So I've been working out pretty hard and eating really lean for about a month now. I wasn't in horrible shape to begin with, calipers read about 17.5% when I started, they now read about 15% for my bodyfat. I'm 5'10" 180lbs, and I'm 21 years old. I've been staying under 2000 calories (except for my cheat meal day!). My workout is as follows:

Mon:50 mins elliptical
Tues:Legs/Abs
Wed:50 mins elliptical
Thurs:Back/Bi's
Fri:50 mins elliptical
Sat:50 mins elliptical
Sun:Chest/Tris/Delts + cardio if I feel like it

Here's my problem: I know my calipers are saying I've lost bodyfat, and I can tell I have, BUT my waist measurement has gone from 35.5" to 35". Kind of weak, if you ask me. I've only lost 1/2", I'm ready to lose this gut and love handles...am I doing something wrong???

Is it possible that you've simply hit a plateau?
That's my best guess...howl ong has this been going on where you're seeing little change?

Maybe it's time to pay more attention to macros? ...post a sample diet so we can check out what you're eating.

Is it possible that you've simply hit a plateau?
That's my best guess...howl ong has this been going on where you're seeing little change?

Maybe it's time to pay more attention to macros? ...post a sample diet so we can check out what you're eating.


What Lemon Song said. Also, your calories seem low to me. I know you probably didn't wanna hear that but...............

I doubt I've hit a plateau after about 4 weeks...at least I hope I haven't! My typical day for eating is as follows:

Meal 1- Kashi Go lean w/ skim milk
protein shake
yoplait light yogurt
1 string cheese
-Also take my multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 2-handful of baby carrots

Meal 3-Turkey sandwich on wheat, plain
1 banana

Meal 4-1 can of tuna in water

Meal 5-Chicken Breast, Shrimp, or Salmon for main meal with about a cup of green beans on the side
Also take another multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 6-Protein shake

*I have snacks every now and then, but I limit myself to a handful of peanuts here or there, or a piece of string cheese.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

You say your calipers are saying that you're burning fat? And your waist measurment has gone down thus verifying your caliper results? Then YOU'RE WINNING. :D Don't change a thing until you actually plateau. Fat reduction will rarely come off the waistline first (assuming you've got more than just waisline fat i.e. mid teens bodyfat %). When I cut, I pretty much concede to looking like a pear until I get fully lean. If those teen bodyfat numbers equated to 'no lovehandles' and 'no gut,' then no guy would ever bother to cut to sub 10%. Eyes on the prize - I vote: be patient. :gl:

I doubt I've hit a plateau after about 4 weeks...at least I hope I haven't! My typical day for eating is as follows:

Meal 1- Kashi Go lean w/ skim milk
protein shake
yoplait light yogurt
1 string cheese
-Also take my multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 2-handful of baby carrots

Meal 3-Turkey sandwich on wheat, plain
1 banana

Meal 4-1 can of tuna in water

Meal 5-Chicken Breast, Shrimp, or Salmon for main meal with about a cup of green beans on the side
Also take another multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 6-Protein shake

*I have snacks every now and then, but I limit myself to a handful of peanuts here or there, or a piece of string cheese.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

I don't think 2000 calories is terribly low for someone trying to get lean and weighs 180 lbs. I would not go much lower though. Also, it goes without saying, once you hit your goal weight you may have to add back in some calories.

I would say that now is the time to learn how to tweak your diet. I would be pro-active and not wait till you hit a platue. Meaning, you should come up with a plan on what you are going to do when you do platue. I recommend a plan that does not include lowring your calories further if possible.

The thing that is glaring out at me is it seems your ratios are off a little. For starters I would recommend eating protien with EVERY meal. I would also, recommend eating a good amount of fiberous carbs(ie fiberous vegitables like broccolli, asparagus, spinache, etc) to every meal.
The protein aids in preventing the break down of valuable muscle (ie lean body weight) for fuel. The fiberous carbs are filled with valuable nutrients and will help slow down the digestion of your food (helping keep your insulin levels stable) and they will cause your digestion to kick in harder. The digestive process burns calories in itself, by adding a good amount of fiberous vegitables to each meal you are causing this process to burn even more calories. You should use "good fats" (for example omega 3's) for your fat sources whenever possible. These types of fats are valuable when dieting.

A few important things...
-Measure your progress acurately. (check your bodyfat % weekly)
-Keep an exact log of everything you eat including accurate amounts.
-Make sure you have a plan on how you will handle your platue w/o reducing your calories further.
-Spend some time learning the importance of your food choices and the macro ratios of carbs/fat/protien in each meal. (A good place to start is to read the book "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle")

I am sure a I missed a bunch and my spelling sucks so I apologize in advance :)

I doubt I've hit a plateau after about 4 weeks...at least I hope I haven't! My typical day for eating is as follows:

Meal 1- Kashi Go lean w/ skim milk
protein shake
yoplait light yogurt
1 string cheese
-Also take my multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 2-handful of baby carrots

Meal 3-Turkey sandwich on wheat, plain
1 banana

Meal 4-1 can of tuna in water

Meal 5-Chicken Breast, Shrimp, or Salmon for main meal with about a cup of green beans on the side
Also take another multi/vitamin C at this time

Meal 6-Protein shake

*I have snacks every now and then, but I limit myself to a handful of peanuts here or there, or a piece of string cheese.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

Here are a few tips:
1- Dont' snack. -- see #2
2- Meals mean *meals*...if you're doing 2000 calories and you want 6+ meals, you're looking at like 300-350 calories per meal.
3- Get rid of all dairy! Its not that dairy is all that bad, but I think it was Jeremy Likness who said that some people have issues with dairy and dont' really know it until they stop...I happen to be one of those people...switch your milk to soy milk (what i have w/ my kashi...chocolate varieties taste *great* with it) and get rid of the cheese all together.
4- Watch sugar carbs...honestly, I don't see too many good carb sources...Kashi isn't all that great despite it being far less sugary than most cereals, bananas are high in sugar, milk = sugar, yogurt = prolly a bit of sugar?, baby carrots = high GI carbs, wheat bread might be ok but its still not great depending on brand, green beans are *ok*....where is the oatmeal? brown rice? etc....thats going to cause you major issues.
5- I also see issues with fat. Youv'e got milk fat in the cheese, a bit in all your protien sources...but you're missing almonds, peanut butter (despite the hadnful of peanuts), flaxseed, salmon is good, etc.

Your diet needs LOTS of work to be blunt..BUT, you're in luck because you've come to the right place to get that kind of guidance!

It's only been a month, according to my calculations you've lost approximately 6-8lbs in 1 month. That is nothing to be worried about, think about all the months yet to come.

What chang and lemon song said.

Two things I can think of. It's you first month and your body is getting attuned to the exercise AND new diet. Both are kinda shocks to the system. Keep up with it. Persistance and consistancy will get you there.

Also like Lemon said - try more fats. Maybe fish oil pills or some yummy flax seed oil or Udo's. Fat is very much needed by your body and brain.

Two more things lol

Take a day off man. Give your body some time to rest.

Speaking of rest how much sleep are you getting. 8 is optimal

Sleep is very very important in my opinion.

Two more things lol

Take a day off man. Give your body some time to rest.

Speaking of rest how much sleep are you getting. 8 is optimal

Sleep is very very important in my opinion.


I could not agree more!! Sleep is crucial not only to performing well, but to the overall fat loss process. I have very bad sleep issues and have seen the terrible effects that it has on my diet, exercise regimen, etc. SLEEP!!!!!!!!!!!

Give it time...don't be in a hurry.....as they say..you lose fat from the inside out.:tu:

You've gotten a lot of great advice so far in this thread, but honestly the first thing I thought to say when I first read your post was "Dude, it's only been a month."

Give it some time, keep at it, and you'll start seeing more visible (or measurable) results. Also, if reducing your waistline is specifically a concern for you, work extra hard on your abs. No, ab exercises won't reduce your stomach fat, but you CAN tighten up the whole area and get rid of that portion of your gut. Tight, strong abs with fat over them looks a hell of a lot better than saggy, weak abs with fat over them.

That dietary approach is ANYTHING but sensible in regards to addressing your goals and hard work.

DIET/NUTRITION is what truly CHANGES YOU.

The weights/cardio are just the stimuli to encourage those changes.

TheLemonSong made great suggestions, I'd definitely throw that current dietary approach as far as you can and start over.

~SC~

Wow...great suggestions from everyone. I'm definitely taking notes here. If anyone else has anything to add I'd love to hear your opinion. I'll make sure and tweak my diet accordingly. A few questions left though--

-What brands of wheat bread are 'ok'?
-Are green beans just 'ok' compared to broccoli/spinach etc...? Or are they just as good? (I have a TON of green beans in my freezer right now...)
-I do try and get plenty of sleep, about 8 hrs a night if I can, but I will start taking a day off.
-Does soy milk taste like crap??? I've never heard much about it.

That dietary approach is ANYTHING but sensible in regards to addressing your goals and hard work.

DIET/NUTRITION is what truly CHANGES YOU.

The weights/cardio are just the stimuli to encourage those changes.

TheLemonSong made great suggestions, I'd definitely throw that current dietary approach as far as you can and start over.

~SC~

I agree with SC here, except that I personally think that gradual changes are what works best with *lifestyle* changes. Hit the restart button on your diet plan if you're a cold-turkey type of person, otherwise gradually phase out the bad parts and phase in the good parts...I've given good suggestions on how to do that (dairy = gone, bad carbs out, good carbs in, etc.) but it's on you to do what you need to do!

To address your questions:
1- Personally I think the only brand of any bread that is decent is Ezekial Bread (found in your *freezer* section), but really most breads are pretty bad...think about the macros of flour! Yikes! If you can avoid bread, do it!
2- I don't think greenbeans are so bad, I think they're middle of the road...they aren't corn or peas, but they aren't spinach or broccoli either...not bad, but you *can* do better. Also, it's good you have them in the freezer..freezer veggies don't lose as many nutrients in packaging as canned veggies do.
3- I won't comment on sleep, cuz this should be self-explanatory.
4- I think soy milk tastes fine in *cereal*, but it's not the best on it's own...it's not "milk" so don't expect it to taste like milk...but I really like getting chocolate or cappucino soy milk for my cereal, and that stuff is *great* in coffee drinks too!

Post an updated sample diet and we'll go over it w/ a fine tooth-comb, dot our t's and cross our...lower case J's....

Chances are you've lost fat from other parts of your body. I'd keep the calories around 1500-1600 at your weight. Keeping it under 2000 is kind of vague, but if you're eating around 1900-2000 calories, that isn't much of a defecit from your BMR. You want to be burning at least an extra 500 calories a day and thats for the frustratingly slow rate of losing 1lb of fat per week. Go figure. Up the cardio if possible. Drop the calories.