Help Cutting Fat

[tommyrowe]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I've been on here looking for help but I wanted to have a quick sanity check on my diet and exercise

TLDR: Trained for 3-4 months, lost 2.5 stone, 5-6% bf. Stalled for 5 weeks, dropped calories from 2100 to 1850, no difference. Should I cut more calories, up them or train more?

Stats
Height: 6ft
Weight: 14 st 2
Calories: 1850 - 40/30/30 p/f/c


So I started my weight loss plan around 3-4 months ago and I was 16st 7, today I weight 14st 2. A drop from ~23% bf to now being around ~16% (guestimate from pictures)

I've got around 30 day left on my cut before christmas and I was looking at starting a bulk in January but I seem to have stalled on my fat loss.

I have been 14st 2 for around 5 weeks now and I've tried reducing my calories to no effect.

I was eating around 2100 calories which I reduced each week with no noticeable difference to my physique or scale.

I train 6 days a week, Push Pull Legs with moderate intensity and also do around 200-400 calories on cardio (cross trainer, bike, walking) per day.

Looking at my Baseline calories, I should be on 1800 so I don't beleive I should go much lower, unless you guys have tried it before and it worked.

Just wondering what steps to take next to try and shift more Bodyfat?

Thanks

[SuffolkPunch]

How long have you been running 1850? And did you literally lose no weight in that time?

[tommyrowe]

Hi SuffolkPunch,

Thanks for the reply

I've been running 1850 for around 4 weeks and I seem to have bottomed out. I have not dropped below 14st 2 but I have went up to 14st 5 which lasted a few days before dropping back donw to 14st 2, which I've now been steady for around 2.5 weeks with no movement.

I didn't change my diet at this point, eating the same as usual.

My diet consists of a main protein for my meal, Basa, Chicken or beef cycled every 3 days with rice or potatoes followed by tuna rice with veg for meal 2.

Been on the same kind of foods for a while now with no issues.

Normally this would be where I drop more calories but I'm not wanting to drop more than required if I should actually be eating more :\

[SuffolkPunch]

There are two possibilities here
1. Weighing errors because of water retention - but I think this is less likely due to the length of time involved.
2. Calorie measurement errors - double check your counting. Perhaps you are eating more than you think.

The answer is certainly not to eat more, that will not result in more fat loss. Sometimes it can cause you to drop retained water as in (1) above - so it appears you lose weight by eating more - which is deceptive.

[tommyrowe]

For weighing I actually weigh myself as i wake up and also before gym in the afternoon. I usually take an average of a few days before taking a weight as a valid one.

I'll verify my calories again to be sure. I use MyFitnessPal and I scan my foods but I'll try the old Pen and Paper method tonight to add it all up

I have just heard from a colleague that results can stop if you diet for too long and they recommend changing to maintenance calories for a few weeks then get back on a cut.
Does this seem like valid option if my calories all add up or is this more of a BroScience tip?

[SuffolkPunch]

I have just heard from a colleague that results can stop if you diet for too long and they recommend changing to maintenance calories for a few weeks then get back on a cut.
Does this seem like valid option if my calories all add up or is this more of a BroScience tip?

That is basically what I was getting at in (1) above.

It's not that fat loss stops, it's that you retain water - so your scale weight does not go down.

Eating at maintenance can make you drop that water - but that's all it does. It doesn't "reset your metabolism" or other theories you might hear.

Here is a credible source:

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo...ishy-fat.html/

[Maverick2015]

Do you weigh your food? Sounds like a calorie counting error to me at this point. Do you have any recent pics? Also, I noticed you take your weight before going to the gym. I would only use the weight after you get up and use the toilet as your recorded weight. There are too many variables after that. You do have room to go down in calories, but my guess is that you aren't weighing your food or something is wrong with the scanning method you use.

[tommyrowe]

Thanks guys,

SuffolkPunch, yeah that's pretty much what I heard regarding resetting metabolism, glad I didn't waste time with that

Maverick2015, I used to weigh my food with a scale but I've had things down visually but it may be I've slipped a bit and I could be eating more than I think, shouldn't be much but could be enough to stick to maintenance.
I don't have any pics yet but I'll take a couple tonight, I have a few prior as well to compare against.
Regarding visually, I look like I have stalled with a layer of fat sitting on my stomach which seems to have stopped shrinking

Plan tonight will be to count all my calories again based on package values rather than MyFitnessPal's barcode scanner and also weigh everything.

Fair enough with the weighing, I'll try sticking to the morning weigh-ins only

Thanks of the tips guys, I'll post an update hopefully tomorrow, or saturday at the latest if I spot anything off , sounding more likely a calorie counting issue

[SuffolkPunch]

One clue would be: how hungry do you feel? If not very - then you probably aren't in a deficit.

[tommyrowe]

One clue would be: how hungry do you feel? If not very - then you probably aren't in a deficit.

Starving haha, but even when I eat loads I'm always hungry

So went around and calculated my food, by checking the back of each pack and I was over by around 300 calories. Mainly switching brands, e.g. tesco rice from ASDA added around 20 calories, frozen chicken mis-weighing compared to fresh. Just a few silly mistakes which took me to around 2100-ish so gonna rein it back to 1850 and keep on going

Thanks for the tips guys, hopefully get some progress pics up soon enough

[Tommy W.]

Normally this would be where I drop more calories but I'm not wanting to drop more than required if I should actually be eating more :\

eating more never results in fatloss. You’re either holding water or taking in more cals than you think. Many times lower calories can result in a lowered NEAT due to less energy. This can EASILY wipe out the benefits of lower cals especially at a low BF percent.

[tommyrowe]

Thanks Tommy, it looks like I was taking in more than I thought , I'll keep the lower NEAT in mind once I get to a lower BF, as I'll probably end up needing to remember, but I'm around 16% so shouldn't be an issue at the moment