I'm 5'7 and 142 lbs. My goal is to gain mass and lose fat. I have recently changed my diet and upped my protein intake from 70-80 g/day to 120-140g/day. My carbs are at the 110-120 range and my fat grams are usually in the 30s. For workouts, I do crossfit 3x/week and lift weights heavy [1 hr to 2 hr workouts], and have 2-3 cardio days [1 hr, burn 600 cals]. Since I have started eating more protein I have noticed my muscle filling in but also am concerned about gaining fat as well. The scales has moved only a pound or two, either way any given day, and I have been steady at that weight for what seems like forever, at least 3 months. It is very frustrating. I can tell that my muscle mass is changing, and I'm not sure if I just look bigger because of that and my fat percentage has stayed the same or if I'm eating too much protein or at the wrong times and it is coming on hard as fat. I eat between 1200-1500 cals/day, 6x/day at least. I have used the handheld body fat percentage calculater and my percentage is steady around 18%. I'm not seeing any changed physically or on that machine except that it seems as if I'm putting on more fat. The only change I can tell right now is muscle mass. How do I get this stubborn fat off?
Thanks.
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Thread: What am I doing wrong?
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11-08-2012, 08:29 PM #1
What am I doing wrong?
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11-08-2012, 08:46 PM #2
- Join Date: May 2008
- Location: Massachusetts, United States
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If you've been at the same weight and nothing has changed, than you are not in a calorie deficit. Something is off in your way of tracking and you need to fix it. You should see steady fat loss at 1500 calories (no need to go lower) so weigh, measure and track everything accordingly.
Good luck.National Level Competitor (Female BB)
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11-08-2012, 09:21 PM #3
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11-08-2012, 11:25 PM #4
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11-09-2012, 05:06 AM #5
Your calorie counting and macro counting for slow and steady fat loss has to be exact, make sure you are using a scale to weigh food don't use volume. Also don't go by the numbers on the handheld BF measuring and scale. Last year I was building mass and nothing changed in 3 months. I don't think those things are very accurate.
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11-09-2012, 10:33 AM #6
Now this is just from the mouth of my personal trainer... she did crossfit earlier this year and says it took her body in a direction she didnt want to go. It made her feel bulky (and not the muscle-y way) because of all the lifting and I dont remember how she described it. I would think crossfit would be best for fat loss - but she said it made her stronger, but not smaller. Just throwing that out there! Your diet sounds good to me though...
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11-09-2012, 10:39 AM #7
How important is it to weigh your food? I use the Sparkpeople diet and food tracker app and it tracks everything.
@EGDance22...Yeah crossfit definitely helps put on bulk but that is my goal, and it burns the fat off at the same time because the intensity level is always so high. I just went and ran 3.5 miles this morning and I had just been doing crossfit for months. I used to struggle with this major hill before I started doing crossfit but my endurance and stamina has grown so much I had energy left, I was amazed, especially since I hadn't run in a while.
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11-10-2012, 04:38 AM #8
Well I was using volume mostly and recently I switched to weight. In just about everything, I was underestimating how many calories I was consuming, which unfortunately caused me a problem with figuring out what my maintenance was. I used an online tracking system once and told me my fat was too high and my micronutrients too low. Turns out that my micronutrients are fine and my fat has never been high enough. I am frusterated because I think I have done permanent damage to my reproductive system. So now I am very suspicious when relying on anything online. Not unless it comes highly recommended from real people....that is just based on my experience.
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