Need Help with Constant Stalling and Intake Review

serialmahogany

I have been trying diligently to do this on my own. Its not working out. Been on Atkins 5 yrs ago, lost 7, and then boom right back to 170 and then kept going to 180. I kept the ideals of non sugar teas and water intake though. And hardly any bread or pasta intake either. Tried MFP goal calc. tried eating every 2-3 hrs. That failed. Finally found out about MBR and TDEE, and found out that I naturally eat on the Warrior Diet hours, because that’s how I ate all my youth (when I got home from school) so I went back to that. Every time I see change, my weight goes right back up. I saw a drastic change in Feb the first week of WD, went from looking pregnant to only having the muffin top. But that also stalled. Any help would be appreciated. My goal is 145 lbs, with about 20% BF, and I want to be stronger too.
Thanks!

Provide your stats (height/weight/age/body fat% if you know it/etc)
5’ 9” /173 lbs/ 30%
1591 BMR / 2193 TDEE lightly active
30% Deficit = 1500 daily intake
Gal weight is 145 – 150 or 20% BF at max

What's your current gross intake of calories, on average?
Used to only eating 1200 daily per MFP direction. Actually naturally I was eating about 800 daily. Found out about eating more to weigh less, and that it was basically an eating disorder. Calculated my TDEE and decided on at least 1500 to cut.

What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
3 wk average: 387 F/ 1040 C/ 605 P

Do you use a food scale and measure everything?
Yes. I use a food scale to measure everything.

Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?)
Yes.

Do you take cheat days or days off?
No, no cheat days. Only issue I may have is when I may not be able to get my macros perfect.

How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period?
183 in January. Stalled at 174. Mid March. Back up to 178 April 8th. Went back to warrior diet, so that I can only eat at home, and measure foods more accurately. Implemented 1500 calories from 1200 cal May 17th. Currently at 173 and stalled AGAIN!. I always get stalled at 173. It’s been happening for 4 yrs now.

Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity within the last couple of months?
I work out at least three times a week at the gym. Those days 3x 15 I do Leg press 210, Leg extension 80-90, Reverse Sit-ups no weight. And burn at about 500-700 cal on the elliptical or treadmill.
Since the holiday past I WALK 4-6 miles 2 of the rest days. Usually Monday and Saturday. Just felt like going out, it’s a new urge or something.

How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period.
I always get stalled at 173. It’s been happening for 4 yrs now. I lose nothing when I stall. But then I always gain back to 180. I don’t want to do this anymore. I am at 30+ the weight I was when I was 9 months pregnant 10 yrs ago. (After I dropped the baby I was 135 for years). Not sure if it’s important but I also started socially drinking heavy 5 yrs ago from not consuming at all. And a lot of weight and BF was gained there. Quit alcohol all together in January 2013 and going great!

Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?
No, got checked up for it.

SideSteel

Tagging

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

^what he said

loranch

Tagging op just to see what Sara and sidesteel recommend cause your stats are very close to mine

serialmahogany

No one has any ideas?

SideSteel

No one has any ideas?

Please read this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/910264-why-dont-you-reply-to-my-post-you-pecker

We will get to your post as soon as we have had time to review. The intake and stalling related posts specifically, are handled by two people as we request that others do not comment.

serialmahogany

Thanks! I will be patient :flowerforyou:

Sarauk2sf

What has your weight done since May 17th?

serialmahogany

It went down to 172 again. That's when I raised me intake to about 1500 daily. (I didn't realize when I changed my titles on my meals, that it would erase all my past info with the old categories for meals. So everything before may 17th is incorrect, as it deleted a lot of food in my meals). But as of today I am right back to 175 lbs :sad: Every time I do any type of change, my weight drops, then it goes right back up.

I thought about it a lot last night...Maybe I need to calculate my BRM and TDEE at sedimentary, and then set that as my goal, and eat back all my exercise? Because maybe I'm doing more than my activity category I chose, and still eating way under the calories I need to meet my BMR? And right now I am not eating back calories, because I thought the TDEE already factored in my exercise. I just put my exercise in the exercise notes.

I really want to get this weight down by next year. I see how much better I feel physically and I really want to be at a healthy state.

n3ver3nder

I'll leave the nutrition aspect for when SS and sara get back to you, but your exercise regimen could do with a massive improvement. You aren't doing any upper body work, and you aren't making any progress on the leg isolations, never mind the fact isolations aren't the best form of resistance training anyway.

A decent resistance training program is centered around multi-joint full body movements, such as the squat, deadlift, bench press, over head press, rows, pull ups, chin ups, and dips. There are different iterations of these movements but the best in terms of making progress in a linear fashion, are the barbell forms of these movements.
There are several different programs suitable for beginners, from reputable strength coaches such as Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength, (and Mehdi's 'Stronglifts', which is derived from Starting Strength), Bill Starr's beginner 5x5, Reg Parks 5x5.

The basic tenets of all these programs is continued progress in lifting 'heavy' weights for low reps, in multi-joint movements.

serialmahogany

I think the fat loss is my biggest concern right now. Which I guess is the nutrition part. I want to do the strength simultaneously as it makes sense, but the thought of all these legs turning into muscle and staying the same size is killing me! i think Id do better by dropping the weight first to stay positive, then focus on toning.

Thanks for the info! I am going to do some research on these workout programs. I see what you are saying. I had a thought that I was doing futile stuff. SMH. So I need to really get over to the barbell section. I am going to youtube the forms so I can make sure Im doing it right. Thanks alot!

Are these workouts good for someone who is trying to get slimmer (fat loss) and in shape (tone)? I dont want so much muscle that it defeats the purpose of trying to get into smaller jeans. Right now Im at the point where my jeans top is so much smaller than my thighs and hips. So I have the whole muffin top, skinny lower waist, big hips, fat booty going on. So all my jeans have to be hoola hoop bigger at the top so my thighs can fit in.

SideSteel

I think the fat loss is my biggest concern right now. Which I guess is the nutrition part. I want to do the strength simultaneously as it makes sense, but the thought of all these legs turning into muscle and staying the same size is killing me! i think Id do better by dropping the weight first to stay positive, then focus on toning.

I do think there's merit to first figuring out the intake adjustment, but that being said, the idea that you should focus on losing weight first and then building muscle later is sub-optimal method. Generally speaking people should be on a good lifting program right away, even while losing fat. It's much more efficient.

The advice in the post above regarding programming is solid. The general idea of using a mostly compound based program that hits the whole body 3/week in a progressive fashion, will give you faster results than an isolation based method done in split fashion.

So with that said, if/when we are able to make a conclusion about your intake and observe results, your next step would be to look at your programming.

Are these workouts good for someone who is trying to get slimmer (fat loss) and in shape (tone)? I dont want so much muscle that it defeats the purpose of trying to get into smaller jeans. Right now Im at the point where my jeans top is so much smaller than my thighs and hips. So I have the whole muffin top, skinny lower waist, big hips, fat booty going on. So all my jeans have to be hoola hoop bigger at the top so my thighs can fit in.

Yes. You are not going to get big bulky muscles. You will lose fat and keep the existing muscle you have. Failure to lift properly MAY result in losing more muscle than you want to while you also lose fat.

serialmahogany

OK. I agree...its better to do it simultaneously. I just feel very demotivated because nothing has been working...

SO, tonight I am headed to the gym. I decided to do the StrongLifts program since they say its more simplified and produce good results. I am going to ask the trainer to spend the evening helping me out with the first set of exercise forms. Already added the app to the phone.

Food wise, Ill just stay at the 1500 mark, without eating back calories, till we can figure something out in the next couple of days. StrongLifts 3x week, and 2 days cardio.

Its starting to look like a better plan already.

Thanks everyone!

SideSteel

OK. I agree...its better to do it simultaneously. I just feel very demotivated because nothing has been working...

SO, tonight I am headed to the gym. I decided to do the StrongLifts program since they say its more simplified and produce good results. I am going to ask the trainer to spend the evening helping me out with the first set of exercise forms. Already added the app to the phone.

Food wise, Ill just stay at the 1500 mark, without eating back calories, till we can figure something out in the next couple of days. StrongLifts 3x week, and 2 days cardio.

Its starting to look like a better plan already.

Thanks everyone!

Make sure you have the trainer help you with form first, learn the correct way to do the lifts. Regarding intake and regarding this thread, I'd really urge you to do everything you can to record, use your food scale, and be very accurate/precise about your intake and if there's no changes in the next two weeks, PM one of us so we can review.

The issue we have is that we first thought you were eating like 400 calories but your recent reply explained that several meals were deleted from the DB, which throws off your intake values. Stick to the 1500 and record accurately and send us a PM in 2 weeks and we can adjust/discuss further.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

There is great group for ladies following Stronglifts as well.....Stronglifts 5x5 for women.....there is a ton of great information and great ladies that are always very helpful

Good luck and hang in there!

serialmahogany

OK, will do! I was thinking this too! I will report back in a couple of weeks.

Trainer wasnt there today, so I just played basketball.
Thanks everyone!

n3ver3nder

Are these workouts good for someone who is trying to get slimmer (fat loss) and in shape (tone)? I dont want so much muscle that it defeats the purpose of trying to get into smaller jeans. Right now Im at the point where my jeans top is so much smaller than my thighs and hips. So I have the whole muffin top, skinny lower waist, big hips, fat booty going on. So all my jeans have to be hoola hoop bigger at the top so my thighs can fit in.

Righto, simplifying a lot but basically you need excess calories to build noticeable muscle. As you'll be on a calorie deficit , the strength gains you make will come from neural adaptation, in basic terms your body will learn to use what it already has more efficiently. Now, getting strong might not be a priority to you, but it is important to utilise resistance training so the body mass you lose is mainly fat, and not muscle. You'll never get 'tone' if you lose your lean body mass.

bostonwolf

OK, will do! I was thinking this too! I will report back in a couple of weeks.

Trainer wasnt there today, so I just played basketball.
Thanks everyone!

Stronglifts suggest starting with the bar and adding 5 lbs per workout. I strongly recommend doing it even if you think you can handle more. Focus on form first, then when the weight gets heavier proper form will be your default muscular memory.

Sarauk2sf

Locking for now so we can keep track of currently active threads easier. Please PM ether myself or SideSteel when you are ready to update us, and include a link to this thread and we will unlock. Also, please feel free to reach out earlier if you have any further questions or comments.