Need Help Shedding Pounds

[namow10]

Alright.. I had my second child 3 months ago. I have dropped 30 lbs of that weight and want to drop 30 to 35 more. I am at a plateau and I have no idea what I need to do to drop this weight. I want to do it healthy but also quick as possible. I have been doing tons of cardio and resistance training. I am naturally muscular and bulk up easily, I am trying to avoid bulking up. I typically do turbo fire, cardio kickboxing, and 30 day shred. I have also been training for a marathon so I usually run at least twice a week. I try to mix up the workouts so I am not doing the same thing over and over.
I have been counting calories, staying under 1200-1400 calories a day. I eat tons of fish and chicken and asparagus.

I am up for any suggestions.

 

[pyrobatt]

Alright.. I had my second child 3 months ago. I have dropped 30 lbs of that weight and want to drop 30 to 35 more. I am at a plateau and I have no idea what I need to do to drop this weight. I want to do it healthy but also quick as possible. I have been doing tons of cardio and resistance training. I am naturally muscular and bulk up easily, I am trying to avoid bulking up. I typically do turbo fire, cardio kickboxing, and 30 day shred. I have also been training for a marathon so I usually run at least twice a week. I try to mix up the workouts so I am not doing the same thing over and over.
I have been counting calories, staying under 1200-1400 calories a day. I eat tons of fish and chicken and asparagus.

I am up for any suggestions.

Heres some interesting new!Our body says "stop it" eventually when on a diet too long. My sugestion is eithier have a cheat day ( not tubs of ice cream just 300 to 500 over maintain) or go to maintain calories for a week then get back on the diet to let your body know...hey..im not starving. Once you hit a while of no progress do it again. I got to 7 % bodyfat the first time doing this.

 

[namow10]

Did you take any supplements?

 

[nodoughnut]

I have lost 32 pounds since Jan 1st this year. I plateaued after losing the first 25 and thought my body was done shedding fat, even though I definately had more fat on my body to lose.

I'm doing a basic precontest BB'ing diet, don't need to go into that, but obviously no starchy carbs after 4 pm, just protein, veggies, sugar free jello, sugar free pickles, etc at night.

Anyway, here's what got me out of my plateau, and it's so counterintuitive it even amazes me, I'm still losing fat! I never did a cheat day during the first 12 weeks, I read all about cheat days, but thought hey, just stay on the diet, I'm mentally tough, don't need to do it and I won't slow my progress. Well, I started doing 2 cheat days a week, and by cheat, I don't mean pizza and crap. Last Sunday I went to an all you can eat sushi place. I ate my fill but it was all fish and brown rice. I also had one beer.

Midweek I also have one day where I eat just 200 calories of my healthy diet food in the form of lean protein or whole form low glycemic starchy carbs over my normal diet allotment of 2000 cal per day. On the days immediately following both cheat days I make sure I do a 200 cal deficit day eating around 1800 cal/day. These numbers are for me, a 200 lb male.

I also stopped the 2 a day cardio sessions. I do weights and cardio in the AM, PM I do a leisurely 2 mile walk with my dog 5 evenings a week. Previously I was doing an intense cardio session PM also, and it helped lose a lot of the initial weight, but then I plateaued.

Doing these 2 things has amazingly led to AN INCREASE IN MY FAT LOSS AND GOT ME OUT OF THE PLATEAU! I really can't believe that eating more and doing less cardio worked. I started at 225, I was 193 this morning. I've been taking creatine and all my other "supps" so no muscle loss, I look like I'm 2 weeks out from a contest. Have no plans to compete, did that in the 90's, but I just wanted to look good again. Hope this helps.

 

[namow10]

Thank you so much... I appreciate your input. Did you take anything for energy?

 

[nodoughnut]

I have 2 cups of strong coffee in the morning. The second cup I actually mix my chocolate protein powder into. It's really good, like a hot chocolate, but chalky. I also occassionaly use fat burners like Lipo 6x. I don't use them daily. Luckily, I'm self employed so I can sleep as late as I want, workout in the AM first thing, take a nap in the PM if I feel I need one (and I don't have a new baby!)

 

[nodoughnut]

Also, I don't know what turbo fire and 30 day shred is but from their names, it sounds like you are burning more sugar than fat with these types of cardio.

 

[namow10]

It is intense cardio.. What do you mean burn more sugar than fat?

 

[namow10]

What types of meals do you eat?

 

[nodoughnut]

It is intense cardio.. What do you mean burn more sugar than fat?

Cardio that's all out intense where you heart rate is very high for long periods, where you are out of breath and can't hold a conversation burns more glucose in the bloodstream than stored fat. To burn stored fat, do medium intensity cardio where your HR doesn't get above 140 bpm, or do HIIT, which is short bursts of high intensity followed by medium or slower recovery periods, usual 1 and 2 minute intervals. Keep in mind, you are never just burning sugar or just burning fat, but the ratios change dramatically given the type of cardio.

 

[MuscleGauge1]

Congrats on your current weight loss and good luck dropping the rest! What kind of supps are you taking?

 

[nodoughnut]

What types of meals do you eat?

Meal 1: Pre-workout - Protein powder in coffee, maybe a banana if I'm doing chest or legs.

Meal 2: Post workout - 1 whole egg, 6 egg whites, 3 oz brown rice, salsa, all mixed together. (I know that a whey isolate protein shake with banana would be ideal here but I crave real, salty food after I workout.)

Meal 3: Protein powder, banana

Meal 4: A lean protein (chix breast, ground turkey breast, lean beef, fish) starchy carb in it's whole, natural form like brown rice, sweet potato, veggie or salad

meal 5: Same protein as meal 4 but with salad and
veggie, no starchy carb.

Meal 6: 2 cups fat free cottage cheese

On the rice, sweet potato, I put a little butter flavor Pam spray. I cook a lot of my protein in a slow cooker overnight with a lot of spices. I make enough to last for a few days. I also eat a lot of buttercup/butternut and acorn squash in my meals. It is kind of a combination of a veggie and a starchy carb and has only 11 calories per ounce. Brown rice has 32, sweet potato 25 cal/oz. Cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds, place face down in baking pan, add an inch of water, cover with foil and bake for an hour. I eat the squash with a drizzle of sugar free maple syrup, Pam butter flavor spray and a ton of cinnamon. It's delicious and very satisfying.

 

[namow10]

I have not been taking any supplements. I ordered roxylean today, so I'm hoping that helps. . . Thank you so much for your mean plan & ideas. Much appreciated.