Started at 22 stone and now at a plateu

[Tiggsy]

Not sure what to do with my training.

Simple history - 14 years old until 21 years old I did loads of weight training, at 6ft6 I was around 18 stone and prob low teens on BF. Then I bust my knee playing basketball and got a proper job.......jump forward to age 37 and I was 22 stone and BF way over 30%.

So 2 and half years ago I got my knee operated on and started training again.....weights, basketball, bit of jogging, myfitness pal for diet help. Was NASTY to start - couldnt run more than 30 secs and shut my eyes when i walked past the mirrors in the gym!

Current state is:

Between 15-16stone.....body fat prob around 17/18% .... I can see stomach muscles starting to show up but still a long way from ripped! I can run 5K in 22 mins and 10k in 50m. Couple of weeks ago I did a charity run of 21 miles no problem and (at 39) I'm one of the fitest players in my basketball league.

I eat 2k calories a day with sunday a cheat day (may go as high as 3-4k on that day) Oh, I also do 16/8 fasting so start meals at 2pm -just find it the best way to keep cal to 2k with ease - 3 X 600 cal meals with a couple of good snacks chucked on top

I play ball (2hrs HARD cardio) Mon and Thur - I do weights Tue, Wed, Fri and I do cardio (either HIIT or running) sat and when I feel like any day has been easier than it should have been. Dont train sundays.

Goal is to be in REAL good shape at 40 - Nov 16th (when I'll be in the Maldives!) but the weight loss has slowed a LOT. Its been good....this is the first summer since I was a teen that I've happily had my shirt of in the garden! And he kids are impressed that dad doesnt look like other 40 year old men! But it's not good enough...I need that 6 pack.


So......do I:

a) stick to it. But add in some fasted cardio extra sessions (which I enjoy - happily run 10k on an empty stomach) during the week.

b) up the calories, increase the muscle and hope that helps the fat burning?

c) something else.

I'm very aware that 2k cals is not much for someone 6ft6 doing a lot of exercise.....but fear going backwards on the body fat!

This will be easy once I'm ripped - I know exactly how to get bigger and look forward to it (although not too big while I still need to play ball)......but getting ripped while holding onto the muscle I have is getting tough now I'm in the final "stage" of going from fat fk to "st, you're 40? you dont look 40"

I'll stick a pick up....I have some funny before after shots - 44" waist to 34" waist!

[goldblum]

Start a proper running program and leave other stuff largely as it is.

[Hoofy]

Tricky. You're already doing stuff people should be doing (weights, HIIT, calorie deficit). Perhaps have fewer cheat days? You guestimate up to 4000 but how do you know it isn't higher? What's your salt, sugar/carb and water intake like? Bin the salt, decrease the carbs and increase the water.

[smiffy180]

Up the protein drop the carbs to circa 150g?
Should be a good cut diet and protein should help muscle mass.

[Tiggsy]

goldblum said:

Start a proper running program and leave other stuff largely as it is.

what would that look like?

[Tiggsy]

smiffy180 said:

Up the protein drop the carbs to circa 150g?
Should be a good cut diet and protein should help muscle mass.

already there - typical values are:
protein 150-180g
carbs 130-150g
fat 50g
sugar 50-60g

I get most carbs from veg - never touch rice, pasta, spuds, etc
sugar is in the odd protein cookie, etc

and cheat day isnt over 4k - i still dont start until 2pm......for example, this week I had a shake at 2pm, some salad/tuna at 5pm and then pigged out at a BBQ that night - but even then I just plodded through all the meat that was there......so no way do I go over 4,000 cal in chicken breasts! (the old me would have hit the puddings too....i no longer feel the need)

[Gargamel]

Running program would be

1 x Long slow run - of about 8-12 miles

1 x Tempo run of about 6-8 miles at race pace

1 X recovery run again around 5-6 miles medium pace

Weekly.


I am not sure I would advocate this however, but I agree the issue is calorie burn.

Either you need to add more cardio or add more weights to the routines. Personally I think you are already there, you just need to give it more time.

[goldblum]

Tiggsy said:

goldblum said:

Start a proper running program and leave other stuff largely as it is.

what would that look like?

1 short quick(ish) run. About 20 mins.

1 medium distance run, about 5 miles,not too fast. About 40 mins.

1 longish run,6-8 miles, little more than a jog. About 1 hr 20.

It's always good to have extra motivation...is there a local 10k you could enter? There are specific training plans for racing on runnersworld.

No other running or leg weights. If it knackers you then cut out the 5 mile run. At this stage it's just about improving your cardiorespiratoy fitness and instigating a training effect - once your body is used to the extra exercise the weight will drop off - you'll be burning an extra 2200 cals each week. More or less.

Good luck.

[Happy82]

What do you drink? I found that when I lost a lot of weight that just sticking to water helped a lot, plus I lost any cravings for cordial etc too.

[Tiggsy]

Water mostly, diet coke for a treat, 1 coffee in the am. Couple of Baileys at Xmas!

[Tiggsy]

goldblum said:

Tiggsy said:

goldblum said:

Start a proper running program and leave other stuff largely as it is.

what would that look like?

1 short quick(ish) run. About 20 mins.

1 medium distance run, about 5 miles,not too fast. About 40 mins.

1 longish run,6-8 miles, little more than a jog. About 1 hr 20.

It's always good to have extra motivation...is there a local 10k you could enter? There are specific training plans for racing on runnersworld.

No other running or leg weights. If it knackers you then cut out the 5 mile run. At this stage it's just about improving your cardiorespiratoy fitness and instigating a training effect - once your body is used to the extra exercise the weight will drop off - you'll be burning an extra 2200 cals each week. More or less.

Good luck.

SOunds good - I'm doing a 10k race next week! 3 runs a week is easily doable. In fact, I did 30 mins this morning and still feel good for my chest session at 4pm.

[Hoofy]

It's possible you're doing too much exercise and the running will just compound things. You may experience an initial drop to 21.9 stone.

Cortisol is your enemy.

Or you can quadruple the amount you're doing to offset any issues too much exercise is having on you. But the moment you have a break...

[Tiggsy]

lol......I'm not 22 stone now!

Currently 16 ish, 22 stone was at the start.

[Hoofy]

Oopsie. Forgot. Well, you get what I mean.

[Tiggsy]

perhaps - but i'm not sure its "that" much.

my weights sessions are never over an hour - sometimes 45m. My runs range from 30m to 1h and basketball is the only session going over an hour.

So at most I'm runiing and hour and gyming an hour in the same day. So hardly olympic levels!

[Tiggsy]

Todays food as example:

Breakfast - 2pm
Myprotein - Impact Whey Protein, Choc Smooth, 30 g (one large scoop)
Kellogs - Crunchy Nut Glorious Oat Granola (Chocolate and Hazelnut - Without Milk), 25 g
Fage - Total 0% Fat Free Authentic Greek Yogurt, 100 g

300cal

Lunch - 4pm
Myprotein - Oatbran, 40 g
Myprotein - Impact Whey Protein, Choc Smooth, 25 g (one large scoop)
Kellogs - Crunchy Nut Glorious Oat Granola (Chocolate and Hazelnut - Without Milk), 25 g

366 cal

Dinner - 6pm (post weights)
Princes - Tuna Chunks In Brine Corrected, 112 g
Ryvita - Original Crispbread (Per Slice), 3 slice
Hellmans - Half Fat Light Mayo, 15 mL

Myprotein - Classic Beef Jerky, 50 g sachet

392 cal (jerky is a snack while driving to see clients)

Tea 9pm
Hellmans - Half Fat Light Mayo, 30 mL
chicken breast - chicken breast-Pan cooked, 200 G
M&S - Chefs Style Vegetables, 300 g

529 cal

Supper - 11pm
My Protein - Double Choc Chip Cookie, 75 g

300cal

Totals 1,903 cals 115g carbs 67g fat 204g protein 34g sugar

Edited by Tiggsy on Tuesday 23 July 17:39

[Muzzer79]

You eat breakfast at 2pm, then the same for lunch at 4pm??

Do you work nights or something?

[Hoofy]

What's your salt intake like? It won't help if you have high salt although I'm not sure it's solely responsible.

[Jasandjules]

1st thing to do is take 10-12 days off. Let your body rest, then start up the exercise regime again. Your body has possibly adapted to what you are currently doing and so a change will get past that, hopefully.

[Tiggsy]

Muzzer79 said:

You eat breakfast at 2pm, then the same for lunch at 4pm??

Do you work nights or something?

I'm just not a morning person! I find if I eat at 8am I'm snacking by 10am....before I know it I've done 2k cals and its 6pm and I'm still wanting to snack.

By fasting till 2pm....which I've done so long it's a doddle....I never get to the eve and find my last meals of the day take me over my limit.