what's your biggest problem when it comes to losing weight & getting lean?

[maxnas]

some great answers in here... anyone else got anymore to add?

[Neg_Train]

Biggest problem is: Time.

First 2 weeks goes smoothly, then you cheat a bit, then hop back, then cheat..

[XtremeBody510]

To be honest, I use my fitness pal app. It helps me keep cant of calories.. you need to find out what your daily maintaince is and go 500 below that

[maxnas]

I have no problems on this current journey to get lean. In the past it was just lack of motivation to start and perhaps some ignorance on how to lose weight more optimally. I didn't want to go on a diet of healthful foods that I didn't enjoy. Every time you read a book, talk to a doctor, find diets on the Internet, talk to average people that are losing weight or lost weight, etc. the recommendation is always something that sounds like torture.

I know when I was young, calorie counting was recommended. But most people didn't want to do it because it was a pain in the butt. Weight Watchers figured out to use points instead as that was easier to do. I think that is why a lot of people are successful with WW. I never tried it, but the concept is a step in the right direction.

With the advent of food counting apps and technology that you can easily have with you at all times, calorie counting has become much easier. The idea of eating a certain number of calories no matter their source was one I could live with. But I didn't feel the desire until recently. I can't say there was an event or something, just a desire hit me and I was ready. I think it helped that I was no longer hearing suggestions from family members, etc.

Now that I am motivated and have an "easy" road to success, I have been able to take the calorie deficit idea and create my own loose diet. Since I decided I didn't want to be just lean, but fit as well, I did adjust my original "diet" to make sure to meet my macros. This also got me back in the gym with an affective program rather than ones I used to do.

So to answer your question, the biggest problem for me was a misconception on what was needed and the difficulty (or lack there of) involved. Now that I am down this path, a few hunger pangs at the beginning and some cravings here and there have been my only issues. They were easy to overcome though because the decision was mine alone to get fit. I am riding the wave and have no desire to get off.

great stuff man, well done!

[treefiddy1031]

Hardest part for me is the fact that I appear to be maintaining weight at 1500 cals/day as a 5'11" 25 year old guy. At 165 pounds I'm still overfat (25% or more) but the way forward is very unclear. Bulking seems like a terrible idea - but so does eating 1000 calories to lose a pound a week for the coming.... 6 months or so? Pretty sure I'm in eating disorder range at that point.

[Tommy W.]

Pretty sure I'm in eating disorder range at that point.

You're most likely under estimating your calories by a good amount

[Znik]

You're most likely under estimating your calories by a good amount

Yap, BMR alone should be around 1800. Add lifting / activity and your closer to 2500 to maintain.
Even with a underlying illness like hypo or freakishly low metabolism it would still be 2100'ish assuming some degree of activity/exercise.

[EjnarKolinkar]

And this people is what you call winner mentality.

Winners gonna win.

Id say underestimating body fat and overestimating muscle mass has to be the most classic problem after the basics of weight loss are in place.

[JBbodyfit]

I can keep everything on lockdown when I'm home, focused, hitting the gym and cooking my own food. But then there are trips and vacations... and that is where I've had major backslides.

People will say on here all the time "don't worry about it -- have a good time -- a few days won't blow your diet." Well, maybe I can just party in extreme excess, but 3-5 days really CAN be a major setback for me. A few Vegas trips in 6 months can easily do 20+ pounds of damage to my cut.

Next trip I'm going IF for 1 meal a day and try to keep the drinking to 1 night.

[adamrandall2]

Drinking alcohol & binge eating occasionally (one usually comes after the other)

Ways I go about preventing this:
Waxing & tanning so I see every bit of extra definition (no homo) encourages me to put that piece of KFC down during the times that count.
Wearing tshirts that are too tight - the tight feeling reminds me that I still have fat to lose
My fridge is kept empty - aside from veggies, ultra low cal yoghurt & 0 cal fizzy drinks

[DJDBB]

Not many problems until I continue to plateau even after dropping calories and/or upping cardio. Usually I just have a nice day of a good surplus and I'm back to burning fat for another few weeks, though.

[treefiddy1031]

Yap, BMR alone should be around 1800. Add lifting / activity and your closer to 2500 to maintain.
Even with a underlying illness like hypo or freakishly low metabolism it would still be 2100'ish assuming some degree of activity/exercise.

Been counting for over a year and have lost 80 pounds. Pretty sure I've got it locked down. Eat mostly the same things every day, weigh all foods, don't use cooking oils etc. I log chewing gum, I log crystal light, I log everything. Hell, I log the 8 calories in my psyllium husk capsules. Off by 100-150 on any given day? Sure, it's possible just given uneven cal distribution in foods, leeway on packaging, etc. Off by nearly 1k after a year of fine tuning? Not a chance in hell. And FWIW, my calculated TDEE is ~2170, not 2500.

[jackedguy87]

with me its definitely body image. Like someone else said one day Ill feel I look amazing then the next day I feel flat and small. its very easy for me to look like ive gained 10 lbs of muscle....eat an extra 1000 cals for a coupl;e days but then that sets me back.

after noot making any progress for 3 months and my mind messing with me, I decided to cut my cals further to break through my mental headtrip thats preventing me from doing what I need to do. its been two weeks and ive already broken my plateau...the hardest part of getting lean I think is wanting to bulk again!

another challenge is being anti social and telling society to eff off when peer pressured into eating food or drinks by everyone else who is out of shape livin the dream

also another struggle is my cns keeps getting stressed so its a struggle to keep the proper balance of training/rest/nutrition

[jackedguy87]

Hardest part for me is the fact that I appear to be maintaining weight at 1500 cals/day as a 5'11" 25 year old guy. At 165 pounds I'm still overfat (25% or more) but the way forward is very unclear. Bulking seems like a terrible idea - but so does eating 1000 calories to lose a pound a week for the coming.... 6 months or so? Pretty sure I'm in eating disorder range at that point.

look into the anabolic diet...itll be your saviour.

[kureransu]

I think what doies ti for a lot of people is going just TOO hard. 6'3" 370lbs " ok guys here's my log. I'm gonna do 1600 cals/day. I know it's extreme but i've done it before, so I know it works. so don't come tell me it's too much." Losing fat is by far the easiest part of this journey. It's the how and when (if) you get there that becomes hard. If his extreme diet worked the first time, why is he overfat now?

Honestly the key is balance. It's not really hard. to eat a little less each day. Ad in some movement and you're golden. Everyone wants to be fit now. what worse about it is when you lose a ton of weight the first time, you won't look anything like you imagined. so get ready to really stress.

[bencarr95]

Libido and mental health.

[Odines]

Don't really struggle with anything because as others stated this is a choice, and i've done it before. It's not a half baked new years resolution for me, its a "i've #$(%ing had it and I'm doing something about it." Last time I let work/stress/etc destroy a year+ worth of dedicated hard work to get to a body physique I was proud of. Have the same mentality/dedication just smarter this time around and the only motivation I need is the forward momentum.

If I dig real deep though, my biggest struggle right now, is I want to crush an entire deep dish pizza. I won't. But I want to. It's probably the only thing I miss. I'm considering doing 6 hours of cardio one day just so I can and not feel guilty about it.

Pizza is literally the only thing I miss. I have no interest in one slice. I want the whole damn thing.

[stingray72]

what worse about it is when you lose a ton of weight the first time, you won't look anything like you imagined.

Boy is this ever true. (meaning I agree)

[Rich1143]

My biggest obstacle was not knowing how to lose properly or eat healthy. I was clueless. This web page/forum has changed me completely.

[maxnas]

I'm starting to see a body image trend here

[nvliftin2]

I find the dieting part easy, its more the psychological side of cutting that I find hard. Wake up one day feeling real happy with my progress, day later feel fat and hate the way I look, especially when some areas of my body are more leaner than others and I feel skinny fat.

[oatmeal4dinner]

Should skinny fat people strength train on a deficit? No cardio? Well I like one day a week of hiit

[maxnas]

Should skinny fat people strength train on a deficit? No cardio? Well I like one day a week of hiit

Any advice for this guy brah's?

[Beerculez]

Patience no doubt for me, wanting/expecting major changes too soon. Checking the mirror and scale too often. Weighing myself 2-3 days in a row every 2 weeks just to check on progress would probably be better.

Also focusing too much on the fact that I'm cutting, this seems to be going better than last time I cut though. As long as you hit your macros and do your training, the less you focus mentally on cutting and obsessing over changes the better, imo.

[JackDanielz3]

Already mentioned the swings in mood and confidence. Looking in the mirror and feeling great seeing how lean and cut I am, then looking in the mirror an hour later and seeing only a giant ball of fat months of hard work away from looking acceptable. Repeat 5 times a day, everyday, until my mental health has been annihilated.

[Maverick2015]

Should skinny fat people strength train on a deficit? No cardio? Well I like one day a week of hiit

Everyone should weight train on a deficit no matter your body type. If you are starting out then strength is a good place to start. Plus on a cut a program geared towards building muscle mass is not going to have the same results that it normally would.
Cardio is fine. I wouldn't do cardio before weights just because you might lose some strength needed for that day's workout. You can do it after and on rest days. If you do too much HIIT then you might notice it when lifting heavier weights.

[maxnas]

bump

[stingray72]

The hard part for me right now is when my carb levels get too low and im feeling lethargic. I want to up them but that usually means upping my intake for a day.

[darrenlear98]

My main problem is i have a goal of low teen BF% but i start feeling too small, i am having the issue now. but i am trying to focus on health benefit of low bf and i want a clean base to start from.

[barbariancase]

the leaner I get the worse I look, and I take cheatdays like every week, in november it was pretty bad lol, pretty much had a cheat month, everyday like 4-5k cals.