Weight Loss and Crossfit

jonisteenhoek

A bit of background on me - I'm 33 years old and 5'4" and have been crossfitting for just over a year. I've been heavy a large part of my life, but about five or so years ago, I had crept up to a pretty high weight. The heaviest on a scale was 242 pounds and that was after a few months of exercising and dieting. I would guess I was probably around 255 pounds or so at my heaviest. I had that "oh $h&#" moment and really got into gear and lost about 30 pounds and then got pregnant. I got down to 195 just after having Isaac in May 2011. I've been back on track, for the most part, since the fall/spring 2011/2012. I joined a gym called Kosoma and did that for two years until one of the owners of Kosama opened Max Oxygen Crossfit. Anyway, for the most part, although I watch my food and generally speaking I eat 11/12 blocks on Paleo Zone. Since 2012 I've have lost a total of 10 pounds. I count calories as well as follow the Paleo Zone diet (I've had a mental struggle recently, so if you check my diary, it's not complete). I've tried eating more, I've tried eating less, I've tried working out more, I've tried working out less....nothing is happening. I've tried eating at 1200 calories and not eating back workout calories (HRM and FitBit Charge w/HR) and eating back workout calories. At one point, I had gotten down to 158 pounds, then I did a "diet challenge" with awful supplements and drinks and other awfulness and it was like my body went haywire and the weight came back up. I am now sitting at 185 pounds

The weight isn't the biggest deal, it's not the number on the scale, I know that's not the only factor here. I used to be a 22 or 24 and now I'm an 8/10, that's huge, I get that....but that hasn't changed in a long time either.

I've had great gains in the gym on the lifting side, but I fail miserably at the cardio (partially because I don't enjoy it and partially because (I think) my weight is holding me back). I just feel at a loss anymore. I love working out, that's not changing, but I think I need to make some drastic changes with the nutrition side of the equation, but I don't know what to try anymore. I feel defeated and lost. Anyone with words of wisdom, constructive criticism, words of encouragement, I could use it.

Thanks for the listen and sorry if nothing makes sense....lots of thoughts going on today...

Keladelphia

jonisteenhoek wrote: »

A bit of background on me - I'm 33 years old and 5'4" and have been crossfitting for just over a year. I've been heavy a large part of my life, but about five or so years ago, I had crept up to a pretty high weight. The heaviest on a scale was 242 pounds and that was after a few months of exercising and dieting. I would guess I was probably around 255 pounds or so at my heaviest. I had that "oh $h&#" moment and really got into gear and lost about 30 pounds and then got pregnant. I got down to 195 just after having Isaac in May 2011. I've been back on track, for the most part, since the fall/spring 2011/2012. I joined a gym called Kosoma and did that for two years until one of the owners of Kosama opened Max Oxygen Crossfit. Anyway, for the most part, although I watch my food and generally speaking I eat 11/12 blocks on Paleo Zone. Since 2012 I've have lost a total of 10 pounds. I count calories as well as follow the Paleo Zone diet (I've had a mental struggle recently, so if you check my diary, it's not complete). I've tried eating more, I've tried eating less, I've tried working out more, I've tried working out less....nothing is happening. I've tried eating at 1200 calories and not eating back workout calories (HRM and FitBit Charge w/HR) and eating back workout calories. At one point, I had gotten down to 158 pounds, then I did a "diet challenge" with awful supplements and drinks and other awfulness and it was like my body went haywire and the weight came back up. I am now sitting at 185 pounds

The weight isn't the biggest deal, it's not the number on the scale, I know that's not the only factor here. I used to be a 22 or 24 and now I'm an 8/10, that's huge, I get that....but that hasn't changed in a long time either.

I've had great gains in the gym on the lifting side, but I fail miserably at the cardio (partially because I don't enjoy it and partially because (I think) my weight is holding me back). I just feel at a loss anymore. I love working out, that's not changing, but I think I need to make some drastic changes with the nutrition side of the equation, but I don't know what to try anymore. I feel defeated and lost. Anyone with words of wisdom, constructive criticism, words of encouragement, I could use it.

Thanks for the listen and sorry if nothing makes sense....lots of thoughts going on today...

Weightloss is so damn frustrating! I see you've listed that you've tried a lot of things, eating more/less/etc. How long have you stuck with each of these things before changing them? How much are you eating now and what are your macro breakdowns? Finding consistiency was they key for me.

Ugh I feel you on the cardio thing, I don't think i'll ever love it but dropping some weight definitely made it much easier and made me hate it less.

jonisteenhoek

I would stick with most things for a month or two, unless I saw a rapid weight increase. I'm really scared to get back up to where I was, so once the scale starts on an upward trend, I go back to 1200 calories a day. I really try to stick 40% carb, 30% protein, and 30% fat - from what I understand that's how Paleo Zone is set up, so I try to stick to that. I've tried higher protein (at 40%) and found I just didn't ever get that much protein in.

I start worrying that I've stayed in a caloric deficit for so long that I've completely goofed my metabolism up....

CJ_Holmes

You are pretty clear that it's the nutrition you need to dial in, and by starting, stopping, not logging consistently, you aren't giving yourself the data you need to find what works for you. I would take the exercise out of the equation as far as your weight- if you hate cardio you won't sustain it. You are probably doing a fairly consistent level of exercise if you like lifting, so just think of that as your lifestyle rather than a calorie burn. Make things simple. Start by committing to a full 6 weeks of accurate and complete logging. Weigh and measure everything and log it with no judgement- this about having the information you need to stop feeling out of control. Eat at what you think are your maintenance calories and don't count exercise. See what happens. Then, you can get a sense of whether to lower or raise the calories.

CJ_Holmes

One more thought- how much sleep are you getting? I struggle with overeating so much when I am tired. It's a chronic battle and enough to make me consider changing my beloved morning crossfit schedule...

jonisteenhoek

I've logged pretty consistently with the exception of the last few months (that mental issue I've been having). I don't really feel out of control with my food intake (generally speaking), I would say that I don't always eat "clean," but I really don't go crazy very often. I use a food scale and measure nearly everything I eat, so that 's not a issue, I can obviously continue doing that. I like the idea of eating at maintenance and will commit to that for six weeks.

I have a constant battle with sleep. I average maybe 5.5 to 6 hours a night. I don't seem to have a problem with overeating on my more restless nights though. Not that it doesn't affect me in a lot of other ways, but as far as food intake, that doesn't seem to be a huge issue.

Thanks for you input, I appreciate it!

bostonwolf

^My weight has bounced up lately and it's entirely my own fault for not paying enough attention to nutrition. Had a good today and am just going to keep stringing them together.

Ideally you'd get 8 hours of sleep a night, but you do have a young kid so I'm sure that doesn't help

I've also found that if I mentally map out my food for a day or two (or even a week) I don't even think of cheating.

I usually eat the same breakfast (eggs/bacon/guac/sausage) and will often make a big crockpot of something (chili, beef stew, or something out of a Paleo cookbook) and freeze portions for lunch. If I get bored of that I have a grilled chicken salad with olive oil and then have protein and vegetables for dinner.

The more issues/challenges you can remove from the equation the less crazy/out of control you feel and the easier it is to stay on track.

Lastly, I'll add that eating 1200 calories is almost certainly too far in a deficit for anyone doing Crossfit unless they are extremely tiny.

Using this tool (which is EXTREMELY useful) you can calculate your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) which is how many calories you need to maintain your current weight.

Given your numbers (33, 5'4, 185, lightly active, workouts out 4 times a week at moderate intensity your TDEE is 2171 calories. So you eat at say a 20% deficit to that and should have plenty of energy for workouts, lose weight at a steady pace and not get too worn down.

They also have some tools on how to figure macros.

Really useful tool (in fact I'm jamming my numbers into it again after I finish typing this just to make sure I'm on track.