One month in and frusterated....

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alissadough84
alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
I'll start by saying that I'm not necessarily looking to gain weight, but build more muscle. My body fat is sitting a lot higher than I'd like, I've found this to be true at a lower weight too (probably 30% ish range). I'd like to lose 10 pounds, but am more focused on body composition- because even at 10 pounds lighter my body fat was still around the same.

I'm about 5'2 and used the IIFIYM calculator to calculate my macros as following:
1690 Calories (right at my TDEE)
169 g carbs (40%)
56 g fat (30%)
127 g protein (30%)
However, I find myself eating at a bit of a deficit (to lose a few pounds), closer to 1400-1500 calories. For the most part, my diet is clean. I also am making sure I get at least 100 grams or more of protein a day.
I work out at least 4 to 5 days a week, doing CrossFit.
The first week, I lost 2 pounds, and then sat at that weight for about another week. Now, in the last 2 weeks I've gained almost 3 pounds-- and I don't feel like it's muscle either, because I can feel it in my bust.

Should I adjust my macros? What am I doing wrong? Suggestions?

Thanks!
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    how much do you weigh?

    sounds like you need a programme of progressive overload (dont know if crossfit does that?), either at maintenance or a small deficit (250 cals)
  • alissadough84
    alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
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    As of this morning, I was weighing in at 140.
  • auticus
    auticus Posts: 1,051 Member
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    The human body is adept at figuring out that you are trying to lose weight and then compensating so that you stop losing weight. At 5'2 and 140 lbs I'd say that you are close to a really good ideal weight so losing that last little bit is very difficult. (I've been trying to lose 30 lbs for years lol)

    Mix up your workouts. Don't do the same thing over and over again.

    Weight loss is mostly in the kitchen I've found.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    alissadough84 wrote: »
    As of this morning, I was weighing in at 140.

    your TDEE sounds a little low for doing crossfit?
  • kerrold
    kerrold Posts: 24 Member
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    Hi, just out of curiosity how would you describe your activity level from the following list...

    Little or no activity
    Lightly active (1-3 d/w)
    Moderately active (5-6 d/w)
    Very active (5-6 d/w)
    Extra active (6-7 d/w)

  • kerrold
    kerrold Posts: 24 Member
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    d/w = days per week
  • kerrold
    kerrold Posts: 24 Member
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    Sorry this one should have read, having one of those days!
    Moderately active (3-5 d/w)
  • alissadough84
    alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
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    Thanks for the help everyone! Yes, I am logging daily and measuring my food. I only weigh myself once a week. As far as my activity level goes, I have a desk job- so I am moving around very little through the day, and doing an hour or 2 at Crossfit 4-6 days a week after work. Some work outs are more strenuous than others- so maybe lightly active, I'm not sure. I've been thinking of incorporating some yoga, or something different to mix it up.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    if you are truly 30% body fat then you need to focus on maintaining existing mass and cutting your body fat to sub 15% before even thinking about bulking or recomping
  • goldenbeaut
    goldenbeaut Posts: 47 Member
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    How about incorporating some cardio or HIIT training to lower the body fat % ? i think it sounds like your calories and macros are on point.
  • BrianKMcFalls
    BrianKMcFalls Posts: 190 Member
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    If you are a month into Cross Fit and weren't doing anything before, you could likely be experiencing DOMS and the related water retention by the muscles.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,391 MFP Moderator
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    alissadough84 wrote: »
    Thanks for the help everyone! Yes, I am logging daily and measuring my food. I only weigh myself once a week. As far as my activity level goes, I have a desk job- so I am moving around very little through the day, and doing an hour or 2 at Crossfit 4-6 days a week after work. Some work outs are more strenuous than others- so maybe lightly active, I'm not sure. I've been thinking of incorporating some yoga, or something different to mix it up.

    While there is nothing wrong with changing it up, don't believe that you have to change it up. Your body responses to a stimulus. So if you are increasing weight (or overall volume), you are changing the stimulus. I worked with a woman who recomped from 26% body fat down to 14% body fat in 2 years while only lose 3 lbs and doing crossfit 5 days a week.

    I would argue, that it might be more beneficial to weigh every day. This way, you have more than 4 data points in a month. Take the average of the week and that would be your weight. If in 2 more weeks, you don't see weight loss, then you might need to drop calories a bit.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    You've been lifting a month. I would realign your expectations to something more realistic.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Weight swings of 2-3 pounds in a few weeks sound to me like water weight instead of significant fat loss/muscle gain, so I wouldn't put too much stock into either your first week's loss or this week's gain. Given that you're 140 pounds at 5'2" and right at the edge of being in the normal BMI range, it would be really hard for you to create enough of a deficit to lose 2 pounds of real weight in a week. Plus, women don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a week unless you're actually the She-Hulk. We don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a month. If the exercise is new, the gain is from water retention and will normalize if you give it a little more time.

    The #1 thing for you to do is to be patient and give it time. If you're really 30% BF, you may want to run a slight deficit to pull that down a little, but unless you're in a huge rush I might keep doing what you've been doing for another 4-6 weeks before changing anything else.

    I second the recommendation to weigh in more often if you're comfortable with that. Everyone has a natural fluctuation range, but most people don't know it. The more you watch how your weight responds to different situations (exercise, high sodium days, TOM, etc.), the more confident you'll feel about interpreting the data.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    if you are truly 30% body fat then you need to focus on maintaining existing mass and cutting your body fat to sub 15% before even thinking about bulking or recomping

    OP is a woman, 15% is extremely lean for a woman...... plus she never said she wanted to bulk.
  • alissadough84
    alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    You've been lifting a month. I would realign your expectations to something more realistic.

    Sorry I didn't clarify. I've been doing CrossFit for 5 years, and have lost 60 pounds since I started.

  • alissadough84
    alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
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    AliceDark wrote: »
    Weight swings of 2-3 pounds in a few weeks sound to me like water weight instead of significant fat loss/muscle gain, so I wouldn't put too much stock into either your first week's loss or this week's gain. Given that you're 140 pounds at 5'2" and right at the edge of being in the normal BMI range, it would be really hard for you to create enough of a deficit to lose 2 pounds of real weight in a week. Plus, women don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a week unless you're actually the She-Hulk. We don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a month. If the exercise is new, the gain is from water retention and will normalize if you give it a little more time.

    The #1 thing for you to do is to be patient and give it time. If you're really 30% BF, you may want to run a slight deficit to pull that down a little, but unless you're in a huge rush I might keep doing what you've been doing for another 4-6 weeks before changing anything else.

    I second the recommendation to weigh in more often if you're comfortable with that. Everyone has a natural fluctuation range, but most people don't know it. The more you watch how your weight responds to different situations (exercise, high sodium days, TOM, etc.), the more confident you'll feel about interpreting the data.

    Thanks! This is helpful! I'll start weighing in more often. I've been doing Crossfit for about 5 years and about a year ago I weighed in on one of those "In Body" scales. It suggested I lose somewhere in the range of 20 pounds. I was kind of guessing on my body fat percentage based on pictures online, but it's probably less than 30% it's just hard to tell from a picture. At one point a couple of years ago, I was at 123- which was hard to maintain and I had lost a lot of strength, so now I am just really trying to focus on building strength and body comp.
  • alissadough84
    alissadough84 Posts: 95 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    if you are truly 30% body fat then you need to focus on maintaining existing mass and cutting your body fat to sub 15% before even thinking about bulking or recomping

    I'm kind of guessing on the body fat percentage. I just kind of pulled up pictures online and went from there. About a year ago I did a weigh in on one of those In-Body scales, it gauged I had to lose about 20 pounds- I think 120 pounds is too low, we do a lot of paleo diet, etc. competitions at my gym, and a couple of years ago I was at 123 pounds, my hair was falling out and I lost a ton of strength.
    At this point, I'm not sure what's next so I figured I'd try some re-comping and maybe bulking later on. I didn't sign up for January food challenge they aren't doing it for me anymore. So I figured seriously tracking my macros was the next step for something sustainable in my diet.

  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    alissadough84 wrote: »
    AliceDark wrote: »
    Weight swings of 2-3 pounds in a few weeks sound to me like water weight instead of significant fat loss/muscle gain, so I wouldn't put too much stock into either your first week's loss or this week's gain. Given that you're 140 pounds at 5'2" and right at the edge of being in the normal BMI range, it would be really hard for you to create enough of a deficit to lose 2 pounds of real weight in a week. Plus, women don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a week unless you're actually the She-Hulk. We don't gain 3 pounds of muscle mass in a month. If the exercise is new, the gain is from water retention and will normalize if you give it a little more time.

    The #1 thing for you to do is to be patient and give it time. If you're really 30% BF, you may want to run a slight deficit to pull that down a little, but unless you're in a huge rush I might keep doing what you've been doing for another 4-6 weeks before changing anything else.

    I second the recommendation to weigh in more often if you're comfortable with that. Everyone has a natural fluctuation range, but most people don't know it. The more you watch how your weight responds to different situations (exercise, high sodium days, TOM, etc.), the more confident you'll feel about interpreting the data.

    Thanks! This is helpful! I'll start weighing in more often. I've been doing Crossfit for about 5 years and about a year ago I weighed in on one of those "In Body" scales. It suggested I lose somewhere in the range of 20 pounds. I was kind of guessing on my body fat percentage based on pictures online, but it's probably less than 30% it's just hard to tell from a picture. At one point a couple of years ago, I was at 123- which was hard to maintain and I had lost a lot of strength, so now I am just really trying to focus on building strength and body comp.

    The clarification is helpful; thanks! I thought that the Crossfit was new, so that was my misunderstanding.

    Can you back up just a little bit, because I think a lot of posters have been confused by your information and I'm not sure whether you're really getting the most targeted advice. What are your current goals? When you say "gain muscle," what do you really mean? (As in, are you trying to get stronger/lift more weight? Do you want to have more muscle definition? Do you want to be heavier on the scale?) Do you really want to lose a little bit of weight, or are you just going by the scale number and what you estimate your BF% to be? I kind of feel like you could either recomp or go into a small deficit, but that might depend on your goals.

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