Lost 5kg in a month - but still flabby

Zippidy

Hi all, first post.

I'm a 28 year old male, 169cm tall. I decided at the end of October that I was quite overweight (not obese though) and that I needed to lose weight.

I was 82kg on 31 October and today, after a month of dramatic calorie reduction and daily cardio, I am down to 77kg. I have been drinking lots of milk, eating tuna, cereal, brown bread, peas and beans, and fruit. On most days since I started this lifestyle I'd eat about 1,000 calories, but I use about 450 daily with cardio too (my job is not an active one at all).

Now, I know that I am undereating, but I am having about 5 or six small meals per day and have cut out ALL junk. I'm in no danger of crashing. I'm enjoying feeling better.

I would like to be 70kg by February, which is what I reckon I should be.

Despite losing 5kg in a month I am still very flabby. Certainly people say i have lost weight from my face and stomach, but I still have a flabby stomach, love handles and, most annoyingly, moobs! These three things are all still very flabby and I think, having lost 5kg in a month, that were I to lose another 5kg and be 72kg (close to my goal), I would STILL be very flabby. I'm not talking tiny furls here; I'm talking ample flab.

Is it just a case of get down to 70kg and I'll be surprised that the flab is all gone, or am I doing something wrong?

Lantus

Zippidy,

What happens when you eat so little is that your body is forced to dig into reserves. Your thinking oh great fat be gone. Unfortuantley muscle is a lot easier to eat than fat. I'm not saying you haven't lost any but without a doubt you have lost lean tissue as well.

Muscle makes you look defined and strong, supports your body, protects against back pain and generally is what you want and need.

I would suggest you increase your calories and refer to a calorie calculator to get an idea of what you should be doing. 1000 is to low for a child let alone a male.

Then create a 'slight' calorie defecit. 15% say. Still keep at your cardio but most importantly introduce a resistance routine.

Start with a whole body routine lasting around 30 mins and do this 3 times a week. Buiilding muscle increases your metabolism, protects against you losing muscle! and helps burn fat all over your body.

stick with that for 6 months and see how you get on. You could then move onto 2 or 3 day split which is more intensive.

Remeber to keep changing the exercises for each muscle group every 6 to 8 weeks to keep your body on it's toes or else it will adapt.

OH! and start refering to all the stickies on nutrition in the food section to get you started because doing a lot of exercise on a bad diet is like building a house on sand. waste of time. nutrition right first then exercise.

best of luck.

Zippidy

Thanks for the information. I hope I have lost more fat than muscle! I just assumed the body would automatically take fat rather than muscle when you eat less. I'd been including protein with every meal but I guess not enough. This is very disheartening... I thought I was doing well. I really appreciate your advice though, and I will act on it. Sickening to think it could take me six months to get down to 70kg when I expected to achieve it by February. Thank you very much for your sound advice Lantus.

Naos

Keep the chin up Zippidy.

I notice you're a new user, have you read the stickies yet? If not they're an excellent place to start!

Zippidy

Just looking at them now. They're really really good. So, weights eh? That'll be fun (not). I usually just sit on the cycling machine and pound away at 145 heartrate till the clock reads 450 calories burned. So at a guess lads, roughly how long in weeks would it take me to lose 7kg of fat and fat alone?

Blatter

Op, stop looking at the scales!

If you start a good resistance program, eat clean and do a small amount of cardio you may very well lose the flab, (man boobs, love handles etc.) and your weight may actually remain constant.

Don't get bogged down on your actual weight. Start taking body fat%, waist line measurements etc. These are much more important than your actual weight with regards your current goal.

Naos

Zippidy wrote: »

Just looking at them now. They're really really good. So, weights eh? That'll be fun (not). I usually just sit on the cycling machine and pound away at 145 heartrate till the clock reads 450 calories burned. So at a guess lads, roughly how long in weeks would it take me to lose 7kg of fat and fat alone?

Edit: Don't mind me Zippidy!

Mellor

Naos wrote: »

As far as I know, doing weights is better for your metabolism after you stop training, it will build muscle (muscle consumes more calories than fat, note it is also 3 times heavier) and muscle is what will make you look good

All open to correction!

Seeing as you are open to correction. More muscle mass will raise his resting calories burned, fat doesn't contribute to RMR at all. but that isn't the reason behind lifting weights for fat loss. Simple, moving heavy thigns burns energy. There will be some slight muscle growth on a deficit as he new to lifting, but not a huge amount.

Muscle isn't heavier than fat. A kilo of either is exactly that, a kilo.
It is more dense, so a direct trade off would reduce his size (not weight), but the difference is quite small (18%) not 3 times more dense, so it really should be harped on about as much as people do.

Zippidy

Mellor wrote: »

Seeing as you are open to correction. More muscle mass will raise his resting calories burned, fat doesn't contribute to RMR at all. but that isn't the reason behind lifting weights for fat loss. Simple, moving heavy thigns burns energy. There will be some slight muscle growth on a deficit as he new to lifting, but not a huge amount.

Muscle isn't heavier than fat. A kilo of either is exactly that, a kilo.
It is more dense, so a direct trade off would reduce his size (not weight), but the difference is quite small (18%) not 3 times more dense, so it really should be harped on about as much as people do.

So, could I ask, if I have lost 5kg these past 5 weeks, what proportion of that is likely to have been fat rather than muscle, based on the info I supplied in my first post? Or is it impossible to say?

Blatter

Zippidy wrote: »

So, could I ask, if I have lost 5kg these past 5 weeks, what proportion of that is likely to have been fat rather than muscle, based on the info I supplied in my first post? Or is it impossible to say?

I lost 10Kg ages on a similar type of diet and by measuring my body fat% at start and comapring it to after it worked out that I lost 2.5kg of muscle. Going by that you would have lost ~1.25kg of muscle, but it really is impossible to tell but I doubt it would have been any more than that.

Mellor

There is no way to say for sure. Could be 60/40, could be 90/10. Probably some where in between. The only way would be BF% test at the start and now. Might be a good idea to get one now for next time.
TBH, there is no real benefit to know now, its gone.

My initial reaction was that rather than you were eating up lots of muscle, you had low muscle mass to begin with. Personally I'd include a bit more protein and include a weight training day. 70kg isn't a bad target (as you a shortish, 5'6"-5'7") but you may find when you get there you'd like to add a few kilos of clean bulk

Zippidy

Mellor wrote: »

There is no way to say for sure. Could be 60/40, could be 90/10. Probably some where in between. The only way would be BF% test at the start and now. Might be a good idea to get one now for next time.
TBH, there is no real benefit to know now, its gone.

My initial reaction was that rather than you were eating up lots of muscle, you had low muscle mass to begin with. Personally I'd include a bit more protein and include a weight training day. 70kg isn't a bad target (as you a shortish, 5'6"-5'7") but you may find when you get there you'd like to add a few kilos of clean bulk

I have always been considered stocky (i.e. I'm not naturally weedy) but I did zero exercise for many years so I suppose I would have a low muscle mass alright. When you say 60/40 or 90/10, I presume you mean fat/muscle?

Thanks for all the replies so far gents.

Blatter

Zippidy wrote: »

I have been drinking lots of milk, eating tuna, cereal, brown bread, peas and beans, and fruit.

fat/muscle ratio yes...


Just looking at the bit of info you gave about your diet. Just sounds abit too carb heavy,not that I'm against carbs. I just find if you limit them your able to get more protein/good fats into your diet which would give you a more optimal diet. Do you eat much eggs, meat, fish and nuts?

Zippidy

SOCCER4LIFE wrote: »

fat/muscle ratio yes...


Just looking at the bit of info you gave about your diet. Just sounds abit too carb heavy,not that I'm against carbs. I just find if you limit them your able to get more protein/good fats into your diet which would give you a more optimal diet. Do you eat much eggs, meat, fish and nuts?

I've been eating ham daily too, and chicken breast maybe four times per week, but then at the expense of tuna. Occasionally I would have four grilled fishfingers. I don't like most other types of fish and I don't like eggs at all. Regarding nuts, I'm afraid I don't like these at all either, but I'm thinking of having a packet of surf seeds each day now.
I'm going to increase my calorie intake by 600 per day on foot of all these posts - 1000 is too little by far. Plus I'm going to do weights 3 times per week like you've all been suggesting. What if I do the machines in my gym for arms, ab, back, shoulder and chest muscles? How do I know the right weight (of the weights!) to start at? And, I'm guessing, I should be going for 3 repetitions of 12 sets per machine?

Blatter

Zippidy wrote: »

I've been eating ham daily too, and chicken breast maybe four times per week, but then at the expense of tuna. Occasionally I would have four grilled fishfingers. I don't like most other types of fish and I don't like eggs at all. Regarding nuts, I'm afraid I don't like these at all either, but I'm thinking of having a packet of surf seeds each day now.
I'm going to increase my calorie intake by 600 per day on foot of all these posts - 1000 is too little by far. Plus I'm going to do weights 3 times per week like you've all been suggesting. What if I do the machines in my gym for arms, ab, back, shoulder and chest muscles? How do I know the right weight (of the weights!) to start at? And, I'm guessing, I should be going for 3 repetitions of 12 sets per machine?

I would recommend that you introduce some fish oil capsules in your diet seeing as you don't like fish. If your only real protein comes from some ham and chicken breast/tuna per day then I'm not sure that's enough tbh. Especially seeing as your about to start lifting.

Regarding the weights, most here would tell you to stay clear of the machines and start straight away into the compound lifts ie. Squats, lunges, deadlift, benchpress, press-ups and pull ups. Personally I attempt 3 sets of 6 reps for everything. Regarding the weight, try them out and use the one that you can nearly get 6 reps out of, you need to be really struggling to get the last rep in.
Look up on YouTube how to do the above exercises and ask a gym instructor aswell. I would recommend a visit or two with a personal trainer to get the lifting technique right.

Good luck anyway..

SpookyBastard

Zippidy wrote: »

I've been eating ham daily too, and chicken breast maybe four times per week, but then at the expense of tuna. Occasionally I would have four grilled fishfingers. I don't like most other types of fish and I don't like eggs at all. Regarding nuts, I'm afraid I don't like these at all either, but I'm thinking of having a packet of surf seeds each day now.
I'm going to increase my calorie intake by 600 per day on foot of all these posts - 1000 is too little by far. Plus I'm going to do weights 3 times per week like you've all been suggesting. What if I do the machines in my gym for arms, ab, back, shoulder and chest muscles? How do I know the right weight (of the weights!) to start at? And, I'm guessing, I should be going for 3 repetitions of 12 sets per machine?

+1 to the adding fish oil caps (I'm not a big fish guy either). I use the books Omega 3 1000mg (EPA180 DHA120) ones myself. Ok price wise when you get 3 for 2

As to the weight. Start low and see if you can do 3 set of around 7-10 (just my personal rep number preference). If you find the last 2 or 3 of each set hard to do then your at an ok weight to start. Always better to start lower and work up than have worse form by going super heavy from the start.