Weight lifting - Weight loss - Noob Gains

WolverhamptonFitness

So I have a question.

5 weeks ago I started to watch my food correctly - Along with Boxing and Football I lost a confirmed 10 pounds in around this 4 weeks.

Now my weight loss was slowing compared to previous because I have lost 95ish pounds.

1 week ago I joined a Gym, and since have done 3 sessions of Weight lifting correctly, I have kept up with my Boxing and Football aswel, in a very well balanced routine.

However, I haven lost weight in the last week, Maybe gained 1pound 1/2 - I understand about noob gains.

But eating on a deficit I should'nt be able to gain Muscle - only keep mass.

So my question is this, when lifting to lose weight, is it best to expect results after a time period of say 3-4 weeks, this way you would of put on all noob gains and got back into fat burning mode. Or should I start seeing weight loss already?

LKArgh

10 pounds is a lot of loss for just 4 weeks, so you cannot expect to keep this up. Regardless of what you do, slowing down in weight loss and having some small fluctuations in weight, it is normal. Are the loggings in your diary accurate? I hope not, because if yes, this is not watching your food, this is developing an eating disorder!

WolverhamptonFitness

hehe, The slim fast was just temporary - as a jolt start. Next week I go back to normal food - a few days I forget to log my main meal on a evening. I understand about it being a lot of weight in little time, But I am still 233-236 pounds - and I know it will fluctuate.

Weightloss is such a hard thing due to it being so personal to each person... I dont know why i started this thread. Maybe to see if other people in my situation have advice.

Ultimate_Beast

You need to eat a slight deficit 10-15% is the recommended to lose weight when lifting, if your adding in cardio as well you need to eat more your body needs protein without you will not gain muscle, your daily cals seem really we are around the same sort of weight and mine are 2800 cals a day at 1 pound lose per week according to MFP. I'll send you an FR, i've been lifting on and off for a while now but really taken it serious over the last couple of months I've dropped the cardio to a minimum and concentrate on the weights

WolverhamptonFitness

This is the confusion. Because I am not great at logging - but I still get around 1700 cals a day, Some days I box and weight train logged at like 800 calorie burned so I eat some back.


I think I need to log everything, as best I can and make sure im eating right - I know thats simple and the point its just frustrating and hard to get straight

LKArgh

The thing is you cannot do everything at once: eat as if you were completely sedetary and then add more and more exercise without fueling your body. You will end up ill. You need some balance and to not panic every time you see a tiny fluctuation in weight. You cannot add lifting and go on a slim fast starvation diet the same week! Take it easy.

WolverhamptonFitness

aggelikik wrote: »

The thing is you cannot do everything at once: eat as if you were completely sedetary and then add more and more exercise without fueling your body. You will end up ill. You need some balance and to not panic every time you see a tiny fluctuation in weight. You cannot add lifting and go on a slim fast starvation diet the same week! Take it easy.

Thank you - this is some sound advice and I guess i do panic when i see some fluctuation.

I am ditching the slim fast - and will take a new direction.

Hamez_UK

I've had a couple of plateaus in my different weight loss ventures over the years. This time round I finally found the way to get past it:

Log you food properly!

Before I was guessing by entering foods that sounded similar and estimating the weight. Now I enter the exact brand and food I am eating and the weight, either from the pack or by scales. The week after starting this I had already started to lose again and have continued losing since.

dbmata

bro, you ain't gonna noob gain in 3 sesh.

AllanMisner

You’re a 25 year old man, so yes, you should be able to easily add some mass. And if you’re getting enough protein, you can gain muscle while losing fat. It is easier to do in the beginning and will tail off as you get further along (just as your weight loss did). I really wish people would just throw their scales away. Weight is such a useless measurement.

punchgut

AllanMisner wrote: »

You’re a 25 year old man, so yes, you should be able to easily add some mass. And if you’re getting enough protein, you can gain muscle while losing fat. It is easier to do in the beginning and will tail off as you get further along (just as your weight loss did). I really wish people would just throw their scales away. Weight is such a useless measurement.

THIS.

ar9179

Your muscles are holding water while they repair from new stimulation. The scale is an inaccurate way to measure progress when beginning a new exercise program.

Boogage

I second that your muscles are holding water. If I train everyday the scale either doesn't move or goes up. Its only when I have a few days off that I see a drop on the scale.

sijomial

As a young, male, overweight newby to weight lifting you should be able to add some muscle mass slowly if you keep your deficit at a sensible rate and have good training and an adequate diet. But not in a few sessions!
As stated above - as you get leaner and have more training time under your belt it will get harder.

Yes your weight loss will slow (it should do), there may be times when it will stall completely.
Starting a new exercise routine is a likely trigger for inflamation and temporary water weight gain - your scales are dumb devices that measure your total weight at one instant in time and can't be the sole focus or measure of success.
There is no "fat burning mode" - using fat in a calorie deficit is exactly what your body does.

You are asking a lot of your body with all your exercise and a calorie deficit. Eat well, train hard (but get enough recovery time), don't go mad with a huge calorie deficit and be patient.

jstout365

A few things to consider:

Weight loss is never linear....you will have some up weeks, some flat weeks, and hopefully the majority will be loss weeks.

Weight training can cause water/glycogen gains during muscle repair...this is normal and often throws off the scale the first few weeks of starting a new plan. Keep up with it and the water gain will balance out soon.

If you don't log accurately, it is easier to eat more than you think. Work on logging and eating to support your activity and weight loss goals.

Noob gains aren't going to pile on....you may see some, but since you were already active in boxing and Football, you are probably already better conditioned than you give yourself credit for. The water weight is probably more likely playing a part than muscle gain, but either way, you should start to see losses again in the next few weeks.

WolverhamptonFitness

thank you all for your great advice, I will take it alll! and look at re planning my strategies.