After doing crossfit for two months, I think I'm dissapointed with the results

[Jones25]

I used to be obese and could never gain muscle and was pretty much skinny fat, I am pretty flabby around torso and have no meat on my arms. (pear shaped)

I decided to give crossfit a try after some recommendations, hoping to lose 15-20 lbs of fat and put on some muscle. The body types I saw varied though, there are people at my crossfit gym who are absolutely ripped, and others who aren't impressive at all. THere is one guy who has been going to this gym religiously for two years and is still chubby/fat, has a huge gut and isn't muscular at all. If I saw him on the street I didn't think he worked out at all.

I've been pretty much doing the workouts religiously, going 4-5x a week for the past two months. I have gotten stronger and in better shape I think, the scale didn't move at all in those two months, I think I only lost 3 lbs, but I felt leaner and more muscular, especially in my upper body. I took pics 2 or so weeks before crossfit and compared them to pics I took now and was a little disappointed to see no change at all. I don't know if these results were just in my head or something but I really don't see a difference in the pics. My diet hasn't been great, there was a nearly 3 week period where I wasn't able to stay on it (Busy and wasn't home a lot) I didn't eat terrible fast food or anything, the thing that probably screwed me up is that I ate too little or had huge gaps between meals because I had no time, but am back on it now.

Is two months too little to worry about results? I was at least expecting some newbie early results but really didn't see anything. I really like this workout program too, only one I have ever been motivated for while others felt like a chore.

[brudman]

Well the lesson you can take from that is...drum roll please....


bodyfat is lost with diet + time


muscle is built with strength training and diet + time


crossfit is more for general conditioning and being in good shape. not building muscle, and not necessarily burning fat, although your diet would have to be pretty sh|tty to not achieve some fat burning.

[Vadjio]

if you want to lose weight you HAVE to eat properly, that means 1g*bodyweight a day, and the right caloric deficit, meal frequency is not that important as long as you eat enough protein. how lean you are is a direct outcome of your diet by 90%, you won't lose weight if you're not at a caloric deficit or if the caloric deficit is not large enough. you're also unlikely to gain muscle while losing body fat unless you're very fat, so make sure you're at the right caloric deficit, this tool has been helpful to me http://www.phord.com/cc/ i hope it will help you, so remember 1gram of protein per pound of body weight, that should be around 25-40% of your total caloric intake, the other 75-60% should come from 20%-30% fat and 40-50% carbs, unless you wanna be on a low carb diet.

[Wildtim]

I used to be obese and could never gain muscle and was pretty much skinny fat, I am pretty flabby around torso and have no meat on my arms. (pear shaped)

I decided to give crossfit a try after some recommendations, hoping to lose 15-20 lbs of fat and put on some muscle. The body types I saw varied though, there are people at my crossfit gym who are absolutely ripped, and others who aren't impressive at all. THere is one guy who has been going to this gym religiously for two years and is still chubby/fat, has a huge gut and isn't muscular at all. If I saw him on the street I didn't think he worked out at all.

I've been pretty much doing the workouts religiously, going 4-5x a week for the past two months. I have gotten stronger and in better shape I think, the scale didn't move at all in those two months, I think I only lost 3 lbs, but I felt leaner and more muscular, especially in my upper body. I took pics 2 or so weeks before crossfit and compared them to pics I took now and was a little disappointed to see no change at all. I don't know if these results were just in my head or something but I really don't see a difference in the pics. My diet hasn't been great, there was a nearly 3 week period where I wasn't able to stay on it (Busy and wasn't home a lot) I didn't eat terrible fast food or anything, the thing that probably screwed me up is that I ate too little or had huge gaps between meals because I had no time, but am back on it now.

Is two months too little to worry about results? I was at least expecting some newbie early results but really didn't see anything. I really like this workout program too, only one I have ever been motivated for while others felt like a chore.

There's your problem right there.

You are expected to gain muscle and more importantly lose fat while eating a completely uncontrolled diet for more than half this period.

It ain't the program you are on, there is no program out there that would give you better results than you are seeing while on that diet.

Now get on your diet, I know crossfit recommends "The Zone Diet" so if you don't have it buy it, and stick to it. Being busy is no excuse, I'm on the run and in appointments all day today, when I got up this morning I packed a cooler and it will feed me till bed time. you can do the same.

If in 2 months of perfect eating, according to your instructor, and religiously working out you don't see any improvement, then you can question the program.

[double gonad]

Wildtim is right on with his comments; weight (fat) loss/gain is ALL about dietary manipulation. You do realize that many people lose weight with no increase in physical activity - right? I'm not saying those people lose weight the right way, but they do change the scale.

I'm somewhat familiar with Crossfit, I have a good friend who is a certified instructor and my wife recently started; I've talked with the trainer/owner many times and have been tempted to hit a few WOD's. Crossfit, IMO, is a great way to get in shape - sort of GPP. If you stick to the 4-5x per week workouts and get your diet right, you'll be pleased with the results.

I'd strongly recommend hitting up the instructor/owner for some diet advice. As Tim mentioned, Crossfit pimps the Zone diet but really, just about anything reasonable will shed fat as long as you are in a caloric deficit.

I'd also recommend logging your meals with fitday.com or some other type web site. And though it may sound anal, a food scale would also be a good investment. They're normally less than $30.00 and are really valuable when dieting, particularly if you're not used to cutting weight/fat.

Based on my experience, calorie control is the key. You can eat 1x, 2x a day or whatever - as long as you keep a caloric deficit you will lose weight. As long as you keep your protein intake high, most of that weight should be fat.

There are people who would tell you to eat 4-6x/day but in my experience meal frequency really doesn't matter.

I started an Intermittent Fasting protocol (look in the advanced nutrition section if you want to know more) near the beginning of the year because I wanted to cut down to 7-8% bf. I had a 3-4 hour "window" in which I ate, and was able to drop down to that level with very little muscle loss. I then started a bulk, eating 2x per day and have gained about 12# in the last 3 months. I started cutting again last week and am eating 1-2x/day. Strength gains have been good the entire time. I say this because there are many roads that will get you to the same point - do what's most convenient for you, you've got a much better chance of sticking to a plan that works for YOU; if it's a pain in the ass then it probably won't work.

Also, depending on what your long term goals are, Crossfit may or may not be for you. If you're looking to shed fat and get "ripped", you can get there with Crossfit and proper diet. If you goals are (or change to) wanting more size or strength, I'd look elsewhere (my personal opinion). This is based on my personal experience with the CF gym in my area; the top end lifts are pretty low even for some of the larger people.

Sorry for the rant but I hope it helps some.

[Jefferson17]

My girlfriend has been on Crossfit for 2 months now, and her transformation is amazing. She's lost 20 pounds, dropped from a size large to medium, and gained a LOT more tone than I would have thought possible in that timeframe.

Yes it's very important to eat right also. She got turned onto the Paleo Diet by her Crossfit trainer and ... WOW. I was noticing her results after only 2 weeks. So I got on the diet also, but cheat a good bit. She's much better at keeping more strict than I am. And even with my cheating I've lost 10 pounds in the last month as well. When I keep strict, and avoid excess "open meals", I'm dropping about .5 pounds a day ... a DAY - just eating good stuff like lean meats, lots of veggies, some fruit, fiber supplements (via shakes) and some nuts. We make these OUTRAGEOUS protein shakes using almond milk, egg protein and whatever (veggies and/or fruit) that completely keep us going for hours without hunger. And for the first time in YEARS I am never tired during the day. I used to be regularly tired in the afternoon or here and there during the day but eating this way ... all that is GONE! I'm a believer!

Yes it IS expensive. I think she pays about $235 per month but goes 3 times a week and gets "her a$$ kicked". She likes that the workouts are fast. She's in and out of there in less than an hour, including all warmups and stretching. The workout themselves are usually about 15 minutes but BRUTAL. She showed me a few things she's been doing and how many of them she's doing - all without a break and I am now getting motivated to get in shape too, instead of just merely eating right.

For someone looking to "get into shape" vs. "bodybuilding", it seems like an exceptionally well geared program. You don't need much stuff to do the program. Any gym will have what you need. But I would think it'll be tough to push oneself that hard without at least a good partner or class for motivation.

So get a copy of the Paleo Diet and try it out with your training and you WILL see dramatic results - and darn quickly.

[KyleAaron]

It's energy in vs energy out.

If you don't take care of one, all your messing about with other makes no difference.