I am getting a bit tilted with my lack of results trying to drop 20-30 pounds.

I have been quite militant with my diet, I eat small meals several times a day, I drink almost exclusivly water, I have cut out all processed foods ( a few cheats here and there, but very small)

A typical day is eggs for breakfast, sometimes a protein bar.
mid morning maybe a small handful of almonds or a kiwi
Lunch is usually protein heavy, leftover meat from prior nite dinner
beef jerky or fruit or protein bar in mid afternoon
Dinner is usually a lean meat, salad with romaine, HB eggs, red pepper, tomato along with a veg... usually green beans or peas or broccoli or cauliflower.
I have whey w/ water a couple times a day and usually a casein w/ water at nite before bed.
I also drink at least 2 liters of water per day.

I have been doing some HIIT, usually 30-45 minutes 3-4 times a week, and throw in lifting at what I consider a moderate level. (some shoulder problems, so press lifts are lighter weight than I can lift without sharp pains, but I do hi reps)

It has been 3 weeks of this, and I have actually gained 1 pound... it is getting discouraging with the work and effort I am putting in. I have maintained my current weight for 1+ years just by watching diet (loosely)... why work out and be so restrictive with diet if I am not losing weight?

I'm a solidish 225-230 lbs at 6'1", just trying to lose the extra ab flab.... at 205 I am looking better than 90% of 40+ year old men... it's just not coming off.

Am I doing something wrong?

well, you didn't type "calories" a single time. start there imo.

I think this might be it. Not sure, though.

Well if you are doing all that and not losing weight, the reason you are working out is to maintain your weigh or else you'll get fat.

Seriously though, from the looks of it you do look like you're exercising enough that whatever calories you're eating should be a deficit, but clearly it isn't. Take time to write down the exact calorie count of what you're eating for a couple days and you'll probably be surprised you're eating more calories than you think you are. Include oil for cooking, marinades, dressings, etc.

If you find the number to be absurdly low like 2200 and it's accurate, guess you're just super unlucky and will have to cut off a couple hundred calories somewhere or add in another session of calorie burning activity somewhere.

I just learned that a medium sized cheesecake has like 5000 calories, maybe that's your problem as well.

eat more nuts

DUCY?

If everything you say is true, especially the HIIT, you are one unlucky bastard. What does your HIIT program look like? 30-45 min 3-4 times a week seems like alot.

that's a lot of protein supplements for your exercise regime. if you are not using it to fuel your exercise then it gets stored as fat. first i would cut out the one before bed and one of the other ones you drink during the day.
edit: also, you should add more veg in with your meat in all your meals.

OP, if you're even half-serious, Miles' post is on the money.

This thread reminds me of a Leigh Peele & Martin Berhkan interview:
http://www.leighpeele.com/martin-ber...ting-interview

Is it possible that OP is losing body fat while staying at the same weight?

That'd mean that he must be gaining muscle at the same time, no?
Which, while not entirely impossible, is very unlikely.
And prolly even more unlikely in OP's case.

Keep in mind that your scale is useless when it comes to determining bf%. You are probably packing on muscle, that's why you haven't lost any "weight".

Keep doing what you're doing, the results will come. Start drinking some green or white tea too for a small boost.

http://www.ergo-log.com/eatingmoreprotein.html

No

No

No

No

JFC no.

HIIT for 35-40 minutes???? A unfit 40+year old is unlikely to last more than 10 seconds of true HIIT. HIIT burns over 1000 calories per hour. At 30 seconds a week, you may burn 10 or 15 calories that week. Running extremely slowly burns about 500 cals per hour. But you may be capable of running 90 minutes to 2 hours the 1st week. Although a inbetween pace would burn 750 cals/wk. 10 minutes a day for 6 days; rest the 7th day. I think that works best. Increase the minutes every week.

WOW, a whole 3 weeks. lol

Walking may be a better way to perform cardio. It may take weeks or even months to be able to walk the 10,000 steps a day.

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

No
No
No
No

solid argument lol

Yea, he should definitely keep doing what he has been doing, if he wants to keep not losing weight.

Re-reading the OP, this is an incredible example (hopefully real) of how focusing on the wrong things can screw results and why axiomatic approaches, even when sometimes helpful, are useless when the underlying mechanisms aren't understood. More simply, it's a great example of why broscience can, yet often doesn't work.

Bobo, hopefully this is constructive, for you and other readers.

The OP was
> eating several small meals a day (to stoke the metabolic fire)
> being militant with his diet (if it tastes good, spit it out)
> cut out processed foods (they're bad for you and make you fat)
> whey/casein (covering the fast and slow bases)
> HIIT 3-4 times a week (afterburn effect)
> high-rep lifting (for the toned look)

All this has resulted in is stalled progress and frustration- a stark but familiar reminder of how insidious and ineffective lay nonsense is in H&F, and why not understanding the basic mechanisms (of physiological change and adaptation) and the couple of key points ("big rocks") can be so crippling.

Who wants to lose "weight"? I thought the goal is to increase muscle mass and lose body fat %.

I assume that's what OP wants.

A weight scale is useless in determining body fat %. OP could be gaining muscle, yet you guys assume he's not.

He's eating good. He's exercising frequently. He's combining resistance training with HIIT. He's eating a lot of protein.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's probably gaining some quality muscle mass. Three weeks is not a substantial time frame to draw conclusions, especially when not monitoring BF%.

If you guys bothered to read the link I posted(an article talking about a study, which is cited), you would realize that there is data articulating that a high protein diet increases lean body mass.

Muscle weighs more than fat.

But please, continue with the brotelligence.

OH BRO YOU DIDNT

Why in the world would you assume OP doesn't want to lose weight, when the title and first sentence of his post mention that he wants to lose weight?

if you want to lose the most weight possible, just drop your cals under 1,000/day and do tons of slow/steady state cardio. You'll look like Bale in the Machinist in no time.

How is this constructive when you just reiterate his post without adding any new information?

Care to expand on these "underlying mechanisms"? I'm legitimately curious.