Exercise Sabatoging Weight Loss?
itschanelle
Posts: 86 Member
I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
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Replies
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Fat loss will come from the caloric deficit. Four days sounds reasonable, but why cut your calories if you're losing?0
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Liftng4Lis wrote: »Fat loss will come from the caloric deficit. Four days sounds reasonable, but why cut your calories if you're losing?
I should have been a little more detailed. I haven't lost any fat for a month. My water weight has fluctuated and I've been very slowly but steadily adding muscle (which is great), but the fat loss has stalled. Admittedly it's because I've gone over my goal, but still under maintenance for the most part on many days. I am having a heck of a time staying under because exercise makes me extra hungry.0 -
Also, yes I weight my food and log everything.0
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chanellecherington wrote: »I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
I think maybe you should focus less on what the scale says and more on measurements.
Would it really be a bad thing if you weighed in the 140's, but your BF% was were you wanted it to be?
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chanellecherington wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Fat loss will come from the caloric deficit. Four days sounds reasonable, but why cut your calories if you're losing?
I should have been a little more detailed. I haven't lost any fat for a month. My water weight has fluctuated and I've been very slowly but steadily adding muscle (which is great), but the fat loss has stalled. Admittedly it's because I've gone over my goal, but still under maintenance for the most part on many days. I am having a heck of a time staying under because exercise makes me extra hungry.
Oh, okay this makes sense! You're not losing because you are eating at a caloric surplus! Just change your settings to losing 1lb/week instead of gaining.
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I think you should take a couple steps back. First of all, those body composition machines are not accurate. Take a look at the body fat percentages here and let me know if you still think you are 42% body fat.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Secondly, even at close to maintenance, you're not going to be putting on much muscle. So you should expect to see the scale move down.0 -
I would also not recommend cutting any more calories. If u have done a severly restricted diet before do u really want to go that low?0
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chanellecherington wrote: »Liftng4Lis wrote: »Fat loss will come from the caloric deficit. Four days sounds reasonable, but why cut your calories if you're losing?
I should have been a little more detailed. I haven't lost any fat for a month. My water weight has fluctuated and I've been very slowly but steadily adding muscle (which is great), but the fat loss has stalled. Admittedly it's because I've gone over my goal, but still under maintenance for the most part on many days. I am having a heck of a time staying under because exercise makes me extra hungry.
Oh, okay this makes sense! You're not losing because you are eating at a caloric surplus! Just change your settings to losing 1lb/week instead of gaining.
If that's the case then my metabolism is shot. MFP says maintenance is 1850 which is right in line with my tdee using my bf %. My worst days food wise have me netting 1500-1600 calories. I've also had an active metabolic test done and my hrm is programmed with the results so I know my calorie burn for my workouts is accurate. If I'm eating at a surplus then I am totally screwed.
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shadow2soul wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
I think maybe you should focus less on what the scale says and more on measurements.
Would it really be a bad thing if you weighed in the 140's, but your BF% was were you wanted it to be?
No, not at all. Id be fine with that. But to get to the 140s Id have to lose 25 pounds of fat and right now that's not happening. The goal is to be at a healthy weight and a healthy body fat percentage.0 -
arditarose wrote: »I think you should take a couple steps back. First of all, those body composition machines are not accurate. Take a look at the body fat percentages here and let me know if you still think you are 42% body fat.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Secondly, even at close to maintenance, you're not going to be putting on much muscle. So you should expect to see the scale move down.
Based on the photos I would say I'm at 30-35% body fat. I am pear shaped and it's literally all in my hips and thighs. I've done online calculators where you put in your measurements and they say low 30s too. Still, too high.
I have seen a big increase in my muscle tone and strength (arms and stomach, still too much fat on my legs).
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OP are you sure of your % of body fat? Looking at your pic, it doesn't look to be that high0
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^^^^ posted at the same time^^^^ Your face just looks very slim.0
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christinev297 wrote: »OP are you sure of your % of body fat? Looking at your pic, it doesn't look to be that high
I was probably 140 in that pic! It's older. But yes, it's high. Abnormally so.0 -
chanellecherington wrote: »arditarose wrote: »I think you should take a couple steps back. First of all, those body composition machines are not accurate. Take a look at the body fat percentages here and let me know if you still think you are 42% body fat.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Secondly, even at close to maintenance, you're not going to be putting on much muscle. So you should expect to see the scale move down.
Based on the photos I would say I'm at 30-35% body fat. I am pear shaped and it's literally all in my hips and thighs. I've done online calculators where you put in your measurements and they say low 30s too. Still, too high.
I have seen a big increase in my muscle tone and strength (arms and stomach, still too much fat on my legs).
Well, I don't think you should cut your calories. Your post is a little all over the place for me, especially since I had a couple whiskeys tonight. If you want to lose, and you're not-you're eating too much either because you are not logging properly, not weighing all your food, or over estimating your calorie burn. If losing the fat is your goal-work on that, lift to maintain your muscle mass, but don't expect to be building muscle in your deficit, or at least building the amount that would cause any real stalls on the scale moving downward.
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arditarose wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »arditarose wrote: »I think you should take a couple steps back. First of all, those body composition machines are not accurate. Take a look at the body fat percentages here and let me know if you still think you are 42% body fat.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Secondly, even at close to maintenance, you're not going to be putting on much muscle. So you should expect to see the scale move down.
Based on the photos I would say I'm at 30-35% body fat. I am pear shaped and it's literally all in my hips and thighs. I've done online calculators where you put in your measurements and they say low 30s too. Still, too high.
I have seen a big increase in my muscle tone and strength (arms and stomach, still too much fat on my legs).
Well, I don't think you should cut your calories. Your post is a little all over the place for me, especially since I had a couple whiskeys tonight. If you want to lose, and you're not-you're eating too much either because you are not logging properly, not weighing all your food, or over estimating your calorie burn. If losing the fat is your goal-work on that, lift to maintain your muscle mass, but don't expect to be building muscle in your deficit, or at least building the amount that would cause any real stalls on the scale moving downward.
Ha! I think it's the whiskeys. Or my rambling. I am not losing because I am eating too many calories but I am obviously eating too many calories. I think it's because I am working out 6 days a week and am really hungry. I want to cut back on working out so I won't be so hungry but I also don't want to lose gains or endurance that's I've worked for. Just wanted advice on that.0 -
Those machines are wildly inaccurate and it seems that your investing too much thought into the readings . eat at a deficit, lift weights and you'll lose weight . take measurements and don't believe that those readings are exact .0
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chanellecherington wrote: »arditarose wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »arditarose wrote: »I think you should take a couple steps back. First of all, those body composition machines are not accurate. Take a look at the body fat percentages here and let me know if you still think you are 42% body fat.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/
Secondly, even at close to maintenance, you're not going to be putting on much muscle. So you should expect to see the scale move down.
Based on the photos I would say I'm at 30-35% body fat. I am pear shaped and it's literally all in my hips and thighs. I've done online calculators where you put in your measurements and they say low 30s too. Still, too high.
I have seen a big increase in my muscle tone and strength (arms and stomach, still too much fat on my legs).
Well, I don't think you should cut your calories. Your post is a little all over the place for me, especially since I had a couple whiskeys tonight. If you want to lose, and you're not-you're eating too much either because you are not logging properly, not weighing all your food, or over estimating your calorie burn. If losing the fat is your goal-work on that, lift to maintain your muscle mass, but don't expect to be building muscle in your deficit, or at least building the amount that would cause any real stalls on the scale moving downward.
Ha! I think it's the whiskeys. Or my rambling. I am not losing because I am eating too many calories but I am obviously eating too many calories. I think it's because I am working out 6 days a week and am really hungry. I want to cut back on working out so I won't be so hungry but I also don't want to lose gains or endurance that's I've worked for. Just wanted advice on that.
Okay. Right. So cut back on exercise? I can tell you from my experience, I started around your weight but am a couple inches shorter than you. I stopped doing as much cardio and focused on weight lifting, dropped 30 pounds and I believe my body fat % is down to about 20 lbs now. In that case you can probably raise your daily calories, do cardio a couple times a week to give you some wiggle room.0 -
thorsmom01 wrote: »Those machines are wildly inaccurate and it seems that your investing too much thought into the readings . eat at a deficit, lift weights and you'll lose weight . take measurements and don't believe that those readings are exact .
This is basically what I'm trying to say as well.0 -
chanellecherington wrote: »shadow2soul wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
I think maybe you should focus less on what the scale says and more on measurements.
Would it really be a bad thing if you weighed in the 140's, but your BF% was were you wanted it to be?
No, not at all. Id be fine with that. But to get to the 140s Id have to lose 25 pounds of fat and right now that's not happening. The goal is to be at a healthy weight and a healthy body fat percentage.
That's a great goal. But you need to keep in mind that those scales aren't all that accurate. From what I've read, they can be off by 8-9%.0 -
arditarose wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »Those machines are wildly inaccurate and it seems that your investing too much thought into the readings . eat at a deficit, lift weights and you'll lose weight . take measurements and don't believe that those readings are exact .
This is basically what I'm trying to say as well.
Yeah, I am super motivated by signs of progress which is why I put so much into the readings. I suck at measuring myself and can never do the same two measurements even back to back. I did take before pictures and should probably take a progress photo. I definitely notice a difference in my arms and stomach and a little in my butt. My legs are still squishy as ever.
Right now I have a personal trainer once a week and do whatever workout (strength) that she gives me 3 times a week. They take about an hour including my warm up (12 mins) from my active metabolic test and a cool down stretch. The other 3 days I do cardio (run, hike, stairs) for 45 minutes plus my 12 min warm up. So you all are saying cut down on the cardio days?0 -
Try and get your BF% re-tested with a caliper, your gym probably has people that can do that.
I personally know my BF% and I find this calculator to give the closest reading http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/cbbf/
Good luck0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »shadow2soul wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
I think maybe you should focus less on what the scale says and more on measurements.
Would it really be a bad thing if you weighed in the 140's, but your BF% was were you wanted it to be?
No, not at all. Id be fine with that. But to get to the 140s Id have to lose 25 pounds of fat and right now that's not happening. The goal is to be at a healthy weight and a healthy body fat percentage.
That's a great goal. But you need to keep in mind that those scales aren't all that accurate. From what I've read, they can be off by 8-9%.
You're right. I still worry about my BF % though. Even if the scale is off by 9% that still puts me at 30% and that's way too high to be healthy.0 -
Try and get your BF% re-tested with a caliper, your gym probably has people that can do that.
I personally know my BF% and I find this calculator to give the closest reading http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/cbbf/
Good luck
Oh this is the one that I used. It puts me at mid thirties for BF %. I did hear calipers or a dexa scan is the best way to do it. Honestly, regardless of the error margin I think it's safe to say my percentage is just too high, period. That, coupled with my BMI being in the overweight range tells me I have to lose weight, 20-30 pounds of it. I will consider having a more accurate test done once I am closer to goal so I can determine if I need to change composition or whatever. I just reeeally would love to see changes somewhere for all of my efforts since I'm not seeing it on the scale.
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chanellecherington wrote: »Try and get your BF% re-tested with a caliper, your gym probably has people that can do that.
I personally know my BF% and I find this calculator to give the closest reading http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/cbbf/
Good luck
Oh this is the one that I used. It puts me at mid thirties for BF %. I did hear calipers or a dexa scan is the best way to do it. Honestly, regardless of the error margin I think it's safe to say my percentage is just too high, period. That, coupled with my BMI being in the overweight range tells me I have to lose weight, 20-30 pounds of it. I will consider having a more accurate test done once I am closer to goal so I can determine if I need to change composition or whatever. I just reeeally would love to see changes somewhere for all of my efforts since I'm not seeing it on the scale.
Look to your diary. Bottom line is if you're not losing, you're eating too much. If the exercise is making you hungry, and you're eating more than you burn-perhaps you can do less cardio. If you're not weighing all your food on a food scale, do that.0 -
Big deficits + big workouts => burning up lean body mass.
Be careful.
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arditarose wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »Try and get your BF% re-tested with a caliper, your gym probably has people that can do that.
I personally know my BF% and I find this calculator to give the closest reading http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/cbbf/
Good luck
Oh this is the one that I used. It puts me at mid thirties for BF %. I did hear calipers or a dexa scan is the best way to do it. Honestly, regardless of the error margin I think it's safe to say my percentage is just too high, period. That, coupled with my BMI being in the overweight range tells me I have to lose weight, 20-30 pounds of it. I will consider having a more accurate test done once I am closer to goal so I can determine if I need to change composition or whatever. I just reeeally would love to see changes somewhere for all of my efforts since I'm not seeing it on the scale.
Look to your diary. Bottom line is if you're not losing, you're eating too much. If the exercise is making you hungry, and you're eating more than you burn-perhaps you can do less cardio. If you're not weighing all your food on a food scale, do that.
So you think I should stick to 1350 plus exercise calories as a daily goal and cut back on cardio to see if my hunger is managed better? Is strength 3 days a week plus 1 day of cardio enough exercise?0 -
chanellecherington wrote: »arditarose wrote: »chanellecherington wrote: »Try and get your BF% re-tested with a caliper, your gym probably has people that can do that.
I personally know my BF% and I find this calculator to give the closest reading http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/cbbf/
Good luck
Oh this is the one that I used. It puts me at mid thirties for BF %. I did hear calipers or a dexa scan is the best way to do it. Honestly, regardless of the error margin I think it's safe to say my percentage is just too high, period. That, coupled with my BMI being in the overweight range tells me I have to lose weight, 20-30 pounds of it. I will consider having a more accurate test done once I am closer to goal so I can determine if I need to change composition or whatever. I just reeeally would love to see changes somewhere for all of my efforts since I'm not seeing it on the scale.
Look to your diary. Bottom line is if you're not losing, you're eating too much. If the exercise is making you hungry, and you're eating more than you burn-perhaps you can do less cardio. If you're not weighing all your food on a food scale, do that.
So you think I should stick to 1350 plus exercise calories as a daily goal and cut back on cardio to see if my hunger is managed better? Is strength 3 days a week plus 1 day of cardio enough exercise?
Sure. I don't like to tell people what to do with their calories or exercise because I'm not an expert but I always suggest trying something new and jiggling calories/exercise around if you're not meeting your goals. Doing a little bit of cardio on your lifting days won't hurt either.0 -
HI Chanell,chanellecherington wrote: »I am 5'6" and 165. My goal weight is 135 with a body fat percentage in the low 20s. I am pear shaped and have a super high fat percentage (39%) because of severly restricting calories in the past to lose weight. I have been exercising hard 6 days a week alternating strength and cardio days. I have been eating at 1350 calories and eating back some to all of my exercise calories. I started at 170 (2.5 months ago) with a 42% body fat. My gym has a machine that breaks down body composition and I have put on a pound of muscle, lost 7 pounds of fat, and gained a pound of water on the last weigh in compared to original stats.
Obviously I'm doing something right in terms of exercise, but right now my goal is to lose this fat and then I can bulk up. I am thinking I need to cut calories more to step up the fat loss, but I'm freaking hungry. I use a HRM and burn roughly 300-500 calories per workout.
Bottom line, I want to lose more fat and I don't think I can keep up with working out 6 days a week for an hour plus stretching with life. Do you think cutting my exercise down to 4 days a week and cutting calories to 1200+exercise is a good choice? I feel like exercise is sabatoging my weight loss.
I'm questioning that high percentage of body fat, because it just doesn't sound right for someone of your height and weight. 165 a 5 ft 6 is not so overweight that you would be 39% body fat. Even 42% body fat at 170 seems high.
Also, if you are at a calorie deficit, you won't put on a pound of muscle. Muscle is very difficult to grow and, unless you are obese, which you're not, you will not gain much, except for small newbie gains.
If you're losing weight, there is no reason to cut back further. With only 31 pounds to lose, you might want to set your goals to lose 1 pound a week, then when you have 25 pounds left, set your goals to lose .5 pounds a week.
If you like to exercise, there is no reason to stop doing it, and there is no reason to cut your calories back either. You can easily lose weight on more than just 1360 calories.
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What about tweaking your macros? Instead of eating fewer calories, try a different combination. More lean protein, healthy fat and fiber to keep you fuller.
I drink Isopure protein (0 carb) when I work out. It has electrolytes as well as protein and keeps me from wanting to chew my arm off, esp. when lifting. When I run outside, I drink it after, on the drive home. (I run right after work at work so I avoid most of the rush hour traffic.)
If you can change your nutrients to suit your activity level, you might not have to cut calories or exercise.0 -
Okay, what? You are grossing 1320 calories right now, and you're 5'6? I'm 5'7 and lost eating 2100 - I'd be dying if I had to eat that little. I think you could eat more than that.
There was a good video here the other day about metabolic adaptation, but damn, I can't find it with regular search. (I did not have whiskey, I had a schwack of wine and girly drinks.) Basically the idea is that fat (and fat %) increase with regain once you start eating a normal amount is likely after a very low calorie diet, for a bunch of reasons (the video went into a lot of detail about fat cells etc.) I don't know that much about the theory of it, but if someone else here can help re that ( @Mr_Knight ?) that would be nice.
Re cardio - what kind of stuff are you doing? Some people actually find cardio actually reduces their appetite. (Who responds how to what is variable - e.g. vigorous & short like HIIT, vs long and steady; gender, age, who knows what else.) But honestly, if it were me, pretty much any activity would have me either crying or lunging for cheeseburgers on 1320.
ok i remember the phrase "reverse dieting", maybe that will help
aha. here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk&list=PLnPAPdT4m_g8cZtYQW3JNbFwK9Fix-gFC
NOW I don't know how or when it makes sense to do this in your particular weight loss experience but I am hoping someone else will be able to speak to that.0
This discussion has been closed.
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