Slight plataeu - supplement advice sought

[JonnyGY]

Ok, so here's some very quick background info. I'm a 32 year old guy, and as of February last year was approximately 6ft and 230lbs - years of neglecting my diet and steadily reducing the amount of exercise I was doing had left me in pretty bad shape (BMI would have been in the lower reaches of 'obese').

At this time, I had an epiphany and decided I was going to do something I'd failed to do many times before and lose some significant weight. I decided to begin by changing my diet alone - no magic tricks, I just cut out things like bread, anything fried, pastry based, high in fat or moderately high in sugar. I drink a lot less now than I used to.

I introduced weight training about 6 months ago and the net result of all of this is that I'm now 160lbs - a loss of 70lbs (5 stone). My BMI is now right where it should be and I also now have some kind of muscle definition. As you'd expect, I feel a lot better in myself.

The only slightly odd thing is that whilst most of my body is now almost entirely free of 'pinchable' fat, there's still a little bit of podge around my chest and belly. You don't notice it through clothes but I won't be getting any job offers from Calvin Klein as it stands!

In the last couple of months I just feel like I've plataued a little - reducing what little fat I have left whilst gaining strength seems to have really slowed down. I know that trying to do these two things simultaneously is difficult yet I had a lot of success until recently. I've added some additional cardio into my routine (about 20km - 30km run per week) but I was wondering if that, and spending some days in calorie deficit, was potentially having a detrimental effect on my muscles.

The only supplement I currently take is a basic whey protein. Based on my limited understanding and a little research, it seemed as though it might be worth considering creatine monohydrate (in order to try and get more out of my workouts) as well as HMB and leucine - my thinking here is that this would reduce the metabolisation of my muscle when in calorie deficit and instead promote fat metabolisation instead, but I don't know whether my scientific understanding here is anywhere right.

I've also heard yohambine mentioned but again I know relatively little about this.

Any advice or recommendations, folks?

Cheers!

[urg862]

You could reassess your nutrition first and see where your new caloric and macro goal should be set.

Also, how much cardio were your performing before you new total of 20-30km per wk?

Creatine mono would be a good add just for the overall benefits it provides: lbm, power output, strength, etc (it won't make you lose fat).

HMB may aid you when in a caloric deficit (not "needed" though).

Forskolin 95 and yohimbe may be helpful.

[VO2Maxima]

Nice job on the weight loss so far!

Yeah sure, add creatine. It's cheap and there's no reason not to be using it.

If you're 6' 160lbs, it might be time to stop cutting and start putting on muscle. While you say you still have some fat to lose, you might just not be able to support the look you want at your current muscle mass, and continuing to cut might not get you the look you want (unless the look you want is "skinny"). If you do choose to try to put on muscle, spend the next week or so tracking what you eat...if your weight is remaining the same at that intake, that number is your maintenance. From there, add 250-500kcal per day and that should be enough to slowly put on muscle with minimal fat gains (some fat gain will be inevitable, but a small surplus will minimize it and that'll be easier to get rid of later). Also, tracking for a week will give you a baseline if you do choose to cut more.

[Farley1324]

At 6' tall and 160 lbs it's time to build muscle.

[Misctake7]

Good job on the weight loss so far OP! You cannot keep up the pace of strength gain and fat loss you had at the beginning. That's your body adjusting to a new stimulus and you'll be able to get results of doing both at first. But as you see it all catches up and slows down and now is the time you need to either opt for a calorie deficit to cut the remaining fat or calorie surplus to build muscle and gain strength. Don't over think it OP. It's simply choosing one goal and organizing your diet to reach that goal.

Odds are, you'll likely want to switch to a caloric surplus and build muscle and strength. You've been cutting for a long time and lost a lot of weight. Your metabolism could use a jump start. Plus your body likely will do much better during your next cut if you have a solid base of muscle to cut down to. Build that base up and then cut down and it will likely be easier your next go around to drop those last couple pounds and last bit of fat.

[Cheftepesh]

At 6' tall and 160 lbs it's time to build muscle.

To be honest I'm kind of with this. At those stats spend some time putting on some mass. Then cut.

[JonnyGY]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just reading up on creatine a little more it seems that it can make you look bloated - naturally, I'm trying to look leaner. Is that something I should be concerned about?

Also, I do still like to have a few beers on a weekend (it helps keep me sane!). I also read that creatine and alcohol are not good bed fellow since the former requires plenty of water whilst alcohol dehydrates. Should I potentially give it a miss?

[Farley1324]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just reading up on creatine a little more it seems that it can make you look bloated - naturally, I'm trying to look leaner. Is that something I should be concerned about?

Also, I do still like to have a few beers on a weekend (it helps keep me sane!). I also read that creatine and alcohol are not good bed fellow since the former requires plenty of water whilst alcohol dehydrates. Should I potentially give it a miss?

You read wrong. Don't read anything else from whatever source that was.

Just stay hydrated, a few beers won't make a difference. If you can't help but get dehydrated and drunk and wreck yourself on the weekend nothing else really matters anyway because you don't have the discipline or self control to make it to begin with