opinions wanted on intake

amw8675309

Hi-

I was hoping to get a bit of advice/opinion on my diet/intake. I am not currently stalled with my losses, however have been noticing the past few weeks that my energy levels have been lower and I'm finding more days where I seem to be constantly hungry (and a few nights where i am waking up more frequently and occasionally having issues falling back asleep when this never used to happen). I have about 10-15 more pounds of fat I would like to lose, but am OK losing at a slower rate. I also recently started crossfit and would also like to be able to complete the workouts to the best of my ability/gain strength in my lifts.

I take in an average of 1800 calories per day which already feels like a lot since in the past I've always dieted with too few calories (1200ish and would run 3-4x per week and not each much/any calories back)--and inevitably after keeping that up for 6-9 months my body would revolt (binging, loss of period, etc.) and I would gain some/all weight back--it's been about 3 years though since I've dieted in this way. Below is the last 8 weeks of average calories and weight:

starting weight:155.5
week 1: 1785/153.5
week 2:1872/153
week 3: 1722/152.2
week 4:1824/152.2
week 5: 1794/151.2
week 6: 1770/151.2
week 7: 1810/149.4
week 8: 1822/ 148.8

Should I be eating more than I am, or does my diet itself perhaps just need some tweaking? (diary is open)



Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc) - 5'5/149/29/ unknown but i think around 30%

What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? 1800 kcals for the last 2 months average

What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!) - 120g/ 200g/ 65g

Do you use a food scale and measure everything? I don't have a food scale but I measure everything and with protein I know if I buy a 1lb package that makes 4 servings in the recipe that I will average out to the "right" amount even if 1 serving is a bit high or lower than average.

Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes, all of it except spices

Do you take cheat days or days off? I try to l limit my cheat meal to once per week if that, and I still count everything in it when I average my calories for the week

How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? 6.7 pounds in 8 weeks. My heaviest ever was probably around 180 but I have been anywhere from 138-180 in the last 10 years. I weighed in at 155.5 when I re-focused my efforts in January.

Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months? I started crossfit in early January, prior to that I did a boot-camp style class for about 6 months which incorporated some weightlifting but was predominantly body-weight focused exercises (only 2-3x per week). I go to crossfit 4-5x per week and most sessions include a 10-15 minute warm-up, a 15-20 minute strength session with heavy lifting and the main workout which can last anywhere from 5-30 minutes but mostly around 10. I also try to get one 4-5 miles run in per week but it doesn't always get worked in depending on my schedule.

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'm not currently stalled but moreso trying to figure out if my intake levels are optimal for my goals.

Are you breastfeeding? No

Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? No

thank you !

SideSteel

There are a number of things you could do here.

Your data looks good. Intake seems reasonable and rate of weight loss is great. But, the data and how you feel are often two different things and based on what you are saying, it seems like you're starting to get run down.

There's a number of ways to handle this and they all revolve around either increasing food intake or decreasing activity or a combination of both.


You could increase your daily calorie intake. This will slow down your rate of loss, it might provide you with more satiety, it might slightly alleviate hunger. If you went this route I'd probably start with 100-150 calories and I'd dump them into carbs.


You could implement reefed days. If you do this I'd bring fats to 50g and keep protein where it is now. Then, bring calories to maintenance by increasing carbs. So for you, something like 350cho/50f/120p would be a good start. You'd do this 1/week and position it (if possible) where it makes the best sense in your training cycle OR your lifestyle.


You could take a diet break. If you do this I'd set your calories to maintenance, I'd probably stay off the scale, and eat at maintenance for 1-2 weeks (start with 1, evaluate how you feel).

You could take a training break. If the main symptom with regard to training is that you are fatigued, it's possible that diet alone will remedy that. If you are also feeling a lack of desire to train (and you normally have good desire to train), if you are feeling joint aches/etc, if you are getting weaker, I'd consider a training break in addition to one or more of the above strategies.


Based on the limited info I have I'd lean towards a diet break followed by returning to your current deficit but I'd add in 1 reefed day per week once you get out of the diet break.

Then evaluate how things are going 2-3 weeks into the deficit.

amw8675309

Thanks so much for the advice! 2 quick question, if I do the diet break do i keep my ratio of carbs/protein/fat the same or would you recommend keeping protein & fat where it is and add primarily carbs for the increase in calories? Also, if i go the refeed method, my schedule is pretty flexible so ideally would i do this on a day where I am training heavy or on a rest day followed by a heavy training day?


I will definitely try eating more one way or another through one of your suggested methods above--I am not fatigued during training or lacking motivation and am still making strength gains, it's moreso the rest of the day where I find myself lacking energy.

I will give some thought as to which to try and implement some changes starting next week and see how i feel.

thank you again, much appreciated!

SideSteel

If it were me I'd primarily increase carbs for the diet break. You could bump fats slightly based on preference.

Structure the reefed timing so that you can best fit it into your lifestyle and training. So for example if you train first thing in the AM you'd reefed the day before. If you train afternoon or evening reefed the day of your most challenging session.

amw8675309

got it, thank you again!