Need help cant seem to lose anymore weight!

[RBTrucking]

Well I came down from 380 to 220 and i have been stuck at 220 since february 6th it is really starting to get me mad. To the point where i am about to say the hell with all of it. Maybe you can tell me what i am doing wrong. I am 6-4 trying to get down to 200-205 here is my diet and workout routine please tell me what needs to be improved.

wake up: protien shake then i go for a 3 mile run on the treadmill at 5mph 5%incline for the first 2 miles then 3%incline 5.5mph for the last mile.

after that a chicken breast and another protien shake. then ill go weightlift

then a half a cup of almounds , protien shake and some old fashioned oatmeal 100% natural

Then some tuna straight out of the can no bread and maybe another bowl of oatmeal.

then for dinner its 2 chicken breasts a lowfat soup , brocolli, and corn.

Then before bed its lowfat cottage cheese.

I do my cardio 5X a week please someone give me advice i am really getting annoyed with this no weightloss in soo long!!

[CF-OC_gal]

I can't offer any advice to you other than it might be time to incorporate some leafy green vegetables into your diet. You've done a helluva awesome job with your accomplishments so far - kudos : .

The closer you get to your ideal weight it is normal to slow down the weight loss. Don't despair. Your body could be "taking a little break" or giving you signals it's time to get into maintenance mode.

Others here who have lost a lot of weight can probably help you out.

Congrats again!

[RBTrucking]

Thanks for the congrats. Its just that it really makes me mad that i have come this far and cant seem to get any farther. I was thinking of maybe switching to hiit instead of my 3 mile run but other than that how is my diet should i change anything would ya say?

First of all, let me say that I think what you have accomplished thus far is absolutely awesome. Don't get discouraged.

I think it's time to totally revamp what you are doing as your body may have become adjusted to the food and exercise that you are giving it. I don't think you are eating enough. It wouldn't surprise me that if you increased your volume while still eating clean, that you would realize a resurgence in your weight loss.

With regard to your exercise, ramp up the intensity on the treadmill by doing interval training or maybe a Tabata protocol. Run for 5-10 minutes to elevate the HR. Then run 200 to 400 meters at a very demanding pace. Rest 1/2 the distance just completed by running slowly or moderately walking. Then repeat 4-8 times. Follow with a 5-10 minute cool-down.

Don't rule out power calesthetics as part of your fitness. Pushups (even girlie pushups if you need to), bodyweight squats, walking lunges if you can do them, the kind of exercises that you used to do in P.E. classes in high school. Once or twice a week of doing these will help you. Just have a brisk pace when performing them for 20-30 minutes.

Why don't you start posting your workouts here as many others, myself included, do. You'll get great support and training ideas.

Don't quit before the fitness miracle occurs.

[RBTrucking]

well my workout routine goes as follows i run 3 miles a day 5 days a week at 5mph 5%incline for the first 2 miles then i do 3%incline 5.5-6mph for the last mile.

weightlifting:
Monday: chest, tricep (Dumbell tricep press), (dumbbell bench press) hanging leg raise.
Tuesday: off
Wednsday: Deadlift, ,. ,( Lateral raise shoulder). (dumbbell shoulder press) Hanging leg raise
Thursday: Off
Friday: Bicep bicep curl (Dumbell row bicep back) (dumbbell curl bicep), hanging leg raise. Pull up’s

[LiftGirl]

I'd suggest adding legs to your lifting workouts. If you build muscle mass in your legs, it will help burn fat all over the whole body. By neglecting legs, you're missing out on half of your opportunity to build fat burning muscle.

Also, I agree that you aren't eating enough and especially not enough vegetables. You don't have any vegetables until dinner time. Try to make each meal have some carbs, some fat and some protein.

[etothepii]

You know, our bodies are very adaptive. Sounds like your body has adapted it's metabolism to deal with your diet and exercise. This isn't a great thing (It's probably a survival mechanism, so it is a great thing!) But it isn't what you want right now.

You need to shock your system. Increase calories for a short term, shake up your workout, change routine... whatever it takes to make your body start burning calories again.

Look into HIIT cadio exercise. That right there may do it!

[.V.]

Wow, that's some impressive progress you've made. You've just hit a plateau - big deal, we all have them. I started my weight loss at 300 and you started at 380 - you've had it harder than I have. Don't give up because you are temporarily stuck - keep in mind the magnificent change you've made so far. It could be a couple of things holding you back. For one thing, go to www.fitday.com and create a free account. Use this to keep an absolute honest accounting of your nutrition profile for a few days or a week. Then re-evaluate your diet. It looks to me like you aren't eating enough and your body is trying to hold on to fat because it thinks it's starving. Perhaps a couple of your meals are too big at one time. I see that you are eating 6 meals a day. One of them includes two chicken breasts - that's 68g of protein at one sitting. Protien is good, but excess WILL be stored as fat. You may have to do something like I did and spread your eating out even further - with even smaller meals - even more often. Right now, I'm eating 8-12 times a day, depending on my activities for that day. Your body has made drastic changes and it's needs have changed. You've got to adapt to those new needs as they arise. Those of us who've been very obese have to really stay on top of our nutrition more than others because the changes are so big - we have to really develop an intuitive feeling for what our body needs.

Another thing it may be that is easy to forget because it's hard to see until all of the fat is gone. You have been building muscle this whole time too. Muscle is more dense and heavier than fat...if you can't see the muscle growing but aren't losing weight or even getting heavier because the muscle gain is faster than the fat loss it can be very discouraging. Make sure that isn't the problem too (not that I would consider it a problem - more of a hidden blessing).

Bro, you've made it to the point where it's time to toss the scales into the closet and start tracking fat loss instead of weight loss.

Best of luck reaching your goals man - it's hard, frustrating, and sometimes discouraging, but think about how far you've come...you know you can do it from here on out...

Keep kicking it's butt.

About the workout - where are the squats and deadlifts? Those lifts build muscle on the whole body. They boost the metabolism to fire up that fat burning furnace. The boost GH and test levels naturally so that the rest of your workouts are more effective. The two most important lifts are missing. ADD THEM.

[RBTrucking]

i do the deadlift but i dont have the equipment to do a squat another thing is i was told you should only work one muscle group one day out of the week so thats what i have been doing from now on I used to just work everything every other day but i may have to say i have seen bigger gaines from doing the once a week thing what do you guys say?

[.V.]

OK, one body part/day - yes that's a great idea. It gives you a full week for it to recover.

Squats however, are too important to not do simply because you don't have a rack. Start with a weight you can clean and press (pick up from the floor, bring to your chest, then push up over your head safely), lower it carefully onto your shoulders - then do your squatting from there. If doing it this way just remember not to go to failure - you don't want to risk injury from being too tired when you have to push it back up overhead to bring the bar back down in front of you.

You can also hold the bar behind your legs below your butt and squat that way too - also important not to start out too heavy so you don't injure your sacro-ileac before it gets used to the movement.

You can also load up a couple of dumbells, but them to your sides and squat that way.

If you really like working one body part each day - check out Max OT - an awesome way to do it - very effective. http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.asp

Well, changing your workout to one body part once a day and giving it a week off between - that would account for your weight loss stalling.

We regretfully inform you that YOU ARE BUILDING MUSCLE.:

Oh and if you don't want to do weighted squats like I described...pierini made an excellent suggestion. Body weight squats. They are actually quite challenging. They aren't the massive huge leg builders that most bodybuilders want to have - but it definitely takes a real man to pump out 100 or more bodyweight squats. Besides, you're still a big enough guy that it won't take that many to be challenging and build some strong legs. Give 'em a try.

[abarlament]

What is your daily calories? If you've been eating hte same thing the whole time, you may have just finally reached your maintnence calorie level, and need to re-adjust.

I don't think 1x a week is optimal for much, if anything. Try working out twice a week. Do it smartly: keep adding weight when you can (you should be able to add weight consistantly if you are new to weightlifting), don't do too much volume (don't do too little either).

[RBTrucking]

I was told that the deadlift works the same muscles as the squat so if you do one you really dont need to do the other.

[.V.]

Nope, squat is primarily quads with some emphasis on the hams and glutes. The deadlift is mostly back with some emphasis on the legs. Both are really important for maximum progress. If I could only keep one lift - it would be the deadlift, but I'd sure miss squatting. Both help make a strong core - one key to successful strength training.

[RBTrucking]

well i dont know if you guys dont think im eating enough maybe you can give me a meal plan cuz i dont want to increase my eating and then go overboard on it. Thanks for al the help btw i appreciate it.

[.V.]

First just try spreading what you are already eating into more often smaller meals. Like the one with 2 chicken breasts - make that two meals, two hours apart (for one example). Then if that doesn't do the trick, add another small meal somewhere else during the day (each meal should be a snack rather than a big plate of food). That will fire that metabolism up and get that fat burning furnace going again.