General tips on fat loss

[Kaven91]

Hey All!

First time posting on a fitness forum, I'm aware of the search feature but I feel its quicker to just make a post then spend hours searching and reading.

So, I'm 32, male, 6ft 245lbs, I've lost about 40lbs over the last 12 months, I was aiming for 220lbs but hit a plateau and just decided id go to the gym and put some muscle on, Unfortunately covid in Canada put a damper on everything and the gyms only re opened in September this year. Since the middle of September I have been going to the gym 5 days a week, I have a routine down, My diet is finally where it needs to be, I am in a calorie deficit roughly 500-600 Calories, I stopped tracking macros as it was making me lose my mind, but I have it pretty down as far as what I should be eating, portion sizes etc.

I am noticing some very noticeable gains, Arms, back, traps etc, but I can not for the life of me, lose the muffin top, or chest fat, I will say I do not to much cardio, If I do its twice a week, usually full incline on the treadmill at 4mph for 15 mins.

Anyone have any tips, suggestions etc that can help me out? I know everyone's body is different, and its only been 2 months, But I don't want to keep doing what I'm doing and realize there was something I could have changed a while ago to help the process.

Thank so much!

[xsquid99]

If you are actually in a deficit of 500-600 calories you would be losing about 1 lb per week. So are you currently losing about 1 lb per week? If so, its just a matter of staying consistent until the fat comes off.

If you are currently not losing weight then you are not in a caloric deficit at all and you need to eat less and/or move more.

[Kaven91]

Well I stopped counting macros, but from what I eat, Im around 2200-2500 calories, and my maintenance is like 3500, So I'm probably ever more than 500, Im staying around the same weight, but Ive also been putting on muscle so.. I cant tell if My weight is staying the same because of my diet or because I lose weight and gain muscle.

[xsquid99]

Well I stopped counting macros, but from what I eat, Im around 2200-2500 calories, and my maintenance is like 3500, So I'm probably ever more than 500, Im staying around the same weight, but Ive also been putting on muscle so.. I cant tell if My weight is staying the same because of my diet or because I lose weight and gain muscle.

So here's a bit of a reality check for you. You can't build muscle at the same rate that you can burn fat, its just physically impossible. Most people can comfortably lose about 1% of their bodyweight per week while in a fat loss stage, but its impossible for you to balance that amount of fat loss out with muscle gain, humans just aren't capable of that amount of muscle growth.

The reality of the situation is that either you are eating way more than you think or your maintenance is much lower than you think, or a combination of those two things.

Bottom line is that no weight loss = eating at maintenance. As I said in my previous post, you can eat less or you can move more, or a combination of eating less and moving more.

[Kaven91]

Appreciate the input!

[W.I.N.]

Well I stopped counting macros

This is probably why you plateaud, if you're eyeballing it you might be eating more than you think, biggest suggestion is get back to counting macros!

If you lost 40lbs in a year you were doing it right, why change it?

A 40lb loss also comes with a lower metabolic rate than when you were 40lbs heavier, people usually adjust their calories accordingly if it makes sense, or get more active, but I think if you get back to tracking and weighing food your 2200-2500 kcal goal should still be fine, specially since you now joined the gym.

Beware of cheat days/meals if you do those, as your fat loss is about your average calorie intake over time and a cheat day could eat up a big chunk of your accumulated deficit for the week. If you do do them, try to be methodical and fit it around your maintenance calories or something, and still count everything, then get back right on track the next day. I find it easier to resume dieting when those are planned than when cheating when you go out of control.

[Darkius]

In the last several threads with this question, the starters all finally admitted they ate and did not track cheat meals on the weekend. They said they did not know a few days could make that big a difference, and that they did not know how many calories the restaurant food had.

Any cream or sugar added to coffee must be counted, as must all sauces and juices.




Also, for maintenance calories, if you must consider what you would have done with your time had you not done cardio. Suppose you would have been seated and reading a book. Suppose that is 150 calories per hour for you. Suppose your stationary bike says you burned 400 calories in an hour. You must do 400-150 to see how many extra calories were burned, if you are building from a sedentary estimate. If you are adding up hour by hour, you can count the full 400 that hour. Don't start from your bmr; it is just a curiosity figure.



My maintenance calories is 2000 on rest days and 2200 on exercise days. You weigh 50% more than me. If your maintenance is 3500 not 3000, then you do plenty of walking and standing and not much sitting, that or you've been doing lots of cardio.




Weight lifting does not burn much. If you are doing lots of sets for over an hour, someone your size just might be doing 300 calories, though I doubt that. And that is just the days you are working out.

[xsquid99]

If your maintenance is 3500 not 3000, then you do plenty of walking and standing and not much sitting, that or you've been doing lots of cardio.

Weight lifting does not burn much. If you are doing lots of sets for over an hour, someone your size just might be doing 300 calories, though I doubt that. And that is just the days you are working out.

I would definitely concur with this, 3500 sounds awfully high for someone who admittedly doesn't do any cardio unless you have an extremely active/physical job and are on your feet most of the day.

I would venture to bet that OP's TDEE is closer to the 2500-3000 range.

[Kaven91]

Warehouse work, Do about 25k steps in 8 hours a day alone before I even get to the gym. TDEE was 3300 maintenance, 2700 cutting.

[Kaven91]

I'm going to go back to tracking every single thing I eat, weighing it all out etc, doing cardio a few days a week, The good thing Is I hardly every cheat on my diet, Every so often I have like a chocolate bar, maybe once a month, I eat pretty clean all the time.

[xsquid99]

I'm going to go back to tracking every single thing I eat, weighing it all out etc, doing cardio a few days a week, The good thing Is I hardly every cheat on my diet, Every so often I have like a chocolate bar, maybe once a month, I eat pretty clean all the time.

"Eating clean" has no real scientific meaning or bearing on fat loss. You're either in a deficit, at/around maintenance, or in a surplus.

You can lose weight eating nothing but McDonalds and snickers bars if you're in a deficit.

[Kaven91]

Perfect a big mac and a mars bar everyday lol jk! I get what you're saying though, I think Im just jumping ahead of myself with not seeing results and its only been a few months.

[SoulZero]

The easiest way to get bigger is to eat, if you are talking about fat loss then the best way is to stay hydrated & let your body burn it off with exercise.