Orangetheory
aperz1
Posts: 24 Member
In love with Orangetheory workouts, but really bummed with results. I've been going 3-4 times per week for over 4 months. Gained 4 lbs and 1% body fat. My diet is pretty clean and hasn't changed. So I'm burning more calories than prior to starting OTF. Is this my body adapting and it will change? Suggestions? Just makes no sense to gain weight and fat doing this workout.
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How much are you eating? Calories In is as important as Calories Out.0
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1300-1800. The thing is diet has not changed so I should be losing. Intake has not increased but output has.0
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1300-1800. The thing is diet has not changed so I should be losing. Intake has not increased but output has.
That's a pretty wide range...and leads me to believe that you're merely estimating caloric intake, rather than truly accurately measure it (via weighing solid foods and measuring liquids).
Take the next couple weeks, and measure and log everything you eat.
My guess is you're eating a lot more calories than you think you are. That's not a criticism - it's almost universally true for all people who try to estimate their calorie intake.0 -
Are you using a food scale ?0
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I hear you, but I'm telling you my diet is not different than prior to starting OTF. I don't eat the same amount every day. So, my output is most definitely greater than it was.0
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I really don't think weighing my food is feasible or the answer. I have a good idea of portion control.0
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Two words, food scale. You are eating more than you think or you are burning less than you think.0
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Why isn't it feasible? It takes no more than several seconds per meal.0
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I appreciate the advice.0
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Before starting this program, how steady was your weight? If you were slowly gaining weight before starting, the increased "Calories out" may not be enough to tip the balance and may just negate some of the "damage".0
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My weight had been the same for years.0
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The thing is the scale, calorie count still does not answer the question since my eating habits have not changed.0
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Have you been eating extra over Christmas/New Years that would have changed your "normal intake" and made it higher than normal - negating the extra exercise?0
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No, not really. The weight gain has been slow since I started OTF0
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The thing is the scale, calorie count still does not answer the question since my eating habits have not changed.
Let's assume all the pounds you gained were fat. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, so that means you ate 14000 excess calories in the 4 month period. Divided by 120 days that's 120 extra calories day.
120 calories is a relatively small number. To put things in perspective, it's a little more than the number of calories in a single banana, and a little less than the number in two cups of skim milk. You can't realistically expect to notice a fluctuation of that size without taking precise measurements. It's even harder if the surplus was distributed unevenly, say during all your post-workout meals. When you're eating after a workout you intuitively feel that there's nothing wrong with having a little more than normal, but as you can see, it's quite easy to overshoot the mark.0 -
OP, it is fairly common when people take on a new exercise program that their appetite and therefore their intake increases slightly. Not enough to really notice, but enough to basically equalize the cals they are burning. Perception when it comes to food can be a wonky thing. I always thought of myself as being a light eater my whole life, yet I was slowly but surely gaining weight through my thirties. Weighing and logging my food was an eye opener, and the key to me losing the weight. Good luck!0
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One option is water retention due to exercise.
Another option is increased food consumption without you being conscious of it especially since you are neither logging nor weighing your food.
The 1% body fat increase is within the error margin for a DXA scan much less any other method you're using for your estimate... so it is irrelevant.
For that matter your estimation of what is happening with your weight might be off. Enter all valid weight data you have either in a free fitbit account which you then connect to trendweight.com or enter it manually into weightgrapher.com, or Libra for Android, or Happy Scale for iphone. What is your weight level trend actually doing?0 -
I weigh myself every day, and the scale weight fluctuates by a pound or two every time. There's a significant amount of variability inherent in scale weight. E.g. if your scale weight fluctuates by plus/minus two pounds, then you could have weighed in at two pounds below your "true" weight the first time, and two pounds above your "true" weight the second time, without any real change occurring. How frequently have you been weighing yourself? Unless you arrived at this number by taking an average of many measurements, I wouldn't have a high degree of confidence in saying that you've conclusively gained any weight. If you were only using two measurements, one from four months ago and one from this morning, I would have no confidence whatsoever.
Same with body fat measurement. All techniques of measurement have intrinsic error and 1% is just not that big of a difference.0 -
Ok, ok. lol. I'll track meals more accurately. I'm a huge creature of habit with food. That's why I think there's more to it.0
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The thing is the scale, calorie count still does not answer the question since my eating habits have not changed.
You mentioned that your diet is pretty clean. That doesn't matter. The number of calories you're eating matters. The only way to accurately measure that is with a food scale.
It's the most common error and the easiest to address. Once you accurately monitor your intake you will know if that is the culprit or if you have to look elswhere. I'd suggest ruling it out first. Almost everyone is surprised once they start weighing their food.0 -
Yeah, this really can't be emphasized enough. I truly had no idea what I was eating until I started tracking it.0 -
My weight before starting was 126-128. Now, 131-134. Fat calculated with Bod Pod. No change in measurements. I see some difference in my appearance but wasn't surprised my fat % didn't change much.0
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What about using 21 day fix containers? I don't have a scale. I truly cannot imagine weighing all my food. How do ppl have the time to do this? Bod pod guy told me 1 gm/lb of protein and carbs and 50 gm fat per day. Anyone have a good meal plan site?0
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I have the containers and they just equate to measuring cups.0
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In the same amount of time it will take to put food into pretty-colored tupperware, you can have that container on a food scale and actually know how much you are eating.
If you don't want to use a food scale, you don't have to. But it is the only way to get a reasonably accurate picture of what your numbers are. You can weigh for a couple of weeks and see if your calories are what you think they are, or you can keep trying out ways to estimate and not know for sure what's going on.
My food scale sits on my counter, and I put whatever container or plate I would use anyway on the scale and then measure out my portions. Takes approx 3 seconds more time. Easy peasy.0 -
Weighing food takes a lot less time than you think. I thought it was going to take a long time, too, but it doesn't. We're talking a matter of seconds, definitely less than one minute per meal.0
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Here's the scale I use. I've never had any problems with it.0
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