So some of you may recall that I’ve been in a bit of a health improvement phase this year. Currently at -68lb for the year having dropped refined carbs almost completely from my diet.

Trouble is, despite increasing my exercise levels exponentially as the weight has come off, I seem to have hit a tricky plateau.
For example, over the last 10 weeks I’ve reintroduced jogging/running back into the mix and have been averaging 3-4 treadmill sessions per week (usually 5k) in this time. Plus, an approximate mix of 10-30 miles of riding (plenty of climbing) each week. I also use resistance training on mainly my upper body following each of my treadmill sessions.
During this 10 week period I have admittedly noticed an increased appetite, and I’ve fed it with a decent mix of veg/nuts/protein where required.
Despite still carrying plenty of surplus weight I’ve only lost net 1.7kg in the last 10 weeks.

Am I missing something?
I cant imagine that I’m gaining KGs worth of muscle bulk, and I am occasionally noticing my clothes fitting better – yet the scales aren’t budging.

What would be an appropriate course of action to see further weight loss do you think?

I am looking to increase my exercise duration regardless, but I am surprised by this apparent lack of ‘progress’.

Having been part of the chub club this year, I definitely now subscribe to the “exercise for fitness, but diet for weight” mantra.

Agreed, I’m still reluctant to let go of my ‘theres another 800 calories burnt’ mantra after a session. However, I do believe in metabolism improvement post exercise.

I’m supposedly able to eat at least 3000cal per day just to maintain my current weight, and I rarely venture over an approximate 2000-2500. Add exercise into the mix and im becoming bemused.

Or you sure you are eating what you think you are eating? Calories wise?

So what is your BMI? The spare weight is always going to be easier to get rid of and the last bit to be ‘perfect’ the hardest. I dropped from 76kg to around 67kg at the beginning of the year and did it relatively easily (more controlled diet and 3 or 4 gym trips a week) however my target weight was 65kg and I found getting that last bit off was very difficult. In fact I never managed it after a very busy summer on home improvement projects meant I missed loads of gym sessions.

As your fitness improves, so does your ‘economy’ it terms of the amount of calories consumed during exercise – many fitness trackers are highly ineffective in this respect, hugely over-estimating the calorie ‘burn’. Plus, you’re probably developing higher density muscle as you burn fat effectively one cancelling-out the other. You may also find that those final kgs are sub-cutaneous fat that is far harder to shift, particularly as you get older.

No idea on BMI.
Suffice to say I’m at least 3st away from target weight..

And granted, there’s always a risk that I’m underestimating my intake – but with an average day consisting of nothing for breakfast, chicken or ham or falafel salad with 2 boiled eggs for lunch – and a tea of meatballs or grilled chicken/cheese plus cauliflower rice I’m struggling to believe I’m eating enough to maintain.

Granted, nuts and cheese snacking intake may have risen since exercising more. But that’s all good fats, right?.. (I’ve just answered my own question haven’t I).

Oh yeah, diet drinks. Are they perhaps tricking a false insulin response?

Yes I’m older than I was before, hitting 40 soon – but just how little does a fairly fat bloke need to eat to shift the remainder?..

I got stuck at 15 stone for what felt like forever. I do a similar thing cutting out refined carbs. Stick at it you are gaining loads of good stuff in terms of fitness even if the weight is not dropping.

Are you getting enough sleep, are you stressed, and are you recovering well from your exercise?

Maybe start a food log to look at your eating habits and refine them. What is your fruit intake like? Replacing fruit with more veg might help break through your plateau

More exercise requires more calories which can lead to over eating also exercise can be a stress on the body which can sometimes work against your weight loss.

Good points.
No, sleep has been getting progressively worse recently.

I try to leave at least one day between treadmill sessions or cut the distance down if doing successive ones, but ideally I’d like to get into a ‘3 miles before work every single day’ habit..

No fruit this year. No white or other refined carbs – no spuds etc.
Minimal root vegetables.

On the plus side – fitness definitely improving!

its simple – you are not in a calorie deficit and you are losing fat but creating muscle.

As you get lighter the same amount of exercise takes less calories.

Oh yeah, diet drinks. Are they perhaps tricking a false insulin response?

if it is diet soft drinks then yes the sweeteners can still induce an insulin response. but it really dependant on the person.

This might interest you:
http://fatburningman.com/robb-wolf-whats-healthier-a-cookie-or-a-banana-the-answer-will-surprise-you/

It it worth experimenting by eliminating different things in your diet and see what happens. What works for you might not work for someone else

BTW, it can be done – my brother has lost huge amounts (was around 16st and is now <10st) and he did nothing other than eat sensibly and walk lots (he likes his hill walking). He still likes his beer/wine/cocktails and never ducks out of a big meal and pudding/cheeses etc (or late night post pub pizza). He just became sensible about his diet and started eating breakfast which he had never done in his adult life (which I assume stopped snack cravings during the day). He’s 45 so age didn’t hinder him.

No fruit this year. No white or other refined carbs – no spuds etc.
Minimal root vegetables.

That is hardcore I still eat potatoes

An extra hour in bed might help your fat loss more that a treadmill session.

Good shout. Must try and get more sleep.
As of today am re-eliminating coke zero. I’m sure that bastard is keeping me fat.

Johndoh – Ican count on one hand the amount of beers I’ve had this year.. I don’t mind living without it but I’d sure like to be able to let my hair down on a Friday night.
I decided to go hardcore this year though as I wanted no slips back into bad habits.

As of today am re-eliminating coke zero. I’m sure that bastard is keeping me fat

I remember hearing something on the radio it was someone talking about his sister having diabetes and that even diet soft drinks would spike he insulin.

Got to be worth experimneting with not least because soft drinks companies are evil:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/11/soda-politics.aspx

A while back I went from riding a gentle 4 miles each way to work with the odd run and a ~2.5hr ride most weeks to riding 10-11 miles quite hard to and from work, plus the odd recreational ride and run.

I lost the first 10kgs in about a month, then totally plateaued. The last 3kgs only came off when I stopped having a packet of chocolate digestives at my desk routinely.

TBH you don’t sound overly heavy (unless you’re 4’6″), and you will reach a natural weight plateau at some point. If you do still feel a bit chubby, are you sleeping enough? Are you being realistic in your aims?

Do a week or so of hardcore food monitoring. A my fitness pal type food diary, weigh the food, it’s usually eye opening. The weighing thing you can do for a week or so and you get an eye for a good portion size. Brown rice for example. Healthy stuff. 100gms of it… mucho calorio

Could be several things going on here, some additional muscle gain from exercise, muscle tissue being denser than far looks alarming on the scales which is why I usually a mirror to judge how in or out of shape I am.

Bone density improves/increases with exercise and is a ‘hidden’ weight people rarely consider, it shows on the scales without being obviously visible to the eye.

Lastly you may now simply be eating what you current weight needs to sustain itself, if you want to lose more then eat a little less….when I started kickboxing I was 15 stone, the coach told me i’d qualify as a heavyweight but I was only 5′ 9″ tall….he said the natural 6ft+ heavyweights would kill me and that if I was serious about licenced fighting i’d need to be a middleweight at my height….over the course of 18 months I went from 15st to 11st while attending twice weekly training sessions…I knocked the weights on the head as I didn’t want any unnecessary muscle bulk, I kept bodyweight exercises obviously (chins/pull ups, dips, press ups etc) and my diet became very Spartan.

Breakfast was 2x Weetabix with semi skimmed milk (no sugar), cup of tea or glass of juice.

Mid morning snack of a pieace of fruit, more tea, water etc.

Lunch was a sandwich, chesse and ham, chick mayo, tuna and sweetcorn…it doesn’t really matter…more water, maybe another cup of tea.

Dinner was pasta and meat or fish and rice, typically chicken breast and a bed of rice or tinned tuna mixed into pasta and pesto….more water.

No snacks like crisps, cake, chocolate etc…no carbonated drinks…no deserts on meals out with friends, just a starter and main. I took a multivitamin each day to cover for any defincencies in the diet.

It worked, yes I was hungry as hell at the beginning but with the exercise the weight fell off and as I lost weight I became less and less hungry until I was down to my target weight and no longer hungry…a platuea if you like.

…everybody hits one, mine just happened to be where I wanted it to be, I could’ve gone lighter but it would’ve meant drastic changes to the diet which I already thought was pretty bare and I didn’t fancy that.