How do You Increase Your Metabolism?
TossaBeanBag
Posts: 458 Member
I am new - barely a month into working out, again, and doing cardio. I am having success, but I am quickly realizing I have a long road ahead. In the first three weeks into the journey, I lost 20 lbs. Then, I went to the doctor's this week for my weekly composition measurement, and I lost only 1.5 lbs of body fat and gained 3 lbs of muscle and weighed the same as last week. Every week, I gain more muscle, and the rate of muscle growth continues to increase, but the rate of fat loss is slowing down. A couple weeks ago, I had 4 lbs of actual fat loss.
I think my diet is good to go (2000 calories - 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat). I drink lots of water, too. I am 6 feet tall, and I weigh 270 lbs, I have 200 lbs of actual lean muscle, according to the doctor, so I am about 29% body fat. Before I got injured, I used to weigh 185 and had around 10-12% body fat. I am trying to get back there. I have a good calorie deficit (maybe too much?), and I work out like crazy, now, in the morning before eating breakfast. My ultimate goal is to be around 10% body fat, again.
I feel great when I exercise. My strength has doubled. My bench is over 400 lbs, again, and my legs are getting stronger, but I can't jog, yet, for very long (ankle injury). Lately, I have been only doing about 20 minutes of cardio, so I am upping it, now. I started to do about 40-50 minutes of treadmill walking as fast as I can at a 10% incline, or I do the stair mill for the same time. Is there any more I can do to increase the rate of actual fat loss? Will this be sufficient for cardio. Is it going to just take time to get that metabolism going, again?
Thanks for any advice or tips.
I think my diet is good to go (2000 calories - 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat). I drink lots of water, too. I am 6 feet tall, and I weigh 270 lbs, I have 200 lbs of actual lean muscle, according to the doctor, so I am about 29% body fat. Before I got injured, I used to weigh 185 and had around 10-12% body fat. I am trying to get back there. I have a good calorie deficit (maybe too much?), and I work out like crazy, now, in the morning before eating breakfast. My ultimate goal is to be around 10% body fat, again.
I feel great when I exercise. My strength has doubled. My bench is over 400 lbs, again, and my legs are getting stronger, but I can't jog, yet, for very long (ankle injury). Lately, I have been only doing about 20 minutes of cardio, so I am upping it, now. I started to do about 40-50 minutes of treadmill walking as fast as I can at a 10% incline, or I do the stair mill for the same time. Is there any more I can do to increase the rate of actual fat loss? Will this be sufficient for cardio. Is it going to just take time to get that metabolism going, again?
Thanks for any advice or tips.
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You didn't gain 3lb of muscle in a week0
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Jbach,
People don't gain 3 and 4 pounds of muscle each week, thus I believe your testing is inaccurate.
What is entailed in the composition measurement test? Does the doctor do it? What kind of doctor? It seems to me a family physician would not be doing this kind of testing.0 -
You didn't gain, and considering you are a guy you are undereating. I'm a woman and I'm netting 1900 (currently on diet break though).
If your BF% is 29% and you weigh 270, your LBM is 191, not 200. You also do not need to be eating 250g of protein. 191g would be just fine. 20% fat from calories is also probably too low; at least 60g would be a better absolute minimum if basing it off of your lean body mass. Then the rest can go to carbs.
Are you like.. only benching and doing cardio? If so, your routine is terrible.
And i'm guessing you and/or your doctor are doing the body fat tests wrong. Otherwise, the test is assuming that your water weight gains are muscle gain, since lean body mass = anything that isn't fat. Either way, you have not been gaining muscle, especially if you had previous experience lifting weights. And especially since you are under-eating.0 -
There's not much you can do to permanently change your metabolism, including increasing muscle. See studies & discussion here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-05-does-building-muscle-actually-increase-rmr-684479
Exercise temporarily increases it.
And no, you don't need to "get it going again". If you're alive, it's already going. If it stops, you die.
If you have a thyroid problem, it could be abnormally slow, making gaining weight very easy when eating what should be a normal amount of calories, but that doesn't seem to be a problem here.
Doubtful, since you did not start out morbidly obese, and apparently did not over-exercise or eat a VLCD. 7 lb a _month_ is a respectable loss. 7 lb a week is ridiculous & unhealthy.jbach wrote:In the first three weeks into the journey, I lost 20 lbs.
Save your money. If you want to have it done, do it monthly, or even every 2-3 months.I went to the doctor's this week for my weekly composition measurement
And get someone who's accurate, because what that person has told you you've lost doesn't make sense. If you lost 1.5 lb of fat & gained 3 lb of muscle (neither of which you did in 1 week - it's a measurement error), you would not weigh the same as last week, you would weigh more.
That's an extremely low body fat %, so is not a realistic goal.I think my diet is good to go (2000 calories - 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat). I drink lots of water, too. I am 6 feet tall, and I weigh 270 lbs...
I used to weigh 185 and had around 10-12% body fat. I am trying to get back there.
A lower carb & higher protein diet has been shown to help with weight loss. See studies here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-09-high-protein-diet-685553
Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges for macronutrients:
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx
Neither your protein nor carbs are in a healthy range.
page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)
So for 2000 cal, at 45 / 20 / 35:
carbs 900 cal = 225 g
fat 400 cal = 44 g
protein 700 cal = 175 g
But at 6', a healthy weight range would be 140 - 180, based on BMI.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
If you want to weigh 180, eat 1800 cal. 2000 cal will keep you at 200 lb.
And ignore exercise or "net" calories. They're a bonus toward weight loss, but just eat at your goal of 1800 cal / day.
You're starting in too hard, too fast with that go-all-out-at-a-10%-incline bit.Lately, I have been only doing about 20 minutes of cardio, so I am upping it, now. I started to do about 40-50 minutes of treadmill walking as fast as I can at a 10% incline, or I do the stair mill for the same time. Is there any more I can do to increase the rate of actual fat loss? Will this be sufficient for cardio. Is it going to just take time to get that metabolism going, again?
"Most weight loss occurs because of decreased caloric intake.
However, evidence shows the only way to maintain weight loss is to be engaged in regular physical activity.
To maintain your weight: work your way up to 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or an equivalent mix of the two each week."
(The page explains moderate & vigorous.)
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html
To lose weight, you might have to do double that amount, so 1 hour of moderate treadmilling or elliptical.
I just discovered the "hill" setting on the treadmill at the gym... logging it as "hiking, hills" shows that I've burned lots more than my usual flat-surface walking for the same time period.0 -
I am new - barely a month into working out, again, and doing cardio. I am having success, but I am quickly realizing I have a long road ahead. In the first three weeks into the journey, I lost 20 lbs. Then, I went to the doctor's this week for my weekly composition measurement, and I lost only 1.5 lbs of body fat and gained 3 lbs of muscle and weighed the same as last week. Every week, I gain more muscle, and the rate of muscle growth continues to increase, but the rate of fat loss is slowing down. A couple weeks ago, I had 4 lbs of actual fat loss.
I think my diet is good to go (2000 calories - 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat). I drink lots of water, too. I am 6 feet tall, and I weigh 270 lbs, I have 200 lbs of actual lean muscle, according to the doctor, so I am about 29% body fat. Before I got injured, I used to weigh 185 and had around 10-12% body fat. I am trying to get back there. I have a good calorie deficit (maybe too much?), and I work out like crazy, now, in the morning before eating breakfast. My ultimate goal is to be around 10% body fat, again.
I feel great when I exercise. My strength has doubled. My bench is over 400 lbs, again, and my legs are getting stronger, but I can't jog, yet, for very long (ankle injury). Lately, I have been only doing about 20 minutes of cardio, so I am upping it, now. I started to do about 40-50 minutes of treadmill walking as fast as I can at a 10% incline, or I do the stair mill for the same time. Is there any more I can do to increase the rate of actual fat loss? Will this be sufficient for cardio. Is it going to just take time to get that metabolism going, again?
Thanks for any advice or tips.
Eat everything in sight, up cals to 5 or 6k should boost your metabolism pretty quickly
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Delete. NWI.0
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............
There's so much wrong here.0 -
the amount of bashing on this thread is quite rude. i just had to say that. if i cant help the OP with their question i will at least defend them.-5
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I'm certainly no expert, but what you are thinking is pure muscle gain is probably lean body mass in general, which is partly made up of water. losing 1.5 pounds of fat in a week is pretty awesome, btw.0
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That's an extremely low body fat %, so is not a realistic goal.I think my diet is good to go (2000 calories - 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat). I drink lots of water, too. I am 6 feet tall, and I weigh 270 lbs...
I used to weigh 185 and had around 10-12% body fat. I am trying to get back there.
A lower carb & higher protein diet has been shown to help with weight loss. See studies here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-09-high-protein-diet-685553
Here's a table which explains the healthy ranges for macronutrients:
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx
Neither your protein nor carbs are in a healthy range.
page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)
So for 2000 cal, at 45 / 20 / 35:
carbs 900 cal = 225 g
fat 400 cal = 44 g
protein 700 cal = 175 g
But at 6', a healthy weight range would be 140 - 180, based on BMI.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
If you want to weigh 180, eat 1800 cal. 2000 cal will keep you at 200 lb.
And ignore exercise or "net" calories. They're a bonus toward weight loss, but just eat at your goal of 1800 cal / day.
To lose weight, you might have to do double that amount, so 1 hour of moderate treadmilling or elliptical.
There's so much wrong here.
1) 10% BF for a MALE is not unhealthy. For a woman, yes. Totally unhealthy. For a man that's actually just fine. The absolute minimum safe BF% would be around 5%
2) Just because a study demonstrates a finding, does not mean the theory has been proven to be true. It just means that the data support the theory. No theory can be said to be proven because new data can always be reported on, new measurement methods, new discoveries overall.
So you have read every single article you list? You have ensured that the study utilized reasonable samples sizes (i.e. fairly large) to ensure that measurement error is reduced? Or that the studies utilize a good representative sample so that it can be generalized to the larger population as a whole?
And you've ensured that each study was conducted for a reasonable amount of time?
And that these studies have been replicated by other authors to ensure that the findings are not a one-time fluke? E.g. one study published findings that autism was related to vaccines, yet no other study was able to replicate the findings. If none of these studies have yet been replicated, or at least if no other studies are creating experiments with very similar methods and results, then you cannot say that there is good evidence to support your theory yet. There is possibly some, but that does not, again, make the thejory proven/true.
3) BMI is outdated. A man or woman can be very muscular and be above their recommended BMI while being at a healthy fat %.
Also, it is not advised to set up macronutrients from percentages, but instead to use grams based off of lean body mass or total mass. So based on 191lbs LBM:
Protein: 1g/LBM or higher if desired/if produces better resutls = 191g protein.
Fat: 0.3g/LBM as an absolute minimum, or 60g. Ideally .3g per total weight is a better number to use. So 81g. Anywhere between these two numbers would be fine as a minimum.
Carbs: Remaining calories.
4) No. So much no on your calorie goal methods. If he wants to weigh 180lbs, then he needs to calculate his estimated maintenance needs and then deduct up to 20% from that. Based on his weight and sex, he can probably eat at least 2500-3000 calories to lose weight.
2000 calories will NOT be his maintenance. If this were the case, then 1660 would be my maintenance. I net 1900 calories to lose weight.
5) If OP is using NEAT approach, then he needs to eat his exercise calories back. If he is using TDEE then exercise calories are already included and he does not need to eat exercise cals back. Both of these numbers are entirely different and totally different methods. To say black and white that no one needs to eat back exercise calories is setting up many people on this website for under-eating.
6) He does not need to exercise to lose weight. Meaning he doesn't need to double his time spent on cardio. I do 5 minutes of cardio as a warm up only. I sometimes take the entire week off from lifting. I still lose weight.0 -
There's no "bashing" happening here.
Don't try to stir up drama where there is none.
People are pointing out flaws in the OP's thought process/numbers, not insulting him as a person. That would be bashing.0 -
A young Schwarzenegger with hypodermics sticking out of his butt couldn't gain 3 pounds of muscle in a week.
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DiabolicalColossus wrote: »There's no "bashing" happening here.
Don't try to stir up drama where there is none.
People are pointing out flaws in the OP's thought process/numbers, not insulting him as a person. That would be bashing.
Although I'm kind of bashing his doctor if his doctor is the one telling him he's gaining muscle....
which further supports my whole "just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you are an all-knowing God of everything related to being a human" thing. And why support from a doctor for a 1200 cal diet doesn't mean its' safe lol.
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I wouldn't even call that bashing.
I'd call it questioning.
It's not like you're saying the OP's doctor is akin to a genocidal maniac or anything.
That would be a personal attack, which most assuredly would be bashing.
You are indeed correct though: doctors aren't beyond reproach and need to be reminded of that.
Anyway, OP: read these replies and take them at face value. It's just text on a screen meant to send you in the correct direction, despite it seeming to the contrary.
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reduce your consumption of processed foods0
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johnnylakis wrote: »reduce your consumption of processed foods
Why? To reduce is already-too-low calorie consumption? Because the type of food he eats will not change his weight loss. Only how much he eats will affect weight loss. Macros help for specific compositional goals, but otherwise it's all about calories.0 -
I call BS on gaining 85 lbs but yet going from 10-12% BF to only 29% BF.
I'm curious as to what method your doctor is using to measure your body fat and lean body mass.0 -
the amount of bashing on this thread is quite rude. i just had to say that. if i cant help the OP with their question i will at least defend them.
How about not responding if you have nothing to offer. OP you did not gain 3 pounds of muscle in a week.
Why is your doctor doing weekly composition measurements?0 -
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SnuggleSmacks wrote: »
oh that's true. MrM27 what breed are you? WE NEED TO KNOW FOR YOUR HEALTH.0 -
Yes, because all processed food is the devil.
Frozen vegetables and fruit?
Lead to weight gain.
God, I just rolled my eyes so hard it was like my brain was playing marbles.0 -
Leaving this site because I now have a headache0
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