My turn!

After 6 weeks on the Stronglifts 5x5 program, my body measurements are exactly the same. See for yourself!

Intensity doesn't seem to be the problem -- I'm not a monster yet, but I've progressed quite nicely in just 6 weeks.

My diet is pretty darn good as you can see.

Wrist tendonitis has forced a break in my routine, so I'm evaluating what I need to do next and am looking for opinions.

Should I go back to focusing on cardio (I'm on Week 7 of C25K anyhow) and go into maintenance mode for lifting?

Do I just need to cut calories even further? Go totally vegan?

Do I need to up my calories to put on more muscle mass? I've never done strict gain/cut cycles and may need to look into it.

Or do I need to just keep at the lifting and trust that the fat will drop as I get stronger?

If you're getting stronger then your intensity is probably not an issue, what's your body fat currently at? If it's low (in the teens) you've probably hit a point of diminished returns where it's going to be slower and harder to really get the changes to happen, but they WILL happen.

This may sound crazy, but you might want to try increasing your calorie intake for a while (yes, I said INCREASING!) Give your muscles the fuel they need to grow and as you gain more muscle mass, your metabolism will increase, causing more fat burn throughout the day. If you're lifting hard and heavy, the extra calories will go to muscle growth and not fat storage. The scale won't necessarily go down, but if you're tracking body fat percentage and measurements, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised what MORE food can do for you.

I'm not saying double your calorie intake, but give it a little boost (and make it good calories not junk food!) and see what happens...

Are you being measured professionally? Someone experienced in measuring body parts? If someone doesn't know what they are doing or doesn't take their time results can vary.

Is the same person doing your measurements each time? Again different people use different techniques (locations) to meaure ...an inch one way or the other can make a difference.

How is your BF being measured? Formulas based on body measurements are only as good as the numbers used to calculate the results. Scales have varying levels of consistency and accuracy. Calipers would be based on the skill of the assessor.

Can you see a visual difference in your body? Does your clothes fit differently (better)?

I would evaluate my numbers again based on the answers to these questions.

I'm currently somewhere between 14.5% and 15% body fat.

I've almost given up on my gym's caliper measurements, because it's a different person each time. That's by I bought my Tanita scale over a year ago, and I use it at the same time every day under the same conditions for consistency.

Increasing calories is definitely something I'm thinking of, but what gets me is that I made it to 12% BF this same time last year. Looking back at my logs and posts, I find that my diet is stricter now than last year -- so fewer calories might be the culprit. But I was also doing 5k/3mile/30min runs 3x a week easily, and I've cut way back on that to accommodate my lifting.

I'm may reaching a rate of diminishing return as you've said -- I've gained about 50+ lbs of lean muscle in the last few years. I see a lot of bodybuilders at my weight lifting huge amounts, so I thought I'd be able to stay at this weight and peel off fat while increasing my lifts -- only it hasn't been so. I didn't expect miraculous results in just 6 weeks, but I expected something.

I'll have to take pictures, because I can't readily see a difference but that's a good point. I don't notice a difference in clothes fitting though -- in fact, most of the jeans I bought at 12% BF don't fit anymore.

I have a very similar problem, although not quite as low body fat (I believe I'm somewhere around 17%).

I went down from 200 lbs to 190 lbs and have stalled ever since -- about the end of January. I am shooting for 175-180 lbs with little to no muscle loss.

My intake is at about 2000 calories. I generally eat:

1/2 cup (dry) oatmeal with a glass of NF milk, tbsp of honey, and a banana
1 cup cottage cheese with 2 tbsp of strawberry yogurt
2 bagel sandwiches (100% whole grain) with tuna
6 mini oranges
1 apple
2 1/4 lb turkey burgers (no buns)

This is geared toward moderate carb intake with high protein and fiber. I picked 2000 calories as a target because that's my BMR for my height, weight, and age, so all activity winds up being a nice deficit.

For activity, I bike round-trip to work (7 miles total) each day. I do 1 hr of weights (moderate intensity) 4-5 times a week. I follow each lifting session with 30-45 minutes of elliptical. If I go for 45 minutes, I do moderate (65%) intensity, or 155 bpm targeted from the Karvonen method. If I go for 30 minutes, I start off with HIIT (3 minutes warmup, 15 minutes of alternating 30s sprint / 30s jog) which usually keeps me at 165-170bpm, then finish the rest at 155 bpm.

Now, this is creating about a 1000 calorie deficit according to the Traineo formulas (not sure how much I trust them or the calorie reading on the machine). I understand I could be going into starvation mode, but then I think I'd still be losing weight somewhere (muscle, at least). Instead, I am staying exactly the same, visually. So what's going on? I was dropping fine before, so I can't figure out why I've stalled.

I've been an avid lifter for over 10 years and I keep changing my phases every ~2 months to keep myself adapting. However, I train mostly to maintain right now. I don't want to add muscle because I want overall lighter weight (easier on the knees). So I figure the problem is in my diet or cardio. I could use some feedback if anyone can spot the problem right off. Thanks in advance!

Dude, your diet has way too many carbs in it for someone who want to be a lifter. Cut out the daily 1000 calories worth of rice and bread and you'll have no problems.

I can't speak for your intensity, but if heavy lifting is your goal you need to start eating more like a lifter.

Try dividing your protein up into smaller quantities throughout the day. It's been documented in several articles that your body isn't very efficient in digesting more than 30-40 g of protein at a time. 2 1/4 pound burgers -- about 8 oz of lean (I'm assuming, but some turkey burgers are anything but!!) meat - that's about 50 g of protein at once. You should aim for half of that in a meal or snack. The same thing applies with your tuna - no more than a can at a time, likely less.

Another note, I don't know how many grams of protein you're eating, but it really doesn't seem like a whole lot on your list.

Other than the bagels, the carb selection is fantastic.

Will do! I actually space both bagel sandwiches out. I take one as lunch and the other is eaten usually late afternoon or evening before I hit the gym.

I make the turkeys myself from ground meat, so I definitely know it's lean. I usually eat both patties together LATE at night (11pm or later) after I get home from work. I'll do my best to space it out.



Well, I get 28g from the cottage cheese, another 48 from the turkey, and about 32 from the tuna. That's 108g right there, not counting the glass of milk with my breakfast (8g) and small amount of yogurt (2g??). That's 0.57g per lb of body weight, which is high enough, maybe even too high.



Thanks!

So you think I should reduce or eliminate the bagels? I am eating them mainly for the fiber. Without them, I don't think I'm taking in enough dietary fiber (but I'll go back and check). If I take them out, it will be some work to find 500 calories' worth of substitutes that aren't heavy in protein OR carbs.

Thanks for the comments! But I could still use pointers from anyone that spots obvious problems...

I eat about 90 g a day for my meager 123 lbs of LBM. (183 lbs total, yeah, I'm still fat, LOL, but losing it and gaining a bit of muscle in the process). Generally speaking, up to 1 g per lb of LBM has documented benefits. Body builders go way beyond that though; there's some debate on whether or not it's actually beneficial - they err on the side of overage. Honestly, though, they work out MUCH harder than the average joe, and I'd imagine the rules of thumb wouldn't apply for them anyway.

At 190 and 17% BF, your LBM is 158 lbs. With the workout you're describing, I'd probably aim for .85-.9 g per lb LBM - so about 140 g of protein. Keep your caloric ratios in balance - about 30% from protein, 30% from fat, and 40% from carbs. If you did that, your caloric intake would be about the same as what you're taking in now.

The reason I don't like the bagels is the type of carb it is- even though it's whole wheat, and it's got a bit of fiber in it, you'd be doing yourself a big favor if you switched the carb to a fruit or vegetable. Unless it's a starch (rice, potatoes, corn) or another wheat product, it will have lower glycemic load, which will stabilize your blood sugar better to control hunger optimally, and will likely have much more fiber than a bagel anyway.

I've read 1g per kilogram of LBM....



Ok, I'll take a look at my diet this weekend and figure out what the totals are and restructure.



Gotcha. I just did the calculations and you are right -- I don't even need the bagels for fiber (I am taking in 20g from fruit and oatmeal alone), so I will begin cutting them out. Unfortunately, I buy in bulk and I can't afford to throw food away, so I've got a few packs to work through.

I'll cut out one bagel for now and replace it with fruit until I work through the stash. In the meantime, I'll check my calorie percentages against the numbers you gave and try to hit them. Hopefully this will break me out of my rut. Thanks so much!

I think it's 1 g per KILOGRAM of body weight, or 1 g per POUND of LBM. Works out to be the about the same for most people. Stick with the LBM / LB measurement. Your protein requirement is directly tied to your muscle mass and workout level; doesn't have anything to do with how much fat you're packing; I like calculations that make sense. I'm sure others will chime in soon.

Itadaki, you are consistently over-eating calories vs. your goal listed on the website. Could that be part of the culprit?

The calorie goal is for modest weight loss and I hadn't been very good at entering my exercises either.

Since I stopped logging my food intake in February, I had gotten heavily into the Stronglifts 5x5 and resumed my C25K training. I had also become a lot stricter with my diet -- I could be a Saladworks poster boy!

Still, I'm reviewing my diet as you suggest Angie. I'm still not sure if I should go up or down. If I go up, I'll definitely look into eating more like a lifter as Bourblaster has suggested.

I had thought that sticking to this food intake coupled with the lifting and cardio would act as a cutting program, but obviously there's something wrong here.

Thanks all -- I'm still mulling this over. While my wrist tendonitis is healing, I'm sticking with my current diet and have switched to exclusive C25K runs until I get better. I probably have 2-4 weeks to reach a hard decision since that's how long I'm slated for physical therapy... I appreciate everyone's input -- keep it coming!

Arby, the only thing I see about your diet is that you don't have much veggies in there. If I had to cut carbs, I'd drop the bagels and substitute leafy greens.

Oh! Gotcha. That makes more sense, anyway... Much more intuitive. Thanks, I'll shoot for the number you suggest.



True. I used to take in more vegetables when I was cooking. I've stopped doing that (so I'd have an easier time assessing nutrition info) and that has definitely cut down on the veggies. I'll work them back in. I do eat baby carrots once in a while, but I'll work in some spinach salad too... Thanks. I'm not sure that will really aid in fat loss, but it is definitely a good idea to have a balanced diet.

The idea is to cut down on carbs while still feeling full. Substituting leafy vegetables for dense carbs pound for pound, or by volume, will result in fewer carbs. Change what you eat, instead of just eating less.

I'm still working on this. It's really tough to break old habits, and I had thought I had come far enough but I see I haven't.

I've been reviewing Tom Venuto's recommendations on carb intake. It seems if I can cut my carbs by a third then that'd be a good start.

I'd just love to shake that man's hand some day.

And that article was a nice reminder to pull back the reigns on the pasta intake as of late, (even if it is whole wheat--so misleading as the fiber increase in that stuff is so nominal it almost makes me want to save the cash and just get some quality regular pasta instead, digressing), as while there's no denying how YUM it is, it's still in my mind a treat meal, not a staple, even if I'm not in hard core leaning mode anymore.

Pasta is YUM! But, compare the nutrition label to a Snicker's bar - and then consider a typical pasta meal is equivalent to about 4 or 5 Snicker's. It's soooo easy to overeat pasta. The nutrition label deceives you into thinking it's not too bad, but look more closely and the serving size is about 1 cup. 1 CUP!!!??? That's just getting started!

Heheh! That's why when I indulge in pasta, be it whole wheat or regular, I'm sure to make the rest of the day's calories balance that out. Some things are worth it.

YUM AGAIN!