Alright, Lately I've been gaining again and not loosing. This week I've apparently gained an extra 1%, but I don't know if that is fat or water, and the scale has went up a bit.

I've been lifting more than doing cardio, my diet though seemed okay. I would eat a good breakfast in the morning, a sandwhich for lunch, a snack inbetween, another meal, snack, then finish, equalling to 2000 calories, about 400-500 per meal usually. 40/40/20 split.

So I'm guessing I'm not doing enough cardio, I would lift Monday Tuesday Thursday Friday and so Cardio on Saturday and Wedensday.

I'm planning on lifting Monday and Wedensday, while also doing Ju Jitsu on Wedensday, and doing cardio every other day apart from sunday, is this the direction I should go?

I am 246 now, 38% BF, very high, it was a suprise to me. :(

Do you think you look better in the mirror? Maybe you've put on a bit of muscle?

Doing cardio everyday will be really useful...

Doing cardio everyday will be really useful...

cardio for sure,

i do cardio everyday, i do less cardio (15mins elliptical trainer) on weight lifting days.

Do you think you look better in the mirror? Maybe you've put on a bit of muscle?

I have put on some muscle I reckon, I look better from when I started 5 months ago, much much better but for the past 2 months I haven't made much progress, it's came to a hault.

I really don't think I've put on 4 pounds of muscle in one week though.

I don't want to open up a debate that's been talked to death on the forums already but I think that when fat loss is the main goal (and I'm not sure if that is your main goal) doing cardio almost every day is important. On non-lifting days I would either do HIIT (recomended) or a longer continous cardio session. On lifting days I would lift first and then do a shorter (15 or 20 min) moderate cardio. It would be better if you could do your cardio in the morning and lift later in the day but that can be tough with a busy schedule. Sure, you may lose a TINY bit of muscle but unless you're bodybuilding and getting into that 10% BF range you won't notice as long as you continue your weight training (remember, your goal is fat loss). Once you start getting close to your goal BF% you can start cutting out some of the cardio.

Sterno

I have put on some muscle I reckon, I look better from when I started 5 months ago, much much better but for the past 2 months I haven't made much progress, it's came to a hault.

I really don't think I've put on 4 pounds of muscle in one week though.

By the same token it's unlikely that's 4 pounds of fat either :)

When you're hitting a bit of a plateau it's your body's way of telling you to step it up a bit, so like they say, more cardio :)

bah forum playing up, pasted wrong post in hehe

I basicly said post more info about what you're eating, lifting and what cardio and for how long. It could be something as simple as eating too many carbs late at night, or taking your protein in too large amounts.

I would not agree with just doing cardio every day, it's really not needed if you're eating well, all cardio does in terms of fat loss is burn extra cals, if you're not eating them in the first place there's no problem, if for instance you're not eating enough, daily cardio will only make things worse.

Drink more water and check your calories. Some of it may be muscle gain, but it could also be your body holding onto what it has and refusing to let go.

This has been taken out of my spreadsheet:
I track my food per item, like if I have 3 eggs it'll say "1 egg, 1 egg", because it's much easier to copy and paste from worksheets in a spreadsheet.

Food:
MEAL 1 (8am)
2 Wheatabix
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
1 Glass Orange Juice
1 Medium Banana
MEAL 2 (11am or 1pm)
1 Medium Banana
1 Medium Banana
MEAL 3 (4:30pm)
2 Scoops Whey Protein Suppliment (Precision Engineered Protoplex)
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
6 Oz Tuna
MEAL 3 (6pm)
1 Egg Cooked
1 Egg Cooked
1 Egg Cooked
2 Rounds Brown Bread
MEAL 4(8pm)
1 Medium Carrot
1 Medium Carrot
1 Medium Carrot
6 Oz Tuna
MEAL 5(9pm)
1 Egg Cooked
1 Egg Cooked
1 Egg Cooked
100g Chicken Pieces
2 Rounds Brown Bread


I don't normally take that amount of Eggs but I did that time, but on average it's like that.

Caloories:1993 Fat:37.62 Carbs:241 Protein:204.04



My lifting was 4 days a week, lasting about 30 to 45 minutes long aswell. Not a lot of cardio

There we go, thats my food intake for an average day.

I've kept the diet the same really, but I'm going to up the cardio a lot and not worry about loosing a bit of muscle right now, That can be bulked back up later.
Basically I want optimal fat loss and am willing to do what it takes to get past this halt.

I'll drink more water, how does 8 pints a day look?

Before i start - everyone, this guy is in ireland, we can't get egg beaters over here! don't suggest them! thanks! :D

i would cut down on the milk, don't remove it but cut down, all the carbs from milk is sugar. Some will tell you it doesn't count or it's a special kind that's good for you, some reports agree with that, some don't.

Don't eat those 2 rounds of bread so late, try move those carbs earlier into the day, the eggs too. Basicly you're eating a lot of carbs late in the day and aren't going to use them, so they'll be stored over night as fat. Maybe switch out the eggs and bread with frozen veg? not too many carbs in a whole ton of that and it's good for you.

I personally would drop the orange juice in the morning too, that's all sugar too, as well as the banana's. Some fruit early in the day isn't too much of an issue so no need to drop the banana's.

Looking at your diet, considering all the carbs from milk, banana's and fruit juice are sugars, i'd say you're well over 50% of your carbs comming from sugar, with the bread and wheatabix being the good lower GI complex carbs.

What this means is you're potentially giving your body an insulin spike every time you eat, your body is hitting highs and lows all day, where as the desired effect is a balanced release all day long from complex carbs. Again some sugar isn't too bad, some things like banana's and milk are worth eating in moderation despite the sugar.

8 pints a day is good, it's about a gallon i think which is what they recomend. Also your protein intake looks good, nice and spread out with out too much reliance on whey.

If i was to improve your diet myself, i'd have an extra wheatabix and drop the orange juice in the morning.

Banana sandwich for meal 2? with only 1 banana, try move some protein to there too if possable, there's a long gap before and after this meal, it should be a reasonably big one, 4 rounds of bread, tuna and a banana?

Meal three has too much protein, you can only use so much at a time, no need for the shake and the tuna. I'd throw in some complex carbs with the tuna (tune and rice or pasta?) and move the shake later.

Move the chicken to meal 4 or 5 time with some veg, keep the eggs if you like but limit them, then for your final meal take the protein shake you didn't have earlier.

I would also stick with 3-4 days cardio, your diet is already pretty low and you don't need to be burning another 500 cals a day in cardio just for the sake of it.

cardio for sure,

i do cardio everyday, i do less cardio (15mins elliptical trainer) on weight lifting days.

U do wt lifting on four days.. so U do cardio 15mins on four days....

that seems very less to me...

I would prefer (myself) 3 days of full cardio (45 - 60 Mins at 70% of
heart rate) with abs on those days.... And 3 wt training days with
30Mins of Cardio (after wt train)....

And dont always do same kind of wt training exercises... learn new ones

What time do you work out? Do you do it in the morning, afternoon, or evening?

I've planned out what I'll be eating tomorow and plan to stick to it every day, Thanks Jingo :D

How does this look then?
MEAL 1 (9am)
3 Wheatabix
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
1/2 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
1 Medium Banana
MEAL 2 (11:30am)
2 Rounds Brown Bread
100g Chicken Pieces
MEAL 3 (1pm)
2 Rounds Brown Bread
6 Oz Tuna
WORKOUT(4:30pm)
MEAL 4 (5:00pm)
2 Scoops Whey Protein Suppliment (Precision Engineered Protoplex)
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
1 Cup Semi-skimmed Milk
MEAL 5 (6:30 pm)
Small Packed Salad
8 Oz Boneless Chicken Breast
1 Egg Cooked
1 Egg Cooked
1 Cup Brussels Sprouts
1 Cup Brussels Sprouts
MEAL 6 (8:00pm)
6 Oz Tuna
1 Medium Carrot
1 Medium Carrot


Calories:1920.2 Fat: 24.98 Carbs:185.1 Protein:216.11


If this is a sounder diet then I'll be planning to stick with this and hope it helps kicks my body back in place.

that looks better, tho it's reduced your intake a little, see if you can get your cals up a little.

Only things i'd mention with that now is i personally wouldn't work out 3hours after my last meal, unless it was a standard cardio session. Can you get a meal to 1-2 hours before you work out? move your 1pm to 2-3? if it's lunch hour just eat late in your lunch hour instead of early. if exergy doesn't seem like a problem maybe don't worry about it, i can only speak from experience.

The other thing is once a week try replace your meal 5 with salmon or some other oily fish, the fatty acids are great for you, you can cut back on the eggs if you're worried about how high it takes your fat intake for the day.

Finally don't ever change everything you're doing on one persons say so, 99.9% of knowlege is passed down from someone else, everyone has different idea's and thoughts on what's good and bad, so try get 2 or 3 opinions and most importantly, if something works for you, bugger everyone else :)

lol Thanks :)
I'm usually not tired at all after my 1pm meal since I'm basically sitting at a desk in college on a computer. I work on Thursday and Saturday so I will probably alter the times a bit for that though.