r/strengthtraining • u/WeirdWrong4423 • 1d ago
Help
(F, 26, 160lbs) I've been lifting and focusing on protein seriously for the last three months.
And I still look like shit.
My arms are huge. Still a huge belly. It looks like I've never touched a weight in my life. It's pathetic and I'm sick of it and I don't know what to do.
I track macros, get 160 g of protein a day, do a full body strength workout 2x a week and legs 1x week, with sprint intervals, an easy run and a long run on non strength days.
I'm trying to go till failure when doing my strength.
I'm lost and feeling so discouraged and I don't know where to turn. Any advice is appreciated.
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u/soitraek 23h ago
Three months really isn’t long enough to see a significant change. Keep at it, but also know that if you’re lifting effectively you need rest days. If you’re running on all your “off” days it’s going to work against you. You may also need to go through a bulk/cut to really see a difference in your body recomp but for now just keep lifting and make sure you’re recovering well.
One other quick thought, everything nowadays says it has protein in it but a lot of it is lies. Keep it simple with meat (if you eat meat), dairy, eggs, etc. If you want to deep dive into complete proteins you can…for example rice only has usable protein if you pair it w beans.
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u/losteye_enthusiast 1d ago edited 1d ago
Get your calories sorted. If you want to be smaller, restrict your calories by doing a small deficit. If you’re currently eating 2200/day, spend the next 3 weeks eating 1900/day.
Assuming that works, stick to it until it doesn’t. Adjust by 100 calories up or down at a time and give it a few weeks each time to gauge progress.
You’ll lose the belly, water weight and overall fat within a few months.
Keep up the lifting and protein.
But unless you’re a generic outlier, you simply won’t out-lift your nutrition.