Fat Loss Stalled. Help?

Nutrition
1

Hey folks, well, my fat loss is going really well - I’m 30 lbs lighter since starting cutting in early July, and I’ve probably gained at least a few pounds of lean mass - my legs, chest, and arms are all quite a bit beefier.

Lately, though, it seems I just can’t break 240. I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve been a little sloppy the past week, but my weight hasn’t budged in over 2 weeks.

Of course, I’m open to changing anything. Right now I’m eating a very low carb diet, absolutely no grains or anything. Most of my carbs come from a few veggies and Surge Workout Fuel. 80% of my calories come from lean meat, eggs, and whey. I eat about 1800 kcals on nontraining days and 2200 on training days.

My lifting lately is a little bit of a moving target, but it generally looks like this:

1A) Deadlift - 225x5, 255x5, 275x5, 295x5, 315x5
1B) Walking lunge - 4-5 sets, 10-15 lunges, 100-140 lbs.
2A) Dips - 4 sets, 8-10 reps
2B) Pullups - 4 sets, 8-10 reps

I’ll then go to some axillary work for my arms and core, and finish with intervals. I usually run for 14-18 minutes, which is 4-5 intervals. My walking speed is 3.5mph, and my running speed is 10mph.

In addition to that, I’ll do some complexes 2-3 times per week. Cosgrove’s Evil 8 is the usual for me.

The entire workout, from warming up to walking out to my truck, normally takes about an hour. Add 15ish minutes if I do complexes.

The reason my numbers aren’t completely solid is, well, some days I feel like a fighter jet made out of biceps, and other days I feel about as strong as an anemic kitten (no it’s not actually that drastic, work with me here people) so some days my total load volume is several tons more than others.

I’m up for any suggestions. The stuff above has worked really well for a while, but isn’t any more, so I figure it’s time to mix it up. I’m kind of tapped for ideas though, so I’ll take any input or suggestions and put them to action.

Thanks in advance!

2

You may want to actually increase the calories - maybe you’ve been too low for too long.

At least a re-feed or carb-up maybe…

3

Agreed. Your inconsistent energy levels at the gym are probably due to the lack of carbs. Def add some carbs to your breakfast.

5

You did admit to being sloppy this past week. Tighten up and see what happens. I’m a big fan of refeeds/carb-ups to keep the metabolism going smooth.

6

[quote]SkyNett wrote:
You may want to actually increase the calories - maybe you’ve been too low for too long.

At least a re-feed or carb-up maybe… [/quote]

Agreed. If you have maintained the same sort of the diet for this 4 month period, then your body has probably adapted and it no longer sees your calorie intake as a calorie deficit.

7

Your body adapts to a diet over time. I recently hit the same plateau at 240. My diet was similar to yours except I was probably 40% protein 30% carbs and 30% fats. I am actually trying the Vdiet to bust through the plateau. I am due for measurements today but I know I have lost inches and about 3 pounds this week.

When I am done I will prob go back to my same diet for about 6-8 weeks to stabilize the results of the Vdiet. After that though I will prob try some form of a carb cycling diet.

The diet, just like in lifting, seems to do best in cycles.

8

WIthout geting into the tiny details (I read the thread quickly), I can’t believe how low your cals are! The lowest I was ingesting on my prep was 2400 a day, and that was when I was already down in the 170’s! I honestly think that you’ve stalled out your metabolism pretty badly. THe offhand answer I’d give is to actually start bringing in higher cal days, and allow your overall numbers to creep up over a few weeks while still training hard. Once you’re ingesting healthier numbers, you can start intelligently planning high and low days to keep things sped up while you slowly drop.

S

10

Interesting, I’ve had several carb-loading days already, but they’re generally one every 2 weeks. Looks like I might have to check out Shugart’s pizza recipe…

When you guys say to do a feed up or a carb up, how long is that? Is it just that I eat a lot of extra food/carbs for one day, or is this a multi-day deal?

Also, for pre-workout carbs, are the 42g of carbs in Surge Workout Fuel sufficient, or should I get some more from another source?

Very cool avatar indeed Stu!

11

I’m with the diet cycle school of thought on this one. I had an amazing cut over the summer but it got to the stage I just couldn’t seem to shift those last few lbs - despite a rigourous training regimen and near perfect dietary compliance.
I took 8-10 weeks off the diet (without undoing the good work) and am now 3 weeks into another mini-diet phase. I’ve only lost 2lbs in this time but look 10lbs leaner. I believe the targeted carb approach has lended itself well to this because my poundages are going up in the gym while the fat is on the decrease.

12

Lol, yeah, Tim really has the place stocked with top of the line equipment. That, plus it’s hard not to be inspired to train when you’ve got CT standing a few feet away, and you don’t want to let him down for giving you such an amazing opportunity (and just ignore the 3 videos cameras that are pointed at you at all times -lol).

(sorry for derailing the thread bit here)

S

13

[quote]Xab wrote:
Interesting, I’ve had several carb-loading days already, but they’re generally one every 2 weeks. Looks like I might have to check out Shugart’s pizza recipe…

When you guys say to do a feed up or a carb up, how long is that? Is it just that I eat a lot of extra food/carbs for one day, or is this a multi-day deal?

Also, for pre-workout carbs, are the 42g of carbs in Surge Workout Fuel sufficient, or should I get some more from another source?

Very cool avatar indeed Stu![/quote]

When I refeed its a day that I have predetermined from wake till bedtime, so about 16 hours. Its anywhere from 900-2,000 grams of carbs. I’ve done bigger ones, but thats what it usually starts with. As my weekly refeeds go by I build towards 2,000. Do not try this at home. lol.

Start smaller and if you didn’t react poorly that week add more each week. I would say to start with 500-600 grams.

14

Got it. Tomorrow shall be carb loading day then. I had been loading with (normally) 400g of carbs, and I suppose that’s probably what was hindering me. I’ll now have one every Sunday and go for at least 600g. I can totally see how I would need to plan that out though; I’ll probably have to ram all those carbs down my throat with a rod.

Thanks for all the great advice, and Stu, you’re a lucky bastard! Video cameras or not, I’d love to work out there!

16

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
I still think that you need to eat more healthy fats, so that your body recognises a steady intake and learns to let go of its precious stores.

You are (from the sounds of it) an FFB, so my guess is that you don’t tolerate carbs all that well. In my experience, these sorts of people often do better with fat loss when they increase their fat intake, paradoxical as that might sound.

Just my opinion :wink:

BBB[/quote]

Can do, chief. It might be kind of an interesting experience trying to get more healthy food that has fat in it with the public belief that low-fat = good. Still, I’m sure that EVOO will be my new friend. I’ll add more fat into my diet this week and post with the results.

Looking back on my last few weeks, I’ve eaten in the order of 60-80g of fat most days. That really is low, perhaps even for a normal person. I’ll up it and see what happens.

Thanks BBB!

17

I’d eat two days of low protein, low fat, high carbs in a row, then return to your diet.