Frustrated Old Lady (long post, sorry!)

[Kate9157]

Hello Ladies! I recently found these boards and have been searching and reading topics which has been immensely helpful. I just joined and hope to continue to be a part of the weightlifting community for a long time! I apologize in advance for a long post.

I got back into the gym the first of September after years of home workouts. I am 49 years old and decided I was not going to head into my 50's feeling like I could 'do better' with my health.

Here's my frustration and where I need your help/guidance. I am 5'6" and currently weigh 151. That weight has only dropped about 2 pounds in 2 months. My body fat has reduced 4% in that time which is good. But, I am not seeing the scale move. In the past, I've been able to drop weight pretty well, but this is the first time I've trained hard with heavy weights so I'm kind of new as to what to expect due to my age and activity level.

I meet with a trainer one day a week and he's outlined a training plan for me which I follow diligently. I am at the gym at 4:30am and get in 30 minutes a day of weightlifting and 20-30 minutes of cardio immediately after 5 days a week. My basic program:

Monday - Legs
Tuesday - Chest and triceps (light weight on tris)
Wednesday - Back and biceps (light weight on biceps)
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Shoulders, biceps and triceps
Saturday - I'll get in some sort of cardio with the family - walk, hike, etc.

I am a 99% clean eater (I do need my chocolate!) and will eat
- rolled oats & eggs for breakfast
- protein shake with tbsp soy nut butter for snack
- protein (turkey, chicken, etc.), carb & veggie for lunch
- veggies for any munchies or snacks
- another round of protein, carb and veggie for lunch

However, most days I am not very hungry at dinner and sometimes during the day so I struggle to get in the calories. I am wondering if the lack of protein or calories is affecting my ability to lose weight. I know weight gain/plateau is somewhat natural when moving to heavy weights but I am getting seriously frustrated with not seeing the progress of losing weight.

Any thoughts, suggestions, etc. you have would be really helpful. If there's a better place for me to post, please let me know.

[kimm4]

Clean eating doesn't mean anything. If you're not losing weight it's because you're eating at maintenance calories. Figure out a proper calorie deficit and get a food scale to weigh, measure and track everything accordingly.

Stick to your deficit, stay consistent with your training and you will see a steady loss.

[Kate9157]

Thanks, Kimm - I definitely need to get the scale. I figured this must be diet, but I thought even with what I've been eating, I'd see a bit more progress than I have. I'll keep at it!

[okayest]

The kitchen scale should definitely help. If you are intending to be in a calorie deficit but find yourself too full before the day is over that is a likely sign that you're eating much more than you think you are. Weigh out your foods raw too for the most accuracy.

Where is the chocolate in your diet that you mentioned but didn't list? If you try to be in a deficit most days but have lax days here and there where you eat more that can definitely affect your results too.

[Kate9157]

I'm sure that's really the issue - I think I'm maintaining more than creating a calorie deficit. I'm generally not exceptionally hungry during the day despite working out first thing in the morning so I will definitely use the scale and be more diligent about watching my intake and maintaining consistency.

As for chocolate - I'm talking one Dove dark chocolate square every other day or so.

[AddingPins]

As was said before, don't stress the food choices. It's not the fact that you are eating a square of chocolate. It's that everything that you eat in a day is not putting you at a caloric deficit. So, start tracking and weighing everything that you are currently eating as see where your daily calories are ending up. From there, you can create a deficit by eating less than that. A 10% decrease would be more than enough!