What Gives?

[jimking001]

I have lost 20 lbs this last month and for the past week I have stopped dropping the pounds. I've been hitting the cardio hard and have been eating 1200 cal a day. What has happened? Any advice would be great.Thanks

[StrappingYoungLad]

What can happen on a very low calorie diet is that the body will burn muscle. This is due to the fact that muscle is 5x as metabolically active as any other tissue in the body. In the face of a severe calorie deficit, the muscle has to go. This has the purpose of lowering your caloric requirements so now your body has adjusted to 1200 calories as maintenance. Now if you go back to eating "normally" you'll gain more fat than you had before. And due to the insulating properties of fat and less energy required to maintain body temp, your resting metabolism slides into the abyss.

I would need to know about your current diet, cardio and training to make any intelligent recommendations.

[focusfanatic01]

What is your goal man?

[advanced-stealth-rep]

Originally Posted by StrappingYoungLad

What can happen on a very low calorie diet is that the body will burn muscle. This is due to the fact that muscle is 5x as metabolically active as any other tissue in the body. In the face of a severe calorie deficit, the muscle has to go. This has the purpose of lowering your caloric requirements so now your body has adjusted to 1200 calories as maintenance. Now if you go back to eating "normally" you'll gain more fat than you had before. And due to the insulating properties of fat and less energy required to maintain body temp, your resting metabolism slides into the abyss.

I would need to know about your current diet, cardio and training to make any intelligent recommendations.

Agreed, you cannot starve yourself to the weight you want to get to. Your body will go into survival mode and start to eat away at muscle when at rest but use the fat when you're active as it has the sugar stored in it. Depending on your weight and Bf% your diet should have between 2000 and 3000 calories daily and atleast 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily

[jimking001]

Ok I started at 187 lbs on 1/1/10 and my BMI was 31.1. I am now at 165 lbs and my BMI is 27.5. My goal was to get down to 150 lbs and a BMi of 19-25%. I am 40 years old and 5ft 5in. I lost the first 20 or so pounds by giving up the junk food. Sodas and chips. Here is my diet

breakfast,Oatmeal and oatmeal bar 190 cals
brunch 10 am 1 boiled egg 60 cals
lunch salad with some ham and vinager dressing 200 cals
mid afternoon 1 lowfat snack bar 60 cals
dinner a healty choice dinner 360 cals
almonds as a snack thu out day 190 cals
Total 1060 cals

Ok give or take I consume around 1000 to 1200 cals a day
I do a cardio every other day and that consist of burning 600 cals
Very active at work 12 to 14 hrs a day working on a drilling rig.
every other day I work out. Body building. I do this on the day that I don't do cardio..
I do not feel drained or feel like I am lacking in energy and I do keep my blood sugar level by eating small meals thu out the day.
As far as meds I am on at present 1ml test cyp every 7 days and thats it. I had plans on increasing the dose once I hit the 150lbs mark.
Any help would be great. I really want to drop the weight (FAT). I am new at this so be easy on me thanks.

[jimking001]

Oh and I forgot to add I do take Amplified Wheybolic extreme 60 supplement (protein drink) 280 cals once a day.

[StrappingYoungLad]

The Wheybolic gives you 60g protein but I think you should try to get more. The boiled egg gives you about 6g, Healthy Choice dinners are usually around 20g. Don't know how much ham or almonds you eat, but there's some in there. I would try to get a little more protein and maybe eat a little more in general. Not junk of course. I think you're doing very well and don't get discouraged. Keep it up and you'll get there. To lose over 20lbs in a month is exceptional. I think I mentioned this before. Your losses may slow now but just keep at it. If you intend to succeed, nothing can stop you.

This is from my Liver Cleanse thread which may be of interest and help to you:
'The liver is a fat burning machine and normalizes weight by pumping excess fat out of the body through the bile and into the small intestines.Fiber reduces the re-uptake of fat and toxins from the gut to the liver.When you eat a low fiber diet,the bad fats get back into the bloodstream.Adequate amounts of HDL are not manufactured and LDL attaches to blood vessel walls.

A roll of fat at the waistline can be a sign of a fatty liver.This is a liver that has stopped processing fat and instead,has become a fat-storing organ,engorged and swollen with greasy deposits.No matter how much you diet or exercise,removing this fat roll will be impossible until you improve your liver function."

I recommend this highly and feel it would do a lot for anyone's well-being in general. I honestly believe it's about the best thing one could do for themselves.

Check it out if you want...
Liver Cleanse