Hi Guys, I could use a little nutrition/weight loss advice. Getting my info out of the way, I recently turned 30 years old, I'm currently 230 lbs, and am 6'3. In April, after about 4-6 months of inactivity in the gym, I stepped on the scale to find out I was pushing 250 lbs. My normal body weight over the last ten years has fluctuated between 210-220. In the past I went through bouts of going crazy and hitting the gym 5 days a week (mostly running on the treadmill), seriously restricting what I ate, losing a decent amount of weight and then completely burning out because what I was doing wasn't sustainable for the long term. This time around, I decided that I needed to find a workout that I actually enjoyed, and try to create a complete lifestyle change, rather than focus on losing a chunk of weight in the short term. This lead me to signing up at a boxing gym, which has been great- I look forward to working out now. A normal workout for me is about 1 hr 15 min. - two rounds of jump rope - 1 round shadow boxing - 6-8 rounds of heavy/small/double ended bags - glove training with a trainer - if a trainer is available, strength and conditioning. Otherwise, I'll do sit-ups and pushups on my own So far I've been doing well- I've lost close to 20 lbs. I go to the gym 3 days a week. However, about 3 weeks ago, I noticed that I was stalling out at 230, and I ultimately would like to get down to around 215. I added in running 2 miles outside 2 days a week. So now I'm at 3 days boxing, 2 days running, every week. Here's a normal breakdown of what I eat monday-friday: Breakfast: spinach shake (spinach, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop of GNC isopure whey protein, 1 tbs of peanut butter, almond milk, ice) Lunch: salad (normally around 400-500 calories), sushi or healthy sandwich Dinner: lean meat or fish with vegetables, or spinach shake if i had a bigger lunch and am not as hungry on the weekend, i'll normally have a spinach shake for breakfast, and have something more along the line of a "cheat" meal for lunch or dinner. If I snack, I'll eat something along the lines of almonds and berries. Even with adding in the two days of week of running, I can't seem to get below 230. Am I consuming too few calories? Any info/advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
Yeah. It does sound like youre not eating enough, have you thoughts of doing weights? More muscles burns fat faster too.
I have, but I'm not really looking to bulk up, but I suppose i could avoid that with less weight and higher reps, right?
You're already bulked up but in the wrong way. If you have that muscle you burn more energy all day every day. You're not going to suddenly turn into Schwarzenegger by lifting weights a few times a week, I've gotta laugh when I hear the 'I don't wanna bulk up' line. Usually comes from females and dudes who are never going to be able to put much muscle on. What's wrong with having muscle anyway, the longer you can hold onto that muscle mass as you age the more you're protected from health issues as you age. Build it up while you can and try to maintain it, a weight isn't anything to be afraid of. Lift heavy, it'll also make your bones, ligaments and tendons stronger helping to prevent injury. You don't get bigger by lifting weights, you get bigger by eating.
You're eating far too little for someone your size. You should be consuming more than triple what you are currently.
I agree, if that's really all you eat - that diet seems extremely meager for even a small person. I'm 5' 8 140 lbs and eat more than double that amount. Your metabolism could be really slow, and that would also affect your energy levels, slow your digestion and overall motivation. I'm no expert on nutrition (or boxing for that matter), but yeah - common sense says you should be eating more, and spread out over more than just 3 meals a day (according to most experts). Good luck reaching your goals.
I had a similar issue that I posted not too long ago (here). My issue dealt more with performance lacking, but I've also hit a weight loss plateau. A lot of the comments I got told me that I should eat more. Here are a few articles I found that I'm trying to follow now. Maybe they'll be helpful for you too. Why Big Caloric Deficits and Lots of Activity Can Hurt Fat Loss Setting the Deficit - Small, Moderate, or Large How to Estimate Maintenance Caloric Intake
thanks for all the advice guys- i will check out all the links, consume a better amount of calories and add in weights to see how that all works out
thanks for the link- sounds like we actually have a pretty similar situation. i was feeling a bit sluggish as well lately, but i thought it also was because of the insane heat in my gym
