Difficult dropping the last few pounds
 

Dear all, I'm a new member of the community :wave:

I'd like to know how difficult it is to drop the remaining few pounds. Here is my brief history with Atkins and my general situation:

I'm a naturally muscular guy and my ideal weight should be between 140-165. During the last year of college and the first year out, I gained roughly 30 pounds, from 165 to 195 lbs. Once I hit 195, I tried Atkins and stayed on induction / near induction for approx 3 months, resulting in a 25 lb weight loss (to 170). However, I hit a wall and can't seem to break under 170. Six months later, gained another 4 pounds (to 174).

I'm back on induction again and dropped 4 pounds in the first week, but seem to be stuck again on the 170 level. I'm wondering if anybody here have experience with dropping the last few pounds? Ideally, I want to hit 150, although I would look good at 160 (my college weight). :help:

As far as eating goes, I eat every meal at a restaurant since my company pays for it and I'm too lazy to cook. I stick to the meats and veggies (I like both) but sometimes can't avoid a little bit of bread when dinning with clients. My only other sin is Friday night drinking, and I tend to have quite a bit (8-9 beers/shots on average a night, possibly more since who knows whats in the mixed drinks).

As for exercise, I lift and run at high intensity intervals at least 3 times a week.

So, bottom line, please assess how long I'll take to reach 160 and 150 (from 170, my most difficult barrier). Thanks!

Join the club! IF did it for me, now I am back to a more 'balanced' plan after paying my dues for a year doing fasting 24/1

Good luck!

Note: as a male the drinking didn't seem to make a difference either way.
But, make sure your core 'diet plan' is a working plan for you. Whole Grain bread or potatoes (sweet or white with skins) should be limited to once a week (max). I can tolerate "whole grain" rye or wheat berry breads occasionally -- some people can't.

Cut out the alcohol. It gets metabolized before the nutrients in food.

Cut out the cardio as well. Hope this helps:

http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/63...2nd9weugfjputl1

Unfortunately as with most of us it will take as long as it takes ;)

I am curious - how tall are you??? It seems odd that a naturally "muscular male" would have 140# in his "healthy range". This may be too personal of a question - sorry if it is!

Have to agree about being careful with alcohol! The amount of carbs vary A LOT depending what you drink. There have been a few threads dedicated to low-carb alcoholic beverages. If that is something you are not willing to part with, you might want to do a "search" on this site and see what others have come up with.

It is frustrating to be stalled, I understand that! But I lose some, then stay the same for a while, then lose some, stay the same for a while. In my mind stalls are month(s) long ordeals, so don't flip out. Think LONG TERM investment!

If you truly are stalled, tweaking some of the things you mentioned (bread & alcohol) might help. As well as assessing if your total calorie count is tripping you up. I personally don't count mine as of yet, just the carb content, but several seasoned posters will tell you that your body doesn't need as many calories at 170 as it did at 190s, etc. And therefore if you are eating as many calories as you used to, it will hinder your wt loss.

On the opposite thought of that, are you getting enough fat intake at each meal? And of course, the pros are going to asking you to post what and amounts you eat if you really want help deciphering, so posting it now will save them the trouble of asking for it! ;)

Seems to me your body is telling you how to maintain at this weight. Often, that's what a "stall" really is!

So do you want to maintain while having a bit of bread and a lot of drinks? Or are you willing to cut down on these obvious sources of either carbs or alternate fuel?

Even if you drink something like straight-up vodka or whiskey, your body takes ethanol and converts it to acetic acid (vinegar). The alcohol gets metabolized before the food you eat which is problematic.

"So...how does alcohol make you fat, especially when it doesn't have any fat in it? To understand how this process occurs, let's examine the consumption of a 5 ounce glass of red wine by a fictional character named Vinny.

Vinny takes a drink. As the alcohol enters into digestion, it is split into two compounds: fat and acetate. The fat is taken through the bloodstream and stored wherever Vinny tends to deposit fat. The acetate is taken into the bloodstream and used as Vinny's primary energy fuel."

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Alcoh...u-Fat&id=215762

But who knows... maybe you can handle it and your body is just stalling.

Maintenance is not a bad place to be.

If I were you, I'd take a look at the drinking. If the mixed drinks have sugar, that's a setback. Try avoiding beer in favor of spirits. And yes, alcohol will metabolize before your body gets back to the fat stores. So...a slowdown.

Weight management is all about what we're willing to change. Your choice.

For me, wine or a highball, and cream in my coffee, are all that's left of life's consumable luxuries. Bye-bye mashed potatoes.

Best wishes.

Thanks guys for the replies.

The 140-165 range is what BMI says is my natural range, but I doubt I can ever reach sub 150 and even at 150-155 I'll look cut.

As for the drinking, its not exactly discretionary since getting smashed is an essential part of my job (the network building part anyways :).

Here is my plan: I will cut back on the alcohol to a maximum of 4 beers/shots a week, avoid all bread, and exercise every day for the next few weeks. I'll update you guys when I see progress.

Thanks!

p.s., I want to add that I gained the 4 pounds in 6 months after eating whatever I want, and in the last two month I ate until I was absolutely stuffed and can't move (went to see mom, went to visit relatives before new job began). Although I hate the fact that breaking the 170 barrier is so difficult, I'm glad my body also resisted gaining 10-20 pounds.

Alcohol does me in, ruins my progress. Just saying.

Well now you know that the alcohol will probably disrupt your weightloss progress at least you will not be left wondering what is causing it if your losses remain slow!!

I'd like to add.. If you are muscular, then why do you care about BMI? A guy can be 200 pounds of muscle and have a BMI of obese or overweight if he is short. BMI doesn't take your muscle mass into account at all.
Bottom line...are you happy with your lifestyle and how you look/feel?

Hi there and welcome!

I think you have to be careful when you stall, because it's too easy to slip back into bad habits because there's less incentive to continue to eat "on plan". I did that myself, and it took me a couple of years to pull myself together. Now I am trying not to weigh myself. Weightloss on its own is not a great reason to be on a healthy diet. Regaining lost weight is not a good idea - it's seemingly far harder to lose and every time we have to lose it again we lose a little more muscle and lean body weight, which includes our organs.

You need to take a good look at yourself and decide how much loose fat there really is left.. Muscle weighs heavy, and a lot of people in top condition through low-carbing and working out can be 20lbs heavier than they were when they looked and measured fatter.

I want to challenge you to find a good, healthy way of eating which enables you to maintain a healthy weight. You've had a little carb-fest, but why not make it your aim to find a good balance now. Go onto something like Atkins pre-maintenance or maintenance, cutting out some of the alcohol like everyone has suggested, and you might find those extra few pounds come off without extra help.

I don't believe that a big, muscly masculine man in great shape needs to hide behind all that booze. You can have an equally good time without it - maybe better. You don't need to tell people you're cutting it down. Just don't drink so fast, ask for a pint of water with a straight spirit, opt out of some of the rounds, and if people keep buying you beer, wander off with the beer in your hand and leave it somewhere else so folk don't realise you're not drinking it. I'm female, so it's easy for me to choose not to drink, but when I was out regularly in bars, I'd have guys spilling their drinks over me, burning me with their fags, trying to chat me up while barely able to string a proper sentence together, and generally looking (and sounding) like idiots. Not a pretty sight, however well-toned their pecs were.

This! I have yet to meet anyone I liked better after they had been drinking.

Or order water.. I usually get vodka and soda waters when I go out, with lemon.. I've had my usual bartenders ask, "You're just drinking water tonight?!". So if you get water in between rounds, you can say you're drinking vodka and soda water. I don't know why our society thinks it's cooler if you're drinking WAY more, but whatever.