I seem to be getting weaker
Sumiblue
Posts: 1,597 Member
I started SL in mid October. I really want to lose some fat that I gained after having my daughter. I'm 45, 5 ft 2 and had a fair amount of muscle base to begin with. I gained a solid 10lbs since I had my daughter. After reading a lot, getting advice from Heybales (used his spreadsheet), looked at various calculators I try to eat 1200-1350 calories a day. Lately I have been eating my exercise calories because I am hungry. I'm always thinking about food. My lifts have been weak, so weak. Only my deadlift is progressing. I have deloaded my squats so many times to work on form and the 115lbs I did tonight felt ridiculously heavy. OHP, ugh. It goes up, it goes down. I failed at benching 70lbs, only got 4 reps and deloaded to 65-again.I'm not losing fat or getting stronger. What am I doing? I gained back the couple of inches I lost last month. My weight keeps going up and down the same lousy 3lbs. I feel like I am spinning my wheels. If I eat out one meal or have a nice dinner with wine, my daily calories are blown. Should I be eating more? Even less? Sorry for ranting. I'm feeling sorry for myself :-(
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I have thoughts on this, but I'm too tired to make them coherent atm. So I'll have to check back later. How much do you weigh, what do you want to weigh, what is your deficit (number or % )? Where are you measuring? How much did each measurement lose/gain? Are you taking progress pictures?0
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I'm feeling exactly the same today. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone; wish I had some good advice to give, though (and to follow for myself)!0
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I weigh 135 lbs. Ideally, I'd love to weigh 120 but would just be happy to lose the extra fluff on my hips, thighs, mid section. I realize with lifting my "ideal weight" may not be what I thought it was. I had lost 2 lbs after the last measurement recording and was hoping that I'd soon be out of the 130s but I'm back to 135 and my hips are back to 40" and my thighs are bigger. I'm using the MFP goals now but I guess my deficit is 10%.i have not taken progress photos because I know the photos will depress me. Pathetic but true. I do feel like I have more muscle than pre-SL. My thighs are definitely tighter but I can lose inches of fat still. I've lost a little of my belly but again,lots to lose. I have been doing SL 3x/wk and some kind of cardio (body weight Fitstar app or kettlebells) 2x/wk. it's more than I've worked out in years! Here are my last two measurement recordings. Like said above, since Feb 1 my hips have gone back to 40", my thighs are close to 23", waist is 30" again and nothing else changed.
Sumiblue wrote: »
Here goes:
Jan. 2
Height-5' 2"
Neck-12.5"
Bust-34"
Rib cage-32"
Bicep -12"
Waist (at narrowest point)-30"
Waist (at belly button)-32"
Hips-40 (ugh!)
Thigh -22"
Calf -13"
Weight-137
Body Fat %?? No idea, I can't get an accurate caliper reading by myself. I'd guess it's about 25%
BMI-24
February 1
Neck-12
Bust-35 (+1")
Rib cage-31 (-1")
Bicep-12
Waist at narrowest-29"
Waist at belly button-31"(-1")
Hips-39.5 (-1")
Thigh-21.5" (-.5")
Calf-13.5 (+ .5)
Total inches lost-2
Weight-135 (-2lbs)0 -
And thanks for your replies! Tomorrow I will look for my original measurements from Sept, pre SLs.0
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i'm wondering . . . could the deadlifts be sucking up too much of your available resources? i'm not an expert of course, but they're supposedly a huge cns drain. and i know i have this kind of thing where when all my other lifts are discouraging me, i'll turn to the deadlifts because those are my go-to when i want a cheap victory.
if it sounds possible, you could try intentionally capping your deadlift weight for a week or two, and see if there's any uptick on all of your other lifts.0 -
Like Katro, I don't have much by way of advice. But I know the struggle, so am here for mostly for solidarity!
That said, with the amount you're working out, it sounds like your calories may be low, especially if you're not eating back the exercise burn.
I put your stats into the TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator at IIFYM (find it here), and it says your BMR is 1364 and your TDEE (for working out 4x / week, just to be conservative) is 1935!
I know folks have mixed opinions about "starvation mode" but if you're not eating at at least your BMR, then (to me, at least) it would make sense that your body wouldn't want to give up even a tiny bit of weight and that your lifts would suffer.0 -
Thanks for the input. I posted here because you guys are so supportive (unlike the main forums). I do have days where I don't meet 1300 net calories, but I try. IIFYM gives me a lot of calories & I worry it's inflated. Heybale's spreadsheet tells me my TDEE is quite a bit lower & I should eat at 1350. MFP tells me to eat 1200 to lose 1 lb/wk. I'd like to eat more but I'm afraid I'll just gain fat. I wish I had a Fitbit so I knew what I actually burned every day.0
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The struggle is real and I [we all] face it all the time.
I have been following a lot of the threads in the ETP group. A recent one, from @Daisy253 really stood out to me. SideSteel posted a video response to her question regarding lack of progress and I think it was spot on. His advice basically was that progress shouldn't be measured in weeks or months, but rater in YEARS. I know this isn't the answer that any of us want to hear but probably closer to reality.
For those of you who are interested the thread can be found here:
community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10086341/getting-really-frustrated#Item_100 -
I'm one of those that doesn't believe in starvation mode, but eating too few calories can seriously hinder your lifts (which you're experiencing). If you aren't able to progress, you won't see any changes.
Having only a few pounds to lose, losing 1 pound/week is too aggressive. You should be aiming to lose 0.5 pounds per week. It seems slow, but the closer you are to goal, the slower you should go. 1) for sanity and 2) for LBM retention.
I put your stats in this calculator (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss) and got that you need about 1500-1650 to lose with your current workouts. And FitBits are great, but they only use an equation as well to figure out how much you burn each day. It's a nice figure to have, but it isn't 100% accurate.
If I were you, I would work on netting at least 1300-1350 calories first. I would also probably experiment with a reverse diet to see if I could find my true maintenance calories. I would also consider doing a recomp instead of continuing trying to cut since your lifts are suffering. (This is all stuff I would consider if I were in your position, but it may not appeal to you at all.)0 -
I use this tool for working out my bodyfat.
http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/mbf/
I know none of them are entirely accurate but at least it shows you trends when you do it repeatedly. There are quite a few good calculators on their site.
I would guess the same as the other you could probably eat more and feel a bit better and work on having a slower loss.
I have put a thread up on the ETP group at the moment as I am not sure whether to switch to maintenance or a smaller deficit.0 -
@fothers365 I read that thread and you definitely look like you could switch to maintenance/do a recomp. You look great! I still have a fair amount of fat to lose. When my body fat scale still worked it gave me a 26% bf reading. Heybale's spreadsheet gave me over 30% based on multiple site measurements. I'd been guessing around 26% based on my imperfect caliper reading. I do have some visible muscle, I guess they are noob gains. just not losing fat. I've got no problem taking this slowly as long as I see the fat going. Ok, off to change my goals and do some reading!0
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@ScientificExplorerGirl , I appreciate your input. I did read that thread, too and watched SS's video. I don't think I have much in common with the poster, though. She is 4 inches taller than me and about 18lbs lighter. She says her body fat is 19%, which is pretty awesome. According to @fothers365 fat calculator,I'm at 34.5% BF. Primarily, I want to lose fat and keep my lifts progressing or at least staying steady, not sliding back like they are now. I could see where a taller, slim woman would need to take years to put on appreciable muscle. I hope it won't take years for me to shed some fat!0
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Few questions here:
1- Do you eat veggies and not log them? Because that makes a HUGE difference. I probably eat 250 cals of vegetables a day lately since my cut is so aggressive (I eat close to your numbers atm) and don't count them. But they help with extra carbs, fibers and micronutrients that fuel my workouts. But I don't consider them part of my daily macros. I don't think I've seen a lot on your diary
2- Any vitamins or supplements you are not logging? Sometimes those make a difference too. If you're deficient in certain things it could lead to sluggishness and all that jazz
3- Have you ever tried going slightly higher on the fat intake? When reducing cals I personally find it gives me more satiety to go lower carbs, higher fat (25/40/35 C/F/P is a decent ratio). Carbs don't fill me up. It's a personal thing, but you can't know if it works for you until you try it.
Also, if you've been that low for a while, you might want to up your calories for a week or two just to give your body a chance. Dat brain adjusts things according to supply and demands after a while, so with less fuel it will give you less output. Diet breaks can benefit you!0 -
I do eat vegetables and do log them. The last couple of days I tried to stick to a more paleo template. I know veggies are allowed, I just got lazy about prepping and cooking veggies. A few weeks ago I was eating 2 fresh salads a day with protein. I did lose a little weight but I got so bored with my food. I cook a lot so vegetables are in my meals-like soups, casseroles, even meatballs, which I had yesterday. I plan to have more vegetables in my meals today. I don't really do supplements, other than whey isolate protein in my breakfast smoothie. I have no problem with fat. I usually aim for my protein amt goal and if I go over on fat I don't sweat it. I may need to redo my macro numbers, though.0
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I think as long as you're in a deficit, you're going to sacrifice on performance to some degree. You are shorter and weigh less than me, but your deficit seems pretty substantial.
You might consider posting in E/T/P - I posted there and got some great feedback from SS that I've integrated into my February plan. I'll re-assess come 3/1 on how I did with the tweaks.
I read through several of the threads there to get an idea of what info would be needed and I got a pretty rapid, concise, response because I just provided complete detail so there wasn't a need for a lot of back/forth.
good luck!
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@AbsoluteTara79 I may do that, thanks. I was going to but I know I will get hammered for my crappy logging recently.I tried on an old bikini just to see how I look. I can see some ab definition (under layer of fat) where I didn't have any months ago. Pre-pregnancy I had a flat stomach & some ab definition. My stomach skin is kind of jiggly & loose now. I think I am gaining muscle & it's pushing out the fat. Recently, I tried on some clothes & thought I looked pretty good! I just don't know why all of my numbers are stagnant if I look better in clothes, & I can see some new muscle definition. I think I will makes sure my calorie goal is met, I bumped it up a bit. I will try to get the fats & veggies in. I need to log better, too. Thanks for all the advice!0
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You should 100% be eating your exercise calories. I'm 5'1" and eat 1300 only on a day where I don't exercise. Any lifting, exercise etc I eat more. Some days that is only 200 more, but some days it is up to 600 more.
I'm not as far on my lifts as you but I am expecting to find a point where I stall out due to lifting at a deficit. There is only so much our bodies can push to get stronger when we are purposely not fueling ourselves. I think the stall is normal and expected. I think this is where you evaluate if you are ok lifting at this weight for a while, as you continue to lose fat. If it's important to you to increase your weights, you will really just need to start eating more.
Do you weigh your food? What kinds of things do you eat? How much protein do you eat? Would you mind if we looked at your diary?
You're pretty strong at the weights you are lifting, so I'm a bit uncertain why you feel you aren't getting stronger. Did you start on the bar in Oct? Because that is some amazing progress IMO.0 -
It seems like you're just not eating enough. Perhaps one lb per week is too aggressive, especially since you have little to lose and are more concerned with body composition than scale weight. Your BMR is 1280 according to IIFYM and TDEE is 1666 so if you take 15% off, you should be eating around 1400. It's a small difference but it might help you feel better. Another option could be a diet break where you eat at maintenance for a little while to get yourself back to normal.
Lifting progression will be slower and will likely stall on a deficit but if you're feeling hungry, lethargic, and down, something isn't right. The body is signaling that it is stressed and stress can raise cortisol which can stall weight loss and mask fat loss.
I hope you can figure out what's going on and get feeling better soon. It sucks being in a rut like that but it will pass.0 -
Okay so here's some thoughts about food/weight/measurements.
Food: Standard forum advice: make sure you are weighing solids, measuring liquids. If you are in a deficit you will lose weight, so you might be underestimating calories or
Weight: you might be losing weight, but it's being masked by fluid from muscle repair, "pump" from work out, hormones, salt, wine, aliens. 3 lbs is pretty insignificant. This week alone I've varied 4 lbs, and I'm losing currently.
Measurements: From what I can see you HAVE lost inches, but are focusing on hips and waist. There could be variance due to: measuring error, constipation, hormones, salt, wine, aliens, muscle repair, and/or pump.
Lifting issues: You seem to have made quite a bit of progress you started with the bar right? It is absolutely possible to continue to make progress while in a deficit. It might be a little slower than eating at maintenance or a surplus, but it can and does happen with a lot of regularity. The reason you get stronger when not in a bulk is because you teach your brain to recruit more muscle fibers during an activity. Which also means the biggest enemy of gainz is you (general you) doubting your ability to lift a weight. You're also so new to lifting that you probably don't have a solid and very consistent technique which usually takes years to develop. So if your squat stance is a little wider or a little narrower, or you touch down a little differently on bench, or you wander away from your shins during DL. All of those things are going to take away from how much you can lift that day. Not to mention time of day, hydration, hormones, glycogen levels etc. that can also affect how lifting is going.
TLDR you seem to be on the right track be patient, and ask in ETP if you have specific intake questions. They are pretty good at that.0 -
Thanks for the input. I posted here because you guys are so supportive (unlike the main forums). I do have days where I don't meet 1300 net calories, but I try. IIFYM gives me a lot of calories & I worry it's inflated. Heybale's spreadsheet tells me my TDEE is quite a bit lower & I should eat at 1350. MFP tells me to eat 1200 to lose 1 lb/wk. I'd like to eat more but I'm afraid I'll just gain fat. I wish I had a Fitbit so I knew what I actually burned every day.
I see you have gotten some great feedback here and just wanted to add a couple of things. I know the feeling on the net and the question of TDEE. I sometimes get less than the 1350 MFP recommends, have bad days where it's just lucky I made it over 1000. Yet the TDEE things I've looked at and the BMR ones put the MFP number as oo low for me. I'm going to try and up my daily to a 1500 minimum and just watch how things go over weeks. I do have a fitbit, but it's just the pedometer so the calories burned are an estimate just like the ons on the site, so I don't have it linked to MFP. It's good motivation to keep me moving but that's about it.
And from what I've seen mentioned and found thus far in the years of reading about weight loss on different sites, skin does take a while to respond during this process. I know I will probably have some loose skin in a while because going from obese to not can lend to that and time will tell what will happen overall. The stomach in particular is a common spot for the skin issues (especially post pregnancy too, though I am still hoping to get to that point some day) and will take time as well, and may not be as tight as before.
But overall, sounds like you have some ideas of where to go from here and we'll cheer you on too.
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@Fittreelol, my bet is aliens are to blame. Maybe wine0
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I'm not expert but from what I've read and from my own experience, it seems common to stall or even lose some strength when eating at a deficit.
I started in Oct too. Went along fine until weights got heavy around Nov then started stalling and feeling like I was getting weaker. Sometimes I was able to make a little bit of a gain but was happy sometimes just not to back track. Then I took 3 weeks in Dec and early Jan off from logging, did less cardio and basically stopped trying to lose weight for those week. Magically all my lifts were amazing. Made great progress. Got back to my diet and started doing more cardio again in 2nd week of Jan and lifts were still going great until end of Jan/ early Feb. Now it stalling everywhere again. I think it just happens and when it does you have to pick what you want to focus on- strength or weight loss.
I'm not sure why your original posts says you are not losing fat though? It seems like from your Jan to Feb numbers, you did lose weight and inches? It may just be too early for you to actually see. You lost 0.5lbs every week. Congrats! If by not losing fat and gaining inches you mean you are only looking at one or two weeks then hormones, water etc can all be masking your progress. Look for longer term trends like your Jan to Feb weight and measurements.
I think 0.5lb a week is great. It is enough that after a few months it will be a huge difference and the internet says that is a good rate of loss for muscle retention. However, 1200-1350 cals seems pretty low for someone that lifts and does cardio to only be losing at .5lbs a week even if you are only 5'2.
Could you be losing faster than .5lb a week and not realizing it due to water retention? Do you weigh everyday? Maybe try weighing everyday for a few weeks to see what your fluctuations are. My weight goes up and down by 5lbs depending on if I ate a lot or a little the day before so if I only measured once a week and did it on a "heavy" day, I might think I gained during a week where I actually lost weight.
Personally I think you should only increase calories though if you realize you are losing actually more than .5lbs a week or want to lose at a slower rate to better focus on your lifts. It does not make any sense to eat more to lose more weight. If you have been really accurate with your logging, over time, your own body tells you the calories you actually need much better than any calculator.
Other than eating a deficit, think about if you are getting enough protein for recovery, enough rest, enough sleep etc. Are you stressed out? Stress can do crazy things to a body...0 -
I did lose inches and weight between Jan. and Feb. but since Feb 1 my weight and measurements went back up. Basically where I started. It was late and I was tired when I posted the Jan.& Feb measurements. Someone asked if I measured and I lazily just posted what I'd already posted in the SL Measurments thread. I explained right above those recordings that everything is back up again.I should have posted my most recent measurements in the same way and then it'd be clear why I am worried. Hips are back to 40", waist is 30" again, thighs are back to 22". Weight is 135. My sleep is broken a lot by my 3 yr old. She thinks it's okay to get up at anywhere between 3:30-6AM.0
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It seems like you have some empty diary days since Feb 1st. Maybe you are eating a lot more than 1200-1350 and have been in maintenance or over in calories? I would get thyroid checked if eating 1200-1350 and exercise cals are not crazy inflated and not losing any weight. I lose about 0.5 to 1 lb a week if I average 1850 cals a day at about 145-150lbs.
If you are eating maintenance or over in calories then losing strength seems odd. Maybe you need to see what happens over the next few workouts. Sometimes we have bad days or weeks. You never know. There is probably not much you can do about a three year old waking up in the middle of the night. could be something else though if you are feeling well rested enough. Maybe your body is trying to fight off a cold. Are you consistent with your workouts? Taking a week off could possibly leave you sore/ weaker.0 -
Repost from my wall:
I don't want to jinx it but I have made an effort to eat more (within reason) and dropped 3 lbs. I have been consistently lifting heavy 3x/wk and added a bit more cardio/body weight exercise in weekly. My lifts had been stalling so I concluded that I needed to eat more. Hope that this is the case cuz I love to eat, lol! Also, BF scale showed a 1% drop in BF. I don't expect the number to be accurate but is useful to show changes.
@nancy274 When I say I upped my calories I meant making sure that I am eating back my exercise calories to just reach my calorie goal. There were many days where I was under my BMR-oops. I am eating at a deficit but not a huge one because of my age, size, not much to lose.0 -
I have been consistently lifting heavy 3x/wk and added a bit more cardio/body weight exercise in weekly.
If you don't mind me asking...what type of cardio/body weight did you add? I was considering adding *something* but wanted to avoid HIIT, thinking of light cardio like walking.
I was thinking of this thread...I have been reading a lot of StrongLifts Archive and he did mention in one of the replies to up your food intake as you increase your weights.0 -
FYI, my lifts have been a bit better, too. Got to 120lbs on squats. When I first complained here 115 seemed really heavy. @ guisa, I am doing a 30min. Kettlebell routine (fitness blender) or lately doing a 30 min. Fitstar workout. It's an app but so far I have just done the free workouts. Gets a sweat going. I only do cardio 2x/wk.0
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Had to scroll back up and see what I wrote.
Glad to be of service! 0 -
I just love you ladies because reading this thread has made me go and review my goals. I have been lifting for the last few weeks but my mfp calories were set to 1350 to lose 1.5lb a week and I have been working out 5 days a week:
Monday: Strength
Tuesday: Taekwondo (90 mins)
Wed: Strength/Jog (30 min)
Thur: Taekwondo (90 mins)
Sat: Strength
This is probably why I've been starving in the evening. So I went back and changed my goal to lose 0.5lb a week and my calories a day are now upped to 1770. I'm still learning and want to know if, with my weekly workouts, do I need to become best pals with protein and carbs and am I on the right track?
I am in training for my black belt and being the only woman out of 5 of us I want to feel and be strong. I look forward to your responses ladies.
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