Losing fat, but not building mass. Also clothes issue.

[RickTheToad]

I've lost around 16-16 pounds so far and I went from an XL to a L; but prob. could even fit into a medium. The fat from the chest has all but disappeared, so the chest is pretty broad and cut, double chin gone. I took a look at my prof. photos and I do not like them. One of the shirts I wore was an Old Navy XL and two of me can fit into them now. The jeans were baggy as hell to. My waist went from a 33 to 30 and now my pics are all fcked. I've uploaded them to photofeeler, and they are not doing well. Pics that I did, range from 60 - 80, the photographers, 20 - 40. WTF. One even got 6% attractive.

My arms are not gaining mass even though I work them every two days. My legs are well defined though. I was hoping to have some gains to get back into my old clothes with mass and muscle, but that is not happening. All I eat is protein, some carbs, veggies, and whole milk cheese. Nothing seems to work.

The prof. photos cost a lot of $$ and they are useless. Even the ones I like do poorly. What do I do? Having now zero luck with online dating stuff. I was better off with my old pics when I was 18 pounds heavier. Plus, most of my clothes no longer fit. I bought some new ones, but going from an XL to a M/L cannot be pulled off with the same clothes.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

I've lost around 16-16 pounds so far and I went from an XL to a L; but prob. could even fit into a medium. The fat from the chest has all but disappeared, so the chest is pretty broad and cut, double chin gone. I took a look at my prof. photos and I do not like them. One of the shirts I wore was an Old Navy XL and two of me can fit into them now. The jeans were baggy as hell to. My waist went from a 33 to 30 and now my pics are all fcked. I've uploaded them to photofeeler, and they are not doing well. Pics that I did, range from 60 - 80, the photographers, 20 - 40. WTF. One even got 6% attractive.

My arms are not gaining mass even though I work them every two days. My legs are well defined though. I was hoping to have some gains to get back into my old clothes with mass and muscle, but that is not happening. All I eat is protein, some carbs, veggies, and whole milk cheese. Nothing seems to work.

The prof. photos cost a lot of $$ and they are useless. Even the ones I like do poorly. What do I do? Having now zero luck with online dating stuff. I was better off with my old pics when I was 18 pounds heavier. Plus, most of my clothes no longer fit. I bought some new ones, but going from an XL to a M/L cannot be pulled off with the same clothes.

Cut down on the cardio, add a few calories back into the diet and focus on putting mass where you want it. Take your time with it. Even several pounds of muscle will make you feel better about it.

 

[Poonstra]

You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time. This is not how this works.

I've posted this before in an other thread:

You've got two choices.
1.Gain weight (you gain fat and muscle)
2.Lose weight (you lose fat and muscle)

The ratio between fat/muscle gain/losses can be manipulated.

So for example, don't work out and eat nothing but chips and drink cola, and your gains are 90% fat and 10% muscle.

If for another example, you eat 200 Kcalories below maintenance and work out 3-4 times a week, your losses consist of 90% fat and 10% muscle.

The worst thing you can do is what most girls choose to do if they want to lose weight, don't work out and eat below maintenance.
You're losses will be 90% muscle and 10% fat. They'll be like "yay I've lost 7 kilo's". True, but you also became fatter (relatively).

 

[IKO69]

I normally low carb and up fats and protein a bit. This should be done for a short interval of time (while working out of course)

 

[RickTheToad]

I get you, but I'm hardly sitting around eating chips and watching TV. Just cut out the junk and working out w/ cardio.

 

[Macaframalama]

You can't lose fat and build muscle at the same time.

False. Neither goal will be optimized, but it's called recomping.
@RickTheToad up and eat your protein first in your meals, move on to vegetables and finish off with carbs. If your protein intake is where it should be, then you are not going to want to take in as many carbs. Your weight training, or at least the bulk of it, should be metabolically demanding, ie. Dense (short rest periods/moderate intensity/moderate volume), super/tri/giant sets, circuits. Cardio should be anaerobic in nature. HIIT, sprints, airdyne sprints/circuits, KB swings, prowler pushes, sled pulls, loaded carries, etc. If your waist/belly tape measurements are decreasing, while increasing/maintaining scale weight, you are on the right track. When you stall, increase protein again.

 

[Poonstra]

False.

Your body can never be in both an anabolic and catabolic state at any given moment.
You are probably talking about zig-zag-ing between the two. And yes this can be in a period as short as a day.

 

[RickTheToad]

I've upped my proteins to close to 60%, 30% fats, 10% carbs. I am thinking of adding in some resistance bands into my regimen. I also pulled some new exercises from Bodybuilding.com to work the arms. Fat from chest, legs, arms, face, neck, and top/middle parts of my abs has gone. Still a little on the bottom part of the abdominals, but I think that should be gone within 20 months. I've added jump rope and 320 side crunches (180 right, 180 left) along with 120 front crunches to help define the abs and sculpt the abdominal region. Not happy with the arms or lower abs. Those are what I am really focusing on right now.

I was thinking of adding a pre-workout to give me a boost. Any recs? All I take is creatine and CLA right now.

 

[Poonstra]

I usually just eat a banana before workout.

 

[RickTheToad]

I usually just eat a banana before workout.

What's the banana for? Does it help with energy?

 

[mrgoodstuff]

You CAN actually do both if your untrained. Up your proteins to 1gram per lb of goal body weight or so. Don't overdo it on the cardio, get your weight loss from minimizing carbs. Untrained muscles will respond and grow, albeit not as quickly as if your focused on mass. I'm not a fan of PIG style bulking anyway. True muscle takes a very long time to put on.

 

[RickTheToad]

congrats on your weight loss, but I'm not convinced that any proper assessment can be made without photos. I'm also not convinced that it is possible to lose nearly 20 pounds and not look better/ more fit. Who cares if you are gaining or losing mass??

Certainly see the weight loss, just I thought with the upping of protein, cutting out the processed foods and carbs and pumping iron I'd be building some bulk. I guess I've not given it enough time. Seems I am getting smaller due to the fat loss. XL - M/L. Not happy having to buy new clothes either. I was hoping working with weights would had converted the fat into muscle or at least built up the muscle for some gains.

You CAN actually do both if your untrained. Up your proteins to 1gram per lb of goal body weight or so. Don't overdo it on the cardio, get your weight loss from minimizing carbs. Untrained muscles will respond and grow, albeit not as quickly as if your focused on mass. I'm not a fan of PIG style bulking anyway. True muscle takes a very long time to put on.

So true. Slow as hell.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Certainly see the weight loss, just I thought with the upping of protein, cutting out the processed foods and carbs and pumping iron I'd be building some bulk. I guess I've not given it enough time. Seems I am getting smaller due to the fat loss. XL - M/L. Not happy having to buy new clothes either. I was hoping working with weights would had converted the fat into muscle or at least built up the muscle for some gains.



So true. Slow as hell.

The fat must be stripped though. It increases the estrogen in your body. So take your time get the work done .

 

[RickTheToad]

The fat must be stripped though. It increases the estrogen in your body. So take your time get the work done .

Checked my levels last week, all in line. I just happened to have my annual physical and the GP was concerned about my rapid weight loss. But here's the thing, I'm easily eating 2200 - 2500 calories a day through vegs, fruits, cheeses, yogurt, nuts and meat (chicken, bacon, seafood, and beef). I am just not hungry as much as I used to because I cut out a lot of the processed crap and oats I've eaten before. I've added these to the mix as I was getting tired of the same ole breakfast, but still no grains. I think the diet change has helped a lot. I also like it because it is sustainable.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Checked my levels last week, all in line. I just happened to have my annual physical and the GP was concerned about my rapid weight loss. But here's the thing, I'm easily eating 2200 - 2500 calories a day through vegs, fruits, cheeses, yogurt, nuts and meat (chicken, bacon, seafood, and beef). I am just not hungry as much as I used to because I cut out a lot of the processed crap and oats I've eaten before. I've added these to the mix as I was getting tired of the same ole breakfast, but still no grains. I think the diet change has helped a lot. I also like it because it is sustainable.

Too much fruit and other carbs makes fat stripping take longer on me. Also the calories can be lower .

Do what you want though. Everyone body works differently .

Beef also sucks. There's a reason body builders eat chicken breast. It promotes lean hard muscle .

Replace that beautiful processed "Birch Benders" with a bowl of oats . Add in maybe two fruits for the rest of your carbs for the day. And enjoy your fat loss.

 

[RickTheToad]

Too much fruit and other carbs makes fat stripping take longer on me. Also the calories can be lower .

Do what you want though. Everyone body works differently .

Allow me to clarify, only berries, cherries and bananas.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

Allow me to clarify, only berries, cherries and bananas.

Keep track of your macros. On me when I'm losing fat I keep carbs below 100grams for the day. We are all different . But that's enough for me to power thru my workout.

 

[JonnyX]

Replace that beautiful processed "Birch Benders" with a bowl of oats

I think oatmeal is highly overrated. Tastes good. But it always gives me that feeling of a glycemic high. Ie. Not what anyone wants.

In my experience, the absolute best "dietary staple" carb is lentils.

Lentils are very high in protein and fiber.

I've been replacing as much of my starch/carbs as possible with lentils. Don't look any better but I feel better. And on paper, they can't be beaten.

Quinoa, beans, rice, oatmeal - none of them match lentils.

And you can eat lentils loads of different ways. You can buy them ready to eat if you go canned. Can add some seasoned salt and other sprinkled seasonings with pepper, chop up a tomato or other veggies in them, add a can of mackerel to them, oil and vinegar them, add a bit of tomato sauce, etc. They're cheap too.

All very fast and easy for a very balanced and protein dense snack/meal/side.

 

[mrgoodstuff]

I think oatmeal is highly overrated. Tastes good. But it always gives me that feeling of a glycemic high. Ie. Not what anyone wants.

In my experience, the absolute best "dietary staple" carb is lentils.

Lentils are: 1/3 protein, 1/3 carbs, 1/3 fiber.

I've been replacing as much of my starch/carbs as possible with lentils. Don't look any better but I feel better. And on paper, they can't be beaten.

Quinoa, beans, rice, oatmeal - none of them match lentils.

And you can eat lentils loads of different ways. You can buy them ready to eat if you go canned. Can add some seasoned salt and other sprinkled seasonings with pepper, chop up a tomato or other veggies in them, add a can of mackerel to them, oil and vinegar them, add a bit of tomato sauce, etc. They're cheap too.

All very fast and easy for a very balanced and protein dense snack/meal/side.

I go by how oatmeal acts upon me. Not what I read . Oatmeal is long burning clean energy and doesn't seem to bliat me.

 

[JonnyX]

I go by how oatmeal acts upon me. Not what I read . Oatmeal is long burning clean energy and doesn't seem to bliat me.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the glycemic indexes, and oatmeal varies a great deal based on what type:

Instant oat porridge 79 ± 3
Rolled oats porridge 55 ± 2
Steel-cut oats 42
Lentils 32 ± 5

So steel-cut oats come close to lentils but lentils decimate rolled or instant oats.

Plus from a nutritional perspective, oatmeal: "By weight, raw oats are 66% carbohydrates, 17% protein, 7% fat and 11% fiber". By contrast, I checked the label of the brand I eat again (got it wrong above), and it's: 54% carbs, 27% protein, 2.6% fat, 17% fiber

So an all around better nutritional profile. Obviously eat what you want if it's working for you. Just saying - don't knock lentils til you try them.