my big butt

[MS]

Many things I would agree with MR BMJ about, but the biggest is the hunger issue. I cannot lose fat without being constantly hungry. If it were easy then everyone would be thin and muscular. However this does not mean that you need to reduce your calories at this stage. As pointed out, you've lost fat AND prolly gained muscle. It's all good! Just keep an eye on things and make sure you change things when your progress really stalls.

One thing I do differently to MR BMJ is the calorie juggling. I start out on the low side (but not so low as to be catabolic). For me this is around 10-11 cals per total bodyweight. As I get further into my diet (and leaner) I increase the daily calories as well as the frequency of my high carb refeeds. Leptin is probably more important for leaner folks on a diet than for obese, sedentary individuals. Certainly, Leptin is not the answer to all dieting problems, but as your body gets closer to feeling it's starving, leptin becomes more and more important. At 22%BF, I will speculate that leptin is not a problem and that you should keep your cheat meals for when you absolutely can't go another day without one. You do allow yourself cheat meals don't you???

 

[wyst]

I've lost 20 pounds without being hungry at all. For me it was all about replacing bad carbs with good carbs, and eating less carbs over all, and later in the day. My biggest meal of the day is a high-protein salad at lunch with lotsa good veggies and chicken and dry tuna and sometimes some egg whites. I'm pretty much never hungry, although I do have cravings sometimes -- but they're not hunger related, exactly. And I've been gaining muscle. On the other hand, I'm starting from a much less fit state than most of the people on this board, and certainly much less fit than anyone on this thread. On the other hand, I'm at now 17% bodyfat, so it's not all too bad...

My 2 cents.

Wyst

 

[wyst]

Yep. Go Green! mostly just water, and most of us probably don't get enough of that anyhow, I bet.

 

[MR. BMJ]

MS, I'll have to try that method one of these times. I can see why it would work. I suppose the constant adding of calories will prevent/lessen the chance for the body to become downregulated (hopefully that's a good term...LOL). One thing i have to ask though is... What do you do when you get back to that point of adding in calories and it meets or passess your daily maintenance intake? How do you counteract your diet when it gets to that point? OR...Do you usually reach your bodyfat % goal before it gets to that point? I really have never thought about doing it this way.

BMJ

 

[MS]

My overall caloric intake never excedes my expenditure. I start my diet with NO added cardio or thermogenics, and gradually add in and increase both as I get leaner. So really I'm using both increased food intake AND increased cardio plus thermogenics to keep my metabolism running high. It's just a different approach, not better or worse than any other. But psychologically I prefer to increase my food. It makes it feel less like a diet and more like exercise. The veggies and stuff are fine to fill the belly, but they never fool my brain into believing I'm getting enough calories, especially when I dip below 10%bf. I'm always full (belly) but hungry (brain) in my last 4-6 weeks of a contest diet.

 

[MR. BMJ]

THANKS MS...I know you're not a big fan of KARMA, but I gave you some anyway (GOOD). Also, I know you are not in the US, but you have relatives, so HAPPY THANKSGIVINGS!

Here's something I always say but it seemed to have slipped my mind on this post...STAY BUSY!!!! I'm pretty sure everyone can agree with that. When I have nothing to do, and when I just am not very productive when dieting, I always think of food and want to eat. When you have things to do, it lessens the amount of time you think about eating. I really make a point of finding things to do when I am hard core dieting, it flat out works!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!.
BMJ

 

[wlibbe]

I think your problem is that you are eating 1,800 calories a day. Why not cut it down a little? Maybe cut out one of those afternoon meals...just a suggestion.

 

[Phemomena]

oh i forgot the numbers!

I am 135 lbs, 5'3", 22% bf

I was 132, 25% 6 weeks ago

i'm not completely sure what you're complaining about???
sounds to me like it's working...

take some of the suggestions given (i.e. switching meals so you have less pm carbs)

calorie intake sounds a little low for your stats... listen to your body... if you're hungry, feed it... with clean food...

but all and all, this sounds like progress to me... these things don't happen over night... it sounds like you're off to a good start...

 

[Cheetarah]

Ditto Phem. And spatts also said she was losing fat at the rate of 1% per month so it does sound like you are doing okay. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to lower your calories. You lower your cals then you risk burning muscle and keeping the fat and you definitely don't want that. The slower you cut, the more muscle mass you are able to retain. I don't think lowering your cals is the answer unless you want your metabolism to slow and your muscle to be used as fuel which will in turn make it even more difficult to lose fat. Some people actually get fatter lowering their calories and doing more cardio cause the body is trying to compensate. Like everyone says, listen to your body. I've been cutting for over 3 months now and I usually get hungry just before my next meal and post workout, I'm always starving even when I do eat, it's not enough to satisfy me. Just for your info, before I took a 2 week break from my cutting diet, I was cutting on an average of 2350 cals a day. I was averaging 1% body fat loss every 3 weeks and I was gaining muscle at the same time so my weight was remaining steady. Over the two week break period, I took in an average of 3200 cals a day and so now on this cut, I'm cutting at 2650 cals. I will lower that if I don't see any progress. I probably will though cause usually just changing what I eat makes me leaner. Bottom line is that I use my maintenance calories as a starting point then I lower them by anywhere from 200-500 calories. Oh, and I'm 5'5" 142 lbs, currently 18.7% body fat. Also, I only used a fat burner for 2 weeks towards the end of that time period and my cardio was no more than 30 min twice a week with a 3 hour speed skating practice on Sundays. Just some info to help you out, you're close to my size and your cals are already WAY lower than mine, something to consider.