Help!!!! I can't lose any weight

[little1]

Hello.

This is my situation. I am 5'3 and weigh 125. I am having a difficult time losing body fat and toning up. I have been working-out for many years. My work-out regime consists of 3-5 days of weights and 30-40 min of cardio. I am trying to keep a 40-30-30 diet but sometimes find it difficult to maintain. I have tried many supplements such as, Triacanx, mm4, and other fat burners. I have found that I can not take any fat burners that contain an EAC stack. My husband suggest T3 for my metabolism. What do you think about T3,Anavar, or Winny to help me achieve my goals? Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[DrJMW]

Try Mon, Wed, Fri--4 sets of 20-25 reps of inclined or flat bench press; 4 sets of 20-25 reps of pulldowns or rows; 4 sets of 20-25 reps of leg press or squats or leg extensions. Try to choose a weight that causes you to fail on rep #25. Do this routine in a cycle: press, pull, legs, press, pull, legs, etc. Move on to the next exercise when pulse rate is 125 BPM. Increase your weight the next time when you can perform all reps at the previous weight.

For warmup--do a 6 minute fat burn program on the tread, stair climber, whatever. Then do 1 set of 25 ab crunches; 1 set of reverse crunches; and finish your warmup with 1 set of 15 straight leg deadlifts.

After you complete your cycle, then you can do 30 minutes of low intensity cardio (fat burn cycle). You can also do 30 minutes of low intensity cardio on the off days. The key is LOW INTENSITY cardio workout for fat loss.

If your isocaloric diet isn't working, perhaps you can reduce the carb intake and replace it with an equal amount of protein.

I wouldn't mess with any medications until you adjust your diet and exercise program.

 

[new@gettinbig]

4 sets of 20-25 is a lot!!! Why so many reps...you can not obviously be lifting very heavy at all like that...3 sets of 8-10..there is no way in hell i could do that many reps lifting any decent amount of weight!!! Im not big on this circuit type training..unless its the week of a show..just to get a pump..I disagree...too many reps!!!!

 

[little1]

bump

for more replys

 

[little1]

Pump, sassy69,phemomena, triplev,
I know you all are knowledgeable...
your input would be very helpful

thanks

 

[Sassy69]

Hi little1 and welcome to the boards!

First I would say, consider your situation --- its not like you are hugely "overweight " for your height. Do you know what your bodyfat is and what exactly is your goal -- do you have a weight in mind or a bodyfat? If you've "been trying to lose weight for a while" - does this mean you have maintained this same weight/bf for the many years of your training? And have you been following the schedule you described for that whole time?

If you've been following this for a while, how consistently? Doing the 5-6 small meals, etc? Personally I've found that the ONLY time I get consistent results is when I do actually follow the diet very close to 100% and eat very clean, no carbs at all late night. Have you changed around your training? Have you been making progress with your training (e.g. increasign weight, reps, etc, changing the routine around every 6 weeks or so) or keeping it the same? Are you seeing bodyfat drops? Muscle toning? If you have made some progress (dropping fat) and then have gotten stuck (plateau), probably time to shock the system again with a change somewhere, Maybe increase carbs and train more intensely to stimulate a "comfortable" metabolism? Maybe try cycling your carbs - above like 100-150 g/day for a couple days, then drop it down to below 50 for 3 days, repeat?

I'm fishing around here because I'm still trying to understand how I can tweak my diet for some better results. Personally I've been stuck at 165 lb 19% bf for close to 10 months following a BB comp last winter. Ain't no body fat moving despite doign the same w/ Tricana (got some progress, but then blew it w/ some "depression eating"), cardio, training, etc. My diet is otherwise very clean and my training is balls-to-the-wall, take no prisoners! It was suggested I try doing a month of JUSt cardio to drop some bf. I can afford some muscle loss, so I'll give it a shot.

Give us some more details and maybe something will stand out. Otherwise, something ain't working -- try changing one thing at a time to see how it responds (diet, training, cardio).

Good luck!

 

[little1]

Sassy69 thanks for your suggestions. Here are some answers to your questions. I have not measured my bodyfat lately but I do want to drop between 5-10 more pounds. I have maintained my 125 weight for about a year now and have not really lost any in my measurements. I try to stick to my diet but of course may cheat every once in awhile. My biggest challenge is reducing my carb and increasing my protein intake. I wished I like protein drinks but I don't. I eat a lot of chicken and I do stay away from carbs at night. I try to eat small meals or snacks during the day. I change up my work-out schedule about every 6 weeks. Right now I work with increasing my weights. My muscle tone has remained the same. I have a very slow metabolism. My husband can't understand why I can't lose any weight either. I hope something I said sticks out.

Thanks

 

[Oxygen]

Besides getting enough clean calories in your diet, how about upping your cardio... maybe 3-4x week 60 min a shot.
And I agree with Dr., those super high reps are great! I did them for a year and it totally kicked my butt. Also did super-sets for almost every body part. Literally ran from exercise to exercise. 1st set of leg press was 100 reps (4 foot positions, 25 reps each position, no resting).
I really think it was all that nasty cardio that really dropped my BF.

 

[keiko]

Get your BF checked--if you're already low, why do you want to lose so much? Fitness isn't a number on a scale.

I 'd never lift so many reps. I go for as heavy as I can do for maybe 6-10. Up your cardio to 1 hour and eat a real Isocaloric (you're eating a Zone diet now, not Isocaloric) --33% of every thing with 10 cals per pound and 1 gram of protein per pound.

Here's a good diet link: http://home.earthlink.net/~vinnyi/dieting/diets.htm


T3 can mess up your thyroid and it also causes muscle loss unless stacked with AS.

 

[FitFossil]

Little1,

Is there any chance you're currently taking hormonal birth control (e.g. the Pill, Depo Provera, etc)?

For me, the Pill was a huge roadblock to fat loss, even with a cleaned-up diet and increased exercise. I tried all the various "low-dose" pills too, and not only did they make me gain fat in my abs and butt (where I'd never had a problem before), they turned me into an emotional shrew. All that "magically" went away when I switched to a non-hormonal method.

 

[little1]

FitFossil

I am not on any hormonal birth control but I am on medication that has made me gain weight in the past. I can not get off of this medication so it is something I have to deal with. Right now I work out with weight alternating days. Like Chest and tri's one day and legs on another and switch up my routine every 6 months. I also switch between working via bench and then will try working-out with dumb bells. When I workout with weights I increase my weight. It is really weird because I have been doing this for years and never had this problem. That is why my husband thought about T3 but don't really want to start to take that seeing all of the side effects that could happen.

 

[Phemomena]

Well, i'm not sure on the reason(s) you can no longer take an ECA stack, but i'm inclined to believe that the same reasons may come into play when taking any of the substances above... you'll have to do your research..

but all said and done, everyone is right, you can probably control this through diet and hard work... AS will probably make you gain weight... T3 is very catabolic and you'll probably need an AS to counteract muscle degragation... i'm not sure how educated you are about these substances, but they can be very dangerous and have some severe consequences... if you feel you MUST go this route, make sure you do your homework.. make sure that whatever conditions are keeping you from the ECA will not be factors in anyother substance you ingest.

phem

 

[tripleV]

OK not sure why you can;t do ECA but I am doing a ECY (ephedrine caffeine yohimbe) stack presently and getting good energy from them for my workouts. You may want to try yohimbe I am liking it. ANd maybe coffee if you can.

I am also currently doing T3 and winstrol and the fat is starting to melt off! I would highly recommend doing T3 with a steroid. However, since winstrol does put on mass and isn't really a cutting cycle, you may want to opt for anavar. I think the anavar and the T3 would be good for you to shed some bf and gain some lean muscle. However, these only work with a very clean diet.

You also should focus on the weights now to shed the bf. I know it's hard to get rid of the cardio notion that it burns fat. I have cut my cardio down alot! and increased my weight training and intensity 10 fold and results results results!!!!

Don't do too many reps either. I start a warm up around 12 - 15 only then move to 10, 8, 6, 4 ...

You amy also consider clenbuterol but not sure if youcan take that if you can't take eca?? I presume not.

So I would recommend cardio only 3 times a week and weights 5 times per week. Add some T3 and anavar and i think you will be happy.

 

[tripleV]

but steroids alone will not get rid of bodyfat....they will only put on muscle. you already know that though!

and diet must be clean! you know that too right? and protein protein protein and complex carbs...

focus on weights and diet and less on cardio...

best of luck

if you need help with dosages let me know

but make sure you do not have any health risks with all of this first...

 

[Cheetarah]

Is there any chance you're currently taking hormonal birth control (e.g. the Pill, Depo Provera, etc)?

For me, the Pill was a huge roadblock to fat loss, even with a cleaned-up diet and increased exercise. I tried all the various "low-dose" pills too, and not only did they make me gain fat in my abs and butt (where I'd never had a problem before), they turned me into an emotional shrew. All that "magically" went away when I switched to a non-hormonal method.

Damn, that sucks, I am on birth control pills and can't seem to get any leaner. I've been on a strict cutting diet since August 10th and hit it hard in the gym but it seems like the fat isn't coming off. I don't want to go off my pills though cause I like them so much. I have tweaked my diet a few times and now I have just changed my training split so maybe that will break my plateau. If not, I may be coming back to you gals for some suggestions if ya don't mind. Damn body fat. Just wanted to share, I'm a bit frustrated here as well!

 

[AC_Cobra]

"bump"
For more input and suggestions for "Little1"

 

[rez]

cheetarah...i know what u r going though!. I am seriously getting de-motivated b/c I have a clean diet reduced intensity of cardio - though do 30-60mins everyday, and I KNOW its the pill thats holding my bf% at the level it is. its soo frustrating!!
clean diet, hydroxycut + ephidrine, heavy weights 12,10,8,6,12, and low-cardio...and im still stuck!
I only keep going cos I would be lost otherwise.
Was thinking of starting a anavar + eca stack....but im a bit worried about side-effects...
any suggestions?

 

[HighGrade]

Body fat can be such a stubborn thing... and hitting plateaus are very frustrating. I think the key is to shock your body from the routine it has grown accustomed to. Cardio is great, but I believe it has to be for an extended period (45-60 minutes) at 65-70% of your maximum heart rate [max hr (bpm) = 220 - age]. 3 times per week as suggested sounds good. It helps to do cardio on empty stomach (e.g. morning). Cardio can be walking, jogging, rowing... anything you enjoy. Don't forget to lift, eat (clean) and rest. Best of luck.

Dont lose focus and enjoy your progress *and* setbacks... that's what makes this interesting and fun!

If you need a kick in the a** for some motivation... just ask. There are a great bunch of people here to do just that.

Cheers,
HG