Am I doing enough?

[halexis91]

So after a lazy couple of months, I am back in the gym consistently.

I have switched from an Upper/Lower split to a full body workout to help with removing all of the fat I gained during my time off. I have put my workout below. Feel free to critique. I know a few people will say stick to a routine I've seen on here, but to be honest, a lot of the full body workouts I've seen just haven't excited me. I needed something that involves exercises I enjoy to keep me motivated so that I don't slip out of my routine.

Workout A
1. Dumbbell Bench Press - 2 sets of 8
2. Standing Military Press – 2 sets of 8
3. Bent Over Barbell Row – 2 sets of 8
4. EZ-Bar Curl – 2 sets of 8
5. Bench Dips – 3 sets of 10
6. One Arm Kettlebell Swing – 2 sets of 20 (10 each arm)
7. Butt Lift – 1 set of 30
8. Barbell Squat – 3 sets of 8
9. Barbell Lunge – 2 sets of 10
10. Standing Calf Raises– 2 sets to failure
11. Plank – 2 set to failure

Workout B
1. Clean & Press – 2 sets of 8
2. Seated Cable Rows – 3 sets of 6
3. Wide Grip Lat Pulldown – 2 sets of 8
4. Triceps Pushdown – 3 sets of 8
5. Kneeling Kick-Back – 1 set of 30
6. Front Squat (kettlebells)– 3 sets of 8
7. Romanian Deadlift – 3 sets of 6
8. Leg Extension – 2 sets of 8
9. Lying Leg Curl – 2 sets of 8
10. Seated Calf Raises – 2 sets to failure
11. Bottoms Up – 2 set to failure

Each workout usually takes me around 45 minutes to an hour to complete and I workout on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have also started dancing again for 2 hours on a Tuesday evening.

I'm trying my best to track everything I consume and currently eat about 1470 calories a day. I'm not on a strict diet plan but usually stick to whole grain foods with my meat and love my veggies so they're in every evening meal.

My goal is to lose at least 3% of my BF by November. Am I doing enough to achieve this?

[EPolis13]

You're undereating. If your stats are correct, you're in a pretty large deficit. Your maintenance cals would be roughly 1900ish cals. At a 500 cal/d deficit, the weight would be falling off of you. I'm also not convinced at your height and weight that you have sufficient muscle built up to make much of a noticeable difference in your physique when you cut down. You'll just look like a smaller version of your current self. If you're looking to look leaner and see more muscle, this isn't really going to work.

[halexis91]

Thanks for your reply EPolis13.

I can confirm that my height and weight are correct. I haven't grown an inch since I was 15 and tend to weigh myself fortnightly. I've taken the calories off my fitness pal which is what I use to track my food. Should I be eating more? If so, it would explain why I'm usually so shattered throughout my workouts!
I'm just really confused as to why my weight isn't dropping if it's such a big deficit? Have you any idea why this might be?

I am in no way extremely overweight, it would just be nice to get rid of my fatty belly pouch. Do you think it's just best for me to eat at maintenance and carry on lifting heavy for now?
My belly pouch is always the most stubborn piece of fat to get rid of so I was hoping to get rid of this first.

Thanks again for your help so far

[LunaLifts]

I've taken the calories off my fitness pal which is what I use to track my food.

I'm just really confused as to why my weight isn't dropping if it's such a big deficit?

MFP has a user-created database, so double check to make sure the entire are accurate (I like fatsecret, it uses the USDA database).

Do you weigh your foods? Measuring cups can be off by up to 20%, anything that could be weighed, should be.

Also switching your routine has nothing to do with fat loss, that comes down to calories. The change in frequency may just help you maintain muscle more efficiently depending on your rate of recovery.

[PennyCentury]

It's hard to tell what you should be doing without knowing what weight you're lifting in your sets and how this feels to you.

From your description, it looks like you're going balls to the wall every session, but I feel like that too, and I do less than half the number of exercises you've listed. 3 sets of 8 for barbell squat doesn't tell anyone anything much until you say what the weight was, how heavy it felt, and what you were doing with your form when you lifted it.

[PennyCentury]

Looking at your routine again, i do feel like you've got too many exercises in there given that you've said you're in the gym for 45 min a time. I personally would focus on 3 or 4 different lifts per session, alternating each day, and trying to vary your set/rep pattern in each.

[kimm4]

Thanks for your reply EPolis13.

I can confirm that my height and weight are correct. I haven't grown an inch since I was 15 and tend to weigh myself fortnightly. I've taken the calories off my fitness pal which is what I use to track my food. Should I be eating more? If so, it would explain why I'm usually so shattered throughout my workouts!
I'm just really confused as to why my weight isn't dropping if it's such a big deficit? Have you any idea why this might be?

I am in no way extremely overweight, it would just be nice to get rid of my fatty belly pouch. Do you think it's just best for me to eat at maintenance and carry on lifting heavy for now?
My belly pouch is always the most stubborn piece of fat to get rid of so I was hoping to get rid of this first.

Thanks again for your help so far

Something is off in your tracking methods. If your focus is a bit of fat loss you should be starting right around 1600 calories to get things moving along. This is a reasonable deficit for your starting stats.

[EPolis13]

Something is off in your tracking methods. If your focus is a bit of fat loss you should be starting right around 1600 calories to get things moving along. This is a reasonable deficit for your starting stats.

^ this. To answer the question you asked me earlier, if you're not losing at be deficit you say you've created, then there's likey an issue with your tracking. Are you weighing all of your food or are you eyeballing or measuring it with cups/spoons?

[halexis91]

Looking at your routine again, i do feel like you've got too many exercises in there given that you've said you're in the gym for 45 min a time. I personally would focus on 3 or 4 different lifts per session, alternating each day, and trying to vary your set/rep pattern in each.

I always try to lift heavy when weight training. Currently I can achieve between 60-70kg squats with no spotter. 3 sets of 8. Once I am able to achieve those reps with ease I tend to bump up the weight and so on and so forth.

So do you not think the above routine will help me reach my goal of losing weight?

[halexis91]

Something is off in your tracking methods. If your focus is a bit of fat loss you should be starting right around 1600 calories to get things moving along. This is a reasonable deficit for your starting stats.

Thanks for explaining Kimm4. The scales I'm using are quite old (a hand me down from the mother) I wonder if it's worth me investing in a new pair of scales to ensure everything is accurate. So just to confirm, once I can confirm that I'm accurately weighing foods, if I eat at around 1600 calories I should see my weight going down?

Sorry for all of the questions, I just want to get things right!

[halexis91]

MFP has a user-created database, so double check to make sure the entire are accurate (I like fatsecret, it uses the USDA database).

Do you weigh your foods? Measuring cups can be off by up to 20%, anything that could be weighed, should be.

Also switching your routine has nothing to do with fat loss, that comes down to calories. The change in frequency may just help you maintain muscle more efficiently depending on your rate of recovery.

Thanks for your feedback LunaLifts I know just my routine won't affect the amount of weight I lose. I've just switched to a FBR to accommodate the amount of days a week I can now make it into the gym. I really just wanted to check with everyone if they thought it was possible to lose fat just by doing a FBR 3 x a week along with 1 day of dancing by November? I know everyone loses weight at different rates, I just want to make sure I'm setting a realistic goal for myself.

From hearing what everyone has says, it appears that something is wrong when it comes to tracking food. I'll be sure to check out fatsecret instead - thanks.