Background: I am 27, 5’5”, ~140 lbs, endomorph body type (high tendency to store body fat). Was never athletic, always had poor endurance and a very sedentary lifestyle. One year ago (March 2018) I got fed up and wanted to improve my mobility, strength, and overall fitness/health. I signed up with a trainer and began going to 50 minute small group strength training (~4 people) two times a week. In addition to that, I would take a yoga class here and there, go on a walk/jog, or work out on my own using exercises I learned from my trainer. These additional workouts were somewhat inconsistent, depending on my work and social schedule, but I’d guess I’ve averaged 3.5 days (or 3-4 hours) of exercise per week. As far as diet goes, I have always thought of myself as relatively healthy. I rarely buy or eat snack foods, I make salads for most of my meals and only cook with chicken breast or fish as protein. I rarely eat breads, rice, or pasta (never eat this at home), so generally low carb. However, my downfall has always been eating out with friends, drinking with friends, and lazy/hungover weekend munching. For example, I’ll go out for wine and pizza with friends and eat and drink, whereas I’d normally not be drinking or eating pizza at home. There are also times that I don’t eat much at all. Nevertheless, this is something I did before I started exercising, so if anything my diet would have improved overall over the past year.
Problem: I was recently looking at my “before” photos from last year and I do not see a change at all. While I know I don’t work out an extreme amount, and my diet/eating/drinking habits aren’t perfection, I do not understand how going from completely sedentary to pretty active and making more conscious attempts to eat healthy most of the time could have no effect on my appearance. Furthermore, since the quarantine began, I noticed I was struggling to eat much at all (anxiety, GI issues, etc). However, after weeks of being well in a calorie deficit, I felt I looked more flabby, less toned, and bigger overall. If it’s as simple as CICO, how could this be possible?
New goals/resolutions: Become more consistent with exercise (min 4x per week, and walk on rest days). Do my best to maintain a pescatarian diet (dairy only from local, reputable farms and seafood that is sustainable, wild-caught, and humane). Figure out what I should be eating on a macro-level to feel good about my body, weight, and muscle composition. Lose 10-20 lbs (focused more on losing visible body fat).
Conclusion/question: From my understanding, the reason I may not have been losing weight was because I wasn’t focusing on my protein intake and it was way too low. Because of this, I would build/lose muscle repeatedly rather than lose fat. However, especially as I have been avoiding meat, it is very difficult to meet my protein goals while maintaining a calorie deficit. In order to even meet these goals, I’m having up to 3 protein shakes per day. Furthermore, I end up needing a lot of carbs which seem to correlate to more body fat for an endomorph body type. So to lose weight, I need to lower my calorie intake, but if I lower my calories I lower my protein, and then I will lose muscle and not fat. It feels like a catch 22 and I’m feeling hopeless and frustrated. This group has always given me encouragement so I’m hoping someone might be able to provide some insight! Does anyone know how I can get my fitness on track?
TLDR: Exercising and eating pretty healthy for a year. Can't lose weight. How to minimize calories, meet protein goals, and minimize carbs on a vegetarian diet?
[link] [comments]
from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2xy9BIQ
No comments:
Post a Comment