Hi,

I'm new to the forum :)

Looking around John's site, I was amazed at how efficiently he has recorded his progress (I take my hat off to you). It puts my workout spreadsheet (which I was previously quite proud of) to shame :)

I took body building back up about 8 months ago after a long 6 year rest, mainly for my health's sake. I have lost 42 pounds since I took it back up, but over the last month or so I haven't lost a single pound although I exercise a lot more.

I'm not fully sure of the reasons, but I have some ideas:

* My average caloric intake is around 1500 - 1700 calories per day. Maybe I have slowed down my metabolism too much? Does anyone have a formula to calculate approximately how many calories one should eat to keep the metabolisms speed up?
* I read a few new books on body building and they seem to point to leaving at least 7-10 days between re-training the same body part (some even recommended a week between each body part :O). I have adapted my own training to fit to the 7-10 day plan.

Hers my average workout schedule:

Day 1 - Legs + Back
Day 2 - Abs
Day 3 - Rest
Day 4 - Chest + Bi's
Day 5 - Abs
Day 6 - Rest
Day 7 - Shoulders + Tri's
Day 8 - Abs
Day 9 - Rest
Day 10 - Repeat from Day 1
I throw in around 3 cardio sessions per cycle (20 mins on an exercise bike)

I quite like this routine as it keeps me motivated and I'm always excited about getting back onto the bench. I'm also seeing good strength gains, so I'm quite keen to stick to it, so I'm hoping that its not my workout that's at fault.

* I drink lots of water (I'm talking 4-5 litres per day). Is this too much?
* My diet consists mainly of wholegrain bread (2 slices per day) & cereals, tuna, chicken, salads, occasional microwaved curry, 0.5 to 1 bottle of wine per week and a few slices of pizza on a Friday night. I would cut out the wine + pizza slices, but I was eating and drinking more when I was losing weight.
* As I was reading the forums I noticed a post which refers to Splenda (The sugar substitute). I have over the last few months been using Hermasetas (another sugar substitute) in my drinks. Has anyone else found they have stopped losing weight using these kinds of sugar substitutes?
* Will eating additional protein stimulate fat loss (thinking in terms of the Atkins diet)?
* Maybe my body has taken a holiday from fat burning for a while?

Another question I needed to ask. My weighing scales give me a different body fat reading throughout the day. It ranges from 19-26%. I've experimented a little and it seems to be linked to how wet my feet are. Can anyone recommend a good body fat analyser that's accurate, consistent and a doddle to use (hopefully without having to take my shoes and socks off :))?

Thanks for your time and any help is much appreciated

Mat

I quite like this routine as it keeps me motivated and I'm always excited about getting back onto the bench. I'm also seeing good strength gains, so I'm quite keen to stick to it, so I'm hoping that its not my workout that's at fault.

If you're making good strength gains, I guess your muscles are really building quickly. If that is true, you should be gaining weight. If you are not gaining weight, you must be losing weight somewhere, maybe fat. That doesn't normally happen for somebody who's been training for a while, but perhaps . . . also, since you've lost a bunch of weight, is it possible that your diet needs to be tweaked? Usually when people plateau their progress, diet has a lot to do with it. Change your diet somehow. When was the last time you evaluated it?


* I drink lots of water (I'm talking 4-5 litres per day). Is this too much?

I drink about the same amount. Be sure you're getting enough electrolytes -- if you're eating pizza every week, you should be good. I like pickles a bunch -- pretzels, too, so I'm covered. As long as you are not on a "low-sodium" diet, you should be good.

Another question I needed to ask. My weighing scales give me a different body fat reading throughout the day. It ranges from 19-26%. I've experimented a little and it seems to be linked to how wet my feet are. Can anyone recommend a good body fat analyser that's accurate, consistent and a doddle to use (hopefully without having to take my shoes and socks off :))?

Nope. Those scales are notoriously inaccurate. The better body fat% indicator is calipers, but you need to learn how to use them, or have somebody at a gym do it for you. If someone else does it for you, be sure the same person does it everytime because people vary slightly on how they do it. There is an electronic one that is hand-held (Omron, I think), but I have found it to be terribly inaccurate and inconsistant.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the forums, glad you're here. Keep us updated on your progress.

My weighing scales give me a different body fat reading throughout the day. It ranges from 19-26%. I've experimented a little and it seems to be linked to how wet my feet are. Can anyone recommend a good body fat analyser that's accurate, consistent and a doddle to use (hopefully without having to take my shoes and socks off :))?
It explicitly states on my instructions to NOT use my scale when my feet are wet.

You will not get an accurate measure of your body fat percentage with any kind of scale, or caliper reading, or handheld device, or inputting your measurements into an online calculator. The only method that will tell you your true body fat percentage is underwater weighing. However, most of these methods will at least be able to show trends in body fat percentage. For example if my scale shows this month that I'm at 19% body fat, and next month shows 18% body fat, I wouldn't believe either number, but I would believe that I dropped about 1% in body fat (assuming I weighed myself at the same time of day on an empty stomach). The true values might be from 21 to 20, or might be from 17 to 16.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to respond.

If you're making good strength gains, I guess your muscles are really building quickly. If that is true, you should be gaining weight. If you are not gaining weight, you must be losing weight somewhere, maybe fat. That doesn't normally happen for somebody who's been training for a while, but perhaps . . . also, since you've lost a bunch of weight, is it possible that your diet needs to be tweaked? Usually when people plateau their progress, diet has a lot to do with it. Change your diet somehow. When was the last time you evaluated it?

Below is an extract showing some of my exerces:

When I first started back up, I was doing:

Bench Press - 3 sets of 140 pounds (10 reps)
Barbell Curl - 3 sets of 66 pounds (10 reps)
Squat - 3 sets of 176 pounds (10 - 15 reps)

I'm now doing:

Bench Press - 2 sets of 209 pounds (4 - 8 reps, depends upon how much energy I have on the day)
Barbell Curl - 2 sets of 104 pounds (8 - 12 reps)
Squat - 2 sets of 286 pounds (8 - 10 reps)

Although, I'm just recovering from wrist, neck and back injuries (which I did whilst playing with my kids on a trampoline :)), so I've had to drop my weights down a bit

I know these aren't massive increases, but I'm happier than I was last year :)

I see what your saying about the weight thing. I am building muscle and losing fat, so my weight is not changing, which makes sense as my waist line is shrinking steadily but surely.

With regards to diet. I've pretty much eaten the same things for a while now, just eaten less of it and probably eliminated more fats. I do admit that I could be stricter with my diet. I am currently trying to fit 5 meals a day in at around 300 - 400 calories each, but 50% of the time I am forgetting to eat and end up with only 2 - 3 meals. The nature of my job (computer games programmer) is such that it requires long hours of concentration, so its quite easy to forget about things like eating :) I guess I need to get myself some kind of alarm software to notify me when its time to eat.


I drink about the same amount. Be sure you're getting enough electrolytes -- if you're eating pizza every week, you should be good. I like pickles a bunch -- pretzels, too, so I'm covered. As long as you are not on a "low-sodium" diet, you should be good.

Nope. Those scales are notoriously inaccurate. The better body fat% indicator is calipers, but you need to learn how to use them, or have somebody at a gym do it for you. If someone else does it for you, be sure the same person does it everytime because people vary slightly on how they do it. There is an electronic one that is hand-held (Omron, I think), but I have found it to be terribly inaccurate and inconsistant.

Hope this helps. Welcome to the forums, glad you're here. Keep us updated on your progress.

I had hypertension so I had to cut down my sodium intake and start taking things like Hawthorne. Its under control now though, so I may eat a bit more sodium.

Where would I get a hold of Calipers? I dont actually go to a gym (dont have the travel time). I train at home on my Powertec Bench / Rack System (Beats my old York 1001 gym, that swayed and creaked when I was benching, quite terrifying without a spotter. I now have cow horns to keep me safe :))

Hi, thanks for taking the time to respond.

It explicitly states on my instructions to NOT use my scale when my feet are wet.

You will not get an accurate measure of your body fat percentage with any kind of scale, or caliper reading, or handheld device, or inputting your measurements into an online calculator. The only method that will tell you your true body fat percentage is underwater weighing. However, most of these methods will at least be able to show trends in body fat percentage. For example if my scale shows this month that I'm at 19% body fat, and next month shows 18% body fat, I wouldn't believe either number, but I would believe that I dropped about 1% in body fat (assuming I weighed myself at the same time of day on an empty stomach). The true values might be from 21 to 20, or might be from 17 to 16.

Yep, I dont actually get on with wet feet. In the morning my feet tend to be quite dry, but in the evening (after a day of wearing shoes and socks) they tend to be not dry.

I suppose the best method of measuring body fat is to just look in the mirror and when the six pack appears I'm at 10% or lower :)

Thats a point, I seem to have more fat around the waist area than anywhere else on my body. I dont suppose there are any ways of getting it off that area any quicker?

Where would I get a hold of Calipers? I dont actually go to a gym (dont have the travel time).

You can buy them online, ranging from $25 to $500+. You probably will want to have someone who knows what they're doing show you how to do it. It is a little tricky at first, but you'll get the hang of it.

Thats a point, I seem to have more fat around the waist area than anywhere else on my body. I dont suppose there are any ways of getting it off that area any quicker?

Liposuction.

Liposuction.


Haha, no thanks. Its more exciting to burn it off :)