Hey guys,

Long time reader, first time poster! I'm excited to get involved.

I recently changed (started taking notice of) my diet to lose the stubborn weight I have always had. I have started having 6 small meals a day, and have basically tried to reduce my carbs intake and increase protein. My typical diet now looks like this:

Meal 1: Myocell-sr in skim milk (meal replacement, casein based protein powder)

Meal 2: Half can of baked beans

Meal 3: Can of tuna in some salad

Workout 1: ~hour vigourous weight training (4-5 days a week)
Meal 4: Low-carb whey protein shake in water (during and after workout)

Meal 5: Usually lean meat with lots of veggies

Workout 2: 1.5 hours Muay Thai training/run/swim (4-5 days a week)
Meal 6: Usually the other half of the baked beans, sometimes raw eggs, cottage cheese etc

So I am doing between 4-5 resistance workouts and 4-5 cardio workouts per week.

I lost about 7kg in the first 3 weeks on this pretty much exactly what's above, but seem to have reached a plateau now for about 2 weeks where i have not continued to lose weight and I'm not really sure why.

Any suggestions would be hugely appreciated! Thanks guys and girls

Hi,

glad you are getting active with us!

Little more information needed, like your age weight and gender. Great that you lost 7kg but we don't know what to base that off of.

I'm not the one to answer your diet questions, but I suggest that you cook your eggs...ewww..

I agree with this comment

Good luck with your diet. If I wasn't trying to get mine down pat, I would offer suggestions but the "blind" shouldn't lead people.

Age weight height?

Must answer this first

Oops sorry for leaving that out guys.

20 years old

Male

6'1

88.5kg at the moment. Started around 94-95.

Let me know if theres any more info you need. Thanks!

Looks like you're not eating even close to enough to me. Judging by what you said, you're at about 1100-1300 calories per day (guestimating here), and your maintenance is probably somewhere around 3000, and used to be higher. That in itself would explain your plateau. Figure out how many calories you're eating per day and get back to us.

Your diet needs a lot of help otherwise, but let's start there.

well your food choices look good, except for the can of baked beans (usually a lot of added sugar, possibly fat, and sodium).

I think you need to weigh/measure your food, adn use Fitday.com to see exactly how many calories you're getting, and how many grams of protein/fat/carbs you're getting.

for your height and activity level, I'd say you're under-eating ...without knowing the exact quantities you're consuming.

Okay great thanks for the help so far. The baked beans I get are reduced salt and only 2g fat per serve, so they shouldn't be too bad, but I can cut them out if thats what you suggest.

I'll calorie count for today and post it up here later on, but I'm pretty sure I'm eating around 8000kj per day (1904 calories).

I understand that mathematically this is too little, but if I'm trying to lose fat then that should be a good thing, right?

No, not necessarily a good thing. If you're undereating, it is entirely possible that your body has compensated by slowing down and would explain your plateu. However, it is unlikely for that to happen after 3 weeks unless it was pretty drastic.

"Only 2g fat per serving" does not, by any means, make something healthy. In fact, that has virtually nothing to do with it. What is much more important is the amount of added crap they have in whatever beans you're eating, including the added sugar. Fat does not make you fat.

again...we need age, gender, height, weight, etc...
vital stats.

Just because I can burn fat on 1904 cals doesn't mean you can or should. that might be too few, or not low enough.

(incidentally, I diet to cut fat off my body by eating close to 2,200 calories, i'm only 5'9", and 32 years old...male)

@ Malkore, I posted this information a little earlier in the thread

Also, i checked the beans. per 100g:

343kj
4.8g protein
0.5 sat fat
11.1 carbs
2.0g sugar
5.2g dietary fibre
170mg sodium

So you reckon I should get rid of the beans?

the beans are better than i expected. i wouldn't worry about them. however if that's the amount in 1 can and you eat half a can, that doesn't even count as a snack.

You're right about 200lbs, 6'1" and 20. 1900 calories is too low. I'm just under 200lbs, only 5'9", and 32. I can shed fat on 2200 calories a day, and while everyone's unique, I'm positive you can have good fat loss at or above 2,200 a day.

Goal #1, you want to eat 200 grams of protein per day, spread evenly across each meal (so about 35grams per meal). The beans aren't enough protein for one meal.

1) Don't think I'm seeing five servings of veggies/fruits in there, though that's not entirely clear.

2) Wouldn't worry so much about the macronutrient percentages, I don't think that's as important as some do. And you need GOOD carbs to fuel your vigorous exercise.

3) I don't like shakes and powders. Eat real food. :-)

4) I would agree that you are probably not eating enough.

5) Don't get too hung up on weight, especially as much as you are working out. Overall fitness, and changes in body proportion/composition, are more important in the long haul.

6) I wouldn't eat meat every day. Once a week, if that.

7) Is there any way you can do your weights right after your cardio? If not, do a 5-minute warmup before you begin.

8) Get some nuts in there, but in moderation, of course.

Six meals a day is great, though. I'm even crazier--I eat eight. :-D

Hope this helps. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

The rest is cool.