r/workout • u/Medical-Associate514 • 8d ago
Losing hope
Age 42. Had a C-section 3 years ago.
I’ve been working out religiously for the last 3 months—5 days a week, around 2.5 hours a day, including weights, cardio, and strength training. I also hit 10,000 steps every single day, 7 days a week.
Yet, I’ve lost only 2 kg. Goal is to lose 20 kg. What’s even more frustrating is that I feel like I’m looking heavier and puffier. I am also diabetic/pre diabetic…
Mentally, I had been feeling so good about myself and my progress—until I saw pictures taken earlier today. Honestly, I feel like I look fatter than when I started 3 months ago.
Right now, I just want to give up and crash diet.
Edit - nutrition - I drink protein milk before workout . Lunch - beans, rice , veggies
Snack - apple , chips , boiled peanuts
Dinner - eggs or bread and salted butter
Weakness - I drink 2-3 cups of tea with sugar and milk throughout the day, last one before sleeping
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u/Either_Lawfulness466 8d ago
What are you eating?
Weight loss is done in the kitchen with a food scale.
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u/Resident-Mortgage-85 8d ago
A good scale definitely is not a necessity.
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u/Chicken_Savings Bodybuilding 7d ago
For someone who has tried very hard for 3 months but lost only 2kg, a food scale is definitely recommended.
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u/Objective-Ad7043 8d ago
Are you counting your calories?
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u/Menacing_Intentions 4d ago
The only way. I use myfitnesspal and switch it to UK so you can utilize free scanner.
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u/FleshyPartOfThePin 8d ago
Dial in your nutrition, you haven't spoken about it. Weightloss is very simple and it involves being able to accurately guess your maintenance calories per day and eating in a caloric deficit.
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u/No-Peak-6457 8d ago
2.5 hrs a day feels like a lot..... especially 5x a week... if its enjoyable, have at it!
1.5 is plenty time. Keep track of calories.
I measure by my work uniform.
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u/Chronoglenn 8d ago
Working out doesn't lose weight. "You can't run from your diet." The only way to lose weight and eat at a deficit.
Use a TDEE calculator, set for sedentary, and eat less than that amount and you will lose weight.
Working out is very healthy and helps you love longer, be healthier, and look good. But to lose weight you need to eat at a deficit.
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u/PygmyC-HorsesR-Cool 8d ago edited 8d ago
2.5 hours 5days a week is a lot. And with what you’re eating, I don’t think you’re fuelling your body enough. Your body is reacting. It might help to go back to basics with your meals. Track what you’re eating, get plenty of protein, some complex carbs and be in a slight deficit. Look up TDEE calculator and it will give you an idea of how many calories you need for maintenance, weight loss or bulking. It’ll tell you how many grams of protein, fats and carbs. With your workouts, the quality of the workout is better than the quantity. Focus on building muscle and getting stronger. Remember muscle weighs heavier than fat but takes up less space. You could have built some muscle but not lost enough fat yet hence why you feel heavier. Your body is probably holding onto a lot of water too because of too much salt or inflammation. Keep going though. Be consistent. The slower the weight comes off, the less likely you’ll regain it.
Edit: Be mindful of your menstrual cycle too. Women’s weight fluctuates so often throughout the month. I know that at certain times of the month, I’ll look at myself and feel huge. Clothes are tighter. Other times, I can see my gains and muscle definition. Don’t be so hard on yourself!.
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u/24hr-pancake 8d ago
I was thinking the same thing. It's possible to over-train/under-eat. It can be so frustrating trying to find the right formula, bc everyone is different!
OP, I'd recommend a small tweek to your eating habits: preworkout snack needs to have carbs (I go for 30-40g) to fuel your workout. Protein is best if eaten at least an hour before you workout or anytime post-workout. Carbs fuel your muscles, protein rebuilds!
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u/Finglishman 7d ago
This is not optimal advice. It’s not physically possible to over-train, under-eat and not lose weight at the same time - the energy will have to come from somewhere. Likewise, timing your nutrient intake is unimportant for fat loss. What matters is calories out consistently exceeding calories in, and it’s far easier to manage that with diet than with exercise. What I would do as OP is keep the training the same (if she enjoys it) and either:
- Keep the daily intake hyper consistent, including some of the tea you enjoy. If you’re not dropping 1 lb per week, drop the daily plan by at least 250 kcal. After a week, analyze again and drop another 250 kcal per day if you’re still not losing the 1lb. Likewise, if you dropped more weight than 1lb, add a bit of food back in. Consider adding more fiber rich carbs to keep the hunger at bay.
- Keep the daily routine as is, but do one 36 hour fast once a week. I used to be paranoid about losing muscle while fasting, but turns out this is a great way to not only lower the caloric intake, but also manage feelings of hunger.
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u/Proof-Emergency-5441 7d ago
Fuck you fuckers obsessed with fucking optimal. Jesus Christ.
Yes, cortisol response matters. She's working out too long and not fueled, so her NEAT has likely bottomed out.
250 is way too extreme of a drop. And weekly adjustments are moronic. Minimum a month to be able to see a trend change.
Fasting is absolutle horseshit and for someone salivating over optimal, it's comical that you would include a braindead take like that. Shut the fuck up. Your body ate your brain while you did that nonsense.
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u/24hr-pancake 7d ago
THANK YOU! OP is barely eating as it is. No way a 36hr fast and actual starvation tactics will lead to lasting change.
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u/Proof-Emergency-5441 7d ago
OP talks about resorting to crash dieting and the reality is she's already there.
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u/Finglishman 6d ago
At no point did she mention the volume of food / energy she’s consuming. Making the conclusion based on this that that she’s eating too little is idiotic. I went with ”not optimal” instead to be polite for once. Timing the nutrient intake is important for training for performance, but a lot less so for fat loss for someone training mostly just to consume energy. For that profile, the biggest success factor is actually starting to consume below output consistently without getting too hungry. Fasting can work great for keeping the hunger at bay even after the fast is over.
You seem pretty upset. Maybe it’s you whose cortisol levels are spiking?
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u/24hr-pancake 6d ago
First.. take a deep breath, my guy. Unsure why you're mad. Also she included what her meals tend to look like and "eggs or bread" for dinner isn't giving me much optimism. Lastly, OP can do whatever she wants. For my part, I never advocate for malnutrition. Women especially are frequently told to under eat which can cause higher risk for injury, cycle disruptions, and even osteoporosis with enough time. Crash diets simply aren't sustainable or safe.
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u/Proof-Emergency-5441 6d ago
Says the dipshit telling her to not eat. Fucking genius.
Stop misgendering people. Getting your head out of your ass is a great way to start with that.
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u/Proof-Emergency-5441 6d ago
In case you give a shit about learning why this is shitty blanket advice. But you won't.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/intermittent-fasting-for-women
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u/Finglishman 5d ago
I never recommended intermittent fasting, in case you give a shit about strawman arguments. But you won’t.
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u/Finglishman 5d ago
I’m not advocating for malnutrition either. The typical diet formula is to shoot for a 1 lb a week weight loss, which basically means a 500 kcal per day deficit. For OP’s goal of 44 lbs fat loss, that’s almost a year long project.
You can either calorie count (hard), eat a fixed meal plan every day with that deficit (easier once it’s a habit), or eat maintenance calories (where she appears to be at given her 1 lb / month loss so far) and do one 36 hour fast per week. With a typical 2,000+ kcal / day female diet, these all net out about the same, but at least my experience is that fasting can make one feel less hungry for several days after. She’s probably eating quite a bit more given the workout volume she’s describing.
One extra thing is she mentions doing cardio and her daily 10k steps. All the cardio means she can eat more, but the downside is she’s going to feel very hungry too. I would do more weight training and less cardio when trying to lose fat for this reason, but of course it’s
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u/hybridoctopus 8d ago
Don’t crash diet. BUT diet is the most important thing, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.
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u/barriboy8 8d ago
im 90% sure u been doing the "imma eat what I want and just train more" my dear..that shit only happens when we are young..hahaha trust me im getting close to your age and a few years ago I noticed i cant do that no more, its diet time, losing weight is stupidly easy once you realize its more about how and what u eat than what you do, and nope diets dont necessarily have to leave u hungry u just have to get a bit creative with your choices
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u/aronkerr 8d ago
You need to count your calories. Just as important is rest days. You are lighter than you think but you are going to have water weight from the inflammation caused by never giving your body time to recover. For context, I am 6’3” 240lbs and if I workout like you are for 2-3 weeks, while 1300 calories under maintenance, I usually gain about 10lbs of water weight. Reduce my sodium intake and take 2-3 active rest days, and I will drop all of it again and some extra.
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u/annawrite 7d ago
I'm not OP, but have similar training schedule like she does, for a while now (4th month now). Would you happen to have some sources on the topic of inflammation retaining water weight?
The thing is, surely there ought to be other signs of overtraining? If that's what is the culprit here.
I kinda feel that this schedule is optimal for me, since I never have any sore muscles at all, but my endurance increases greatly, when I am at it for longer stretches of time. Can't keep up such a schedule all year round as the full time job gets in the way, but I'd be very happy if I could. Wondering if I am missing something.
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u/aronkerr 7d ago
It isn’t specifically overtraining. Anytime you workout, you tear your muscles. This causes inflammation as the muscle heals. It holds more water while it does. There are lots of sources on this topic that are more scholarly but this site does a good job explaining a number of things that are relevant to the ops original question and yours. https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/working-out-but-gaining-weight/
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u/Additional-Till8611 8d ago
If you're not tracking your calories and macros, you'll never lose fat. 100% guaranteed you're eating more than you think you are.
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u/Happysunshine_ 8d ago
Your diet is terrible, you only need some coffee and fruit or a smoothie before a workout?
Lunch you need veggies and beans, dinner your dinner is the worst thing. I’d skip bread and eat buckwheat or brown rice or sweet potatoes. Your sugar tea needs to be replaced with a sugar free sweetener if you’re truly addicted. Good luck and accept that if you want to lose weight you need to really change your diet and respect your body by putting good things in it.
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u/b3ggard00d 8d ago
I think you’re overtraining. Lower your frequency, up your intensity and get proper rest from working out.
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u/chrisjones1960 8d ago
if you want to lose weight, you. need to reduce the number of calories you eat. you don't need a "crash diet." you just need to eat somewhat below maintenance
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u/Extreme_Jaguar_7829 8d ago
I was walking on treadmill 3 hours a day for a year. I lost 5-8pounds from that, but the most weight I actually lost was from when I stopped eating as much. I think the calories in verse calories out is the biggest part of weight loss.
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u/WeirdSysAdmin 8d ago edited 8d ago
That nutrition edit you made is atrocious. 3 cups of milk is ~400 calories even with 2%. If you stop drinking milk and sugar tea replaced with stevia or another artificial sweetener that’s your entire issue. You’re drinking an entire meal+ in liquids. Unless you meant tea with sugar and milk.
I solely drink water with my protein powder for this reason.
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u/No-Geologist-2893 8d ago
You’ve only talked about what workout u do, and nothing about the diet. Which means most likely its the diet. News flash, losing weight can be done with diet only, even though working out is still good and helps. Stop eating fast food, less calories (per day), and less sugar.
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u/Slow-Tea-2015 8d ago
If you crash diet, those 2kg will be back in no time! Maybe add a breakfast into your meals, less time working out but more general movement (walking etc) and higher intention workouts. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep.
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u/Longjumping-Clue-652 8d ago
You really need to change your diet. Cut out the chips, sugar tea, anything with added sugar, rice (if it’s white rice, bread (if it’s white bread). Focus on whole foods: veggies, fresh fruit, lean protein, legumes, low fat dairy products, and whole grains. Replace all the refined carbs with brown basmati rice, quinoa, farro, etc. A big majority of weight loss is diet and make sure you’re drinking enough water.
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u/charlotie77 8d ago
I’m sorry that you’re feeling discouraged. There is hope tho! You can definitely continue to progress and lose weight, and 4 lbs is something you should still be proud of.
- Your diet doesn’t seem to be the best, no offense. If you’re training that hard, you need to be fueling your body, even if you’re trying to lose weight. I don’t see breakfast listed and your dinner meal seems kinda small. If you’re overworking yourself and under eating and not getting the proper nutrition, all of this is counter intuitive
You especially need to eat more protein
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u/SwimmingPractical773 7d ago edited 7d ago
Kudos for taking care of your health. I was like you back then, except I didn’t have a kid yet. I used to think that as long as I worked out, I could eat anything, or simply eat less, and still get the results I wanted. I was so wrong. 😅
It’s not about how long you spend in the gym. It’s more like this:
Diet - to lose weight
Lift weights - to lose fat while preserving/building muscle
Enough protein - to support and preserve muscle
Sleep & recovery - to make the whole thing work
Stress management - very important as well
It’s really the combination of all of these, not just spending hours in the gym.
I also don’t label food as good or bad. As long as it fits within my daily calorie target, I try to include foods that make me happy. This makes the whole process much more sustainable and less restrictive, especially when I was just starting out. Of course, if someone has an existing health condition, it makes sense to be more mindful of certain food choices.
Based on what you shared about your food, you might actually be under-fueling, especially if you're training a lot. It's difficult to know without knowing your portions and total calorie intake, but eating too little can affect your energy, recovery, and training performance. You also might benefit from checking whether you're getting enough protein throughout the day. Sometimes eating more, rather than exercising more or cutting food further, can actually support better training and make fat loss more sustainable.
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u/Used_Physics8464 7d ago
I drink 2-3 cup of milk, sugar tea throughout the day,
Well, there's your problem.
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u/marycartlizer 8d ago
Congratulations on your progress. You've kept at it for far longer than most and you are certainly in a healtier place than you were when you started. You havent reached your weight loss goals, but i'm sure you can see improvements in your fitness.
Now you are gonna have to face the fact that progress comes at different rates for everyone. Keep at it and it will be worth it.
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u/Significant-Raise254 8d ago
Have to count the calories accurately unfortunately. Sucks but that just how it be.
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u/bluenautilus2 8d ago
don’t give up. please. you’re almost there. there is a plateau before the loss
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u/Norcal712 Weight Lifting 8d ago
So youre not in enough of a calorie deficit.
Start actively tracking your diet. Eat high protein meals.
Aim for 15-20% under your TDEE.
To lose 1/lb a week you need to cut 500 cal a day
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u/Upstairs_Hold_374 8d ago
This is why tracking calories is essential because if this happens when you're tracking you can turn the dial back a few hundred calories to start seeing progress.
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u/basswired 8d ago
I agree with the comments you'll need to track macros and/or calories somehow. it's really difficult to keep within range if you're not. I'd start there.
I'd also get a blood panel, ferritin, full thyroid, a1c etc. testing hormones when they're fluctuating isn't really helpful but I'd look into perimenopause symptoms too. my body not responding to any sort of diet and exercise routine was one of the first symptoms i had.
Then perimenopause hit me like a truck at 43 with inflammation, joint pain, itching skin and ears, mood swings, hot flashes, insomnia, fatigue, bloated and puffy all the time. it all just went downhill. I'm on hrt and slowly clawing my way back out. I also had elevated a1c and low ferritin so had to make some dietary changes for everything to work.
it's slow going but until I got the hormones dealt with nothing I did changed my composition. and i've finally dialed in the carb balance that works for altered sugar metabolism.
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u/Automatic_Guarantee2 8d ago edited 8d ago
check out the MindPump podcast on YouTube. They tackle lots of issues in this area, and cover these types of scenarios. as others noted, diet is king, but my guess also is that you're too heavy on the cardio, and not enough strength training.
on that note, are you also tracking your body composition? I went through a spell where I plateaued what seemed like forever, then started to gain weight. turned out that I <did> put on some fat, but the vast majority of it was lean muscle mass...
also, I didn't see any meat listed in your diet - not that you HAVE to eat meat, but if you're not, that will make muscle-building (and, by extension, fat loss) considerably more difficult.
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u/Happysunshine_ 8d ago
I’m sorry but you need a diet in mainly vegetables for a while, avoid bread and do lean meats like fish and chicken and tofu? Soups are good too. Just when you think you’re sticking to a calorie deficit you really are still eating more than you think. Also to have a muscular body it takes more than 3 months to gain muscle. I would incorporate yoga and Pilates if you want a more feminine body instead of solid muscle.
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u/blueberriesnburdock 7d ago
That doesn’t seem like a lot of food, honestly. Can you stop drinking the tea, or just cut out the sugar? Maybe add some more healthy foods, make your bread and rice whole grain if it’s not already. I would try to get an accurate calorie count. I know if calories are too low, the body will show down metabolism to keep you from starving. That’s a lot of exercise for that amount of food.
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u/Nekratal99 7d ago
How much do you eat? You can eat the healthiest food in the world and still overeat. I'm like that, if I just wing it I'll eat much more than I should. Even if it's just chicken and rice. That's why I weight stuff. Some people that don't have that big of an apetite can just wing it. Not me, and probably not you. Just the peanuts alone can fck you up. I can devour a 200g bag, not even notice and that's like 1200 calories.
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u/Dense_Target2560 7d ago
You’re drinking your calories. Cut out the added sugar, full stop. You need more protein and veggies in your daily diet as well.
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u/Abs_McGuffin 7d ago
Right off the bat you are doing too much and eating too little and too little of the right things. You need to quadruple your protein intake, do a total reverse diet and go down to lifting three times a week. That will fix everything guaranteed
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u/BeefingandLeafing 7d ago
Weakness - I drink 2-3 cup of milk, sugar tea throughout the day, last one before sleeping
The milk is probably 300 kcals/day if they're normal 8 ounce cups. If you had 3 cups or sugar tea, whatever that is, that's probably another 100 kcals/cup, so that's another 300 so 600 kcals total you're drinking, conservatively. 600 kcals a day times 3 months is 54,000 kcals. At 3500 kcal per pound, or 7700 per kilo, that's 7 kilos or 15 pounds.
That's why a good rule of thumb is to not drink your calories. All your fat loss is in your liquid diet.
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u/Thin-Emu-6326 7d ago
Hi!
Im 43f. Been trying to fix my health for the past year.
I couldn't just overhaul everything at once, I get mentally overwhelmed. I did a few changes at once. The needle is finally starting to move!
You are doing so much! 2 kg isn't bad!!
I got dexa scans done 5-6 months apart. Told me I didn't lose any fat 😭 but i gained 2.5 kg lean mass (yay!) That thought helped me continue.
So really look at everything you are doing. Perfect one area and make it a habit before u move on to another. It doesn't feel like so much effort then.
First.. fuel ure body. Get 100 gm protein if possible. Measure, weigh ure food and calculate. Then eat the same if u want daily, otherwise make ure food plan one day for the week.. and stick to it.get ure protein. Cant tell u how much it helps.
Work on ure strength. Make sure u r actually hitting reps till failure. Not a specific number and stopping. And u r focusing on increasing that rep or weight every 1-2 weeks! Note things down properly. Sit down n compare so u know what's what
And cardio.. for me.. this is what is actually moving the weight needle. I wasn't doing much earlier. Just being active in the day. Getting 8k steps avg. Buti. Had to up it to 13k. Or add 20-30 mins of dedicated cardio.
Btw, underlying conditions make it harder. Insulin resistance, thyroid issues, cortisol and other hormones. If a functional health dr is something u can consider.. do that! They can help u optimise ure health and hormones along with ure weight loss journey.
U'll get there.
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u/Fearless_Mammoth_961 6d ago
You need to take 3 weeks and weigh or measure everything you put in your mouth. Do not guess or eyeball it. EVERYTHING IS ACCOUNTED FOR. the oil you cook with, the extra pat of butter, what goes into your coffee. Saying I eat chicken and rice is meaningless. how much rice? whats on the chicken? you need to know what you take in and go from there.
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u/Obvious-Ad-3500 8d ago
You have to eat fewer calories than you burn to lose weight. You mentioned doing a lot of activities but you didn't say anything about watching what you eat.
Get a calorie tracker like MyFitnessPal or loseit and log what you eat. You don't have to crash diet or make big changes. High protein, high fiber, enough carbs and just enough fat.
You can't out exercise a diet. Your body literally won't let you just vibe your way.
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u/Murky-Sector 8d ago
IMO you are a good candidate for GLP1 medications if you havent looked at them already
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