5k week deficit for 5 weeks of logging and not a lb lost

mrsmiley32

To start, I'm 27yo, male, 6' tall, 250lbs, I'm not really sedentary but I list it. I work out mostly resistance and (I listed it as martial arts but it's somewhere between that and yoga) I workout pretty much every other day/every third day. Now I don't really rely too much on the calories burned there I focus more on the fact that typically I eat between 1600 - 2000 calories a day of mostly balanced meals (~4oz veggies, ~4oz meat, ~2-4oz carbs) and I'm rarely hungry. When I skyrocket past that it's because I drank whiskey and coke but in the end I always have about a 5000 calorie deficit at the end of the week (or a weekly avg of about 2k over my goal for the week which is setup with a 1000 calorie a day deficit).

I'm seeing rather large muscle gain and mild slimming but should I not be losing weight? I mean honestly doesn't it really just come down calorie counting in the long run? And honestly at my weight I should be eating something like 3500 calories a day to maintain not 2660 as listed here but even that I'm not eating.

And I should say, it's not as though I want to change my diet because it's fairly delicious and filling, I just don't think cutting any more calories would be a good idea. I am starting to wonder though if I should cut my exercise (it's all resistance training and fairly basic), but even with large muscle increase at only 17% heavier than fat I should be losing _something_.

Feel free to look at my log, I pretty much log _everything_ except exercise and amt of water consumed. I log on the side of more calories, not less but I do try for precision. I don't know, I start with a fitness trainer today but to be honest I just want to get slender again. I don't want to just stay 250lbs and replace fat with muscle because that would still be too bulky.

I should probably note that I've been eating a balanced diet, working out, etc for about 4 months now. However I started keeping track about 5 weeks ago so I figured might as well use that as the starting ground for this discussion.

JossFit

It does come down to calorie counting, and if you aren't losing either you aren't logging and weighing your food correctly, or it could be another factor...

I just posted yesterday about all the factors that can affect your weight; https://www.facebook.com/pages/JS-Fitness-Solutions-LLC/818621728178187?ref=hl

If none of those things are a factor you may need to approach your diet a bit differently, or perhaps go see your doctor to rule out any medical issues.

_Zardoz_

You're more likely eating far more than you think which is in fact good because someone of your size should be eating more than that anyway you just need to get it so you're in a deficit. Are you weighing all your solids and measuring liquids and using accurate entries off the database? Without seeing your diary it's hard to be more specific. Also sorry to tell you you're not likely to be gaining muscle it takes heavy progressive lifting over long periods of time eating at a good surplus to gain muscle

dawnrpurvis

If you make your diary public we may be able to have a look and see if there is anything there that may shed some light?

mrsmiley32

Whoops sorry about that it's public now. I figured it was a default setting. Regarding measuring, I am but mostly using ounces and not grams. Because even if there is a +-200 calorie change/day, I'm still in a deficit. (Never mind if I list something as say 6oz, unless it was meat, I likely ate only 75% of it. I listed it as I cooked and measured it).

mrsmiley32

Oh and it's mostly pre-packaged meals/Chipotle (what they list as nutritional facts). I travel a lot for my job, so getting somewhere to cook is rather difficult at times. However it kinda clears up "what did I estimate for my calories" vs "just consider I ate the whole meal when I actually only ate half because I got full"

stevencloser

I don't know about Chipotle but for example Subway lists their calories only for subs without cheese and sauce so the actual calories you consume can be a few hundreds higher than what the website says.

PositivelyFlawed

Just a thought Since you say it's prepackaged food, some of the problem might be from water retention from all the sodium in prepared foods in addition to what has been mentioned here already.

mrsmiley32

I do eat a ton of sodium, and I should be clear regarding muscles/slimmer. I say this because I can physically see my muscles in my arms/forearms/legs/calfs and clothes are "being less judgemental" as in my size 38 pants aren't digging into me anymore and I can fit a thumb in between the waist. But I also work on the assumption a 150lb person doing resistance exercises is going to see less gain than a 250lb person, such as I would see less change as someone in the 400lb range. I should also note this is the heaviest I've ever been I used to float around 200lbs.

As far as medical goes, I can say this, I'm not depressed by any means or really stressed. I'm a pretty happy guy, a little disheartened atm. And while I really do want to get slender, I just felt it was more time for a better diet than laying in bed all day/sitting at a desk and eating sweets. But yeah, still confused, is there something else medical it could be? Am I doing something wrong in my logging, I know the calories burned for planking has got to be wrong, but even then add 100 calories to those days, add 300, add 500 and I'm still at a serious deficit for the week.

annetteh145

It looks like your proteins are very low and carbs and fats way over. This may be a factor. Try to balance your macros a bit more...

shadow2soul

stevencloser wrote: »

I don't know about Chipotle but for example Subway lists their calories only for subs without cheese and sauce so the actual calories you consume can be a few hundreds higher than what the website says.

Actually on subways website you can customize the sub to get the nutritional information with cheese and such on it.

**This is the default settings for a Chicken Teriyaki. How I usually get mine, it's about 430.

Unknown

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gusinott

JossFit wrote: »

It does come down to calorie counting, and if you aren't losing either you aren't logging and weighing your food correctly, or it could be another factor...

I just posted yesterday about all the factors that can affect your weight; https://www.facebook.com/pages/JS-Fitness-Solutions-LLC/818621728178187?ref=hl

If none of those things are a factor you may need to approach your diet a bit differently, or perhaps go see your doctor to rule out any medical issues.

Sometimes too intimated to respond to posts, but I figured, what the heck.

Mrsmiley, my situation is similar to yours. I'm not a personal trainer or a nutritionist, but I know that my diet has been impacting on my overall results. And, I was not accurately measuring calories burned during workouts (I do some resistance and moderate cardio), although I weigh and/or measure every gram going in. So I've been adjusting as I go along, producing a calorie deficit focussing on a lower carb/fat and higher protein ratio (for the moment; that'll will probably change again at some point...). But I don't let myself get discouraged by what the scale says, because it's not the ONLY measure of my success. My clothes are starting to fit me better, so I must be doing something right. I weighed 270lbs at one point in my life, did WW and lost 80lbs, got a personal trainer and everything, but gained some back over the years (because of lack of discipline more so than muscle gain...). So, it's back on the wagon now and looking forward to looser-fitting clothes and a bit of muscle definition again, eventually. Much success in your quest!

AmysBoxers

Your diary shows fast food and sodas.... both no, no's. Trying cutting out those 3 things and see what happens.

mrsmiley32

Regarding protene/fat/carbs, yeah I know. I actually started this diet on the idea of "semi paleo" mostly because I think completely getting rid of carbs is cheating your body (I also know carbs are pretty much what causes weight gain the fastest in me). And I'm just finding that difficult even though the heaviest thing I seem to eat is meats. And it's like I said, the goal really wasn't so much losing weight, just go to a more sane calorie intake but stay "full" (okay yeah I get hungry at periods through the day, but tea can usually curb that where water makes me nauseous hungry).

Re: Yeah I wager my exercise burn is probably not nearly as good as I hope. I do struggle to see how I am underestimating calorie intake from food though seeing that I have little control over making that number higher and I do literally list _everything_.

Sued0nim

MrM27 wrote: »

From reading your posts it's pretty easy to see you are clearly underestimating how much food you are eating and whiskey you are drinking. I know you may not think that's the case, but it is.

Yeah I think this is true .. however you are seeing actual gains in the way your clothes fit and measurements so keep going

AmysBoxers wrote: »

Your diary shows fast food and sodas.... both no, no's. Trying cutting out those 3 things and see what happens.

Apart from the sodium that will make no difference as long as he hits his calorie defecit .. oh and if fast food is one and soda is one what is the other of the 3 things he should cut out?

brightsideofpink

AmysBoxers wrote: »

Your diary shows fast food and sodas.... both no, no's. Trying cutting out those 3 things and see what happens.

Unless you have issues with the sodium in these things, they're fine.

I looked through many days of your diary. Your portions for many things seem remarkably small. 1 oz of Chipotle rice? The site lists 4 oz as standard serving. Are you asking for such a small serving? Skip the generic pb & j- especially listing at 300 calories. I've never been able to make one for 300 calories. Bread will take you at least half of that.

Are you really eating only 1/3 of a burger at a restaurant? I saw a few of those entries. Stay away from other generic entries as well like buttered peas. Enter in the peas, then enter in the amount of butter you used.

These things, rice, butter, etc are all calorie dense and could be where your logging is off by much more than you think. Five weeks at this deficit would show a huge loss.

Azathera

I haven't looked at your diary, but I wanted to say that if you just started the exercising 5 weeks ago and you did only 2-3 times per week this is about the time you would start seeing results.

It happened to me as well and I don't know how to explain it properly, but after I had a baby and was left with 12 pounds to lose I ate less and went to the gym 4 times a week. And I worked my *kitten* for 2 hours every session with at least 20 minutes on the treadmill at 7 mph. There was no way NOT to lose weight. One month later I went on the scale and surprise, surprise I had the same weight, but I felt stronger, more muscular.

I think it's harder to burn fat than to build muscle. So, for a while, it will look as if you are constant or even gaining. You start to build muscle faster but under the fat which melts slower. That's why you see the muscles and you feel them.
But keep at it and very soon you will see a drop in your weight. Just keep going.

mrsmiley32

brightsideofpink: Are you sure it wasn't 1/3rd lb of meat on the burger? I don't think I've ever eaten .33 of a burger . I do always take the bottom bun off my burger though, I also do that with anything that has a bun though (so my jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches are minus a bun but listed as full).

PB&J the bread I was using was the 45 calorie (so 90 for both pieces) sara lee whole wheat bread. I did kinda just use that as generic guessing that a light coating of peanut butter and light coating of jelly (less than a tablespoon of each) probably was about right (from a glance at the nutritional facts on the back listing the serving size as 2 table spoons).

As far as chipotle, no but I rarely eat the rice except what is picked up stuck to the meat and veggies. I had it at 2oz though (or half the rice which I don't eat).

Honestly, regarding serving size though, yeah I don't eat much. I get full really easily and as long as I had a little carb and a little meat I stay full for about 4 hours or so, I also have a bad habit of forgetting to eat. Though to be flat out honest, unless it's super greasy food I don't exactly know how I could eat more calories either. Then again, I've always been like this from my perception. I used to go days without eating so I set a timer now to remind me to eat. I can cut more calories, I just don't know how that will help. If I'm bored I will have a snack, but my snacks don't often tend to be much except a 110calorie ice cream bar or what not.

My guess has always been my metabolism is shot, it's why I drink the 5hr energies every morning as that was suggested for boosting metabolism.

mrsmiley32

OH! The Monster burger! I see what you are talking about, yeah that's correct. That was my leftovers from two nights previous.

Same with the lunch from that Thursday. The Chipotle is really small because I ate 80% of it the day previous. There are other things with it that makes it make more sense. In the end the entire meal is accounted for, just split between a couple of days.

And yeah, on that specific day, I did ask for half a serving of rice because I got it as a burito. I typically get Chipotle as a bowl because the tortilla has so many damn calories.

Elise4270

You could always try a food scale and eat at home. Its a good way to eliminate overindulgent calories.

I'm on board with upping the lean protein too, perhaps a supplement.

ketorach

LucyAndKay wrote: »

I haven't looked at your diary, but I wanted to say that if you just started the exercising 5 weeks ago and you did only 2-3 times per week this is about the time you would start seeing results.

It happened to me as well and I don't know how to explain it properly, but after I had a baby and was left with 12 pounds to lose I ate less and went to the gym 4 times a week. And I worked my *kitten* for 2 hours every session with at least 20 minutes on the treadmill at 7 mph. There was no way NOT to lose weight. One month later I went on the scale and surprise, surprise I had the same weight, but I felt stronger, more muscular.

I think it's harder to burn fat than to build muscle. So, for a while, it will look as if you are constant or even gaining. You start to build muscle faster but under the fat which melts slower. That's why you see the muscles and you feel them.
But keep at it and very soon you will see a drop in your weight. Just keep going.

So much wrong here. You are not building muscle at a deficit. It's much, much harder to build muscle that burn fat.

SergeantSausage

mrsmiley32 wrote: »

Oh and it's mostly pre-packaged meals/Chipotle (what they list as nutritional facts). I travel a lot for my job, so getting somewhere to cook is rather difficult at times. However it kinda clears up "what did I estimate for my calories" vs "just consider I ate the whole meal when I actually only ate half because I got full"

Just for giggles, bring your scales into a local Chipotle one day when you've got time.

Have a good laugh. You'll need it.

mrsmiley32

SergeantSausage wrote: »

mrsmiley32 wrote: »

Oh and it's mostly pre-packaged meals/Chipotle (what they list as nutritional facts). I travel a lot for my job, so getting somewhere to cook is rather difficult at times. However it kinda clears up "what did I estimate for my calories" vs "just consider I ate the whole meal when I actually only ate half because I got full"

Just for giggles, bring your scales into a local Chipotle one day when you've got time.

Have a good laugh. You'll need it.

Yeah, that's probably what's doing me in since there "precise" instruments are spoons. That's probably the biggest ticket, luckily I'll be going shopping tonight. So there we go!

As far as muscle mass, well maybe I'm not cutting but my arms have kinda gotten huge and when I flex you can't really see any fat on them, they have shape instead of being two long fatty pieces of meat attached to me, I don't know. Can't say why, same goes for my thighs, calfs, and gluts you can see/feel the muscles and see very little fat. This is all visual inspection.

Thanks guys, next topic post, how to get more protein into my diet and reduce the fat carbs.

Abby2205

The short answer is that you do not have a 5,000 cal deficit per week. Your total calories eaten February 1-7 was 15804, or 2258 per day, not "1600-2000" (Friday really killed that). If you are doing "somewhere between martial arts and yoga" every second or third day, you are lightly active at best so you are mistaken that at 250 lbs, 27 years old and 6' tall, you actually should need 3500 calories to maintain, the 2660 is probably close to reality. I know you say you aren't really eating back exercise, but I did see some questionable entries: 180 to 245 calories for three minutes of planking?
Now imagine that you are 10% underestimating calorie intake and/or you are 10% below average in daily calorie burn (someone has to be). In this scenario your deficit disappears