Help!!!!

GAARAZY

Hi Guys

Just looking for a bit of advice, I have been going to the gym for the past month or so and watching what I eat but my weight seems to be staying around the same, heres an outline of what I eat on an average day

I go the gym about 3 times a week and do 1 hour cardio plus I play football once a week....

Food wise I have

B/Fast

Bowl of porridge w slimline milk

Mid Morn

Nutri Grain Bar

Lunch

Wholegrain bread with ham,cheese, lettuce and lowfat mayo
and sometimes with a packet of crisps

Dinner

Toasted Sandwich
or
Chicken & Pasta with Veg/Chicken Stir Fry

I also drink about 4 cups of tea a day and about 1.5 litres of water!!!

Any advice would be greatfully appreciated

eviltimeban

What is your weight and height? I'm going to assume you are a man, I would leave out the nutri grain bar, the packet of crisps, and maybe have something other than a toasted sandwich for dinner! Bread can make you retain a lot of weight. I cut bread out and lost loads of weight, nearly 2 stone (I cut out all junk and ate very little carbs). Maybe cut down the pasta and rice, or if you do have it, have brown rice or wholemeal pasta.

What do you do when you are in the gym? What is your muscle tone like? If you have poor muscle tone, you should work on that as well as doing the cardio and football. Get some free weights and start lifting; any of the gym guys will be able to show you what sets to do. Once your muscles start to tone up you will find that instead of fat forming, your muscles will get bigger instead! You can eat the same amount and it'll get burned off quicker if you have muscles. This has also happened to me just from lifting weights.

The important thing is not your actual weight, but what your body looks like. If you have rolls of flab etc then they should shift pretty easily. But if you are lean enough and are toning up, your actual weight may be similar but your body will look totally different. Calculate your BMI as well.

Serafijn

Hey Gaarazy,

Firstly, good for you on going to the gym and getting active. It's a good move! A few things in your diet do jump out though.

Firstly the Nutrigrain bar is one of those misleading 'healthy' bars which are actually full of sugar (12g in one bar, along with 1.5g of saturated fat). Try switching that for some fruit, a low fat yoghurt or something more natural.

Wholegrain is a good choice for bread but try to stick with either ham OR cheese, not both as they are quite high in calories. Also ditch the crisps, or go with a lower calorie version (multi-pack bags are often smaller, compare some of the different brands next time you go shopping and you will see a big difference). Or eat more veg/salad with your lunch and you won't need the crisps to fill you up!

Dinner looks good, but try to avoid the toasted sandwich option if you've had a sandwich for lunch, too much bread can often be the problem when trying to lose weight.

In general more fruit and veg would do you no harm!

Hope that helps

GAARAZY

Sorry I meant to post my stats, I'm female, 5ft 2 and 1/2" (the half is very important haha) and I'm 11stone, I've lost just over a stone in the past year but seem to have just plateaued, this always happens when I get to this weight and although people tell me I don't need to lose anymore weight I would love to get down to about 10stone.

I would have a med/big frame so I know I'm never gonna be a twig unless I starve myself which is never gonna happen I love my food too much!!!! I have a fair bit of muscle on my legs from playing football, by the way is it actually true that muscle weights more than fat??

Regarding my gym routine it includes

35 minutes on threadmill (majority of this running)
15mins on x-trainer
10mins on floating machine

I know I need to cut down on the bread but I find it really hard coz its so convenient to just grab a toastie in the evenings after the gym!! Thanks for the tip on the Nutrigrains, I won't be eating them anymore I didn't realise there was so much sugar in them :eek:

fatmammycat

A pound is a pound is a pound in terms of weight. But muscle is more dense than fat, that's why it takes up less space and makes people looked toned and slimmer.
I'm no expert, but your diet seems -to me - to be simple carb heavy if it is weight loss you are trying to achieve. I would aim for cutting out bread and pasta ( but no need to starve, you can replace with filling veggies like broccoli, parsnips or a baked potato) and and try to replace toasties with stirfries ( super fast to make) and stews ( can be made days in advance and frozen) and omelettes ( again super fast, filled with protein- I make mine with a good sprinkling of chili flakes so it's delicious and red hot!). I would also break down my daily intake to include smaller meals eaten more frequently during the day.
Have you considered lifting weights? If you're at the gym a couple of times a week beginning a weight lifting programme is a terrific way to add to your workout. And muscle is more 'active' in your body than say fat, meaning the more muscle you have the more calories your body burns, even when you're resting.
It's annoying when weight loss reaches a plateau, but it is usually a good indication that something needs a tweaking or an adjustment, be it a dietary tweak or an exercise tweak. Good luck to you and I hope it goes well for you.