It's been a year. Where am I going wrong?

[Shryan]

I know you can't target areas, but my midsection is making me lose my mind! I'm not sure if it's my diet, zero cardio or work out. Please help!

I'm 27, work 25-30 hours as a server/bartender and a part time college student. I serve at a very active, high volume restaurant, move *so much* and am constantly lifting crates of glassware.

I started out in Feb 2013 doing SL5x5 with zero cardio. I watched my macros, using a digital scale. I went from 135lb in February 2013 to 118lb by July 2013 with a diet under 1,300 calories. It was tough. Towards the end of Summer I started a new work out routine suggested by my fiance because I was getting bored of SL5x5 and I increased my calories and protein intake. This new work out/and or change to my diet seemed to not do anything for me. In November I let myself enjoy holiday treats in moderation and didn't work out for 4 weeks (all of December). I've attached a photo that includes what I looked like by January.

In January 2014 I went back to SL5x5 3x a week, consuming about 1,400-1,500 calories but as of last week I've dropped down to 1,390 with about 140g protein, 46g fat and very little carbs. Since the winter I started drinking 40-50oz of water daily and still do zero cardio. At least two nights a week I don't get more than 5 hours of sleep because of work and school clashing on those days, but I get home from class and always take a 2-3 hour nap afterwards. Besides that, I get a regular 7 hours of sleep. If I'm working out or have, I'm very diligent to get no less than 7 hours.

My diet is very much the same on a daily basis.

Breakfast: Coffee and 1 serving of half-n-half. If I'm working out I like to have a banana shake with 1 serving peanut butter and almond milk although I've switched to skim milk now. On days I don't work out I'll eat eggs whites and two pieces of whole wheat toast. On days I'm in a hurry to get to work I have Active Life instant oatmeal and milk and a boiled egg or just two boiled eggs and an apple.

Lunches: If I didn't have egg whites for breakfast then I'll have them for lunch, or roasted chicken on mixed greens/and or a cup of raw veggies, or left over protein from a dinner.

Dinner: Ground turkey burgers (no bun) or tacos (corn tacos, very low in carbs) with a side of vegetables like roasted broccoli, peppers, sweet potato or black beans (not from can) or roasted chicken and brown rice. Sometimes pork when my fiance asks.

Snacks: The banana shake with peanut butter and milk, vegetables (snap peas, carrots), peanuts or almonds, Oikos greek yogurt.

My dark side: I try to keep my diet pretty clean but I have a very hard time eating chicken by itself, even if it's seasoned. I don't like spicy foods so I can't rely on hot sauces. I usually will eat my chicken with a serving of BBQ sauce. I've recently discovered Simply Dressed sesame ginger dressing that's great on chicken too. My salads have dressing on them but always the vinaigrette--nothing creamy with 100+calories per serving. I use half a serving of margarine spread for my two pieces of toast. Most of the time I make my own oil+bals vinaigrette blend. I use EVOO cooking spray for my eggs and the only time I use actual oil for cooking is to roast my vegetables with... my work offers a free salad for every shift and when I do get one (once or twice a week) it's with dressing on the side.

Thank you so much in advance! Especially thank you for reading all of this.

[chloematilds]

IDK, but your mid area looks fine and healthy to me?! I think I have a similar mid area though I'm at 105 lbs at 5 ft tall.

[Shryan]

IDK, but your mid area looks fine and healthy to me?! I think I have a similar mid area though I'm at 105 lbs at 5 ft tall.

Aw, thank you, but I'm flexing in all of my photos. I can grab a nice handful of flab if I'm not flexing and I can never flex so that my lower abdomen looks taut. It's always looser below my rib cage.

[Shryan]

Oops, I uploaded the wrong photo. This one is a little more helpful with dates at the bottom.

[kimm4]

What is your overall goal?

I'm only asking because SL5x5 is a solid program, but it's a program that's geared towards building strength. Also, it's not the best program to be running when you're cutting. You should be eating at maintenance or a surplus.

I think you would be better off eating at maintenance calories or slightly above and running a program that focuses on hypertrophy/building. Add a bit of muscle to your frame and I think you would be much happier next time you go to cut.

Here's a few solid programs to check into:

Simply Shredded Upper/Lower

http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-ul...ing-guide.html

Baby Got Back Routine

http://www.wannabebig.com/training/t...-back-routine/

Lyle McDonald’s Routine

http://www.jcdfitness.com/2009/01/ly...lking-routine/

Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/phul-workout

Good luck.

[oregonchick76]

I think you probably need a bulk, and a routine specific to adding bulk. I'd do this for several months, a nice slow bulk gaining 1-2 lbs per month for a few months, and then cut back down again.

[Paneetius]

1. calculate how much calories u need to lose weight
2. count calories n macros using myfitnesspal
3. train 3x a week or more
4. do cardio few times a week (HIIT is good)
5. don't cheat on diet

yep. should be fine

[Shryan]

Thank you everyone, and thanks a lot Kimm for the Simply Shredded link. That was very informational--holy cow! I will definitely be incorporating much of what I read there.