lack of sleep and weight and fat loss??

[JamesMC]

so I have been working out steadily for the last 4 weeks, almost everyday, i usually go to the gym, do 10-20mins on elliptical and treadmill, then i do some weight training, usually i try and do a few different exersices per body part, sometimes i do a full body workout and only do one or two exersives per body part, then i will end the workout with another 10-20mins of cardio

I work full time doing landscape construction and its a pretty hard and physically demanding job.

my problem is im so busy with work/workingout/girlfriend and friends i never get a good night sleep, anywhere between 4-6 hours usually..except on sundays i get to sleep in.

Im trying to loose all the fat and gain muscle. Im 511, 218lbs.

I have lost some weight in the last 4 weeks probably between 6-10lbs

but i dont know if i should be loosing more for the amount im working out and could that be because i dont get enought sleep?

what am i doing wrong?

[LiftGirl]

Your rate of fat loss is about right. You can't expect to lose more than 1-2 lbs a week. Not getting enough sleep certainly slows it down, though. I don't have any links, but there have been studies done on it. Lack of sleep raises havoc with your body in all sorts of ways.

[westside24]

it increases cortisol production probably. and yea, thats a healthy loss of weight you are experiencing, when you see infomercials, and testimonials online or on tv, about "I lost 50 in only 10 days!" <--- no thats either not true, or its very unhealthy, if your losing more than 5 lbs a week, your probably kissing alot of your muscular gains goodbye.

tell your girl to live with you, and make partying and hanging out with friends, a WEEKEND ONLY type of thing. your gettin old enough, (grey hairs, balls are sagging more, receding hairline, you talk about things like, your looking to have bunyan surgery, your knees crack, your shoulders crack, you dont say cool stuff like you did in H.S. I can go on forever) you should start settling down, that will save you alot of trouble, alot of money, and alot of time.

[Lady C]

Originally Posted by JamesMC

what am i doing wrong?

I wouln't say it is wrong but you might see better results with a different order. Do your elipitical AFTER the weight training!!! Warm-up on eliptical only 5 min. not 20 mins. The goal with cardio is fat loss but the goal with lifting is to gain muscles. You need energy to get great benefits with the lifting not with the cardio.

Westside has it right too - lack of sleep increases cortisol which is connected with fat gain not loss.

[JamesMC]

i find if i go hard enough on preworkout cardio i will sweat like crazy through my whole workout..i figured the more cardio i do the better..but i will try and just do a warm up for 10mins first then workout and and do 20-30mins after

[westside24]

the only way I would do cardio before working out, is if I were doing something simple like bis tris, and or abs... otherwise I would save cardio for afterwards. more cardio in a sense is good, but doing it twice an hour apart from each other I dont think will make a diff.

[JamesMC]

so you are saying its not really worth it? im i just wasting engery doing cardio before i work out?

today before i worked out i went on the treadmill for 10mins plus cool down, i ran the first 5mins at 5.5 mph then the last 5 at 6.5mph, I think i ran just over a mile in totall.

treadmill said i lost 300 calories..

then i worked out, did 3 sets of bench press at 35 a side, then incline at 25, preacher curl at 25lbs a side, then i did sit ups and then dumbell bench press 55lbs each.

then i went for 20mins on the elliptical trainer, it said i lost 350 calories or something like

that

[LiftGirl]

The problem with doing cardio before lifting is that it depletes the glycogen in your muscles. Glycogen is the fuel muscles run on, and they need it for moving heavy things (ie, lifting weights). They don't need it as much for cardio; the muscles can instead use fat to fuel cardio after lifting weights.

How much you sweat isn't really indicative of how good your workout is. Also, don't count on the calorie count on the treadmill. Cardio machines are notorious overestimators when it comes to measuring calories burned.

[westside24]

yea who cares how many calories it says you burned. its not as simple as burning the calories off that you put in.

[Atlas]

Wow, reading this was weird! I was in a similar situation myself. I have always done landscape construction (water features, rock walls, etc...) and at the same time that I was starting I wanted to lose weight too! I used Max-OT as my workout plan and used the labor as my cardio and recovery. When pushing a wheel barrow I would think of it as HIIT and run when it was full and walk when it was empty. I would carry all the stones into the work area by hand and throw them at the pile, haha. Everything was about getting leaner, bigger, and stronger.

I loved those times. I had a gf who was very understanding of my goals and didnt mind when I passed out at 9pm and got up at 4:30AM to go workout before work. You just sparked a bunch of great memories for me, thanks.

Your weight loss is going well. Keep up your protein ALL DAY and your quality carbs from the morning to just after work. I used to have a protein bar or nuts to hold me over. Heres what my diet looked like:

Meal 1 4:30am - oatmeal and protein shake
Meal 2 6:30am - protein shake, yogurt, fruit, and juice
Meal 3 10am - protein bar
Meal 4 12pm - 2 chicken breast, pasta, and 2 liter gatorade
Meal 5 2:30pm - protein bar/nuts
Meal 6 6pm - Steak or chicken, potatoes, broccoli, and salad.
Meal 7 9pm - protein shake

All this brought me to 6' 225lbs @ 10.5% bf within months! Down from 300lbs. Best time of my life by far!!!

As I said, I used Max-OT and also ran on weekends sometimes too.

Good luck!

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by JamesMC

today before i worked out i went on the treadmill for 10mins plus cool down,

i it said i lost 350 calories or something like

that

I'll never understand why people who are trying to do a "warm up" consistently do a "cool down" after their PRE-workout cardio. A cool down is just that,...you're cooling down. It's a "POST-workout" thing.

Also, if you've read our threads even moderately you'd see how incredibly inaccuate those readouts are re: calories burned, yet people cling to them like gospel. They are unreliable and dramatically exagerate caloric expenditure. Chuck it in the drink mate.

.

[Merrida]

Originally Posted by westside24

receding hairline, you talk about things like, your looking to have bunyan surgery, your knees crack, your shoulders crack,

Oooh Westy! Bunions, drifting hairlines and crepitus are not reserved for the "elder generation," which, by the way, is not defined by the chronology of years spent on Earth, but rather your lifestyle. Eeeek!