does this seem normal?

[Chiquae07]

well, i might as well say this. i was about 195 at 5'8 summer b4 freshman yr. then in a month, i weighed 165. then footballc ame and i got back to 195, but leaner, more muscle. now i am tryin to go back down, lose maybe 10-15 lbs within about a month and a 1/2. cardio isnt much of a problem since i have it at least 3 times a week. lifting but not doing heavy sets to keep my current strength. i dont want to be huge. but, the weight isnt moving at all. its not much i have left, but its botherin me again. my diet is fine. i cheat maybe 2x a week and thats all. i drink basically water and milk. wheat foods are my fav. im currently taking hydroxycut hardcore, as it has helped, but kinda my body does nothin with it anymore. now im basically stuck. idk if its fat thats on me or loose skin. anything u guys think i should do? ive heard about moving to 6 meals a day and such, but it really diddnt help much. im losing slowly, but not fast enough for my liking. <-- thats lol. but is there anything that i can do to speed it up a little. ive heard about using protein shakes as meals and such, but im not too sure on how added protein would help me achieve my goal. any ideas would help thanks. btw, my pic is here on this page

as you can see, my like body shape/build is great to become a huge built guy. i have the sholders and all. i wanna get rid of the gut. that'll help a lot.

[fredjacksonsan]

I think that if you increase the duration and intensity of your cardio, and cut back on calories slightly (keep your calories at a level about 10 lbs below your current weight) that should work out. You might also want to add one more cardio day.

-edit- Just sounds like you have hit a plateau....takes a little doing to get past it.

[Chiquae07]

thanks.

[L-Spec]

Also there is a fine balance between weight loss and muscle gain, and I'm sure you're aware of that too. The school wrestling coach told me that a lot of people become discouraged from it and they give up completely. It's something that'll pass over, even if you do what you do regularly for a couple weeks, you'll start seeing improvements. Just think of it as a delay, I guess. It might be the plateau that was mentioned before, or it might not. I also heard something about strength training and cardio cancel each other out or something like that, or else they get in the way of eachother. I think football is the best thing ever to help you get in shape. Good luck with everything!

[Chiquae07]

yea. i really think it is a plateau. football, yes. expecially for me. 190 @ lineman...i gotta work my ass off.

[cody_e]

Hey you can lose too much weight too fast. That's very unhealthy. Realistically you should only be losing about 5 pounts a week.

[beef_bourito]

if you want to build a little more muscle, just start with the muscle building, then your body will use more calories per day (because more the more muscle you have, the more food you need to give them) and make your fat loss much easier.

[Chiquae07]

eh true beef. ive actually increaseds my cardio 1 more day a week as well, and on the days im not doing cardio expecially, i ususally play basketball or something. so far it seems like this is helping me get over my plateau. but, idk if it'll be fast enough to get rid of the love handles in time for school again. ive heard plenty things about its all diet, or all cardio for them. but so far they seem to be goiung down for the most part. the other thing that is bothering me is that i have quite a bit of loose skin by my cherast area, mostly in the lats. i do the butterflys, lat pull downs and such, but there isnt a way that they seem to be going down at all. any ideas?

[beef_bourito]

surgery? i don't know, other than that, the only thing i know of is time. i think you'll either grow into your skin or your skin will slowly shrink.

another thing is you need to make sure your diet is good. make sure you're getting all your essential nutrients (vitamins, fatty acids, etc), make sure you're getting enough protein, and make sure you aren't eating too much. i suggest counting calories, know how much you need to eat and plan your day beforehand so you aren't stuck grabbing something that really isn't good for you. if you need to, pack yourself a lunch and whatever other meals you don't eat at home.

[Chiquae07]

damn....i dont think ill grow into the skin. it'll just sit there loosely.
i dont think i have a diet problem. today was an off day but i did play some basketball.

example since this was today's 'meals'

9am 1egg w/ 2 slice wheat bread and mega men vitamins
11am a banana
1pm a chicken patty w/ bun, ketchup and thats all
3 pm an apple
6pm cup of shrimp fried rice, beef strips, with onion, green pepper, and a piece of fried chicken.

maybe the calorie counting will help. i ususually take muscle tech night time at night b4 sleep in warm milk.

idk if i should add more protein to my diet or what. im thinking that i should replace 2 meals with protein shake or meal replacement shake from gnc. how much does sleep help you building muscle wise?

[beef_bourito]

well you should get enough sleep, so 8+ hours, but i don't know if much more than that will help. when you sleep you don't burn as many calories so you won't lose as fast if you get like 10+ hours of sleep. i don't know, just get enough sleep to sustain you and stuff like that. ill post some better info when i sober up.