Need some crtiques... I've got a lot to lose and a lot to gain... help me out

[JesterGatlin]

Been reading posts here for a few years now, but this is my first thread. Thanks in advance for all the advice, I hope I can contribute something back to the community someday too.

Here goes...

Wake up - 0330 - MP Assault Pre WO
Gym 0400 - 0515
Post WO - Myogenix Aftershock 2 scoops
Work 0600
Break - 0900 - 2 eggs
Lunch - 1130 - MP Combat Powder 2 scoops
Break - 1430 - Quest Bar
Home - 1500/1800 (depends on what happens that day)
Dinner - 1800 - Some form of greens (spinach or spring mix) a chicken or porkchop
Snack - 2030 - Popcorn with the wife
Lights out - 2130
(Sunday I have a cheat meal at lunch)

Totals out to approx. 185 g protein / 1185 - 1200 cal daily, 1 - 1.5 gal of water daily

My workouts:
Mon - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Chest & Triceps: bench, incline bench, decline bench, dumbbell flies rope pull downs, overhead extension

Tues - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Back & Biceps: pull down wide grip, seated row, standing row, pull down narrow grip, hammer curl, standard curl

Wed - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Legs: Hack squat narrow stance, Leg Ext, Ham curl, Hack squat wide stance, Calves

Thurs - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Abs: Lower abs, upper abs, seated weighted twists

Fri - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Shoulders: Press, front raise, side raise, modified seated row (isolate rear delt), Press (bar only to failure)

Sat - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1", Legs: Hack squat narrow stance, Leg Ext, Ham curl, Hack squat wide stance, Calves

Sun - Rest

I've been doing this without so much as teeter off the schedule listed out above for 4 weeks. According to my Aria scale I've lost 4% BF, my weight has fluctuated up and down by 4 lbs day to day (so nothing significant there, I assume that's water in and out) and I've seen zero change in the mirror. Am I doing something wrong? going over my logs and knowing how disciplined I've been I am very proud. However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't discourage with a lack of change in the mirror. I'm starting to wonder if am some mutant freak that doesn't have abs!!! Scientifically speaking I've never seen them so they may not exist! hahaha...

Any advice is appreciated, and zero sugar coating I'm an adult I can take all critisms... there is so much info out there. Every article contradicts the article I read 5 minutes ago. Its overwhelming!! so four weeks ago I just picked a plan and went with it. Wondering if it was 4 weeks wasted on a plan that's not for me... No one likes wasting time.

Thanks again
gatlin

[MissHolly]

There's a huge problem if you're not losing weight at that calorie intake. I cut on 1800 calories. Either that's one gigantic cheat meal or you're not tracking correctly. You need to weigh everything, even protein powder, to the gram.

There is no reason a grown man should be cutting at anywhere near 1200 cals.

[induced_drag]

Yes....calories are WAY too low. If you have conditioned yourself to such low calories, you may need to try to fix this over time.

I would scrap your workout and do any good beginner routine in the stickies.

I would say too much cardio. If you are a newb....you can actually make some decent progress in a deficit when first coming back to the gym. (but at reasonable caloric levels)

I also would eat more real food. A variety of foods will be better for you in the end. If not just enjoyment.

[silverlightning]

you're doing it all wrong. your diet sucks.

edit: I do admire the popcorn with the wife though.

[drudixon]

Ditch the cardio. Type 1 fibers which you use for cardio require far more protein than the type 2 used in lifting. If you have to do it, then put cardio after weights or your workouts will just suck. Use a 20% caloric deficit max. 10% is better. I'd use a simpler beginner routine like starting strength. It doesn't take much, really. The main thing is to start something that you'll still be doing in a year.

Last advice, take monthly photos to track progress. You'll be amazed. Same place, same light same poses.

[EjnarKolinkar]

You're metabolism is so unlikely to be damaged with zero weight loss. What this means it that you aren't properly tracking your intake. By a food scale weigh all your food and log it on fitday. Quit trying to live on supplements.

Pay zero attention to what other folks diet on for calories. It's irrelevant. Especially as you have lost no weight which means you aren't eating 1200 calories.

You are eating at maintenece calories as a whole for the last month if you have lost no weight. Track your cheat days. You could be blowing your whole weeks deficit in one day.

[drudixon]

You're metabolism is so unlikely to be damaged with zero weight loss. What this means it that you aren't properly tracking your intake. By a food scale weigh all your food and log it on fitday. Quit trying to live on supplements.

Pay zero attention to what other folks diet on for calories. It's irrelevant. Especially as you have lost no weight which means you aren't eating 1200 calories.

You are eating at maintenece calories as a whole for the last month if you have lost no weight. Track your cheat days. You could be blowing your whole weeks deficit in one day.

That'd be a helluva meal, considering supposedly he's at a 10,000 calorie deficit going in, and at least a third of said 10k cheat meal is pooped out lol. Agree. He's way over 1200

[MissHolly]

That'd be a helluva meal, considering supposedly he's at a 10,000 calorie deficit going in, and at least a third of said 10k cheat meal is pooped out lol. Agree. He's way over 1200

Yeah, but he's almost certainly not weighing his meat and protein powder. Don't know if he accounts for all licks, bites and tastes throughout the day, either. When I cut for the very first time it never occurred to me to count my coffee creamer, and that stalled my progress. I know, duh. But it can happen to anyone.

[1Fuzzy1]

you're doing it all wrong. your diet sucks.

edit: I do admire the popcorn with the wife though.

This.

You can increase your daily cals by 1000. Diet is the most important thing here. Your workout program sounds pretty bad but you really need to adjust your diet before you see any difference.

Good luck

[JesterGatlin]

Wow!! Thank y'all so much!! A ton of good info. Sadly, it seems, the only things I managed to get right was effort and disipline. But hey 2 down 2 to go as they say right? Time to pick another routone and meal plan of which there is no shortage. That being said, so I shift to a different template from this site to follow, how long before I should reasonably see results? It's not that I'm in a hurry. It's just, as mentioned in the original post, no one like wasting time.

Example : hey gatlin, do this routine and meal for x weeks straight. If you don't see changes you're messing something up and you need to change it up.

If I need 8 weeks worth patience, I've got that. But just because know I drive myself 8 weeks doesn't mean I'm going to if I should be seeing progress in 4.

Again a humble and sincere thank you to this group.

[silverlightning]

there is no time table as everyone responds differently. you should add about 1,000 calories to your diet with some chicken, fish, read meat, ground beef, etc. and you should see some gains in the gym.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Wow!! Thank y'all so much!! A ton of good info. Sadly, it seems, the only things I managed to get right was effort and disipline.

Hey it's not easy getting started. A lot of folks don't get past day 1 of trying to diet. And they meet some resistance and quit.

You wouldn't be posting here if you were not trying to get things on the path you want them on. Not sure what your fat loss goals are, but these threads might help.

Calorie Counting 101, How to lose fat for noobs II, Emma Leigh's Calculating Calories and Macronutrients

[gbk56]

Wow!! Thank y'all so much!! A ton of good info. Sadly, it seems, the only things I managed to get right was effort and disipline. But hey 2 down 2 to go as they say right? Time to pick another routone and meal plan of which there is no shortage. That being said, so I shift to a different template from this site to follow, how long before I should reasonably see results? It's not that I'm in a hurry. It's just, as mentioned in the original post, no one like wasting time.

Example : hey gatlin, do this routine and meal for x weeks straight. If you don't see changes you're messing something up and you need to change it up.

If I need 8 weeks worth patience, I've got that. But just because know I drive myself 8 weeks doesn't mean I'm going to if I should be seeing progress in 4.

Again a humble and sincere thank you to this group.

If you do not see any changes in a month then you need to adjust something.

[mtpockets]

Learn to count.

You are consuming more than 1200 calories.

Additionally, Cheat meals are wrong...Too negative.

If I bust my ass for weeks and decide to eat outside my norm for a meal, that's a reward for my hard work.

[AbuDina]

Mon - Cardio 30 min elliptical "crosstrain lvl 1"

I echo the advice given by the more experienced members so not much else to add to be fair. Be careful with your calorie deficit though. I started my journey (after 6 years of total body neglect) back in May by slashing my calorie intake by more than 50% and that was a bad idea. 3 months on and I am suffering from hair loss as a result

Eventually I decided to educate myself properly and now even though I'm still on a calorie deficit, I make sure I take 1 multi-vitamin + 4 salmon oil tablets every day to ensure I don't miss out on vital nutrients. The protein shakes are nothing more than a convenience as I can't seem to eat enough chicken/fish to reach my daily goal of 169g My meals consist of all the usual good foods, not much red meat but plenty of fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, nuts etc..

Your crosstrain lvl 1 doesn't sound right. I don't know what type of elliptical machine you use and how hard level one is but the machine that we have in my gym here in the UK level 1 is almost zero resistance. It's pretty much useless IMHO and I only use it for 2 minutes as part of my warm-up / cool-down periods.

Also you might want to try HIIT once or twice a week. It's hard work and it sucks sometimes but it really does work and takes less time. Oh and as has been said, cardio comes AFTER weights not BEFORE. I've tried this before and really don't get a proper weights session as your energy levels will be depleted.

Wish you the best of luck!

[AbuDina]

Additionally, Cheat meals are wrong...Too negative.

If I bust my ass for weeks and decide to eat outside my norm for a meal, that's a reward for my hard work.

That's really useful. However, I'm too generous so I might end up rewarding myself after every workout :P

[squoddybody]

I'm new here, too, and I started out with a lot of questions. For one, I started lifting in Feb this year, but didn't really change up my diet. I gained some strength, and added some HIIT a few days a week.

Fast forward to July - I was tired of working out and not seeing results, so I hired a nutritionist who helped with my macros and set me up on a diet. Within a couple of weeks, I could see a huge difference. In two months I was down 25 lbs, and half my body fat. Now a few months into it, and I'm able to figure out my own macros, and design my own diet. I've since cut a few more pounds of body fat, and added more muscle.

My point here is that there is no shame in asking for help, or even hiring somebody to give you a boost in the right direction, especially if you're a noob like I was. You're going in the right direction. Don't worry so much about seeing fast or instant results. In time your results will come. If they're not the results you expected, that's okay, too. You'll see that your goals change as your body starts changing. Good luck!

[Mr. Someday]

Fast forward to July - I was tired of working out and not seeing results, so I hired a nutritionist who helped with my macros and set me up on a diet. Within a couple of weeks, I could see a huge difference. In two months I was down 25 lbs, and half my body fat. Now a few months into it, and I'm able to figure out my own macros, and design my own diet. I've since cut a few more pounds of body fat, and added more muscle.

My point here is that there is no shame in asking for help, or even hiring somebody to give you a boost in the right direction, especially if you're a noob like I was. You're going in the right direction. Don't worry so much about seeing fast or instant results. In time your results will come. If they're not the results you expected, that's okay, too. You'll see that your goals change as your body starts changing. Good luck!

If you are serious about this stuff, this is some excellent advice. Threads like these often end up with more questions than answers after you see what everyone is trying to tell you what you should change....and I won't even get into those doling it out who would have to tell me they ever stepped foot in a gym for me to know. I have a ton of experience with this and I still often use a coach to change things up and try and learn something new....there is always something to learn. One other thing, you said originally that your BF went down 4 points in the past month...now I discount scales for certain, but you can see general movement in one direction or another, and if it is consistently down then you are dropping bodyfat. If those numbers were even close, then you went from a LBM of 147# from a LBM of 140#, meaning you shed fat and gained muscle. That IS progress...the exact kind one should strive for...fat loss with no muscle loss....muscle gain with little to no added fat. At 21% bf (again I realize this is an estimate at best), you aren't going to see daily changes...you just aren't lean enough. Pics every couple of weeks in the same lighting/same pose/same time would be the real way to judge yourself in the mirror while dieting. And while I don't think you posted enough info for me to comment much on your diet and I am not a nutritional guru, I'd say those that mentioned your calories are way too low are definitely on the right target.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Dieting is really easy. The scale moves down, rapidly. .5-1% a week of body mass for generic fat loss.

If that isn't happening, why bother? Building muscle is hard. And it works much better in a surplus.

New lifters love to pick their belly button lint analyzing if they are re-comping or not. You cannot gain muscle in a deficit a the rate you can lose fat unless you are losing fat really slowly. And that is a waste of time. Time is precious and folks deserve a return for their efforts. That's why so many folks quit trying to improve themselves. They have mixed goals and see no results.

Achive the desired fat loss like ripping off a bandaid and get in a long consistent surplus. Or you can be one of the folks who has to tell people that you lift.

Number of males over 35 I've seen happy with recomp still remains a zero. And anybody posting in this thread with serious mass got there after years of lifting in a surplus. And posts consisistently advice to do the same. The ones that look like they lift anyway.

[induced_drag]

Number of males over 35 I've seen happy with recomp still remains a zero.

Unless you account for muscle memory. Guys coming back from a long layoff can recomp pretty easily. Muscle memory is powerful stuff. I lost over 30lbs fat and gained 15lbs+ LBM in first 3 months back eating aprox 1900 cal / day. (yea....I know you guys are all sick of those pics ) BUT, I was just regaining what I had 10 years prior. Science shows you retain muscles cells that are created by myofibral hypertrophy....they just shrink...waiting to be put back into action.

BUT....I totally agree with you otherwise. Lose the fat first and then go on a sustained surplus in the range of 250cal / day. Do that for 4-5 months and then cut for 2 months and repeat.

The gains you get and positive changes in body composition can not be matched any other way. In my opinion it is BY FAR the most productive route to go.