Fat as hell, lift and eat better nothing changes.

[Cheeseisamazing]

Hi all, after months of lurking I decided to ask the experts what to do. 5'10, 255 lbs, have a large gut and bitch tits from my love of carbs over the years that finally caught up to me after leaving the army two years ago. I lift M-F usually at least an hour a day, with cardio being my warm up for around 15 mins a session. I weigh my food, count the calories (2100 a day roughly), fit food in my macros as best as possible and cut out non wheaty carbs. My TDEE is approximately 2400 cals a day, so what gives? Is 300 not enough of a deficit to cut fat even at my weight? Any and all help is appreciated!

[Serpentarius]

You are eating too much, weight loss is only about deficit, there is no other answer or "possible overlooked explanation". Like 99% of people, you are miscounting calories, arguments aside of retort, drop calories. Dont calculate TDEE, only calories eaten. If no weight loss, eat less and move more.

[screwnuts]

If you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a deficit.

Generally people run at least a 500 calorie deficit, so yes, 300 might not be enough.

Bottom line: you're eating too much.

[Cheeseisamazing]

It really IS that simple still? I know it's about the deficit, but I weigh EVERYTHING I eat and it's normally within 4g of what the item supposedly weighs full (cheap scale), so I assumed I was counting correctly..

[Cheeseisamazing]

Thanks guys, just assumed being way fatter than the avg person cutting wouldnt require 500, I will do that then.

[Junsuiakai]

Oils, condiments, drinks, ect it adds up fast. I'd recommend you only buy what you are planning to eat and not buy too much junk food. If it's easy to get, you are bound to eat it and "forget"

Yeah it's that simple especially at 255lb

Your body has about 80lb of fat it doesn't need.

Should be incredibly easy to lose fat at your height/weight

[Nobodyfit]

its hard to accept thats why alot of people think all these Instagram/youtube gurus can help them or that this pill will make them lose weight. it really is about calorie deficit and lowering it to at least 500 to see results.

[s72r]

write down everything that you eat, food and liquid, you're probably eating way more 2100...

[Cheeseisamazing]

I don't really eat any junk food, and I count the amount of mustard/other condiments I'll use too so it sounds like I just dont create a big enough deficit. And I know it's about dedication I don't expect any miracles to help, I'm not one of those guys. Is 3 months to drop to 225 a good goal to start with in y'alls opinion?

[Serpentarius]

I don't really eat any junk food, and I count the amount of mustard/other condiments I'll use too so it sounds like I just dont create a big enough deficit. And I know it's about dedication I don't expect any miracles to help, I'm not one of those guys. Is 3 months to drop to 225 a good goal to start with in y'alls opinion?

I went from 240 to 164 in 7 months, more or less same height, but was extremely consistent. So that is more than doable.
You can also hold water weight which will mask fat loss for several weeks, so you could even see your weight climb a pound a week until it flushes out. Track your weight once a week in the morning, then see what happens in every 4 weeks.

[Cheeseisamazing]

Sweet, thanks again guys, you taught me what I should've already known

[Skp4909]

Wife said the same as you. I want losing weight and thought is was hormonal. Low and behold she starts measuring and calculating calorie..boom, weight is coming off. Simple as that.

[Tommy W.]

You THINK you're in a 300 cal deficit however with food labels being 20% off and you miscounting\tracking you aren't in a deficit. at 255 you'll be dieting forever even if you were in a true 300 cal deficit 7 days a week. You need to get more aggressive with a 1000 cal deficit every day. That will be 2 lbs a week. You'll have to really commit. Lots of protein, little to no alcohol and little to no processed carbs. The trick is to stave off hunger and meet a low calorie target. Those things I mentioned above will take care of that.

That deficit can be met fairly easily with a reduction of calories and a structured exercise program that includes weightlifting and cardio .

[k41m]

BEWARE, WALL TEXT AHEAD (if it helps you it's worth it )

OP let me tell you one thing: i started at your weight, and dropped 30 lbs. in three months doing things in a really mediocre way.

For that matter, all i did was:

- Instead of eating crap every single day, i restricted it to weekends, but i really used to wait like a drug addict for weekends to come.
- I only drank zero coke, and put an effort on drinking more water.
- started to eat tons of veggies (tomato, avocado, brocolli) and lean meat/fish/tuna cans, eggs. Eventually i got used to eat a lot of those type of meals and didn't miss junk food as much as before because of satieness factor.
- didn't count a single calorie,
- exercised like once or twice a week (lol), on a full body routine, that i never got to finish because of weakness (and lazyness too), but i tried, as hard as i could back then.
- Tried some eliptical HIIT like once a week, droped it after 4 weeks.
- did i say that i used to binge eat on weekends?
- didn't rely on any person attached goal, instead all the focus was on improving for my own sake.
- Still, i had bad streaks (more than once) of throwing off all my progress away thinking "screw this fitness bull*hit, i want to eat some junk, who cares how i look", then i remembered how misserable i felt for so many years for being a lazy sloob with zero control, and accepted that i really wanted to change, then returned to the new track i was building.

Once you "stall" following the cliffs (or anything that you can effectively follow), you can start nailing the specifics. Until then use all your free time to learn and prepare what to do when the time comes, you can find everything at this forums.

At February 8th it'll be 9 months since i started, i still look like chit, i have no authority (yet) to give advices, there're lots of people out there that did better than me in the same time span, but i speak as someone with a severe lack of will, not only on weight terms but about everything in life, and i still found a way to lose weight, under my own terms. Anybody can find their own terms, it's not fcking impossible, just try harder. I still regret so much things before and after i started to "diet", but i'm not finished, neither you are.

Finally, don't rely on motivation, instead always think ahead, be disciplined, focus on stacking little goals everytime, see the big picture of the process, not only the numbers on the scale.


TL;DR: Stop eating junk everyday, eat whole foods instead, lot of veggies and lean meat/fish, don't drink your calories, drink more water, move more (try really hard about moving more), be patient and consistent over time, results will come if you really want a change.

[davik]

i lost weight at 225 with 2800 calories all the way down to 177, so you are definitely not counting right. get a scale and weigh your food

[Tommy W.]

i lost weight at 225 with 2800 calories all the way down to 177, so you are definitely not counting right. get a scale and weigh your food

While it may be true and probably is that there is miscounting\tracking going on it doesn't mean that everyone will lose the same coming off of the same weight at the same calorie amount as there are too many variables.

[Cheeseisamazing]

I didn't know most nutrition labels were off by like 20%.. If they are truly off by nearly that much then that explains a lot of why I'm not in a deficit even if I thought I was. Today I dropped down to around 1800/day, I don't have any junk food and the only "crap" foods I have are bagels that I'll eat maybe twice a week, with my glaring weakness food wise being that I love skim milk (cup a day usually with breakfast for a shake). I could be (probably am) wrong, but if I'm working out at least an hour 5 days a week and walk to and from my apartment and classes, what else could I do? Depending on my energy after class I'll work out again, so I don't think it's that I don't exercise enough, just as you guys said something isn't accurate that I'm measuring.

[Cheeseisamazing]

BEWARE, WALL TEXT AHEAD (if it helps you it's worth it )

OP let me tell you one thing: i started at your weight, and dropped 30 lbs. in three months doing things in a really mediocre way.

For that matter, all i did was:

- Instead of eating crap every single day, i restricted it to weekends, but i really used to wait like a drug addict for weekends to come.
- I only drank zero coke, and put an effort on drinking more water.
- started to eat tons of veggies (tomato, avocado, brocolli) and lean meat/fish/tuna cans, eggs. Eventually i got used to eat a lot of those type of meals and didn't miss junk food as much as before because of satieness factor.
- didn't count a single calorie,
- exercised like once or twice a week (lol), on a full body routine, that i never got to finish because of weakness (and lazyness too), but i tried, as hard as i could back then.
- Tried some eliptical HIIT like once a week, droped it after 4 weeks.
- did i say that i used to binge eat on weekends?
- didn't rely on any person attached goal, instead all the focus was on improving for my own sake.
- Still, i had bad streaks (more than once) of throwing off all my progress away thinking "screw this fitness bull*hit, i want to eat some junk, who cares how i look", then i remembered how misserable i felt for so many years for being a lazy sloob with zero control, and accepted that i really wanted to change, then returned to the new track i was building.

Once you "stall" following the cliffs (or anything that you can effectively follow), you can start nailing the specifics. Until then use all your free time to learn and prepare what to do when the time comes, you can find everything at this forums.

At February 8th it'll be 9 months since i started, i still look like chit, i have no authority (yet) to give advices, there're lots of people out there that did better than me in the same time span, but i speak as someone with a severe lack of will, not only on weight terms but about everything in life, and i still found a way to lose weight, under my own terms. Anybody can find their own terms, it's not fcking impossible, just try harder. I still regret so much things before and after i started to "diet", but i'm not finished, neither you are.

Finally, don't rely on motivation, instead always think ahead, be disciplined, focus on stacking little goals everytime, see the big picture of the process, not only the numbers on the scale.


TL;DR: Stop eating junk everyday, eat whole foods instead, lot of veggies and lean meat/fish, don't drink your calories, drink more water, move more (try really hard about moving more), be patient and consistent over time, results will come if you really want a change.

That was great to read and is extremely accurate to how I've been since I got out, especially the weekend binging which I've mostly ended. good to know that other dudes my size did it even having the roadblocls I have/had

[davik]

While it may be true and probably is that there is miscounting\tracking going on it doesn't mean that everyone will lose the same coming off of the same weight at the same calorie amount as there are too many variables.

meh i weight trained 3x a week and thats it. hes doing roughly the same. saying theres too many variables is a pointless statement

[Tommy W.]

meh i weight trained 3x a week and thats it. hes doing roughly the same. saying theres too many variables is a pointless statement

Theres a lot more to it. NEAT is a huge factor as well as training intensity and volume. Saying there are not other factors is a moronic statement

[davik]

Theres a lot more to it. NEAT is a huge factor as well as training intensity and volume. Saying there are not other factors is a moronic statement

dude how elitist do you have to be to neg me as well? he is 255 eating 2100 and NOT losing weight. how dumb can you be to not realise he is counting wrong. unless hes running a marathon every week, he should be losing weight

[Tommy W.]

dude how elitist do you have to be to neg me as well? he is 255 eating 2100 and NOT losing weight. how dumb can you be to not realise he is counting wrong. unless hes running a marathon every week, he should be losing weight

yes hes probably mis counting as I agreed however stating that there arent other variables as factors in relation to your own experience is incorrect

[davik]

yes hes probably mis counting as I agreed however stating that there arent other variables as factors in relation to your own experience is incorrect

okay but that doesnt resolve anything. you can literally go into any discussion and say **** like that but it doesnt help anybody. you keep things simple until they shouldnt

[k41m]

That was great to read and is extremely accurate to how I've been since I got out, especially the weekend binging which I've mostly ended. good to know that other dudes my size did it even having the roadblocls I have/had

I'm glad i helped you, but i really hope you can find your own way, do it now.

[Sephiroth66]

OP, you could just be cursed like me with an extremely low TDEE. I tell myself it's because my body is just very efficient at partitioning calories (chuckle). I'm a little taller than you and have a 2400 maintenance while working out 3 days/week. I usually have to get into the 1700-1800 range before being able to lose at a good pace. That's with near perfect measuring and counting. With a 300 deficit one small slip could destroy your entire weeks deficit.

I always envy you guys that cut on my bulking calories...

[Cheeseisamazing]

It's demoralizing because you're probably right. my TDEE is garbage and that's my fault for not lifting or doing anything for almost the full year after I got out. After dropping to 1800 a couple days ago I'm always hungry just as everyone is that is on a deficit, but I think it's definitely more effective. Absolutely zero energy in the gym though

[lowkey122]

You THINK you're in a 300 cal deficit however with food labels being 20% off and you miscounting\tracking you aren't in a deficit. at 255 you'll be dieting forever even if you were in a true 300 cal deficit 7 days a week. You need to get more aggressive with a 1000 cal deficit every day. That will be 2 lbs a week. You'll have to really commit. Lots of protein, little to no alcohol and little to no processed carbs. The trick is to stave off hunger and meet a low calorie target. Those things I mentioned above will take care of that.

That deficit can be met fairly easily with a reduction of calories and a structured exercise program that includes weightlifting and cardio .

Came in to say this. 300 calories a day is nothing, especially at your weight. The heavier you are the greater deficit you can create, afterall that's what bodyfat is, stored calories.

I didn't know most nutrition labels were off by like 20%.. If they are truly off by nearly that much then that explains a lot of why I'm not in a deficit even if I thought I was. Today I dropped down to around 1800/day, I don't have any junk food and the only "crap" foods I have are bagels that I'll eat maybe twice a week, with my glaring weakness food wise being that I love skim milk (cup a day usually with breakfast for a shake). I could be (probably am) wrong, but if I'm working out at least an hour 5 days a week and walk to and from my apartment and classes, what else could I do? Depending on my energy after class I'll work out again, so I don't think it's that I don't exercise enough, just as you guys said something isn't accurate that I'm measuring.

One factor that made a huge difference in my progress was to not count calories burned during workouts for two reasons. One, those machines are wildly inaccurate as to how many calories you're truly burning and two, just use that as a buffer for calories you might be overlooking or for the margin of error on nutrition labels.

[Cheeseisamazing]

I don't count the calories burned during a workout, like you said it's too inconsistent and it's impossible to measure lifting calories burned (at least what I've read). If I'm around 1700ish calories for the day and now I know that nutrition labels can be off by that huge margin, I just stop eating to cover my bases. Not sure if that's the right way to go about it but it makes me feel good to be able to do it and not be a bitch

[latverian41]

No cardio? Unless you have a health problem your numbers in vss numbers oiut are wrong OP

[lowkey122]

I don't count the calories burned during a workout, like you said it's too inconsistent and it's impossible to measure lifting calories burned (at least what I've read).

Wasn't sure if you did or not and it's a good thing that you didn't pick up that bad habit from the start. You'd be surprised at how many people factor that in and give up when it was simply a slight miscalculation all along.

In that case as already mentioned you're eating too many calories, plain and simple. Cardio is good when you have calories/macros figured out however completely useless for weight loss if you're still eating too much.

If you're not losing weight then you found your maintenance number, despite what some online calculator is telling you. Eat below that number and you will lose weight.