Requesting some serious/educated help :)

[sirshutter]

Hey there, ive been trying to lose weight for the past 5 months (eating 1500-2000 calories) weighing and measuring them, I lost a great amount of fat the first couple of months, (2 first months) and then I plateued at that amount, just losing EXTREMELLY SLOWLY and gaining muscle mass, now at the last 3 weeks ive been not sleeping very well and ive gained some fat and lost muscle! Although im working out! Do you think i should decrease cals further? I decided to take a break for 3 days from the GYM at 2000 calories and start eating 2500 when I start again, here is my workout: day1 hour at gym and 25mins HIIT swimming OR 35mins running same as day 2 , day 3 just cardio, 4 rest, 5 and 6 are the same as day 1 and 2, day 7 cardio, and then rest day then REPEAT im 5'9 185LBS and 20 years old, any ideas of what should I do? Im thinking to try and eat 2500 calories (although i was losing at 1500-2000 the first 2 month then started stop losing weight but gaining muscle and im eating the same, what should I do? It feels so bad to gain fat and lose muscle as soon as i changed mt workout and eating the same.

PS: i never had 2 days in a row rest since 6 months and I had around 3 or 4 refeeds only those 6 months, and I feel sick eating 2500 calories bloated so bad, what should I do? Im not even losing 0.5 pounds a week ive actually gained on the same intake I used to lose at (I started 190 lbs, now im 185 WAY MORE muscular and leaner, but the last 3 weeks i gained fat and lost muscle and im extremelly motivated and have no idea what to do :/

[alexispresbrey]

You should stop worrying so much about counting the numbers all of the time. Have you been taking measurements? If so then how are those comparing with the progress measured in pounds lost? You cannot be so concerned with how fast you are progressing that you forget about how much fun the journey is.

There are a few ways you can hit a plateau; one of them is doing the same workout every single week for more than a few months. Just switch it up, instead of swimming or running, try biking or yoga. You might also have to increase the actual intensity of the workouts or the length. Your body is used to what your putting it through, you need to make it work differently. You can also try taking even a week off from the gym. It will help your muscles rebuild and prepare your body to work harder when you start again. You said that you took three days break which is good but if it didn't help then I would try even longer (no more than twoish weeks though).

You can also try getting a coach, you can look at your local gym and I'm sure they'll have plenty. If you're more serious though you can think about getting a bodybuilding coach to lose fat and gain muscle. There's a site called coachseeker that is pretty great; you can contact the coaches directly and it just specifically bodybuilding and power lifting coaches right now, so there's no bull**** really.

I think you're just to focused on the numbers, I hope this helps and if you have any questions specifically about anything I mentioned let me know.