MetabolicTrash
Member
I remember I dieted hard about 1-2 years ago because I wanted to get a full six pack, which is obviously not as easy for everyone as just eating clean and slowly dieting down.
I wasn't fat or anything at the start, so it wasn't like I needed huge amounts of time and effort. I went as far down as 145-150 at 5'9-1/2" of height, more or less.
After that point I started feeling so thin and got weaker, but still had no six pack. I was eating right with a good amount of muscle sparing protein and clean foods for the most part. I also was dieting pretty well as certain areas of my body kept getting leaner and more defined every other week or so, but some areas refused to change.
For example, my lower stomach just would not get leaner even after having lost 20+ lbs. -- and as I said I was not fat at all to begin with -- just more "average" body fat, but on the better side for a male.
I liked the way I looked but couldn't let myself keep getting leaner as I was losing muscle and not seeing any more progress in certain areas (legs stayed fattish; lower stomach stayed fat; chest didn't really lean up much either).
Arms got defined somewhat and shoulders too. I think my cheeks were a bit hollow looking even and everyone began to claim I was looking "too skinny." I was working out well and recovering okay-ish and getting plenty of protein, but at that point I could not seem to recomp anymore and was going in the opposite direction at times it felt. It seemed like I just kept getting smaller but at the expense of muscle loss while fat stagnated in said areas. I'm not a believer in the bulk and cut bit since that isn't healthy to fatten up and lean out nonstop in hopes of building enough muscle to look good and hold on to as fat and muscle is then supposedly lost on the cut.
I decided to just eat my way back up to a more stable weight and try to build muscle -- after that point I went back up to overweight not long after, but still not much above 180-ish.
Now I am back down to 155-160 and fear the same thing is happening, even after being more educated and health conscious now.
Getting leaner and upper abs popping and looking pretty decent overall, but certain areas never change much. I don't want to be 130 lbs. to see abs and be underweight/sickly looking. I have an okay amount of muscle so it shouldn't make sense that I'd have to drop tons of weight just to see a six pack when I already look pretty good aside from the lower ab area and chest/legs/etc., which remain soft and fatty, despite seeing definition everywhere else.
I also don't want to dip too low on weight because I will start seeing muscle weakness and losing muscle too like before. I worked out hard and felt I got myself too light while having killed off more muscle than I should have and never achieved the full lean body fat.
I don't know if I should add that I am 100% natural and diet and workout pretty well -- even better than before now.
My main concern is that fat doesn't seem to want to go away from certain areas without a long, muscle wasting battle of cutting food back and back endlessly or weight just never changes and neither does my body.
I am asking here to see if anyone can help me find where I might be lacking. Since I am dedicated with exercise bare minimum for the most part, we can assume my issue could be more with diet, metabolism, hormones, stresses, thyroid, supplementation or etc.
I know my diet isn't perfect and I do eat PUFAs and sometimes insufficient protein, although I am in the process of trying to reduce the PUFAs at least. I also used to be pretty obese at 250 + lbs. in my teens, which I had lost super fast but never really reached the lean point. My guess with this is also that some old fat is stuck/refusing to leave since I was pretty fat for a while when I was a bit younger and had crash dieted and etc. at that time since I didn't know much.
So if anyone had seen or been through or heard of something similar, it would be great to see what I could change to lean out healthier and better and note successfully this time.
I'm below 30 years old so pretty young for all intents and purposes.
I wasn't fat or anything at the start, so it wasn't like I needed huge amounts of time and effort. I went as far down as 145-150 at 5'9-1/2" of height, more or less.
After that point I started feeling so thin and got weaker, but still had no six pack. I was eating right with a good amount of muscle sparing protein and clean foods for the most part. I also was dieting pretty well as certain areas of my body kept getting leaner and more defined every other week or so, but some areas refused to change.
For example, my lower stomach just would not get leaner even after having lost 20+ lbs. -- and as I said I was not fat at all to begin with -- just more "average" body fat, but on the better side for a male.
I liked the way I looked but couldn't let myself keep getting leaner as I was losing muscle and not seeing any more progress in certain areas (legs stayed fattish; lower stomach stayed fat; chest didn't really lean up much either).
Arms got defined somewhat and shoulders too. I think my cheeks were a bit hollow looking even and everyone began to claim I was looking "too skinny." I was working out well and recovering okay-ish and getting plenty of protein, but at that point I could not seem to recomp anymore and was going in the opposite direction at times it felt. It seemed like I just kept getting smaller but at the expense of muscle loss while fat stagnated in said areas. I'm not a believer in the bulk and cut bit since that isn't healthy to fatten up and lean out nonstop in hopes of building enough muscle to look good and hold on to as fat and muscle is then supposedly lost on the cut.
I decided to just eat my way back up to a more stable weight and try to build muscle -- after that point I went back up to overweight not long after, but still not much above 180-ish.
Now I am back down to 155-160 and fear the same thing is happening, even after being more educated and health conscious now.
Getting leaner and upper abs popping and looking pretty decent overall, but certain areas never change much. I don't want to be 130 lbs. to see abs and be underweight/sickly looking. I have an okay amount of muscle so it shouldn't make sense that I'd have to drop tons of weight just to see a six pack when I already look pretty good aside from the lower ab area and chest/legs/etc., which remain soft and fatty, despite seeing definition everywhere else.
I also don't want to dip too low on weight because I will start seeing muscle weakness and losing muscle too like before. I worked out hard and felt I got myself too light while having killed off more muscle than I should have and never achieved the full lean body fat.
I don't know if I should add that I am 100% natural and diet and workout pretty well -- even better than before now.
My main concern is that fat doesn't seem to want to go away from certain areas without a long, muscle wasting battle of cutting food back and back endlessly or weight just never changes and neither does my body.
I am asking here to see if anyone can help me find where I might be lacking. Since I am dedicated with exercise bare minimum for the most part, we can assume my issue could be more with diet, metabolism, hormones, stresses, thyroid, supplementation or etc.
I know my diet isn't perfect and I do eat PUFAs and sometimes insufficient protein, although I am in the process of trying to reduce the PUFAs at least. I also used to be pretty obese at 250 + lbs. in my teens, which I had lost super fast but never really reached the lean point. My guess with this is also that some old fat is stuck/refusing to leave since I was pretty fat for a while when I was a bit younger and had crash dieted and etc. at that time since I didn't know much.
So if anyone had seen or been through or heard of something similar, it would be great to see what I could change to lean out healthier and better and note successfully this time.
I'm below 30 years old so pretty young for all intents and purposes.
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