Getting fatter :-(

[LauraKB]

I've been training for the past 5 months, so I don't expect to see huge results yet, but the only ones I'm seeing are my belly actually getting fatter. I am supposedly eating the right foods and training three times a week. But over the past couple of months my belly has been getter fatter, almost looking like I'm pregnant.
Is this normal? How can I overcome this?

[dalkristel]

Hi without knowing your workout regime and what your eating it sounds to me like your training your abs hard and if you have a little fat on your belly already then by working the ab muscles your just going to make it stick out more as they get bigger - abs are best made in the kitchen - diet is so important to get a flat tummy yet alone a six pack so stop training the abs and work hard on your compound exercises for your core whilst keeping your calorie deficit to strip the fat and make sure you get your nutrition right - hope this helps!

[LauraKB]

Hi, thanx for your reply. I'm not working them specifically. I lift three times a week - a routine given to me by a bodybuilding coach who I trained with for a few weeks.
I am told my diet is good enough. Nothing white, all brown. Cut out sugary foods/drinks. Eat the green vegetables. Plenty of chicken and brown rice. Fish but not too much salmon. Porridge for breakfast. Protein drinks before and after training. Cut out carbs in the evening if I'm not training. Eating every 3 hours, small portions. Plenty of eggs, but more whites than yolks.
I am now a bit lost. I need a bit of advice/direction.

[sonti]

How are you tracking what you eat? You are probably just eating too much. You should be seeing positive results in 5 months so your math is likely off.

[sonti]

Hi, thanx for your reply. I'm not working them specifically. I lift three times a week - a routine given to me by a bodybuilding coach who I trained with for a few weeks.
I am told my diet is good enough. Nothing white, all brown. Cut out sugary foods/drinks. Eat the green vegetables. Plenty of chicken and brown rice. Fish but not too much salmon. Porridge for breakfast. Protein drinks before and after training. Cut out carbs in the evening if I'm not training. Eating every 3 hours, small portions. Plenty of eggs, but more whites than yolks.
I am now a bit lost. I need a bit of advice/direction.

The types of food are important health-wise but if it's too much, it's too much. I am the exact same height/weight as you and started at 145lbs last month, it takes meticulous counting for around 1500-1700 (the right deficit at your stats) and being off by a few here & there can blow the deficit. Every 3 hours + small portions is not really as relevant as knowing the exact count.

[LauraKB]

I do have difficulty working out the calories/deficit. What is the easiest way to do this?

[sonti]

I do a few things.

#1 same meal plan each week with the same foods (dinner an exception- 100g of different meat, with the rest being the same). That way, I don't even have to waste time thinking - I just know to toss in (for example), 1 cup oats, 35g hemp seeds, 50g banana into my breakfast bowl (I just keep adding while the bowl is on the scale).

I then input it into MFP (Here is mine http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/alisdb <- I'm nursing so my count is about 500 higher than yours would be, but I do 2000 per day)

And then rotate the next week so I don't get bored of the meals. But I HAVE TO COUNT AND WEIGH because it's amazing how fast the amounts add up.

[LauraKB]

Thank you! That is really helpful. I will give this a go. When you're training hard, and your life kind of revolves around going to the gym, plus you're having to be so selective about what you eat, it gets hard when you're not seeing the results you crave!
It doesn't help that none of my friends are into the fitness at the level I am, so I've no-one really to talk things through with. So it's appreciated, thank you

[LauraKB]

I am really not very good at that :-/

[dalkristel]

Yes, very important to weigh everything - I portion my skinless chicken breasts out into 4oz bags and put in freezer, I get it from bookers a massive box for £20! Its all ready weighed then, you will learn to really organise yourself, get some measuring cups too - they are American but you can get them in all good kitchen shops over here now - I always eat 1 g of protein per 1 lb of my weight and more never less and that works really well for me. I often eat a lot more protein than I need but thats better than less. Do you supplement with protein shakes as these are a big help in getting the right amount of protein in? 3 of those a day are 66 g for me so the rest is easier - my favourite meal at the moment is 4oz skinless chicken breast 100g cottage cheese with two handfuls of spring greens, I have this every day - thats another 37 g protein eaten with little calories - only 259 cals and very yummy! Also as you are in the UK I recommend mynetdiary on your iphone - its easy to set up and calculates your goals, proteins, carbs everything and most foods are on there or you can custom build - message me if you want more into on this, its free or you can upgrade for a pound or something ridiculous!

[wakechica]

I am really not very good at that :-/

Why not? What are you struggling with? Pretty much every food item at Tescos/Sainsburys/Marks etc is in the MFP database, just scan and change it to 1g and then input the exact amount. If you can't find what you want i.e. it's in '1 serving' or '1 slice' instead of grams, add a new food with it in grams etc.

Your calorie intake isn't hard to work out:

A) 9.99 x weight in kg
B) 6.25 x height in cm
C) 4.92 x age in years
D) 161

So do A + B
then Subtract C and then subtract D.

D = YOUR BASIC METABOLIC RATE aka what you need to be alive and well etc.

Then take D and mulitply by an activity factor.

e.g. workout 3 times per week = 1.3, 4 times per week = 1.4 etc. Sedentary is 1.1.

This is your MAINTENANCE CALORIES i.e. if you ate this you'd stay at the same weight.

If you want to LOSE you need to subtract about 200 calories off this final figure.

Then for fat:
1g of fat per kg of bodyweight = how many grams of fat. To turn this into calories, multiply by 9

Protein:
1.5g per kg of bodyweight then multiply by 4 to make it calories

Anything left over = carbs. To turn from calories to grams, divide by 4.

Go to my Fitness Pal online and go to GOALS and click CUSTOM. Input your calorie figure you worked out. You can then fiddle with the fat/protein/carbs bit (you won't get it accurate, but a ball park figure is ideal - this is a guide anyway, you know how much of each you need). Try and make protein and fat fit as best you can - might have to round up and just accept a slightly lower carb figure.

There you are, you're ready to start logging. Get the ap of your phone and log away.

[oregonchick76]

I do have difficulty working out the calories/deficit. What is the easiest way to do this?

Count everything you eat. Weigh it, measure it, etc. EVERY BITE. Then start eating less than you have been.

[Ang123]

Are you under high stress or not sleeping enough? Raised cortisol levels will put on belly fat.

[VeggieRoe]

Why not? What are you struggling with? Pretty much every food item at Tescos/Sainsburys/Marks etc is in the MFP database, just scan and change it to 1g and then input the exact amount. If you can't find what you want i.e. it's in '1 serving' or '1 slice' instead of grams, add a new food with it in grams etc.

Your calorie intake isn't hard to work out:

A) 9.99 x weight in kg
B) 6.25 x height in cm
C) 4.92 x age in years
D) 161

So do A + B
then Subtract C and then subtract D.

D = YOUR BASIC METABOLIC RATE aka what you need to be alive and well etc.

Then take D and mulitply by an activity factor.

e.g. workout 3 times per week = 1.3, 4 times per week = 1.4 etc. Sedentary is 1.1.

This is your MAINTENANCE CALORIES i.e. if you ate this you'd stay at the same weight.

If you want to LOSE you need to subtract about 200 calories off this final figure.

Then for fat:
1g of fat per kg of bodyweight = how many grams of fat. To turn this into calories, multiply by 9

Protein:
1.5g per kg of bodyweight then multiply by 4 to make it calories

Anything left over = carbs. To turn from calories to grams, divide by 4.

Go to my Fitness Pal online and go to GOALS and click CUSTOM. Input your calorie figure you worked out. You can then fiddle with the fat/protein/carbs bit (you won't get it accurate, but a ball park figure is ideal - this is a guide anyway, you know how much of each you need). Try and make protein and fat fit as best you can - might have to round up and just accept a slightly lower carb figure.

There you are, you're ready to start logging. Get the ap of your phone and log away.

interesting ...

[wakechica]

interesting ...

In what way?

[oregonchick76]

Hi, thanx for your reply. I'm not working them specifically. I lift three times a week - a routine given to me by a bodybuilding coach who I trained with for a few weeks.
I am told my diet is good enough. Nothing white, all brown. Cut out sugary foods/drinks. Eat the green vegetables. Plenty of chicken and brown rice. Fish but not too much salmon. Porridge for breakfast. Protein drinks before and after training. Cut out carbs in the evening if I'm not training. Eating every 3 hours, small portions. Plenty of eggs, but more whites than yolks.
I am now a bit lost. I need a bit of advice/direction.

Do not need to cut out carbs in the evening. Do not need to eat 'small meals every 3 hrs'. Do not need to time macros/eat protein before/after exercise. These are myths. Doesn't look like you're getting enough fat - are you getting at least .3g per lb of body weight?

What does your routine look like?