Hello All:

This is my first time to post here.

I am 5'5 and I started back in September 2003 weighing in at 215lbs, and approximately 29% body fat, very miserable, always tired.

I joined a gym and reduced my weight down to 207lbs by losing 8lbs of body fat, and no muscle.

My wife wanted to workout with me shortly after, so I bought some equipment for our home, and basically got rid of our living room, and made it an exercise room, and we stopped going to the gym.

Up until this point, I have been following Body For Life, and eating from EATING FOR LIFE, which is an awesome book, and I do not feel deprived at all.

Since quitting the gym in December, I have dropped from 207lbs, down to 189-190, which is nice but I am trying to get down to 170lbs.

I have not measured my bodyfat in quite some time but I need to... I always have a hard time drinking alot of water during the day which is probably hindering my progress. I average about 1800 calories per day with a 40/40/20 split, except on days when I have Salmon then it's closer to 25% fat...

I feel much better, I had been dropping weight consistently, but it seems that I can be as strict on myself as I can possibly be, and my body just will not go down past 190lbs, and everytime it does, even with near perfect dieting, it always figures out a way to jump back up to 190lbs.

I am not concerned with being a bodybuilder per say, I just want to be healthy and live a long life, before I started working out my triglycerides (which are under 150 for the average person) were up to 775, and I am only 27 years old, with diebetic grandparents on both sides of my family.

I currently do Mon, Wed, Fri (abs and 23 minute HIIT cardio), Tues, Thurs, Sat (weightlifting and 12 minute HIIT cardio), Sundays I do a 23 minute session of HITT cardio only, with NO CHEAT DAYS on diet.

On cardio I alternate between the stationary bike, and the precor elliptical.

I think I have an extremely slow metabolism.

So I am thinking of trying the following...

1. forcing myself to drink more water
2. cutting starchy carbs in the evening
3. seperating my carb-centric meals and protien-centric meals
4. reducing my calories to around 1600 cals per day
5. adding another 45 minute cardio session in the evenings.

Any more ideas? Are any of these ideas wrong? I already know that everyone is going to tell me not to cut my cals but nothing else seems to be working.

---andgroup

Hey congratulations on what you've already done! You're doing great.

You could probably get past this plateau by just switching something up.

When do you do your cardio? In the morning, in the afternoon or at night. Try chaning the time.

What type of HIIT do you do? treadmill, bike,eliptical? Whatever you're doing, try doing something different like running outside, jumping rope, swimming or riding hills on your bike.

Maybe all it will take is an extra walk in the evening.

Like you said, I wouldn't cut the calories.

Good luck and keep us informed. :db: :eat: :jumping:

Currently my HIIT cardio is alternated between a precor elliptical, and a stationary bike.

My routine, is to wake up drink some cold water, take my triglyceride medicine, and I am also taking Xenadrine (ephedrine free), and doing my weightlifting or cardio in the morning on an empty stomach (I was told I will burn more fat that way).

Then I wait 45 mins to 1 hour before eating anything.

By reading John Stone's logs he dropped from where I am down to around 12% bodyfat rather quickly, he says that cutting his calories down to 1200 calories per day hindered his progress, but I wish I could hinder my progress like that... <grin>

I read somewhere this weekend, that the SAME caloric intake (such as 10x your bodyweight) for every individual will not work, and that each persons metabolism is different, and I am wondering if a person (if they could handle it) with alot of bodyfat should drop their calories pretty low until they get around the 12%-15% body fat range.

It seems to me that this worked good for John Stone and he consistently dropped weight and bodyfat.

I am personally of the opinion that the reason this is way of thinking not recommended is that the most difficult part of fitness is NOT LOSING the weight, but staying motivated to keep it off, becuase once you reach your GOAL, what are you striving for? Also, for the reason that this type of approach probably lends to a "CRASH DIET" instead of a lifestyle change.

However, I have already made the lifestyle change, and do not plan on reverting back to my old ways, as my weight problems were not movitational, but ignorance, I just didn't know what I was doing before. So I wonder if cutting my calories would give me an extra boost...

That's just what is running through my head.... maybe it's wrong.

Oh well..

Thanks

i think what john meant by hindering his progress is that it affected his muscle mass which he then had to spend time bulking back up.