Been The same weight for weeks! Need some tips!

[AbeVonDoom]

Alright what's up guys I'm new to the whole nutrition and losing weight thing so I figured I'd just ask for some tips.

So before anything here's my info

age:26
height: 5'3"
Body fat: 28% (don't know how accurate it is I did it myself with calipers & it was the first time doing so, so idk take it for what it is)

Workout: Elliptical for 50 min five to six times a week with my heart rate b/t 150-165 bpm

Nutrition:I try to consume less than 1800 calories a day. I Basically live off of grilled chicken and brown rice with a little corn and baby
spinach 3 times a day, my breakfast is usually 3 eggwhites with whole wheat toast. 2 times a day I take some protein shake (24 grams of protein) to help me reach my daily protein intake and the occasional oatmeal and subway here and there (subway is the healthiest & most affordable thing I could find when at school or work)

Supplements: OxyElitePro

So here goes I've been working out only for about a month and a half (cardio only because I just wanted to focus on one thing at a time). I've managed in that time to lose 15-20 lbs (Started at 212 now fluctuating in the low to mid 190's). for the past few weeks after all that weight loss it just all of a sudden stopped completely. One week was bad because one of my friends got married and so I ate some bad stuff and had some beer and got off track that whole week but I've been good for the past 3. So now after the scale reading me at my lowest (192) my schedule has been the same and no losses at all just fluctuating in the 190's. I don't know if it's because I've been around 190 for a big part of my life and it's just harder to lose because the 20 lbs I just lost I gained in the last 8 months so I thought maybe that it was because it's new fat or something but idk that was just a guess. So basically I just wanted to see if anyone could give me a few tips. Maybe I'm not eating enough calories for my activity level so my body is holding on to it? I got desperate and started lifting this past friday, started reading Mark Rippetoe's "starting strength" regimen I read about in The_Cannibal's post about it to see if maybe some muscle gain will start up the weight loss again but that's all I've got I didn't know what else to do really since I'm a noob and there's just so much info out there that it's kind of overwhelming idk where to start so I hope you guys could help me out a little. Thanks!

[astigos]

You absolutely should start lifting weights. Not next month, not tomorrow, TODAY. Starting Strength is a great beginners program.
When you start lifting weights you can ease off your cardio. You don't want to wear down your body that much. Your body's ability to recover is sparce during a cut.

It sounds like you just need to lower your calorie intake. As you lose weight your maintenance calories drop accordingly. Also bear in mind that the maintenance calories for someone who just lost 20 pounds and is now 190 is less than someone who has been living at 190 for a year.


Side note: Queens represent! What gym do you go to? I go to the NYSC at Atlas Park Mall.

[Smokes419]

In my experience, very similar to yours, id say Work on diet. I weigh 194 currentpy, and still dropping. I just started lifting over the last Weeks and that has helped weight loss too. I lift using all pros beginner routine and do cardio/abs on 3 off days, take day off before 1st workout of Weeks cycle. I go 1600 cals, id lose the toast at breakfast and go with oatmeal or fiber cereal for sure, go with greens instead of corn and also try white rice. Check out calorie to protein ratios when getting next whey, some big discrepencies.from brand to brand. Isopure is what I use, 210 cals to 50 gs protein. Good luck!

[AbeVonDoom]

You absolutely should start lifting weights. Not next month, not tomorrow, TODAY. Starting Strength is a great beginners program.
When you start lifting weights you can ease off your cardio. You don't want to wear down your body that much. Your body's ability to recover is sparce during a cut.

It sounds like you just need to lower your calorie intake. As you lose weight your maintenance calories drop accordingly. Also bear in mind that the maintenance calories for someone who just lost 20 pounds and is now 190 is less than someone who has been living at 190 for a year.


Side note: Queens represent! What gym do you go to? I go to the NYSC at Atlas Park Mall.

Hey thanks for replying! Yea I figured weight training would help me out but to be honest I was afraid of somehow injuring myself with improper form. I used to lift weights when I was a teenager like 15 (at what used to be the power factory on myrtle ave btw lol) but was totally clueless about form and too eager to lift lots of weight and just over did it and stopped. This time around I figured I'd be safe about it and think about one thing at a time, losing weight then worry about lean muscle gain. So when you say ease off the cardio about how much would you recommend? I'm doing about 50min 5-6 days a week so should I just have more days that I don't work out at all or just decreasing time or decreasing intensity? These are the tough questions for me too many options lol.

Oh yea and I go to Richie's Gym on Myrtle and Wyckoff Ave. I actually went to the nysc at atlas park a few times for free because my friends at the time pregnant girlfriend used to work there like 2 years ago haha. So yea I'm a queens kid through and through LET'S GO METS!!!!

[AbeVonDoom]

In my experience, very similar to yours, id say Work on diet. I weigh 194 currentpy, and still dropping. I just started lifting over the last Weeks and that has helped weight loss too. I lift using all pros beginner routine and do cardio/abs on 3 off days, take day off before 1st workout of Weeks cycle. I go 1600 cals, id lose the toast at breakfast and go with oatmeal or fiber cereal for sure, go with greens instead of corn and also try white rice. Check out calorie to protein ratios when getting next whey, some big discrepencies.from brand to brand. Isopure is what I use, 210 cals to 50 gs protein. Good luck!

I had thought that maybe my cal intake at 1800 was still a bit high but I wasn't sure that something like 1600 was reasonable because I thought that I would be falling asleep all day with such a low intake. I'm using Optimum nutrition gold standard 100% whey at 120 calories and 24 grams of protein per serving so I guess this is pretty good no? Oh and is it better to do Cardio before weights or the other way around? I did 45 min of running and then tried lifting yesterday and maybe it wasn't such a good idea but I really don't know lol