

[Bout2break69]

Hi everyone,

Ok so I've been working out consistently for over a year now trying to tone and lose as much fat as I can. Ive basically been doing high intensity cardio for anywhere between 5 and 7 days a week and weight training 3x a week. I try and switch it up every month or two to keep from plateauing, but it seems like I've hit one i can't get out of. I'm 5'8 125lbs and I'm at 20 percent body fat as of right now, which is the best shape I've ever been in, but I was really hoping to be around 15 percent by this point and I'm very frustrated that I seem to not be able to get there. How can I keep getting results and break through this? I really want to loose more fat and build a little more muscle. This is what my workouts usually look like (it varies monthly though): Mondays: 45-60mins of high intensity cardio in the a.m. and Chest, Shoulders, Tris, and Abs in the p.m. Tuesdays: 45-60 mins of interval training Wednesdays: 45-60 minutes of high intensity cardio in the a.m and Back Bis and Abs in the p.m Thursdays: 45-60 mins interval training Fridays: 45-60 mins high intensity cardio in the a.m and Legs, Back and Abs in the p.m and Saturdays: 45-60 mins of interval training.
As for my diet this week I just changed it a little. I was eating 1400 calories and staggering my carbs, but now Im eating 1200 calories 2 days then 1600 2 days and switching back and fourth as well as staggering carbs. Just as an example of my diet here is what I ate today which is a 1600 calorie with low carbs: Breakfast: Ezekiel Bread with spray butter and 1/2 c plain greek yogurt with blueberries Snack: 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt Lunch: 8oz of baked chicken and yogurt Snack(preworkout): 1 scoop of whey protein Snack(post workout): 3oz of baked chicken Dinner: 5 whole eggs and 4 oz of baked chicken.
If anyone can shed any light as to what I could possibly be doing wrong with any of this any advice would be much appreciated. Id do anything to get to my goal:)

[ALianne]

Hi everyone,

Ok so I've been working out consistently for over a year now trying to tone and lose as much fat as I can. Ive basically been doing high intensity cardio for anywhere between 5 and 7 days a week and weight training 3x a week. I try and switch it up every month or two to keep from plateauing, but it seems like I've hit one i can't get out of. I'm 5'8 125lbs and I'm at 20 percent body fat as of right now, which is the best shape I've ever been in, but I was really hoping to be around 15 percent by this point and I'm very frustrated that I seem to not be able to get there. How can I keep getting results and break through this? I really want to loose more fat and build a little more muscle. This is what my workouts usually look like (it varies monthly though): Mondays: 45-60mins of high intensity cardio in the a.m. and Chest, Shoulders, Tris, and Abs in the p.m. Tuesdays: 45-60 mins of interval training Wednesdays: 45-60 minutes of high intensity cardio in the a.m and Back Bis and Abs in the p.m Thursdays: 45-60 mins interval training Fridays: 45-60 mins high intensity cardio in the a.m and Legs, Back and Abs in the p.m and Saturdays: 45-60 mins of interval training.
As for my diet this week I just changed it a little. I was eating 1400 calories and staggering my carbs, but now Im eating 1200 calories 2 days then 1600 2 days and switching back and fourth as well as staggering carbs. Just as an example of my diet here is what I ate today which is a 1600 calorie with low carbs: Breakfast: Ezekiel Bread with spray butter and 1/2 c plain greek yogurt with blueberries Snack: 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt Lunch: 8oz of baked chicken and yogurt Snack(preworkout): 1 scoop of whey protein Snack(post workout): 3oz of baked chicken Dinner: 5 whole eggs and 4 oz of baked chicken.
If anyone can shed any light as to what I could possibly be doing wrong with any of this any advice would be much appreciated. Id do anything to get to my goal:)


The first thing that jumps out at me is your diet. It seems a little off.
A lot of yogurt! no veggies or healthy fats? It seems very unbalanced.
I would advise balancing your macros for every meal.

like...

Breakfast - egg whites, oatmeal, flax seed
snack- protein shake, piece of fruit
lunch - lean meat, veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice
snack - 5 hard boiled egg whites, 20 almonds, veggies
dinner - lean meat, olive oil, veggies
snack - greek yogurt with honey

more balanced, more healthy fats and vegetables.

maybe others will chime in

[bethtwenty4]

You're already at a low weight for your height. You don't need to lose more lbs, you need to gain muscle. Stop dropping your calories. 1400 is low for your activity level. Ease up on the cardio and lift heavy.

As for diet, recalculate your calorie needs. You need to aim for 60g/fat and 125-180g/protein. The rest of your cals can be carbs or more fat/protein.

[Bout2break69]

Thanks for the replies:) I noticed too that it was alot of yogurt when I was typing up what I ate for the day. I try and use it where I'd normally have more carbs when I try and cut them out. I know it's a little unbalanced but I try and keep carbs low because they seem to make me really bloated:( thanks for the advice though Ill definately work on it where I can

[Bout2break69]

When I lift I do lift heavy but as for the cardio how much do you think I should do? A few people have told me to ease up on it, but they can never tell me how much to ease up on it and I'm a little bit of a cardio freak so without knowing how much to change it I just end up keeping it the same:( as for my diet I've tried to figure out my maintanace calories but keep getting anywhere from 1700-2100 based on different calculations, so I was never really sure how much to get. Should I still be lower than maintanance when I'm trying to lose fat and tone? And do you know of a more accurate way to figure out how many calories I actually need? Thanks for your help:)

[Jennac0525]

When I lift I do lift heavy but as for the cardio how much do you think I should do? A few people have told me to ease up on it, but they can never tell me how much to ease up on it and I'm a little bit of a cardio freak so without knowing how much to change it I just end up keeping it the same:( as for my diet I've tried to figure out my maintanace calories but keep getting anywhere from 1700-2100 based on different calculations, so I was never really sure how much to get. Should I still be lower than maintanance when I'm trying to lose fat and tone? And do you know of a more accurate way to figure out how many calories I actually need? Thanks for your help:)

From my personal experience and the great advice on this site lowering your cardio is a good idea. I would suggest cutting out about half the cardio you do because at your weight I think you will see great results with lifting and cutting down the cardio. I'd say about three times a week with 20 minutes HIIT followed by 10 minutes of steady state. I was doing pretty much what your doing and when I cut it out I started seeing better results with less cardio. Also have you tried plyometrics? It's a great way to build muscle while still feeling that you are sort of getting a cardio workout.

[kdiamond55]

You're already at a low weight for your height. You don't need to lose more lbs, you need to gain muscle. Stop dropping your calories. 1400 is low for your activity level. Ease up on the cardio and lift heavy.

As for diet, recalculate your calorie needs. You need to aim for 60g/fat and 125-180g/protein. The rest of your cals can be carbs or more fat/protein.

^^^THIS

And I agree with the cardio, if you're doing that much (addicted?) you need to eat to BUILD muscle, cardio widdles away your muscle, believe me I know. The only cardio I do now is running when I do Crossfit (intervals)...I look waaaaayyyy better now than when I did 5 pounds less (5 pounds of muscle less, I should say).

Stop worrying so much about the scale/body fat%, go by your clothes and the mirror! I bet you look great! Eat something! ;)

[Bout2break69]

Thanks again for all the advise:). Basically this is what I plan on changing, tell me if this sounds okay. Start eating about 1700-1800 calories incorporating more good fats and cutting my cardio down to 4 days a week 45-60 minutes( I know that's still probably too much but I'm worried about changing everything too quickly so I'll start with that and then work on decreasing my time) should that work ok?

[kdiamond55]

That's a good start! Take it a few weeks and see how it goes! :)