Fueling strength training at 1200 calories
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TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
You can definitely eat a bit more but I get your hesitation. I'm the same height and my BMR isn't very high. One thing to keep in mind is that your goal isn't really about losing pounds quickly, right? If you're lifting, you understand to at least some small extent that simply shedding pounds isn't the ultimate answer; we want to retain muscle and lose fat. This takes more time than simply losing weight by eating the smallest amount of calories possible but the end result is definitely worth it.
All the online calculators put my BMR at around 1680, same as when I calculated it myself using the equations, so theoretically I could definitely be eating more. Logically I know that 1200 might even be borderline disordered eating, and I know I don't feel great when I'm obsessing about it (part of why I quit) but it's really hard at the end of the day to listen to that logic...so yeah, it's nice to get feedback from people trying to do the same thing.
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TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I don't know if waiting tables is as sedentary as it gets, but I definitely meant 1200 net. Unless I'm misunderstanding MFP (and I might be lol), 1200 net is still minimum?
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TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I have to disagree. This definitely sounds like a moderately active base lifestyle.
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sheermomentum wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I have to disagree. This definitely sounds like a moderately active base lifestyle.
It is a desk job. Which requires walking up and down a few stairs. And waiting tables twice per week, during breakfast shift only. Sorry, this is not moderately active.0 -
sheermomentum wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I have to disagree. This definitely sounds like a moderately active base lifestyle.
It is a desk job. Which requires walking up and down a few stairs. And waiting tables twice per week, during breakfast shift only. Sorry, this is not moderately active.
Not to belabor the point but the breakfast shift is 7-2 at ihop where breakfast is the busiest. I'm walking for 7 hours and holding avg 20lb or so worth of plates or drinks up my arms for maybe a third of that time. I'm not saying it makes me an athlete by any stretch but it's pretty good exercise lol, most servers would agree. I'm not saying this as an excuse to cheat myself btw. I still eat 1200 net. Because I only do it twice a week I count it as extra and don't factor it into my normal calorie goal. Just sticking up for my fellow servers lol.
Right now I'm trying to decide if it WOULD be cheating myself to change my goal to TDEE-20% setting my activity level to 1-3h light exercise per week (which accounts for my weekend job, my daily walks/cardio which is 3-4h/week on its own, and strength training), and not logging anything unless it's beyond the above things. I might feel less hungry on stronglifts days.0 -
sheermomentum wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I have to disagree. This definitely sounds like a moderately active base lifestyle.
It is a desk job. Which requires walking up and down a few stairs. And waiting tables twice per week, during breakfast shift only. Sorry, this is not moderately active.
Not to belabor the point but the breakfast shift is 7-2 at ihop where breakfast is the busiest. I'm walking for 7 hours and holding avg 20lb or so worth of plates or drinks up my arms for maybe a third of that time. I'm not saying it makes me an athlete by any stretch but it's pretty good exercise lol, most servers would agree. I'm not saying this as an excuse to cheat myself btw. I still eat 1200 net. Because I only do it twice a week I count it as extra and don't factor it into my normal calorie goal. Just sticking up for my fellow servers lol.
Right now I'm trying to decide if it WOULD be cheating myself to change my goal to TDEE-20% setting my activity level to 1-3h light exercise per week (which accounts for my weekend job, my daily walks/cardio which is 3-4h/week on its own, and strength training), and not logging anything unless it's beyond the above things. I might feel less hungry on stronglifts days.
I would not recommend that method. Use the MFP method or use the TDEE method. Don't try to mash them up. In the words of Ron Swanson, never half-*kitten* two things. Whole-*kitten* one thing.
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sheermomentum wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
Do you weigh everything with scales? Are you very sedentary outside of your workouts?
I weigh almost everything solid, the only thing I fall short on is things that are individually packaged when I buy them like yogurts, granola bars, stuff like that. I weigh the ingredients into my recipes as well. M-F I work in a lab, which isn't super active but involves occasional walking across campus and going up and down 2 flights of stairs several times, and on the weekends I wait tables for the breakfast shift at a restaurant, so I don't think I'm very sedentary overall.
This is pretty much as sedentary as it gets for the average person, sorry. Sedentary does not mean in bed all day.
And you are not eating 1200 calories, you are eating about 1600 on average based on your past entries. Which is perfectly fine since you are losing at a steady pace, but definitely you do not need to eat more. Personally, for your lifestyle and workouts, I would get rid of the HRM, figure out what is the average these last weeks, 1500, 1600, 1700? and aim for this, not adding back exercise. As you lose, or if exercise increases, adjust as needed, lower or higher.
I have to disagree. This definitely sounds like a moderately active base lifestyle.
It is a desk job. Which requires walking up and down a few stairs. And waiting tables twice per week, during breakfast shift only. Sorry, this is not moderately active.
Not to belabor the point but the breakfast shift is 7-2 at ihop where breakfast is the busiest. I'm walking for 7 hours and holding avg 20lb or so worth of plates or drinks up my arms for maybe a third of that time. I'm not saying it makes me an athlete by any stretch but it's pretty good exercise lol, most servers would agree. I'm not saying this as an excuse to cheat myself btw. I still eat 1200 net. Because I only do it twice a week I count it as extra and don't factor it into my normal calorie goal. Just sticking up for my fellow servers lol.
Right now I'm trying to decide if it WOULD be cheating myself to change my goal to TDEE-20% setting my activity level to 1-3h light exercise per week (which accounts for my weekend job, my daily walks/cardio which is 3-4h/week on its own, and strength training), and not logging anything unless it's beyond the above things. I might feel less hungry on stronglifts days.
I would not recommend that method. Use the MFP method or use the TDEE method. Don't try to mash them up. In the words of Ron Swanson, never half-*kitten* two things. Whole-*kitten* one thing.
LOL! Love Ron. I think what I'm trying to say is that I want to do the TDEE method, but didn't explain it right.
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TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
You can definitely eat a bit more but I get your hesitation. I'm the same height and my BMR isn't very high. One thing to keep in mind is that your goal isn't really about losing pounds quickly, right? If you're lifting, you understand to at least some small extent that simply shedding pounds isn't the ultimate answer; we want to retain muscle and lose fat. This takes more time than simply losing weight by eating the smallest amount of calories possible but the end result is definitely worth it.
All the online calculators put my BMR at around 1680, same as when I calculated it myself using the equations, so theoretically I could definitely be eating more. Logically I know that 1200 might even be borderline disordered eating, and I know I don't feel great when I'm obsessing about it (part of why I quit) but it's really hard at the end of the day to listen to that logic...so yeah, it's nice to get feedback from people trying to do the same thing.
But if you're only just losing on what you log as 1200 cals, why would eating more help?0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »You probably don't need to be eating so little. What are your stats?
I'm 5'4" with about 50 lb to lose. In the 40 days that I've been logging again I've lost about a pound a week. I've definitely been thinking that I should be eating more, but the first 30lb that I lost was done at 1200 so I'm nervous. Probably just need to bite the bullet and change my goal.
You can definitely eat a bit more but I get your hesitation. I'm the same height and my BMR isn't very high. One thing to keep in mind is that your goal isn't really about losing pounds quickly, right? If you're lifting, you understand to at least some small extent that simply shedding pounds isn't the ultimate answer; we want to retain muscle and lose fat. This takes more time than simply losing weight by eating the smallest amount of calories possible but the end result is definitely worth it.
All the online calculators put my BMR at around 1680, same as when I calculated it myself using the equations, so theoretically I could definitely be eating more. Logically I know that 1200 might even be borderline disordered eating, and I know I don't feel great when I'm obsessing about it (part of why I quit) but it's really hard at the end of the day to listen to that logic...so yeah, it's nice to get feedback from people trying to do the same thing.
But if you're only just losing on what you log as 1200 cals, why would eating more help?
my original issue wasn't so much about losing more quickly but being able to have enough fuel to strength train as I start lifting heavier. If I'm doing 1200 cal and I can't log weightlifting, but I feel super hungry on days when I lift, what should I do, etc. If that makes sense.
I honestly don't know why I'm only getting a pound a week eating 1200 net. I'm not really old enough or small enough to have a lower than expected bmr so I probably have to figure out where my logging isn't adding up. But I guess that's a separate issue...0 -
I use mfp's weight lifting calculation (under cardio) and half it because I have to have that extra wiggle room for food. I am starving the evening or morning after lifting. That said, definitely evaluate your logging (including weighing prepackage foods as they're often way off) and see if there are any issues there. And don't discount water weight caused by lifting. I'm usually 3+ pounds heaver the day after I lift. Weigh yourself after a rest day and take measurements.0
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