Work out like crazy under calorie intake not losing weight

mover1958
mover1958 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
55 year old male in doctor certified great shape but can not drop weight I am looking to. 6'1" well built but 6 months ago was at 242 and felt poorly. Wife and I legitimately completed Insanity and while I felt better did not lose a single pound. Turned to fitness pal and with workouts dropped to 220 pretty quick and now am stuck here. I work out consistently burning 1000 calories a day. I do allow my 1725 suggested daily calories to be adjusted by those gained by the workout but I am always less than suggested. The only caveat is that I love my beer. I drink quite a bit on weekend on particular but average about a case to a little more a week, although daily I still manage to stay below my cardio adjusted intake goals.

But now I am stuck at 220 and want to ge to 200 for my daughters wedding in 3.5 months. Suggestions? How do I break through this plateau? More workouts (feels like all I do) eat even less or god forbid cut back on the beer? Anyone ever experience something similar and how did you break past the wall? Perhaps 220 is my best weight. I look pretty good, my clothes fit and my stamina is outstanding. I just really would like to see 200.

Any common experiences appreciated.

Mover1958

Replies

  • pilchsum
    pilchsum Posts: 1
    Eat less and work out less. You don't have to work so hard if you cut back on the calories. You can lose weight in your sleep like that. And, sorry, but you will have to cut way back on that beer.
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
    While I can't say I have any advice for you, know that you're not alone. I'm in the same boat. I've been plateaued for months. I'm not really sure how to juggle workout calories (I shoot for 500-800 a day) with recommended calories (about 1900). Still experimenting to see what gives me the best results.

    I recently turned 21, and I learned the hard way how much alcohol can impact my weight loss. You don't have to completely give up beer, but just know that you will have to work even harder to make up for what you're drinking away. If I were you, I would cut some of it out. I know when I gave up pop, I dropped like 5 pounds in a week.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Eat less and work out less. You don't have to work so hard if you cut back on the calories. You can lose weight in your sleep like that. And, sorry, but you will have to cut way back on that beer.

    This should work.

    Also, usually that level of beer intake has some added snacking that isn't getting tracked. My bet is cutting back on the beer will result in visible and quick results.

    And 6'1 220 is very unlikely to be a 'best weight'.
  • AlexisJ330
    AlexisJ330 Posts: 97 Member
    One 12 oz beer has between 120-180 calories. Calories per case (12 cans = 1440 -2160, 24 cans = 2880 - 4320). This could be the problem.
  • ladynocturne
    ladynocturne Posts: 865 Member
    220lbs, 6'1", 55

    Your TDEE set to sedentary is 2387. This is what you burn during normal daily activities and can eat this to maintain your current weight.

    To lose 1lb a week you need to eat 500 calories less.

    2387-500=1887 calories a day to eat.

    Please make sure you eat 1887 + exercise calories to maintain the same deficit.

    I've heard that alcohol can inhibit fat loss, but I also know a lot of people on MFP who lost weight just fine while drinking and just making sure they had budgeted their calories for it.
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
    And 6'1 220 is very unlikely to be a 'best weight'.

    If he feels good at that weight, why not?

    To the OP, you might try basing your calorie intake on your TDEE and doing away with eating back exercise calories. This means you'd adjust your calories up, but you wouldn't add in your exercise calories. I had trouble losing when I did that, because I'd have too much to eat on my active days and too little on my off days.

    It's something to try. :)

    Or keep doing what you're doing and enjoy the weight you have lost. Maybe the rest will come off slowly. Good luck!
  • Just_Scott
    Just_Scott Posts: 1,766 Member
    Drank 12 beers last Thursday, lost 1 pound the next week. Liquid bread--drink away. Seriously a case a week is pretty much. The occasional overload(carb loading) on here is fine but every week all your doing is sabotaging the week's work. Drink less on the weekends--and burning 1,000 calories is great, but you probably need more lifting and less cardio. Some thoughts, random as they are, now where is my beer?
  • 55in13
    55in13 Posts: 1,091 Member
    Most likely one or more of your numbers is wrong - calories consumed, calories burned or BMR. You say you are doc certified, so I would hope some crazy thyroid or metabolic dysfunction would be known. Physics probably works at your house as well as it does mine and if the numbers all make sense you will lose. If I had to guess which number is wrong, the beer consumption and the way it so often leads to snacking would make me question the intake. I would eat back no more than half the estimated calorie burn. You don't have to fix the numbers; you could just increase the calculated deficit and find the point at which the scale begins to move.
  • peanutbuttercravings
    peanutbuttercravings Posts: 2
    If i understand correctly, you are stating that you are only eating 1725 calories a day?

    I am 5' 3'' (i hope:P) and i weight approximately 55.5kg -- i eat 2100cal PER DAY NET. I actually eat about 2500 cal/day after exercise, which is basically only compund weight training. <-- that was just a reference to show you how little you are eating.

    At 6' 1'' you should be eating approximately 3000cal/day - granted this is just a guess as i dont know your activity level nor your metabolic capacity.

    i would direct you to http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced

    i would like to suggest to you that if you have been eating at what is essentially your bmr, that your metabolism has adapted so that you no longer lose weight and plateau. i dont know what exercise + intake you have but it seems to be that you do extreme amounts of cardio and no weights, and have a very restricted caloric intake. this is not only causing a plateau in your weight loss but is also detrimental to your health, as you are restricting the essential nutrients your body needs to funtion.

    YouTube Layne Norton Metabolic Adaption and that will give you more insight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHHzie6XRGk

    But i think that you should increase your calorie intake, weight train (heavy but with good form) with good form, and decrease cardio to perhaps 30min 3-4 days a week. That would be a start for you.

    Also if you have the bandwidth, you should also track your macronutrients. You should try and preserve your muscle and reduce fat. These macronutrients can be calculated at http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/

    And you know what? If that beer fits your macros, DRINK YOUR BEER! :D

    Hope I've been able to help you

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